Saturday, September 22, 2012

UPDATES for 9/17-9/21 2012

**Thanks to all of you who attended our Kindergarten Curriculum Night.  I hope you found it to be beneficial.  Kindergarten does have lots of curriculum and I was glad that you could view it.  If you did not attend, all the information about what was shared is in your child's backpack.  Please take a look at it.   If  you have any questions or would like to set up a time to see everything, just email me.  I am here most days until 5:30 pm.  I live a short distance and can also come back in the evening too.
**Don't forget to sign up for Parent/Teacher ConferencesThey will be held on Tuesday, October 16th, Wednesday, October 17th, Thursday, October 18th and Friday, October 19th in my classroom.   Please Note:  Thursday and Friday, October 18th and 19th--school will only be in session in the morning.  Dismissal is at 11:00 am.  There is no afternoon session for students.
**Our school wide PACERS walking /running club began Friday.  Students can use their lunch recess to run/walk around the school grounds 3 times (1 mile) and receive a special chain with a little foot on it.  PACERS will be every Friday at lunch recess until November and will pick up again in the spring.  Each week, they have the opportunity to earn another foot.  Our whole class is participating!  Most students ran and some walked with me.  The students decorated a pouch to hold their foot bracelet.  We will keep all bracelets in our pouches and add our feet each week.  Let's say YES to exercise!!!!
**Our Eagle Wing Pajama Day was great!  Lots of cute p.j.'s, some fuzzy slippers and bedtime stuffed animals and pillow pets.  We snuggled up for some great stories and had our pets with us during our writing and reading time.  We also took an extra 15 minute recess outside on Friday afternoon for another over the top Eagle Wing week!
**Our assembly for the FUN RUN fundraiser featured the Get Movin' Cheetah and a super pep talk.  The students brought their pledge sheets home with all the information this past Tuesday.  Our FUN RUN time is 8:30 am on Tuesday, October 16th!!!!  Come cheer us on.  Any questions--just email me.
**Information on our school wide MILLION MINUTES CHALLENGE went home on Friday.  Even though it doesn't officially start until October, our class is getting a head start.  Please read the information and begin recording minutes on the reading log.  Students did ask if they could read more than 20 minutes---Of course!!!  If you need additional recording logs, let me know.  Our first log is due on Friday, September 28th.  Happy Reading!!
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 2nd.  I will try to book an early morning slot for us.  Thanks to M. Schwager and L. Pointer for their assistance.  Stay tuned for more info.
**All DIBELS and PHONIC SCREENER assessments are now completed.  I will be sharing all the information with you at our conference.  Route to Reading Rotation 1 will begin on Tuesday, October 2nd.  At that time, you will receive information on the skill your child will be working on as well as the teacher who will be teaching it.  The rotations are 3 weeks long. 
**Don't forget to hand in your HELPFUL PARENTS SIGN UP sheet.  If you are interested in helping with our Station Day Activities each Friday afternoon, check it off.  I will be compiling a rotating list of volunteers that I will post.  I am looking to start on Friday, October 12th!  Join in the fun if you can.  If you have a specific Friday in mind.....let me know.   There are usually 2 parents per week.  Think about taking an afternoon off of work.  It is  a great way to see your child in action as well as observe the dynamics of the class.  We love dads, grandmas and grandpas too!
**Our School has a GREEN TEAM!  Each class has 2 reps that meet with Green Team Leader, Ms. Tague, 2 times a month during lunch recess.  They plan projects, discuss how to create a "greener" environment for our school and relay information to our class.  This years focus will be on RECYCLING.  I will be asking for 2 volunteers next week to represent our class.  Talk it up!
**In Friendship Club this week, the topic was Tattle vs. Report.  Ms. Bell Bey read the students a story about the difference between tattling and reporting information.  After the story, she moderated a discussion and did an activity with the students on this topic.  My question for the week:  Are you tattling or reporting information????
**Mr. Packer Math focused on Mr. Packer getting to know the students in the class.  He did an activity where each student performed an action (how timely!) and we went around the circle performing our action while Mr.Packer put our name to our action.   The activity worked our memory and sequencing skills.  The actions were fun and wacky!!!
**As the weather begins to change---please remember, we will be going out each day.  Please see that your child dresses for the weather.  Thanks!
**As we begin our Route to Reading rotations--please remember that our classroom is a NO NUT/NUT PRODUCT class as are ALL the kindergarten classes.  Students with life threatening nut allergies will be moving through our classroom.  Let's keep them safe!!!  Thanks!
This week:
It was all about  letters and numbers!  The students found letters around our classroom and school.  They also located numbers in our classroom and school.   What is the difference between a letter and number?  The students began a conversation about Consonants (letters that have 1 or 2 sounds) and Vowels (letters that can have many different sounds)  Wow!  The students looked at their names and located the consonants and vowels.  They compared their name with a friends name.  Some students went home and came back the next day with vowels circled from their first, middle and last names!!!!  We are counting everything.  They
counted  markers, chairs, books, feet, noses.....Station Day activities this week included water color painting, creating a specific pattern block design and counting how many of each shape was used and reading their "I Can" story to a partner.
Reading/Social Studies:   The students have completed the intro to our Treasures Reading series called Start Smart and spent this week reviewing letter recognition A-Z, beginning consonant sounds, matching uppercase letters and lowercase letters and sequencing letters A-Z.  The students brainstormed words that name animals and words that name actions.  We now have a list words that name people, places and animals (nouns) as well as a list of words that name actions (verbs.)  The students are working on using complete sentences--subject/action when speaking.  During our read aloud time, students read the paper story, "I Can."  We continue to work on locating the title of our story.  The students are now locating the page number, where the sentence starts (left side) and what ends the sentence (period or exclamation mark.)  We continue to examine the contents of each page.   What do you see in the big picture?  Let's finger point and read each word and little picture (rebus reading).  Do you recall your sight words?  Before we turn the page, what do you think will happen next?  Can you find an action word in this sentence?  How many words are in this sentence?  Who is in this story? (characters)  What do you think the story is about?  Where does this story take place? (setting)  Wow!  Lots going on!  Students are sharing their story reading with a partner.  The partner is observing finger pointing and voice quality (Can I hear my partner read?)  Workstations this week included "Rhyme Time Game," (creating a rhyming word by using the spinner,) "Sound Toy Bag" Game, Letters Cards for sequencing uppercase letters, partner work with iPad apps-ABC Touch, My ABC's and Sound Sort, and  "Can you write the sound down" activity.  The students continue  work on the Haggerty Blue Book exercises.  They are becoming much more focused as a group on letter recognition, rhyming distinction, segmenting and substituting sounds, deleting sounds, adding sounds and counting syllables.  We will begin UNIT 1-Families, on Monday.
Math:   The students worked on random counting (0-25.)  They worked on sequencing numbers (0-12.)  Students worked with partners to quiz each other on numbers 0-12.  The students reviewed pattern block shape names and comparing shapes (3 sided, 4 sided, 5 sided.)  They continue to explore tally marks as a way to count by 5"s.  The students worked on random numbers that come before or after.  Students also found patterns around the classroom.  This week, the students began exploring the penny.   We used our magnifiers and real pennies to examine what is on the front of the penny (Abraham Lincoln,) what is on the back of the penny (the Lincoln Memorial building.)  The students located and read the number on the front to see how old their penny was.  We read 2 stories about pennies--what they are made out of (copper,) where they are made (Washington D. C. at the U.S. Mint) and how much they are worth (1 cent.)  We also learned that Abraham Lincoln was President number 16.  Students worked on the activities, "Penny Power" and "Penny Grab." 
Writing:   The students reviewed Frog Jump Capitals--F, E, D and P.  They used their wooden pieces to create the letters.  They participated in a clay activity---rolling it into a ball, smashing it to make a pancake, rolling it into 3 "snakes" to make the letter F, 4 "snakes" to make the letter E and curving their "snake" to make letters D and P.  Fun and work!  The students worked in their orange books really beginning to think about the quality of their letter formation.  They continue to use activities from the hand/finger activity box to strengthen their tri pod grasp.  This week the students worked on drawing a picture and labeling one part with a word that described it----picture of a tree--using their inventive spelling to spell tree.  Some students are writing a three word sentence, some a word with a beginning and ending sound, some with a beginning sound and some experimenting with vowel use. Students are using their letter sound picture cards to assist them in seeing how to write a letter if they only remember the sound.   The idea here is that all students are feeling more comfortable about writing. 
Technology:   The students continue to use iPad apps--My ABC's, ABC Touch and Sound Sort to enhance their learning of the alphabet,  alphabet sequence, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, sound/letter imprinting and language development during our reading language/ arts times.  The iPad app-Intro to Math is used to strengthen number recognition through musical patterning, sequencing number order, find the missing number, touching number, number scatter and tracing number forms. The students are enjoying using our iPad tool as they learn to work with a partner--taking turns and sharpening their verbal skills as they interact with one another.
Literature:   "My School's a Zoo," "The Fleas Sneeze," "The Colors of Us," "Feelings," "Bullies Never Win," "Two Eyes, a Nose and a Mouth," "A Hippo Ate the Teacher," "Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully," "Mean Jean the Recess Queen."  A rereading of "The Alphabet Adventure," "The Alphabet Mystery," and "The Alphabet Rescue," was done for our Common Core Assessment of a specific author.  Our class has chosen authors Audrey and Bruce Wood.

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