September 26- September 30

 

Hello Families!

    Here is what we have been working on in class.

Moral Focus: "I can show wisdom when I follow the rules." Wisdom- we are continuing to talk about how to show wisdom at school; specifically with following directions and making good choices.

Reading: "I can determine if a story is fictional."  We have started talking about fiction text.  Fiction stories are fake.  We have been saying "fiction is fake".  Some characteristics that make a story fiction is stories about mythical creatures and where animals talk.  The elements of a fictional story are characters, setting, plot, conflict and resolution.

Phonics:  "I can identify the letter Cc and say it's sound."  We have been continuing to review the letters we have learned: Aa, Bb, Ll, Mm, Nn, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt.  Our newest letter is Cc.  We are working on writing, identifying, saying letter names and sounds.  We are also starting to make words with these letters to read and write them.

Math: "I can recognize the number of objects."  In math we are working on grabbing and counting, looking at a group of objects and saying how many there are without counting them individually.  We are also practicing all the different ways to make 5.

Social Studies/Science: "I can say the 5 senses.  I can explain how we use our 5 senses."  We have been working on the sense of smell and sight.  This is going to be a very important skill to help make our writing even better as well!

Important Information: 

-Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up October 10, 11 and 12.  I will also be scheduling time slots for the week before for anyone who cannot make those dates work.  An email will be coming soon with the slots to sign up for.  If you need to schedule a Zoom conference, just reach out to me and we will make it happen.  Otherwise conferences will be held in person.

-The Book Fair is coming up October 10-12.  It will be during the day for students as well as during conference time.  Flyers were sent home today.

-I am still missing a few permission slips and money for our upcoming field trip.  If you are unsure if you are missing yours, reach out to me and I can verify if I have it or not.

-October Homework packets were sent home today.  Please remember to turn in September Homework Packets.

September 19-23

 Hello families!

I am sending out our newsletter 2 days early, as I will be out of town Thursday and Friday.  

What We're Learning:

Moral Focus: We are continuing work on Wisdom.  We have talked about what showing wisdom looks like at home and at school.  We are also doing Leader In Me.   We are talking about how to have a safe learning environment.  

Reading:  We are making Wonderings with our text.  Students are practicing questioning why something is happening.  This is helping them ask and answer questions about a text.  Once we make a "wonder" we then find our answer and practicing answering our own questions.

Phonics: We have been working on 2 new letters this week: Ll and Bb.  We make our posters together by coming up with several words that start with the letter we are practicing.

Writing:  Students are practicing writing sentences.  Right now it is a guided practice where we do it together.  They are producing amazing work!  We are writing sentences using our sight words and tapping out the sounds we hear in a word and writing that sound down.  Students are also practicing using our letter posters to figure out how to spell a word.

Math: We are continuing to identify and make patterns.  We are counting to 20, counting by 10s to 100 and counting by 5s to 100.  We have also starting talking about place value!

Important Information:  

This Friday is our Fun Run.  Families are allowed to visit the school and cheer on their children for that hour of fun!  Cheer extra loud for me, since I won't be there.

Picture Retake/Make up Day is September 28.  If you wish to have your child retake their picture, please bring back the previous picture.

We have our class field trip coming up on October 24th.  Please have all permission slips and money turned in by September 30th.

Please make sure to have extra clothes in your child's backpack just in case they have an accident.

Thank you all for your support and teamwork to make this year a successful year!

September 12-16

 Hello families!

After we say the Pledge of Allegiance and the Landmark Student Creed, we look at someone in the room and point to them and say "You are smart, you are important, you are loved."  Each student picks a person to say that to.  Then we point to ourselves and say "I am smart, I am important, I am loved."  This is a part of our morning routine!  The students love to lift each other up with words of encouragement! 

We have our 5 chaperones for our upcoming field trip on October 24th!  Thank you to those of you who can help.  I will try to make sure other parents have a chance to chaperone for our other field trips.

This week:

As you know we are well into our Apex Fundraiser.  Our class has already won a candy reward and a prize box reward.  We are so excited to earn our next reward of a dance party!  Below is a picture of our Apex assembly.

If you would like to do any extra work at home with your child, you can refer to the homework packet, Home Connections workbook and then check out what we are learning (below) and you can reinforce it all at home!

Moral Focus:  We are working on showing Wisdom all month.  We are emphasizing that showing wisdom is making good choices and following the rule.

Reading: We are practicing making predictions in a text.  We first talk about what we notice and see about the book, before we read the words.  Then we look for clues in the words and stop to think to make a prediction of what will happen next.  We also have a list of sight words we have been working on. (see in photo below).

Math: We are still focusing on identifying and making patterns. practicing the calendar and counting by 1s and 10s.  We just started talking about place value.  We have used manipulatives to make numbers using the ones and the tens place.

Phonics:  We have been focusing on Pp and Ll this week.  We have continued our alphabet sound wall for the room, which included adding these letters to it.

Social Studies We are working on showing citizenship in the classroom and in the school.

Reminders: Please remember to pack a change of clothes for your child to keep in their backpack in case they have an accident at school.

Have a great weekend!

September 5-9

 Hello Families!

We have been digging into lots of learning and new routines and procedures, and we are rocking it!  We started doing Literacy centers this week.  Students will be rotating through 3 centers working on Lexia, writing, phonics and even small group work with me.

What We're Learning:

Moral Focus: Wisdom- we have been talking about how wisdom means making good choices and following the rules.

Reading: We are still working on talking about the beginning, middle and end of the story.  We are determining the important detail within each part of the story.  We are also making predictions about what will happen next.

Phonics:  I will be introducing 2 letters a week starting next week.  We are working on letter names and sounds.  We have also started learning sight words.  

You can work on these words at home:

a, see, can, the, like, I , go, to, am

Math: We are working on patterns, calendar, counting on and tally marks

Social Studies:  We are working on what it means to be a good citizen of the school.  We have been taking school tours, classroom tours and practicing ways that we can take care of our school.

Additional Information: 

We have an Apex Fun Run coming up on September 23.  Your child will be coming home with a lanyard with a QR code attached.  They will be raising money for our school by running laps.  If you, your family or your friends want to contribute, you will scan the QR code to do so.  We are raising money to help the school.  I will be tracking the money that our class collects and each dollar will go toward a different classroom prize that the students helped me come up with.  Additionally, your child will be earning prizes from the Apex company for the money they raise.

The end of the month! August 29-September 1

 Hello families!

We had a short week this week, but it was very busy!  

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON:

Moral Focus: We just started talking about wisdom.  We are focusing on making good choices and following the rules.  What you can do at home: You can continue this at home by reminding your child to make wise choices, follow the rules and even tell you what the rules are for your house.

Reading: We are still working on retelling stories.  The goal is that students can retell a story in sequential order, using details from the beginning, middle and end.  What you can do at home: When you read books at home, ask your child what happened at the beginning, middle and end.

Phonics:  We have started working on identifying the letter "Ss".  We are writing it, saying the sounds and saying words that begin with "Ss". What you can do at home: Have your child practice writing the letters Aa, Mm, and Ss.  Take turns naming words that begin with those letter sounds.

Math:  We are continuing to work at grabbing and counting objects.  We have also started to categorize objects based on their characteristics.  What you can do at home: Have your children count objects on their dinner plate.  

Social Studies: We are working on understanding how school works and how to help others at school. What you can do at home: Have your child help with dinner- setting the table, cleaning or even cooking.  Talk about the importance of working together as a team.  Your family is a team!

The Kindergarten team is still looking for anyone who would like to volunteer to help out one day a week to help set up materials for the following week.  Thank you!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Sept. 2-5 - No School, Labor Day Break

Sept. 22 - APEX Middle School Color Battle, 2-3pm 

Sept. 23 - APEX Fun Run Friday, K-2 from 10:00-11:00 am, 3-5 from 2:00-3:00 pm