**OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT was very well attended. I know that there was a lot of material presented to you and we didn't even cover everything. Please read through your curriculum packet. If you have any questions or would like to meet me after school or early evening, please email me! The students seemed to be having a great time. I hope you got to meet all of your child's teachers. Many of you did sign up for a Parent Conference time. If you did not have a chance, I have it posted in my classroom. I will be sending a formal letter next week. Parent/Teacher Conferences for my class will be held Monday, October 7th, Tuesday, October 8th and Wednesday, October 9th in our classroom. At that time, I will be sharing my assessments, student progress in all academic areas, participation and social/emotional growth reflections. I will also share with you what our new standards based report card will look like.
**A letter with a review of your child's KRT score (Kindergarten Readiness Test that was given this summer) is in your child's homework folder. Any questions--please contact me.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 3rd. At that time, a class photo and individual picture of your child will be taken. I usually try to be one of the first classes signed up for early morning. I need one parent volunteer to help with this. (It will take about 20 minutes) Please email if you can help. Thanks!
**You now have a copy of our weekly specials schedule. Our computer lab time is yet to be scheduled. I will be working on it this next week. The students will be working in the lab on a program called Lexia Core5. It is a great companion piece to our Treasures Reading and Route to Reading Skills Based programs. Your child will be able to use this program at home too!
**I am currently working to complete assessment of students using the PHONIC SCREENERS. This will assist in your child's skill placement in Route to Reading.
**Don't forget--Library books can remain out for one week and must be brought back on Library Day (Tuesday) so your child can pick a new one or two!
**Mr. Packer Math Enrichment will begin this Friday from 9:30-10:00. He will be working on whole group and small group thinking and problem solving skills.
**If your child will be TRAVELING over any weekend or on a vacation, let me know.....I will send a Travel Journal with them. Our class will track our "travels" throughout the year on our state and world map. It can be anywhere---Chicago, Forest Park, Florida, Colorado, France....you name it--we will track it!
**Next week is the last week I will send a hard copy of the homework assignments. It will be posted under the "check here for assignments" line under my blogspot. If you feel you need a hard copy, please let me know and I will provide one.
This week:
It was all about getting ready for OPEN HOUSE. The students worked hard on projects that were displayed in our hallway. They thought about their future in their illustrations and writing of what they wanted to be when they grew up. They worked on retelling a story both verbally and with the help of their classmates recording letters and words. Their TACTILE NAMES project was sensational!! Very creative--very touchy feely! They are on display in our classroom. The students also shared information on who was in their family with each other. They drew a picture of all the family members in their household.....even their pets!! Totally adorable!!! The discussions on expectations, behavior, Eagle slips, direction following remain important topics.
Reading/Social Studies: The students finished Week 3 of our prep for Treasures Reading Series called Smart Start. The students worked on reinforcing the recognition of letter names A-Z and sounds A-P. They again used mirrors to observe where each sound came from...open/closed mouth?....puff of air.?....vibrations?....where is your tongue? The students continues work on sight word vocabulary. They learned to "Walk Your Words." It is in their homework packet. The students continue to work on sight words---red, blue, go, am, I, go, the, yes, no, can. I read the trade book, "Jazz Baby." The students made prediction about story content. They used retelling cards to orally retell the story. Some students volunteered to write words under the pictures. It was a group effort to help in the sounding out of words and the recording of letters to create the sentences. The students named the instruments used and described the sounds they made. The students brainstormed ways they used their 5 Senses and helped create a list. The students continued work on their Common Core Standards of comparing texts and asking and answering questions about a story read. The students compared the fiction story, "Jazz Baby," to the informational (nonfiction) story, "Made From Clay." They noted the real from make believe, photo vs. illustrations and what each story was about (making music vs. finding/using clay.) They also continued work on recognizing the CHARACTERS, SETTING and TITLE of a given story. The positional words under, on, in, and over were reviewed. During our oral read aloud time, the students read the paper story, "I Can." They concentrated on finger pointing each word and picture and noting that each sentence begins with a capital letter and has an ending mark. (period, question mark, exclamation mark) Students took turns reading aloud while the other students followed along with their finger. (tracking) Our workstations this week included "Froggy, Froggy Where's Your Home? (upper/lowercase match,) Sound Toy Bag Game (matching toy to its appropriate initial sound box,) "Walk Your Words," Sequencing your ABC's, "Go Fish for Letters," "Initial Sound Magnetic Board," and the iPad activity, Alphatots.
The students continue to work on Haggerty Blue Books exercises which include, rhyming, letter naming, sound recognition, segmenting, substituting sounds, adding and deleting sounds and counting syllables.
Math: The students worked on Common Core Standards matching one to one on their number boards and building number. Students are working in groups--recognition 0-5 and 0-10. They also worked on sequencing numbers. They continue to use our calendar ten frames to count the number of days in school. Our workstations this week included Egg Carton Math, Number Boards, matching number with quantity, counting and writing to 5 or 10, Sorting and Classifying Activity, exploring pattern blocks. The students did the "Shape Rap" to review basic plane shapes--circle, square, triangle and rectangle. They also went on a shape hunt to find basic shapes in the classroom. We discussed the terms GREATER THAN, LESS THAN.
Writing: Now that the students are aware that different types of lines form our letters, we have begun to explore our writing series Handwriting Without Tears. The students used wooden pieces (straight lines, slant lines and curved lines) to construct their name on the floor. We talked about always starting at the top when producing a letter. We will begin this week with our FROG JUMP letters and using our orange workbook. The students were introduced to the our finger/hand strengthening box. It contains center activities built around strengthening our tripod grasp for writing and drawing. Our Occupational Therapist, Mrs. Nichols was in to observe development of tripod grasp. She has given me suggestions on students and we will continue to work with her. The students continue to work on their journal prompts. They are drawing and verbally sharing their what they have drawn. They are also in some cases, writing down the first sound they hear in one of their pictures, maybe writing one word using their inventive (phonetic) spelling, labeling one picture, or trying to write a sentence. (a group of words that NAMES and TELLS) All very exciting to observe!
Technology: The students have begun work on iPad etiquette. How to turn on, turn off, use the pad of their finger, control sound, add a headset and where to find activities. Our new data/tech coach, Mrs. Diehl will also help assisst in helping to foster greater independence in using the iPad. iPad use in our classroom is another tool the students can use to enhance and support what they are learning in the classroom. Stay tuned!
Literature: "When You Go To Kindergarten," "Tiptoe Into Kindergarten," "Pirates Go To School." "The Recess Queen," "ABC I Like Me," "Hands are Not for Hitting," "Two Eyes, A Nose, A Mouth," "Splat the Cat," "Hop on Pop," "The Cat in the Hat," "Cool Dog, School Dog," "Jazz Baby," "Made From Clay," "Don't Hit Me," "Where Do You Go To School?"
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