A look at our learning...
Fundations: we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase b and f this week. When making these sounds please make sure your child is not adding "uh" to the end of the sound. It should be a quick sound rather than "fuh" or "buh." The same goes for the letter t. It should be a quick t sound and not "tuh." We don't want to add the u/"uh" sound to the end of any letters, unless there is an actual u with it.
Please use the following verbal prompts when practicing at home:
b-down, up, around
f-over, down, across
If your child has t, b or f in their name, please hold them accountable for forming it correctly at all times.
Handwriting Homework: I was absolutely blown away by how many students completed the optional handwriting homework last week — thank you for your support! While some may be motivated by the prize (and that’s okay!), your reinforcement at home truly helps solidify what we’re practicing in class and will benefit your child in the long run.
Just a quick reminder: please have your child complete the handwriting practice with a pencil, not a pen or crayon, and be sure they write their name at the top. Several papers came in with no names, and since they’re removed from folders before being handed to me, I can’t always tell who they belong to. Thank you for helping make this a smooth process!
Heggerty: you may hear your child talk about Heggerty and think "what in the world is Heggerty?" Heggerty is a phonemic awareness program that works on rhyme, beginning/ending sounds, blending and segmenting words, adding and deleting phonemes and substituting phonemes. Daily Heggerty lessons will help your child learn how to read, write and spell as they hear sounds in words.
Spelling: we are beginning to learn Word Wall Words (spelling words) and will learn one new word a week. After winter break it will bump up to two new words per week. These are words that your child should be able to quickly read and write after learning them. Right now, we are just practicing the words in the classroom, but in October we will be sending words home for you to practice as well. More information will be sent when that time comes.
The spelling word we learned this week is the word to.
Math: this week we practiced counting, recognizing and writing numbers 0-5. We specifically used a math took called a five frame to help with this. A five frame is a simple visual tool that helps students develop number sense. It can help them develop a sense of five, visualize numbers, understand how different combinations of counters can make a total of five and learn to instantly recognize the number of counters or cubes on the frame.
Social Studies: our current unit of study is citizenship. This ties in nicely with learning rules, routines and expectations of school. We are also working on learning the Pledge of Allegiance and the Beulah Ralph School Pledge. They are getting better every day!
A copy of the school pledge is in your child's Friday Folder so that you can practice at home as well.
Names Are Special!
Building Our Classroom Community – One Name at a Time!
This week in kindergarten, we’ve been busy getting to know one another and building a strong, caring classroom community. Our focus was on learning our friends’ names and celebrating the uniqueness of our own!
We kicked things off by reading the book Chrysanthemum and had a wonderful discussion about how our names are special and often chosen by people who love us. We talked about how it’s never okay to make fun of someone’s name — kindness and respect are always part of our classroom!
✨ Here are just a few highlights from our week:
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🔤 Alphabet Cookie Activity – Each student received a bag of alphabet cookies and a "cookie sheet" with all the letters printed on it. They pulled out a cookie, said the letter name, colored it on their sheet, and (best of all) got to eat it! Learning really is sweet!
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👑 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Name Crowns – After reading this fun alphabet story, we made our own name crowns to celebrate the letters that make up us!
We’re having so much fun getting to know each other and growing as a community.
👉 Ask your child this weekend to tell you the names of at least FIVE new friends in their class!
Let’s keep the connections going at home, too!
PTA Membership Reminder:
Let’s Win That Donut Party! 🍩
Don’t forget to join our PTA! There’s a school-wide competition going on now through September 17th, and the class with the most PTA members will win a DONUT PARTY! 🎉
We’d love to be the winning class — not just for the donuts (though we do love a good treat!) but also to show our strong support and commitment to family involvement at school.
Information about how to join the PTA was sent home in last week’s Friday Folder, or you can also sign up here.
Let’s go, families — we can do this! 🍩👏
💙 BEU Spirit Wear Orders Due September 7th! 💚
Just a quick reminder that Beulah Ralph spirit wear orders are due by September 7th! It’s a beloved BEU tradition for all students and staff to wear their spirit wear every Monday, and we want your child to be able to join in and show their school pride! Click here to order your spirit wear.
Let’s keep the BEU spirit strong! 🐾💙💚
Classroom Celebrations
This week we started two, end of day celebrations, The Secret Walker & Positive Notes
Secret Walker: this "award" recognizes someone who exhibited excellent hallway behavior. Every morning, I pull a name stick out of a bucket at random. The students don't know whose name is on the stick. I watch that child all day to see if they are walking quietly in the hallway with "bubbles, tails and eyes forward." At the end of the day, if that child was successful, I announce who the Secret Walker was, we cheer for them, and they earn a certificate to take home! If the Secret Walker struggled with doing their job in the hallway that day, I never announce who it was, but rather put their name stick back in the bucket and let the class know we'll try for a winner the next day.
Sophia was our first Secret Walker winner of the year!
Positive Note: this "award" recognizes someone who was a Beulah Ralph learner all day long. They followed our BEU expectations: kind, respectful, responsible, positive and did their best. I write a little note to the child sharing what I noticed and read it out loud to the class at the end of the day. We all cheer for our friend, like we do with the Secret Walker award, and they get to bring it home to share with their family! Every month I have a themed notepad, and I write each child's name on a page. This ensures I celebrate every child, at least once, every month. When a new month arrives, I switch notepads and continue this throughout the year.
Jarrett was our first Positive Note winner of the year!
Read aloud from Mrs. Isenogle: we enjoyed Mrs. Isenogle, our assistant principal, reading to our class on Friday. She read the book The Way Champs Play by Naomi Osaka. She also had a share circle with the class to help her learn their names and they shared something they loved about school so far.
"Play gives children the chance to practice what they are learning"
-Fred Rogers
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