Happy Thanksgiving!

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: this week we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase x and y.  We only have TWO LETTERS IN THE ALPHABET LEFT TO LEARN! YAY!

Please use the verbal prompts below when helping your child form these letters:

x-slant down, slant back

y-slant down, slant baaaackkkk

Slant down letters can be tricky for some kiddos.  If you notice this is tough for your child, I'd suggest some activities that support crossing the midline. There are SO MANY activities that work on this skill.  Click here to see a few.  Even just having them stand up (without a pencil) and making the "slant down" motion with their arm across their body is good practice. 

Writing Workshop: our main focus continues to be writing a story (sentence) by sounding out/stretching out our words.  If they are writing about walking their dog, their story shouldn't just say "dog," but rather something such as "I took my dog on a walk."  That may be spelled something like this "I tk mi dog on a wk." 

Check out your child's Take Home Folder tonight. We did a "label the sticker" activity that specifically focused on sounding out words.  Take notice and see if your child heard/wrote most beginning and ending sounds (with maybe a middle sound) or if they wrote a random string of letters.  By now, Kindergarten students should be hearing and writing at least the beginning and ending sounds in words since we have learned 24/26 letter sounds. 

 

Math: this week we worked on representing numbers in different ways (check their folder for this.....one time they worked with a partner and one time independently), number formation and a new math game called "Spin a number" that focuses on counting and number identification. 

Science: as mentioned in our Kindgarten team newsletter in today's Friday Folder, we have switched gears in science.  We are finished with our living and non-living unit and are in the middle of a health unit.  This week Mrs. Lolli, our school nurse, came into our classroom to talk about germs and proper handwashing.  She used some special glo germ lotion to help us see the germs on our hands before and after washing.  If they could still see the lotion under the black light after washing, it helped them see where and how they could better wash their hands.  

We teach the following for handwashing and appreciate your support at home:

1) wet hands with warm water

2) turn off water and get one squirt of soap

3) scrub with soap while singing the ABC song, making sure to get wrists, between fingers, around fingernails and both sides of hands

4) turn the warm water back on and rinse off soap

5) dry

Friday Craft: last week we made turkeys (think I forgot to post) and today we made scarecrows.

We have LOVED sharing our turkey disguises the past few weeks! Your families are so creative!  We will keep them in our room through the end of November and then send them home. I hope you enjoyed working on these as a family.  

I will see your children at school on Monday and Tuesday, but want to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your time together!

Thank you!

 Thank you so much for taking time this week to meet with me during parent-teacher conferences.  I love sharing how far they've come since the beginning of the year and ways we can work together to help them progress over the next trimester.  Although it's quick, it's so nice to sit down and talk with you.  Thank you for sharing your special children with me this school year.

A look at our learning...

Fundations: this week we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase v and w.  They are "slant down" letters.  The "slant down" can be a bit tricky for kids.  When practicing at home this weekend, watch and see if they are slanting down the correct way.

Please use the following verbal prompts for correct formation:

v-slant down, slant up

w-slant down, slant up, slant down, slant up

Literacy Workstations: we are now going to two literacy workstations a day.  During this time, children work in partnerships at various literacy (and a couple of math) stations.  While they are working, I am working one on one or with small groups of children at my "teacher table" on literacy skills such as letters, sounds, handwriting and reading.  

Ask your child what literacy workstations they went to this week!  We have some new ones!

Writing Workshop: we are working hard on learning how to sound out or stretch out words to help us spell.  In Kindergarten, phonetic spelling is what we mostly want to see.  We will begin learning sight words next week (I call them word wall words) and those words are expected to be spelled correctly at all times.  If it isn't a sight word, then sounding it out is developmentally appropriate.  

To help with this at home, when your child asks "how do I spell...?" please encourage them to "sound it out or stretch it out and write the sounds they hear."  They may ask "did I spell it right?" when finished.  Please try and refrain from telling them no, as this will discourage them and make them afraid to try.  They will start to think everything they do is wrong.  I just say "did you write the sounds you hear? Great! Looks good to me!"  especially if it is close.  At this point in the year, we are hoping for beginning and ending sounds.  So for "house" they may write "hs." If they get a middle sound in there too, great!  

Math: we worked on more counting/sorting/graphing, rote counting (working towards 60 as our next goal), measurement (specifically longer/shorter) and learning how to correctly form numbers 0-4.  Next week we will work on number formation for 5-9 and be finished.  Once they can write 0-9, they can write any number!  We just briefly introduce correct number formation.  In Kindergarten, learning how to form our letters correctly is our main focus.  It is still developmentally appropriate if they are writing numbers backwards and not something we really stress over.  

Turkey's in disguise: the kiddos have loved sharing their "turkeys in disguise" family project this week!  Check out the ones that have been brought in!  So creative!  These are due next Friday, November 19th.  The long weekend would be a great time to do this!   Don't forget to send in the writing sheet that goes with it.  

What beautiful Fall weather we had this week!

November already?!

 I can't believe that November is already here and it's the end of 1st trimester!

The students have grown so much since the beginning of the year and I look forward to meeting with you next week at parent-teacher conferences to share about their progress.  Parent-teacher conferences are only 15 minutes long and we must stay on schedule or else it affects the scheduling of every teacher and every classroom.  I will use this time to chat about what I see in the classroom, their strengths and any areas they are still growing.  This will not be a time to discuss the new report card because there just isn't enough time, therefore, we strongly encourage you to watch the two videos that Dr. Woods has sent out over the last couple of weeks so you understand why your child is marked the way they are.

A look at our learning...

Fundations: this week we learned THREE new letters: l, h, k.  Lowercase k can be super tricky for kids, but they are doing a great job!  We also learned about question marks this week and what they mean/when we use them in a sentence.

Please use the following verbal prompts when your child is forming their letters:

l-down

h-down, up, over

k-down, slant in, slant out

Rhyme: You may hear your children talk about Heggerty.  This is a 10 minute part of our day where we work on phonemic awareness skills.  One part of this is rhyme.  There are many ways to practice rhyme.  One activity we do is the teacher says 3 words and the students have to tell us the two words that rhyme.  For example: hat, bat, sock.  They would reply "hat, bat."  I have noticed that kids can identify the rhyme if the words are the first two words listed, like above.  However, if it is the last two words or first and third word, they have difficulty identifying it. For example, if I say "dog, house, log" they might reply "dog, house."  This means that they have a limited understanding of rhyme and is something they still need practice with. 

I encourage you to practice this at home and mix up the order that you say the words that rhyme.  It's super easy to do while driving in the car, waiting in line at the grocery store, before bed, in the bathtub, etc.  

Writing Workshop: this week we started using a new writing paper.  We have been using just blank, white drawing paper, as this is what is developmentally appropriate at the beginning of Kindergarten due to children still acquiring gross and fine motor skills.  However, now we are ready for a paper with a bit more organization to it.  It has a place for our name, a picture and a single line to encourage story writing (aka a sentence will be our goal for awhile...this IS a story in Kindergarten).  Eventually we will move to using paper with the Fundations lines, but in time.  

I saw chickens outside

I went outside

Ms. Concannon's story, but they helped me sound out the words.

Math: we began unit 3 this week.  We sorted, tallied and graphed shapes, played "Top-it," found different ways to make 10 with ten frames and started learning correct formation of our numbers.  Please know that it is totally ok if children are having trouble properly forming numbers or reversing numbers at this point in Kindergarten.  Just like letter writing, number writing takes time.  We do not focus as much on forming numbers correctly as we do letters.  It is still common for students to be learning how to form their numbers correctly through second grade.  

Science: our living and non-living unit is finished.  Next week, we will begin a health unit.  We will focus on healthy eating, exercise, moving our body, etc.  

Heroes Day: today we enjoyed learning all about American heroes, specifically veterans. Beulah Ralph 5th graders interviewed several veterans who have a special connection to Beulah Ralph faculty or students.  They recorded these interviews and everyone in the school was able to watch them.  We also read books about veterans/heroes (one of my favorites is below) and made a special craft.  

Normally this event is open to grandparents (our way to also have grandparents day) and veterans and we have a large assembly where we do many of these same things.  Due to Covid, we were unable to invite guests, but hope to bring back this wonderful tradition in the future.  

Ask your child about our special day today.   

5th graders interviewed Mr. Moody, and other veterans, and we enjoyed watching the interviews today

Citizen of the Month: yay Jerimiyah!  He was chosen by Mrs. Bergeson, our school counselor, for October Citizen of the Month for specials.  Just like the students get to pick a class Citizen of the Month, specialists get to pick someone as well.  What's cool about this award is that it is out of the ENTIRE GRADE LEVEL!  Mrs. Bergeson chose Jerimiyah out of ALL of the Kindergarteners for his exemplary behavior during Counselor time!  So cool!

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