November 4-8

Important News:

• Don't forget that there is no school on Tuesday, November 5th!
• Tuesday, November 19 is Dads and Donuts!  Dads or a special guest are welcome to come and share a doughnut with your child before school. 
• Tuesday, November 14 is Picture Retake Day.

Language Arts
We will be learning about bears through both fiction and non-fiction books.  We will be comparing and contrasting the stories.  We will continue to discuss how we know if a book is fiction or non-fiction.

Sight words have also been a focus.  Please continue to practice the sight words at home.  If you child is very fluent (can say it quickly), then move on to the bonus sight words that come home monthly.

During writing workshop, we will be writing a sentence about where bears live in the winter.  We have been working hard on chopping apart the words to hear all of the sounds.

Math
We have been learning the combinations that make 5.  Also, we are working on becoming fluent within 100.  We will be playing several games this week that reinforce these skills.  We are also reinforcing recognition of the teen numbers.

Homework

• Counting to 100--Practice saying the name before and after a given number.
• Try writing a sentence at home.  We tell our students they cannot say "How do you spell..." instead they can say "Can you help me chop?"  Help your child chop out the words that they are writing.  

October 28-November 1

Important News

• No School on Tuesday, November 5
• Please practice zipping coats!  

Language Arts
This week we will be reading fiction and non-fiction books about bears.  We will be focusing on the skill of sequencing.  What happened first, second, third, and at the end?

Another skill we will be focusing on is positional words.  (on, under, beneath, in, above, etc.)

Don't forget to send back your "book in a bag" so that your child can continue to practice reading!

Math
We will be doing several activities where the children will be practicing the number combinations that make up 5.  We will also be ordering numbers.  This activity involves putting number cards in order that are not necessarily in sequence.  For example, the cards they might have are 7, 4, 2, 9.  They would have to order the cards from least to most 2, 4, 7, 9.  We will continue to work on skills such as counting, number recognition to 20 and number formation.

Star Student

Each week a child in the class will be the Star Student!  This means that they get to bring a poster to school to share with the class all the very special things about them.   Also, the students can write about the star student during literacy centers.  Mrs. Gallucci's class is on Star #2, and Mrs. Haughey's class will begin next week!

October 21-25

Upcoming Events and Reminders

• Conferences are this week!  We look forward to talking with you about your child.
• Book fair will be open all week!  Wednesday, October 23 is Family Night 4:30-7:00 if you would like to come up to shop with your child.  
• Friday, October 25 is the Fall Festival Party.  Please send your child's costume to school in a bag.  We will get dressed right before the party begins.  Please refer to the party/costume guidelines that came home in the Miller newsletter.  Remember no extra treat bags allowed!

Homework

• Please practice tying shoes.
• Don't forget to have your child switch their book in a bag.

Literacy Center Switch

We have started switching for Literacy Centers.  Your child will be in either Mrs. Gallucci's or Mrs. Haughey's class for an hour and a half for literacy centers.  Ask your child about which room they are in for centers. 

 

Language Arts

We are writing to compose opinion pieces.  We write to tell how we feel about a topic.  For example, how do you feel about the fall?

We will begin a unit on the seasons and weather.  We will be reading both non-fiction and fiction books about these topics.  While reading these books, we will focus on main idea and comparing and contrasting.  We will also be writing about the things we see during each  of the seasons.

Math
We will be playing a game called Compare.  This math game is similar to the card game "war".  The person with the highest number card keeps both cards.  This will reinforce the skill of comparing two collections.
Also, we are working on learning domino patterns.  We want the students to be able to see a domino pattern (or dice) and recognize the number it is without counting the dots.  We will be using this when we teach addition.  We encourage working with dominoes or dice when working with your child at home.

September 30-October 4 and October 7-11

Picture day is on Thursday, October 3!

Important News

• This week a reminder will be coming home regarding your conference date and time. Please confirm by signing the form and sending it back to school with your child.
• Remember to send your picture envelopes to school on Thursday!
• Thank you to the parent volunteers who attended the Farm field trip with us! 

Language Arts

We will begin a unit on apples that will last two weeks.  We will be reading several stories, fiction and non-fiction, about animals and the seasons.  This works perfectly with our Lake Farmpark field trip.  During the field trip, the children learned how to make apple cider from the apples at the farm.  They even had an opportunity to taste apple cider!  We will continue practicing fluency with the Apple, Apple on the Tree poem in our poetry folder.

Phonemic Awareness skills:  letter names, letter sounds, ending sounds, syllables

Practice sight words!  We would like the children to know 5 sight words by the end of October.

Math

We will continue our unit on counting.  We have learned some strategies for careful counting.  Ask your child to share these strategies with you.  Also, we are practicing counting from any given number.  We have been practicing counting by 10s to 100.  We are also working hard to learn what number comes next when crossing over a decade.  What number comes after 29, 39, 49...

September 16-20 & 23-27

Lake Farmpark Information

We are all set for our field trip to Lake Farmpark on Tuesday, September 24.  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather!  We will be outside even if it is rainy.  Also, please make sure your child brings a packed lunch.  Please pack in a disposable bag so that we can throw all items away after lunch.  Thank you!  We are looking forward to our trip!

Reminders

• Please put all notes to the teacher or office on a large sheet of paper.  Small notes (like post-its) tend to get lost.  Thank you!

Homework

• Review letters and sounds with your child daily.  How quickly can your child name the letters? 
• If your child knows his/her letters and sounds, practice the sight words.  Start with only a few words at a time. 
• Ask your child to name the characters and/or setting in a story you read together. 

Books in a Bag

• Your child should be bringing home a book in a ziploc bag.  Read this book with your child and return it as soon as you are finished.   Your child will then choose a new book to take home.  They might bring back the same book if they really like it!

Language Arts
We have been learning about the farm.  We are reading several stories about the farm and farm animals.  We will be using these stories to learn about characters, setting, cause and effect and sequencing.

The focus for the next 2 weeks includes:

• rhyming
• letters and sounds
• final sounds
• syllables
• Left to right directionality

Sight words--the, a, in, and, is, on

Math

In math, we are learning addition and subtraction to five with materials.  Also, we practice counting from any given number to 100 forward and backward.

September 9-13

Book Baskets
Each student in our classroom has his/her own basket of books.  We use these baskets to do an activity called "Read to Self".  For this activity, each child finds a quiet spot in the classroom with their book basket to read the books inside.  Each child has several books in the basket.  Some of the books are chosen by the student according to his/her interest (princess, baseball, animal, Clifford, etc.)  The other books are on their reading level.  If your child would like to bring a book from home to put in his/her basket, we encourage it!  This is the introduction to one of our Daily 5 literacy centers.

The students were taught that there are 3 ways to read a book.  The first way is to read the pictures.  We modeled for the students how to use the pictures to read the book to themselves.  The second way is to read the words in the story.  The third way is to retell a story that they have heard before.  Some students may have a book in their basket that they have read before such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Now, the student can retell the story as he/she reads the pages.

Also, in the coming weeks, each student will receive a "book in a bag".  This book will also be on your child's reading level.  Please read this story with your child or have your child read it to you and then send it back to school so that your child can choose a new one.

Important Notes:

• Wednesday is September 11 so wear red, white and blue!
• We do not need to wear our bus tags anymore.  Thank you for always remembering to send it to school each day!
• HOMEWORK--Have you played a rhyming game with your child?  Practice rhyming by asking your child if two words rhyme.  (Do cake and rake rhyme?) Also, try asking your child to think of a word that rhymes with a word you say.  (Can you think of a word that rhymes with sun?)

Language Arts
This week our stories will be about our five senses.  We will be reading both fiction and non-fiction books.  We will be experiencing all of the senses, except tasting, during our activities this week.

We will continue our practice of phonemic awareness with our "blue book" activities.  We will focus on rhyming.

Handwriting:  We will continue with Frog Jump Capitals ( F, E, D, P, B, R, N, M)

Math
We are working on saying the number before and after any given number from 0-30.  What number comes before 18?  What number comes after 12?

Science:  5 senses

September 3-6

Quick Reminders

• It is no longer necessary to wear PE shirts.  
• Please pack only ONE snack for your child each day.
• Please remember a folder each day.
• Mrs. Gallucci's class only--Book orders are due on Wednesday, September 4.   Thank you!

Language Arts

This week we will be reading 2 stories, The Little School Bus and Big Yellow Bus.  We will compare and contrast these stories and talk about the characters in each story.  At home, as you read books with your child talk about the characters in the story.  We tell the children that the characters are the people or animals in the story.

We will continue to work on fluency this week through poetry.  The children have enjoyed the mystery color poems.  Have they shared these with you?   We will also look at a new poem called Get on the Bus.

We will also complete a Name of the Day activity each day until each child in the class has a chance to bring home a special book.  During this activity we work on letter names, sounds, and formation of letters.

Every week throughout the year we will do phonemic awareness activities such as letter names and sounds, rhyming, listening for the beginning sounds in words, compound words, and listening for ending sounds in words.  Please practice these types of activities at home with your child.  The best part of these activities is that it doesn't require any materials or take a long time.  All you have to do is say "Can you think of a word that rhymes with dig?" or "What sound do you hear at the beginning of ball?"  "What do you hear at the end of mug?"

Sight words this week: a, the

Math
We are working on counting!  We want the students to be able to count to 100 by the end of kindergarten fluently.  This means that they can count starting from any number.  Can you start counting at 8?  Can you count beginning at 87?  We are also learning how to count by 10s to 100!We are also exploring our math tools such as attribute blocks, unifix cubes, and pattern blocks.

Don't forget to check the type right corner of this blog for information about HOMEWORK!