February 23, 2024 Class News
We had a short but wonderful week in kindergarten! See what we have been up to!
Star Student next week is Leith.
Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: use and there. Next week we will learn an and each. Can you use our past words in sentences or spot them in books with your child?
Phonics: This week we learned our first “digraph” – two letters that when together, make a whole new sound. We learned the digraph /sh/. We learned this digraph by sorting pictures that began with either /s/ /h/ or /sh/. In spelling, 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 either /s/ /h/ or /sh/. As homework, you could go on a hunt for /sh/ words! They could make a list of /sh/ words they hear or see!
Next week, we will introduce the digraph /ch/.
Literacy Centers: This week in the phonics center, students played with beginning sound dominoes! At the library center, students searched for the /sh/ digraphs in book and recorded words as they found them. At the iPad center, students listened to audio books, played “Teach your monster to read” and the stories of the Bible. At the guided reading center, I read with students one on one and worked on sounding out CVC words and letter sounds.
Reader’s Workshop: We began Reader’s Workshop this week! This is a time when we will focus on learning elements of a story to help us understand and enjoy what we read (comprehension)! This week, we reviewed the elements we already know – title, author and illustrator. We took a closer look at characters – the people or animals in a story. We learned that a main character is the person or animal that is most of the pictures and words. We read the story, Arthur’s Birthday, identified the main characters and other characters in the story, and drew and labeled them in our journals.
Writer’s Workshop: We continued to build sentences with our “All Write Club” friends. We know that sentences need a who/what and an action. We then created more detailed sentences that includes who/what, an action, and where/when/how!
Math: We continue to work on addition to 10! This week we created addition problems using words, pictures and chain links! Students are using the words “join” and “how many in all” to show it is an addition problem.
Religion: We continue to reflect on our Lenten journey. Ask your child if they are living out their Lenten goal! We continue to enjoy our morning prayer with the first and second grade. During this time, we listen for Jesus to come into our hearts and listen to Brother Francis’s daily Lenten reflections. We also attend Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 2:30 with our buddies. In class, we spend time learning about each station and have discussions about how we can learn from Jesus and others he encounters on his journey to the cross.
Lent: During Lent, as a school we will participate in the Catholic Relief Services, Rice Bowl project. This is something that your family can decide how you want to use. The church will collect your full rice bowls around Holy Thursday. In class, we will take a closer look at each week’s dedicated country. We will find the country on a map, watch a firsthand story of the people who live there and ultimately feel more connected to the service they are providing through the rice bowl project. Please click here to learn more about how you can bring the CRS Rice Bowl to life at home.
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.
- I can tell who the author and illustrator are in stories.
- I can tell the characters, setting, and what happens in stories.
- I can draw or write to help me share what I think.
- I can add numbers within 5.
Important Dates:
- Friday, March 8th – No School, Staff Retreat
- March 29th – Noon Dismissal, Good Friday
- April 1st-April 5th – No School, Easter Break