Current Happenings in 235
Week of September 24th
Upcoming Dates
9-30: cycle day 7
10-1: cycle day 8; optional flu shots at Jackson (evening)
10-2: cycle day 9; picture day
10-3: cycle day 10
10-4: cycle day 1
Grandparent/Special Friend Day
We would like to invite grandparents/special friends (aunt, uncle, neighbor, etc.) into our classroom on Friday morning. Our special friends get to do a few things around our classroom with their kindergartener throughout the morning.This is from 9:30-10:45. A note from the office will be in your child's round trip folder.
Picture Day
Come dressed in your best on Wednesday, October 2nd! Picture forms were sent home a couple weeks ago; pictures can be ordered online as well. If you send a picture form back with your child, please make sure you visibly show him/her that it is inside his/her folder on Wednesday morning. These can, however, be sent in anytime before Wednesday as well; follow up with an email if you think your child will not be able to get it out of his/her folder.
Shakopee FD
On Tuesday, October 8th, we will be going to the Shakopee Fire Department.
A permission slip was sent home in your child's folder and must be turned in by October 3rd.
Rhyming
We have been learning about identifying and producing rhyming words this week and we will continue to do so next week. I am going to be teaching the kindergartners the song "Down By the Bay"--it usually turns out to be a class favorite! Keep your eyes peeled for a special pink note coming home Monday or Tuesday. Your kindergartner is going to come up with his/her own silly rhyming pair at home and then we will be doing an art project at the end of next week with the rhyming pair he/she came up with in our classroom. Go ahead and YouTube the song...it will [hopefully] bring back some fun childhood memories of your own! ;)
What we learned
Take a look into our class
Reading:
- We continue to work on turn and talks. It is a difficult skill to actively listen to someone, to be patient to wait one's turn and to articulate thoughts in full sentences. These are things that are important every day skills outside of school, too, so in 235, we place a lot of emphasis on this! Kinders heard a variety of friendship and kindness books as we celebrated kindness week as a building. We built a heart to share the central ideas in each of the books.
Writing:
- I continued to model the writing process aloud. Kinders are sharing true stories with a WHO-DID WHAT. We are trying to steer clear of stories we've already written about and adding more details as we describe them. An example would be: instead of saying "I went to school"---"I got on the bus to go to school today."
- Kinders clapped and counted the words in their sentences with me.
Handwriting:
- All of the strokes have been officially introduced. There are eight! Your child brought home a booklet with the identified strokes. Hang these up and get to know the names of the stroke as we begin writing words!
- Next week I will share individual names and strokes with each of your children on Seesaw for you to hear the language as well. In room 235, we always state "HANDWRITING MATTERS" and it does! We focus on it quite heavily. Any support you can give is appreciated.
Poem/Phonics:
- This week we read "Jack and Jill"; introduced word: /and/.
- We focused each day on identifying rhyming word + identifying the beginning sound in words. Kindergarteners are working EXTREMELY hard on nailing the letter names and sounds. This is essential in the beginning reading phases. I hope to touch base with you next week after doing a dip (a quick look into your child's individual growth) to let you know your child's improvement since week one.
Math:
- We finished up with numbers 1-10 in our math journals! We practice counting daily + identifying numbers up to 10.
Theme:
- Our theme throughout the week was so important--FRIENDSHIP + KINDNESS. Many stories were shared and individual stories were shared by the kindergarteners. If there is anything that is at the top of my list as a K teacher, it is this: teaching the golden rule. I hope you see this as the year continues on in your child. We met with our 4th grade buddies in Ms. Drill''s room to also share how we can show random acts of kindness to others and to do an interview to get to know one another. We will meet with Ms. Drill's friends monthly to do a variety of activities throughout the year.
- Thank you for sharing the collage pictures; we had fun getting to know one another better through our special "you be you" posters. These are in the hallway and will be coming home soon.
- Kindergarteners also learned how to use the iPad apps of 123 Ninja, ABC Ninja and ABC Writing Wizard. Last year, the Jackson PTO granted our classroom two Square Pandas, which is a learning program to help with phonemic awareness skills.
Kaitlin Wermerskirchen
Email: kwermers@shakopee.k12.mn.us
Phone: 952.496.5802
Twitter: @Kindersin235