Near and Dear to our Hearts

We learned that sometimes writers write about people,places,and things they love. We drew pictures of things near and dear to our hearts. We pasted it onto our writing folder to refer back to for writing ideas.

Being a Writer in Kindergarten

I Can...Write!

This week we learned that we are all writers. We are beginning to  explore many different ways writers get their ideas. Today we learned that writers write about things that they can do. We thought about all the things that we can do and shared it with the class. We drew a picture and wrote a sentence to match the picture. At first, most of us were afraid to write because we didn't know where to begin, how to spell, or what to write. We overcame our fears when we learned that it was okay to use just the sounds we hear (beginning, middle, end)  to write our words (inventive spelling). Our word wall with the sight words helped a lot too! We learned a strategy called "Sound it out owl". It's when we get our mouth ready for the sounds to help us spell. It's also a strategy we use when we read.

Our first reading and writing strategy!

Look how she sounded out her words to spell!

P.S. I found an awesome website that generates handwriting worksheets! You can have your child practice writing any word or sentence you make for him/her. Just go to www.handwritingworksheets.com

Introducing Writing in Kindergarten

This week we learned that labels give readers information about a picture. We practiced drawing pictures and labeling the pictures with words or beginning letter sounds. We learned that labeling pictures will help us write our sentences!

Emergent Reader Skills

Every week we will read a poem together during our shared reading time. Our first poem in K-125 is "I Like School". The students will get a copy of the poem every Friday to paste into their Poetry notebook. The activities or lessons that go along with the poems will vary each week. This week we are focusing on pointing to each word as we read while stressing the left to right directionality. We are working on matching our voice to print with one-to-one correspondence. Below is a list of emergent literacy concepts we have been working on this week during our literacy blocks. Please reinforce these skills at home while reading aloud with your child. Sight word hunts are fun to do using picture books. Sight word hunts are played by calling out  a high frequency word and looking for it in the book to see how many there are. Even if your child is unable to read the words in the book have him/her point to each word to distinguish between a word and a letter. It also enables the reader to practice return sweeping using a left to right directionality. These simple skills are very important to building the skills of a reader!

Emergent Literacy Concepts

Concepts of Print
• Knows that a book is for reading.
• Can identify front, back, top, bottom of book.
• Turns pages properly.
• Recognizes the difference between print and pictures.
• Knows that pictures and words are related.
• Knows where to begin reading on a page.
• Knows what a title is.
• Identifies page numbers.
• Knows that print is read from left to right.
• Knows that print is oral language written down.
• Reads environmental print and logos.

Concepts of Word
• Knows what a word is.
• Can point to words on a page.
• Finger points readings of memorized
text.
• Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence.
• Reads own name.
• Recognizes name in various formats.

Concept of Letter
• Discriminates letters from symbols
and from each other.
• Writes letter-like and letter forms.
• Begins to name letters.
• Sings and says alphabet.

Getting Ready to Learn!

As I have mentioned on Friday during the orientation, the highlights of the orientation will be sent home with your child shortly. In the meantime here are some important information to help start off the week.

* During these first weeks of school, we will be getting to know one another and establishing our daily routines. We will be discussing the importance of rules and the importance of being a great friend. We will be practicing writing our names from left to write and top to bottom capitalizing only the beginning letter of our name. Please work with your child on holding his/her pencil at home.

Make sure your child doesn’t have a tense grip holding the pencil. Use a break to relax by shaking the hands, make drawings into the air or rolling a piece of clay inside the hands.Is the pencil grip too tight? The three fingers should gently grip the pencil. Use a break to relax by shaking the hands, make drawings into the air or rolling a piece of clay inside the hands. 

Regular Practice. Practice daily if possible, keeping the lessons short. Add coloring or drawing instructions to your pre-writing practice.
 
You can also purchase pencil grips to help!

***We will go to gym every Mondays. Sneakers are a must to participate.


***Every day your child will take home his/her red folder which will be found in the FROGS binder. Please check the red communication folder each day. It may contain important announcements, or completed work. It is very important that your child brings this back to school each day. This will help to create a routine and continue the communication between home and school. Also, use this as a way to communicate with me. For instance, if your child is doing something different from their normal schedule (going home with a friend, being picked up from by another family member, etc) please send me a note to let me know the change of plans. The children will be responsible to check this folder each morning to hand in any notices.
I will be double checking for the first week to help establish the routine.

***We love to celebrate birthdays. Please let me know in advance if you plan on bringing in a treat for your child to share with the class. The ideal time for the party would be around snack time (2:15-2:35).

***Homework will require some parental involvement at this level. Your cooperation is essential in developing a positive homework habit. First and foremost, you can encourage your child by showing interest and demonstrating helpful attitudes toward homework.
Some additional suggestions for homework:
• Provide a noise-free, well-lit place to work
• Establish a regular "homework time" in the home and have a special place free from excessive noise.
• Help your child organize adequate time to complete activities neatly and carefully.
• Encourage your child to ask for help when he/she doesn't understand something or is frustrated. Teachers, like parents, can help only if they know there is a need.
• Decide if it becomes too frustrating of a task to stop and take a break. Any work done under duress or frustration is not a positive or healthy learning experience.

***Attendance is important in kindergarten. We begin at 8:40 promptly. What we do in class involves active participation, it is very important that your child attends each day. However, I do realize that sickness, family emergencies, and doctor’s appointments do occur. Please send in a doctor’s note whenever available.  

Welcome to K-125!

Welcome to my classroom blog!   I am so thrilled that your sweet child will be in my classroom this year!I am so excited and  looking forward to working with you and your child in reaching his or full potential. We will have many wonderful experiences to learn and grow. I believe that communication is key to a successful parent-teacher relationship. This blog will be one of our ways to communicate!You will be able to take part in our world of learning by visiting this site occasionally.  I will be posting pictures and activities of what we do in the classroom.This blog can be viewed through invite only and is not open to the public. Please use the google translator located on the upper right corner of the page if needed.   I hope you enjoy!