Maillet's Kindergarten Newsletter
Week Of March 16th
Highlights from last week....
In Reader's Workshop, we focused on looking through the word and sounding out the letters that we know and look for "chunks" of words we know. Many of our friends have moved up in their reading levels. I will send home an update of your child's level in their daily log. You should be very proud of your children. Please keep reading those books that I have been sending home weekly with your child. I assessed my friends to see where they were in their sight word recognition. They did great! I will send home a new list next week for those children that are ready. I will also resend the other words so that you will have them to practice. Thank you for all of your help!
In phonics, we focused on short vowels and digraphs. The digraphs are a tricky concept for many of our friends. This week we continued with the digraphs. We played many word play games to help learn these skills.
In Math, we worked on number bonds and writing number sentences. We focused on numbers 6 and 7. I cannot believe how well your children are doing in math!
In Science, we focused on what a living and non-living thing is. We created a collage of living and non-living things using magazine pictures. The kids LOVED this center!
In Social Studies, we learned why people work. We created a money system in the classroom to reinforce the concept of spending and saving money.
A peek at our learning this week....
In Reader's Workshop, we will be reviewing the strategies that we have learned thus far. It is amazing to see how our friends use these strategies during their reading. We will also be working on building our schema, which is our background knowledge, to help us read. I cannot wait for this week because we will be using what we know about The Very Hungry Caterpillar and compare it to a non fiction book about Caterpillars and Butterflies. It is going to be SO much fun!!
In phonics, we will focus on short vowels and digraphs. Your children have a great understanding of the letters in isolation. For instance, they see the cue card that has the letters ch, a picture of a chin, and they say the sound /ch/. However, when they see these letters in text, they are still not making the /ch/ sound, they are sounding out the c and h separately. So, we are going to keep working on this skill until we get it! Those friends that do have the skill will be moving on in small groups!
In Math, we will be working on number bonds and number sentences. We will also be focusing on the parts of 5. In our centers we will work on number sentences using dice, parts of five using the game "spill the beans", computers, journal writing, IPADs, and part part whole using a game called "bears in a cave". Each of these centers are differentiated according to each child's ability. Math is great!!
In Science, we will begin our month long unit on life cycles. This week we will be focusing on caterpillars and butterflies. We will read some non-fiction books and compare them to some fiction book that we have read. We will also create a model to help us remember the life cycle of a butterfly.
In Social Studies, will really concentrate on identifying sequential actions, such as first, next and last in stories and use them describe personal experiences. We will first practice using these words with sequence cards. After we become familiar with these terms we will create stories using these words.
In our Second Step program, we will continue to learn about our own feelings and how they can change.
CAN WE CATCH A LEPRECHAUN?
Leprechaun Trap
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, we are going to attempt to trap a leprechaun in our classroom. I am asking you to work with your child to design a trap for Tuesday, March 17th. First test your trap the evening before to see how well it works, then have your child bring the trap to school on Tuesday and we will try to trap him Tuesday evening. Of course, if you trap the leprechaun at home, please have your child bring it to school
Thank you and Have FUN!
HOMEWORK
More information
Many parents are asking what the class needs for supplies. We could use some Clorox Wipes. Thank you in advance.
FLASHCARDS
Please practice letters and sounds with your child nightly! Thank you!
Sanders Street School
Email: vmaillet@arrsd.org
Website: www.arrsd.org
Location: 314 Sanders Street, Athol, MA, United States
Phone: 978-249-2410