March 7, 2024 Class News
We had another terrific week in kindergarten! Your children are growing and progressing immensely! Think of how far they have come since the fall – way to go kindergartners!
Star Student next week is Mabel.
Sight Words: Our two sight words this week: she and which. Next week we will learn how and do. Can you use these words in sentences or spot them in books with your child?
Phonics: Our phonics focus this week was a review of the two digraphs ch and sh. Students cut out their sort cards, played memory match, glued them onto their graphic organizer and lastly spelled our own words and drew pictures that began with ch and sh. We also challenged ourselves to see if we could think of words that ended with sh and ch! Ask your child if they know what the word digraph means! Next week we will learn th and wh.
Literacy Centers: This week at the phonics center, students swatted sight word flies! Once swatted, they recorded the sight word on their whiteboard. At the iPad center, students listened to audio books and the stories of the Bible. At the sight word center, students used sight words to create St. Patricks Day themed sentences. During the reading center, students worked on reading our decodable books and simple sentences, as well as spelling CVC words.
Math: This week we began Chapter 6: subtraction! We learned that just like addition, subtraction has important clue words, too! These clue words are “away” and “are left.” We practiced telling subtraction stories with different numbers and objects and listened for those math words to tell us if it was a subtraction problem or addition problem. We learned how to draw a picture as a tool to add to our math tool belts to solve subtraction problems. We also introduced the minus sign and added number sentences to problems. We compared and contrasted addition and subtraction by looking at the symbols and words associated with each.
Science: We were very excited to learn about and observe clouds this week! We learned that a cloud is a form of condensation. We observed all the different types of clouds, and noticed that some are dark and some are light. The shapes of clouds and whether they are dark or bright can tell us what kind of weather they will bring! We know that clouds bring rain to plants and animals in need. We learned specifically about three types of clouds: cirrus, cumulus and stratus! We used cotton balls to show what each cloud might look like. Ask your child if they can remember the three different cloud types!
Religion: We have been learning the three pillars of Lent – Prayer, Fast, Give. We learned that we do these three things so that we can be more like Jesus! We learned that an extra prayer could mean saying an extra “Hail Mary”, but it also means spending time in quiet prayer and just listening to Jesus talk to you! We discussed that we fast from things we don’t need to free up space in our hearts and minds for Jesus. We discussed ways that we can give to others – give others our prayers, time, love, food or belongings.
Kelso Choice Ms. Shaw joined our class again this week to teach the next Kelso’s Choice lesson! This week we learned about taking turns. Students learned that it can be hard to take turns! While we are waiting for something they can think about something else, take deep breaths if they are feeling frustrated, and remind themselves that it’s ok to wait. Students also learned phrases they can use when they would like a turn, for example, “Can I use that now please?” or “Can we take turns?” Students also learned phrases they can say to offer someone else a turn! “You should have a turn now” or “Here, you can use it now” are some examples they can use.
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
- Friday, May 10th – Grand Day, Dress Uniform
- Friday, May 17th – Field Trip to the Arboretum! More information to come!