March 1, 2024 Class News
We had a great week in Kindergarten! We were especially excited to watch the Middle School musical. Take a look at what else we have been up to.
Star Student this week was Leith.
Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: an and each. Can you use these words in sentences or spot them in books with your child?
Phonics: Our Words Their Way lesson this week focused on a new digraph (two letters that go together to make one sound)! We reviewed the letters j and h and learned that the letters c and h together make the ch sound. During spelling, students cut out their sort cards, played digraph memory match, glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly drew and spelled our own words that begin with j, h, and ch.
Literacy Centers: Students were busy once again during literacy centers this week! At the library center, students read picture books and drew the characters in the book. At the iPad center, students worked on reading stories and following along to the words. At the phonics center, students used word family word mats to create and write word family words! Students at the sight word center created sight word thunder bolts, with cotton balls for clouds. We continue to work on CVC words, read decodable books and work on comprehension at the reading center.
Reader’s Workshop: We continued Reader’s Workshop this week! On Monday, we reviewed what we have learned: Title, author, illustrator, and character. We then took a closer look at what the setting is – where the story takes place. We read the story, Arthur and His New Puppy, identified the setting, and drew and labeled it in our journals. We also looked at who the main character in the story is and who are the other characters! Using Arthur again, we talked about who the main character was versus who the other characters were. On Wednesday, we focused on fiction and nonfiction books. Students cut and sorted pictures of fiction and nonfiction book titles and glued them into their journals. We read two different books, one fiction and one nonfiction to understand the difference! When you read with your child, ask them what the setting is and who their favorite characters are. Ask them if it is a fiction or nonfiction book!
Writer’s Workshop: We were very excited to learn about and observe clouds this week! We see so many different shapes in the sky, from rocket ships to puppies! After reading the book It Looked Like Spilt Milk, students painted their own cloud shapes and finished the writing prompt, “Sometimes it looked like a _____, but it wasn’t. It was just a cloud in the sky.” Ask your child what their “spilt milk” cloud looked like!
We continue to focus on including 4 things in our sentences while writing stories in our journals 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 have finished up our chapter on addition and will move to subtraction within 10 next week! This week, we wrote our own addition story problems using dominoes. Students were given a domino and used the dots on the domino to form their addition problems!
Our math specialist, Mrs. Olson, also came into our room this week and we practiced using a number line to solve addition problems. We know that we start with the bigger number, then “hop” or count on to the smaller number.
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.
Kelso’s Choice: This week, Ms. Shaw taught us how to “walk away.” Sometimes when you have a problem with someone, you need to move away from that person! Ask your child if they remember the Kelso-choice they learned this week!
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 Holiday
- Monday, April 8th – Dress Uniform, All School Mass
- Wednesday, April 10th – Dress Uniform, Class Pictures