Pre-Kindergarten News
March 2020
Language Arts
Reading
make connections from our reading to our own lives
make predictions on what the story will be about
identify characters, setting and major events in stories
answer questions about what is happening within a story (answer who and what questions)
identify details within a given story
continue to use clues in the text to identify the meaning of unknown words
continue to retell events in familiar stories and/or poems
Speaking/Listening and Foundational Skills
continue to identify letter names and sounds
pronounce initial sounds in spoken words
identify the onset and rime in a given set of words
Writing
use drawings, letters or symbols to express personal ideas
Mathematics
Unit 8- Shapes and Measurement
Vocabulary:
- circle, square, triangle, rectangle
- similar
- match
- sort
- compare
- categories
- greater than/more than
- less than/fewer than
- equal
- cube, sphere, cylinder
- attributes
- taller/shorter
- longer/shorter
- big/small
- heavier/lighter
- thicker/thinner
Skills:
identify shapes (2-dimensional and 3 dimensional)
group/sort shapes based on their attributes
compare using words, such as: more, less and equal.
describe measurable attributes of objects
Unit 9- Number Sets to 10 and Operations
Vocabulary:
- set
- subitize
- match
- order
- quantity
- decompose
- add
- subtract
Skills:
- match numbers to a set
- construct sets and tell how many
- count and match to compare groups
- compare using words like greater than/less than/equal to
- put objects together to show more
- take away objects to show less
- draw to solve problems
- break apart a set of objects
- draw/show how I decomposed
- tell how many more to make 5
Science
The Arts, Fine Motor and Gross Motor
The Arts
In the month of March, Pre-K students will continue to practice Artful Thinking Strategies. Students will observe photographs, and/or portraits and will be asked to verbally answer the prompts, "I see...", I think...", and "I wonder...". This activity is used to introduce and/or review skills taught in the various content areas through the use of oral language.
Fine Motor
Pre-K students will continue to enhance their fine motor skills within the classroom. We have been working on using appropriate pencil grip when writing and the appropriate scissor grip when cutting. We will continue to use tweezers, crayons and other tools to strengthen our hands and fingers.
Gross Motor
Pre-K students will continue to explore different types of movement, including: dance, yoga, walking, running, hopping, jumping and skipping. During movement academic concepts such as counting and letter recognition are reviewed. We will continue to build letters using yoga bands and our bodies. We will also continue to segment syllables and create sentences while clapping and participating in other movement exercises.
Social/Emotional Learning
- to teach children about the meaning of the words "comfortable" and "uncomfortable",
- to review the concept that all feelings are OK,
- to introduce the concept that people can experience different emotions from one another,
- to define the feelings "excited", "tired", "frustrated", "proud", and "love",
- to teach children the facial expressions and body postures associated with the feelings "excited", "tired", "frustrated", "proud", and "love",
- to provide examples of things that might make people feel excited, tired, frustrated, proud, and love.
One of the strategies that the students have been learning in the primary grades is called the turtle. When students are frustrated or need time to think/cool down they are encouraged to turtle. The steps of the turtle are to: 1. Stop, 2. Breathe, 3. Say the problem and how you feel. Children are encouraged to use this as a strategy if they get angry or upset. Please talk to your child about their PATHS lessons and reference the grade level newsletters for the topics being instructed.
Reminders
Check Daily Folders every day
Check Thursday Folders every Thursday
Send in a written or emailed note for absences
Make sure there is a change of clothes in your child's book bag
2-Hour Early Dismissal on March 4th