Strauss: Class News
January 8, 2016
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I hope that all of you enjoyed your holiday with family and friends and that everyone is rested.
It is hard to believe that we are beginning our second semester of Kindergarten. The skills that the students will be learning are becoming more difficult. Students will need to have mastered previously taught skills to be successful with their new learning. Please continue to work with your child at home. Encourage your child to read, write, and practice their number concepts daily. Ask your child what they are learning in school and have them explain to you what their learning means. It is important that children be able to explain their thinking and be able to communicate effectively.
My goal for the second half of the year is to help your child feel confident and ready for first grade. Please help in this venture by giving your child one or two new chores to do at home such as setting the table, emptying the trash, bringing in the mail, etc. If you usually help your child a great deal, allow them a safe opportunity to gain pride from accomplishing a task on their own. I do not unpack backpacks at school. I do not write answers for them. They can, and do find pride in knowing they can do "grown up" things. We are encouraging more "first grade" type behavior as we enter the second half of Kindergarten. The level of expectation has increased and students are going to be more challenged in how they perform behaviorally each day. I urge you to let this be a time of growth. This is a vital step for success in first grade.
Next Week in Kindergarten
In writing, students will be learning how to write their opinion. They will be learning to write words such as; I feel, I think, etc. They will also be expected to expand on their opinion by stating "why" they feel the way they do.
In math, we are beginning our study of 2-D and 3-D shapes. Students will be learning new words such as "flat, solid, and quadrilateral!" Students are expected to be able to identify circles, triangles, rectangles, squares, cubes, cones, cylinders, spheres, and hexagons. Please review these words with your child at home and help your child locate these shapes in the world.
Finally, in Social Studies and Science our focus will be on objects in the day and night sky and Martin Luther King, Jr. Students will be expected to identify that the sun, moon, and stars are always in the sky and tell about why our country celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Kindergarteners should be able to communicate that MLK believed that all people should be treated the same and that he was from Atlanta.
Reading Groups
Supplies needed!
100th Day!
Hip, Hip, Hooray! We are so close to the 100th day!
January 22 is the 100th day of school! We are so excited! We have a full day of fun activities planned and can't wait to celebrate this exciting day! You can begin preparing by thinking of ideas for your child's outfit. The students are encouraged to wear 100 of something. For example, they would wear a shirt with 100 polka-dots or 100 stickers. Please be mindful that whatever your child wears to school, he/she will be in that outfit all day, so do not go overboard. Thanks!