Kindergarten News
Adventures in Ms. Kovalesky's Kindergarten Class
December 8, 2014
Literacy
We've been talking about patterns in reading, when the same words are repeated on each page. We've talked about how patterns help us figure out unknown words. We read the patterns and then use our "Eagle Eye" to look at the picture and figure out the unknown word. We've found out that sometimes the unknown word can be at the beginning of the sentence, the end of the sentence, or in the middle.
Home-School Connection
Using the books in your child's book bag, see if they can find any patterns. When they get to an unknown word, have them use their Eagle Eye to look at the picture to figure out the tricky word.
In addition to using the picture to figure out unknown words, we get our lips ready to say the first sound in the word.
We've also been working on writing sentences that follow a pattern. Each of us used the same pattern and changed one word to make it our own. In writing we continue to use kid spelling to figure out how to spell words. We stretch it out to hear the beginning, middle, and end sounds. We're also working on putting spaces between our words, starting the sentence with an uppercase letter and ending it with a period.
Home-School Connection
Have your child use one of the sentence frames to write a sentence. Remind them to use spaces, an upper case letter at the beginning, and a period at the end.
I can _____________.
I like to _____________ .
You can _____________.
Math
Home-School Connection
Make a pattern. Ask your child to identify what kind of pattern it is. Then ask them to extend the pattern.
Ask your child to create an AAB pattern. Then an ABC pattern.
We also began to look at growing patterns and used number patterns to help us. We learned that +1 means one more and -1 is one less.
Home-School Connection
Start by asking your child what is one more than __? Then what is 1 + __? Do the same with subtraction (what is one less than ___)
We have also worked on telling math stories by looking at a picture. For example, there are 2 birds in the tree and 3 birds in the sky. How many birds in all? We've worked on both addition and subtraction stories.
Home-School Connection
Use the picture above to tell math stories. You can tell stories and then your child has to answer them. Or ask your child to tell stories too.
Inquiry
Our new unit has the central idea: Learning about ourselves helps us learn about how people are the same and different.
In this unit we start by learning about ourselves. We've been working on drawing self portraits and identifying our physical characteristics. We made a bubble map of our physical characteristics and then used that to help us label a self-portrait. We also learned the poem I See Me! We used the strategy of Lips the Fish to get our lips ready to say the word when we were trying to figure out tricky words.
Home-School Connection
Read the poem with your child:
I see my head.
I see my neck.
I see my shoulders,
I see my body.
I see my arms.
I see my wrists.
I see my hands.
I see my legs.
I see my feet.
I see all of me!
Other Activities
We had an art lesson with Mrs. Humphrey where we created an abstract painting inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.
Notes From Ms. Kovalesky
Our winter party will be on Friday, December 19 from 10:00-11:30. I will be sending home a volunteer form this week if you would like to help out. It will also be a pajama day!
Just a reminder that homework is a great way to monitor your child's progress especially in math. The homework is a review of concepts that we have already covered in class, so they should be able to complete it fairly easily.
When your child is reading from their book bag, encourage them
- to use their tracking finger
- to figure out unknown words by looking at the picture and/or saying the first part of the word. Let them try to figure out the word on their own before you tell it to them.
- to read the book more than one time to help them become fluent
- to talk about the book after they read, what happened in the book?
If your child brings home a paper book with a sticker on it, that means it is a book that your child has practiced with me in a small group. Just like the other books in the bag, they should practice reading it at home and return it the next day.
Upcoming Events
Friday, December 19: Winter Party/Pajama Day
Monday, December 22-Friday, January 2: No School: Winter Break
Contact Info
Kindergarten Teacher
Room 212
Email: kovalesky.katelyn@slpschools.org
Location: 4801 W 41st St, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Phone: 952-928-6663
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ms-Kovaleskys-Kindergarten/280894258774577