Our New Classroom

Sorry I have not posted in awhile, packing and moving took it out of me.  Here are some sneak peeks of our new room.  It will look so much better when the kids come and do some work to add to the walls.  I absolutely love it!  It is going to be so nice.

View from back corner of room

View from other corner facing activ board

View from classroom door.  I made desk islands of 10.  We will
see how that works out.  

looking in from the door.  We have a view of the basketball
 court from our windows.

The kids backpack cubbies.

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Dec 7^th-11th, 2015

Remember to keep all library books at home until after we are back in the new building. The library is packed!  If your child brings a jacket/sweatshirt, please make sure his or her name is inside it. Also, NEXT week we have three early dismissal days on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Our class party is on Thursday of next week at 10:00.  We hope to see you there! J

Theme: Happy Holidays!!

Reading:  Shared reading and Interactive read-alouds about holiday themes, making predictions, re-telling the story, recalling the sequence of events and discussing the characters, the rising action in a story that forms a story arc.

Writing:  Writers Workshop!  Shared, Interactive and Modeled writing and Independent writing. We will be continuing to use a book format to write our own stories.

Word Wall Words:  REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, my, is, like, see, in, and, can, I, the, you, for, it, go, to, was, on, if, that, into, said, me

We are testing the children on their sight words.  Please review the word.  They need to be able to read them quickly by sight (not sounding them out). J

Word Family:  This we will explore the word family of AG. 

Math: Review: tally marks, graphing, counting aloud, counting sets, counting objects with one to one correspondence, and determining more/less (Focus is numeracy to 20).

Science:   Continuing Weather

Social Studies:  Holiday Traditions

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

·        Monday:  Ask your family what their favorite holiday symbol is:  dreidel, Christmas tree, or a candy cane?  Record their answers with tally marks!

·        Tuesday:  Write a sentence using the word SAID and a sentence using the word into.

·        Wednesday:  Put five toys in a line.  Practice describing them using your

ordinal numbers (first, second, etc.)

·        Thursday:  Visit www.raz-kids.com

·        Friday: Enjoy family time, read a story, and/or play outside!

THE AN FAMILY | Sound Blending Songs

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Nov.30-Dec.4, 2015

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  The next three weeks will go quickly, as we have a lot to cover.  We will be packing, as well as doing mid year reading assessments. 

For this week, please note:

THIS WEEK:  Early Release on THURSDAY at 1:30 p.m.

Theme: Holiday Time!

Reading:  This week we will continue to enjoy the many versions of a favorite tale, The Gingerbread Man, focusing on retelling using story arcs!  Creating story arcs will aide us as we write our own narratives. 

Writing:  The children are doing a wonderful job making their own books. We continue to focus on use of capitals, periods, and spacing!  We will continue to add details to make our writing more interesting. As we enjoy read alouds, we notice things we can add to our own stories such as, illustrations that show movement, sound words, speech bubbles, and pictures that spread across two pages- to name a just a few!

Word Wall Words:  REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, my, is, like, see, in, and, can, I, the, you, for, it, go, to, was, on, if, that, into

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK: SAID, ME.

We are testing the children on their sight words.  Please review the words J

Word Study: The week before Thanksgiving, we explored the word family AT.  With those two little letters, we read and wrote so many words (cat, fat, bat, attack, etc.).  This week, we will work with the word family AN (can, man, fan, than, chant, etc).  Look out…we are readers/writers!

Math: During math workshop, we will reinforce the skill of more and less.  Specifically, we will use this concept to help us solve story problems.  We will also create numeral sets to 20, count aloud to 75, and back/forth to 30.  We will tally and graph! Our main focus continues to be a strong numeracy to 20.

Science: Weather!

Social Studies:  Traditions

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday: Make a list of AN words. 
• Tuesday: Visit www.raz-kids.com 

• Wednesday: Write 3 simple sentence using any of our sight words.    Do you have a capital and a period? 
• Thursday:  Using a deck of cards, play War with a parent.  While playing, say, “I have more” or “I have less”

This is easier if you don’t play with the face cards (Jack, Queen, etc.)

• Friday:   practice your home reader!  Send your bag on Monday.

AT Song--Short Vowel Word Families

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Nov.16th-20th

We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday, November 20th  for a Thanksgiving program.  Please come a little before 10:00 to sign in at the office.  Then come to the cafeteria for our program.  Our program will begin at 10:00!  Afterwards, the children will have a feast in the café, as well.  If you are able, please join your child for this special time.

Theme: Fall and Thanksgiving!

Reading:  This week we will continue to enjoy fall and Thanksgiving stories!  We will identify characters, setting, and problem.  We will retell using story arcs. We will continue to utilize the cognitive skill of mental imaging while listening to stories.  This skill will help us add details to our writing!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to Thanksgiving stories while using these stories as a basis for our own individual book making/writing. The children will focus on use of capitals, periods, and appropriate spacing as we write about Pilgrims, Native American, and traditions!  We will continue to add details to make our writing more interesting.  We will also use letter sound knowledge to make lists.  For example, we will make a list of what we want to eat on Thanksgiving!

Word Wall Words: 

REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, my, is, like, see, in, and, can, I, the, it, go, to, was, on, if, for, into

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  THAT, YOU

Word Study: We will read and write words using the AT word family (at, fat, cat, chat, attack, etc).

Math: During math workshop, we will continue to explore numeracy to 20 while we count forwards/backwards, explore ten frames, dot cards, more/less, ordinal numbers, tally marks, and number writing.

Social Studies:  Native Americans, Pilgrims, Family Traditions

Science:  Continue with Patterns of Movement

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday: Write a list of what you are thankful for J 
• Tuesday: Line up ten toys.  Tell your mom what is first, second, third, etc. 

• Wednesday:  Visit www.raz-kids.com 
• Thursday:  Write a list of what you want your family to make for Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday:  Return your library books and practice your home reader! 

SL Song

2 Vowel Bat kids song by Shari Sloane www kidscount1234 com School is ...

Some fun songs to listen to at home that we are using in classroom

ST Song

Letter Q Song Video

Letter V Song Video

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Nov.9th-13th, 2015

We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday, November 20th  for a Thanksgiving program.  Stop in the office for a visitor’s sticker and then come at 10:00 to the cafeteria.  Afterwards your child will enjoy their feast.  Please join your child for this special time!

Thank you for sending in your $5 to cover the cost of the feast.

Theme: Fall and Thanksgiving!

Reading:  This week we will continue to enjoy fall and Thanksgiving stories!  We will identify characters, setting, and problem.  We will retell using story arcs.  We will continue to utilize the cognitive skill of mental imaging while listening to stories.  This skill will help us add details to our writing!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to Thanksgiving stories while using these stories as a basis for our own individual book making/writing. The children will focus on use of capitals, periods, and appropriate spacing as we write about turkeys!  We will continue to add details to make our writing more interesting.  This week we will write about fall, Thanksgiving traditions, and other stories from our lives. We will also use letter sound knowledge to make lists.  For example, we will make a list of what we want to eat on Thanksgiving!

Word Wall Words:  

REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, my, is, like, see, in, and, can, I, the, it, go, to, was, on, if

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  for, into

Word Study:  We will review all of the consonant sounds taught so far.  Also this week, we will explore the s blends:  st, sp, and sl.  For example:  spider, stop, slide.

Math: During math workshop, we will continue to explore numeracy to 20 while we count forwards/backwards, explore ten frames, dot cards, more/less, ordinal numbers, tally marks, and number writing.

Social Studies:  The First Thanksgiving

Science:  Patterns of Movement

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday: Ask your family what their favorite Thanksgiving Food is- tally the results  
• Tuesday: Write sentences using INTO and FOR  
• Wednesday:  Visit www.raz-kids.com  
• Thursday:  Have your mom say a teen number! Can you write it down?  Remember numbers in the teens start with a 1.  Watch www.youtube.com- search numbers in the teens start with a 1 (a song by Harry Kindergarten)
• Friday:  Return your library books and practice your home reader!  

Turkey Math

Today in math we made turkeys using pattern blocks and then counted how much of each shape we used.  

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Nov.2-6, 2015

Important Dates:

Kinder Thanksgiving Program and Feast is November 20^th at 10:00 a.m. in the cafeteria. We hope you can join us!

Early Release Dates:  December 3^rd at 1:30.

There will be more early dismissal dates the week before Winter Break.  December 16, 17, and 18^th will also be early dismissal days.  Those days we will release at 12:15. 

Theme: Fall and Thanksgiving!

Reading:  This week we will enjoy fall and Thanksgiving stories!  We will identify characters, setting, and problem.  We will retell using picture cards.  We will continue to utilize the cognitive skill of mental imaging while listening to stories.  This skill will help us add details to our writing!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to Thanksgiving stories while using these stories as a basis for our own individual book making/writing! We will focus on use of capitals, periods, and appropriate spacing as we write.  We will continue to add details to make our writing more interesting.  This week we will write about fall, apples, Thanksgiving traditions, and other stories from our lives.

Word Wall Words: 

REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, I, the, can, and, in, see, like, is, my, and, can, it, go, to, if

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  was, on

Word Study: We will focus on the sounds of Y and Z.

Math: During math workshop, we will continue to explore ordinal numbers, create sets to 20, count aloud forwards and backwards to 20, identify numbers to 20, and problem solve. We will work with number wallets to build number sense. We will continue to explore data collection, specifically tally marks.

Social Studies:  Thanksgiving traditions

Science:  Magnets

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday: Make a list of Y and Z words. 
• Tuesday: Put your favorite toys in a line. Now, describe what is 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, etc. 
• Wednesday: visit www.raz-kids.com
• Thursday:  Teach your mom or dad how to make tally marks!
• Friday:  Return your library books and practice your home reader!  

Skittles Math

Today we sorted and graphed Skittles in math.  

Letter Z Song Video

Letter Y Song Video

Measuring Mrs. Hanlen

We had a long afternoon in the room due to the spirit rally.  Olivia's mom came for Mystery Reader and then we had a fun measurement activity.  We measured me (well a close outline of me) with four different nonstandard units of measurement.  The kids all got to help and it was lots of fun!  Great way to wrap up measurement for the week!  

October Secret Pal

So excited about my secret pal gift filled w Amazon gift card, jalapeno chips, almonds and dark chocolate.  Yum!!  Just made my day.  Thank you!!  

Video of Parade

Mrs. Harrell made a video of the storybook character parade.  Check it out...

https://animoto.com/play/w40ylIijEEltbw688Ow7Yw

Storybook Character Parade

Can't wait to see all of your kiddos in their costumes!  If you come, please don't have your child change out of their costume until we get a group photo.  

Halloween Measurement

We learned about measuring how tall and wide objects are today.  Then we measured some different halloween shapes with cubes to see how tall and how wide they are.  

In Song - Sight Word In

Letter W Song Video

Letter J Song Video

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Oct.26 - Oct.30, 2015

Thank you so much for coming to your child’s conference.  It was a treat to visit with you!  Our book character parade will be THIS Thursday right after announcements. 

This is the LAST week to get your reading logs turned in…they are due

November 1st!

Theme: Fall...Halloween!

Reading:  This week we will enjoy fall stories!  We will identify characters, setting, and problem.  We will retell using picture cards.  We will utilize the cognitive skill of mental imaging while listening to stories.  This skill will help us add details to our writing!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to stories while using these stories as a basis for our own individual book making/writing! We will focus on use of capitals, periods, and appropriate spacing as we write.  We will continue to incorporate sound words (Swoosh!) during writer’s workshop, as well as adding other illustrative details to make our writing more interesting. We will begin the idea of non-fiction writing as we discover the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Word Wall Words:  

REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, I, the, can, and, to, my, is, like, see, it, go

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK: IF, IN

Word Study: We will focus on the letter sounds of J and W.

Math: During math workshop, we will measure (length and width), create/extend patterns, create numeral sets, count forwards and backwards, and problem solve.

Science: Magnets!

Social Studies:  Map Skills!

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday:  Make a list of things that start with J and W  
• Tuesday:  Visit the book fair at Barnes and Noble!
• Wednesday: Have your mom or dad pick a number from 11-20.  Can you count forwards from that number?  Can you count backwards?
• Thursday:  visit www.raz-kids.com
• Friday:  Return your library books and practice your home reader this weekend! TURN IN ALL READING LOGS- LAST CALL!!

    

Early Dismissal

Don't forget tomorrow and Friday are early dismissal days.  We get out at 12:15.  I look forward to meeting with you about your child's progress.  

Writer's Workshop

We are working hard on our writing.  Today we shared our books we have been writing with a friend. 

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Oct. 19-23, 2015

Thank you for coming to the RCE Fall Festival.  It was a huge success.  It was fun to hear the kids talk about it today!

Reminders for this week:

1.  Keep sending your library reading logs each Monday. There is still time….so keep reading.  If you can’t remember the day/time you signed up for a conference, contact us!

2. Thursday and Friday are noon dismissal days.  We do eat lunch at school, but

    everything happens earlier J

Remember there is a different lunch menu for that day in the cafeteria. 

Theme: Fall is in the air!

Reading:  This week we will enjoy Halloween and Fall stories!  We will identify characters and setting.  We will retell using

 story arcs.  At literacy stations we will complete our nursery rhymes and fairy tales unit with a variety of activities, such as sequencing, sentence construction, and writing

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to Halloween stories while using these stories as a basis for our own individual book making/writing! We will focus on use of capitals, periods, and appropriate spacing as we write.  We will incorporate sound words (Swoosh!) during writer’s workshop. We continue to focus on using illustrations to better tell our story.

Word Wall Words:  

REVIEW: red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black, I, the, can, see, like, is, my, and, to NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  it, go

Word Study: We will focus on the letter sounds of L and K.

Math: During math workshop, we will create/extend patterns, create numeral sets, count to 50, review ordinal numbers and problem solve.  

Science: We will explore light, sound, and heat energy!  

Social Studies:  Creating and using maps! We will also review the meaning behind some special US symbols.

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

• Monday: Make a list of L and K words.  
• Tuesday:  Teach your parents Five Little Pumpkins.  
• Wednesday: Write a simple sentence using IT and GO.    Do you have a capital and a period?  
• Thursday:  Count to 50!  Now pick a number and count backwards J

·       Friday:  Read your home reader and return it, along with your reading log/library books on Monday. This weekend if you have time, visit www.raz-kids.com

Fall Festival

We have had a busy week and now Fall Festival afterschool from 4 to 7.  Hope to see you there!  The kids are super excited!  Some of our friends still have their tickets in their blue folders, make sure you get them.  

"The Letter F Song" by ABCmouse.com

"The Letter D Song" Music Video by ABCmouse.com

News

Kindergarten News

Week of Oct. 13th-17th, 2015

Thank you for sending your child with their library books, reading logs, and home readers.  You are helping us to grow readers!  This Friday will be the RCE Fall Festival.  We hope to see you at this fun event! J

This week we will explore the following:

Theme: FALL!!

Reading:  We will have fun with Fall stories, focusing on story elements.  We will also sequence and retell, which are two very important reading skills!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to Fall books for our own individual book making/writing! We will learn the routines of Writer’s Workshop.  Our authors will be very busy!  We will write about colors we see, fall, etc.  Hooray!

Word Wall Words:  

REVIEW: I, the, can, see, my, is, like, red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, brown, white, pink, purple

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  and, to

Word Study: We will focus on the letter sounds of F and D.

Math: This week we will continue problem solving, focusing on acting out to solve a problem and/or drawing a picture. Using the math workshop approach, our focus this week will be on: ordinal numbers, patterns, and sets to 10.

Science: Light and Heat give us energy!

   

Social Studies:  Map Skills and Fall Traditions

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

·       Tuesday: Make a list of F and D words   

·       Wednesday: Write a simple sentence using and and to.  Do you have a capital and a period?  

·       Thursday:  Visit www.raz-kids.com

·       Friday: Read your home reader this weekend.  Return your book bag and your library book/reading log on Monday!

Pumpkin Math

Today we made pumpkins in math and graphed how many shapes we used making the face.  

The Bald Eagle

This week in Social Studies we learned about the bald eagle.  We made one and wrote about what we know as a class.  Tomorrow we will learn about Mount Rushmore.  

A Fun Way to Practice Letter Sounds

"The Letter H Song" by ABCmouse.com

"The Letter C Song" by ABCmouse.com

Kindergarten News

Kindergarten News

Oct. 5-9, 2015

Important Dates:

Oct. 14- Our Field Trip to Dewberry Farm…details to come!

Oct. 16- Fall Festival!

Oct. 29- Book Character Parade J

This week we will explore the following:

Theme: We will continue with Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales

Reading:  We will continue to explore the wonderful world of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  We will identify rhyming words, characters and setting.  We will also sequence and retell, which are two very important reading skills!

Writing:  This week we will make literacy connections to nursery rhymes and fairy while using these familiar texts as a basis for our own individual book making/writing!

Word Wall Words: 

REVIEW: is, my, like, I, the, red, green, yellow, orange, purple, blue, white, pink, brown, black,

NEW WORDS FOR THE WEEK:  can,

see

Word Study: We will focus on the letter sounds of C and H.

Math: This week we will continue estimating and counting objects with one to one correspondence.  We will also work on counting/creating/identifying sets to 10.  We will count forwards and backwards to 20, as well as create number lines to 20.   

Science: We will continue to explore matter, focusing on how matter can change.

Social Studies:  US Symbols and what they mean to us.

Homework: Read 20 minutes every night.

Optional Activities:

·       Monday:  Make a list of things that start with C & H

·       Tuesday: Take a handful of junk/tiny treasures.  Sort them into sets and describe how you sorted to mom or dad.

·       Wednesday: Write a simple sentence using can and see.  Do you have a capital and a period? 

·       Thursday:  Pick a US Symbol.  Tell Mom or Dad what it means.  Why is it important to us?

·       Friday: Bring back your library books, reading log, and home reader bag!  Remember there is no school on Monday!