What a busy week we have had! Your students are learning so much, I hope they are coming home to share this with you. If not, here is a summary to fill in the gaps!
Animated Alphabet - Students learned two new characters this week: Farley Fox and Baby Barnaby. I still have only about 25% of students returning pictures the following day for our alphabet book. Let me know if you need help obtaining magazines and I will get some for you!
I know is seems hard to believe, but your children have already learned 16 characters! This means that there are many words that they should be able to sound out and read. Look for those words in your shared reading and have them read to you. Also, we have learned many sight words. Memorizing the sight words is an important piece to reading. A parent volunteer and myself have been working on sight word books for your child to have at home and practice with. These will be sent home next week. It would be best practice to run through these every night and until you feel they have them under control. Once they have them down, bring your cards back to school and we will check them at school. Once they know a word they will get their card punched. I am hoping this a fun motivational way to keep kids accountable for learning their sight words. Look for those next week and let me know if you have any questions.
Math - In math this week we have worked with coins (pennies and nickels). We have used coins and tiles to make addition sentences. We have also done dot-to-dots, worked on creating and naming patterns, and making up story problems to go along with pictures. Making up math story problems in your everyday life is a great way for your child to work on counting, addition and subtraction. Try this while riding in the car, or when you have some down time, like waiting rooms. You will be surprised what a difference this effort can make.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are getting closer.I still have 6 families that need to sign up for a conference time. You can do so by contacting the office anytime. If you do not pick a time, one will be assigned to you. I will also be sending reminders about your conference time soon.
Next week I will also be sending home a blank copy of the report card so you will see what kinds of things we will be assessing this trimester. I have already begun to do some of these assessments, as they are very time consuming at a kindergarten level due to the fact that most have to be done one on one.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Week of October 10-13
Just a few quick reminders and notes...
* Book Order this Week! The packet was sent home on Tuesday and they are due on Thursday (since we have no school Friday). Remember, there is no obligation to buy, but this really helps build our classroom library, particularly the listening library. I am able to purchase books on CD at great prices!
* Fire Safety Week: This week we have been learning about fire safety. Students learned how and when to dial 911. This would be an extremely important conversation to have at home. Make sure your students know how to use the phone (especially if all you have is a cell phone), as well as your address.
We also learned about stop, drop and roll, as well as getting low and crawling out of a burning building. Talk about escape plans at your house tonight!
* Keep those pictures coming for the alphabet book!
* Don't forget, no school Friday!
* Book Order this Week! The packet was sent home on Tuesday and they are due on Thursday (since we have no school Friday). Remember, there is no obligation to buy, but this really helps build our classroom library, particularly the listening library. I am able to purchase books on CD at great prices!
* Fire Safety Week: This week we have been learning about fire safety. Students learned how and when to dial 911. This would be an extremely important conversation to have at home. Make sure your students know how to use the phone (especially if all you have is a cell phone), as well as your address.
We also learned about stop, drop and roll, as well as getting low and crawling out of a burning building. Talk about escape plans at your house tonight!
* Keep those pictures coming for the alphabet book!
* Don't forget, no school Friday!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Playing Catch-Up
Dear Families,
I know I am a little behind with my blogging, so I am going to get you up to speed with what has been going on at school and what you can expect in the future.
Animated Alphabet - We continue to learn about two characters a week. This week we learned our first character that is not a letter: Arnie Aardvark. He teaches us the AR sound combo. We looked for him in words like arm, park, art, bar.
I also wanted to remind you about sending pictures with your students each day after we learn a character. I have not been receiving very many and our book is looking a little weak. Searching through magazines and talking about sounds in pictures is a great pre-reading skill that you can reinforce at home.
Reading groups - In reading groups we have been working on hearing the different sounds in words, what letters make those sounds, character review, vowels and consonants, and reading books we put together.
Math - This week we will be taking our math test over Unit 1 and starting Unit 2. I will save those math tests to share with you at conferences, but if there are glaring problems you will be alerted ahead of time.
This week in Kindergarten is apple week. We will be tasting apples and apple products, learning about the sequence of an apples life, graphing apples, and reading apple books.
Also, last week you received a calendar with Animated Alphabet characters and activities. These activities will help reinforce what we are learning at school. Do them in any order you wish. When students have completed all the activities, sign and return the calendar to school for a sticker on the chart. The calendar should take you about 4 weeks to complete if you do one activity a day.
I know I am a little behind with my blogging, so I am going to get you up to speed with what has been going on at school and what you can expect in the future.
Animated Alphabet - We continue to learn about two characters a week. This week we learned our first character that is not a letter: Arnie Aardvark. He teaches us the AR sound combo. We looked for him in words like arm, park, art, bar.
I also wanted to remind you about sending pictures with your students each day after we learn a character. I have not been receiving very many and our book is looking a little weak. Searching through magazines and talking about sounds in pictures is a great pre-reading skill that you can reinforce at home.
Reading groups - In reading groups we have been working on hearing the different sounds in words, what letters make those sounds, character review, vowels and consonants, and reading books we put together.
Math - This week we will be taking our math test over Unit 1 and starting Unit 2. I will save those math tests to share with you at conferences, but if there are glaring problems you will be alerted ahead of time.
This week in Kindergarten is apple week. We will be tasting apples and apple products, learning about the sequence of an apples life, graphing apples, and reading apple books.
Also, last week you received a calendar with Animated Alphabet characters and activities. These activities will help reinforce what we are learning at school. Do them in any order you wish. When students have completed all the activities, sign and return the calendar to school for a sticker on the chart. The calendar should take you about 4 weeks to complete if you do one activity a day.
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