Weekly Update

Hello families,

I hope you had a great weekend! This is the last week of quarter 1, can you believe it?  The beginning of the year has flown by! We just got back from our field trip to Gaver Pumpkin Patch (I will add pumpkin patch pictures this Sunday.  If you were a chaperone and have pictures – please email them to me!).  The students had a fantastic day.  Make sure to ask them about their favorite part!  Here is what’s going on this week....

Language Arts

• We will read fiction books and identify the characters (who the story is about) and the setting (where the story takes place)
• We will talk about the characters and the setting and how they relate to each other
• We will read a new poem to work on phonics and fluency skills (Gray Squirrel)

Writing

• We will write about our pumpkin patch experience by adding details, using our five senses, drawing illustrations and labeling the illustrations
• Complete all writing pieces from quarter 1 (catch up day)

Science

• We will learn the different states of matter (solid and liquid) and discuss the differences between them
• We will melt crayons to change their shape.  We will observe these changes and record what we find in our journal. 
• We will have an ice melting race and discuss the best strategy used to melt the ice.

Math

• Play Jeopardy to review quarter 1 math skills such as: comparing numbers, problem solving, counting, writing numerals, and subitizing

Important Dates to remember

Tuesday, October 27^th: Library book exchange and lesson.  Please remember to send your child’s library book back to school! 

Thursday, October 29th:

• Harvest Party in the classroom 2:00-3:00 pm.  Students are invited to dress as their favorite book character for the day!  If you would like to help out during the party, please email me or send in the orange form that came home in Thursday Folders last week.
• PTA Harvest Party in the cafeteria/gymnasium from 630-8 pm.  Come out for a night of family, friends, and fall fun!  Families are encouraged to dress up!  Make sure you stop by the Face Painting table to see the Kindergarten teachers!

Friday, October 30th: No School, enjoy your 3-day weekend!

Environmental word wall:

We now have 2 word walls in our classroom.  We have a word wall where we keep sight words, names and vocabulary and we have an environmental word wall.  On our new word wall we are going to collect words/names from food wrappers, menus, and magazines to put under the letter that word begins with.  For example: If you made Jello over the weekend you could cut out the word “Jello” and bring it school to add to our word wall.  I have added a picture of what this may look like:

I am not going to give specific letters to look for.  I’m just going to ask that your child brings in no more than one word/label/food wrapper per week.  I will talk with the kids about this tomorrow! 

Have a great week!

Ms. Grimes 

Pictures....finally!!

 I hope you enjoy these pictures!  They are out of order but they are a mix of taste testing (5 senses - lemon, potato chip and marshmallow), Tech Trek 2.0 and our Firefighter visit  We have lots of fun in kindergarten! 

Hello Families,

I hope everyone was able to stay bundled up in this cold weather this weekend. It was definitely good hot chocolate weather!  We have a busy five day week ahead of us, so take a look and see what we'll be getting into!

In Language Arts, we will...

- read poems to practice fluency in reading ("I'm a Little Firefighter" and "10 Little Firefighters"). 

-learn new sight words to help us in reading (the, no, in). 

-practice retelling a story by talking about the beginning, middle, and end of the book.  

-identify the problem in the story, and how the character tries to solve it. 

-figure out the solution of a story. 

In Writing, we will...

-build our writing stamina by practicing writing and drawing independently for longer blocks of time. 

-write a "small moments" story and add detail so others can read them. 

-practice using our resources (word wall, sound chart) when we are writing. 

In Science, we will....

-complete a science experiment and draw/write about it. 

-test whether an egg will sink/float in fresh water and salt water.  Why?

-review objects that sink and float and make a boat using various materials.

-test to see if our boats will sink or float.

-learn the difference between solids and liquids and identify objects in each category. 

In Math, we will... 

-match numerals to a set of objects. 

-continue identifying numerals and sets that are greater or less than others. 

-build teen numbers on a double tens frame. 

Reminders and Important Information

***Field Trip***

Our field trip to Gaver's Pumpkin Patch is next Monday October 26th.  Please be sure to send in all money and permission slips so your child can join us!  If you would like to chaperone this trip, you MUST complete the volunteer training in order to do so.  Please pay up front to be a chaperone whether you ride the bus with us, or meet us there. I will be in contact with all chaperones to let you know if you will be riding the bus, or meeting us there.  Thank you all for your interest in the field trip.  It should be a fun day!  

***Volunteer Training***

There will be an in-person volunteer training opportunity this Monday evening (10/19) starting at 6:30pm here at Whittier.  If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, you must be trained.  This will be the last in-person training before our field trip so if you are interested in being a chaperone for our field trip and haven't been trained yet, be sure you attend!  

***Library Book Exchange***

We have library book exchange on Tuesday.  Thanks so much for helping us remind students to bring their books back to school each week!

***Reading Groups***

Reading groups are in full swing and are going great!  You probably have heard your child read their "little books" to you over the weekend.  They are so excited to be able to read independently!  In order to make sure your child is prepared for reading groups, please remind them that their reading group baggie and all little books are returned to school every day.  We use them during group time, and it helps a lot when all students are prepared.  

***Special Visitors!***

Today the local fire station came to talk with us about fire safety.  October is Fire Safety Month, so we got information on fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, stop drop and roll, and more!  We even got to tour a real fire engine!  Ask your students what they learned from our visitors after school!  Ms. House and I actually got on the ladder truck and traveled all the way to the top!  Pictures to share soon!

***Fall Harvest Party***

I am sending home information about our Harvest Party (take-home folders).  I apologize for not having it ready for Thursday folders.  Our party will be held on Thursday October 29th from 2:00-3:00pm.  Students are welcome to dress up like their favorite book character, and we will have food, drinks and games!  We are asking for monetary donations to help cover the cost of the party.  Teachers will use the money to make these purchases so we can make sure all food is safe for all students.  Thanks so much in advance for any donation you can make.  If you are interested in helping out for the party, please indicate on the form that you will attend.  

Dates to Remember:

Monday 10/19- Firefighters come to visit! 

Monday 10/19- Volunteer Training (6:30pm)

Tuesday 10/20- Library Book Exchange
Friday 10/23- Mystery Guest Kickball Game (2:00-3:00)

It is Character Counts week at Whittier!  We pride ourselves on following the six pillars of character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.  We would like to celebrate our awesome school this week by:

Monday: Make Character Count!  Wear something with a number on it

Tuesday: College Day!  Wear your college gear

Wednesday: Citizenship Day! Wear red, white, and blue

Thursday: Pillars day!  Kindergarten will represent the Caring pillar: wear red!

Friday: Dress like the career you want to be when you grow up!

Have super week!

Ms. Grimes

Weekly Update

Hi Families,

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend! I spent the weekend at Lake Anna with my family.  We had beautiful weather! We have a busy week ahead of us! Here is what's happening in Kindergarten....

In Language Arts, we will:
-read poems for fluency (5 Little Pumpkins)

-read poems to identify rhyming words/sight words/number of syllables in words

-read about pumpkins and begin to develop a deeper understanding of the before, during, and after reading process.  Students will discuss topics such as, what do you think will happen in this book?  Why did the author add this feature to the book?  As well as, what did you learn from this book? Students will begin to monitor their understanding and discuss how predictions may change while the book is being read after acquiring context clues.

-read informational books and discuss the purpose of informational text.

In Writing, we will:
-continue to use checklists to monitor our own writing

-develop a better understanding of story structure, and just like the stories we read, our stories should include a beginning, middle and end.

- produce writing that is legible and show an understanding of both lower case and upper case letters.

-meet with our third grade buddy class to share a piece from our writing folders.

-set writing goals!

In Science, we will:
-create a flip-book to show the five senses.

-ask questions and seek answers.

-engage in an experiment that will show us which objects float and which objects sink.

-ask, why did these objects float/sink?

In Math, we will:
-practice counting items from 0-20 in a variety of ways.

-count manipulatives in a straight line, cluster, circle, and/or an array

-identify sets that are less than, equal to, or greater than a given number.

Important Dates:

Tuesday 10/13: Library book exchange and lesson.  Please send your child’s library book back to school! (it goes in the pink bin by the door).

Wednesday 10/14: Picture day! Bring your best smile J

Wednesday 10/14: Our writing buddies will visit!
Thursday 10/15: Tech Trek! 2 hour early dismissal

Friday 10/16: No school! Enjoy the long weekend!

Other important things:

***Field Trip***

Monday October 26

FORMS AND MONEY (10.00) are due by the October 15!!

If you would like to chaperone, you MUST complete our volunteer training. If you have any questions please contact me and I will be more than glad to assist you in completing this requirement.

***Recess***

With colder weather on the way please consider providing your child with a light jacket to wear outside for recess.

***Reading Groups***

Book Baggies have been distributed to all students.  Inside the book baggie you will find 2/3 little books and a word ring (sights words that we will add each week). Please take the time to read with your child each night and be sure to return these materials to school the next day. Students do need their baggies for reading group.  Thank you in advance!

***Fire Fighters***

We will have the local Fire Station visit Kindergarten and PreK on Monday, October 19^th!  Students will learn about fire safety and tour the trucks and equipment.  This is always a fun morning!  I will have pictures to share!

***Homework***

I hope homework is going well.  Please note that HW is optional.  If you have any questions or concerns about the HW menu, please contact me.  Please return the HW journal on October 29^th.  Thanks! 

We have been so busy learning that I have taken very few pictures.  I have a few from our taste test that I will share this Sunday.  Have a fantastic week!

Ms. Grimes

Weekly Update

Hi Families,

I hope everyone had a safe weekend!  Yesterday was a good day to stay inside and relax.  We have an exciting 5 day week ahead of us.  Here is what’s happening in Kindergarten….

In Language Arts, we will:

-read poems for fluency (I Love and Fall)

-read poems to identify rhyming words/sight words/letter of the day

-discuss what we do to prepare for reading (what is our purpose?)

-make and record predictions about the story

-stop reading to clarify words and questions we may have

-revisit predictions and ask – Were they correct?  What helped us make these predictions?

-read Bear Shadow, Bear Snores On and A Chair For My Mother

-begin reading rotations including their small differentiated reading group

In Writing, we will:

-continue to use checklists to monitor our own writing

-use sound cards to write the sounds that we hear

-orally rehearse our stories to see the connection between telling a story and writing a story

-listen to read-alouds to demonstrate how a story flows

-add meaningful details to our words to make the reader feel like they are there

-practice writing the beginning, middle and ending sounds in words

In Science, we will:

-explore our 5 senses (touch, smell, sight, taste, hear)

-ask questions and seek answers

-record predictions/observations in our science journal

In Math, we will:

-represent objects with a written numeral

-Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group

-practice subitizing dot cards (looking at a quantity and identifying the number quickly using patterns and groups seen)

Important Information:

***Book Fair***

The Scholastic Monster Book Fair is coming to Whittier!  The Book Fair is held in the Media Center.  Scholastic offers quality books and classroom favorites at a great price!  Come check out what awesome books, games, and contests the Book Fair has to offer.  

The book fair will be held October 2^nd – October 7^th.   

***Library***

We will not have a library book exchange or a lesson this week due to the book fair.  Library will resume next week. 

***HERO SLIPS***

We counted Hero Slips on Friday!  If your student chose prize box I asked them to keep their prize in their backpack until they got home.  If your student chose a fossil….I’m sorry about the mess!! (I got the fossils from a science camp that I taught)  You may want to put newspaper below them while they work!  Some friends decided to save their Hero Slips for a larger reward.  Please remind your child to put their Hero Slips directly in their “wallet” when they earn them.  I think some Hero Slips are making their way home : )

10 = Prize Box

12 = Show and Tell

20 = Slippers in the classroom

25 = Pick your own seat for the day

30 = Special chair for the day (teacher chair)

35 = Lunch with the teacher

40 = Hat day

***Homework***

I can’t believe that we are already beginning homework!  Tomorrow, I will send a HW journal home with each student.  This is one of the journals that you provided at the beginning of the school year.  Inside the journal is a monthly optional HW menu with tasks that build off of what we are learning in reading, math, science, social studies and writing.  There is a note inside each journal that explains how this works.  At the end of each month please send the journal back to school for me to review and make notes!  We have decided as a team to send the remainder of the HW menus electronically.  During the first week of each month we will send the HW menu out with the weekly email.  HW is optional so please have your child work at your discretion and have fun!  I can’t wait to see all their hard work!

***Reading Groups***

Differentiated reading groups will begin this week.  This a 15 minute block where your student will receive reading instruction to meet their needs.  During this time, students will be rotating throughout the classroom working independently at literacy centers.  On Tuesday, I will send home a book baggie that will have reading book(s) that we work with during group.  Please have your student read the books inside their baggie to you each evening.  Your child will receive 2 – 3 new books a week.  With these stories we will work on fluency, word work, and comprehension.  In the coming week we will have information about the Pizza Hut reading incentive that we use for our monthly reading logs.  This is a very exciting time.  I know our class can’t wait to bring books home!  If you have any questions please let me know!

Please send the reading bag back to school each day.  We use these materials in group!

Have great week!

Ms. Grimes