Friday, September 19, 2014

We are off to an AWESOME start in the Land of the Weckies!! Fourteen days of Kindergarten have already passed and these kids are doing wonderful. They have learned to come in from the bus, prime time and car rider line and get ready to learn! They are actively using the Smartboard in the morning to answer a "Question of the Day" that we use for attendance. Lots of new friendships have been made and lots of growth is already being demonstrated academically. I am so very proud of all that they have accomplished thus far! We started our Student of the Day 10 days ago, and each day a different child has helped with the Calendar Routine on the Smartboard as well as helped us to do a shared writing piece about themselves. The posters are hanging in the room and we are excited to have all twenty one smiling faces teach us and tell us about themselves!

Reader's Workshop

Last week we launched our Reader's Workshop. We have been gradually adding to our chart titled: We Are Readers! as we learn the different jobs of a reader. We have been practicing this at our seats as we build our reading stamina as a class! While we were able to read and focus quietly on our books for three minutes last Friday, by Thursday this week we went for seven whole minutes! For many this just means "reading the pictures" and for others they are finding words they know on the page, familiar letters or using their imaginations to create a story as they go.

I have been testing individual students on their uppercase, lowercase and letter sounds. Information will be coming home with your child in the next few days of their known letters and sounds, and then which we need you to keep working on with them at home. The faster we can have everyone knowing their letters and sounds, the faster we can get the kids reading and in reading groups!

Writer's Workshop
Our Writer's Workshop launches in K with a focus on oral language. The kids have been learning to be good listeners and learning to be good speakers. We have practiced telling stories to partners about things we know about (ex. a time you were in a wedding, how my soccer team lost 5-1, about my cottage up north, etc.). It can be tricky at first for these young learners to be good listeners and speakers, but we are getting better and better at it each day. This oral language practice will help our kids transition easily to putting their thoughts down on paper when they are asked to write stories about their lives soon!

Math Workshop
In Math Workshop this week we have begun with Math Stations. We have been traveling as a group through different stations introducing us to the math manipulatives we will use in kindergarten. We have explored with tangrams, pattern blocks, unifix cubes, base-ten blocks, counting puzzles, number lines and even played a game on the Smartboard to practice our counting.

Important Upcoming Dates
-Monday, September 22 - Environmental print samples due
-Thursday, September 25 - No School - Rosh Hashana holiday
-Friday, September 26 - Picture Day in the PM (for our class)