Happy Thanksgiving

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: we have learned all 26 lowercase letters of the alphabet!  Yay!  This means your child should know the name, sound and correct formation of all 26 lowercase letters. In your child's Friday Folder this week are the verbal prompts they learned for all letters.  They should be forming all letters correctly from here on out.  Please use this to help hold them accountable and practice at home. 

Our final two letters are z and qu.  We learned that q is a "scaredy cat" and can never be alone.  When spelling words, q and u must always be together.  

Please use the following verbal prompts when forming these letters:

z: across, slant down, across

qu: over, around dow....n, curve back (q) down, curve up, down (u)

Shared Reading & Spelling: we read the Big Book Carlos and his teacher, which featured our new spelling word and. I am noticing more and more students trying to sound out unknown words when reading.  They are using the letter and letter sound knowledge from Fundations and applying it when reading and writing!  So exciting!  

We will not introduce new spelling words next week due to the short week for Thanksgiving break.  The new word below will be introduced on Monday, December 1st.

                New spelling word of the week for December 1st:

on

I encourage you to review the 10 words previously learned during our time off.  Write them down on flash cards and have your child read them to you every night before bed.  Practice writing them in fun ways: with markers, chalk on warmer days, get out some shaving cream and let them write their word in the shaving cream with their fingers, use bath crayons and have them write the words while taking a bath, so many options! When visiting with family, have your child "show off" how they can read or write their spelling words!  I'm sure grandparents and special family members will be impressed!  

Writing Workshop: now that we know all 26 letter sounds, students should be applying this knowledge more and more when spelling words and writing stories.  At the beginning of the school year simply drawing pictures was ok, then adding a random string of letters showed they had an awareness of print even if you couldn't read it.  Now, they should be writing words that are legible and using their letter sounds for at least beginning and ending sounds in words.

Math: we are continuing our work with addition and subtraction within 10. This week, we focused on what happens when we “add 1” and “subtract 1” to a number. Students practiced using number racks, 5 and 10-frames, fingers, and even some mental math to help them build strong number sense. We’ll keep exploring these strategies as we move forward!

Geography: we are learning about maps, the purpose of maps and components of a map: map key/legend and compass rose.  We are discussing the positional words north, south, east and west.  

On Monday, Mrs. Fitch visited our classroom and introduced us to the Code & Go mice—an exciting coding activity where students practice using direction words such as north, south, east, west (and up, down, left, right). This was perfect preparation for next week’s adventure on the Big MO Map, a giant walk-on map of Missouri that travels around our school district.

During their media time, students will work in groups to complete tasks on the map. They’ll be challenged to move from one Missouri location to another using the Code & Go mice—coding the correct directions to get their mouse where it needs to go. It’s a fun and hands-on way to apply map skills, coding, and teamwork!

Lunch with the principal:  yay Aceston! He was chosen to have Lunch with the Principal for the month of November!  He enjoyed lunch on Monday with Mr. Foulk and these other kindergarten friends!

Packmate of the Month:  yay Sophia!  She was chosen, by her peers, as our Packmate of the Month for November.  Integrity was the character trait we focused on this month.  

Disguise a turkey: we had so much fun sharing the "disguise a turkey" family projects over the past few weeks! We are happy to share that all 21 turkeys in our class are safe!  I hope you enjoyed this special time with your child!  Thank you for encouraging and embracing their creativity! We will proudly display them through the end of November and return home in December.

Mizzou game: on Thursday, students who cashed in 300 Dojo points and chose the Mizzou Women’s Basketball game reward had an awesome time cheering on the Tigers! Even though Mizzou didn’t get the win, the energy was incredible. Many CPS schools, and even a few out-of-district schools, were there, making it the team’s best attendance since 2021! How cool to be a part of that! A few pictures are below, but even more photos and videos are posted in our class Facebook page. 

If your child didn’t select this activity, no worries at all! Many students are saving up their Dojo points for our next big event in December: a cozy movie day at school complete with hot cocoa and popcorn.