Bubbles Workshop

Classroom Newsletter January 20, 2014

Language Arts

Journal Writing – The words “this” and “that” have been introduced.  We now know I, a, the, is, it, in, to, at, are, for, on, of, my, and, he, this, that, and his.  I have also added the words “her” and “she” to the word ring.  They are not “official” kindergarten words but they are words which the children are seeing and using frequently in their reading and writing.  The children are working on writing at least two sentences in their weekly journal entry.  We have been working on adding a reaction sentence to what we are writing about, for example how we felt when we did something and why we felt that way.  The children’s writing is becoming more detailed and interesting.

Guided Reading – We reviewed the sight words listed above.  We read books focusing on the words “this” / “that”.  The children are able to sustain “Read to Self” time for 15 minutes.   They are also doing “Read to Someone” time for 15 minutes.  Many of the expectations for “Read to Someone” time are the same as those for “Read to Self” time.   The children work quietly.  They get started right away.  They stay in one spot and read the whole time.  The children sit side by side and both of them have their eyes on the book.  They may choose to take turns reading the same book or they may choose to each read a different book to their partner.  The children also have the opportunity to “Listen to Reading” on the iPads.  We have downloaded a selection of books onto Storia from Scholastic.  Having the children reading independently allows me to meet with small groups and individuals to read books at students’ individual reading levels or to provide additional support as needed on other skills.
 
Fundations – We continue to review the letter formation for upper and lower case letters.  We have done activities distinguishing between when to use a period and when to use a question mark.  As always, we review the proper use of capitals for the beginning letter in a sentence as well as in people’s names.  The children are becoming skilled at tapping out, reading, and spelling CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words.  We remind the children to use this skill in their reading as well as in their writing and that it is not just a skill to be used in isolation.

Literacy Centers – We continue with our theme of snow and winter.
We read two different versions of The Mitten and talked about how the stories were alike and how they were different.  We practiced retelling the story by putting the animals in order on a piece of yarn and using sequencing words such as first, then, next, after that, last or finally  when retelling.

Math

We continue to focus on reading and writing numerals 0 – 20.  We are comparing and ordering groups of up to 20 objects.  The children are using ten frame boards to help them in their work.  They are learning that when a ten frame board is full there are always ten.  When there are two ten frame boards side by side and the first ten frame is full, they can count on from ten to get to the higher number shown.  The children are developing a solid understanding of the terms more, fewer, greater than, and less than.

In Chapter 7 we will work on recognizing and describing the characteristics of basic solid (three-dimensional) shapes and flat (two-dimensional) shapes.

Science and Health

In Science we continue with our unit on Properties of Materials.  We learned about the properties of solids – they can be touched and they keep their shape.  We explored buttons, rocks, shells, and pom poms.  We shared many different descriptive words during our exploration.
Next week we will be attending an enrichment program that will provide us with the opportunity to explore and discuss the properties of bubbles.

Classroom Newsletter January 2, 2014

Happy New Year!  I hope you are all enjoying the extended vacation and are having fun in the snow.  I wanted to let you know what is coming up during the weeks ahead.

Language Arts

Journal Writing – The words “he” and “she” will be introduced next week.  I will send home the updated list of sight words the children will be working with for the remainder of the year.  We will be getting back into our writing routine after vacation, and I look forward to seeing the children grow in independence during the stretch between now and February vacation.

Guided Reading – We continue to review the sight words and will read a book each week which focuses on the new sight word.  Next week we will read a book focusing on the word “he”.  Some children will choose to keep this book in their book bag at school for continued practice, others will bring it home.  All children are asked to choose one of the paper books from their book bag to bring home.    Please keep these books at home for continued review.  We frequently discuss the fact that rereading helps to make you a more fluent reader.  Please return the word rings by Tuesday so that we may add to them each week.

I will also begin reading with the children in small groups at their own individual reading levels.  I will be letting them take these books home to share with their families and only ask that they please be returned to school within a couple of days as they are needed in the classroom.  If your child would like to take the book home again at another time, that will be possible.

Fundations – We have completed Unit 1, and all letters are now part of our daily drill and practice.  We have done activities with letters in the initial sound position as well as the final sound position.  The focus of handwriting in Unit 1 is on the lower case letters.  In Unit 2, which takes less time than Unit 1, we will review the formation of upper case letters.  The “tapping out” and segmenting of each sound in a CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) word has been introduced, and the children enjoy being given challenge words to read and spell.

Math 

We finished Chapter 5 right before vacation.  The children reviewed the concept of size comparisons and explored the idea that only a few big objects fit into a space that would fit many small objects.  We also used positional language to describe and compare where objects are in space.
In Chapter 6 we will focus on mastering knowledge of number sense up to 20.  We will work on reading and writing numerals 0 – 20.  We will be comparing and ordering groups of up to 20 objects.  The children are developing a solid understanding of the terms more, fewer, greater than, and less than.

Science and Health

In Science we will work on activities to help the children understand the differences between Living and Non-living things.  We will soon begin our unit on Properties of Materials.  We will discuss and explore the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

As part of the implementation of the Olweus bullying prevention program, our weekly class meetings have focused on discussions and activities to help the children understand, discuss, and practice different strategies to help them during challenging social interactions.   We will spend some time reviewing what we have covered so far this year.  The following rules are posted in our classroom.

Rule #1 We will not bully others.

Rule #2 We will try to help students who are bullied.

Rule #3 We will try to include students who are left out.

Rule #4 If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

Students understand that bullying is being mean or hurtful on purpose, it happens over and over again, and it involves an imbalance of power.  Students enjoy participating in class meetings, and we have had many interesting discussions.

Reminders

The winter weather is here.  The children are doing well with getting themselves ready.  Please continue to practice getting sleeves and pant legs right side out, zipping, snapping, and tying.  The children need to be able to get themselves ready when going outside and coming back inside.  Thank you in advance for helping them become more independent.  We do try to get out twice a day even during the winter months.  If the temperature is too cold, we have indoor recess.  If there is snow on the ground, the children will need boots and snowpants in order to play on the playground.  Otherwise, they stay on the hottop around the playground.  The children really enjoy playing together in the snow.  It may be helpful to put an extra pair of socks and/or mittens in your child’s backpack as things don’t always dry out in between recesses.  

Important Dates

No School, Monday, January 20th – Martin Luther King Day
No School, Monday, January 27th – Professional Development Day

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who helped and contributed to our holiday party and post-sing-a-long gathering.  It was wonderful to see so many families.  A special thank you to Mrs. Anvari and Mrs. Nelson for coordinating the festivities.  It was a very nice way to celebrate the holiday season.

Welcome

We welcome a new student, Drew, and his family to our classroom and to the community of Topsfield.  We are so happy to have them join us at Steward School.

Classroom Newsletter December 1, 2013

Language Arts

As we help students understand the different genres in literature, our primary focus in Kindergarten is to help children understand the difference between fiction and non-fiction.  As part of our understanding of fiction, Kindergarten focuses more specifically on the genre of “animal fantasy”.  The children understand that books within the genre of animal fantasy have animal characters that talk and act like people and have the same problems and feelings as people.  The children enjoy recognizing when they have chosen a book to read that is within the genre of “animal fantasy”.

The children are becoming more confident when sounding out words to write in their journals. As we read books aloud, we are noticing how authors organize the books they write.  They have a beginning, middle, and end that make sense.  Even though we are beginning writers, it is not too early to become aware of how good writers organize their work.  The children will sometimes write the beginning of their journal entry and then dictate other parts of their “story”.  In this way they can practice organizing their thoughts.

Sight Words Introduced - I, a, the, is, it, in, to, at, are, my, and for. 

Math

• We continue to work on the concept of more than, less than, and the same as.  We compared numbers by using counters and discussed how many more, how many less, as well as alternate ways to make different numbers the same by adding or taking away.
• Calendar Math continues to provide us with rich mathematical discussions each day.  In November we began an exploration of measurement by comparing the length of our feet.  In December we will compare and order objects by weight.

Science, Social Studies, and Health

We finished our study of the Senses.  We will now focus on Social Studies as we talk about different customs and winter holidays from around the world. 

The children enjoyed learning about the history of Thanksgiving, the importance of Squanto, and how life was different during the time of the Pilgrims compared with life today.  We enjoyed sharing our own Thanksgiving “feast” together.

Reminders

The cold weather is here.  Please help your children practice putting on their coats, getting sleeves right side out, zipping, snapping, and tying.  Thank you for your help.

Important Dates

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming in December.  The following are the early release dates:

          Thursday, Dec. 12^th – Early Release @ 12:00

          Friday, Dec. 13^th – Early Release @ 12:00

No Lunch will be served on these early release days.

Progress reports will be sent home on Dec. 9^th.

We Wish You A Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Classroom Newsletter November 8, 2013

Language Arts

The sight word, “are”, was introduced.  We are using a combination of the Fry Word list of sight words and the Fundations list of trick words for Kindergarten.  Technically a word that cannot be sounded out is referred to as a trick word.  At this time not all of our sight words are “trick” words.  However, it is important for children to develop automaticity in recognizing frequently used words in their reading and writing.  We have used the terminology “sight words” as well as “trick words” with the children.  All of these words are posted on the word wall in our classroom and children are provided with lists of these words at their tables during writing activities.  Our goal is for the children to be able to both recognize these words automatically in their reading as well as spell these words correctly when used in their daily writing.  We encourage children to go back and check their list if they have spelled the word incorrectly.  We would like to instill this habit early and put them on track for being accountable for the correct spelling of these words.  More words are added to this list each year and regular practice of recognizing and spelling these words is important in developing solid skills in reading and writing.  

Math

We finished Chapter 3, our unit on measurement.  The children compared items by size, length, and weight.  They practiced using the terminology, bigger than/smaller than, longer than/shorter than, heavier than/lighter than.

When we do end of chapter or unit assessments, we use the results from these assessments to direct our instruction.  For example, after our chapter 2 assessment, it became clear that some children needed a review of numbers that come “before” and “after”.  We reinforced this concept during calendar time activities and made sure the children understood that numbers that come before are less and numbers that come after are more.  We then did an activity where children rolled dice and recorded the number rolled and wrote the number that came after.  We will do the same activity for numbers that come before.

Science

We did a Mystery Box activity and had to use our sense of touch to guess which item we had in our hand.  We used descriptive words telling about the item we were touching.

Social Studies

We read a book about Veteran’s Day and talked about the importance of veterans and what they have done for us and our country.  The children have enjoyed sharing the names of important people in their lives who are veterans.  We attended a veteran’s day assembly on Thursday.

Health/Olweus

We continue to talk about how to be a good friend.  We talked about how it feels when a friend says “I won’t be your friend unless. . .” or “I’ll be your friend if . . .”  We role-played what we would say if someone said that to us.  We could say “I want to be your friend but I don’t want to do that.” “Good friends don’t say things like that.” “Maybe we can’t be friends right now.”

Important Dates

**Early Release** Wednesday, Nov. 27th @ 12:00
No Lunch will be served
**No School** Thursday, Nov. 28th and Friday, Nov. 29th

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming in December.  The following are the early release dates:
Thursday, Dec. 12th – Early Release @ 12:00
Friday, Dec. 13th – Early Release @ 12:00
No Lunch will be served on these early release days.
 Progress reports will be sent home on Dec. 9th.
Conference reminder slips will be sent home by the end of November.