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. 

Wednesday, August 31

Today our letter of the day was letter Cc.  We read a cat story and made colorful cats.  The students brought these home today.  This activity focused on listening and using fine motor skills.  We played a Crocodile game with all of the alphabet letters. We will use this game to review our letters from time to time.  The class had a lot of fun finding out what letters the crocodile ate!

We also used our white boards to practice printing the letters Aa, Bb, and Cc.  We will be focusing on correct letter formation a lot during these early weeks of Kindergarten. We will use dry erase boards, chalkboards, paper and pencil and other tools to practice forming the letters. 

Today, the September Reading Log came home.  Please read to your child each day/week and color one book for each 10 minutes of reading.  Students brought home library books today, so this would be a great book to start with! :)  When students return the completed reading log at the end of the month, they will receive a small prize.  

FYI: Today we practiced our sever weather drill in the afternoon. 

Tuesday, August 30

Today our letter of the day was Bb.  We practiced making the letter Bb and listening for its sound.  We played a Hidden Bumblebee number game with the numbers 1 - 10 and then the students made a bear parade of numbers 1 - 10.  These came home today.  The class practiced following directions, coloring, cutting and gluing during our bus activity.  The buses are decorating our classroom door.  They did a great job! 

We practiced our fire drill this afternoon.  We continue to work on giving everyone a chance to use the Chrome Books.  The students are doing a great job with them so far!

Reminders: 

Tomorrow is Library

If you would like to order from the Scholastic Book Order, please order online with our classroom code before September 2 at 3 pm. 

Character Rock T-shirts can still be ordered.  Return the order form and payment to school.

Monday, August 29

On Monday, we started our "Letter of the Day" unit with the letter Aa.  The students used their fine motor skills to make a torn paper apple craft.  They also sorted pictures that started with Aa and  pictures that did not start with Aa.  The students practiced writing our letter of the day on dry erase boards. 

Some of the students spent some time using the Chrome Books in class today as well. I reminded the students that not everyone had a turn today, however, we will rotate through everyone by the end of the week.  We are just becoming familiar with the Chrome Books and will start to incorporate them more each week into our daily routine. 

You probably noticed that a behavior sheet came home in your child's folder today.  We spent a lot of time last week learning about the 4 Be's.  Starting this week, I will fill out the behavior sheet daily to let you know how your child is doing at school.  Please check it and initial it each evening and leave it in your child's folder.  At the end of the grading period, we will have a Good News Party to celebrate good choices!

*Just as an FYI, this week we will be practicing our emergency drills (fire, sever weather and intruder.)

SPECIALS SCHEDULE:

The weekly specials schedule will be listed in my newsletter each week.  However, you can also find the schedule under the "My Classroom" tab on this website.  Let me know if you have any questions!

DAY 2

Another great day in Kindergarten.  Today we read Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten and had fun with the rhyming words in the story.  See if your child can tell you some rhyming words! 

This morning, we focused on learning the 4 Be's of Whiteside School (Be Safe, Be Caring, Be Respectful and Be Responsible). We also learned the rules for scissors and glue in the classroom and practiced using these when we made stoplights this afternoon.