September 30

WOW - September is already gone!  I can't believe that we are now going into our 2nd month of Kindergarten! 

We have had so much fun this week learning all about each other and our families to go along with our theme of Myself/Family/Friendship.  We did several activities that helped us to tell each other about our new friends that we have met in our classroom. We are looking froward to reading about why we were given the names that we have.  We read a great book called What I Do Best  and then created posters and wrote about what each of us can do best.  It has been a great time!

This week in language arts we have continued to focus on phonemic awareness - beginning sounds, how many beats in a word, rhyming, and the letters T and P.  We completed pages in our non-fiction journals for the letters of the week and began reading some of the other pages that we already have in our journals.  Although most of the children cannot read too many words yet, right now we are focusing on pointing to each word as we say them in the simple sentences that we have glued into our journals.  Tiny steps, but when they all come together we have readers!  We have also been  practicing 'partner reading'.  The children sit shoulder to shoulder, put one book in the middle and then take turns talking about (reading) the book (see-saw reading).  They enjoy doing this very much!

We finished our first unit in Math this week.  Along with our calendar math we are now focusing on ordering and comparing #'s 0 - 5.  We are working on the concepts of more, less, and the same as or equal to, as well as continuing to practice 1:1 correspondence while counting objects.

We began Writer's Workshop this week.  We began by noticing that pictures tell so much about a story and are chock full of details.  We thought of something that we like to do and could 'teach' someone else about, and then drew pictures of this.  The next day we revisited what we had drawn and decided what other details we could put in our pictures.  All of the children were able to tell about their picture and some even wrote a little something.  We also learned the saying, 'When we are done, we have just begun!'  As you read about our Writer's Workshop each week please always keep in mind that each child is an individual and they will be at different levels when we are doing our writing workshop.  Some children already know how to write some words whereas others are drawing and dictating sentences about what they have drawn. Still, others may be writing the beginning letter of a word.  This is very typical in a kindergarten class!

The children have been bringing in some wonderful signs of Fall!  We learned all about Johnny Appleseed this week and had fun making his hat - which looked like a pot!  Ask your child to model their hat for you - it is in their folder today.

Conversation Starters:

• What did you draw a picture of what you can do 'best'?
• Name 2 ways in which you can be a good friend.
• Was Johnny Appleseed a real person?  (yes, his real name was John Chapman)
• What did Johnny Appleseed do?  (he planted seeds all over the country and taught people how to do so as well)

How You Can Help:

•  Continue reading books that rhyme with your child.  Discuss the rhyming patterns/words that you find. 
• When your child brings home one of our class made books be sure to sit down and read the book with them.  They love telling you about what we did!
• Please complete and return your child's name sheet if you have not done so already.  Thank you!
• Please practice your child's birthdate, phone #, and address with them.

Looking Ahead:

• Letters reviewed next week:  Cc, Cowboy Cat;  Rr, Racer Rabbit
• Someone Special Reminder:  Dexter Wells
• October 4- 7 - Farm to You Fest
• October 5 - Walk To School Day
• October 7 - Go Home Early Drill
• October 10 - No School - Columbus Day
• October 12 - No School - Yom Kippur