Heroes Day 2024

 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.  It is important that we meet with all families.  Please check your child's Friday Folder for their report card and the sign-up genius to remind yourself of the day/time you chose.  

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! Since it was a short week, we will continue to work on the same letters next week as well.  Due to this, there will not be a Fundations parent packet or optional handwriting homework in the Friday Folder today.  These will come home next week. 

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

Spelling: due to the short week, we did not have a spelling check today.  Our new word this past week was like and we will continue to practice that word next week.  Our spelling check will be next Thursday. 

Writing: As part of our ongoing writing journey, we are focusing on helping students understand where writers get their ideas. We are encouraging them to think creatively and draw inspiration from their own experiences, observations, and imagination. By brainstorming and discussing possible ideas, students will strengthen their ability to generate unique and personal stories.

In addition, we are working on labeling with beginning and ending sounds in their writing. This practice helps students develop phonemic awareness and supports their spelling and writing skills. By focusing on these sounds, they are learning to connect letters to the sounds they make, which is an essential part of early literacy development.

Literacy Workstations: this week we learned several new workstation activities that will help us practice our spelling words.  Check them out in the pictures below. 

One of our new activities is Search & Tally.  Students search through books for specific word wall words.  When they find one, they tally on their paper.  A great way to practice words at home as well!

Another one is Roll a Sight Word. Students roll a dice and read the sight word on their paper that correlates with the number rolled.  They also write the word on the paper.  

Lunch with the principal: yay Timmy! He was chosen to have Lunch with the Principal for the month of October!   He enjoyed lunch with Mrs. Isenogle and 4 lucky winners from the other Kindergarten classes. 

**This was postponed last week due to Mrs. Isenogle having sick kiddos. 

Math: this week we discussed positional words with a fun turkey activity, learned a new math game called "spin a number" and continued to work on learning how to correctly write numbers 0-10.  If you can write those numbers, you can write any number!  

Scholastic Book Fair: the students loved checking out the Scholastic Book Fair this week!  Book Fair hours are listed in the Kindergarten Newsletter in your child's Friday Folder.  We still need volunteers to work a quick and easy one-hour shift next week.  Click here to sign up.  We appreciate you helping out! 

Heroes Day: thank you to all of the grandparents, everyday heroes and past and present members of our military for joining us for our annual BEU Heroes Day. This is such a special Beulah Ralph tradition.  We enjoyed listening to the John Warner Middle School band and choir perform, Rock Bridge cheerleaders perform and local author, businesswoman and Honor Flight volunteer Michele Spry speak. We also had a surprise appearance from Truman the Tiger! We also recognized all active and former members of the military in the audience, as well as listen to BEU students share about their hero.  We especially enjoyed our classmate, Kimball, speaking about his hero.  Way to go, Kimball! 

Did your child miss out on having a visitor this year?  No worries, this is a yearly tradition and we hope they can visit next year! Enjoy a few pictures below.  MANY more are posted on our class Facebook page. 

Disguise a turkey family project: in your child's Friday Folder is a super fun family activity that I hope all families will participate in!  Work as a family to disguise the turkey so he doesn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner!  Get as creative as you'd like!  This is a tradition in my classroom and we love seeing all of the projects come in.  They are due no later than Friday, November 22nd, but feel free to turn them in as soon as you complete it!  We will share them and add to our bulletin board as they come in! 

Need some inspiration? Go to Google and type in "disguise a turkey project ideas" and so many will pop up!  I just did it and saw so many cute ideas!  Please reach out if you have questions.