Author: Anna Williamson

February 2, 2024 Class News

We were busy kindergarteners celebrating Catholic Schools Week! We thanked our volunteers and showed our school spirit with our 7^th grade buddies. Thank you to those who were able to come in and speak about your vocation! Here is what we have been up to this past week.

The Star Student this week was Jude. We do not have one next week.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: we and were. Next week we will learn when and your. Can you use these words in sentences or spot them in books with your child?

Phonics: Word families -et, -eg, -en. Students cut out their sort picture and word cards, and then read the words to match each word to a picture. They sorted the pairs into word family categories. Students played memory match – trying to match words and picture cards with another in the same word family.  Students glued the sort cards into categories, and finally spelled our spelling words and thought of new -et, -eg, and -en words to add to their list.

Writer’s Workshop: We celebrated Catholic School’s Week and community day by writing thank you letters to our local firefighters! We thanked them for helping our community, saving our pets, putting out fires, and more! We even got to hear from a real firefighter, and ask him questions. He gave students the homework of practicing their escape plan in case of a fire, memorizing their home address, and memorizing parents phone numbers. Check out Ms. Wakefield in the fire fighter gear below!

We continued writing our own real or make-believe stories and adding details using our five senses to help give us ideas for details. We continue to focus on including 4 things in our sentences, using our “Fab 4 checklist.”

1. Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.

2. Spaces between words.

3. Period at the end of a sentence.

4. Mostly lowercase letters.

Math: We continue to build our addition knowledge to work towards our end of the year goal – mastery of addition facts within 10. We learned that a math number sentence can go vertical or horizontal and you will get the same answer! This week we read the book Raining Hearts and created our own raining hearts, math and art project. Students chose an addition number sentence and represented it with hearts “raining” down from an umbrella!

Social Studies: We were so lucky to have parents come in and talk about their vocations! We learned that everyone has strengths, and when you grow up, if you work hard and set your mind to it, you can be whatever you want to be. Students wrote about what they want to be when they grow up. Ask your child what their vocation might be! Thank you to Ms. McKenna, Mr. Nick, Mr. Tom, Mr. Trevor, and Mr. Jason taking the time out of your day to celebrate your vocations with us!

Religion: This week, we learned different ways to share God’s love and care for others. Sharing on the playground, picking up toys, and praying before bed are other ways to show you care!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, February 7^th – Dress Uniform, Primary Mass, 9am. Join us if you can!
• Friday, February 9^th – No School, Teacher In-Service
• Tuesday, February 13^th– Valentine’s Day Celebration (a day early due to Ash Wednesday Mass)
  • Your child may bring in one Valentine for each student in our class (22 students). No names please!
• Wednesday February 14^th – Dress Uniform, Ash Wednesday Mass, 9am
• Friday February 16^th – Noon Dismissal – Winter Holiday
• Monday February 19^th – Tuesday February 20^th – No School, Winter Holiday
• Friday, March 8^th – No School, Staff Retreat
• March 29^th – Noon Dismissal, Easter Break
• April 1^st-April 5^th – No School, Easter Break

January 26, 2024 Class News

We had another great week in kindergarten! We are busy learning and having fun! Check out what we were up to this week.

Star Student this week was James. Next week will be Jude.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: all and what. Next week we will learn we and were. Is your child practicing their sight words at home? Try using them as flash cards or practicing them before bedtime!

Phonics: Our phonics focus this week was word families –op and –ot and –og. Students cut out their sort cards (that now have pictures and words), glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly spelled our own words within these word families. Some even wrote sentences in their writing journals using words that ended in –op and –ot and –og!

Literacy Centers: We worked hard in literacy centers this week! At the iPad center, students read along to books on Epic and played Teach Monster to Read. Students made mini sight word books in the sight word center. At the phonics center, students had to rhyme the room! They had to match picture and word cards with the picture and word that rhymed on their recording sheet. continue to practice letters, sounds, CVC words, and reading comprehension in our reading center.

Writer’s Workshop: This week we began our “How-to” unit. We read the story Charlie Needs a Cloak and noticed the author added new pictures and words to show the different steps he took to make a cloak. We decided we could write just like the author, Tomie dePaola! We wrote a “how-to” story as a class, and then students wrote their own how-to stories (in three steps) using pictures and words. We will be adding on to our “how-to” stories in the coming weeks.

We continue to write our own real or make-believe stories and adding details using our five senses to help give us ideas for details. We continue to focus on including 4 things in our sentences, using our writing checklist:

1. Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.

2. Spaces between words.

3. Period at the end of a sentence.

4. Mostly lowercase letters.

Math: This week began chapter 5: Addition! Chapter 5’s essential question is: How can I use objects to add? We learned some key words: add, join, and in all. “Join” and “in all” are special math word clues that tell us information of how to solve a problem. We practiced telling addition story problems using these clues and practiced math illustrations as a problem-solving strategy.

Kelso’s Choice: Ms. Shaw, our school counselor visited our classroom this week! She will be visiting us this trimester to introduce the class to our conflict management skills curriculum, Kelso’s Choices. There are 9 different specific strategies for children to use to solve small problems on their own. The choices are wonderful because it empowers our students to solve problems at recess, in the classroom, at home, everywhere! It might be helpful for you to familiarize yourself with the choices and reinforce them at home – the “wheel of choices” are below. They can also be found in the “helpful handouts” page. We are excited to learn about Kelso’ Choices this trimester!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• January 28^th – February 3^rd – Catholic Schools Week. Please see school website for more details on this week!
• Wednesday, February 7^th – Dress Uniform, Primary Mass, 9am. Join us if you can!
• Friday, February 9^th – No School, Teacher In-Service
• Tuesday, February 13^th– Valentine’s Day Celebration (a day early due to Ash Wednesday Mass)
  • Your child may bring in one Valentine for each student in our class (22 students). No names please!
• Wednesday February 14^th – Dress Uniform, Ash Wednesday Mass, 9am
• Friday February 16^th – Noon Dismissal – Winter Holiday
• Monday February 19^th – Tuesday February 20^th – No School, Winter Holiday
• Friday, March 8^th – No School, Staff Retreat
• March 29^th – Noon Dismissal, Easter Break
• April 1^st-April 5^th – No School, Easter Break

January 19, 2024 Class News

We had a wonderful week in Room 1! We are excited and preparing for Catholic School’s Week. Take a look at what we have been up to.

Star Student next week is James.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: but and not. Next week we will learn all and what. Are you practicing sight words at home? You can make simple flash cards out of our words and practice them with your child! 

Phonics: Our phonics focus this week was word families –ap and –ag. Students cut out their sort cards (pictures and words), glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with –ap and –ag. We are discovering words in books and around the campus that are a part of our weekly word families. We even created -ap ice cream cones, take a look below! Can you help your child spot words around your house or in the neighborhood that end in –ap and –ag?

Literacy Centers: We worked hard in literacy centers this week! At the library center, students enjoyed reading picture books and tallying sight words they found. At the sight word center, students worked on their sight word rings. At the iPad center, students worked on reading stories and following along to the words. At the phonics center, students played ZINGO! A fun word building game where students took turns to create CVC words. At our guided reading center, we worked on creating word family words, and determining if they are real or made up words.

Writer’s Workshop: This week, we started preparing for Catholic Schools Week by talking about why we love our school. Students completed the prompt: “I love St. John School because…” Students love to learn, love their teachers, and love being with their friends! Ask your child why they love our amazing school!

We continue to focus on including 4 things in our writing:

1. Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.

2. Spaces between words.

3. Period at the end of a sentence.

4. Mostly lowercase letters.

We will continue to master these writing requirements throughout kindergarten.

Math: We continue to work on Chapter 4: Composing and Decomposing numbers. We are showing our work by using tens frames, dominoes, dice, and drawing pictures in our math journals! 

Science: We are continuing to learn about engineering! This week we continue to learn what a STEM lesson consists of (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and completed our own STEM lesson! Students are given a problem, design and plan, create and test that plan, and see if there is any improvement needed. This week, students were given a problem: The children are having a snowball fight. They need a place to hide! The challenge: Build an igloo. Using toothpicks/popsicle sticks, and mini marshmallows students designed and built an igloo! They drew a picture of their idea and then at the end discussed if it worked and what improvements could be made. We enjoyed sharing our results with each other and discussing our project like true engineers!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, January 24th – Dress Uniform, All School Mass, 9am

• January 28^th – February 3^rd – Catholic Schools Week. Please see school website for more details on this week!
• Wednesday, February 7^th – Dress Uniform, Primary Mass, 9am. Join us if you can!
• Friday, February 9^th – No School, Teacher In-Service
• Wednesday February 14^th – Dress Uniform, Ash Wednesday Mass, 9am
• Friday February 16^th – Noon Dismissal – Winter Holiday
• Monday February 19^th – Tuesday February 20^th – No School, Winter Holiday
• Friday, March 8^th – No School, Staff Retreat

January 12, 2024 Class News

We had a nice week together in kindergarten, reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr. and his teachings.

Isaac was our Star Student this week. We do not have a Star Student next week.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: by and words. Next week we will learn but and not.

Phonics: Our phonics focus this week was word families –ad and –an. Students cut out their sort cards (that now have pictures and words), glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with –ad and –an. Can you brainstorm words at home that end in –ad and –an? 

Literacy Centers: Students were busy practicing their literacy skills during literacy centers this week. At the library center, students enjoyed reading picture books and tallying sight words they saw. At the phonics center, students used vowel drawers to create CVC words, using foam letters, to complete the word. They then recorded the words they created. They then kept track of all the words they built using a fancy check off sheet. In our reading groups, we are working on fluency and comprehension. We are asking questions while we read stories. Do we have a home/story connection? Can we retell the beginning, middle, and end? What sight words can we spot? We continue to sound out words to hear every letter in the word.

Writer’s Workshop: This week we read one of my favorite winter books, “Snowmen at Night” and wrote our own version of what we would do if we were a snowman at night. We ripped up paper to create a mosaic snowman to go with our writing. Then, we read a different version, “Snowmen at Christmas” and used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two stories.

We continue to focus on including 4 things in our sentences, using our “Fab 4 checklist.”

1. Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.

2. Spaces between words.

3. Period at the end of a sentence.

4. Mostly lowercase letters.

Math: We continue to explore taking apart and putting together (composing and decomposing) numbers 0-20 with the use of many types of math tools – dominos, dice, white boards, bingo markers, and more!

Social Studies: We read books about Martin Luther King Jr. and took time to notice and celebrate the differences in our own classroom! In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., we created a dove “peace” necklace! We discussed as a class the idea that skin color or what people look like on the outside does not determine what is inside of our hearts.

Second Step: In this week’s lesson, we learned to use body language and context clues to figure out when someone feels mad. We practiced looking at a person’s face and body, as well as thinking about what’s going on in the situation to determine if or why they may be feeling mad. 

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Monday, January 15^th – No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• January 28^th – February 3^rd – Catholic Schools Week. Please see school website for more details on this week!
• Wednesday, February 7^th – Dress Uniform, Primary Mass, 9am. Join us if you can!
• Friday, February 9^th – No School, Teacher In-Service
• Wednesday February 14^th – Dress Uniform, Ash Wednesday Mass, 9am
• Friday February 16^th – Noon Dismissal – Winter Holiday
• Monday February 19^th – Tuesday February 20^th – No School, Winter Holiday
• Friday, March 8^th – No School, Staff Retreat

January 5, 2024 Class News

We are so happy to be back together in kindergarten! The kids were excited to write about their adventures over Christmas break and be back with their friends! We also said goodbye to our Blanchet aide, Claire, this week. We look forward to having another join our classroom in the coming weeks!

Star Student next week is Isaac.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: one and had. Next week we will learn by and words.

Phonics: Our phonics focus this week was the word family –at. Word families are new starting this week – words that end the same are in the same word family (for example cat, bat, mat). The kids observed right away words within a word family all rhyme! Students cut out their sort cards (that now have pictures and words), glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly spelled our own words that end with –at. Can you brainstorm words at home that end in –at?  

Literacy Centers: This week we continued with sight words, iPads, phonics games, independent reading, and reading groups. In our guided reading groups, we are working on decoding words. We practiced using the picture clues to help us figure out a word we don’t know. We also discovered that there are often sight words within other words! Using sight words to “chunk” bigger words can help us decode words, too! At the phonics center, students “Wrote 4 Ways”, rolling a dice with various sight words on each side, then using either a pen, marker, pencil, or crayon, they wrote the sight word they rolled! Students continue to read stories and write sentences with sight words at the sight word center, and read along with stories at the iPad center.

Writer’s Workshop: This week we wrote about what we did over our winter break! We introduced what we call our writers checklist – a checklist of things we must have to make a complete sentence. We discussed that even professional authors used checklists to write some of our favorite books!

This checklist helps us focus on 4 things when writing:

1. Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.

2. Spaces between words.

3. Punctuation at the end of a sentence.

4. Mostly lowercase letters.

We will continue to master these writing requirements throughout kindergarten.

In honor of our new year, students learned what a resolution is – a goal you set to help yourself or others be better. Students came up with their own goals for 2024 and wrote them using complete sentences. One student’s goal was to become a better reader; another’s was to make more friends. We also created a self-portrait to go with our new year’s resolutions!

Math: We finished up Chapter 3 this week and began a new Common Core Standard – composing and decomposing numbers 1-10 (breaking down numbers into their sub-parts, for example we can break apart 4 into 2 and 2, 3 and 1, 4 and 0). We explored this concept by using a number of teddy bears and breaking them apart in two groups in a variety of ways. We also explored this concept by using two different colored counters to show numbers on a tens frame. This skill helps lay a foundation for algebraic and operational thinking.

Social Studies: In preparation of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., we read biographies and talked about the dreams he had for all people. We talked about the incredible work he did to make our world more fair for all people, of all colors. We brainstormed ways we can continue his work in our school, community, and out in the world; like playing and including others that may look different from us, and using our voices to stand up for those that may not be heard. Students then brainstormed dreams they had for their family and the world! Ask your child what their dream is! 

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Monday, January 15^th – No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• January 28^th – February 3^rd – Catholic Schools Week. Please see school website for more details on this week!
• Wednesday, February 7^th – Dress Uniform, Primary Mass, 9am. Join us if you can!
• Friday, February 9^th – No School, Teacher In-Service
• Wednesday February 14^th – Dress Uniform, Ash Wednesday Mass, 9am
• Friday February 16^th – Noon Dismissal – Winter Holiday
• Monday February 19^th – Tuesday February 20^th – No School, Winter Holiday
• Friday, March 8^th – No School, Staff Retreat

December 8, 2023 Class News

We had a super fun and spirited week in kindergarten as we prepared our hearts for Christmas.

Our Star Student this week was Holly. We will pick back up after break with Isaac.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: this and have. Next week will be from and or.

Phonics: During our Words Their Way phonics lesson this week we learned the letters /y/ /v/ and /z/.  We cut our “sort” cards, sorted them by beginning sounds, glued them on a graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with y, v and z.

Literacy centers: We continued with our reading groups, sight word center, independent library center, and iPad center. At the phonics center, students played sight word memory match! In our reading groups, we are working on fluency and comprehension. We are asking questions while we read stories. Do we have a home/story connection? Can we retell the beginning, middle, and end? What sight words can we spot? We continue to sound out words slowly to hear every letter in the word.

Writer’s Workshop/Social Studies: To assist in the understanding of the Advent season, this week we spent time discussing the difference between a need and a want. We defined a need as something we have to have in order to live. Some needs we came up with are – water, healthy food, clothes to keep us warm, and shelter. Some wants we came up with are – phones, iPads, video games, toys and junk food. Students cut and sorted different pictures into a “want” or a “need.” You can keep this conversation going at home by donating things you no longer need to others during the Advent season, or maybe as a point of prayer to thank God that we have all that we need.

We also learned and discussed what an acrostic poem is. Students brainstormed words, transferring their knowledge about what Christmas is all about, and filled out an acrostic poem of ‘Christmas.’ We came up with so many words-ask your child what some of them were! Try writing your own acrostic winter poem at home!

Math: We continue to work on Chapter 3, showing numbers beyond 10. We are practicing writing teen numbers and identifying numbers 1-100 on a hundred chart!

We also created math sequencing trees! Students received 6 strips of paper and had to figure out how to create a Christmas tree out of the strips!

Religion: This week we learned who the Holy family is – Mary is the Mother of Jesus, Jesus is the Son of God and Joseph cared for Mary and Jesus. We read the story of the birth of Jesus. Each day, as a part of our Advent prayer, we learn a new symbol of Advent. We then add that symbol as an ornament to our Advent trees. Some of the symbols we have learned about so far are – sun, dove, cross, garden and the evergreen tree.

Each morning, Mrs. Costa’s first grade class and Mrs. Oines’ second grade class come join us for song, and prayer. This time is so special for us. Look at us all below!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, December 13^th – Field trip to the Children’s Museum!
• Friday, December 15^th – Noon Dismissal, Christmas Break
• Tuesday, January 2^nd – Classes Resume
• Monday, January 15^th – No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

December 1, 2023 Class News

We had another fantastic week together in kindergarten. We are getting ready for Advent and thanking God for all we have! Your children are progressing tremendously in so many ways. They are growing into confident learners!

This weeks Star Student was Harrison. Next week will be Holly.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: at and be. Next week will be this and have.

Phonics: During our Words Their Way phonics lesson this week we reviewed the letters /l/ /k/ /j/ and /w/.  We cut our “sort” cards, sorted them by beginning sounds, glued them on a graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with l, k, j, and w.

Literacy centers: We continued with our reading groups, sight word center, independent library center, and iPad center. At the phonics center, students created sight words using sight word baskets, and using letter apple cards to create the word. In reading groups, we continue to make predictions using word clues and picture clues, using our reading finger to track words, sound out words and identify sight words. We also continue to work in our Explode the Code books which help students with handwriting, letter sounds, CVC words, and more!

Writer’s Workshop/Social Studies: We learned all about elves this week! We brainstormed ‘adjectives’ – words that describe elves. A few we came up with are: happy, sneaky, and small! We used a writer’s workshop skill to label the parts of an elf, and noticed patterns and trends of clothing we often see Elves wearing – hats, belts and pointy shoes. We exercised our creative writing skills this week by writing two different stories – pretending an elf came and visited us, and what we would do if we were an elf! One person wrote they would feed the reindeer, and someone else wrote they would help make the toys! On Friday, we had fun making our own sneaky, helpful and adorable elves to display in our classroom!

Math: We continue our investigation of the 100s chart! We are practicing to become 100 chart experts. We learned a new game called, Race to 120. I sent home a copy in their Friday folders, they can teach you how to play! All you need is a dice and two kinds of player pieces.

Second Step: This week we continued our unit on Emotion Management and learned that sometimes we can feel sad. We know that everyone can feel sad sometimes! Students talked about times when they have felt sad, and what they can do to help themselves or others feel better! 

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Thursday, December 7^th – Christmas Concert! Egan Hall, 6:15pm
• Wednesday, December 13^th – Field trip to the Children’s Museum! Please do not order hot lunch for this day. More information to come!
• Friday, December 15^th – Noon Dismissal, Christmas Break
• Tuesday, January 2^nd – Classes Resume

November 17, 2023 Class News

We had another wonderful week in Kindergarten! We have been working hard, having fun and learning new things!

This weeks Star Student was Frances. After Thanksgiving Break, it will be Harrison.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: they and I. Next week, due to the short week, we will not be introducing any new sight words. We will of course keep reviewing the ones we have learned! The students continue to use their sense of sight and hearing to spot sight words everywhere!

Phonics: During our Words Their Way phonics lesson this week we learned the letters /j/ /w/ and /q/.  We cut our “sort” cards, sorted them by beginning sounds, glued them on a graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with j, w, and q.

Writers Workshop: In celebration of the upcoming holiday, we discussed what it means to be thankful for something – to feel happy and pleased that you have something or someone in your life. We first brainstormed as a class about things we are thankful for (mom, dad, the Earth, life, sunshine, teachers, and Jesus!). Then, we then took those ideas and wrote them on a placemat that we will decorate for Thanksgiving!

Literacy centers: We continued reading groups, sight word center, phonics center, independent library center, and iPad center. At the phonics center, students wrote the room, finding and recording Thanksgiving themed words. In reading groups, we continue to work on letter sounds, sounding out CVC words, and reading our blue decodable books!

Math: Our essential question for chapter 3 is “How can I show numbers beyond 10 (10-20)?” We are showing numbers 10-20 on tens frames to help us grow our number sense and understand the place value of teen numbers (group of ten and how many more?). Students are learning to explain how they can count a number…can you count by 5’s to get to the number? Can you count on from 10?

Students created “decomposing turkeys” where they chose two numbers to create a larger number! They used feathers and numbers to show their thinking. Students are also learning to explain how they can count a number…can you count by 5’s to get to the number? Can you count on from 10?

Religion: This week in our Circle of Grace lesson we learned that towns and cities have traffic signals which keep people safe and protected. God has given each of us our own kind of signal to keep us safe and protected! We thought of different scenarios that were green (definitely safe: being kind, telling the truth, helping others, etc.), yellow (be careful: if you can’t tell if a situation is safe or not) and red (stop: lying, hitting, fighting, etc.). If we are unsure about a situation, we always will find a trusted adult to help us!

Art: With Thanksgiving coming up, we began to focus on and discuss as a class things that we are thankful for. Students created turkeys with 6 feathers, on each feather, students wrote something they were thankful for! Students brainstormed things like family, friends, school and food. Ask your child what they wrote on their turkey and the things they are thankful for in their life! We will continue this discussion throughout the month of November and will continue to discuss and add things in our lives that we are thankful for!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can count to 100 by ones and tens.
• I can count forward beginning with a given number within the known sequence (instead of starting at 1)
• Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.

Important Dates:

• Monday, November 20^th – Dress Uniform, Thanksgiving Mass
• Tuesday, November 21^st – Dress Uniform, Grandparents Day for 3^rd-5^th Grade/No Hot Lunch this day
• Wednesday November 22^nd – Friday, November 24^th – No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
• Wednesday, December 13^th – Field trip to the Children’s Museum! Please do not order hot lunch for this day. More information to come!
• Friday, December 15^th – Noon Dismissal, Christmas Break
• Tuesday, January 2^nd – Classes Resume

November 11, 2023 Class News

We had a fun week together in Kindergarten! I had a such a nice time conferencing and sharing your child’s successes with you last week. I treasure being able to partner with such wonderful families. Your children are excited, kind and happy learners!

Next weeks Star Student will be Frances.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: with and his.

Phonics: Our Words Their Way phonics lesson this week was /l/ and /k/. We cut our “sort” cards, sorted them by beginning sounds, glued them on a graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with l and k. We love to come up with new words that begin with our letters of the week!

Handwriting: This week we focused on writing letters l and k. We also worked hard in our Handwriting Without Tears workbook!

Literacy centers: This week we continued reading groups, sight word center, independent library center, and iPad center. At the phonics center, students used Thanksgiving cards to put them in order to make Thanksgiving sentences! In reading groups, we continue to observe picture clues and word clues to make predictions about what the story will be about. We are stretching out words slowly like to hear every letter in the word. We continue to practice reading CVC words and sight words in our reading group books.

Thank you for all our parent volunteers who have been able to sign up!

Writers Workshop: We continue to write sentences and stories in our writing journals! We are trying to add the words “and” and “because” to create more thoughtful and descriptive sentences. If you want to write with your child at home, ask them what a finger space between words is and how to stretch out the word they are sounding out!  

Math: This week we learned what an ordinal number is (up to 5)! Ask your child about first, second, third, fourth, and fifth! We continue to work hard in our math journals and use manipulatives to explain our thinking! Next week we will begin Chapter 3: Numbers Beyond 10.

This week we also learned how to play the card game, War! If you have a deck of cards at home, I encourage you to play with your child and challenge them to teach you how to play!

Social Studies: We read a mini-book about Veteran’s Day and drew a picture of why we are thankful to be free – to go to school, to vote, to have food, and more!

Religion: This week we introduced “Circle of Grace,” our new safety curriculum. Students are learning the area around their body (similar to personal space) is their “circle of Grace!” God is always with us in our circle of grace and only wants good things for us in our lives.

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can count and divide words into syllables.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can tell how the words and pictures go together in stories.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can help my class learn about a subject and then write about it.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.
• I can count up to 10 to tell how many things are in a group.
• I can understand that the last thing I count tells the number of things in a group.
• I can name the number for each thing in a group as I count them.

Important Dates:

• Friday, November 10^th – No School, Veteran’s Day (observed)
• Monday, November 20^th – Dress Uniform, Thanksgiving Mass
• Tuesday, November 21^st – Dress Uniform, Grandparents Day for 3^rd-5^th Grade/No Hot Lunch this day
• Wednesday November 22^nd – Friday, November 24^th – No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
• Wednesday, December 13^th – Field trip to the Children’s Museum! Please do not order hot lunch for this day. More information to come!

October 27, 2023 Class News

We had a terrific week learning together in kindergarten! Your children are working hard and having fun! Take a peek at all we did this week.

This weeks Star Student was Elijah. Next week we will not have one due to parent/teacher conferences.

Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: are and as. Next week we will learn with and his.

Phonics: During our Words Their Way phonics lesson this week we learned the letters /d/ and /f/.  We cut our “sort” cards, sorted them by beginning sounds, glued them on a graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with d and f. We are working on our “best guess” spelling, meaning they write whatever letters they hear! Take a look at your child’s spelling coming home in their Friday folder.

Literacy Centers: This week we continued reading groups, sight word center, independent library center, and iPad center. In our phonics group, students “wrote the room.” They carried clipboards as they wrote different Halloween words around the room. In reading groups, we continue to observe picture clues and word clues to make predictions about what the story will be about. We are also practicing reading and writing CVC words and sight words in our reading group books.

Writers Workshop: We reviewed the four seasons and discussed the things we see and do during the fall. We learned about the parts of a leaf and why some leaves change color in the fall. We went read the book We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt and went on our own leaf hunt around our campus! We then described our leaves using our five senses. They came up with some great descriptive words!

On Wednesday, we spent time writing about why we are excited for Halloween! Students were so excited to share about costumes and festivities. We continue to work on finger spaces, writing with lowercase letters, and using punctuation at the end of our sentence.

Math: Students were excited to practice estimating with candy corn! We had one large class jar of candy corn, students estimated how many were in the jar and put their estimation on our poster. We then counted as a class to find out how many there really were! We continue to focus on “one more” when counting numbers 1-10. We are also working hard on problem solving in our math journals. Students love to critically think about questions, solve them independently, and share with the class under the document camera!

Science: We used our five senses to observe our class pumpkins. The class came up with terrific describing words using our five senses to guide our thinking. As scientists do, we had a fun pumpkin investigation lab, where we got to measure the parts of a pumpkin with unifix cubes, count the lines, and we even investigated whether our pumpkins float or sink in water! These investigations led to other questions and wonders so we got to experiment a bit further based on the kid’s own questions!

STEM: This week we challenged ourselves with our first STEM project! Students were given candy pumpkins and toothpicks and tried to make a haunted house. The goal was to have the house stand up and to fit a “ghost” inside. Ask your child if their haunted house was a success!

Second Step: This week we began unit 2, “Emotion Management.” In this unit students will learn how to identify emotions in themselves and others. They will learn strategies to manage their emotions! Lesson One focused on “happy!” Through certain social cues (smiling, calm body, etc.) students could identify that a person was happy. We talked about different times we have been happy and what our “happy face” looks like!

Common Core Standards we’re working on:

• I can read common sight words.
• I can read emergent level text with purpose and understanding.
• With prompting and support, I can ask and answer questions about key details in text.
• I can spell simple words phonetically.
• I can read CVC words.
• I can speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly.
• I can read the words in a book in the right order.
• I can say the most common sound for each consonant in the alphabet.
• I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
• I can print lots of upper and lowercase letters.
• I can write numbers from 0-20.
• I can understand that the last thing I count tells the number of things in a group.
• I can name the number for each thing in a group as I count them.

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, October 31^st – Happy Halloween! Students may wear their Halloween Costume on this day!
• Wednesday, November 1^st – All Saints Day Mass, Dress Uniform
• Wednesday, November 1^st – Noon Dismissal/Parent-Teacher Conferences (Students do not attend)
• Thursday, November 2^nd – Parent-Teacher Conferences (Students do not attend)
• Friday, November 3^rd – Parent-Teacher Conferences (Students do not attend)
• Friday, November 10^th – No School, Veteran’s Day (observed)
• Monday, November 20^th – Dress Uniform, Thanksgiving Mass
• Tuesday, November 21^st – Dress Uniform, Grandparents Day for 3^rd-5^th Grade/No Hot Lunch this day
• Wednesday November 22^nd – Friday, November 24^th – No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
• Wednesday, December 13^th – Field trip to the Children’s Museum! Please do not order hot lunch for this day. More information to come!