Happy Fall!

 Happy Fall!

This is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the temperatures, tailgating at Mizzou games (well on a normal year), baseball playoffs for my beloved St. Louis Cardinals and school has begun!  I hope you have been enjoying the beautiful weather with your families.  I encourage the kiddos to spend as much time as possible outside during our break times.

A look at our learning...

Fundations: this week we learned about the lowercase letter t.  We learned it's name and sound.  We also have a visual cue card and learned that the word "top" begins with the letter t. We learned that a top is a toy you can play with that spins.  We learned the correct letter formation for the lowercase t.  We learned how to correctly write the lowercase t on our Fundations writing grid.  We also found the letter t in our Fundations student notebook, practiced tracing it while saying the verbal prompts and colored the picture.  Ask your child to show you this in their student notebook and ask them to get out their writing grid and expo marker and write the letter for you! 

Please reinforce the following verbal prompts for the lowercase t when your child is writing at home:

"Point to the sky line, go dow....n to the grass line, go across the plane line. T, top, /t/" 

It is common for children to say "I know how to write my letters," and they are correct, they do.  I tell them that they know the preschool way to write their letters and now we are learning the Kindergarten way!  Any extra practice you can do at home is greatly appreciated.  We will typically learn 2-3 letters per week and every Friday I will share the correct verbal prompts for you to use at home.  These are the same verbal prompts they will be learning during live instruction. 

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Benchmark Reading: we continued to work on being a strong listener and how to handle books with care.  We are also learning about the parts of a book: cover, author and illustrator. 

Ask your child to show you the cover of a book at home and also ask them what an author does (writes the words) and what an illustrator does (draws the pictures.)

Check out the cozy reading room I shared with you last week (and is linked on their 1:25-3:00 choice time board) to see some of the new books we enjoyed this week.  There are now 3 slides of books for you to enjoy!  

Benchmark Writing: we use our lined writing journals during this time.  There is a place for a picture and a box.  If your child is only drawing a picture to tell their story right now, that's more than ok and 100% age and developmentally appropriate.  We do not expect them to come into school knowing how to write.  A drawing IS considered writing at this point.  If your child is trying to add words (even just random strings of letters) that is ok too! Please don't correct your child's spelling.

A few tips:

*Children should feel like successful, independent writers.  If children feel like they can't write without perfect spelling, they will not think of themselves as writers and will be apprehensive to try.  They are more likely to give up and not enjoy writing if they feel like they are always being told they are "wrong."  

*Writing is just like a toddler learning to speak.  They don't start with complete sentences and we always reward the effort and growth.

*Now, more than ever, it is important to let their authentic writing show.  It is already difficult for me, as their teacher, to get to know the children over Zoom like I would in the classroom.  I need to see their true abilities when working independently.  If an adult is guiding them or telling them how to spell things, I won't know their true abilities and therefore won't be able to teach to my best ability. 

I hope you will take a few minutes to read the article I have linked here.

I have also included a few charts about the natural progression of writing that I hope will be helpful for you.   Please click photos to enlarge. 

Math: our math is a spiraling curriculum.  This means, rather than learning things in units (Shapes in September, counting in October, measurement in November, etc.) they will see the same topics throughout their school year, with each encounter increasing in complexity and will reinforce previous learning.  So while we learned about 2-D shapes on Thursday and counting on Friday, this doesn't mean we are finished after just one day.  We will come back to it often throughout the year.  This helps keep ideas fresh on the children's minds all year long.  

This week we learned about length (shorter, longer, the same), counting to 20 and shapes.  This year we will focus on learning the following 2D shapes: triangle, square, trapezoid, hexagon and rhombus.  We learned that rhombus is a fancy name for diamond.  I told them the kids that in preschool they probably called it a diamond, but now that we are in school we call it a rhombus. 

Science: all of unit 1 will be focusing on living and non-living and plants and animals.  We are also learning about how to use our 5 senses when in nature.  I enjoyed seeing the pictures they took of trees on Thursday.  Keep encouraging them to use the Seek app to learn more about our environment.  

1:25-3:00 Time frame: a friendly reminder that school isn't over at 1:25. Our school day goes until 3:00 while in virtual learning.  Children should be using the 1:25-3:00 time frame to finish any assignments they did not complete during whole group instruction.  Please be sure to check their Seesaw assignments during this time (or ask your daycare provider or pod leader to) to make sure all items are complete.  Often times I will write comments and send back work that isn't completed or isn't completed properly.  This is also a good time to have them use the Choice Board.  There are books added daily if they click on the "read" tab and there are also interactive tools on the "explore centers tab.  Click here to see the choice board.  I have also shared this Choice Board on Facebook, it is linked to their daily schedule I post on Schoology and Seesaw and was sent to your inbox on Seesaw.  I wanted to make sure you always have it readily available. 

 

Next week I will be doing one on one appointments during this time for our AIMS screener (link and more info was in Friday's email).  Once those are complete, we will be starting small groups.  This means your child will have an assigned time each day to get back on Zoom and work with their assigned group during the 1:25-3:00 time. I will give you more info on your child's time each day after next week.  So while they won't be on Zoom with me the entire hour and a half, I just wanted you to be aware that they will be getting back on with me at set times and should be using this time to also finish work before taking brain breaks, playing, etc. 

Friday Craft: today we made chameleon's.  They had the choice to use watercolors, crayons or markers to decorate their chameleon's.  This craft tied into the book A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.  This book teaches us about finding and being proud of our own identity and the value of friendship.   

Missing assignments: every Friday afternoon I will send messages to your Seesaw inbox (the parent account) about assignments your child didn't complete, only partially completed or didn't submit that week.  Please help your child work on these and submit before class on Monday.  These are all lessons we did together in class, but they didn't get turned in for whatever reason.  If you didn't create a parent account in Seesaw I encourage you to, but sent it to your personal email this week.  If you don't have a message from me in Seesaw then it means your child completed all their assignments!  Whoo hoo!  

First full week.....done!

We officially have the first full week of Kindergarten under our belt!

I am so proud of their hard work and very impressed with their technology skills.

Thanks to everyone who has allowed their child to be independent and work on their iPad and school things on their own.  The more often we give them these chances, the better! It is definitely a good idea to always check their work each day and make sure they properly submitted assignments, but please let them be the one "running" the iPad & doing their work.

Kindergarten teachers before virtual learning.....and after virtual learning!! 😂

                         

A look at our learning this week...

Community Building- this week continued to be focused on community building and using our iPads and Seesaw.  In order to be successful in our academics, we must first be successful in our relationships with our classmates and teachers.  We have done the best we can to get to know one another virtually.  I think the best part of each day this week was the "All About Me" shares.  We enjoyed learning about everyone's favorite toy/stuffed animal, snack and book.  We discovered we have many of the same favorites!  Beef Jerky and Teddy Grahams are for sure the clear winners in the food category.  Dr. Seuss seemed to be popular in the book category.  

Seesaw-this week we learned how to use the pencil, pen, highligher, glow pen, camera and microphone.  Check out your child's assignments that focused on these tools in Seesaw.  They did a great job!  I was especially impressed with today's lessons on the camera and microphone.  I love seeing their cute faces and hearing their sweet voices in the recordings.  

Calendar-we start each day with Calendar Time.  This ties into our math curriculum.  We learn about the months of the year, days of the week, seasons, number of days in school, counting with Base Ten blocks, counting on Ten Frames, etc.  This is also a way to start our morning as a community of learners.  

Books we read-in Kindergarten we read books several times a day.  When children hear stories read aloud it expands their vocabulary, ignites their imagination, models book handling skills and teaches them beginning reader skills.  

Here are some of the books we read this week:  The Crayon Box that Talked, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Dot, All Are Welcome, No David!, Bear Sees Colors, Jabari Jumps and Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes.  

Every day during choice time (1:25-3:00), the children can chose to read.  They can read books they have at home or school or they can listen to the books we have read during the school day.  I have them linked on the choice board where it says "Read."  Check it out! It is updated with new books daily. This Choice Board is saved in Schoology and linked on the daily schedule in Schoology, but feel free to bookmark this on your child's iPad, or turn it into an "app" for easy access as well.  I have also linked it here for you. Many children have asked how to access this when our school day is over, so if you could show them how to access it, that would be great!

Crafts- every Friday we do crafts in my classroom and I hope during virtual learning I can continue that, one way or another.  Crafts foster communication, listening skills, following multi-step directions, attention skills, build community, imagination and creativity.  I also try to tie my crafts into a book, so that means crafts also support literacy and reading!  This week we read the book Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes and made our own Pete the Cat!  They also took a picture of their craft and uploaded it to Seesaw with a voice recording.  Check it out!  In the picture below you can see some of the crafts we've made so far this year! 

A peek into next week

Now that we have spent a week and a half community building and learning our online platforms, it is time to start focusing more on academics.  We will begin following the virtual schedule that was sent to you in the Virtual Meet the Teacher presentation. 

A few things to note and for you to do this weekend...

*Please make sure you are checking the daily schedule in Schoology every evening, or morning, before your child starts school. This is where I post the lessons we will be doing for the day, with live links, and also list the materials your child will need for school that day.  I know many of your children are in pods or daycares, so it is important your child has all necessary supplies with them.  Here is an example if you aren't sure what I'm talking about.  This is for Monday and is already posted.  I try to post the following days schedule before I leave work each day. 

To access this on your child's iPad go to the CPS Portal icon, click on the Schoology app, click on courses and then choose my Kindergarten course that has my Bitmoji you see below.  The schedule should be the first thing you see if in the "Materials" tab.  There is a folder where I keep the older schedules as well. 

*Beginning next week, we will be working in small groups during Fundations & Heggerty (12:55-1:25).  During this time I will be working with students based on what group they are a part of if and when we go back to virtual learning.  This means I will be spending part of that time teaching a lesson to half the class (group 1), while the other half of the class (group 2) is in a breakout room on Zoom.  When they are in the breakout room they will be expected to be reading/looking at books quietly.  Please make sure your child has several picture books they can look at during this time.  We call this time "Read to Self" time when we are at school.  I suggest making a "book box" for them just like we do at school.  This is a special box just for their reading books. If they already have a box with school supplies in it, they can just add books to it as well if they will fit.  I'd try to have at least 5-7 books in there and rotate them out often so they don't get bored with their choices.  Boredom leads to behavior and we don't want that! 

Here is an example of a "book box."  

*Please go to the "Self Service" app on your child's iPad and download the app called "Seek by iNaturalist."  We will be using this for some of our science lessons this year. Try it out this weekend, it's so fun!

*Don't forget to read to your child/have them read to you at least 4 times a week for 15 minutes a time and record on their September reading log that was in your bag at the drive thru last week. 

Have a great weekend!  I hope you can get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Please let your child know I am so proud of them and you are too! They have worked hard this week and deserve all the praise!  I can't wait to see them again on Monday!

First week of Kindergarten Virtual Learning

 Yay!  We survived our first two days of Kindergarten-virtual style!

By "we," I mean all of us....students, teachers and parents!

I want to give a big shout-out to all of you!  This isn't easy. I get that, I understand and I'm here to help.  This isn't how I'm used to teaching either, so we are all learning together. Patience and grace....with each other and ourselves.  That has to be our mantra during this time.

Every Friday I will post on this blog about what we learned that week.  I will also post reminders, tips/suggestions, pictures, etc.  I will send out an email once the blog is posted each week.  I typically post at least one other time each week, but that day is never a set day.  I will always send an email out when a blog is posted. To help you feel less overwhelmed and know how to support what your child learned that week, I highly recommend you taking the time to read the blog post sometime the day it's posted. I know you have many questions and I try to answer many of them in my blog posts.  My posts and emails may be lengthy at times, but it is only because I want to keep you 100% in the loop and make this easier on you! Communication is something I pride myself on and work really hard at.  

This week we:

*practiced the mute/un-mute button on Zoom 

*practiced the Pledge of Alliengce and the Beulah Ralph School Pledge (a copy of this is in the bag you picked up at the drive through pick up last night or tonight)

*learned how to access Seesaw on our ipad and post a few simple things.  Be sure to check out your child's Seesaw account to see the work they posted.  

*read many community building picture books, such as: The Kissing Hand, The King of Kindergarten, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Our Class is a Family and Chrysanthemum

*made crafts to go with a few books: a King/Queen of Kindergarten crown and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees with our name

*learned about our Fundations kit

*learned how to be a strong listener 

Any way that you can practice and review the above things at home, would be great! 

A few notes about Seesaw

Please know the "must do" work that is posted in Seesaw is the work that I am doing with the children during the school day.  I push it out at 7 a.m. every day so you can have an overview of what your child will be doing that day.  Just like the daily schedule I am posting in Schoology is an overview for you. It is not meant for you to do as homework after hours.  I have noticed a few children have had double posts because they are doing it during the day with me (when they should) and then again at night.  While I do hope that you look through the posts each night (as info for yourself or for a review of learning if needed with your child or just simply to see your child's work and compliment them), please know the assignments were already finished in class (or should have been) and are not expected for you to do in the evening. I am not trying to add more to your plate!  If you do notice that your child didn't submit their work during class, then yes, you need to help them submit it in the evening.  

The Benchmark Reading google presentations and the Fundations presentations in there are the presentations I'm going through with the children during the day.  The pages that say "must do"  are my lessons and there isn't anything you need to do with them at home, except look through them if you want to stay informed on what your child is learning or review it with them.  Just know that there isn't anything you need to send back to me, in regards to those.  There are pages that say "can do's" and those are optional things you and your child can do during the 1:25-3:00 time frame (or anytime!)  

So to sum all of this up, the only work your child needed to submit to me these last two days in Seesaw (which was hopefully done when in class with me) was the following:

*a picture of themselves in their "King of Kindergarten" crown

*the lesson where they wrote their name on the iPad

*a picture of their Chicka Chicka Boom Boom craft

*the Flat Stanley project (although this was optional)

If an activity says "optional," that's exactly what it is.  We DO NOT do these during class, but rather are things you can have your child do at home if you wish. Today I posted an optional activity that teaches your child about September 11th.  If you choose to do it, please submit the work to me so I can see it, but just remember this is optional. 

Management of school things

You were given a lot of resources for your child during the last couple of drive through pick ups and during the Kindergarten meet the teacher visit.  Please create a home-learning tub with your child.  In this tub, please place all of the materials we have given you so that your child is organized and always has things readily available. This tub needs to be right next to the desk or table they sit at. The quicker they can grab things independently, the more we can learn. If your child is learning at home some days, but a pod other days, this tub must go with them. If they are starting their learning in one room, but moving to another room later in the day, the tub must go with them.  I noticed many children having to run off camera  or yell to a parent to get something we needed for class because it wasn't next to them. Below you will see things that should ALWAYS be in their tub, but when we have more drive through pick ups, you will also need to add those items.

 

Reading Homework/Log

When you come through the drive through supply pick up this week, one of the items in the bag is a September reading log.  As mentioned in my virtual "Meet the Teacher" presentation, they only true "homework" we have at Beulah Ralph is completing any unfinished work and reading!  The expectation for grades K-2 is to read or be read to at least 4 times a week for at least 15 minutes.  Each time you do this, please record on the reading log.  At the end of the month I will ask you to turn the reading log into me.  The children who meet the reading goal will earn a small reward from me.  At the beginning of each month a new reading log will be sent home. 

Yay, you made it!  You read this SUPER LONG email!  Thank! I truly do appreciate it!  I promise as the year goes on they will get shorter.  I am just trying to be as helpful as possible and I hope it's working.  Please, please reach out to me if you need ANYTHING.  No question is silly and I'm happy to help.  Thank you for sharing your precious children with me.  I've enjoyed them so much and am so proud of them already!  I hope they enjoyed their two days with me and I will see them on Monday!