October 15-19

Hi Kindergarten Families,    

Hope to see you at the  Harvest Festival tonight from 5-9!

Last week, we had a parent from Mrs. Christensen come to our class to practice and review fire safety.  Firefighter Jesse asked for them to go home and make a evacuation plan.  He review "911" number and dressed up so that they know not to be afraid when a firefighter comes in the house.  Thank you firefighter Jesse!

The new "Star of the Day", this round is about "Fall".  You can bring in any books, things from nature, but please no stuffed animals.  You can put it in a bag with the child's name and return to school.

Here is what’s going on in Kindergarten this week:

Reading:  In centers,  we have one more book with sight words and then we will be starting short vowel sounds.  The first book is "Nat at Bat".  Again, please read at home.  Also, when you read at home find books that are at your child's comfort level (They can read it will  only making a few errors). If not reading yet, have them use a book and tell their own story using the pictures.  Many scholastic books have books that are easy readers you can find them on their website. As you read together at home, students can locate sight words in books that you read together and talk about characters and settings.  

New Theme: “Monsters and Wild Things”! Our book we will be reading is “Where the Wild Things Are”.  This theme is a great way to discuss the concepts of “Fiction” vs. “Non-Fiction” which we will be comparing through a variety of books and charting the differences between each genre. We will also talk about the “characters”, “setting”, “problem” and “solution” in each book that we read. While reading with your child at home, please ask them to identify these story elements in their favorite stories. 

Art/Music/Science: Students  will be talking about fiction and non-fiction.  We will be making our own "Max" from the book Where the Wild Things Are.  We will be finishing up our facts on bats and spiders.  Last, we will be making our own bat. Students will be making a pumpkin number line and I will send it home with games that you can play with using the number line.

Writer's Workshop: Our hard working writers have almost finished their first narrative book.  But we took a pause to create a monster book.  We will have both to celebrate.

The students have been enjoying all of our Halloween inspired songs and chants in class such as "5 Little Pumpkins", "" and "Halloween Cat"- ask your child to sing these songs to you at home!

Word of the Week: “is, look”. 

Math: Students will practice counting forwards and backwards within 20 using the number line and “counting collections”. They will continue to practice a variety of math strategies with partner collaboration to solve word problems and number sentences.  They are using a number line to tell addition/subtraction stories in class.  We have just finished Unit 1 in our Bridges math curriculum so we are sending home the Bridges math workbook in their folders on Monday.  This is completely optional, however we encourage you to work with your child in these books to review and practice the math concepts that we have been working on in class.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Sandman