Class Update: 10/20-10/31:
We have been busy in Room 28 kindergarten. Here is a peek at the last 2 weeks:
Math: The highlight of the week in math was playing the birthday cake game. Each partnership had a birthday cake (playdough), 6 birthday candle and a dice. The first partner rolls the dice, counts the dot and then places that same number of candles on the cake. Keeping the candles in the cake, the next partner rolls the dice and has to determine if they need to add more candles to the cake or take some away to match the number rolled on the dice. We also practiced writing numbers to match a set number of objects or movements such as claps.
UFLI: These last two weeks we learned the following letters, N, O and nasal a. The children learned that when the letter a is followed by an n or m, it gets whiny and makes a different sound. We practiced reading words that have nasal a: an, and, fan, tan, am, Sam, Pam. We also learned how to write the uppercase version of N and O.
Literacy Groups: The children are enjoying their small group time during literacy groups. This week's focus was first sound fluency, rhyming, letter identification, CVC words, and using the Lexia app. Some groups also worked on playing a CVC Chutes and Ladders game and solving mystery words.
Wit and Wisdom: Our text this week was, “Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt de la Pena. We talked about what an author and illustrator are and their roles. We discussed how details are very important when drawing pictures and reading a story. We learned the vocabulary words “freckled” and “ducked” and learned that there are some words that are the same, but have two different meanings. The children eneded the week working in groups creating their own "graffiti wall." They came out great!
Social-Emotional Learning: We continue to practice being "space savers" instead of "space invaders." We listened to the story, Harrison P. Spader, Personal Space Invader, which I've linked below. Mrs. Barreto, our principal, came in to talk with the class about how important it is to stay in our own personal space. If you can follow up with your children about this at home, it would be greatly appreciated!
youtu.be/G5PXOQV3erk?si=oIGz7PGUHvZ11BHe
The highlight of the week was the Costume Parade. The children all looked fantastic in their costumes! Happy Halloween!
Reminders/Dates to Remember:
There is NO school for the students on Tuesday, November 4th.
There is NO School for the students on Tuesday, November 11th.
Wednesday, November 26th is an early release day. There is NO after school program on this day.
Class Update: 10/14-10/17:
Math: This week students engaged in counting numbers above 5, namely 6, 7, and 8, in varied configurations. The students used their growing skill and knowledge of counting up to five to reason about larger numbers in the more difficult linear, array, circular, and scattered configurations. As in previous topics the students counted objects and matched their count with a digit card to reinforce that the last number said when counting tells the number of objects.
UFLI: We continued to practice segmenting and blending VC and CVC words (at, sip, etc). We also learned how to form the uppercase F and I. During literacy groups the children practiced identifying letters, matching letters to their sounds, reading CVC words and matching to a picture, matching rhyming pictures and building VC and CVC words.
Wit and Wisdom: We continued our study of Our Five Senses The children completed their 5 Senses Book are were so excited to become authors! We also discussed the painting, Le Gourmet by Picasso and the children were able to share what they noticed and wondered about the painting.
Science: We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin.
The highlight of the week was the field trip to the pumpkin patch! They LOVED riding the bus and thought it was so funny that I rode the bus with them!
Social-Emotional Learning: We continue to discuss ways to be kind in the classroom, playground, cafeteria and other areas of the school building. We continued to talk a lot about personal space this week and how everyone needs their own space bubble.
Reminders/Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, October 21st is an early release. Dismissal is at 11:55 am.
Thursday, October 23rd is an early release. Dismissal is at 11:55 am.
Friday, October 31st is our annual Costume Parade for grades K-2. This will be from 9:30-10:00 in the front circle. More information to come.
Class Update: 10/6-10/10:
Math: This week the students continued to count to find the total number of objects in a set and then sort the set into groups. They then expressed the relationship between the total and the groups (or parts) by using a number sentence, such as 5 is 4 and 1. Students had to sort their objects more than once by using a different attribute each time. The children continued to practice counting the math way, practiced writing numbers 0-5 and began drawing number stories.
UFLI: This week we learned the letters t and p. We practiced phoneme-grapheme matching, building and reading
CVC words and reading connected text. We also learned how to form uppercase and lowercase T and P.
Wit and Wisdom: We began to investigate the essential questions of “How do our senses help us learn?” by reading the book The Five Senses by Margaret Mitchell. We talked about our 5 senses and how we use them everyday to help us learn. The children also shared what they noticed and wondered about the book. Our vocabulary words were senses, city, piano and shadow. The children completed the first two pages of their 5 Senses Book!
Social-Emotional Learning: We continue to discuss how to be a good friend/classmate and are working on staying in our own personal space bubbles. Our daily check-ins with the zones have been going great as well!
Reminders/Dates to Remember:
There is no school on Monday, October 13th
Our class will be having their popsicle and dance party on Wednesday, October 15th. This is from the Fun Run Fundraiser.
Wednesday, October 15th is the LAST day to submit a CORI form if you are interested in volunteering for any classroom or school activities.
Our field trip is Friday, October 17th.
If your child wears rain boots to school, please pack a change of shoes for the classroom.
Please make sure your child wears sneakers to school on Mondays and Thursdays as we have PE those days.
Class Update: 9/29-10/3:
Math: This week we continued practicing counting out a group of objects to match a numeral and learned how to write the numbers 1-5. The children also began writing numbers 1-5 to answer how many questions. Ask your child to show you how to count The Math Way. An activity that proved to be a fan favorite of the children was a counting bear game. The children had to spill a cup of double sided beans (red on one side and white on the other), sort them by color and then move their bear the number of spots equivalent to the red beans they had. This was their first time working with a partner and they did a wonderful job taking turns and staying focused on the task. They LOVED this! We continued to practice sorting and counting on with a magic number game.
UFLI: This week in UFLI we learned about the letters s and t. The children learned how to form the uppercase version of these and we practiced matching the letters to the sounds they make. We practiced the "heart words" the, I and said this week.
SEL: We continue to reinforce how important it is to stay in our own personal space bubbles.
We ended the week spending time in the garden. The children planted crocus bulbs and enjoyed exploring the various plants and vegetation that is growing.
Dates to Remember:
Friday, October 10th is an early release day. Dismissal is at 11:55 am.
There is no school on Monday, October 13th.
Our field trip to the pumpkin patch is on Friday, October 17th.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, October 21st from 5-8 and Thursday, October 23rd from 1-4. Both of these days will be an 11:55 am dismissal. More information about scheduling a conference will be coming soon.
Class Update: 9/22-9/26:
Math: We began Module 1 of our math program and the children are really engaged with the learning activities so far! The start of this unit focuses on classification activities that allow the students to analyze and explore their world and share their observations. Another big focus is solidifying counting up and back to and from 5 and showing visual representations of numbers 1-5. We also worked on sorting items by color, shape, size and other attributes.
UFLI: We officially started the pilot of the UFLI program this week. The children learned about the letters, a and m, and practiced segmenting and blending VC (vowel-consonant) and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. They learned that words can have these letters in the beginning, middle or end. We also practiced writing uppercase A and uppercase M, using language from Handwriting Without Tears. Ask your child to tell you where they need to start their letters! Lastly, the children completed their Lexia placement assessment and enjoyed using that program this week.
SEL: We learned how to De-Bug this week! The children LOVED this! They made their own De-Bug mini-posters and were very excited to show all of you! Additionally, we continue to practice a daily zone "check-in" to understand how we are feeling and the children look forward to our daily Brain Breaks after lunch. The children really seem to enjoy this time where they can relax, breath and follow a guided yoga or meditation. I've linked a favorite activity below.
youtu.be/fV1aMrpAFvk?si=oezmG93ou4oLMtLJ
Of course, the highlight of the week was the Fun Run! The children were thrilled to run in front of all of you and it made for a mellow afternoon for me!! Thank you for all the fundraising support!
Additional Information: Kindergarten is a time for fostering independence. Children should be able to open their own snacks, put on their coats and put lunch boxes back inside their backpacks. Please encourage your child to “try it yourself first” before helping. Encouraging independence in these areas will help us greatly in the classroom, especially come winter when they need to put their snow gear on.
Class Update: 9/15-9/19:
The past two weeks have been busy, busy, busy here in kindergarten! Here's a peek at what we have been up to in Room 28!
The children are doing really well with our classroom routines, using our daily schedule independently (mostly to find out when lunch is lol!) and are very much enjoying having a classroom job. We have added in a Daily Message to our Morning Meeting and the Teacher Helper gets to bring it home!
Social-Emotional Learning: We continued learning about the Zones of Regulation using the characters from the movie, Inside Out. Ask your child to tell you about the various zones (blue, green, yellow and red). We also read the book, "A Little Calm Spot" and we learned that everyone has their own calm spot and there are different ways to get there if we are having big feelings. The children also learned about classroom Zen Zone and had the opportunity to go there and explore our calm down tools.
Centers: This week the children made their names out of tissue paper, practiced matching letters of the alphabet, created an apple with paper they had to tear (lots of fine motor strengthening this week), made their names using Play-Doh and worked on Lexia for the first time! The children also began working in their "Shape Stories Workbook" as this will lead into our future drawing and writing lessons.
Looking Ahead and Reminders:
Next week we will begin our formal math and phonics programs: Eureka Squared and UFLI.
Picture Day is next Tuesday, September 23rd. Please send back either the original picture form OR a copy of the order confirmation if you ordered online.
The school Fun Run is next Friday, September 26th from 9:00-9:45 am. Families are invited to watch. Please make sure your child has breakfast AT HOME that morning.
Permission slips for our October field trip are going home in folders today. Please make sure to complete the form and send back, along with payment, by Wednesday, September 24th.
The district deadline for submitting a CORI is Wednesday, October 15th.
Class Update: 9/2-9/12
We are off to a great start in Room 28! The children have been working so hard these last 9 days learning the various classroom routines and expectations. We have spent a lot of time building our classroom community and getting to know one another. Some of our community building lessons include the following: Whole Body Listening, Voice Volume Control, Expected v. Unexpected Behaviors and classroom/school expectations. We read the "On Strike" books and the children practiced using the following tools: crayons, scissors, Elmer the glue stick and pencils. They are being very responsible to make sure the tools don't go on strike!
The children are loving having a daily job and take them very seriously! The children also drew their self portraits, graphed their favorite color, learned about the Zones of Regulation and completed their Scribble Scrabble Book.
Dates to Remember:
Next Friday, September 19th is an early release. The children will be dismissed at 11:55 am.
Picture Day is Tuesday, September 23rd.