Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Newsletter 9-14-12
Reminders
Fund raiser is in full Swing. Sell that wrapping Paper!
October 5th is The Fall Festival. The hours are from 5 to 7. There will be a silent auction and each class is responsible for getting a gift certificate or two to auction off. If you or any of your family members has ties to a business that would be willing to donate please let me know. You might also have services that you would be willing to create a coupon for and donate to be auctioned off (photography, cleaning service, lawn work etc.)
School Pictures
Pictures will be taken on October 8th. Time to be announced but usually they try and schedule KG early. Hopefully before lunch!
MAP Testing
We will have MAP testing in the computer lab on the 19th and the 26th. Please try and make sure they get plenty of sleep the night before. Results will be shared with you as soon as I get them. These are norm referenced tests and they will let us know some of the skill strengths and deficits each child has. The findings will help me to individualize literacy and Math instruction.
Don’t forget to save those Box Tops. We have been getting a number of them in. Keep up the great work.
Scholastic Magazine money is due. Please send it in if you have not already done so. Make checks or money orders out to: Scholastic. The amount is $6.00. Cash is also fine because I will have to write a personal check for any amount not collected from my personal account. I am hoping that amount will not be too large. The children do enjoy using them and they are a great teaching tool.
Link to parent order form is also on the blog. In the main feed, not to the side bar.
BABY PICTURES NEEDED
Don’t forget Baby Pictures!
I still need to get them for our hallway writing. They look so cute.
Literacy
We added the words “green” and “will” this week to the words we have already been practicing. We have also been learning the color words: red, blue and yellow.
We continue to build stamina learning to “read to self” during daily 5. We are building that stamina in the “work on writing” segment and we have introduced “Read to Someone” Ask them about EEKK. We will start Word Work next week. When we have learned each section of Daily 5 Reading groups will begin! YAY!
Homework
Please, please, please do not stress over homework or let it become a major point of contention during the often stressful bedtime routine. Pace it and do a little at a time. It should take no longer than 15 minutes each night. If it does, something is wrong. Just try to enjoy the time with your child reading.
Science/Social Studies
We have been learning how to be a good friend at school and in the classroom. We have begun learning about life cycles and I am sure in the next few weeks they will have some exciting news to share about their observations.
Wilburn’s Kindergarten News
I added some videos to the blog on life cycles and also some on number counting, alphabet recognition and our favorite “Pete the Cat” Check them out if you have not before. You can find posts to the right or keep scrolling to find older posts on the actual blog. I will keep loading them. On the right are also some great skill practice sites. I will be adding “Study Island” and your child will have a login and password so that they may also access the site from home. It provides crucial practice of skills. I can track progress and gather information from time spent on the program about their instructional needs. I do not yet have the log in information but as soon as I do and we have practiced logging on at school, I will send the log in and password home. I would also love to add some pictures and short videos of their work at school. I have three children who do not have permission, so I have to be careful of pictures posted. Remember that I would never have a face and a name together. I will only post pictures.
Workshops
1. Social Studies and Arts and Humanities- They made small miniatures of themselves to go with the writing they did last week. They will be alongside their baby pictures.
2. Literacy- Sight word practice using watercolors and Q-Tips. Different, fun way to practice writing.
3. Writing Workshop- We read the “Lets Find Out” Scholastic News Magazine about how to make friends and then they wrote one way to be a friend.
4. Science-They put together a life cycle of the butterfly puzzle.
5. Technology/Skill Practice- ipads and computers-Children work on the computers and ipads to increase basic literacy and math skills.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
News 9-7-12
Reminders
Fund raiser is in full Swing. Sell that wrapping Paper!
Thank you to the Grandparents that came to Breakfast with them. It made their day!
Morning work that comes home unfinished and unchecked does not have to be returned. It is usually something they have out at first to do while the other children come in from breakfast and we watch the news. They have been writing in their journals and workbooks and those will come home as they finish. The writing pieces that are completed during workshop are kept for the writing portfolio. I will send home anything not used at the end of the year. So it may seem like not much is coming home but we are working hard and I have already seen so much growth!
Don’t forget to save those Box Tops. We have been getting a number of them in. Keep up the great work.
Scholastic Magazine money is due. Please send it in if you have not already done so. Make checks out to: Scholastic. The amount is $6.00.
BABY PICTURES NEEDED
Don’t forget Baby Pictures!
Literacy
We added the words “the” and “go” this week to the words we have already been practicing. We have also been learning the color words: red, blue and yellow.
We continue to build stamina learning to “read to self” during daily 5. We are building that stamina in the “work on writing” segment and we have introduced “Read to Someone” Ask them about EEKK. When we have learned each section of Daily 5 Reading groups will begin! YAY!
Homework
Homework will start next Monday. Each week there will be a reading log and a couple of books selected for them to read with and to you. Have your child read the book and you sign each night. There is a spot for Thursday night reading that I included so that if by some chance you do not get a chance to turn it in on Thursday, you can log time on Thursday and turn it in on Friday. Homework goes home on Monday unless we are out on a Monday then it will be Tuesday. It is due on Thursday but if you have something going on that week and you can’t turn it in on Thursday, they will get credit for doing it. There will also be a literacy paper or two and a math. Right now it will be all one level. Eventually, homework pages sent home will be more individualized. The books selected now are some that they have not had the opportunity to read in class so it will not be familiar to them. What we are working on for most is telling the story through reading the pictures, memorizing text, tracking print (touching each word)
Science/Social Studies
We have been learning about rules and their importance at home, school and in the classroom. We have begun learning about life cycles and I am sure in the next few weeks they will have some exciting news to share about their observations.
Workshops
1. Math- Number writing to 6. The children learned number writing poems and practiced writing numbers on dry erase boards and in number poem books.
2. Literacy- Beginning sounds. They matched animal pictures to their names based on the beginning sound they heard and then recorded the words.
3. Writing Workshop- We read the book. ”I Am Big” and they wrote about what they did as a baby and what they can do now that they are big.
4. Science-The children sorted different kinds of seeds and glued them to paper. This was to observe seeds and how they were different and to work on those classifying skills.
5. Technology/Skill Practice- Ipads and computers-Children work on the computers and ipads to increase basic literacy and math skills.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
News 8-31-12
Reminders
No school Monday for Labor Day. Have fun with your family.
We are having a contest collecting Box Tops for Education. Make sure the paper is labeled with our class name before you return it so our class gets credit for it. A flyer came home this week explaining it.
Scholastic Magazine money is due. Please send it in if you have not already done so. Make checks out to: Scholastic. The amount is $6.00.
Grandparent’s Day Breakfast is September 6th for children with last names A-M and September 7th for children with the last names N-Z. Breakfast is served at 7:15.
Please remember to place any money sent inside of the folder in an envelope or baggie labeled with their name and purpose. When “loose” money comes in we have a hard time knowing what it is, who it belongs to and for what purpose the money was intended.
I have attached behavior charts to the front of the take home folders. Please keep these stapled to the front cover. They are designed to last for a month of school. We will try to circle the color they are on each day. It is hard to have enough time at the end of the day in order to fill them out. We may switch to only circling those who flip a card. If they are blank you will know they are on green. Remember yellow is only a warning. If the behavior was drastic I would send a note or let you know if they had turned to orange.
BABY PICTURES NEEDED
I need baby pictures of all of my kiddos to hang up in the hall. We need them this week if possible. I promise to care for them and get them back to you as soon as we are finished. All I need is one picture of them as babies. THANKS SO MUCH!
Literacy
We added the words “the” and “go” this week to the words we have already been practicing. We have also been learning the color words: red, blue and yellow.
We continue to build stamina learning to “read to self” during daily 5. We introduced “work on writing” and will build stamina there as well as reading to self. Once all of the daily 5 learning choices have been practiced and stamina is in place we will begin reading books.
Handwriting without Tears
We started learning to write letters using handwriting without tears approach. We use wooden lines and curves and have started the frog jump letters. F, E and D.
Homework should start the week after Labor Day. I will place books they have selected in their homework folder for them to read with you each night. There will also be 2 or 3 pages with mixed skills along with the books. It should take no more than 15 minutes a night.
Math
We are continuing with number recognition and writing to 10. Recognizing and explaining similarities and differences, counting objects and matching sets.
Workshops
1. Math- Number writing to 3. Children learned number writing poems and practiced writing numbers on dry erase boards and in number poem books.
2. Literacy- Shaving Cream letters and words. Children used shaving cream on trays to write sight words and letters.
3. Writing Workshop- We read the book and sang the song Oh a Hunting We Will Go and then the children created their own rhyme and illustration to create a page in a class book.
4. Science- Living and non-living- The children cut pictures out of magazines of objects and then had to decide if they were living or non- living. Then they glued them to the appropriate side of a chart.
5. Technology/Skill Practice- Ipads and computers-Children work on the computers and ipads to increase basic literacy and math skills.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Scholastic Orders
https://orders.scholastic.com/JBWJD This is an online link to ordering books for our classroom online.
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