This week in reading, we focused on characters. We read several books with memorable characters, including Froggy Goes to Bed, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, Kitten's First Full Moon, Betty Bunny Wants Everything, and Olivia. As we read, we focused on describing the characters, as well as what they did and said in the story. Then, in writing, we drew pictures of some of our favorite characters. In handwriting we practiced more letters with straight lines and even letters with diagonal lines. We also practiced writing our word of the week, can.
This week, we went ALL the way up to the 3rd floor to Mrs. Carlson's classroom for reading buddies. We read the story The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Then we drew a silly picture of something else she might swallow! It was exciting seeing a 3rd grade class and getting to use markers and colored pencils.
The kids are doing an amazing job during literacy centers while I finish up my reading and Kindergarten readiness assessments. They rotate through 3 centers each day and independently do all of the following: work on the computer, listen to a book on CD, use magnetic letters to match and make words, complete alphabet puzzles, sort letters, stamp letters, play alphabet games, highlight sight words, independently read and practice writing! Wow! Ask your child which literacy center they like best. Today we had "ketchup and pickle time" and finished a lot of our work. Next week, I will finish my assessments and then begin to meet with small groups to begin reading instruction.
Stefanos was a great star of the week. We enjoyed his toys, pictures and poster. His mom was the mystery reader on Wednesday. If you'd like to be a mystery reader, please let me know. It only takes about 15 minutes and the kids would LOVE to see you. 
In math we continue to build our number sense with counting. Several students brought back the counting jar this week with fun things for us to count. We counted glass marbles, toys, legos, and marbles this week. I'll continue to send home the counting jar until everyone has had a turn. This week at math zones, we explored counting in small groups with tiny counting jars and represented the numbers in different ways. We used color tiles to create patterns. We counted and sorted buttons, and made long links to match numerals. We also used pattern blocks to make geometric pictures.
We had a lot of fun cloud gazing this week. What a perfect week to observe the sky! The kids loved going outside to see if the clouds looked different from day to day. We read books about what clouds are made of, different types of clouds and what weather they might bring, and even saw some shapes of objects in the sky. Today we painted clouds with q-tips!
Here are some reminders:
Monday is Library Day and Homework Day. Please send both to school on Mondays.
Wednesday is an early release day. Students will be dismissed at 1:00. Please make sure your child knows how they will get home on Wednesday.
There is no school Thursday!
Please return the front page of the discipline policy that came home in the folder last Thursday.
Please email me with any questions, comments or concerns. I'd love to hear how your son or daughter is enjoying Kindergarten.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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