Our Weekly News

We had fun talking more about fall this week and thought with all the colors, it was a great idea to work on learning some color words too!  

Literacy

We had fun reading Otis and describing his character traits.  We read other Otis stories and students made connections between all of them.  One thing they noticed was that Otis was always kind, caring and helpful.  This week we also learned to retell the story of Otis but we did it in a different way.  Each table took one part of the story and had to work together to draw and label what was happening in their one part.  Then I worked with each group to help them make a sentence and write the sounds they heard.  I couldn't believe how SO unbelievably engaged students were and how well they did with working together!!  I am so proud of them!  Here are a few of their pictures.  (I also tried to have each group practiced standing in front of the class to share their part of the story but, we need a little more to practice this before we record it and upload it on SeeSaw :)  Look for it soon!)

 

This week we learned the sight words "it" and "you".  We reviewed letters and sounds, continued to work on phonemic awareness skills and started actual center time (modified this year of course).  One of the centers we are doing this year is called Lexia.  It is a literacy based program that students do on their Chromebooks.  Each child plays various games at his or her own level and it modifies the different skills when needed.  Students are allowed to use this program at home, but it is something they will often be doing in the classroom too.  

Writing

We worked hard this week on writing about places we love.  We also learned that we could take one of those places, such as school, and create a plan where we write about the different parts of school on different pieces of paper.  For example, one page could be about recess, another page could be about art, etc. 

In handwriting this week we learned how to write the letters B/R/N/M using the correct formation with big lines, little lines, and little curves.  

Math 

We continued to work on identifying numbers, writing numbers with correct formation, counting forwards and backwards, and identifying/making/describing a given number using a ten frame.  This week we also learned the greater than, less than, and equal to symbols.  We had fun comparing numbers with cards and playing a game working on this skill with our table partners.  

We also started to explore another new program called Dreambox.  This is much like the literacy program Lexia where it gives students math skills, in a game format, based on their own ability level.  This program however, is connected to the Bridges math curriculum that school district uses.  Dreambox can also be found on each child's Clever pages once they log into their Chromebook.  Students may use this program at home as well.

Friday Fun...I wish I took a picture! 

If your child didn't tell you... at the end of the day on Friday we had a Google Meeting with Mrs. Kuck!  They got to see her and her dog Bear (baby Luna was sleeping), show Mrs. Kuck the following directions-scarecrow drawing that they were finishing up, and even ask her questions.   I plan to do this a few more times over the next three weeks to help students with the transition!  Mrs. Kuck will be coming back on Monday, November 9th.  

Also, we are now having library class every Monday so please have your child read the books he/she brings home and send them back to school on or before the following Monday.  We are also done with art class and as of Monday we will be starting physical education, which takes place outside as long as the weather cooperates!  Please make sure your child has tennis shoes and warm clothes!        

  

Weekly Newsletter - Fun in Art!

We had a great 4 day week!  This week we began to talk about fall and learn color words.  We have enjoyed this nice weather and even took time to do some work in Thorson's outdoor classroom!

Literacy 

We focused on Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems, this week and we also enjoyed reading Knuffle Bunny Too and Knuffle Bunny Free! We practiced re-telling this story, made predictions, and discussed the similarities and differences between all three stories.  Our poem this week was The Itsy Bitsy Spider but it was different than you might expect!    

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider

Crept up on ____________'s head.

He wiggled all around

Then used it for a bed.

He scampered down _________ back

And hopped down to the floor.

Then that itsy bitsy spider

Squeezed underneath the door.

We learned about the letters Jj, Ee, Oo and Qq as well as the sounds they make and words that start with these letters.  We learned the sight words "the" and "we".  We found them in books, spelled them in fun/active ways, and wrote them in sentences.  Also, in our Heggerty phonics curriculum we started to learn about syllables.

Writing

This week finished our first unit by having students choose one of their writing pieces and, together, we went through a checklist to learn the editing process.  We began a new unit called Show and Tell.  Thank you for having your child bring in one item that was special to them!  We learned that we have so much more to say when we have a connection to something.  We continued to practice the writing process with our special object which is to think of something to write about, put those ideas on paper with drawings, put as many labels as you can, and begin/attempt to write sentences. Today we re-read our story from yesterday and added more details such as colors and more labels.  

We also started our handwriting curriculum called Handwriting without Tears.  We learned how to correctly form the letters F, E, D, P using "big lines, little lines, big curves, and little curves".  We also learned a song called "Where Do You Start Your Letters?"... and the answer is at the top! :)  Developmentally this can be tricky because so many kids start making letters from the bottom up.                         

Math

We continued to work on counting (forwards and backwards), writing numbers with the correct formation, and creating different number combinations to make a given number.  We also started working on making patterns with up to three elements including AB, ABC, AAB, ABB.  

Social Skills

This year as part of PBIS, students can earn Cedarburg Pride tickets.  These are given to students as a reward when they are showing good character and setting a good example/being a good leader, doing what is expected of them, doing something kind for someone else without being asked, etc.  We have a wonderful class and each student has earned a few tickets!  The tickets all go into a grade level bucket and on the last day of each week two names are pulled.  Those students then get to choose a fun prize (extra recess for the class, talking on the morning announcements, bringing in something for show and tell, etc.).  We have had 3 names from our class pulled already and I will be sending you an email if your child happens to be a lucky winner! Keep showing that wonderful Cedarburg Pride kindergarteners!  

It’s Already October!

Hello Families!

We had fun celebrating a little bit of fall this week with some apple activities!  We learned about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed), taste tested apples and graphed our favorite, made an apple treat, read 10 Apples Up On Top, and learned about the process apples go through to get from the farm to the stores. Thank you to all those families that were able to send items in!  

                       

Literacy - This week we learned a poem called Apples, Apples.  We also focused on the letters Cc, Ff, Dd, and Gg.  We learned the sight words "and" and "like".  We also continued to review previous taught letters, sounds, and sight words.  Check out the learning being done below in our morning message, with playdough, in books, and with whiteboards! This week we read another story by Kevin Henkes called Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse and worked on skills such as making predictions, retelling the story, and explaining what our favorite part was and why.  Being able to give a reason for why was a little tricky but it will be something they continue to work on.        

                                              

Writing - What a fun week for this Pencil Pack writing club! (A nickname they voted on a few weeks ago.)  They learned that writers don’t just write stories on one piece of paper.  Instead they come up with a plan and write on multiple pages.  Students also learned that authors don't just write by themselves but instead they need the help of many people.  Students took turns sharing their story with their table partner while their partner listened and then asked questions to give the writer more ideas/details to add to their story.  This week they created their own teaching stories on a few pieces of paper.  I will be having them upload their stories on Seesaw next week, so be sure to look for them!  

                                               

Math - We have been working on writing numbers with the correct formation, identifying a given amount in a ten frame as well as identifying how many are not give.  For instance, if there are 7 dots then 3 dots are missing and 7 & 3 are partners that make 10.  We are also working on showing a given number in multiple ways (4 = 4+0, 1+3, 2+2, 3+1, 0+4, 5-1)

                    

This week, as I mentioned on Seesaw, we also learned how to find activities that have been assigned in Seesaw and are learning how to use the different tools.  It's amazing how good kids are with technology!  Next week I hope to introduce them to a few other programs!

                           

The kids have been loving art class this week! Ms. Elsbernd, the art teacher is looking for BROWN PAPER GROCERY BAGS.  So if you have any, please send them to school and I will get them to her.  Thanks!

Have a wonderful weekend!  

   

Weekly Newsletter - Friday, September 25

This week was our last week in music.  On Monday we will have art class for the next three-week rotation.                                   

(I hope you were able to see this video on your child's SeeSaw account.  If not, please let me know.)

Literacy - This week we practiced reading our own version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear titled Kindergartener, Kindergartener Who Do You See?  We hope you enjoyed reading this at home and thanks for returning it back to school!  We have included this book as well as other easy readers in our "book bags".  This week we practiced building our silent, independent reading stamina with these books and the kids have done such an awesome job!  They can do this for five whole minutes! 

                                        

A few of the stories we read this week included The Wheels on the Bike and The Recess Queen.  With these stories, we compared them to other stories or situations we have experienced, we made predictions, analyzed how the characters changed in a story, and we practiced retelling the main events. 

We learned the sight words "see" and "am".  We continued to practice identifying letters and the sounds they make.  We also learned a poem called "Families".

                            

Writing -  I'd like to introduce you to our class writing club called The Pencil Pack. :) 

This week we have learned  SO many different skills, that truly set the foundation for writing, and students are doing such a wonderful job with it all!  Students have learned that the first things writers do is come up with an idea.  That idea is something they want to share with others or teach others about.   Then they put their idea on paper with pictures, labels, and words.  Afterwards, writers look at their work each day and re-tell their story.  This is a great time for them to add more details, also known as revising.  And students are learning that "when they think they're done... they've only just begun"!  

Not only were the The Pencil Pack authors with week, but they were also problem solvers!  We learned that writers work during work time and if they get stuck they can't just sit there!  Check out all the problems we thought of and the solutions we came up with!

                 

                        

Math - This week our focus was on numbers 0-5.  We learned poems that taught us how to write these numbers and practiced writing them with the correct formation.  We have also been working on identifying a given amount on a five-frame, explaining how we know it's that many, and then identifying how many are not given.  For example, if there are 4 dots on the five frame, they know its 4 because our frame has five but this one shows 1 less which is 4.  Then they can also identify that 4 and 1 are factors of 5.  

Your child will soon be bringing home, on yellow paper, a math homework sheet.  Please have him/her practice these skills that we have been working on in the classroom and return it to school.  

Science - The weather was so nice this week, we decided to do some work in our school's outdoor classroom!                          

We also began to learn about day and night.  

Social Skills - We started our Second Step Curriculum that focuses on social/emotional learning.  Each week you will see a parent connection sheet come home, please talk about the skills on this sheet with your child.  We also had a school psychologist come into our classroom to teach us a little bit about Zones of Regulation.  This is a program that is used school-wide to help teach students how to self regulate and teach them strategies that they can use to help control their emotions.   

           

      

NEXT WEEK  - We are looking forward to learning about Johnny Appleseed, making some fun projects, tasting apples and making an apple treat!  If you were able to sign up for any of the apple related items (on the SignUp Genius that our classroom room parents sent out), THANK YOU!! 

  

Literacy:

Our Weekly News - Friday, September 18th

Dear Families, 

Even though these first two weeks of school have been a lot about routines and procedures, we have had such a great time in kindergarten so far!  Each child in this class brings such joy to our room!  It has been so much fun building our classroom community and getting to know each other! Plus... each child posted a picture and a drawing to his/her SeeSaw account today... and they are starting to enter their lunch orders independently....HUGE SUCCESS!                                   (ordering lunch)

Literacy

So far we have focused on the letters Tt, Aa, Bb, Hh, Nn, Mm, Rr, Ll, and Ii.  We have also been using hand signals to help us remember the sounds those letters make. We also learned to read the sight words "I" and "can".                                                                                                 (working in our phonics notebooks)

Each week we will be learning a new poem.  Throughout the week we will be practicing it and creating actions that go with it.  We will be gluing the poem in our poetry notebook as well as reading them in books.  If your child brings home one of these books, see if he/she can point to each word as he/she recalls and reads the poem.

A few of our read alouds have been Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Chrysanthemum.  With these stories we focused on making predictions,  retelling the story, and understanding what we read.  We were also able to make connections with these stories and tie them to our own names.  

      

Writing

We are learning how to write our names starting with an uppercase letter followed by all lowercase letters.  This can tricky, but we will get better with more practice!  We've also spent each day learning how to draw pictures using shapes and lines as well as how to fill an entire area with the details of one scene.  

    

Math

We have focused on counting 1-10 forwards and backwards and using a ten frame, identifying numbers, and identifying shapes along with their attributes.  Plus we have been doing math with our shoes!  Who knew we could learn to describe, sort, count, graph and identify data from the graph (most, fewest, equal) with our shoes?! 

This week we started Student of the Week with Mrs. Fry and got to know a little more about her.  Please see this tab at the top of this blog so you can see when it will be your child's turn!  If there's a conflict with the week your child has, just let me know, it can be changed.