Weekly News (Sept. 26-30)

We've been busy learning and growing in kindergarten. Take a peek to see what we've been up to this week!

All About Dominick
This week we loved learning all about Dominick and his favorite things! We learned that Dominick is a huge fan of Star Wars, and that he loves learning about outer space. We also learned that Dominick enjoys coloring, and he loves to go camping with his family! We're looking forward to Dominick's mom coming in for a read aloud next week too!

Math
The children had their first introduction to coins as we worked together to find ways to sort a collection of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. We took a closer look at each type of coin and made note of the differences and similarities. Then students worked together to sort a collection of coins in a variety of ways.

We also reviewed the numbers 1-10 and learned a new game called Give the Next Number where students gathered in a circle and practiced naming numbers in sequence. We also practiced counting by 1's. Our goal for the end of kindergarten is for students to be able to confidently count by 1's up to 100 with smooth transitions at the 10's. We will also practice counting by 10's up to 120, and although counting by 2's and 5's is not part of the kindergarten report card, we will introduce these counting patterns as well when students are ready.

We revisited the concept of measurement this week and worked as a class to find things in the classroom that were shorter and taller than an average kindergartener. Our findings can be found below!

The children also brought home their first calendar of the year to help reinforce math concepts at home. A letter and the calendar can be found in your child's backpack!


Jolly Phonics
The students continue to do a great job learning the Jolly Phonics sounds. They have been working to sort some of the sounds we have learned as well. The children continue to do a terrific job with their notebooks, and they love sharing their favorite examples with the class. As a reminder, the children are not expected to have their labels spelled correctly. They should just record the sounds they hear when stretching out each word. Thanks again for your support with this!

Check out the videos below that review the sounds we learned this week!

/r/ as in rainbow
/m/ as in Mom
/d/ as in Dad

Literacy
Reading Workshop
During reading workshop this week, the students practiced reading punctuation marks. We learned that good readers pay attention to punctuation marks while reading to help them pause and emphasize words to help make meaning of the text. Using the following anchor chart, we identified the punctuation marks in a short piece of text and practiced reading with good expression and phrasing. 

During another reading workshop lesson, we spent some time talking about how good readers practice their sight words so that they can read them quickly and with ease. While listening to the book How Rocket Learned to Read, the students learned how to follow and understand a fictional story from the beginning, to the middle, and to the end. 

Writing
During writing workshop this week, we learned how to organize our writing papers into our folders using two colored stickers. Writing pieces that are all done go on the side with the red sticker, and pieces we are still working on go on the side with the green sticker. The class did a great job looking through their folders and deciding which pieces were all done and which ones were still in progress!

LMC
This week in the LMC, the children logged into Pebble Go for the first time to learn all about seasons. Pebble Go is an online database designed for students in grades K-3. The class did a great job learning how to enter in a username and password to access the Pebble Go website. Then they used their headphones as they listened to the information about the different seasons. 

Centers and Indoor Recess
With the rainy weather we've had this week, the children were able to enjoy some indoor recess time. I just love watching them and listening to them as they play with their peers. They're friendly conversations and the ways they work together to solve problems are amazing!

Have a great weekend!