Week of September 13-17, 2010

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

THIS WEEK IN PHONICS OUR LETTER IS Oo AS IN OCTOPUS AND OVERALLS. THE LETTER Oo IS A VOWEL AND HAS TWO SOUNDS. WE WILL FOCUS ON THE SHORT SOUND, BUT WILL ALSO INTRODUCE THE LONG SOUND THAT "SAYS ITS OWN NAME." A NEW Oo BAG WILL COME HOME FOR SHOW 'N TELL; YOU CAN SEND IT BACK ANY TIME THIS WEEK, UP TO AND INCLUDING FRIDAY. THE CHILDREN DID A GREAT JOB LAST WEEK WITH OBJECTS BEGINNING WITH Ll.

WE WILL START OUR FIRST READING UNIT THIS WEEK. THE FIRST STORY IS "THE LITTLE SCHOOL BUS." WATCH FOR YOUR "FAMILY TIMES" PAPER TO COME HOME IN YOUR CHILD'S FOLDER. IT HAS DETAILS ABOUT THE STORY AND VOCABULARY AND SKILLS WE WILL BE COVERING. THERE ARE "AMAZING WORDS" AND WE WILL LEARN TO USE THE ORDINAL WORDS-FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH. THEY WILL ALSO LEARN ABOUT THE LETTERS Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, AND Ee. FINALLY, THEY WILL LEARN ABOUT THE STORY ELEMENT "CHARACTER" AND THE HIGH/FREQUENCY WORDS-I & AM.

IN MATH WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH COUNTING TEDDY BEARS, PATTERN BLOCKS AND(NEW THIS WEEK)LINKING CUBES. WE WILL PRACTICE COUNTING TO 5 WITH 1:1 CORRESPONDENCE, CREATING AN AB COLOR PATTERN, IDENTIFYING MOST AND FEWEST ON A GRAPH AND USING POSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES: OVER, UNDER, ON TOP OF, BEHIND, IN BACK OF, IN FRONT OF, BESIDE, INSIDE, AND OUTSIDE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO SKY-WRITE THE NUMBERS FROM 0-9 AND WILL START HANDWRITING THE NUMBERS AS WELL. OUR FIRST MATH ASSESSMENT WILL BE TO IDENTIFY THE FOUR BASIC SHAPES: CIRCLE, SQUARE, TRIANGLE, AND RECTANGLE.

WE WILL TAKE TIME TO PRACTICE WRITING LETTERS AND THEIR FIRST NAMES THIS WEEK. WHEN PRACTICING AT HOME, PLEASE REMEMBER TO EMPHASIZE THAT LETTERS/NUMBERS ALWAYS START AT THE TOP.

WE HAVE STARTED TALKING ABOUT TREES, THEIR PARTS AND WHAT THEY NEED TO LIVE. THIS WEEK-WEATHER PERMITTING WE WILL GO OUTSIDE TO OBSERVE AND TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE TREE WE DECIDE TO ADOPT.

LAST FRIDAY, 9/10, WE MET OUR FOURTH GRADE READING BUDDIES. OUR READING BUDDIES ARE FROM MRS. FEY'S HOMEROOM. WE WILL MEET MOST FRIDAY AFTERNOONS SO THAT THE FOURTH GRADERS CAN READ TO OUR STUDENTS. BE SURE TO ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT HIS/HER READING BUDDY.

ON THURSDAY, SEPT. 16TH, ALL STUDENTS WILL ATTEND A PROGRAM IN THE GYM ABOUT TOURETTE'S SYNDROME. PLEASE BE SURE TO ASK YOUR CHILD WHAT S/HE LEARNED.

LASTLY, THIS WEEK WE WILL ATTEND THE BOOK FAIR. WE WILL "PREVIEW" THE FAIR ON MONDAY. THEN KINDERGARTEN WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO BUY BOOKS ON THURSDAY, SEPT. 16TH. **REMEMBER PARENTS CAN COME MONDAY EVENING FROM 4 TO 6:30 TO BUY WITH THEIR CHILD/CHILDREN, IF INTERESTED.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH, IS DAY 2-WE HAVE ART CLASS!