What can you ask your child about our week?

Last week we learned 3 ways to read a book: read the words, read the pictures, and retell a familiar story.  Can your child name all 3 ways?  This week we have had lots of fun discussing how just right books are like shoes, they fit perfectly.  I really liked Andrea's shoes but they were too small.  I thought I should try Mr. Watson's shoes since they are bigger but they were too big.  We finally decided I needed to wear my own shoes because they were just the right size.  It reminded us of the story Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and of Cinderella.  We read both stories this week.  We practiced reading pictures, words, and retelling like we learned last week.  Choosing right fit books is like finding the right shoe, not too easy (small), not too hard (big), it should fit the purpose, and you should like it.  We found the perfect story to relate to choosing right fit books, Goldisocks and the 3 Libearians.  It is a story about 3 bears that are "libearians" and they know just how to help "Goldisocks" select a right fit book.  Look it up on YouTube, your child will love to share it with you.  We decided we could use our fingers to help determine if a book is too hard.  For each word you do not know, hold up a finger.  If you have 5 fingers up, the book is too hard.  Can your child choose an appropriate book?  Finally, we discovered our first reading strategy, using your "owl eyes" to look for picture clues to figure out words we do not know.  Reading strategies are located in your binder, you can reference those when reading.  Can your child tell you how owl eyes help us as readers?

Week 3

Weekly update:

What an awesome week we have had here in room 204! We have really loved our beginning stages of working in stations.

 

Reminders for the Week:

Wear College Colors Day

Picture Day

Phonics: In phonics, we will be introducing the letters b, c, f, and r.  We will be discussing what sounds the specific letters make and reading poems with the letters we are studying.

Reading: We will continue building our reading stamina as we practice reading independently (whether it’s reading the words or the pictures.) We will also be discussing how to find books that are a good fit (Do I like it? Does it fit? (too easy or too hard) and Does it help me?)

Writing: We will be moving forward from our author study of Mo Willems and begin a study on Author / Illustrator Eric Litwin (author of Pete the Cat books). We will read Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes, Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. We will learn about writing words that match our pictures (labels).

Math: We will begin our number study for numbers 4&5. We will be focusing on different representations of the number (such as tallies, what it looks like on a dice, how many pictures equal the number, etc.) and creating a number line throughout the week.

Social Studies:  In our “All about Me” unit, we will be moving our focus from “me” to “my family”. We will discuss our families, and compare families and activities families used to do long ago (not watch tv but listen to radio) and today  (such as watch tv). 

Sight Words: be, me, see, we (Please remember, sight words are assessed often)  We had originally planned to add these 4 words.  After our first assessment, we realized that so many students had difficulty learning our first 6 words that we need to spend next week reviewing instead.  If your child is ready, they may begin working on these words.  If not, please work this week to catch up on the words from the past two weeks.  It is very important that students do not get behind on words because it is overwhelming to catch up later.  We will learn 100 words by the end of the year so please practice each night at home to help reinforce what we work on at school.  Thanks for helping your child at home!     

 

Wear College Colors Day:

On Thursday, September 1. our Class of 2029 All*Stars will be showing off that they’re college bound! We are asking all of our All*Stars to wear the colors of their favorite college or the college they want to attend when we grow up on this day.

 

Fall Pictures

Fall pictures will be taken on Friday, September 2. All students will have their taken for the yearbook.  Be sure to wear your best smile on Friday!

 

 

Pictures from the first week

We tried to take these pictures on the first day of school.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and not everyone had their picture taken by Monday afternoon.  We were able to get them almost all finished by the end of the first week.  

Jitter Juice

We read the story First Day Jitters and then had our own jitter juice to forget our jitters.

What is this JitterJuice?  I don't know but it sure makes the table sticky!

Where did the others go?  I think they are putting their cups in the trash. They do not like this juice!

I am not sure if I like this juice either, do you?

Maybe kindergarten is going to be okay!  What do you think?

Jitter Juice got rid of my first day jitters!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

     In the story Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten the kindergarten teacher and students anxiously prepare for the first day of kindergarten.  We feel like Miss Bindergarten must have felt as we have also been very busy the last few days getting ready to begin a new school year.  Cubbies have been labeled, lessons planned, copies made, and the scent of new school supplies fills the air.  Our classroom is ready for a new group of students.  We are eager to begin; it is an exciting and promising time of year!  Like the story, we are certain that our students feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness as they wonder what awaits them in the days ahead.  They are both eager to begin school and worried that they may not be ready at the same time.  They wonder who will be their friend, will their teachers be nice, and how will they find their way?  Give your child the assurance that we will help them make friends, we will be nice, and OES teachers will always help them find their way.  Parents also have mixed emotions as they begin a new journey with their child, entrusting us to care for, teach, and protect their most precious gift. We both remember that nervous feeling as we left our children in kindergarten on the first day.  It is a bittersweet moment as you watch your child grow up and gain independence while you cling to precious memories of their preschool days.  Rest assured we will love your children, take care of them, and teach them what they need to learn to be successful in first grade.  We want to partner with you to be sure your child has a GREAT first year of school!  

     We will be sending a newsletter home this week but I wanted to give you a sneak peek into our week.  We will jump right in this week, learning the words: I, am, & can.  Please help your child learn these words throughout the week.  These sight words can be found on a chart in their binder, along with words we learn in the future. We will be learning about the letters in our names, learning our friends' names, and learning about what we can write.  In math, we will begin learning what numbers are and how they are different from letters.  We will be discussing what makes a "good" classroom, what rules we will follow, and class expectations.  Ask your child what rules they think will be important to establish a "good" classroom environment.  Remember, we want to create a safe environment with caring friends.  We look forward to seeing you Monday to see what ideas your child has to share!

Don't miss out on the fun!  Our Back to School Bash will be Thursday night from 5-8!  See you there!