We finished up our color week last week by learning how to read and write the color words blue, purple, pink, and brown.  We read lots and lots of colorful stories, including Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Little Blue Truck.  We continued to work on foundational skills like identifying the cover, knowing where to start reading and which way to go, and identifying sight words, familiar letters and the purpose of the author/illustrator.  Here's some of the books we enjoyed this week! 

I'm so proud of the students for how well they are doing with literacy centers. I've almost finished my initial assessments and will begin small group instruction soon!  Next week, the students will get new centers, and more choices at each center!

In writing we wrote the color words each day, and practiced drawing pictures of things that represent each color.  We also worked on our sight words of the week.  This week our focus was on the words a and see.  Today we wrote a sentence with our words.  I'll be keeping most of your child's writing in a portfolio and I will show it to you at parent teach conferences.  After that, I'll send home bundles every month or two.  We continued to work on handwriting this week with more straight letters.  Next week, we'll start diagonal line letters like X, V, Y, K, Z, A, M, W and N. Next week we will foucs on drawing pictures of characters, and using details and five colors in our pictures.  We'll also continue to label our pictures with the beginning sound of each item.  

In math this week, I introduced the counting jar.  We will use it in class to practice developing 1 to 1 counting.  Soon, your child will bring home the jar and get to fill it up and practice counting household items.  Then, they'll bring it to school to share with the class!  Today was our last day of our current math centers, and everyone got to pick their favorite.  Next week, we will have new materials to practice making patterns, counting, sorting or making shapes. 

This week in Science we continued to study and graph the daily weather and temperatures.  We watched two weather videos, one fiction, and one non-fiction.  The students are really improving with their ability to use vocabulary to describe the weather conditions and symbols.   

Kindergarten is a great time for your child to learn to tie their shoes!  Students can practice at home and have a chance to show me if they can tie at the end of each month.  We'll induct new members to our club each month, and those students will be able to help me tie the 40 laces we sometimes have in the classroom! If your child knows how to tie shoes, they will get a "liscense to tie" card and prize.  Don't worry, sometimes it can take several months to get it, so just keep trying!  

Thank you to Isaac's family for the playdoh donation this week.

 I can always use fresh playdoh so if you see a good deal on it at the store and wish to donate, it would be greatly appreciated.  Or, make a science/cooking experiement at home and try one of the homemade recipes!  We use playdoh A LOT in Kindergarten so I'm appreciative to any and all donations.  I could also use donations of toys you no longer wish to have at home.  Things like bocks, marble run, board games, puzzles, and other similar items are great for rainy indoor recess days and choice centers time.

This week we had our first class meeting.  We'll have these regularly every other Friday, and on an as needed basis. Class meetings are a great community building tool, and I use them to celebrate happy things, good character, and discuss issues that come up in class.  This week we talked a lot about what we loved best about Kindergarten and how happy we feel when someone asks us to play or includes us in a recess game.  Our issue for the week was about tattling, so we came up with times when it's okay to tell a teacher, and times when we should try to work out an issue with a classmate, or ignore an unpleasant behavior.   

We also had our first birthday club yesterday.  We celebrated our two September birthdays, Allyson and Jayden.  I'll contact you at the beginning of your child's birthday month to give you more information about the date and time of the birthday celebration. 

Successful Second Week

I'm We had another great week in Kindergarten!  Thank you all for participating in our color days.  It was so awesome to see the entire Kindergarten united each day in each color.  Next week, we will continue with blue, purple, pink and brown!  

This week, we read stories each day to explore the color.  We read Clifford the Champion on Tuesday, The Big Orange Splot on Wednesday, Banana on Thursday, and Arthur's Green Day today.  We are focusing on foundational skills as our first reading focus, so when you're reading at home with your child, help them to identify where the title, author and illustrator are on a book!  

In writing each day, we worked on how to write our color words.  We drew pictures each day of objects and started to label them with the first letter of what they are.  We also practiced handwriting each day with whiteboards and markers.  We have been working on the straight letters like t, T, i and I and H so far!  The most important part of these letters is to pull down first! 

We started our Counting and Cardinality unit in math by making the class attendance stick.  We each added a cube and tried to pass it along without it breaking. Then we counted it together! We are working on developing 1:1 correspondence with counting, making sure that each time we say a number with counting that we are moving or touching a different object.  You can practice this at home by asking your child to count food items on their plate, socks in the laundry, or cars that pass by!  We also have been working in small groups at math centers to count and sort dominoes, pattern blocks, linking cubes, links, and teddy bears.  Here's some pics of us exploring. 

In science we are exploring the weather.  We've read several books about different types of weather, and we use the website kidsweatherreport.com to check and record the weather and temperature each day.  In Social Studies we are building our classroom community by focusing on rules and responsibilities, as well as learning about the six pillars of character.  

Our class earned a total of 300 Dojo points this week, so we earned an extra 15 minute morning recess!  Students in the class are getting close to reaching the Kindergarten goal of 20 points, so as soon as your child reaches 20, they will bring home a certificate and a prize ticket.  

Alexa was our first star of the week!  She made a great poster to share with the class, and answered survey questions from her classmates.  She showed us some baby pictures and her favorite Elsa toy!  Her dad, Mike, even came in to be the Mystery Reader!  

I'm in the process of administering the first assessment in Kindergarten, called MClass.  During this time, I will work 1 on 1 with your child to gather data on reading skills such as letters, sounds, and word identification.  We will also look at books together so I can determine their readiness for reading and what institutional group they will be in.  Since this is a secure assessment, I won't be able to have classroom volunteers just yet, but you are welcome to set up a 15-20 minute window of time to come be a mystery reader.  Just let me know when you're available! 

Homework is due Tuesday, and Scholastic Book Orders are due this week as well.  Many parents have generously donated snacks so I think we are good on class snacks for the rest of the month.  We could use a donation of homemade or store bought playdoh if you're able! 

First Week Fun!

We had a great first week of school!  Here is some information about our first week of Kindergarten.

We are getting really good at our morning routine!  There's a lot to do when we first come to school, like ordering breakfast and lunch, unpacking our backpacks and turning in our folders, and putting down our chairs.  We also have a morning meeting every morning where we sing songs, dance, complete the calendar, and count how many days we have been in school!  

In reading we read Curious George's First Day of School, The Monster Who Came to School, Chrysanthemum, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,Pete the Cat, The Kissing Hand and Chicka Chicka 123!  After we read Chrysanthemum we counted the letters in our names and we made a puppet.  We also practiced the letters in our names by hiding them in a coconut tree after reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!  We learned all about our literacy centers and we will continue literacy center rotations next week!

In writing we drew a self portrait of ourselves on the first day of school.  We will draw self portraits every month and display them in our classroom.  At the end of the year we will get to see how much we have grown and changed!  We also played “The Name Game".  We see mixed up letters on the Promethean Board and have to figure out who's name it is!  Then we reshuffle the letters and do the name cheer.  We even practiced writing our friends names in our best handwriting.  Our sight words of the week are I and am.  You can practice reading and writing these words at home.  

We sorted classroom behaviors into groups and decorated our own monster after we listened to the story The Monster Who Came to School. 

We talk about how to follow the rules in school every day, and we are getting better and better at raising our hands, walking in the classroom, listening to others when they are speaking, and following directions carefully.  Everyone is loving earning Dojo points for showing the six pillars of character.  When your child reaches 20 dojo points they will earn a reward and get a certificate, and then their points will reset and they will work towards a goal of 20 again.  

This week we went to P.E. on Monday, Art on Tuesday, and Music on Thursday.  Next week we will go to the library.  On Fridays we don't usually have a special, so we have Starfish of the Week.  This week it was me!  I shared my poster, some photos of me as a baby, and the class got to interview me.  I got to pick a story for read aloud and showed the class my favorite stuffed toy.  Soon it will be your child's turn to be the star!! 

This week in math we have been exploring math manipulatives like pattern blocks, linking cubes, teddy bear counters, dominoes, and links.  Next week we will explore more math tools!  We also got to know each other by collecting data and and making class graphs on the Promethean Board.  We graphed how we came to school, how many letters are in our names, and our favorite pets!  Then, we counted to see which choice was the most and least.

It really was a fun week and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful class. Please stay in touch with me if you have any questions or comments about anything your child is learning this year.  Enjoy the long weekend!   Before I go, here are a few important reminders: 

Please label your child's snack bag or container and do not place it in their lunchbox. If your child doesn't bring a snack or forgets one, I will offer them the class communal snack. Thank you for all of the snack donations!  We can always use donations of bulk snack items,playdough, paper towels, and hand soap.    

Please send in an extra pair of clothes for your child if you haven't already. It's helpful to place the items in a labeled bag.  

Homework starts next week.  It is due the following Tuesday.  

Scholastic Book Orders will come home Tuesday and are due September 15th. You can order with the paper form or online if you'd like to build your home book library.

Please return any forms that were sent home this week in the folder.  I know there were a lot! :) 

Welcome Class of 2028!

Welcome to my blog!  I'm excited to share pictures and information with you so you feel connected to your child's Kindergarten experience.  Please check back here for more information!

It's Career Week!

On Monday we learned about four different careers for the first day of Career Week! 

First, we had a virtual field trip to Creighton Farms to learn about being an egg farmer! 

Next, we had a visit from Linus' mom, who is a computer programmer.  She showed us how her work is like using a different language, and showed us how to change things on a website.  

We had a visit from two park police officers, who brought their police dog!  They answered a lot of questions about what it's like to be a police officer. 

Stefanos' mom brought in a ton of awesome tools to tell us about her job as a hair stylist.  We got to see how she curls and straightens hair, and she showed us her favorite scissors.

 

Lucky the Leprechaun

Did you hear about the sneaky leprechaun who came to our classroom this week? He made messes and left treats!! We saw his foot prints and we think he got in through the window. 

The students even wrote letters to him!

He brought some gold coins so we used them to write number sentences in math. 

It was an exciting week in Kindergarten!!

Field Trip, Dr. Suess, Geometry, Amazing Animals!

We had a great trip to the Museum of Natural History on February 25, 2015. It was a long and bumpy ride down to D.C., but once we got there, everyone was so excited to explore. The children enjoyed learning about mammals, rocks and gems, insects, mummies, and so much more. We had a lot of chaperones who were able to attend with us, so many thanks again to all of the parents who were able to ride the bus with us, or meet us there. 

Dr. Seuss' birthday was on March 2nd, so we have been spending some time exploring his books and the concept of rhyming words.  Our literacy centers are all "Seuss" themed, and we are trying to find as many words that rhyme as we can in the books we listen to each day.  We've been to the computer lab twice lately.  The first time we explored www.seussville.com and played some fun and cool games there, while also learning about the different characters Seuss created.  Today we played rhyming games from pbskids.org. 

In writing, we are keeping up with our weekend journals, and we practiced writing words and sentences that rhyme.  We continue to work on writing conventions, such as using uppercase letters to begin sentences, lowercase letters throughout the rest of our writing, and periods at the end of each sentence.  I'm so proud of how far the children have come this year with their writing.  It's amazing to think back to the beginning of the year when they were just drawing and labeling pictures.  Now, they can write more than one sentence, and usually an adult can read it and understand what they are trying to write!   Next up, we will be writing "how-to" books! 

In math we are wrapping up our unit on geometry.  Students are learning the names and attributes (or ways to describe) both 2D/flat shapes and 3D/solid shapes.  We have new math zones with games and activities to help us understand the differences between all of these shapes!

 

Soon we'll switch gears back to numbers and begin basic addition and subtraction!  I know many of you (and your children) have been patiently waiting for this unit to arrive.

We finished up our study of animal external features by learning about animals with amazing beaks.  You'll see an example of each amazing animal feature coming home soon.  We're on to social studies next with a look at natural and capital resources, wants vs. needs and goods and services.