End of Quarter 2 Wrap-up

Hello kindergarten families,

January has been a busy month in kindergarten!  Here are a few of the highlights from the last few weeks:

• We learned and celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King and his dreams of the world.  We created our own MLK "I Have a Dream" papers, which are hanging in the hallway outside of our classroom.  We also worked with our art teacher, Miss G, on some MLK projects, some of which you can see at City Hall through the month of February!

• We finished our unit of study on animals and habitats and celebrated with our Animal Showcase.  Students loved being "experts" on frogs, salmon, owls and wolves and showing their families all they had learned!  Thank you to all of you who were able to attend this day.

• We completed our math study on subtraction.  Once we finish with our i-ready middle of year testing, we will be moving on to work with teen numbers.

• We have continued writing our animal reports during writing time, recording new facts about our animals, what our animals can/have/need, and labeling parts of the body.

• In phonics, we continue to practice tapping out sounds to read basic CVC words.  We also learn 2-3 new sight words each week as part of our weekly phonics poem.

• Students are completing middle of the year i-ready testing through February 8th in both reading and math.  This will give us an idea of the progress that has been made since beginning of year testing happened in November and help us plan interventions moving forward.

Congratulations to our January PRIDE Stars, Aiden and Levi!  And happy January birthdays to Javiel, Armani and Levi.

Reminders: 

1. The chocolate rose fundraiser is being filled weekly, so please feel free to send them in as you get them.
2. Money for the Sweetheart Dance is due by Friday, February 1st.  Tickets will not be sold at the door, so make sure to send your money and permission slips in by this date.
3. February 5th is the 100th day of school.  Please send back 100th day of school projects at this time.   
4. Our Family Engagement activity will take place on February 12th from 9:45-10:45.  If you would like to attend this craft day (we will be making valentine's day card holders), please be sure to send the slip back by February 11th.
5. If you would like to send in classroom valentines, you are welcome to do so.  All we ask is that NO CANDY OR FOOD OF ANY KIND is sent in.  If candy or food is brought it, we will need to send it back home with you, per the district's wellness policy.  Thank you for cooperating with this.

Looking forward to what February will bring! :)

Week of November 5-9

Hello Room 11 families!

Happy Veterans Day- thank you to all who have served, are currently serving, or know someone who has served in the armed forces.  Students showed their appreciation for our veterans by coloring and writing thank you notes last week.  As part of the Feinstein committee at Whiteknact, these cards and letters were sent out to military veterans this holiday.

Quick updates on our learning this past week!

K focus centers: we are now learning about salmon and their life cycles.  We have looked at live feeds of fish and sketched their body structures.  We are comparing the structure of a fish to the structure of the human body from our investigations a few weeks ago and noting the similarities and differences.  We are also focusing on which body parts we use for different activities (running, sitting, sleeping, talking, writing, playing soccer, etc).  Students are continuing to build and act out Habitats and life cycles of different animals in blocks and dramatic play.  We are studying books by Leo Lionni and students are creating art pieces inspired by his work.

Math- we are comparing numbers up to 10 is in g greater than, less than or equal to.  We are arranging numbers in counting order, practicing counting up from a number other than one, and forming different combinations to build 10 using ten frames and manipulafives.

Writing- we continue to talk about procedural writing and the steps required to complete a task.

I-ready testing:  Kindergarten just finished their I-ready testing on the computer for both math and reading.  This information will be used to arrange small groups for intervention as well as enrichment, as well as determine who will receive additional reading support with our reading specialist, Mrs. Sarasin.

Reminder- Wednesday evening we have parent-teacher conferences from 5-7.  Thursday (11/15) is an early release day- students will be dismissed at 12, and conferences continue from 1-3.  Please contact me if you cannot keep your scheduled conference or need another reminder of your time.

The canned food drive continues for the next few weeks—please send in your canned fruit to support this initiative.  Thank you!

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.  See everyone tomorrow! :)

Week of September 10-14

Good afternoon kindergarten families,

We are continuing to get used to our classroom routines and procedures!  We have started our second week of our study on communities.  We have read the folktale Abiyoyo and the fictional story Abuela.  We've been discussing author's purpose for writing a story and have experimenting with different types of writing during our daily Writer's Workshop.  In our focus centers, we have now opened all 6 of our center areas - blocks, dramatic play, art studio, drawing/writing, library/listening and discovery table.  We are creating all kinds of things - castles, sea animals, sand castles, villages, and even rewriting our own versions of Abiyoyo!

You will be receiving Homelinks for each new week of our unit studies.  The first two weeks are coming home today.  They will give you some information about what we are focusing on in class, stories we are reading, and questions you can ask your child to discover more about what they are learning!  These do not need to be returned - you can keep all of these at home for your own reference.

Beginning next week, your child will be receiving a weekly homework packet.  These will go home on Mondays and be expected back on Fridays.  They should be very brief and serve as a reinforcement of skills we are doing in school.  These will not be graded - it's just extra practice for your child, and an opportunity to see firsthand what your child is working on.  There will be games that you can keep at home that you can use over and over again! :)

We will be using lots of different educational websites in school this year.  I will highlight a few of them every once in a while.  Below are two that we are going to start using next week: www.zearn.org and www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

www.zearn.org is a website for math games.  The skills build as your child progresses through each level.  Each student has their own student login, so they will only be working on their own skills at their own pace.  Once we start using it in class, I can send home a copy of the login cards so your child can work on this website at home as well, if you choose.

https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/u/1760469 is our class page for early reading and phonics skills.  If you login to our page specifically, your child's username is simply his/her first name.  Again, this website progresses through the skills and builds upon the previous level.  You can also download this as an app (Teach Your Monster to Read).  The class code for this is 1760469.

Lastly, just a reminder to send in a pair of headphones labeled with your child's name if you have not done so already.  These will be important as we begin using our computers often in class.  Thank you for your cooperation!

Lots of exciting things are happening in kindergarten.  The class is building great friendships and I have a feeling we are going to have a fantastic year!

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!