Hello Weckie Families!!
It has been AWHILE!! We have been so busy having SO much fun in Kindergarten these last few weeks!!! There is lots to share and lots to tell...
Reader's Workshop:
Guided Reading Groups have started in our classroom over the last few weeks! Everyone is in a group and the groups meet either M/W/FR or T/TH. I will do my best to meet with each group every day although some days will be easier than others with loads of special events coming up in this month of December. Please keep an eye out for your child's book bag coming home. It does not need to be returned daily and it would be wonderful to spend a couple of nights reading these books or doing the letter/sound activity cards your child is bringing home. Remember, we encourage everyone to take 20 mins of time a day to read with your child. My own son Liam LOVES the time we spend each night reading with him... and often times if we skip over one of his favorite books, he has a fit! Thank you for signing the forms that come home in the book bags as well!
In Workshop we have been spending the last week learning how to read with a partner! Everyone has an assigned partner or two who is reading exactly like them, at the same level. Most are in reading groups together as well. With partners we have been learning how to sit together, how to share the book, how to take turns picking the book and how to take turns reading the pages. We practice with our familiar book and look for known words in more complicated texts. The kids LOVE reading around the room with their partner.
Sight Words - our list is growing!! Please make sure you are spending time with these words at home to reinforce the work we are doing at school with these words. Our list includes: see, the, a, is, I, it, like, can, to, go, be, me, do. Be sure to practice writing and reading these words at home with your son or daughter! Flash cards, white boards, even shaving cream on a clean surface are a great way to practice writing all of our words!
Writer's Workshop:
In Writer's Workshop we have been working on writing like a reader! We have been learning about characters and using a character to tell the story. We have been working on adding details to our illustrations and adding words to our work. Sight words have been used frequently to help construct sentences in our writing. In January we will start using weekly writing folders that will come home with your child! Keep an eye out for this soon!
Math Workshop:
We have been SUPER busy in Math Workshop, focusing in on counting numbers and learning about shapes! We have been sorting shapes by features, finding shapes in advertisements and making shape collages, working with magnetic shapes on the white board, working with pattern block shapes to make tangrams and more! We are working on: circle, triangle, square, and rectangle currently! We have been practicing writing our numbers up to 100 and did our blank hundreds grid for December. We have also just begun looking at clocks and telling time to the nearest hour! Please work on your Unit 2 home links and return them either prior or after break. It is important that you do these activities together, but not rushed in one night!
Important Upcoming INFO:
Friday, December 18: Begin building Gingerbread Houses - we need all donations of graham crackers by Friday - thank you!!
Monday, December 21: Decorate Gingerbread Houses with reading buddies - we need all decorations by Monday am - thank you!!
Tuesday, December 22: 2:30pm: All School Sing Along in the Old Gym (parents are welcome, expect a crowd in the parking lot and signing into the school) followed by our classroom party (Polar Express Trip) in our room at 3:00pm.
