Rockin' in Our School Shoes!

Curriculum Night

Please plan to attend our kindergarten curriculum night this Thursday, September 12th, at 4:30pm.  We will go over what your child will be learning this year and then we will hand out and let you explore your homework bags!  Please have your child attend with you so they can show you a few of the things we've been doing!

Literacy

This week we will introduce a new sight word: the!  We will show you on Thursday how you can help your child be able to read and write the sight words we have learned so far and as we continue on in the school year.

Our essential question this week is: How can we get along with new friends?  Talk with your child about how they have friends they already knew before they started kindergarten, and now they might have some new ones!

Math
I took a video of the kids doing their SSCWD quick practice this week...hopefully it will load.  If not, I will try to show it to you on Thursday! :-)

Rockin' in Our School Shoes
We read "Pete the Cat Rockin' in His School Shoes" last week.  So we took pictures of those kiddos who were wearing their school shoes.  I appreciate it when the kids wear shoes to school.  It is so much safer for them!  Thank you!

Welcome September!

Wow!  We have finished 3 weeks of school already!  The kids are doing great and learning lots!  Here are some things we have worked and/or will be coming up!

Sight Words

We have learned three sight words already!  I, can, dad.  This week we will be working on mom.  By the end of the quarter the kids will need to be able to read and write at least 6 sight words....so practicing them as much as possible would be very helpful!

SMART Goals

As you may have seen in the newsletter we have a reading and math SMART goal.  This is to help us as teachers make sure we are doing all we can to teach your children effectively.  We choose an instructional strategy to help guide us to reach our goals.  For September we have selected:

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Practice

This is why we have asked for your help!  We know we can achieve more if we work together!  We want the kids to understand that the harder they work, the more they are going to learn.  That it's what they do, not us!  Thank you for your support in reaching these goals.  Please contact me if you have any questions!

Dates to Remember

September 12th @ 4:30 will be our curriculum night.  We encourage you to bring your child as they will be showing you what they are/will be learning!  There will be childcare provided for other children.

September 27th is school picture day.  Information should be coming home sometime soon in your child's manila Arnold folder.

5th Grade Buddies

Each month on the PLC day we get to meet with our 5th grade buddies!  This time, since it was the first meeting, they got to pick their partners and they read books together.  Each month we will do something different!

I Can!

We introduced two more workstations last week:

Roll, Say, Keep

Read the Room

Sight Words

We have also learned 2 sight words so far this school year: I, can.  Ask your child how to spell them.  You could even have your child try to write them!

Assessment

I have assessed the kids on letter ID and numbers 1-5 in the last 2 weeks.  Coming home tomorrow in their purple folder will the results of there assessment, where they are going to go next, and how we will help them get there!  Please contact me if you have any questions!

Homework

Your child will be bringing home their first homework this week!  It will come home in their purple folder.  This folder will be coming home with your child every day from now on.  Please check it each night for homework or important papers.  Tomorrow they will be bringing home the poems we read last week.  Please read them with your child each night.  Either you or your child can point to the words as you are reading them together.  On Friday send the poems back to school and your child will receive a homework prize!  Let me know if you have any concerns or questions!

Early Out!

Don't forget that Tuesday is an early out day!  The kids will be dismissed at 2:18.  Please make sure you have a plan for what your child is doing after school.  If it is different than normal please contact me so I know!  Thanks!

Work Stations

We started learning about work stations today.  This will be the time of day when I will eventually be pulling small groups to work on reading skills.  We introduced 4 stations today:

Books

Playdoh Mats

Rainbow Writing

(we started with our names!)

Puzzles

Celebrating Star Behavior!

We have a whole class incentive for good behavior.  If myself or someone else catches the kids doing something great (ie. walking quiet in the hall, cleaning up quickly, etc.), then they get a star!  Our first goal was to get 10 stars....and we did it in the first week!  So on Friday at the end of the day we had a popsicle party!  Our new goal is 15 and then we will get to watch a video!