What a wonderful day! The students worked really hard and we accomplished all that we set out to do!
This week we are learning two new sight words: "for" and "you"
We are focusing on the /d/ sound.
Mrs. Abbey read Bus Stops, a realistic fiction story about a bus and all the places where it stops. Before the story, the students talked with their partners about where they predicted the bus would stop. After the story, we shared as a group where the bus really did stop. Some of the student's predictions were accurate!
In handwriting, the students practiced making the lowercase "q". They also reviewed making uppercase and lowercase G, J, and Q.
During literacy stations and guided reading groups, Mrs. Abbey finished up individual reading assessments with each of the students. Results from those assessments will be shared with you at conferences. Overall, the students are doing a great job with their reading!
A few of the students were concerned that it is going to snow a bunch tonight and that we might not have school tomorrow. I have not been following the weather, but I just wanted to remind you that if school is 2 hours late, half day kindergarten does not have class. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!
Thank you to all parent-pickup parents for being prompt in picking up your child today! It really helps me accomplish all that I need to do before going home for the day!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday January 28, 2011
Happy 100th Day of School!!!
What a fun day today was. There was a 100 year old substitute teacher who taught the class today. Her name was Mrs. Martin. The students were very good helpers and helped Mrs. Martin (aka Mrs. Abbey dressed up as a 100 year old woman) with everything she needed. Some students knew Mrs. Martin was Mrs. Abbey, but some students insisted that it was her grandmother. It was fun to listen to them debate the issue!
Mrs. Martin read The Black Cat, which is an American picture drawing folk tale. The story was about a boy and a girl who go looking for a lost cat. By the end of the story, the picture drawn on the board looks like a black cat! This was a new type of story for the students.
We made our 100th day snack, mixing together a concoction of treats, cereals, and crackers. While we ate it, we did a cutting activity. Mrs. Martin created envelopes out of paper and staples (which amazed some of the students!). We used those envelopes to hold the shapes, which we will use for an activity on Monday.
We shared our 100s day containers with mystery objects. Some of the objects were really tricky to guess!! Thank you for helping your child think of such good clues! They had a fun time sharing and guessing.
Thank you to Blake's mom for coming early to get a class picture taken with Mrs. Martin!
Your child can send in their January reading log next week! (It is light blue with mittens to color.)
Upcoming Events:
•Wed. Feb. 2...American Heart Association wear red day.
•Fri. Feb. 4...Superbowl Spirit Day--you may wear a jersey if you'd like!
•Wed. Feb. 9..."Early" Out...we eat lunch at school and dismiss at 12:35.
•Mon. Feb. 14...Valentine's Party...more info to come next week!
•Mon. Feb. 21 & Thurs. Feb.24...School Conferences.
•Thurs. Feb. 24...another "Early" Out...12:35 dismissal.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thursday January 27, 2011
Another fun day in kindergarten!
The students wrote about something they are interested in. They were excited to write about anything that they wanted! They were encouraged to write more than one sentence, but not all students are ready for that. They are each working on individual writing goals: writing initial sounds of words, using lowercase letters, using punctuation, putting spaces between words, etc. One thing they all need to work on is remembering to put their name on their work. This gets forgotten quite frequently!
A few special visitors came to our room to help today: Grandma Jean and Hannah. The students took turns working on counting activities with Grandma Jean, and Hannah worked on stations with the students.
Being gone yesterday, I did not have time to refill your child's reading bags today. I will send new books home tomorrow.
Tomorrow is library day. If your child would like to check out another good book, please remind them to return their book!
Tomorrow is our 100th day of school celebration! Please send your 100's day snack and 100 objects with written clues tomorrow. It's going to be a fun morning of celebration!
The students wrote about something they are interested in. They were excited to write about anything that they wanted! They were encouraged to write more than one sentence, but not all students are ready for that. They are each working on individual writing goals: writing initial sounds of words, using lowercase letters, using punctuation, putting spaces between words, etc. One thing they all need to work on is remembering to put their name on their work. This gets forgotten quite frequently!
A few special visitors came to our room to help today: Grandma Jean and Hannah. The students took turns working on counting activities with Grandma Jean, and Hannah worked on stations with the students.
Being gone yesterday, I did not have time to refill your child's reading bags today. I will send new books home tomorrow.
Tomorrow is library day. If your child would like to check out another good book, please remind them to return their book!
Tomorrow is our 100th day of school celebration! Please send your 100's day snack and 100 objects with written clues tomorrow. It's going to be a fun morning of celebration!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday January 25, 2011
This morning we practiced counting and writing numbers to 30. Counting to 100 by 10's and 1's will be assessed over the next couple of weeks, as well as writing numbers 0-30. I had the students complete an assignment which showed me which numbers they could write in sequence. We don't have much time to work on writing numbers in class, and it shows! If you have spare time in the afternoon or evenings, please take a few minutes to practice writing numbers, especially the teen numbers!
Mrs. Abbey read Freight Train today. We then made a list of things that we are interested in, such as elephants, dinosaurs, semis, jets, and princesses. We will use this list to give us ideas of things to write about. Tomorrow, we will have time for the students to write about something that interests them.
We are working on increasing or endurance (the amount of time that we can productively work at a station). We are also working on using quiet voices when Mrs. Abbey is working with students at the reading table.
Please remind your children to keep their toys at home--we've found quite a few in the backpacks this week. During 3rd quarter, we will be having "Star/Student of the Week" where your child can bring in pictures, books, relatives, toys, etc. to share with the class.
Book bags can be send back tomorrow if your child has read the books.
Reminder: Friday is the 100th day of school! Make sure your child is working on their 100th day projects!
Mrs. Abbey read Freight Train today. We then made a list of things that we are interested in, such as elephants, dinosaurs, semis, jets, and princesses. We will use this list to give us ideas of things to write about. Tomorrow, we will have time for the students to write about something that interests them.
We are working on increasing or endurance (the amount of time that we can productively work at a station). We are also working on using quiet voices when Mrs. Abbey is working with students at the reading table.
Please remind your children to keep their toys at home--we've found quite a few in the backpacks this week. During 3rd quarter, we will be having "Star/Student of the Week" where your child can bring in pictures, books, relatives, toys, etc. to share with the class.
Book bags can be send back tomorrow if your child has read the books.
Reminder: Friday is the 100th day of school! Make sure your child is working on their 100th day projects!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday January 24, 2011
Happy Birthday to Ella! Thank you for bringing yummy birthday treats to share!
Today we started a new literacy theme: our neighborhood. We talked about what is a neighbor and who are our neighbors. Mrs. Abbey read a story about something that is found in our neighborhood: the fire station. The book was called, Russ and the Firehouse. We learned that in addition to putting out fires, the firefighters also need to work hard to keep their equipment clean. After listening to the story, the students wrote about something they learned.
Focus sound this week: /h/
New sight word this week: "are"
We completed a few math assessments today, in preparation for report cards and conferences.
We talked about the 100th day of school celebration which is coming up on Friday! Review the paper that went home last week which talks about our guessing game and snack that we will be sharing that day! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday January 21, 2011
I have not been doing a good job with taking pictures in our classroom, and I apologize. I will do my best to remember to take some new pictures of our classroom activities next week!
We finished up our unit on animal habitats. Mrs. Abbey read a Mexican folk tale called The Coyote and the Turtle. In this story, a turtle wanders far away from home and meets a hungry coyote. Ask your child to tell you how the turtle tricks the coyote into bringing him back to his home without eating him!
We also worked on blending sounds to make words, and practiced the sight words we have learned so far.
In math, we played the flipping numbers game. The students also practiced making numbers using our place value pockets. We focused on 2-digit numbers, although there were quite a few children who wanted to be challenged by 3-digit numbers!
The students went to library today. Remember, your child can return their book any day of the week, not just on library day!
Mrs. Abbey is currently assessing your child's reading level. These assessments help determine which skills each child needs to work on and helps create literacy groups based on skill-need.
The students have been introduced to all 9 new literacy stations. These stations focus on reading and writing the kindergarten sight words.
Just a reminder that next Friday (Jan. 28) is the 100th day of school. Please remember to send a collection of 100 items (along with clues for the class to guess what it is) to school by next Friday. We will also have a special 100th day snack mix, so please send in 100 of something snacky (dry cereal, m & m's, licorice bits, chocolate chips, etc.) for us to add to the snack mix. We do have peanut allergies in the classroom, so please make sure not to send items that contain peanuts. Thank you!
We finished up our unit on animal habitats. Mrs. Abbey read a Mexican folk tale called The Coyote and the Turtle. In this story, a turtle wanders far away from home and meets a hungry coyote. Ask your child to tell you how the turtle tricks the coyote into bringing him back to his home without eating him!
We also worked on blending sounds to make words, and practiced the sight words we have learned so far.
In math, we played the flipping numbers game. The students also practiced making numbers using our place value pockets. We focused on 2-digit numbers, although there were quite a few children who wanted to be challenged by 3-digit numbers!
The students went to library today. Remember, your child can return their book any day of the week, not just on library day!
Mrs. Abbey is currently assessing your child's reading level. These assessments help determine which skills each child needs to work on and helps create literacy groups based on skill-need.
The students have been introduced to all 9 new literacy stations. These stations focus on reading and writing the kindergarten sight words.
Just a reminder that next Friday (Jan. 28) is the 100th day of school. Please remember to send a collection of 100 items (along with clues for the class to guess what it is) to school by next Friday. We will also have a special 100th day snack mix, so please send in 100 of something snacky (dry cereal, m & m's, licorice bits, chocolate chips, etc.) for us to add to the snack mix. We do have peanut allergies in the classroom, so please make sure not to send items that contain peanuts. Thank you!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday January 20, 2011
We continued our discussion about habitats today, focusing on animals that live near, or in a pond. We read a non-fiction magazine article called The Pond is our Home. Before reading, the students brainstormed a list of animals that they thought lived near a pond, and we checked our answers when reading. We discovered that the students have great background knowledge of what animals are found at the pond!
We discussed the word family: -at. The students helped think of words that would fit in the -at family (bat, cat, mat, sat, etc.).
The students finished decorating the fish for our new Go Fish Sight Word game. Now, the fish are off to get laminated!
We talked about place value during math today: ones and tens. We also played the flipping numbers game! Next week we will be using place value pockets to make numbers bigger than 9. If your child does not recognize numbers 0-9, please continue to practice number identification with them so that they feel more confident during our math games!
In art class, the students continued painting, learning how to use white to make colors lighter.
Tomorrow we will finish learning how to use our new stations.
Tomorrow is also library day. If your child would like to check out a new library book, please help them remember to return theirs tomorrow.
A note went home in your child's folder regarding the 100th day of school, which is Friday Jan. 28. Please let me know if you have any questions about the activities of that day. It should be an exciting day!
We discussed the word family: -at. The students helped think of words that would fit in the -at family (bat, cat, mat, sat, etc.).
The students finished decorating the fish for our new Go Fish Sight Word game. Now, the fish are off to get laminated!
We talked about place value during math today: ones and tens. We also played the flipping numbers game! Next week we will be using place value pockets to make numbers bigger than 9. If your child does not recognize numbers 0-9, please continue to practice number identification with them so that they feel more confident during our math games!
In art class, the students continued painting, learning how to use white to make colors lighter.
Tomorrow we will finish learning how to use our new stations.
Tomorrow is also library day. If your child would like to check out a new library book, please help them remember to return theirs tomorrow.
A note went home in your child's folder regarding the 100th day of school, which is Friday Jan. 28. Please let me know if you have any questions about the activities of that day. It should be an exciting day!
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