Week 7

We will continue to learn about community helpers this week.  We will have a few visitors come and share about their career.  We have made lists of questions to ask them when they visit.  We will continue working on numbers one to ten.  Our sight words will be an, is, & look.  We will focus on the letters I and W. We will begin working on opinion writing.  We will be reading books by Mem Fox; you may want to check some out from the local library.  As you can see, it will be a very busy week!   I can't wait to get started in the morning!  Come rested and ready to learn!  We have a lot of work ahead of us!

Principal ' s Job

Have you ever wondered what a principal does all day?  Well our students have the answers to that question! 

Kindergarten Kindness

     Kindergarten is full of surprises!  Some of my favorite moments in school are those times when you get a brief glimpse into their thought processes.  As a teacher, it is always great to see the "lightbulb moment" when you can see the information has clicked for them.  As a parent, I also enjoy the moments when they share their thoughts on life outside of school too.  We have had several of these moments lately and I wanted to share them.  I hope you enjoy them too.  

     First of all, students are always shocked to see us out in the grocery store or other area stores.  I think they believe we never leave school!  I guess they think the storage closet is my personal closet.  Almost every time we see a student out in public, their first question is "How/why are you here?" followed by "Where is..." either Mrs. Ward or Mrs. Watson, depending on which one of us they are talking to at the time.  Every year we have to explain that we are friends and we work together but we do not live together and we are not sisters.  This week we had a brand new question!  We were working on making our map book.  I explained that we would be making a map of our bedroom and labeling items in our room.  I would model the activity first and then I would let them make their own map of their room.  They were all eager to get started.  They named several thing I should put in my room: closet, bed, etc.  We talked about how our rooms may have some things that were similar and some things may be different, for instance some students may have a t.v. while others may not.  I started mapping my bedroom by labeling doors, closets, dressers, etc.  I added my bed and said, "Now I need to draw my nightstand and lamp."  Then I pointed out that we had one on Mr. Watson's side of the room too and I started drawing and labeling.  Immediately I was interrupted by students that seemed upset.  They were almost shouting as they said, "WAIT!!! STOP!!! You forgot Mrs. Ward's side!!! Where does she sleep? You are not finished; you forgot her!"  I had to reassure them that I had not forgotten her but her side of the bed would be on a different map because we lived in different rooms in different houses with our own families.  It made me want to laugh under my breath but I was also struck by how compassionate they are; they did not want us to leave Mrs. Ward out!  Mrs. Ward had stepped out of the room, so when she came back in someone asked her and she reassured them that she had her own room at a different house and everything was fine.  :)  

     The next afternoon we were writing about a character of their choice.  I gave them a partner so they could brainstorm together and decide on what ideas they had that could make an interesting story.  I told them that I was looking for a few things in their writing and drawing; I wanted to see a character, the setting, and an action that we could write about, but the details were up to them.  I walked around the room to discuss their illustrations with them before we started writing.  I walked up on two students sharing ideas about what details they should draw in their setting.  I listened closely without interrupting and realized they had chosen Heaven as their setting and they were making a plan to get it on their paper.  Their illustrations were great but I was mostly impressed with their conversation about what to include and how it should look.  They made many changes as they discussed their work but before they made any changes on paper, they talked about why they thought they needed to and how the changes should look.  I saw the real value of collaboration while watching them work out the details.  I stood back thinking that would be a difficult task to undertake but they had no hesitation or intimidation.  They were proud of their hard work and final product!  Students can teach us a lot...have no fear, be confident in your abilities, and value others' ideas!

     Finally, I walked up on several students that were talking to a student that speaks limited English.  They were all smiling and cheering so I listened closely to see what was so exciting.  What I heard made my heart smile!  They were sharing words with her and having her identify the object and repeat the word.  For instance, they would show her a picture of a cat and tell her what it was, then have her repeat the word in English.  They would tell her how great she was doing before teaching her the next word.  The look on her face was priceless!  She was so proud when she realized she could name the objects.  I have never seen her more excited or happy to be in class.  Her whole face lit up!  We are truly blessed with a sweet, compassionate class this year!  I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with your students and share in moments like these.  I hope you enjoy sharing in these moments too.  

     

Map books

We are sharing our map books with our partners.  We have focused on making maps and labeling pictures.  

100 Book Challenge

Thank you for coming to Open House last night.  It was great to see everyone that was able to make it back.  As we discussed at Set Sail for Kindergarten Success, we started sending 100 Book Challenge books home tonight.  Remember to read 15 minutes per line; students will preferably read 30 minutes each night.  I have included instructions in their folder for how to log.  Please do not sign on the line we signed in class.  Begin on a new line so that your child will get credit for the correct number of steps read.  Please help us teach students to log by having your child log their books at home with your guidance.  Books, logs, and folders should be returned each day so your child can swap out books.  If you have any questions feel free to contact us; we will be glad to help! 

Week 5

This week our sight words will be: dad, mom, & love.  We will be focusing on the letters j, e, l, & p.  We will be working on basic reading skills such as where to start and stop reading on a page and tracking print.  We will continue working on map skills in writing and social studies.  In math, we are continuing our study of numbers zero to ten.  We look forward to seeing you tomorrow night at Open House. 

Treasure hunt

Today we practiced using our map reading skills to find a hidden treasure. 

Goodies with Grandparents

I enjoyed the time I spent with your families this morning at goodies with grandparents.  Thank you all for coming out.  I tried to get a picture of everyone; sorry if I missed anyone.  

Week 4

      Our sight words this week will be the, yes, & no.  Please be sure you are using the sight word activities in their homework folder to help them retain their words each week.  We will learn sight words at a quick pace and it becomes difficult to catch up if you fall too far behind.  Pinterest is also loaded with great sight word activities.  Please review the weekly assessment each week with your child, focusing on any areas where your child has errors, as these skills will be on the interim and report card.  It is important that we work together to strengthen any areas of weakness early.  

     We will be learning the letters and sounds for: Rr, Hh, and Nn.  Please review these letters and sounds at home.  We will be finishing our "all about the numbers" posters on Monday.  We will continue learning to identify the numerals zero to ten.  Students have also been practicing counting to 100.  A few students have already mastered this skill...Yeah!!!!!  We will be learning about reading and making maps.  Can your child make a map of their bedroom?  We will find out midweek!  We will also be learning about book parts.  Ask your child to sing you the song telling what authors and illustrators do for their job.  We are practicing reading 100 Book Challenge books in class.  We will be sending these home with your child after Open House.  

     Just a reminder that Goodies with Grandparents will be in the lunchroom from 7:00 to 7:30 Monday for kindergarteners.  Can't wait to see you there!

Past and Present

Today we looked at how families traveled, communicated, worked, and played together in the past as compared to the present.  Students enjoyed sorting items into groups based on whether they were used in the past or present. 

Recess

First week recess pics

Week 3

We had a fantastic week last week.  I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend.  This week we will continue learning all about the numbers 0-10.  We will be learning about the letters b, c, and f.  Our sight words are: be, me, see, & we.  We will continue learning about how illustrations help us as writers by investigating Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin.  We will also be looking at how to choose "good fit" books.  In social studies, we will be learning about families.  Remember school pictures are Wednesday morning.