**Zoo field trip forms went out last Thursday, April 21. Our field trip is on May 16. The cost is $7.00 for students. This includes zoo admission and transportation on the bus. Kids leave for the zoo at 9:15 and will return to school at 2:00. After they get off the bus, they may go home. Get the permission slip and money in ASAP!**
We finished up our testing this week. Test results went home with kids on pink pieces of paper. I noticed that many kids need to work on pointing at the words and having their voice match what they are pointing. When they read at home and you see your kid saying a word that doesn't match what they are pointing at, please have them stop and look at the word, use decoding strats, then reread the sentence.
In math, we have started to explore fractions by looking at 1/2. Whenever you notice this fraction at home, be sure to point it out to your kid so that they get more familiar with what 1/2 means.
Next month we have a lot of fun events to wrap up the year! As mentioned above, our field trip is on May 16. This is a full day for the kids and they get picked up from school at 2:00. On May 24, we have our field day. All parents are encouraged to come and help/celebrate with us. We do a half day of Field Day and kids go home at the normal time (11:50). Money for Field Day T-Shirts are due by May 9th! May 31 is our class picnic as well as the last day of school. Report cards go home on this day.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Week of Apr. 11-15
**Assessment Times Posted Outside the Classroom Door. Please Sign Up ASAP!**
We had class and individual pictures! The kids looked very cute so I'm sure the pictures came out great. If you did not send an order form with kids on the picture day, they are accepting late forms until Monday.
In Fundations, we have been working on the middle sounds of words as well as practicing tapping out words. At home, have your child practice tapping out words that you see in books they are reading or around the house. Good words for this are CVC words, as well as words with digraphs, like chat. The digraph is one finger when tapping, because the two letters make one sound. They will need to be reminded about this.
In reading, we continue to work on comprehension strategies. All the kids need practice retelling stories and also picking up the main ideas of stories. Ask them for a retell or the main idea after they read at home. It's also good practice to ask for the characters and setting. You will probably need to remind them what these two words mean.
In math, we completed our introduction to the coins and are starting to practice money exchange. Kids counted pennies in their own bags then asked to exchange 10 pennies for a dime, or 5 pennies for a nickel. It's important for kids to practice counting at home and exchanging money so that this concept gets easier for them.
In writing, we returned to the descriptive genre. Kids described their shoes, shirt, and hair this week. We have been working on using different kinds of starts to sentences. For example, not to always say, "My hair is" as the start of a sentence. We also continue to work on spaces, capitals (where they belong), and punctuation.
We also did our BEAR test this week. This is the first standardized test these kids have taken, so it was very hard. They all did great and were very patient and quiet for the exam. When I have the results back from all the tests, I will send home a letter to let you know how your kid scored.
Have a great weekend!
We had class and individual pictures! The kids looked very cute so I'm sure the pictures came out great. If you did not send an order form with kids on the picture day, they are accepting late forms until Monday.
In Fundations, we have been working on the middle sounds of words as well as practicing tapping out words. At home, have your child practice tapping out words that you see in books they are reading or around the house. Good words for this are CVC words, as well as words with digraphs, like chat. The digraph is one finger when tapping, because the two letters make one sound. They will need to be reminded about this.
In reading, we continue to work on comprehension strategies. All the kids need practice retelling stories and also picking up the main ideas of stories. Ask them for a retell or the main idea after they read at home. It's also good practice to ask for the characters and setting. You will probably need to remind them what these two words mean.
In math, we completed our introduction to the coins and are starting to practice money exchange. Kids counted pennies in their own bags then asked to exchange 10 pennies for a dime, or 5 pennies for a nickel. It's important for kids to practice counting at home and exchanging money so that this concept gets easier for them.
In writing, we returned to the descriptive genre. Kids described their shoes, shirt, and hair this week. We have been working on using different kinds of starts to sentences. For example, not to always say, "My hair is" as the start of a sentence. We also continue to work on spaces, capitals (where they belong), and punctuation.
We also did our BEAR test this week. This is the first standardized test these kids have taken, so it was very hard. They all did great and were very patient and quiet for the exam. When I have the results back from all the tests, I will send home a letter to let you know how your kid scored.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Week of April 5-8
I hope you all had a very relaxing and enjoyable Spring Break!
As we proceed with kindergarten, we will continue to work on decoding strategies, fluency, and comprehension in reading. When your child reads at home, please have them try to decode unknown words using the tools we have been teaching them. Such as putting a sound for every letter (aka sound it out), chunk big words (cover up parts into more manageable pieces), use picture cues (what in the picture starts with the letter ___ etc.), say the first sound and slide into the last, and skip the unknown word and read the rest of the sentence then think what makes sense. The goal is for all the kids to become more independent readers. Usually, they will just need to be asked, "What can we do to figure this word out?" And they will try different decoding strategies above.
After they read a story, you can ask them what happened at the first, middle, and end parts. Also ask them what they think is the big idea or author's purpose to writing the story. This last question will be tough for all of the kids, but it's good to get them to start working on these critical thinking questions for first grade.
This week we also wrapped up "How To" writing. They covered many topics in this part of the writing program, such as "how to ride a bike," "how to fly a kite," "how to get ready for school," "how to eat a cupcake," and many other fun topics. Next week we will be returning to descriptive writing.
In math, we learned a more complex version of "Guess My Shape." In this game, I would give clues about a shape then they would have to guess that shape and what in the classroom has that shape. Clues I gave are number of sides or corners, if it's flat or 3D, if all sides are equal or if two are long, two are short, etc. This is a fun game to play in the car or at home! We also discussed the dime in depth then touched upon how many pennies you could exchange for a dime. Soon we will play a new game called Money Exchange, so have your kids practice thinking about exchanging money at home to make this game easier.
A Note About Assessments
On Friday, April 22, and Monday, April 25th, are two days set aside for end of the year assessments. On these days, children will not come to school as normal. They will come to the classroom only for the time slot that you signed up (sign up sheets are posted outside the classroom's door). Assessments being given on these days are DIBELS, DRA2, and Mondo Oral Language. Please come sign up ASAP so that you have the most selection of times to pick from!
As we proceed with kindergarten, we will continue to work on decoding strategies, fluency, and comprehension in reading. When your child reads at home, please have them try to decode unknown words using the tools we have been teaching them. Such as putting a sound for every letter (aka sound it out), chunk big words (cover up parts into more manageable pieces), use picture cues (what in the picture starts with the letter ___ etc.), say the first sound and slide into the last, and skip the unknown word and read the rest of the sentence then think what makes sense. The goal is for all the kids to become more independent readers. Usually, they will just need to be asked, "What can we do to figure this word out?" And they will try different decoding strategies above.
After they read a story, you can ask them what happened at the first, middle, and end parts. Also ask them what they think is the big idea or author's purpose to writing the story. This last question will be tough for all of the kids, but it's good to get them to start working on these critical thinking questions for first grade.
This week we also wrapped up "How To" writing. They covered many topics in this part of the writing program, such as "how to ride a bike," "how to fly a kite," "how to get ready for school," "how to eat a cupcake," and many other fun topics. Next week we will be returning to descriptive writing.
In math, we learned a more complex version of "Guess My Shape." In this game, I would give clues about a shape then they would have to guess that shape and what in the classroom has that shape. Clues I gave are number of sides or corners, if it's flat or 3D, if all sides are equal or if two are long, two are short, etc. This is a fun game to play in the car or at home! We also discussed the dime in depth then touched upon how many pennies you could exchange for a dime. Soon we will play a new game called Money Exchange, so have your kids practice thinking about exchanging money at home to make this game easier.
A Note About Assessments
On Friday, April 22, and Monday, April 25th, are two days set aside for end of the year assessments. On these days, children will not come to school as normal. They will come to the classroom only for the time slot that you signed up (sign up sheets are posted outside the classroom's door). Assessments being given on these days are DIBELS, DRA2, and Mondo Oral Language. Please come sign up ASAP so that you have the most selection of times to pick from!
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