Kinder News

We're really in the groove now! Take a peek below to see what we have been up to in kindergarten!

Our goal for our first two math units is to help the students gain an in-depth understanding of the numbers 1-10 as well as the concepts of same and different. Our kindergarten mathematicians are not only learning how to read and write these numbers, they are also practicing how to count different collections of objects and to show different ways to represent a number while using their math words to explain their thinking. Check out our mathematicians in action below!

In this activity, we focused on the numbers 1-5 to create pretend animals. From a two tailed horse to a 3 eyed dinosaur, our kinder friends were very creative!

In this math activity, students had to work together to sort through the different ways to represent the numbers 1-10. They did an amazing job!

This week we are moving into a new phase of our Jolly Phonics instruction. The students have learned all of the sounds for the consonant and short vowel letters. Now we will move onto the double letter sounds. These sounds are more complex and trickier to learn, so we will only be introducing two new sounds each week. Students will only have Jolly Phonics homework the first two days of each week, but the other days during the week would be a good time to keep working on the items in your child's blue book bag as well as the poems in their yellow folder. Reviewing our Jolly Phonics sounds and our kindergarten sight words and reading the mini sight words books and poems will all help strengthen your child's early literacy skills. Thank you so much for your support at home. It truly makes a difference! And be sure to check out Brayden singing our September Song to his family below! So sweet and a great example of our poetry folders in action!

Highlighting sight words in our September Song

We recently kicked off Writing Workshop time in kindergarten! We learned that authors write for many different purposes and for many different audiences. Then we learned about the four steps that we will use all year long as we work to share our ideas with others.

During read aloud time, we have been thinking about kindness and empathy. We have been learning what it means to be a good friend and we are becoming expert "Kindness Spotters!" Excited to see their caring hearts continue to grow!

The students have also been exploring the Seesaw app and getting familiar with the app's new features. Mrs. Goldstein and Mrs. Corley, two of our district technology teachers, came into our classroom to help students complete an activity about their families. Students will continue to use Seesaw throughout the year to post work to their digital portfolios!

Arranging letters in ABC Order on Seesaw

In the LMC, students have been learning how to use Pebble Go--an online researching tool designed specifically for elementary students--to learn about the changing seasons. This week we took a closer look at the season of fall and learned how to use the audio feature on Pebble Go to listen and learn about fall foods, fall sports, and different fall activities. The students also had time to practice plugging in their headphones and how to close out a website when they are finished.

The students have loved learning all about their classmates during our "All About Me" presentations. Here are the first several presentations from the beginning of the year!

Morning Kindergarten

We loved learning all about Shea and her favorite things! We learned that Shea enjoys dancing and spending time outdoors, especially with her family. She is a big fan of JoJo Siwa, and she enjoys playing with her Barbie collection. Shea is also a fan of The Descendants and she loves to read!

The morning class loved learning all about Brayden too! We learned that Brayden likes baseball, and he is a big Cubs fan! He enjoys playing card games like Old Maid and Go Fish, and he also likes to build with Magna Tiles. Brayden enjoys coloring, and his favorite color is red! Brayden also enjoys playing chess and spending time with his family!

Afternoon Kindergarten

In the afternoon class, it was great to learn all about Anaha and learn about some of her favorite things! We learned that Anaha enjoys swimming, and she has been doing a great job moving through the different swimming classes. Anaha is a great big sister and loves spending time with her family. She loves to color and draw, and she has many favorite colors!

We loved learning all about Santi too! We learned that Santi is a big sports fan, and he enjoys playing basketball. He loves to get creative with his Legos, and he also enjoys racing with his cars. Santi also likes to spend time outdoors, especially with his family!

And then it was Noah's turn! It was easy to see that Noah loves spending time with his family in Wisconsin, and it looks like he's a great helper when they're up north too! We also learned that Noah is very creative, and he loves to color and draw, especially with his favorite color pink. Noah also enjoys playing baseball and playing with his collection of toys. He enjoys exploring, and he is a fan of fall too!

We also enjoyed our most recent presentation by Serenity! We learned that Serenity loves to sing and dance, and she also loves to spend time with her family. She enjoys going to Florida with her grandparents, and she is a big fan of Disney too--especially Minnie Mouse! Serenity also enjoys learning and using her calculator to solve math problems! 

Thank you all for reading!

We've been enjoying these fall days.
Looking forward to watching the seasons change
with the students in the weeks ahead!