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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