Pictures to come!!

We have had some WONDERFUL things happening in our Kindergarten classroom!  Pictures are coming soon.  Sorry it has taken so long. 

December Homework

KINDERGARTEN HOMEWORK CALENDAR

Here are some ideas for families to do at home.  Color or cross out the squares that you completed and return the work to your child’s teacher on the last day of the month.

December  2012

Reread one of your little books from reading group.  Make a list of all of the sight words that you find in your book.	Have an adult or older sibling read your library book to you.  Draw and write about the setting and the characters.	Have an adult or older sibling read your library book to you.  Draw and write about the problem and the solution.	Write 5 words each from the following word families: -at, -ig, -ug and -og
Draw and write about a holiday tradition in your family.	Draw a picture of your family.  Write a sentence about each person in your picture.	Reread one of your little books from reading group.  Make a list of all of the words that have only 3 letters in them.	Draw a picture of something you like to do in the winter.  Write at least two sentences about your picture.
Using your shoe, measure things in your house such as the length of the couch, the room, the rug.	Have your family members line up in order from shortest to tallest.  Draw of picture of them in this order and label it.	Grab two handfuls of coins or other small objects.  Count how many are in each hand.  Draw a picture of what you grabbed and write the numbers that match.	Draw a picture to show 2+3.
Take a walk with an adult in your house or outside.  Record the different shapes you see in the environment. (Triangle, square, circle, rectangle, hexagon)	Take a walk outside with an adult.  Count how many wreaths or other holiday decorations you see.  What did you find the most of?	Write a letter to a friend or family member telling them why they are special.	Look at a calendar.  What is today’s date?  Count how many days are left in the month of December.

November Homework Calendar

KINDERGARTEN HOMEWORK CALENDAR

Here are some ideas for families to do at home.  Student and families can work on these projects together.  Pick 10 activities to do.  Color in the squares that you completed.    Keep all your hard work and give it to your teacher on the last day of each month.

November 2012

 

Practice writing your first and last names with only the first letter of each uppercase.	Find 3 things in your house that are longer than your pencil and 3 things that are shorter than your pencil.  Draw the objects in your journal.	Draw and write about what you are thankful for.	Think of a word that rhymes with   man rake bug Write your answers in your journal.
Find 5 things in your house that start with the letter N.  Draw pictures of 3 of them.  Label your pictures using letter sounds.	What is the weather like today?   Draw and write about the weather today.	Count all of the days in the month.  How many days are there?  Write that number.  What number comes before 30?  Write that number.	Read a story or have an adult read a story to you.    Retell the story to an adult.
What day of the week is it today?  What was yesterday?  What will tomorrow be?	Write and sentence and draw a picture showing how you feel today.	Read a story with an adult.  Find the punctuation mark at the end of a sentence.  What type of punctuation did the author use?	Find ten objects in your house (beans, teddy bears, pencils, etc.)  Use the objects to help you count backwards. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0
Practice saying your street address and phone number.	Write down your family members names. Count how many letters are in each name.  Order the names from the least number or letters to the most.	Practice writing the numerals 0-20.	Think of a question you want to ask your teacher.  Write your question in your journal.

November News Letter

Kindergarten News Letter

November

November 2nd-End of Term 1 November 5th-Teacher Work Day, No School for Students November 6th-Election Day, No School November 21-25-Thanksgiving Break, School Closed

Welcome Tiffany Carpenter

Please welcome Tiffany Carpenter who is taking over for Mrs. Ramsburg while she is on maternity leave.

 

Report Cards

Report cards for Quarter 1 will be coming home mid-month.  The report card is a snapshot into your child’s progress for the first 9 weeks of school.  It provides feedback on their mastery of skills directly taught during the Quarter and is based on the Quarter 1 expectations.

 

Language Arts

Students are continuing to work on recognizing basic sight words, identifying letters and letter sounds, recognizing rhyming words, segmenting and blending syllables and compound words and using letter sounds in their writing.

Literature

This month we will focus on literary (fiction) text and understanding story elements such as character, setting, problem and solution.  Students will also work on their oral language skills by discussing books read aloud as a class and with a partner. 

Math

Throughout Quarter 2, students will be describing objects by measurable attributes such as length and weight.  They will be using vocabulary such as “more of/less of, taller/shorter,etc.” Students will also be learning postitional words such as “above, below, beside, in front of, behind and next.”   By the end of Quarter 2 in January, students will be expected to count to 20 by ones and to write numbers 0-20.

 

Intervention/Enrichment Block

Kindergarten students have just begun to switch classes Monday-Thursday for 30 minutes per day for our Intervention and Enrichment Block.  The students are in groups based on their current needs.  Some of the skills the groups are working on are: letter recognition and sounds, sight word practice, oral language skills, fine motor skills, social skills and enrichment reading and writing.  After 4 weeks, our groups will change and the focus will be on current math needs until we return to a language arts focus for the following 4 weeks.

 

Thursday Folder

Please be sure to review the papers and empty the folder.  The folder needs to be returned to school the next day.

Library books are due on the morning of your Students’ media lesson special.  Please try to help your child remember his/her book.  The children need to return their book before checking out a new book. Happy reading!

Notes and Reminders

 

¨       If there is a transportation change, please send a note to school with your child.  If there is an emergency change, please fax or email the request, followed by a phone call to the office prior to 2:00 p.m.

¨       If your child is absent, please send a note in explaining their absence.

¨      Please provide a change of clothes (including socks), marked with your child’s name, in their backpack. As the season changes, please make sure that the extra clothes you child has at home are appropriate for the weather.

¨       Please return the emergency transportation form to your child’s teacher as soon as possible

¨       Please read and return your students reading bag and sight word cards each day.  We use the little books during reading group each morning. 

¨       Please check your student’s take-home folder each night. 

¨       Please keep the monthly behavior chart in your students take home folder. This is how we communicate if your student received a warning, reflection, documentation or office referral. 

 

Happy Fall!!!

Tour of our classroom!!

Bin centers and mailboxes

 

 

 

Word Wall Center

 

 

Library Center

 

 

 

Listening Center

 

 

Computer Center

 

 

Easel Center

 

 

 

Carpet Area

 

 

Reading Table

 

 

Cubbies

 

 

 

Writing and Poetry Centers

Supply Wish List!!

If you are able to donate supplies to our classroom, this is what we are running low on:

• Dry erase markers
• Crayons
• Markers
• Glue sticks
• Gallon size baggies
• Bottled Glue
• Tissues

Thanks a bunch for donating to our classroom!

Volunteers!

Parents,

If you are interested in volunteering please contact me.  Right now I have a volunteer every Friday morning.  My grandmother is working with students in small groups, on Tuesday mornings.  I would love to have parents volunteer any day of the week.  Please contact me and let me know when you can come in and what you would like to help with. 

Examples:

• Working with students in small groups
• bulletin boards
• copying
• cutting lamination
• working on activites at home

Thank you!

Web Resources

Students, here are some fun web activities you can do at home!

*Starfall

Starfall is a wonderful reading website that fits the needs of students of every reading ability. and is FREE! It has videos, songs, games, and stories that work on phonics, phonemic awareness, rhyming, vocabulary, fluency, word families, vowel sounds and tricks, etc. This is a website you must check out!! (It's too amazing not to!) More recently, Starfall has begun to branch out an include math activities and games as well. There is not as much for math as there is for language arts.

*PBS Kids

PBS Kids is a more entertaining [FREE!] website than an educational one. (Don't get me wrong, there are games that correlate with what is being taught in the classroom, just not as much as Starfall.) It uses familiar characters and plots to help entice children to watch videos, play games, and read.

*Google Earth

Students have been exposed to and have used Google Earth during Science instruction. This is a free software download that you may choose to put on your home computer. It can "zoom" to pictures and maps of landforms, famous landmarks, addresses, or points of interest by typing into the search window. Google Earth uses satellite photographs of all over the world and pieces them together to create one large "Earth Photograph". The viewer can choose how far to zoom in and what layers to see on the map/picture.

*Brainpopjr
Brainpop Jr is a website that has activities relating to science, reading, writing, math, health, social students, arts and technology.  Each section contains videos that have follow up activities.  Some of the activities you need to subcribe for. We have a subscription at school.  Have fun exploring the different subjects and videos!!

Useful Websites For Parent Use:

*10 Things About Kindergarten to Know Now

Important and useful things and tips that parents should know about today's Kindergarten. A lot has changed from when we went to Kindergarten and this article helps explain these changes. (This article is from a great website that has other wonderful tips and information for parents with young children.)

*What to Expect in Kindergarten

This is another great article that I have found that discusses what the typical Kindergarten day is like and what parents can expect during the school year.

*Tips for Parents of Kindergarteners

On this website, there are some terrific tips and activities to do with children to get them ready for Kindergarten, as well as keep their student's on grade level for the rest of the school year.

*FCPS Family & Community Involvement

Here is a link to the Frederick County Public Schools Family and Community Involvement page. Various ways to help out and events will be posted on this page.

*Scholastic Book Clubs

Our classroom participates in Scholastic Book Clubs. Monthly book order catalogs will be sent home for your use if you choose to purchase books for your child. This is a link to set-up online ordering for the monthly catalogs. It is VERY easy to use!

*Whittier Elementary School Website
This is a direct link to Whittier's school website for information and events that are important for families of Whittier students.

*FindOut First

Have you signed up yet? FindOut First is a valuable tool that Frederick County and Whittier Elementary use to send out important messages or reminders to parents, teachers, and family members. If school is closed, opening late, or dismissing early due to inclement weather, you will get a notification. Whittier also uses FindOut First to send out reminders for PTA events, conferences, spirit days, etc. You can tailor it to what schools you are interested in, what clubs, and what grades you would like notifications about. This really is something that is worthwhile to send up for!

*FCPS Calendar & Handbook Lost your copy of the Calendar Handbook? Check out the electronic copy! A copy of the school calendar and handbook is always readily available wherever you have Internet: at work, on vacation, etc.

*Frederick County Public Libraries Do you and your child have a library card? Why not put it to good use today! On the link to FCPL you can look up book titles, reserve a copy, and renew your book if it's too good to put down! FCPL also has great children's story time and activities all year round. This summer, be sure to check out their summer reading program! J

Emma

Meet Emma!! Emma is my furry little Friend.  Emma is my 4 year old dog.  I will soon post a picture of her in her Halloween costume. 

Kindergarten News:

 

Important Dates:

 

October 8th – 2 hour early dismissal for students October 16th – Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch October 18th – Evening parent teacher conferences October 19th – SCHOOLS CLOSED ( State/regional educational training)

Language Arts

Kindergarteners are working on basic sight words that are necessary for students to read with fluency.  Some of those words are I, the, and, we, will, go, to, like, up and you.  You can encourage your child to find those words in books and poems that you read together and even in signs and labels that you see around your house or neighborhood.  Also, they are working on instant recognition of the alphabet and on letter sounds.  Songs are sung about the sound letters make; hopefully your child will come home and be able to sing them to you. Students will also learn how to identify and generate rhyming words. 

Literature

Our language arts focus this month will be on reading informational text.  We will be looking at how non-fiction books look different from fiction books and how they are used for different purposes.  We will be reading about fall things such as apples, pumpkins and scarecrows. Students will use the details from these nonfiction books to write facts about apples, pumpkins and scarecrows. 

Math

The focus this quarter is on giving students many meaningful opportunities to develop their sense of numbers and quantities, read and write numbers to ten (and beyond),  to count and compare amounts, and to measure objects by comparing them directly.

Social Studies

We are working on a unit about being helpers at home and at school.  The unit also focuses on how we work together, take care of things and listen to others.

Science

Students have been learning about Matter and Heat.  For example, they will be describing objects by using their five senses.  Next, they will learn what happens when an object experiences a change in temperature.

 

Thursday Folder

Please be sure to review the papers and empty the folder.  The folder needs to be returned to school the next day.

Library books are due on the morning of your Students’ media lesson special.  Please try to help your child remember his/her book.  The children need to return their book before checking out a new book. Happy reading!

 Cafeteria

Please help us by reviewing the cafeteria rules at home.

1) Stay in your seat and raise your hand if you need anything (i.e. utensils, bathroom)

2) Use quiet, indoor voices

3) Use walking feet in the cafeteria

4) Keep your hands to yourself

5) Throw away all trash

6) Listen when an adult is giving directions over the microphone

Notes and Reminders

 

¨       If there is a transportation change, please send a note to school with your child.  If there is an emergency change, please fax or email the request, followed by a phone call to the office prior to 2:00 p.m.

¨       If your child is absent, please send a note in explaining their absence.

¨       Please provide a change of clothes (including socks), marked with your child’s name, in their backpack.

¨       Please return the emergency transportation form to your child’s teacher as soon as possible

¨       Please read and return your students reading bag and sight word cards each day.  We use the little books during reading group each morning. 

¨       Please check your student’s take-home folder each night. 

¨       Please keep the monthly behavior chart in your students take home folder. This is how we communicate if your student received a warning, reflection, documentation or office referral. 

 

Happy Fall!!!