Fun in Kindergarten

A look at our learning...

Fundations: you guessed it—we worked on tapping out three-letter words again this week! This will continue to be a big focus for the rest of the year, since it’s such an important skill for both reading and writing. Students are encouraged to use their letter sounds to help them sound out words. You should start to notice your child’s writing becoming easier to read. If you’re having trouble reading what they wrote, that’s a great sign to spend a little extra time at home practicing tapping out words together. They know their letter sounds, and we love seeing that knowledge show up in their daily work!

Writing Workshop: this week we wrapped up our narrative writing unit! Since the beginning of Kindergarten, students have been writing narratives—stories about their own lives—because that’s something Kindergarteners are experts at and can easily write about. Whether it was a t-ball game, playing in the snow on a snow day, or a simple trip to the store with their families, students have had lots of ideas to share. They’ve grown from telling their stories through drawings, to adding labels, to writing one or two complete sentences. I am so proud of their hard work and growth!

Next week we will begin our opinion writing unit! This is always a fun one—because we all know that 5- and 6-year-olds have lots of opinions! 😉

Shared Reading & Spelling:  we read the book Who is in the tub?, a silly story about different animals getting in the tub for a bath!  This book featured our new spelling word of the week, in.   

Next week's new spelling words are below.  I encourage you to begin practicing this weekend, as the word have is a tricky one!   

Next week's new spelling words:

have

it

Math: this week we were introduced to coins, focusing on the penny and the nickel. During the month of February, we will continue learning about these coins and begin exploring other coins as well. Students are excited to learn about money and recognize different coins!

Library: it was an exciting week in the library! Students were able to check out their first chapter book if they chose to do so. Mrs. Fitch & Mrs. Groner talked with students about different types of chapter books and helped them learn which ones are a good fit for Kindergarten (books with pictures throughout and shorter in length) and which are better suited for older students (longer books with few or no pictures).

Thank you for helping make sure students bring their library books back on our assigned library day each week, which is Thursday. Having books returned on their scheduled day helps us so much!

Packmate of the Month:  yay Dosi!  She was chosen, by her peers, as our January Packmate of the Month!  Our character trait of the month was safe/safety.  

Reading logs: January reading logs are due on Monday.  Please make sure your child's name is on the reading log and it is signed by an adult.  A reminder that reading is our only required homework at Beulah Ralph.  All students should be turning in their reading log each month.  February reading logs are in your child's Friday Folder. 

Next Week: next week will be a busy and fun one! Be sure to check your child’s Friday Folder for information about School Counselor Spirit Week, Global School Play Day, and a reminder about our 100th Day collection. We will also be celebrating World Read Aloud Day and spending some special time reading with our 4th grade buddies in Ms Cohen's class. If your child has a favorite picture book, they are welcome to bring it to school on Wednesday, February 4th. 

We are SO excited to celebrate the 100th Day of School on Tuesday! Please check your child’s Friday Folder for a reminder about how we will celebrate this special day. We hope all students will participate! Please be sure your child arrives at school on time, as our fun will start right away and we don’t want anyone to miss out on anything!

Volunteers and griddles/spatulas still needed.  Sign up here

If you would like your student to have their photo taken for Spring Picture Day, they may bring pajamas in their backpack to change into for School Counselor Spirit Week afterwards.

Check your child's Friday Folder for this.

Please share with families who will have Kindergarteners during the 2026-2027 school year.

More fun at school

Brrr! Winter is here!

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: tapping, tapping and more tapping!  Such an important Kindergarten skill.  We also have several new literacy workstations that focus on tapping out CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words to reinforce our learning from Fundations.  Ask your child about these workstations! 

I encourage you to use the parent packets that come home every Friday if you don't already.  Have your child tap out and write the words so you can see their tapping/spelling ability.  When your child asks you "how do you spell...?" don't tell them! Remind them to "tap it out." Phonetic spelling is developmentally appropriate at this stage in their education career. 

Shared Reading & Spelling: what wonderful readers your children continue to become! They are carrying over their knowledge of tapping out words in Fundations to the books we read during Shared Reading and Independent Reading time. The more consistent they are with practicing their spelling words and tapping out words, the stronger their reading skills become and it’s exciting to see how much progress they’re already making!

Next week's new spelling words:

in

if

Writing Workshop: as mentioned above with Fundations, I am noticing more and more students tapping out/sounding out words when writing and applying it to their stories.  The learning at school and extra practice at home, really does show up and make a difference when they are independently working.  Their stories are becoming more legible as they are able to hear and write more sounds in words.  I hope you notice this at home as well!  Many are still writing stories about what they did over winter break and Christmas.  The upcoming snow will hopefully give them more fun things to write about! Check out some amazing Kindergarten writing below.

Student 1

I went to grandma

Debbie's house and we opened our presents and we loved our presents. One of my presents was one pair of soft

pajamas and I liked them.

Student 2

I saw a present

on the table.  I was so excited.  Me and my family opened my present.

Student 3

I opened my 

gift on Christmas.  It was fun.  I got a remote car.  It can go fast.

  Student 4

I am at my

Aunt Kate's house.  I am the first one awake.  I had so much fun.

Math: this week in math, we were introduced to measurement in a very basic, hands-on way. We explored concepts like longer, shorter, and equal using strips of paper of different lengths. We also discussed how it’s important to start measuring from the same point so the comparison is fair and accurate.

In kindergarten, we focus on a non-standard approach to measurement, so we won’t be using rulers or other tools yet. The goal is for students to gain a basic understanding of measurement concepts. Be sure to check the Math Parent Pages in your child’s Friday folder for ideas to extend this learning at home!

Counselor: this week, our kindergarteners met with Mrs. Bernier (formerly Miss Otto, congratulations on her marriage this fall!) for a lesson on coping skills for big feelings. She introduced some fun strategies, like “smelling the cookie and blowing on the hot cocoa” or “smelling the cupcake and blowing out the candle”, to help students calm down when emotions feel overwhelming. There were several other techniques as well, ask your child to show you their favorite coping skill at home!

Friday Craft & Snowy Fun:  we read several books about snow, snowmen, and winter fun in anticipation of the upcoming snow this weekend! The children made adorable snowmen to decorate our classroom, read the cute story Sneezy the Snowman, and worked on a melted snowman writing project. On Thursday, your child brought home a few papers about Sneezy the Snowman; use them to ask your child to retell the story for you at home!

Save the dates and spread the word!

We still need many volunteers for PJ's & Pancakes.  Can't volunteer your time, but have a griddle and spatula you can let PTA borrow?  That is on the sign-up as well!  Sign up here.

Check your email for our Valentine Party sign-up and Friday Folder for information on valentines for classmates!

Learning & Growing This Week

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we continue to work on tapping out three-letter words when reading and writing. We are also learning about the “bossy” (or silent) e that appears at the end of some words. Students are learning that the bossy e tells the first vowel in the word to say its name. Words such as cape, made, and like have a bossy e. The students thought this was a pretty cool concept to learn—and found calling it the “bossy e” especially funny! 😊

Shared Reading & Spelling: this week, we read two nonfiction Big Books—Taking Care of Chase and The New Forest Path. Both books sparked great conversations as students were able to make personal connections to the texts. Having discussions about books and making connections is an important reading skill that helps deepen comprehension.

Next week's spelling words:

dad

had

Writing Workshop: Since returning from winter break, we have transitioned to new writing paper with more lines to encourage students to add more details to their writing. Our lessons have focused on how to stretch our ideas and include more information in our stories. As part of this work, we are learning about a writing resource called the Story Hand.

Here is a quick explanation of the Story Hand:

1. Heart – Choose a topic that is close to your heart (it’s easier to add details when you care about the topic).

2. Characters (girl and pig) – Tell who is in your story.

3. Setting (barn) – Tell where your story takes place.
   Example: “I went to Target with my mom.”
   This sentence includes both who is in the story and where it took place.

4. 3 Details (1, 2, 3) – Move beyond one sentence by adding details.
   Example: “I went to Target with my mom. I got a new Lego set, my mom bought food, and we got hot chocolate.”

Adding more detail is a skill that takes time, and we will continue working on this throughout the year. 

Math: This week, we continued working on writing numbers and placing numbers in numerical order, but not always starting at 1. This helps build flexibility in math and strengthens students’ number sense, or their understanding of how numbers work and relate to one another. We’ve also been practicing identifying numbers that come before and after a given number.

In addition, students are working on simple addition within 10. One important strategy we are learning is how to hold a number in their head and count on. For example, students play a game using one numeral die and one dot die. They hold the numeral in their head and then count up the dots to find the total. These activities help students move beyond counting everything from the beginning and develop stronger, more efficient math strategies.

Please refer to the family math worksheets in their Friday Folder to help extend their learning at home.  

Lunch with the principal:  yay Madisyn!  She was chosen to have Lunch with the principal on Monday!  She enjoyed a special lunch with Mrs. Isenogle and these kindergarten friends.  

Social Studies:  we learned about Martin Luther King Jr., why he is important, and his special holiday on Monday. We had many meaningful lessons about kindness, equality, friendship, and love—and how we, no matter how small, can make a difference in our world. Your child has a poem and craft coming home in their folder today.  

A reminder that school is not in session on Monday in observances of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

A few reminders from The Timberwolf Times

More fun from our week...

Listening to Eric Litwin, the author of the Pete the Cat books, tell us about how he became an author and his books.  This is called a Book Break and it's similar to a Zoom because it's live and students can ask him (or other featured, famous authors) questions!

One of my former kindergarteners, now in 3rd grade, used her Dojo points to come read to our class!  We enjoyed listening to her read an Elephant and Piggie book.

And a couple more cute photos