Kindergarten Update 11/5-11/9

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 Jen and Alyssa for organizing the party!  It was a hit!

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.  You can check out the Book Fair that is happening in the library before or after your conference.   Our class "previewed" the Book Fair yesterday and most of the students have a wish list (in their heads!).  I have created a Wish List at the Book Fair in case anyone is interested in contributing to our classroom collection of books!  Here are a couple of questions you can think about when you come to conferences: 

1.  How does your child feel about school (favorite/least favorite subjects)?

2. Support and goal(s) for the next trimester (academics, social, behavioral).

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 discuss the amazing butterflies.  Our own caterpillars are on their way!  We will be able to observe the life cycle of the a butterfly in our classroom! 

Reading: By now students should be able to read word from the "-at" and "-an" family.  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.   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. Helping your child learn math facts to "5" will be beneficial as we continue on with word problems.

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!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Brenda