Happy Friday!!

Today, the students were very busy in the morning with letter work and working on writing.  They spent time writing in their journals and time putting various alphabet cards in order.  Here is a picture of a few in progress below!  They did a great job.  We are working on completing this task faster and faster each time to increase fluency.

Students have increased their stamina this week!  They are successfully completing "Read to Self" for 4 minutes!  Way to go!  Next week, our goal is to be able to read to self for a total of 10 minutes by the end of the week!

I know a lot of you are working on Reading Treasure Boxes at home with your child for the September Family Homework Project.  We will try and share these on the day they are brought into school.  However, sometimes we will have to keep them at school an extra day or so until we have time to share them.  This beautiful treasure box was brought in by a friend today.  We had planned on formally sharing it today, but were busy this afternoon and didn't have time. :(  It was so fun to see the excitement from the students when the box was brought to the classroom! We will share this box on Monday as well as any other boxes that are brought in.  I hope you are having fun with this project! Enjoy your weekend with your family and remember to fill in the September Reading Log each time you read to your child at home!

Tuesday, September 13

Building Stamina

Today, one of our focus areas was learning how to "Read to Self".  This will be part of our small group rotations soon.  Right now, we are practicing doing this correctly.  Students learned they need to select an area quickly, read quietly, and get started right away.  Along with the expectations for read to self, we discussed that we want to build the amount of time that we "read to self" as the year progresses ~ build our stamina!  Since this is a new skill, I set the timer for 2 minutes and I monitored the students.  I know 2 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but there can be so many distractions in a Kindergarten classroom, so doing this effectively for 2 minutes is a big deal and I was super proud of them! :) Each day, we will add a little bit of time as we work on this skill as a whole group.  Once the students have built a little stamina, then this will be used during small group.  This is part of the Daily 5 program and I  love incorporating this into our daily small groups. 

**MATH HOMEWORK: There is a math homework sheet in your child's folder today (writing 4 & 5).  Please help him/her complete and return to school.  Thanks!

Week 4 of Kindergarten

Monday, September 12

Today, our letter of the week was letter Jj. We listened to our letter Jj song, read our Jj sound box book, and practiced writing the letter Jj.  During small group time, students are often working with the letters of the alphabet. Here are a few of the acitivities they did today with the letters.

All of our students are readers!  We learned today that all of the students in our class can read.  A few of them told me, "No, I can't read yet" when I told them this. :)  However, we learned today that there are actually three ways to read a book!  Yes, three!  The three ways to read a book are to read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story.  Reading the pictures and retelling familiar stories are great ways to get beginning readers to build self-confidence and later move onto reading words.  We will be practicing a lot of picture reading and retelling in class.  

Finally, this afternoon, the class had fun using watercolors to paint jellyfish.  These will dry this evening and we will finish them tomorrow.  Have a great evening!

Tuesday - Letter Ff

Tuesday, September 6

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a relaxing three day weekend with their families! Today we began our small group rotations.  You might also see or hear me refer to this time as guided reading time, stations, work stations, etc.  Regardless of the title, it's when I am able to work with a small group of students on language arts skills and really get to know all of the kiddos!!!  I love this time and today went great!  I was so proud of the students for working quietly at their own stations while I worked with my group.  We have five rotations each day so that each child can meet with me in a small group every day! (Usually it will work out like this, but sometimes, our schedule gets a little complicated). :)  The students love it because it keeps them moving!  I know things will start to go a little smoother as we continue to work each day. 

We also introduced our first math chapter today on numbers 0-5.  You will see a lot of math papers in your child's folder today! :)  These are just the introduction papers for the book and the chapter.  There were also flash cards that came home.  These can be cut apart and reviewed at home. They do not need to return to school.  We will be working with these math vocabulary words during Chapter 1.  We will usually do one lesson per day.  We will even sometimes complete the homework at school.  I want to make sure the students have a chance to receive help in class if they need it. However, depending on time, there will sometimes be a math homework page that comes home during the week. 

Today our letter of the day was letter Ff.  Students wrote about families, drew their friends and read a fun story about a frog.  Our story was full of rhyming words and animal characters.  Ask your child about Finklehopper Frog!  See if your child can remember any of the other characters (a dog, a cat, and a rabbit). Finklehopper realized that everyone is different and he doesn't have to be like all of the other animals.  He can have fun just being himself.  We are making some Finklehopper Frogs at school that we will finish tomorrow. 

REMINDER: Thursday is Library this week.  Please return your book! 

Friday, September 2

Happy Friday! Two weeks into Kindergarten, and the students are doing great! We have spent the last two weeks reviewing a lot of expectations and routines.  I think the students got it! :)  Understanding expectations and routines makes the learning day go so much smoother! They have also all done well with learning their after school transportation, so they do NOT need to wear their bus tags any longer. 

This week, we focused on letters Aa - Ee.  Next week, we will move onto letters Ff - Ii.  At the end of each week, I will be doing a quick assessment with the students to make sure they are making progress with our letters and/or letter sounds.  This will determine what we will be working on during small groups. 

Next week, we will begin our small group rotations.  It usually takes a little while to get into the groove of small group time.  However, after about two weeks, the students are experts! :)  Small group rotations are one of my favorite times of the day!  I really get to know each student and their strengths/weaknesses during this time.  I will be in communication with you regarding how your child is progressing.

Today, we read the story, Elmer.  Elmer is a colorful elephant who decides it is much more fun to be himself, even if he is different than all of the other elephants.  The other elephants agree that different is good! :)  This story has a wonderful lesson that I enjoy sharing with the students.  Celebrating our differences is an important part of our classroom! We will finish coloring our own Elmer the Elephants on Tuesday.  Today was busy, and we ran out of time!

I hope you all have a great three day weekend.

REMINDER: Check under the "My Classroom" tab on the website to see our upcoming specials schedules.