Websites

Here are a few websites for you and your child to visit.  These are sites we will use in our classroom.  Please feel free to allow your child to use these at home.  They will all help enhance their learning in the classroom and at home.

http://www.starfall.com/

http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/

http://pbskids.org/sesame/#/games

http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooey.html

Math Games:
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/EducationalGames.aspx?cat=1 

Hope you enjoy these! 

Daily 5 Information

Dear Parents and Guardians,

     Another kindergarten year is in full swing!  We are off to a great start!  You may have heard your child talking about “The Daily Five.”  The purpose of this letter is to fill you in on what The Daily Five is all about, so you don’t have to nod your head while wondering what in the world your child is referring to.

     The Daily Five is a way of structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks.  These research-based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write.  Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.

     When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which are comprised of:

·      Read to Self

·      Work on Writing

·      Read to Someone

·      Listen to Reading

·      Word Work

There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component.  We will spend our first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction. 

     With the Daily Five, the kindergarteners will be spending most of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading.  I anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.

     As you can see, I am excited about giving your child the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have a positive effect on their education.

First Full Week!

WOW!  What a great full week of school.  We really worked hard on getting our routines down and are doing a nice job with them.  We also have really been doing a nice job working on our first part of the Daily 5.  Be sure to check your child's folder for a full note on the Daily 5!  I will try to even post it here in case you don't see it.  Next week we will continue to work on Read to Self and add in the Work on Writing part.  They become very excited about this part.  We make up some journals and they will get to write and draw pictures.  :)

 We have really been going at our Math this week.  We spent a lot of time working on positional words and now some sorting.  Next week we will start our next chapter.  We do not take a test with the first chapter but after that they will take a chapter test to see how they are doing.  I will send those home in their folders when we take one for you to see too!

This week we also started our Social Studies/Science/Health rotation.  They move from one class to the next for each of these.  Our class stays in our room on Wednesday's for Social Studies then on Thursday they move to Mrs. Johnson's room for Science, and on Friday they go to Mrs. Norman's room for Health.  So while they are in a different room I am teaching the same Social Studies lesson to a different Kindergarten class.  They really enjoy this and it allows for each teacher to do some more in depth lessons with their area.  Ask your child about how it went this week.  We just started off with an introduction week and will really get into the lessons next week.

Please continue to work with the letters, sounds, and numbers with your child.  We have started our beginning of the year testing and this is very important to their success in Kindergarten.

Have a great weekend!

3 Ways to Read a Book!

We started a big part of our daily routine this week.  We began our Daily 5 today.  The Daily 5 is a strategy we use for setting up our reading program.  The students will have 5 different areas they will visit.  I will be explaining more as we get them up and running. 
Today we learned about the 3 ways to read a book and then practiced doing it.  The first way to read a book is to read the words.  This is the harder of the ways to read a book currently but before we know it, it will be the main way.  The second way to read a book is to read the pictures.  This is our primary way to read a book as of now.  The students love to make up stories using the pictures in our books.  They have great imaginations and I LOVE hearing their stories.  The third way to read a book is the retell a story we already know.  This one is pretty as if they have a book that is a favorite or a classic.  I love to hear the different versions of these as we are practicing our beginning reading skills.  Hope you enjoy keeping up with all our progress!

Our First Class Picture!

We got together today and took our first class picture!  It was a lot of fun!  We have been working very hard in our room and wanted to have a picture to remember the first days of school! 

Our Class Promise

We created a class promise!  It was a lot of fun to do the first 3 days of school.  We can't wait for you to get a closer look at all our faces when you come to our Open House!!

First Weekend!!

I know on Friday all of the students were ready for a break!  I will admit I was even worn out from the first 3 days of school!  I hope everyone had a great time and the students are getting back into a routine.  This will be a tough week as it is a full week of school.  Be prepared that your child will be very tired by the end of it.  :)

I am very excited we are really going to get started in some academic areas.  So be watching your child's BEE folder for items that will be coming home.  We are starting math, social studies, science, health, and our Daily 5.  The Daily 5 is a strategy we are using to set up our reading time each day.  There are 5 different work areas your child will learn about and eventually go to during our Daily 5 time.  I will be sending a note home soon to explain it more to you.  I also hope to post that note here so you can always refer to it.

Can't wait to see your child tomorrow!  

News from the first 3 days of school!

Our First Three Days

This week we were super busy learning all about school!  We had a wonderful time and I cannot wait until next week.  We spent a lot of time learning about each other, some of the procedures in our classroom, and made a lot of fun things to start off our first days in Kindergarten.  I hope you are as excited about everything we have done as we are!

What is Coming Up?

·      Next week we will start working on our math.  We hope to use our new math books!  J

·      We will also be starting our Daily 5 Reading Program.  A note will be coming home with more information soon!

Tips

·       Start practicing letters and sounds.

·       Begin to practice counting to at least 10.

·       Continue to work on writing their name.

Important Dates

August 22^nd – 2 hour late start

September 2^nd – 2:00 Out

September 5^th – No School

September 13^th – Open House

September 19^th – 2 hour late start

 

 

 

First Days of School!!

Our classroom has been very busy!  We are establishing routines and working on getting to know one another.  We are very excited to start our reading program and math next week.  We will begin to learn the basic components to our Daily 5 system.  In this system there are 5 components.  They are: Work on Writing, Word Work, Read to Self, Listen to Reading, and Read to Someone.  The students will learn how to do each of these and how they will do them on their own.  It is so fascinating to watch and see how we evolve into readers and writers from the start to the end of the school year.  Keep checking back to see our wonderful progress!