Curriculum Update

We will continue to preview the letters this week focusing on J-Z. Pointing the letters out to your child and talking about what sounds they make would be a great help in the classroom.

In math I will be assessing the kids' sorting skills. They need to be able to sort items in at least 2 ways. Last week we learned how to sort by color and shape. This week we will talk about size and kind. Any practice at home on these skills would also be beneficial for you child!

And just a reminder that Tuesday is an early out day. The kids will be dismissed at 2:18 so we can meet as teams in order to bring your children the best we possibly can!

Kindergarten News

We're still getting used to the schedule, routines, rules and new faces. Here are some concepts we are working on that you could ask about!

Literacy:
Rhyming ~ try to work rhyming words into conversation at home. READ and point out rhyming words in books you have at home. We will test the ability to pick out rhyming pairs soon!
Letters ~ we are introducing capital and lowercase letters. Talk about what letter comes at the beginning of your child's name. In class we have started a name chart!

Math:
We are working on position words like ~ top, middle bottom
in and out
above and below
over and under
left and right
Please try to use these words in daily conversations as well!

Writer's Workshop
We are learning that kindergartners can be authors. We've spent the last few days telling oral stories from our lives. We want to kids to be able to tell/write stories that really happened to them. The rest of this week we'll be working on drawing pictures of our stories.

Procedures
And of course we're still working on what the rules are inside and outside and how the school discipline system works. You should have received a note about the school's BIST program and how the students may have to sit in the safe seat or go to the buddy room.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

First Day!

We had a great first day of school this year! We learned about how to make your lunch choice, hang up our backpacks, sit on the rug, and sit at our tables! We read a couple stories about how we are all different, but we can still work together and get along. I took everyone's picture and while I did that the kids got to play with playdough. This was many of the kids' favorite part of the day. Other favorites were recess, lunch, and making their handprint after we read The Kissing Hand. This is a story about a little raccoon going to his first day of school and his mom kissed his hand so he would know she was with him all the time. I'm looking foward to the rest of the week!

Oct. 5-9

Next week we will be starting chapter 4 in math which deals with graphs and charts. We will also be working with the short u sounds in phonics. Our new word wall words will be:

are, they, he, where, does

And don't forget conferences on Tuesday and Thursday! Your child should have brought home your scheduled time yesterday. If you have a question of problem with your time please contact me!

Field Trip

We had a great field trip yesterday! The kids had fun and saw lots of different plants and animals. Here are some pictures I took!

Oops!

So I've been slacking lately! Sorry for the absence on the web page! Next week we will continue to work on subtraction on math and will take the chapter 3 test on Thursday. Thanks to those students who returned their homework. It really does help! Next weeks word wall words are:

for, is, do, me, you

And as you saw in the note sent home this week, we will be going on a field trip to the Nature Center at Pioneers Park on Thursday, October 1st. There are still a few census sheets that have not been returned. Without these permission slips being returned your child CANNOT go on the field trip! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Labor Day

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday for labor day! I also wanted to let you know the word wall words for next week. They will be:

here, jump, not, we, too

Have a great long weekend!