It is hard to believe we are heading into our last week of school for 2013. It has been a wonderful fall, and I feel lucky to be able to share my days with your amazing children. I wanted to let you know about a few things that will be happening this week.
This week, we will continue to work on our fourth Math Menu (see below) and will be talking about Festivals of Light around the world. Last year, we taught the students about these holidays in a more in-depth project. This year, because we have been immersed in our Zambia storytelling project, we have not had the chance to dive in depth into this engaging content. The students have, however, been exploring these holidays during art with Ms. Meg and will continue to do so this week. I will be sharing the photos and powerpoint presentations posted below with the students this week, encouraging them to explore more at home with their families if they are interested in doing so.
Progress reports will be sent home in your student’s orange folder on Wednesday. Progress reports give some information about how your child is progressing. There is a wide range of normal in kindergarten! Typically, your child’s first progress report will contain lots of 3’s (right on track as a early reader and writer) and lots of D’s (right on track in transitioning to school routines and social kindergarten behaviors). Please do not feel that 3’s and D’s indicate that your child is not amazing and full of potential, but rather that they are amazing and full of potential and are academically and right on track.
This Friday, we will have our second classroom marble jar celebration. We have not yet made our final decision, but I am anticipating it will involve dressing up (pajamas, costumes or fancy clothes) and bringing one “soft, safe, small” toy from home. These plans will be finalized after some extensive negotiating during our class meetings this week. I will send an e-mail to you all with the final plan on Wednesday.
I will not be in class on Thursday and Friday this week. Our guest teacher will be Tammie Foulkes. She has filled in for me earlier in the year and is looking forward to spending these two days in Room 203.
If you did not do this last week, please send your student’s go home book bag back to school. Many students have moved up a level and I want to make sure they have just right level books and reading logs in their bags for break. If it works for your family, please set up a routine that includes having your student read these books for 20 minutes a day during Winter Break and remember to record his/her reading on the reading log.
December Writing will be posted on E-Folios soon. Take a minute to check out your student’s page over break and leave some comments! Encourage extended family members and friends to do the same. Also, check out the friend books that have been created to date. These have been a lot of fun to make and have really helped us learn about our classmates. We will have one for every student by early spring.
Thank you all for the amazing support you have provided your children and I during their important transition to kindergarten. I hope your winter breaks are filled with opportunities to relax and enjoy your families. I look forward to seeing you all in 2014.
In Peace and Love,
Katie
This week, we will continue to work on our fourth Math Menu (see below) and will be talking about Festivals of Light around the world. Last year, we taught the students about these holidays in a more in-depth project. This year, because we have been immersed in our Zambia storytelling project, we have not had the chance to dive in depth into this engaging content. The students have, however, been exploring these holidays during art with Ms. Meg and will continue to do so this week. I will be sharing the photos and powerpoint presentations posted below with the students this week, encouraging them to explore more at home with their families if they are interested in doing so.
Progress reports will be sent home in your student’s orange folder on Wednesday. Progress reports give some information about how your child is progressing. There is a wide range of normal in kindergarten! Typically, your child’s first progress report will contain lots of 3’s (right on track as a early reader and writer) and lots of D’s (right on track in transitioning to school routines and social kindergarten behaviors). Please do not feel that 3’s and D’s indicate that your child is not amazing and full of potential, but rather that they are amazing and full of potential and are academically and right on track.
This Friday, we will have our second classroom marble jar celebration. We have not yet made our final decision, but I am anticipating it will involve dressing up (pajamas, costumes or fancy clothes) and bringing one “soft, safe, small” toy from home. These plans will be finalized after some extensive negotiating during our class meetings this week. I will send an e-mail to you all with the final plan on Wednesday.
I will not be in class on Thursday and Friday this week. Our guest teacher will be Tammie Foulkes. She has filled in for me earlier in the year and is looking forward to spending these two days in Room 203.
If you did not do this last week, please send your student’s go home book bag back to school. Many students have moved up a level and I want to make sure they have just right level books and reading logs in their bags for break. If it works for your family, please set up a routine that includes having your student read these books for 20 minutes a day during Winter Break and remember to record his/her reading on the reading log.
December Writing will be posted on E-Folios soon. Take a minute to check out your student’s page over break and leave some comments! Encourage extended family members and friends to do the same. Also, check out the friend books that have been created to date. These have been a lot of fun to make and have really helped us learn about our classmates. We will have one for every student by early spring.
Thank you all for the amazing support you have provided your children and I during their important transition to kindergarten. I hope your winter breaks are filled with opportunities to relax and enjoy your families. I look forward to seeing you all in 2014.
In Peace and Love,
Katie
Photos of our Hour of Code
Math Menu
Students have been engaging in math learning through Math Menu. Math Menu is a daily station that allows students to choose which activities/skills they want to work on for the day and provides a structure for students to work at their own pace. Recently, the focus has been on numbers to 100 and grouping numbers based on 10's and ones. The intent is that each student will complete each task by the end of a 1 week or 2 week period, ideally having time to make a few dessert choices as well. Dessert choices are not only fun for the students, but they help them develop important problem solving and critical thinking skills. The students love Math Menu, and so do I! It allows me to differentiate math learning and work with one student or small groups on their specific math learning needs. Last week, Mindy and I spent time assessing the students’ understanding of kindergarten counting using our common core inventory, and were very pleased to see evidence of the progress our students are making in mastering the kindergarten math expectations. We will use this data to plan differentiated Math Menu activities for the new year that will continue to engage and challenge the students. In January, we will also be diving into our first Science unit ~ exploring the exciting world of Fabric. This unit will be directly followed by our Animals Science unit in the Spring, which will be integrated into our All About Animals PBL project. | |