Current Happenings in 235
Week of October 28th
Upcoming Dates
11-4: cycle day 10
11-5: cycle day 1; picture retake day {EMAIL Ms. Wermerskirchen if your child is participating}
11-6: cycle day 2; return classroom book bags
11-7: cycle day 3; 2 hour early release; book bags to come home; end of Q1
11-8: NO SCHOOL
Nonfiction Unit
Monsters
The Shakopee School District has a program called Young Scholars for K-5th graders in every building. This week the YS teacher, Mrs. Schweigert, came into our room and led a lesson on creativity and using imagination to create something new. The kindergartners got to design their own monster and these are hanging in our hallway.
Spookley
Conferences
Each conference slot is 20 minutes long for every student. It is extremely important to stick to this schedule for a variety of reasons but mainly so all teachers in the building can stay on track in regards to times and you'll see the teachers are aware of everyone's schedules during these days.
What does our first conference look like? We will share celebrations of academic and personal growth and we will discuss the things we are continuing to work on for both of these areas. If you have something you specifically want to discuss at this time, I invite you to email me ahead of time so I am prepared and we are sure to discuss your concern in our slotted time. Some families choose to bring their kindergartner while others leave their child at home; this is completely up to you and what you are most comfortable with. If you'd like your child to be part of the conference to hear celebrations--awesome. If you'd rather share when you get home, no problem.
Prior to conferences you will receive a progress report from the district. Please do not be alarmed when you see many 1s for your child's academic areas. This is NOT UNCOMMON at this point of the year as some of the areas haven't even been fully taught yet. The progress reports will include rubrics for you to see what each area means. Keep these throughout the year as new rubrics will not be sent home at the end of quarters 2, 3 or 4.
I will briefly discuss the progress report with you at conferences but will not spend too much time here as much of it is straightforward with the rubric and many of the areas are covered during our celebrations. Remember, a progress report is to measure growth--the ultimate goal is to see how much your child learns as a kindergartner and to see him/her progress from quarter to quarter!
2 Hour Early Release
What we learned
Take a look into our class
- The kindergartners used nonfiction texts to learn what owls, bats and spiders look like, what they eat, where they live and some overall interesting facts.
- Have you heard how centers are going for your kindergartner? There are some groups who are rocking their independent time! Ask them about the various activities we have out and what center is their favorite.
Writing:
- We added a new expectation to writing this week: writing beginning AND ending sounds to words we hear. I've been modeling this for a couple weeks now, so it is the kindergartners turn to try and put it into practice.
Poem/Phonics:
- Poem: Five Little Pumpkins
- New HFW: on, a, said, my
- Beginning sounds--many of our activities surround this skill and will continue to do so in the weeks to come.
- What high frequency words should your child be reading at this time?: I, a, the, and, to, on, my, see, can, up, go, like, you, did and said.
Math:
- We have been working on reading color words and matching numbers with these words. We also put high emphasis on slowing down and staying within the lines.
- Kindergartners practiced subitizing up to the number five.
- [For three days of math this week, there were other happenings around the school: Jackson Pride assembly, human sundae and our harvest celebration.]
Theme:
- Mrs. Schweigert, the Young Scholars teacher, led a lesson [see above].
- Kindergartners participated in various fall activities and the harvest celebration. Wondering what we did throughout our celebration day? We painted pumpkins, played harvest bingo, played spooky musical chairs (but with letters instead of chairs), learned how to draw a pumpkin, had scarecrow mix, played pin the nose on the scarecrow and more! Needless to say, Ms. Wermerskirchen is happy to have our celebration on a Friday to recover over the weekend. :)
Newsletters
Kaitlin Wermerskirchen
Email: kwermers@shakopee.k12.mn.us
Phone: 952.496.5802
Twitter: @Kindersin235