Skills for the Week of 11/16 and Many Thanks!
Can you believe that we have already hit the middle of November! I surely can’t. Before you know it, December will be here and we will have Winter Break.
Thanks to all who sent in items for the recycled products for the Kindergarten Fall Exhibition. All of the students did an outstanding job and really enjoyed deciding which items they wanted to use in their creations. The judges were very appreciative of our efforts.
I would also like to thank Donawa’s mom, Jereyen’s mom, and Jasmyne’s mom for sending in sanitizer and soap for the class.
This week we will focus on getting ourselves back on our regular routine. Please remember to use the binder and flash cards daily. I know that a lot of the students could use practice with all of the words that have been introduced. In Reading, we will read the story Little Quack. We will focus on sequence skills. In Math we will continue working with numbers 0-12 and the words more, less, equal. Addition skills are quickly approaching so be prepared! In Science we will work with Our Earth again.
Have a great week!
Skills for the Week of 11/8
This week we will wrap up our projects for the Fall Exhibition of Student Work on 11/12. The students enjoyed being VERY creative with the recycled materials that were brought in. I strongly encourage you to come into the school on Thursday and see the wonderful displays.
This week in Reading our story is the Little Panda, an informational text. We will practice comparing and contrasting pandas at different ages. The letters this week are Bb and Nn. Be sure to check out www.pearsonsuccessnet.com and log in using your child’s username and password so that they can use the stories at home for additional practice.
This week in Math we will wrap up our study of numbers and number words 0-12. Overall the students are doing a great job, but could really use extra practice with the number words. These are listed in the binder for additional help. This link is an extra help online.http://www.tvokids.com/framesets/bby.html?game=66
We will continue to learn about natural resources in science. In social studies we will continue to discuss how weather impacts our daily lives.
Skills for the Week of 11/2
I can’t believe that November is already here! We have a very busy week this week at school because we are preparing for the Fall Student Exhibition on Thursday, November 12. If you’re not familiar with Memphis City Schools Student Exhibition, this event takes place twice each school year and allows students to put out products that they have created during a unit of study. You will be amazed at what the students are able to do with a little help! If you are interested in becoming a juror to judge these products, please contact the school or send me an email.
In Reading this week, we will wrap up our second unit of study with the story Whose Garden Is It? and discuss real and fantasy again. We will continue working with the letter Ii in the initial and medial position. I’ve been encouraging students to add adjectives to their sentences as they describe the many nouns that they use.
In Math this week, we will continue working with numbers 6-12. Almost all of the students did well with numbers 0-5 and the number words, but I’m having a little more trouble with the new numbers. On Friday, we will have a test on numbers and number words.
In Social Studies, we will continue to discuss how weather impacts daily life. The students are being encouraged to use words such as hot, warm, cool, cold, fall, winter, spring, and summer.
In Science, we will continue to work with natural and man made resources. The students are learning about recycling and reusing items to make things that they can use each day. We are working on creating these products for the Exhibition that is mentioned above.
Skills for the Week of 10/26
Time has really begun to fly by in our classroom! The children really have a good grasp on our daily routines and are sure to tell me if I do something out of order. This is a wonderful accomplishment!
In Reading this week we will read the story A bed for the winter by Karen Wallace. This is a non-fiction piece that shows some of the same animals from last week’s fantasy story entitled Bear Snores On. We will continue to work on real and fantasy as many of the children continue to struggle with knowing the difference. This week, however, we will focus once again on sequence skills. Most of the students don’t have much difficulty with this comprehension skill which is a good thing. We will work on the letter Ii and the short Ii sound. We will continue to work with adjectives, but focus this week on adjectives for opposites.
In Math, we will wrap up our study of 3D Shapes also known as solid shapes. Continue to work on having your child describe the various shapes. We find that this is the area that they have the most difficulty in when we assess for the report card. We will continue to work on numbers and number words. Most of the children have a good grasp on numbers and number sense. However, we all could use a little practice with the number words. They have to know numbers through 12 by December and through 25 by May!
In Science, we will learn about rocks this week.
In Social Studies, we will wrap up our study of maps.
Don’t forget to check out www.pearsonsuccessnet.com for this week’s Reading stories. If you have lost your password or username, please send me a note.
We use EPGY Stanford Math daily in class. This website is now accessible from home for your child to use. If you would like access, please let me know and I’ll give you the directions for home use.
Our class is in need of hand sanitizer and hand soap. We are working on keeping our class healthy and this is one of the best ways that I know to do it. Each time they go to the restroom they know to see me for soap first and then after they wash and dry to see me for sanitizer. I have seen fewer illnesses since we have added this to our routine.
Skills for the Week of 10/12
Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on Monday, October 12. There will not be school for students. I do have some time slots open if you would like to stop by to review your child’s work or just say hi.
Reading: Don’t forget to visit www.pearsonsuccessnet.com so that you can access the leveled readers for more at home practice. If you have lost your username/password, please let me know. The Reading skills and focus for the week is listed on this site as well. We will read Animal babies in grasslands by Jennifer Schofield. We will practice identifying the main idea in stories. We will work with the letter Pp and the sound /p/ makes. We will begin to use adjectives (colors and shapes) as descriptors for our nouns.
Math: This week we will review plane shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, hexagon) and introduce solid shapes (sphere, cone, cube, rectangular prism, pyramid).
Science: We will wrap up our study of how things move by learning about magnets.
Social Studies: We will complete our study of maps.
Skills for the week of 10/5
The last few weeks have been very busy in our classroom as children are quite familiar with the daily routine at school. They have enjoyed visiting different workstations and get really excited about using the eBeam in class. They are also building larger vocabularies and using those words to respond to questions. Keep working hard at home and be sure to read each night!
This week we will participate in Jumpstart’s READ FOR THE RECORD! We will read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle on Tuesday, October 6.
This week we will read Armadillo’s Orange. We will learn the words armadillo, burrow, tortoise, rattlesnake, grubs, and insects. We will practice identifying the setting in stories that we read. We also continue reading and blending words so be sure to use the flash cards and practice pages in the binder. We will learn to hear the Ss /s/ sound in the initial and final positions. They are getting pretty good at using sound boxes to blend words. We will also work with proper nouns as names for people.
In math we will continue to work with shapes. While many students are able to quickly identify and name shapes, they struggle to describe those shapes and make comparisons. Practice describing shapes by telling how many sides it has, if it can roll or slide, etc.
In science we will continue to discuss the way things move. We will begin to use words like heavy, light, gravity, up and down in our discussions of how things can move. Last week the students learned about push, pull, and roll. Ask your child to show you how things can move.
In social studies they will continue to work with maps. This week we will use pictures to mark locations on a map.
Don’t forget that there will be no school for students on Friday, October 9 or Monday, October 12. Have a great fall break!
Skills for the Week of 9/28
This week our school will have a special performance from the The National Children’s Theatre called Energized Guyz. The performance is Monday, 9/28 at 9:00 (3-5) and again at 9:40 (K-2) This correlates with our school-wide unit of study called Germanshire Goes Green! Talk with your child about ways that they can save energy at home. You might be surprised to see what they know.
In Reading, be sure to check out www.pearsonsuccessnet.com for the week’s skills and links to read the leveled readers online. If you have questions about how to use this site, please let me know.
In Math, we will continue working with numbers 0-5 and number words. While almost all of my students know how to recognize numbers 0-5 and match to sets, they are really struggling with the number words. We will also continue working with plane shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, and hexagon). Not only should they recognize these shapes, but also be able to describe them.
In science, we will continue to talk about ways that things move. To make this concept more real for students, we are discussing ways that toys move since they will better understand this.
In social studies, we will continue to talk about maps. We know that water is usually blue and land is usually green. We will also learn about North, South, East, and West.
Don’t forget to do the Homework Scavenger Hunt! I had some really disappointed children last Friday at sharing time.
Family Reading Night
Family Reading Night will be held at Germanshire on Monday, 9/21 at 6:00 p.m. I look forward to seeing you there. While you are there you will be able to listen to stories, participate in reading activities that you can make or do at home, visit the book fair and make purchases, and get your www.pearsonsuccessnet.com username/password so that you can log on at home for more reading fun. Students who are in my classroom will be given a homework pass that can be used at a later time.
Binders
Binders were mentioned at the parent meeting on August 25th. This week your child has been shown some of the ways that the binder can be used at home. You will learn more about the binders beginning next Tuesday, September 8th. I encourage you to use the items in this binder to help practice with your child regularly. I know from experience if you use it regularly, you will see great gains! Remember to let me know if you don’t know how to use some of the activities.
Progress Reports
Wednesday Folders were issued for the first time today. The signature page indicates that a progress report was sent home. However, due to MCS technical difficulties, these reports were not issued today. Look for them to come home sometime soon. Don’t forget to review your child’s work and return it after you sign the signature page!
