Work on Writing!

We have been working very hard on another aspect of our Daily 5.  We spent last week doing Work on Writing.  The students used a folder that held blank white paper.  We will move to their journals later on in the year.  They would spread out into their spots on the floor and begin by writing 3 words on their paper.  We discussed a variety of options on where to find the words in our room, in books, and you can even sound out your own words to write.  We created a list of things we could write about but will save that for later in the year to get out and use.  After writing their words they could then go ahead and draw pictures or even write more words.  We would share them to the class if we wanted too!  They had a great time and are really coming along in their writing skills.  The biggest thing I wanted them to know is if we want to be a better writer we have to keep practicing just like reading.  Please work on writing at home to help develop your child's skills.

These pictures show the students using the variety of ways to write words that we discussed in class!

Newsletter Information

Reminders

September 5^th – No School

September 13^th – Open House 5-7

September 19^th – 2 hour delay

October 3^rd - 2 hour delay

October 14^th – No School

Tips

·       Practice writing the alphabet (upper and lowercase).

·       Practice the sounds in the alphabet.

·       Begin writing numbers to 10.

·       Have your child tell you names of others in our room!

Reading

The last 2 weeks we have been working on our Daily 5.  We now have two of the five dailies in place and working in our classroom.   We do Read to Self and Work on Writing.   They are doing a very nice job on these.  During Read to Self the students read to themselves books they have picked.  During Work on Writing we write in our journals and practice our writing.  Also we have been working on rhyming and sounds.  It is always a good thing to practice with your child. Ask your child about all of our learning’s.

Math

During math we have been very busy working on graphs and positional words.   The students really got to learn a lot about graphs as we graphed many of our favorite things.  We have spent a lot of time working on left and right.  Check to see how well we know this.  Next we are beginning to work on our numbers.  So start practicing these at home.  

More Areas

We have still been working on our capital letters in writing.  Please continue to practice these at home.  We began our work in Social Studies, Science, and Health.  The students go to each Kindergarten classroom to receive lessons in these areas.  One teacher teaches Science, one Social Studies, and one Health.  The students are learning about families, trees, and feelings.

 

 
 

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!