Week of September 15th

Post date: Sep 19, 2014 4:16:57 PM

Book Orders are due on Monday. If you would like to order books from Scholastic, please return the order by Monday!

I can hardly believe that we have already finished our second week of kindergarten. It has been a busy week of community building, learning routines, meeting new friends and getting started with math and language arts. On Monday we had library with Mrs. Becker and learned about checking out books. On Tuesday we had Music and on Friday we had Art. We managed to squeeze in a treasure hunt searching all over the school for Chester Raccoon from The Kissing Hand, a book we read in class. We visited the main office, the nurse’s office, the counselor’s office, the superintendent’s office, the library, the gym, the art room and the music room. We learned about the different people who work in our school and what their jobs are so we know who to go to for help!

It's so exciting to see how quickly the kids are learning the routines of kindergarten! Transitions are getting faster so we are able to get right down to our learning each day. We have really been working on knowing when it's time to chat and when it's time to listen and also on being good listeners when our classmates are talking. We have a wonderful group of children who seem to be working well together and are developing a strong sense of community.

As part of our science unit we will be sampling apples and then planting the seeds. We will watch our apple seeds sprout and then plant them in soil hoping that they will grow! We have been doing lots of apple projects and have been singing lots of apple songs.

We began the Read Well Reading program this week and have learned three new letters and the sounds they make – A, E, and H and we have learned our first three heart words:

I it a

It would be very helpful to your child if you encouraged them to point out the heart words when you are reading together. The more practice they get, the better!

As part of the Oregon Department of Education Assessment System, the state has begun implementing a new mandatory Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. The assessment coordinator, Sarah Hansen, administered the math and reading portion of the test with students one-on-one this week and I am doing the on-going behavioral assessment. This data will be useful in helping me determine where each child is in his or her learning.

Thank you for helping your child get into the routines by reminding them to bring their library books and Friday folders back to school on Monday.

Also, your child is bringing home their first book to put in their treasure chest. They have read the book to me and also to friends at school. Please have them read the book to you and to as many people (or animals or toys) as possible. The more practice the better!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Wray