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!!!

OPTIONAL KINDERGARTEN ACTIVITIES

 
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.  Return the composition book to your teacher on the last day of each month.

October  2011

Practice writing your first and last names with only the first letter of each uppercase.	Find a collection of buttons, coins or other objects.  Sort them into piles and explain why you sorted them the way you did.  Count.	Draw a fall picture and write a simple sentence about it.	Say three words that rhyme with pig.  Draw a picture of a pig and one of these other things.  Label your picture.
Find 5 things in your house that start with the letter T.  Draw pictures of 3 of them.  Label your pictures using letter sounds.	Draw a picture of something you did today at school.  Try to write a sentence about what you did.	Count all of the days in the month.  How many days are there?  Write that number.  What number comes before 31?  Write that number.	Read a story or have an adult read a story to you.  Draw a picture of your favorite character from that story.  Label the character.
Write the name of a friend from school.  How many letters are in his or her name?	Do you have a pumpkin?  Draw a picture of it and write a sentence about your pumpkin.	Before reading a book, have your child point to the front cover, back, the spine, the title and the title page.	Read a book or have an adult read it to you.  Draw a picture of the setting and try to write a sentence about it.
Practice saying your street address and phone number.	Work with an adult to list 5 words that rhyme with hat.  Draw a picture of 3 of them and label them.	Practice writing the numerals 0-15,	Think of 3 compound words (ex. Butterfly, firetruck, etc.).  Draw them and label them using letter sounds.

Math:

•      Math is hands-on! There will not be a lot of worksheets coming home.

•      Most math will be taught with white boards, dry erase markers, manipulatives and flip charts.

•      Go Math Workbooks will be used from time to time.

•      Problem Solving Journals will be used at school. Students will solve prompts and explain their thinking. These will be kept at school but will be sent home at the end of the year.

•      The goal for students is to really begin to understand numbers more deeply and be able to connect them to real life situations.

•      Some at home connections may be sent home. If you return them, the student will receive H.E.R.O. slips.

Reading Groups:

v  20 minutes per day

v  Reread all books each night and return the bag daily. 

v  Leave word ring words in the bag and practice them nightly.

v  Books cost $5 if misplaced.

v  Groups are based on ability level.

v  If there are no groups available in the classroom, students may go to other teachers for group. J

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-8:55	Arrival/ Unpack	Arrival/ Unpack	Arrival/ Unpack	Arrival/ Unpack	Arrival/ Unpack
8:55-9:30	Calendar/ Message/ Whole Group	Calendar/ Message/ Whole Group	Calendar/ Message/ Whole Group	Calendar/ Message/ Whole Group	Calendar/ Message/ Whole Group
9:30-10:50	Reading Group Rotations	Reading Group Rotations	Reading Group Rotations	Reading Group Rotations	Reading Group Rotations
10:50-11:20	Intervention Block	Intervention Block	Intervention Block	Intervention Block	Intervention Block
11:20-11:55	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
11:55-12:15	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess
12:15-1:15	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math
1:15-1:55	Writing	Art Shields-Roberson	Music Rathmell	PE Wilson	Art Shields-Roberson
1:55-2:30	Music Rathmell	Writing	Writing	Science/Social Studies	Science/Social Studies
2:30-2:45		Fluency	Fluency	Fluency	Fluency
2:45-3:15	PE Wilson	Application Centers	Application Centers	Application Centers	Application Centers
3:15-3:25		Pack-Up	Pack-Up	Pack-Up	Pack-Up
3:25-4:00	Dismissal	Dismissal	Dismissal	Dismissal	Dismissal