The End of November...

This week ends November and begins December and I cannot believe we are already this far into the year. The amazing thing is we have only had school approximately 30 days because of the unique schedule (this shows just how important being at school is every day). I am pleased with how the children are working hard and learning a lot too. I sure hope you have seen this at home. In addition, please continue to work on letter sounds, sight words, and numbers at home daily. The progress made would not be possible without your help at home as I only have them 2 or 3 days a week. In addition, it is important for your child to be at school. If they are ill and have to miss school please contact me and I can let you know what your child has missed. It is helpful for you to review these things with your child. In addition, if you another child in the school I am able to send home work with them.

This week we will be working on the letter Ii and its sound of /i/ as in igloo, insect, ink, etc. This sound can be easily confused with the short e sound as in elephant, elevator, escalator, etc. We will be working on this particular sound and reading a series of new words with short i and a. This will allow us to have some new words to work with and to blend. In addition, we will be working with new sight words.  This week the words are for and he. We will continue to work with segmentation and begin bridging this into our writing. The children will begin to develop an understanding of when you are unsure of how to spell a word, you can segment the word to hear all the sounds. Currently, it is developmentally appropriate for children to only hear the first and/or last sound of a word. Some children may be able to hear the middle sound too, but be aware this is the last sound children hear.

In math, we will conclude our work with the number 10.  The children should be able to recognize numbers 0-10 and be able to tell you numbers which are greater than and less than.  The children should also be able to tell you how many more you would need to get to 10.  We will be having our Chapter 4 test on Wednesday and Thursday.  I am very pleased with the progress thus far!  We will be sending home new math homework the first week of December!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Kindergarten Fun...

This week we decided to have an art day in kindergarten.  The children did a great job and they learned about Thanksgiving, what they are thankful for, and also then and now.  We read "Thanks for Thanksgiving."  Here are a few pictures of the day!  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!



Thanksgiving Fun...

This week we only have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will be continuing our work from last week and reviewing what we have learned this year.  In addition, we will be having a little Thanksgiving fun this week!  If you are traveling I hope you have a safe trip. I also hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I look forward to hearing the children talk about what they did over their mini break. I would love for your child to draw a picture of what they did on Thanksgiving and try to write a sentence (they can bring it to school when they return for me to check and for them to share).

More Excitement...

Explaining how she figured out 8 eggs (she saw a group of 4 and then 4 more)

Explaining how he figured out 10 (he said it looked like a 10's frame and new it was 10)

This week we are going to move on to the letter Cc. We will be working with the children on how to produce a hard Cc sound. On some of their papers, you may notice this written like /k/. The hard Cc sound is comparable to our Kk sound (candy, cup, cat, color). We will work on blending words together, such as, cap, tap, Cam, sap, etc.  In addition to learning the letter and sound of Cc, we will also continue to work with the sight words/popcorn words: like, we, and my.  Our story this week is about Bears.  We will discuss what Bears do during the winter and read the story "Bear Snores On."  The children will also identify what happened first, second, and third in the story through sequencing.

Please continue to practice all letters, letter sounds, and sight words at home. Your continued support and work with your children at home has become very evident in the classroom. We greatly appreciate all of your extra time and effort.

Ideas for Letter/Sound Practice at Home:
1- Have students identify letter names on flashcards.
2- Have students go on a letter hunt in your home to find specific letters.
3- Have students identify letter sounds on flashcards.
4- Have students go on a sound hunt in your home to find specific items that start with a specific sound (a, m, t, s, p, c).
5- Have students begin to practice blending sounds into words. Place three letter cards in front of your child (with a vowel in the middle) and have your child begin to blend the word. Please remember, these do not have to be real words...they can be nonsense/make believe words as well!

In math, we are continuing to work with Chapter 4 and comparing numbers to 10.  The children should be able to identify numbers which are more and fewer or greater and less.  In addition, the children are making 10 with various numbers.  This is just a fancy way of addition facts to 10 without using the symbols.  For example, your child should be able to say 6 and 4 is 10, 7 and 3 is 10, etc.  The math homework goes along with what we are practicing in the classroom.  Please remember math homework is due on November 19 and 20.

Have a fantastic week!

Report Cards...

Report cards will be coming home today for the B class and Monday for the A class.  Your child can receive a grade of limited progress (L), making progress (M), or proficient (P).  If your child is proficient it means your child can do the skill listed on the report card independently every time.  If your child is making progress it means they are working towards the skill listed, but has not mastered it fully yet.  If your child receives limited progress this would mean your child needs support to meet the skill listed.  The skills listed are end of the year goals; therefore, if your child is making progress (M) that is really good because they are headed to the skill.  Our goal is to have every student proficient in all areas at the end of the year and making progress throughout the year.  We will be discussing the report card more in depth at conferences!

Learning...

This week is an interesting week because we do not have school on Tuesday.  This means I will see the A class on Monday and Wednesday and the B class on Thursday and Friday.  On Tuesday teachers have Professional Development.  In addition, Tuesday is election day and I hope everyone will go out and vote.

In the classroom we will be working on the letter Pp.  This letter has a short quick sound and says /p/.  When you practice this sound try not to let your child say /puh/ (this would mean your child is producing two sounds rather than one).  This is important when children try to blend words together.  We will also be working on new sight words or popcorn words (like, we, my).  Please continue to practice all the letter sounds we have learned.  You can write the letters on a card and have your child say the sounds.  In addition, you can place three letters out with a vowel in the middle and have your child begin to blend the word.  These words can be real or make believe.  It is okay for your child to read a make believe word because the purpose is to practice blending.

In math, we are beginning Chapter 4.  The children will begin to learn about the number 10.  The children will also need to compare numbers (greater than, less than, more, fewer).  We will also explore ways to make 10.  This entails children to understand 6 and 4 make 10, 3 and 7 make 10, etc.  This is the first stages of understanding addition.  We will also be working on counting to 50.  All children are expected to count to 50 by the conclusion of 2nd quarter and by the end of the year to 100.  Our goal is to have all children counting to 100 as quickly as possible.

Have a great week!