Kindergarten is "SNOW" much fun!

We had a great week full of learning about snow and snowmen! Check out some highlights below.

Fundations Tapping:
This week, we started Unit 2 in Fundations.  The children learned how to "tap" the sounds they hear in CVC words. When children tap the sounds in words, they say each individual sound they hear in the word while simultaneously tapping their thumb to their index finger for the first sound, their thumb to their middle finger for the second sound, and their thumb to their ring finger for the third sound in the word. After saying each individual sound, they blend the sounds together and say the whole word by sliding their thumb across all three fingers. Please take a look at the pictures below to see how finger tapping works.

For example, if we are tapping the word "mat," we would say /m/, /a/, /t/ while tapping each finger to our thumb. 

Some examples of words we practiced tapping together this week include:

sat, sit, rat, mat, mop, sap, sad, mad, rad, rip, rap, etc. 

At home, practice "tapping" sounds in words with your Kindergartener. Show them a picture or tell them a word, and see if your child can say all the sounds in the word by tapping! 

Writing: 

On Wednesday, a writing coach came into our classroom and demonstrated how to add captions to our illustrations. The students did such a great job!!! Ask your child what he or she decided to illustrate and caption. 

Speaking of Writing... 

We are going to begin our next writing unit soon ... Instructional / Procedural writing. This type of writing tells the reader how to make something, do something, or complete a task that involves steps. As a preview of this type of writing, students will be first asked to orally share the steps to complete a task/activity that they are passionate about during Morning Meeting. More information will be coming home in your child's communication folder next week!! 

"Fun Friday"

After practicing our snowman poem all week, children had an opportunity to read the poem aloud to the class. We had so many volunteers who wanted to use the microphone and special pointer to read the poem. Check out some of our brave readers below. The students did a fabulous job!!! 

Check out some pictures from our "Fun Friday" craft!!

Save the Date for some fun Upcoming Events!

VALENTINE'S DAY...February 14th! 

Our class will celebrate Valentine's Day on Tuesday, February 14th. Your child is welcome to bring in Valentines to give to their friends. Here a just a few reminders/tips about Valentine's... 

*If your child is going to distribute Valentines to classmates, please make sure your child brings in a Valentine for each member of our class. We have 17 students!!! 

*Valentines need to be food-free! 

*We encourage your child to write out his/her own Valentine's. This will strengthen his/her writing skills, and will build a stronger connection to friends. 

*One suggestion would be to write out 2-3 Valentine's per day.  

* You may send in your child's valentine's as early as February 1st, but no later than Monday, February 13th! 

*Be on the lookout for a Party in A Bag notice which will be coming home with your child as we near the day of our celebration. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!!! 


100th DAY OF SCHOOL...February 16th! 


We will be celebrating our 100th day of Kindergarten on Thursday, February 16th (with NO snow days*)


We will be sending home information about our special 100th day celebration next week. Please be on the lookout! 


Other Reminders... 
*Mystery Reader: Please send back the dates you would like to be a Mystery Reader in our class as soon as you can. I will be finalizing our list next week, and will be notifying families of their selected day to come in and be a Mystery Reader!!! 

*Sight word cards & Take Home Books: THANK YOU for your support in helping your child practice his/her sight words, and listening to your child read his/her take-home book!! Just a reminder that take-home books need to be returned to school the following day. 

Guiding Questions: 
- Ask your child if he/she can recite this week's poem
- Give your child some CVC words (see top for some examples). Can your child tap out the words? 
- What did your child illustrate and caption during our writing demonstration? 
- Ask your child how we successfully practiced a lock down at Fox Hill on Thursday. 
-Star Tag Ceremony on Friday: what star tag did your child receive? 

Have a wonderful weekend!!

We're the Heroes!

We have had another fun week here in Room 6! Check out some snapshots below of our week. 

Students are continuing to earn lots of incentives in the classroom, such as bringing in books/special objects to share, and getting to do their very own classroom jobs.  

Happy Birthday to Anthony who turned 6 on January 19th!!!

 On Friday we had a Heroes Assembly. We learned that Heroes are a part of our everyday lives. 

Check out the pictures and video clip below of the Kindergarten grade level performing our H-E-R-O-E-S song!

Important Parent Information: 

*Just a friendly reminder to check and empty out your child's blue commutation folder DAILY!!! Important notices, reminders, and information go home frequently. 

Report Cards

* Kindergarten Report cards will be going home on Monday, January 23rd. Please be sure to check your child's backpack on Monday for the report card, which will be in a blue folder. The blue folder also contains a parent questionnaire to be filled out by you. Please return the blue folder and questionnaire back to school as soon as possible! You may keep your child's report card.

Please remember Kindergarten Report Cards are based on standards your child is expected to meet by the end of their Kindergarten year. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if any questions/concerns arise about your child's report card.

Thank you!! 

Sight word flashcards

*Thank you for your support at home in helping your child practicing his/her sight words! Just 5 minutes per day goes a long way! 

Please remember to send your child's sight word flashcard booklet to school each Friday.

Raz-Kids

* Students learned a new exciting center we will be doing during our literacy block: Raz-Kids! Raz-Kids is an app on the iPad (or website on a computer) which has thousands of books children can listen to, read, and answer questions about at their own reading level. 

If you have an iPad or computer at home, a notice went home in your child's communication folder with information about how to log into Raz-Kids, along with your child's username and password. 

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Star Tags

*On Friday, we had our first Star Tag ceremony! Each student received their very own star tag for displaying positive behavior. Some examples of star tags earned this week include: giving 100% effort, first time listening, good bus behavior, and more! Be sure to ask your child what star tag he/she received. 

Guided Reading

*A notice went home about Kindergartners beginning guided reading this month. Sometimes, your child may bring home a “Take Home Book,” which is a copy of a book already read in school. Your child may read the Take-Home book to you, an older brother or sister, or other caregiver. The idea is to have him/her read at home to practice what has been learned in school. After you are finished listening to your child read, please sign the slip of paper that is attached to the book.

These books MUST be returned to school the following day in your child’s communication folder.

Please take care of the books!!

Mystery Reader

*Be on the lookout for a notice coming home in your child's folder about Mystery Reader beginning in Room 6!!! 

Guiding Questions: 

-Ask your child who his/her hero is

-What was your child's classroom job this week?

-What star tag did your child receive on Friday? 

Thanks again for all your support at home.

Have a wonderful weekend!!! 

The Mitten

Dear Families,

This week, we focused our learning on The Mitten, by Jan Brett. Check out our fun week! 

Morning Meeting:

In morning meeting, we did the mitten greet. We brought in our mittens and put one mitten on our hand, and the other mitten in the middle of the circle. Students had to pick a mitten from the middle of the circle, and say good morning to the mitten's owner. We had so much fun with this greeting! 

 

Classroom Coupons:

So many students are earning lots of tickets for following our classroom rules and expectations! Students get the choice of picking a prize or a coupon. Several students have been choosing coupons, and getting to do fun things in the classroom! Some examples this week include: sitting at the teacher's desk, bringing in a book to share with the class, swapping seats with a friend, pick the morning greeting, and more!!  

Classroom Jobs:

Students were so excited to begin their classroom job this week. Check out some photos of our Drill Sound Leaders. I am so proud of them! Be sure to ask your child what his/her classroom job was this week! 

More About the Mitten:

This week's poem--can your child can recite it!?

Retell:

We created our very own retell bags to help us retell the story of the mitten. Be sure to ask your child to retell you the story of the mitten. See if he/she can tell you the order of the animals that went into Nicki's mitten!

Hedgehog Show! 

On Friday, Ms. Pavlicek from the science center came to Fox Hill and taught us all about Hedgehogs! 

We learned that hedgehogs are mammals, that they have special defense mechanisms to protect themselves, and we even got to meet a real hedgehog: Pearl! 

We were so excited that even though hedgehogs are nocturnal, Pearl was awake and moving around. We even got to see Pearl eating her snack: some worms! 

Check out the pictures below!

Sight Words: 

Thank you for all your support at home in helping your child practice his/her sight word flashcards!! I am very impressed that all students knew the first 5 sight words!! Next week, there will be 5 more sight words added on to the sight word flashcards. Very exciting! :) 

Guiding Questions: 

-Can your child recite The Mitten poem?

-Ask your child to retell you the story of The Mitten

-What was your child's classroom job this week? 

-Ask your child about the hedgehog show. What did he/she learn about hedgehogs?

Have a wonderful weekend!