Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

Week of September 30-October 4, 2019

Reading:  The title of this week’s story is “Smash! Crash!”  The characters in this fantasy are vehicles that interact with each other. This selection will encourage students to discuss activities they do with their friends. Nouns will be introduced this week. The amazing words presented are: signals, dud, proper, pirates, perfect, and fabulous. The sight words spotlighted are: a and to.

Phonics: We are beginning to focus on individual letters and sounds. The first sound we will learn is /m/, which is made by letter Mm. We will practice initial sounds, ending sounds, blending, and discriminating words that contain the same sound.

Math: Our unit on shapes will be tested this week. The next unit focuses on numbers 0-5. We will learn how to read, write, and count those numbers.

Science and Social Studies: will focus on the Fall (Autumn) season and the holidays that occur during the season.

Handwriting: Capital letters will continue this week. We are trying to use proper formation when producing our letters each time we write. 

Reminders:

- This week is Homecoming Spirit Week. Please refer to the information that was sent home for daily dress themes.

-September book logs are now due. October Book Logs will be placed in folders on the first of the month.

- Fall Festival is approaching quickly. Please send in your $3.00 donation if you have not yet done so. Thank you for the donations we have received!

- It is important to practice sight words daily. Many students are advancing quickly. These students are seeing the benefits of knowing the words. They feel more confident when participating in reading activities containing their sight words. Along with sight words, please practice letters & sounds, oral counting to 100, and writing the numbers 0-10 daily.
                                          Have a marvelous week!

Week of September 23-27, 2019       

Reading: “Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip” is our new story. This animal fantasy discusses how people in a community cooperate. In order to build comprehension, we will learn how to classify and categorize. This will help us understand how things are alike in a story.  This Amazing Words in the story include: bakery, park, library, fire station, post office, and chaperone. The targeted sight words are: I, am, at, the, little, yes, and no.Phonics: We are focusing on beginning sounds in words this week. We will also keep practicing breaking words apart into syllables, as well as blending syllables to make words. Rhyming is being taught daily. We are also trying to identify all letters and their sounds daily.

Math: Our Unit of Shapes will conclude this week. Concepts include 2-dimensional flat shapes (plane shapes) as well as 3-dimensional solid figures. Vocabulary words to review include: sides, vertices, circle, square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus, oval, sphere, cube, cone, cylinder, rectangular prism, triangular prism, and pyramid. Also practice positional words, such as above, below, beside, next to, in front of, and behind
Science: In honor of Johnny Appleseed, we will be using apples as our science theme. We will be using our five senses to sort, compare, graph, and taste apples.  

Reminders: 

~ The Kindergarten Fall Festival is scheduled for Thursday, October 10th. Please remember to send in your $3.00 donation if you have not done so already.  

~ Sight Words will be tested once a week.  There were flash cards in your child’s folder that you should be using to review the words nightly. When your child moves on to a new list, continue to study the previous words along with the new list.
~ Book logs are due on Tuesday, October 1st. The goal is to read 15 books per month.

 ~Continue to review your child’s 5 digit number. This is an important tracking number for school information.

Week of September 16-20, 2019

Our Reading story for the week is called “Plaidypus Lost.”  This is a fictional story that discusses how families cooperate. We will learn about sequencing to help build comprehension. This skill helps us determine the order in which things happen in a story. Our “Amazing Words” for the week are: platypus, around, lost, found, market, and groceries. The new sight words include the and little. Letter  recognition will include: Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, and Ss.

 Phonics will focus on initial sounds and sound discrimination.

Our Math lessons are teaching about 2-dimensional plane shapes and 3-dimensional solids. We are also practicing positional words (above, below, beside, behind, in front of…)

Reminders:

-Please remember to check folders daily. The “return” items should be sent back promptly. The “Keep” items should be removed from the folder immediately. (Extra papers that are left cause confusion when trying to organize ourselves). Review the schoolwork with your child to reinforce the concepts.

-Please practice sight words daily. I will begin testing this week. Repetition leads to mastery!

-Continue to review your child’s 5 digit number. This is an important tracking number for school information.

-The Kindergarten Fall Festival will be held on Thursday, October 10th.  We are asking each child to donate $3.00 for the Fall Festival. Please remember to send your donation in order to provide a day filled with fun for the children who are working very hard in school.

-Friday, September 20^th will be a Spartan dress down day. Students may donate $1.00 to wear jeans or sweatpants with a Spartan shirt. 

 -Hearing screenings will take place this week.

Specials:  
Mon.- Art      Tues.- Computers      Wed.-Gym      Thur.- Music      Fri.-Art

Week of September 9-13, 2019

The title of this week’s Reading story is “We Are So Proud.” It is a fictional story that will discuss how children work and play together. The comprehension skill that will be introduced is setting (the time and place of a story). The amazing words in the story are: proud, cooperation, float, preparation, creation, and guide. The sight words we are working on are I, am, a, to, the.
The Phonics skill to focus on is syllables (word parts). This skill is introduced by clapping out parts of a word.  We will also visit the letters: Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, and Nn.

Our Math lessons for the week continue to discuss shapes and their attributes. While look at the shapes, we are also learning how to sort objects. We are also learning how to work with manipulatives in center groups.

Handwriting lessons began with introducing our wooden pieces used to make letters and numbers. We are learning proper pencil grip and starting our letters/numbers “at the top.” Please look for proper pencil grip when your child is writing at home.

Reminders:

~ Please remember to check your child’s folder EVERY day. Remove the “left at home” items. Review the concepts that were taught. The “right back to school” side of the folder contains papers that should be returned promptly. When sending a note or paperwork to school, please place it in the “return” side of the blue folder.

~ Continue to practice your child’s 5-digit number. They use this daily in the cafeteria. It is also used to log in to computers and check out library books.  

~List 1 of the Sight Words will soon be tested.  There were flash cards in the Spartan folder that you should be using to review the words nightly.  When your child moves on to a new list, continue to study the previous words along with the new list.

~ School pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 10^th. All students will be photographed and required to follow the school dress code. If you choose to purchase a package, payments are due by Tuesday morning. 

~ The Fall Festival Meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 10^th in the Elementary Cafeteria at 2:00pm.

Specials: Mon. Music     Tues. Art      Wed. Library     Thurs. Gym     Fri. Music

Please remember to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns.

We survived our first week in Kindergarten!  The boys and girls are doing a great job adjusting to our daily routine.  We are continuing to review SPARTY rules and procedures, as well as center rules and proper indoor voice level. 

Thank you for returning all of the beginning forms that were sent home so promptly. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Also, thank you to all who sent in donations of supplies. They will be put to good use.

We began our Reading series with “The Little School Bus.” This is an animal fantasy that introduces the students to characters in a story. The rhyming words and silly animals make the story very entertaining. There are six “amazing words” presented in the story: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The high frequency words that we are focusing on are: I and am. We are recognizing letters of the alphabet with a target on Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, and Ee.

We began our Math lessons with an introduction to sorting and shape identification. We are discussing the attributes of triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles.  

Reminders:

~ Please remember to check your child’s folder every day. The items in the left pocket should be removed and kept at home. The skills that were taught that day should be reviewed at home. The right pocket often contains important papers that should be returned to school. All notes to school should be sent in the right side of the folder.

~It is very important for your child to practice his/her 5 digit number daily. Repetition will speed the learning process!

~Your child should continue to wear his/her bus tag to school daily. This helps to avoid confusion during the bus loading process.

~Any money sent to school should be placed in an envelope with your child’s name and the reason for the money.  

Please remember to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a wonderful week!  ~ Mrs. Green