Dec. 3-7

Hello Families,

Wow!!! It is already December.  Time flies!!!! These next few weeks will go quick and then we have a long time off.  When you are on vacation, please remember to read with your child and practice counting.  One of my favorite things I used to do with my child was play games.  It is a great way to communicate and also learn new concepts.

This week, we will be finishing up gingerbread stories and how to measure the 3 different sizes of gingerbread man, boy, and baby with marshmallows.  We will be making some great winter projects. 

Sight word: play

In math, we will be counting forward and backwards on a number line. The class is using a variety of ways to count in counting collections.  Students are finishing up Unit 3.  In your math books, you can start unit 3 in your books.

Reminders:
Monthly Assembly- December 7
Writer's Workshop Publishing Celebration- Next week
Gingerbread Hunt-December 13
No centers the last week-Dec. 17-20
Winter celebration- Dec. 20 (more info in email coming out)
Winter vacation -Dec. 21-Jan. 15

Have a great week,
Ms. Werner

November 19 - 23

Hi Kindergarten Families, 

Since we only have school on Monday and Tuesday next week, we’ll spend time reviewing prior concepts and continuing to observe and study our caterpillars.   On Tuesday, we will have a small “feast” in honor of Thanksgiving.  We will give the students a small snack and focus on manners, friendship and the meaning of being “thankful” and “giving”.  With Thanksgiving on my mind, I’d like to thank all of you who have volunteered/donated to our class in many different ways this year. Without your support we would not be able to do so many exciting activities in our class. I am very thankful for each and every one of you and your wonderful children!

Word wall word: are

After our Thanksgiving break, we will start our unit on Gingerbread Man stories.  We will read a variety Gingerbread Man stories that are very different.  We will be comparing the different settings, characters, and events.  Every year, we find more stories with a Gingerbread theme!  If you have any Gingerbread stories at home, please send in to share.  Besides comparing stories, we will measure different sizes of a Gingerbread Man, Boy, and Baby with marshmallows.  We decorate our own Gingerbread Boy/or Girl and a gingerbread house.  We also have a couple math games.  

In Writer's workshop, we will be finishing up our narrative writing piece during the week of Dec.3 and have a celebration at the end of the week.   We have been writing about special first moments such as riding a roller coaster, flying on plane or riding a bike.  Another teaching point was using strong emotions when writing, like a time when you got hurt or was scared, etc.    I talked about a moment when I did a cart wheel off a chair and broke my arm.   These have become so detailed and all have been excited to tell me their stories!!! We can't wait to share our stories after our celebration.

In math, we are working on fact families and how numbers are related.  We have been using a number line to add and subtract.  We will begin to focus on place value and understand that the teen numbers have a group of ten with some extra.  In counting collections, students have been adding by 1's, 2', 5's, and 10's.  This is something you can do at home too!!!!

Upcoming events:

November 28 -Banana Slug band assembly 

December 6- Writer's workshop celebration

December 7- Friday Assembly

December 20-Rock Band Concert/ Winter Party in classroom (More info coming)

December 21- No School (Teacher work day)

I wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving filled with friends, family, and all the things that you love!

Ms. Werner

Nov. 5-9

Hi Kindergarten Families,

Thank you to all the families that came to help out at the Halloween party.  It was great to see all the different costumes.  Thank you to our room moms Theresa and Kristie!!!

This week is Parent/Teacher conference week. It is very important that you arrive on time for your conference due to our very packed schedule (each conference is only allotted 15 minutes).  If you are early, you can check out the Book Fair that is happening in the library. We have created a Wish List at the Book Fair in case anyone is interested in contributing to our classroom collection of books!

Here is what's going on in Kindergarten this week:

Word Wall Word: have 

Writer’s Workshop: Students have made amazing progress with sounding out words.  Remember, the goal is not for their sounded-out word to be spelled correctly, but for them to begin writing the sounds that they hear in each syllable.   

Art/Science: We will continue to observe our classroom caterpillars and study the life cycle of butterfies and facts about butterflies.  

Reading: By now students should be able to read simple 3 letter words with “short a” and “short i” middle sounds (ie: cat, ran, bit, pin).  Please help your child practice these skills at home if needed. Students are working on reading with fluency, meaning that if they are slowly decoding (sounding out) each word in a sentence, they should go back to read the sentence smoothly again. Fluency builds confidence, motivation, and is an important step for comprehension. Please help support your child with this skill at home by having them read the paper books over and over again until they are reading them fluently and with confidence.  Please review elements of the story of each book they read.  We have focused on characters, setting, problem and solution.

Math: Students are learning how to solve problems using a variety of strategies which include tally marks, ten frames, number bonds, counting on, and drawings.  We have started adding in word problems with subtraction.  It is amazing to see their progress.  The students are also explaining their thinking/reasoning to their peers.  Please continue to practice number writing at home if your child is still writing some numbers backwards. 

We have been discussing positive behaviors in class and on the playground.  Please review these guidelines at home.  Students should be keeping their hands and body parts to themselves.  We have had a hard time understanding personal space and students are not liking others in their personal space.  Students have asked these students to stop but they are continuing.  It has become a game in the classroom and will be taken serious if it doesn't stop.   In class, I have reviewed the definition of bullying is when a student repeats the behavior after they have been asked to stop.  We have had several class meetings with acting out the correct behavior and have students come up with suggestions of what they can to do to avoid this from happening.  Thank you for your support in helping your child understand the importance of personal space!

Reminder:

No school on Monday, Nov. 12.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Ms. Werner