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Classroom News
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Flip Flop into kindergarten
Room 20 Kindergarten Newsletter
Week of: November 2, 2009
Happy November! I always see this month as the real beginning of our academic school year. The settling in period is over, the children are comfortable with the routines and expectations of the classroom, and are ready to be students. I am excited about all they will learn and how much they will grow over the next several months!
Thank you to all who came to the Halloween Parade and party, and to all who helped the kids get into their costumes, and sent in goodies for the party. An especially big “Thank You” to Mrs. Trautman and Mrs. Scheilding for planning a great Halloween party!
This past week was a strange one in room 20. We were missing one third of our class most of the week. It was rather cozy to have such a small class, but we missed our friends who were absent! I hope next week finds everyone healthy and ready for a great week of school. We have been practicing good hygiene in the classroom to try to limit the spread of germs, but it seems rather futile considering the sheer number of students sick throughout the school.
On Monday we finished our study of the life cycle of the pumpkin. I hope your child shared their pumpkin circle project with you. We have been reading many Halloween books this week and learning some great Halloween poems too. In writer’s workshop the kids have received their “offices”- these are two folders glued together so they can stand up and give students a private and distraction free place while they work. Each office is equipped with helpful writing tools (an alphabet chart, and letter formation sheet). Later I will add a sight word chart in each office. We have been practicing “writing the best we can and moving on” to help the kids put down the letters they hear and keep going even if it’s not perfect. This is a difficult prospect for some children who want to spell everything conventionally, but they are all relaxing a little and worrying more about getting their important ideas down on paper.
Literacy Work Stations
Have your children been talking at home about literacy workstations? Judging from the way they constantly ask me if today is a workstation day, I’d say they are a big hit! We have been doing workstations on Tuesday and Thursday mornings after special, but I have now added Wednesday afternoon as a workstation day. We have nine workstations which means there are two children at each station, and they usually visit 3 stations each of the three days. The kids are really enjoying this independent work time and it is great for reinforcing skills we have learned during whole group time. It also gives me the opportunity to work with two children at a time on reading skills (what a treat)!
Word Work
Now that the students have been introduced to all the letters of the alphabet and have been instructed in the formation of the lowercase letters (we will practice uppercase formation starting in January) we will concentrate more intensely on letter sounds and blending sounds to make words. We have already worked quite a bit on letter sounds through songs and movement activities, but now we will emphasize 3 letter sounds a week. We will learn them in isolation, listen for the sounds at the beginning and end of words, and blend them together to read and write words.
Reader’s Workshop
This month and next we will be working on the comprehension strategies of schema and making connections. Schema refers to activating what you already know about what you are reading. If a student activates their schema for a topic or author they will better understand what they are reading and it will enhance their ability to decode what they are reading.
Thank You
Thank you to Hubert’s family for the delicious snacks this week.- the Scrabble Cheez-Its were a big hit! Isabella’s family will be sending in snack next week.
Dates/Reminders
11/10 Emergency “Go Home” Drill Students will be dismissed at 3:15 this day and will go on the bus the address on the emergency card (Look for more information to come home from the Bell Top office).
11/11 No School Veteran’s Day
11/18 Report Cards go home
11/19 Half day for parent conferences (I will send a reminder as to your conference time).
11/24 Thanksgiving Celebration at school 12:00PM
Families welcome to join us! See Room Parent page on our website for information about the recipe book and feast.
11/25-11/27 Thanksgiving recess
Mrs. Peterson's Kindergarten Class
Bell Top School - East Greenbush CSD, New York
lyte-petersonme@egcsd.org
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