September Newsletters

Kindergarten News

September 24, 2021

Jolly Phonics – This week we learned the sound for the letters u, l, f, b, and j. We loved meeting all these Letter People and will be sad as it winds down. It’s crazy to think we’re almost done meeting our Letter People already! You are getting your next set of sound/letter cards from our third set of sounds. Please flip through these cards at night to help your child with his/her sounds. If you find your child easily identifies the sound with the picture, go ahead and cut apart the cards. Separate the letters from the pictures to see if your child can still identify the sounds. Start with a small group and slowly add to it as your child masters the sounds. Or, you can also use the cards to spell simple 3-lettered words to see if your child can work on reading them!

Math – We took a lot of time this week to focus on the numbers 6-9. We practiced finding different ways to make the numbers and were excited to see all the combinations that worked. We used cubes, counters, and a ten frame as a way to organize the cubes and counters. We also had fun on Monday and Tuesday when we mixed up groups with Mrs. Workman’s class. We love seeing familiar friends from preschool and AK.

Pirate Time - If your child has mentioned “Pirate Time” at all, this is a time we have for 20 minutes each morning, except Fridays. We mix up with our AK class and Mrs. Workman’s class and travel in smaller groups to different classrooms for reading interventions more specifically tied to our individual needs. We started last week and are now in the groove! We adjust these groups often as we grow and change with our needs.

Reading/Writing--Our large group stories this week had us focusing on pets. We read I Have a Pet!, which was about a pet show. We loved seeing what awards were given out to the different animals at the end of the story. We also read Please, Puppy, Please! We giggled as we watched the boy and girl try to train their puppy. It wasn’t very successful! :) Our writing this week focused on what pet we wish we could have. We did a nice job with spelling again! Our new sight word for the week was the. We are really noticing those when we are reading in our readers!

Snack/Sharing Calendar - Your snack and sharing calendar for the month of October is included in this week’s folder. Please let me know if you have a conflict with your child’s date. Thank you for a great first month of snack and sharing! Sharing truly is one of our favorite parts of the day. :)

Star of the Week – Our “Star of the Week” for the week of September 27th-October 1st will be Nathaniel Theisen.

Upcoming Dates of Importance:

Friday, October 29th: No School: Professional Development

Have a great weekend! ☺

Kindergarten News

September 17, 2021

Jolly Phonics and Letter People - We continued our work with Letter People and Jolly Phonics this week. We were introduced to Mr. M, Mr. D, Mr. G, and Mr. O. We reviewed our old signs, practiced forming letters, and worked at reading words. We talked this week about how we now have four of our vowels. We realized how important vowels are to our words, since it’s very hard to make a real word without a vowel! Your next set of practice cards for sounds is in your child’s folder.

Writing-We attempted our first writing piece this week when we wrote about something we liked. When we spell in kindergarten, we take the words and break them into the smaller sounds we hear. Our goal this week was to listen for and write down the first sound in the word, and we all could do that! Some of us were able to hear middle and end sounds, as well. We will continue to write each week.

Math- In math this week, we continued work on numbers, now focusing on numbers 6 and above. We talked about different ways to show the numbers, different ways to make the numbers, and one more of a given number. We use a vertical number path to help us understand how numbers grow and decrease. We will continue deepening our number sense next week!

FAST Testing- As your child may or may not have mentioned, over the next two weeks he or she will sit with me and do a short, state-mandated test called the FAST Test. This test serves as a screener for your child’s early literacy and math skills. This test is done three times a year---fall, winter, spring. During this round of testing for literacy, your child was tested on his/her ability to name letters, name letter sounds, isolate beginning sounds of words, and understand concepts of print. We also use the FAST assessment for a math screener as well. With math, we check your child’s number recognition, number sense with counting, and the ability to quickly tell how many objects are in a set. When all tests are complete, scores will be explained and shared with you.

Upcoming Dates of Importance

*Wednesday, September 22nd: School Pictures!

Star of the Week- The “Star of the Week” for the week of September 28th- October 2nd will be Cole Strandlund. Thank you for your help with this!

Have a great weekend!

Kindergarten News

September 10, 2021

Jolly Phonics – This week we learned the sounds for e, h, r and m. The excitement the students show about the new Letter People is fun to be a part of! For the most part, we are doing well picking up the sounds at this rapid pace. We go over and over them each day! It seems the vowels are still the trickiest for us. As the letter/sound sheets come home, it’s a good idea to save them to review later with your child. At our fall conferences, you will receive a book that has all the letters/sounds/signs in it to help you review at home, along with the sound cards that came home last week and will continue to come home as we finish a group of six.

Reading—We read stories this week that focused on families. Our first selection was a realistic fiction story called Building with Dad, and we enjoyed listening to how the boy helped his dad build a school. Our second selection was an informational text called What Makes a Family? We discussed topics related to families and shared what our families looked like. Our first sight word was introduced this week. It is the word I. Students were excited to find it when we read stories this week.

Math-We wrapped up our first math unit this week on our number sense for numbers 0-5. We will continue to work to build upon this first unit as we go forward next week to working on numbers 6-10. We have done a lot of counting, building, and working on recognizing/writing numbers as well. We also talked about the different ways you can make the number 5 (5 and 0, 4 and 1, 3 and 2, etc.).

“Star of the Week”—Our “Star of the Week” for the week of September 13th-17th will be Brooks Zirbel. Again, instructions for this will be in your child’s Friday folder the Friday before. Thank you! We have had fun getting to know our friends in here better. :)

For Next Week…We are spending our Social Studies time during these first few weeks sharing about ourselves and getting to know each other. To help us with this, your child is invited to bring one artifact next week that tells about him/herself or your family. It can be a picture, an object, or anything else that helps us get to know something about your family. It can come as soon as Monday or any day next week!

Upcoming Dates of Importance:

*Friday, September 17th: 1:00 Dismissal for Professional Development. We will dismiss from our rooms at 1:00, and buses will leave at 1:10.

Have a great weekend!

Kindergarten News

September 3, 2021

Jolly Phonics and Letter People

We continued with our Jolly Phonics/Letter People work this week. We were introduced to Mr. I, Ms. P, Mr. N, Mr. C, and Ms. K. We worked hard each day to learn their sound, sign, and read simple words. We have been impressive with our ability to read those simple three-letter words, and it is fun to see the excitement on our faces when we realize we are reading! ☺ In this week’s folder are some simple flashcards you can use at home to run through your child’s sounds. Cut them apart, flip through them before bed at night, save them in a bag, and keep adding to them as more cards come home! We will send cards home with each group of six sounds we learn.

Math

During our math time this week, we continued working on numbers 0-5. We used one of our favorite stories, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, to practice counting up to 5 and back down. We also practiced looking quickly at dot cards with dots arranged in different ways to see how quickly we could count the dots. We are doing very well!

Buddies

Each full Friday we will end our week with time spent with our 5th grade buddies. We are buddied up with a 5th grader from Mr. Miles’s class, and we met them last week. It will take us a while to learn names, but we have already enjoyed waving at our buddies on the bus and in the hallway. Last week we did a survey to get to know each other better, and this week, we were hoping to play outside. Hopefully the weather cooperated! :)

Book Orders

Your child is receiving our first batch of book orders in his or her Friday folder. These book orders will be due back by next Friday, September 10^th. I will accept cash or check, and if you decide to write a check, please make it payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. I have also set up online ordering for those interested in ordering online. Please see the letter in your folder for more information. Let me know if you have any questions.

“Star of the Week”

To help us get to know each other, we have a special board in our room that will feature a student each week. This student will be our “Star of the Week”. This child will answer questions about him/herself and is invited to bring up to 10 pictures of family, friends, and fun activities. When it is your child’s week, he or she will have information in the Friday folder before to explain. We are starting from the bottom of the alphabet, so our first star is Lily Zirbel, for the week of September 6th-10th.

Homecoming Week

Next week is Alburnett’s Homecoming Week, and your child is invited to participate in some dress-up days to make the week a little more special. Please keep props at home and make sure your child still has good shoes on for recess and/or PE. Here are the days:

*Tuesday: Favorite Team Day

*Wednesday: Hat Day

*Thursday: Color Wars: Kindergarten wears yellow!

*Friday: Spirit Day (Wear purple, gold, or pirate gear!)

Upcoming Dates of Importance

*Monday, September 6th: No School: Labor Day

*Friday, September 17th: 1:00 Dismissal for Professional Development

Have a good weekend! Enjoy the extra day as a family!