A look at our learning...
September Reading Logs: September has come to an end and reading logs were due today. if you forgot to sign and turn yours in, please do so on Thursday. Thanks to everyone who shared a "Sneaky Reading Challenge" photo on our class Facebook page during September. October Reading Logs are in your child's Friday Folder, along with a new "Sneaky Reading Challenge." Reading is required homework at BEU. In K-1, the expectation is at least 4 days as week for 15 minutes at a time. Reading TO your child is what is appropriate right now. We DO NOT expect Kindergarteners to be readers at this point in the year.
Fundations: this week we learned the letter name, sound and correct formation for lowercase c and o. Please use the verbal prompts below to practice at home. Your child should be saying these prompts to themselves every time they write a letter on their homework to ensure they are doing it correctly. Don’t forget about the weekly handwriting “homework” in the Friday Folder. The extra practice at home really does help your child in the classroom.
c: over, around, open
o: over, around, close
At school, we have learned that the "over" motion should look like a "hill" or a "rainbow." Watch for this when forming these letters .
Handwriting Homework: please make sure your child's name is on their optional handwriting homework. Many students are turning it in without a name and it takes up class time to figure out whose it is. This is also a great opportunity for them to practice writing their name and forming letters learned correctly. Please make sure the student is writing their name, not an adult.
Word Wall Words: this week we learned our first two Word Wall Words. You may think of these as spelling words. The kids were SO excited! Our first words are a and I. We learned how a and I are letters, but can also be words. We also learned that when I is by itself, it must be uppercase.
Writing Workshop: we are learning that writers can tell stories through their pictures. In Kindergarten we write stories about the things we do in our everyday life. This means we need to get really good at drawing people. In Kindergarten we DO NOT draw stick people or spider people (ask your child what this is lol). We are learning to draw people using shapes. They are doing so well! The precursor to writing is being able to draw a picture and verbally tell what is happening.
Ask your child to draw a person for you using shapes, not sticks. A great thing for them to work on when they are off of school next week!
Check out the video I posted on our class Facebook page today. They are so focused working on this skill!
Math: we are ready to begin unit 2. Check your child's Friday Folder for a note explaining what we will be learning over the next few weeks and how to support their learning at home.
Class Celebration: we are trying to earn a Pajama Day in our classroom! Every day that we have a Secret Walker winner we earn a sticker on our 10 frame. When we earn 10 stickers we will celebrate by wearing PJ’s to school! We are getting close!
Science: we have begun our "Bears through the seasons" science unit. This is a resource provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation and ties in wonderfully with our Kindergarten science objectives. We will learn about weather, living and non-living, seasons and more! This curriculum follows the 4 seasons and will tie in Missouri black bears and their habitat during the seasons. This week we have been discussing the season of summer. We have discussed how we dress in the summer, what the weather is like in the summer, fun things we like to do in the summer and what bears do in the summer. We have also learned about how we know what the weather will be each day and how we know what to wear based on the weather. We are so lucky to have this amazing resource at school!
Counselor: this week's lesson with Mrs. Bergeson was about sharing and cooperation. A tough, but important, skill! They had to work in groups to build one tower out of blocks. For some, this was an easy task. For others, it was difficult to hear and be accepting of other ideas different than their own. These are important skills we work on daily in Kindergarten.
Positive Note: one of our school characteristics is "positive." At the end of each day I will read a Positive Note (aka Happy Note) out loud to the class. I choose someone to receive this note that had an excellent day! The note is always on a fun notepad. This month it is on a star notepad for our space theme. Once every child has earned a space Positive Note, I will switch to another themed notepad and start again. It is my goal that every child earns a Positive Note at least once a month.
Learning next week: I hate that we are missing 3 days of school together next week! We are just getting into a good school routine with academics! While teachers are attending Professional Development, I hope you can enjoy a little family time together. To help keep the students in routine and prepare them for their return next Thursday I encourage you to read with your child daily and record on their October reading log, practice writing all the letters we have learned so far in Fundations (t, b, f, n, m, i, u, o, c), practice writing our new Word Wall Words and tie in math skills from the past few weeks. The weather is going to be beautiful! So many of these things can be down outside! Reading, writing letters and words with chalk, etc.! I hope they are outside daily!
Kindergarten cuties
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