This Week...

This week is the last week of the 2nd quarter...this means that half of kindergarten is over (I cannot believe it is going this fast).  We have been assessing last week and will continue this week.  The biggest area I am noticing is sight words.  The words in yellow are the words your child should know.  If you find your child does not know these words, please work with your child.  Next week, you will receive a copy of how your child did on their sight words.

This week, we will be continuing on with subtraction.  We will be playing subtraction bowling and I am in need of tennis balls.  If you have any tennis balls to spare and could send one or two in for our use that would be wonderful.  The children are doing a GREAT job with subtraction.  The only area I am noticing is sometimes children get subtraction and addition signs confused.  This would be something you can work on at home.  You can make different story problems up using addition and subtraction and have your child figure it out.  Snack and meal times work great for this activity.  In addition, if your child likes to help cook, this would be a great time to work on this skill as well.

Sight Words...

I am thrilled to be back and we had a great week last week.  The children did an awesome job with adding and subtracting!  The one thing many of the children need to practice is writing the number sentence.  In reading, the children did great with their sounds and blending.  The only piece children need to continue to practice is their sight words.  I have included a sheet with all the sight words learned up to this point.  Please take time to practice them.  One great way is to write them on a card and then play memory.  The other thing you can do is write various words and turn it into a puzzle and have them try to figure out the sentence.  One more way is playing hangman!  The children love this game!  You can even have them try to have you figure out the word as well!

This Week...

This week we will be learning two new sight words: a, to. This brings the total of sight words to 6 (am, I, the, little, a, to). The children are expected to be able to read the sight words in less than 3 seconds. The children practice this daily during our reading group rotations; however, practice at home is necessary too. In addition, we have completed all the letters of the alphabet. Children are expected to be able to identify all the letters. This week we will begin learning the sounds of the letters. We will focus on the letter Mm. We will concentrate on the sound and the writing of Mm. We will also begin to blend words (this is when children see the letter and start saying the sound). I love this part of kindergarten because the children are able to begin reading words. I am sure you will be amazed in the next couple weeks what your child can do in reading.

In math, we will be finishing up Chapter 2. We have worked hard on comparing numbers 0 to 5. The children have learned the vocabulary words greater (more) and fewer (less) to help be able to compare a set. We also learned how to play a new math game "Number Top-It." I blogged about this game yesterday, check it out! We will prepare to take our chapter test on Wednesday and Thursday. I am sure the children will do great! We have also been working hard on counting. The children are expected to be able to count to 100 at the end of kindergarten. At the conclusion of 1st quarter children should be able to count to 25 to be considered "making progress." I hope you have a great week!

Sight Words...

Some children are having difficulty with their sight words this quarter.  It is important to make sure you are practicing these everyday.  Please take 2-3 minutes to go through the sight words.  The best way is to put them on flashcards (if you need some, please let me know and I can provide them for you) and go through them with your child.  Another way to practice is using magazines, newspapers, mail, etc. to have your child go on a sight word hunt!  The children are required to know all 40 sight words at the end of the year.  Once the children know all 40 we will begin working on 1st grade sight words (I do have a couple of children who are ready for this task...woohoo)!  I have attached a list of the sight words we have learned up to this point!

More Fun...

We will working with the story One Little Mouse in Reading Street this week.  With the story, One Little Mouse, we will be continuing to identify the characters, setting, and plot.  However, we will also focus on the sequence of events in the story.  When reading with your child at home, it is a great idea to ask them about the characters, setting, and plot!

One area Mrs. Franz and I continue to find troublesome for some children are the sight words.  These words are progressively becoming harder and this week we have a new set.  Our sight words this week are: one, two, three, four, and five.  These need to be practiced daily!  Please make sure to take 5-10 minutes each night to practice sight words, especially on the "off days."  This will allow learning to continue and will allow your child more practice with words.

In math, we are continuing our work with the teen numbers and building numbers.  Children should be able to read and write numbers to 20 and be able to compare these numbers.  The children should be able to understand 13 is 10 + 3, 10 and 3 more, and 1 ten and 3 ones.  This is one of the reasons we have been spending a lot of time on teen numbers.  Research has shown children need a solid foundation of number sense and place value.  Therefore, we have spent a lot of time practicing place value and understanding why 13 is 13 (and the other teen numbers).  We will also be assessing teen numbers in the next few days.

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing healthy living and healthy eating habits.  Hopefully, the children have shared with some of the healthy activities we have explored and healthy food choices we have discussed.  We will be jumping rope during recess.

Thank you, again, for continuing to make this such a successful year!

This Week in 116...

This week we will be learning two new sight words: a, to. This brings the total of sight words to 6 (am, I, the, little, a, to). The children are expected to be able to read the sight words in less than 3 seconds. The children practice this daily during our reading group rotations; however, practice at home is necessary too. In addition, we have completed all the letters of the alphabet. Children are expected to be able to identify all the letters. This week we will begin learning the sounds of the letters. We will focus on the letter Mm. We will concentrate on the sound and the writing of Mm. We will also begin to blend words (this is when children see the letter and start saying the sound). I love this part of kindergarten because the children are able to begin reading words. I am sure you will be amazed in the next couple weeks what your child can do in reading.

In math, we will be finishing up Chapter 2. We have worked hard on comparing numbers 0 to 5. The children have learned the vocabulary words greater (more) and fewer (less) to help be able to compare a set. We will take our chapter test on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, Chapter 2 homework is to be turned in on Wednesday or Thursday.  I am sure the children will do great!  We have also been working hard on counting.  The children are expected to be able to count to 100 at the end of kindergarten.  At the conclusion of 1st quarter children should be able to count to 25 to be considered "making progress."

We will also be sending home progress reports with your child this week.  The report will let you know the letters your child knows and do not know.  It will also let you know how high your child can count.  We will also be letting you know any other important information necessary for your child's success.

I hope you have a great week!

The Fun Continues...

5 Frames used in Math

This week we will continue to work on letter identification of all letters up to Ss. Many children need to continue working on letter identification of upper/lowercase letters. In addition, we will begin to learn new sight words: the, little. We assessed the children on the sight words "I, am" last week.  Many struggled with the words I and am.  I showed them "am" first and "I" second and the children were unable to tell me the words in the correct order. Please continue to work on this at home as I continue to work on this at school.  My suggestion is to use write "I, am, the, little" on note cards and play memory with them.  Also, continual practice on the stories we send home on Monday/Tuesday will help.  We will also be working on listening to initial sounds. This means what you hear at the beginning of cat.../c/ (the children have to say the sound, not the letter).


In math, I will be assessing the children on their ability to read, write, count, and build to 5.  Many children are doing a great job with this skill.  Some may think this is an easy skill; however, this starts the foundation for children and success in mathematics.  A lot of research has been conducted around the world on how children learn mathematics and beginning here is key.  The children have had to build the number 5 and recognize a set of 5 without counting.  In addition, children have had to develop an understanding for what makes 5.  For example, children have had to know if I have 3, 2 more makes 5.  Finally, Chapter 1 math packets are due on September 24 and 25th!

Finally, we are almost complete with all the state and district mandated assessments. I will be sending home information on how your child did on the DIBELS assessment in the upcoming week. I will let everyone know when I will be sending these home for sure to make sure you know to check your child's folder.  I will also be contacting parents to discuss these scores further.

I hope everyone has a great week. The children are learning procedures extremely well. I will be letting you all know about some donation items which we may need in the classroom to continue our learning experience. Thanks for all of your support...I am loving everyday with your children!

Week Number 2...

I hope all the children had a wonderful first week at WT Elementary and I hope they have shared something they have done at school with you at home. It was a fun and hectic week. We are working on learning procedures of the classroom and the school. The children are learning these procedures at different rates; however, I am positive the children will have them down in the next week or so. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your children and have enjoyed working with them.

This coming week we will continue to practice procedures, but also dive into our literacy and math curriculum. We will be working on letter identification; specifically, the letters Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, and Ee. In addition, we will work on rhyming words and identifying the high-frequency words of "I" and "am". In math we will begin to work with numbers 1-5. We will also be working on writing our names with a capital letter at the beginning and then lowercase letters. Mrs. Franz and I will be sending home a homework letter on Monday/Tuesday explaining how homework will be completed this year. Please look for this in your child's folder. Please also check out our post on homework!

We do eat lunch late at school. Our lunch time is 12:30; therefore, the children have a long time between when they arrive at school to when they eat lunch. We do have a snack to help them make it to lunch. Mrs. Franz and I will be sending home a letter explaining more about snack time at school later this week. Please encourage your child to eat breakfast before coming to school or you may purchase breakfast at school.

I also want to take this moment to express my gratitude... your help and support with our new drop-off/pick-up procedures has been amazing. It is becoming smoother each day and this would not be possible without your help and your patience!! THANK YOU!!

Sight Words...

Sight Words

Some Great Fun This Week...

This week we are moving into Unit 5 of Reading Street. The big question that the students will be focusing on is “How do people and things get from here to there?” This new unit will introduce the concept of transportation. In this section of Reading Street we anticipate that the students will be excited to talk about different forms of transportation they have seen in the community, on television, or the computer. We are eager to access prior knowledge to engage the students in the question of the week, “What are different ways of going places?” We know the children will have a lot of ideas before learning this lesson, and we plan to build on the student’s prior knowledge and experiences.

With our new unit comes six new transportation words plane, jetway, subway, tunnel, ferryboat, and sidecar! These words will be taught through the story Max Takes the Train and reinforced with pictures and a song.

The sight words this week are changing to yellow, blue, and green. It is unbelievable how many sight words your child has learned! Our word wall at school is filling up and we are very proud of the students. Thank you for continuing to practice with your child at home!

In math the students will review the concept of addition and the addition and equals symbols. Students will complete assignments that involve writing number sentences to match a given picture. Along with practicing these concepts, the students will review the number words one, two, three, four, and five. We encourage you to continue practicing addition at home with your children using stories, pictures, or a number line. All students will learn addition differently. Therefore, we are providing many different ways to teach addition to meet your child’s individual learning needs!

Due to our field trip the learning will continue in unique ways! We will have traditional learning and out of the box learning. Our field trip is Thursday (B day) and Friday. (A day) We look forward to seeing some of you this coming week!  The field trip will be a great way to start of your spring break with an exciting adventure to the children’s museum. School will be closed for spring break April 2-6. We look forward to seeing your child again Monday, April 9^th!

Sight Words...

New Sight Words

Feb. 27 - Mar. 9

~ one

~ two

~ three

~ four

~ five

Please make sure you mix these words in with the others.  We do not want the children to learn these words in this order because they may just be guessing :)

Sight Words...

Here is a list of our sight words up to this week.  Please continue to practice these words each week.  In addition, please check the "Family Ties" for up to date information on new sight words.

Sight Words

Popcorn Words...

Part of our Reading Street program is to work on our sight words.  We call them our "Popcorn Words" because you have to know them right away or in a "pop."  The children love thinking of them as popcorn words and it gets them excited about learning new words.  Sight words are words you are unable to sound out and are irregular; therefore, the children have to know them by sight.  Today one of our parents sent in popcorn for a snack.  As an added bonus she wrote our words on the bag.  The children love grabbing a bag and seeing which words were listed. The children then showed each other their bags and all the kids were reading various words.  Thank you Caleb and Caleb's family for providing this wonderful snack!

We have learned the following words:
I
am
the
a
to
little
is
have

Reading Fun...

We are having a blast this week reading various gingerbread books. We are working on predicting what is happening and also sequencing the events in the story. We have read "The Gingerbread Man" and the "Gingerbread Baby." We took a survey today and the children decided "The Gingerbread Man" was their favorite. We have two other books we will be reading, which I think will turn out to be their favorites. One is "The Gingerbread Cowboy" and the other is "The Gingerbread Girl." I am really excited about reading these books. The children are loving listening to them and they are doing a great job sequencing.

We are also working on sight words. A sight word is a word the children read within 3 seconds. If they are unable to read the word within the allotted time, then it is not considered a sight word. The best way to practice these words at home are on flash cards. You can also have your child write the word with crayons, markers, and even in the snow. The words we have learned thus far are: see, said, I'm, I, and, the.

Happy Reading!