Summer Fun...

Summer has arrived! I cannot believe the school year has ended. To all of my Kindergarten graduates, I hope you have a fantastic summer. Please take time to read, write, and work with numbers. This will help you become a strong first grader. To all my parents, thank you for a FANTASTIC year. This year would not have been successful without all of your help. I hope you have just as good of a year in first grade. I am looking forward to my new kindergartners in the fall. It will be here before we know it; however, we will have an amazing building to learn in.

Check back throughout the summer for other updates about what I have done over the summer and new information for the fall! Enjoy your summer vacation!

On our way...First Grade...

Well on Friday, May 28th it will be official…your child will be a first grader. It is amazing the year has come to an end and thinking back to how much they have learned this year. I first think back to the first few days in August and think…wow…some were just “babies.” I also think back to many of the children could not even recognize and write their name, recognize their letters and numbers, and did not even know what to do at school. The children throughout the year have learned not only their letters, but have become readers. All the children have met the end of the year Read Well goal of unit 10 and can read/blend basic three letter words. Some of the children are already reading early literature books. I have seen a huge growth in writing. The children came into school scribbling or just writing random letters. All the children can write a simple sentence and may be even two. It has spaces, capital and lowercase letters, and punctuation. In math, we have gone from sorting and patterning to adding and subtracting and thinking about numbers. All I can think of is one word for this year…AMAZING!


I can honestly say I have been lucky to teach your child this year and I have learned from them too. I have enjoyed coming in everyday to see their smiling and innocent faces eager to learn. I look forward to watching them in the hallway next year as first graders and watching them grow! Thank you for all of your hard work this year at home because without your dedication this year would not have been a success!

AM make-up day...

Monday the AM class will stay all day to make up the last of the three 2-hour delays from January/February. If you do not wish for your child to stay all day, then you will need to pick them up at 11:55 from school. In addition, you will need to send in a packed lunch with a drink if your child is staying. Your child will ride the bus home from school on the same bus they ride to school in the morning. If you have a special transportation request you will need to call or send in a note.

Graduation...

It is an exciting time in kindergarten as we begin to prepare for the Kindergarten Graduation Program. The program will take place on the last day of school, May 28th, and will start promptly at 9:30 and 1:15 in the gym. Please dress appropriately for this event and we ask for the children not to wear flip-flops, as this is a safety concern. The program will be the conclusion of your child’s kindergarten year. It has been an EXCITING and FUN year! I am thrilled to have been a port of your child’s education!

DIBELS...

We had our DIBELS assessment today.  The kids did a fantastic job showing what they have learned in reading.  There are three scores you will receive.  The first assessment is Letter Naming Fluency.  This is where there are a set of random letters and the chidlren have 1 minute to name as many as possible.  The benchmark for the spring is 40 letters per minute.  The second assessment is phoneme segmentation.  This assesses if the chidlren are able to hear the sounds in each word.  For example, if I would say "mop," the child would say the three sounds /m/ /o/ /p/.  The children have to be able to produce 35 phonemes in a minute.  The final assessment is Nonsense Word Fluency.  The children are shown a page of three letter words and the children have to read each sound or read the whole word.  The children have to produce 25 sounds in a minute. 

Overall, you should be EXTREMELY proud of your child.  They "ROCKED" today! 

Caterpillars to Butterflies...

We are working on our literacy and science unit on caterpillars. We have read a great non-fiction book "I'm a Caterpillar." The children loved it and learned a lot of information. We have also been observing them and having a blast. Our caterpillars have been growing and two of them today went into their chrysalis. We have learned the differences between cocoons and chrysalises. You should ask your kids what the difference is and ask them to keep you updated on our little friends!