20 Days of Kindergarten!

Dear Families,

We had another busy week of school. The children are such enthusiastic authors! This week we learned how writers think in their minds what they want to say and then work to put that on the page....even if it might be something hard to draw...we don't let that stop us! We learned that when we have one of those "Uh-Oh" moments, we can say to ourselves, "I'm going to draw it the best I can". We read a book earlier by Peter Reynolds called Ish. This story reminds us that even if we can't draw a perfect unicorn...we can make it unicorn-ish. I love hearing the children remind each other to "just make it horse-ish, slide-ish" or whatever the hard to draw idea might be. We also talked about how writers use both pictures and words when writing---sometimes it might be just one letter of the word we know how to write. We will continue to circle around these writing ideas throughout the year. The class has really impressed me with the books that they have made so far....their illustrations show a lot of composition decisions already. 

During our reading time, we are focusing on developing the independent behaviors of "Read to Self". See our anchor chart below. We are practicing all of these things to so we can be strong independent readers who love to read! We are working on building our 'reading muscles' (stamina) as a class. So far our whole class was able to do all of the Read to Self behaviors for 3 1/2 minutes! Remember, we go slow to go fast! 

In the songbooks today your child is bringing home a "Cookies" song you may recognize (if you are familiar with the song, Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?). We have been singing this song as part of our Morning Meeting greeting each day this week. As we sing, the children flip over a friend's cookie and we sing to them and they respond. Your child can sing it for you and tell you all about it! Our new Shoebox book is called, "What Do You See?". We practiced writing the new STAR word "a" on each page. Be sure to have your child read it to you, pointing to each word.

 Building towers after snack....what awesome team work! 

They decided the were making Dubai!

 We played a fun number game...called "The Fly Swat" game. It was a fast-paced, action-packed game of the Cheetahs versus the Lions...a close game with a tie at the end. Lots of cheering and laughs from both teams. Below you can see some of our quick-swatting, thinking on their feet kids playing around with numbers.

LOTS OF FUN!

Today was the 20th day of school. Yay! What a busy and fun twenty days we have had together. After twenty days, the children are really getting the hang of the classroom routines and have settled in very well. I am thrilled! We have practiced walking respectfully in the halls, and are working on good listening, sitting in our own space-on our bottoms and taking turns speaking during group times...we are doing GREAT! Today, we celebrated our twenty days of school by counting to 20, singing the "Zero the Hero Stomp" and by making bracelets with 20 beads. We counted out two groups of 10 beads on our ten frames to make a beautiful bracelet.

  Happy 20 Days of Kindergarten! 

Have a wonderful 

Fall Holiday!!!

Be safe-

xx Ms. Cori

p.s. Remember we have SWIMMING in PE after Eid!!!

Back to School Night Presentation

KG Rules!

Dear Families,

We had another busy learning week in KG. Here is a quick peek at a few of the things we were busy doing.

This week during our Writing Workshop, we made our first books!!!! Most of the children made books about something that happened to them (falling down at the park, bumping into a wall, etc. Can you tell that my example was about the time when I was little and was riding a "too big bike" and fell off?!) The children told their story through drawings across three pages. We practiced telling the story orally first by telling and touching each page. We wrote with special "magic" black pens. I love these pens so much because children tend to draw with extra detail when using them AND I can see all of their smart thinking...especially when the children make a "mistake" and decide to cross something out! We also learned about what to do when you think you are done. Well, the cool thing about Writing Workshop is that you are NEVER really DONE! So, we learned that when writers think they are "done" making a book, they can take another look at their book and decide if they need to add to the words, add to the pictures or start a new piece (book). We also learned that good writers always THINK before they write and draw on their paper. They are thinking about what kind of book they want to make, what they are going to draw, how can they tell about the page...Writers are always thinking! We brainstormed a long list of ideas of things we might like to make books about in KG. I am so excited about this group of young Authors and the amazing books they are going to make this year!

This week's Shoe Box book is called I See. Your child also brought home a special googly eye pointer so they remember to keep their "eye" on the words as they read. Be sure to have your child use their special pointer to point to each word and read each new Shoe Box book to you. Your child can finish coloring the Shoe Box books at home when they don't have time to color them or finish coloring them at school. Our "Star" words (sight-words) on our Word Wall so far include: I and see. You can look for these words while you are reading other books together too!

We love Pete the Cat! Here are some of the books we have read about Pete.

       

We made a couple of Pete the Cat class books, Pete the Cat and I Love My School Shoes. These books will be making their way to each of your homes. Be on the lookout for them to come home with your child. Please read the class book together and send it back to school the following school day as there are many children anxiously waiting their turn! Thanks! (There is also an Alphabet class book called My Name Is...making its way home). Enjoy!

This week, after reading the book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, we played a roll the die and count the buttons game. Afterward, the children had some time to decorate their shirts and glue on 4 groovy buttons. 

We have been learning about rules why they are important. We talked briefly about rules at home and compared them to rules in our classroom and at school. In Kindergarten, we discussed how we have rules to keep us safe, healthy and happy...so we can learn together at school. All of these rules fall into three basic rules that we follow in our Elementary School: 

Take Care of Yourself. Take Care of Each Other. Take Care of Our School. 

        

This week, we read several books by David Shannon as part of our rules conversations. The character in these books, David, is a little bit naughty so the children really enjoyed his character and had fun making their own "David". They did a great job following directions, cutting stripes, gluing and personalizing their David's with eyes and hair. The children were full of ideas and came up with great rules when pretending they were the "teacher" telling David about the rules at school. We also sang "The Rules Rap" this week and added it to our Poetry Songbooks. Be sure to have the kids show you the actions and their special pose for the the "Yeah!" at the end of the song.

We also continue to enjoy getting to know each other---sharing, playing and having fun together during Choosing time.

And finally, we met our 3rd Grade Buddies for the first time!!!

Lots of learning and fun in Kindergarten!

Have a great week ahead. :-) 

xx Ms. Cori