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March 2009

Dear Fantastic Frog Families,

Well, here it is March already. WOW! The rainy weather is sure following the adage that March comes in like a Lion. Hopefully it will go out like a lamb AFTER it drops enough rain to keep us from a drought this summer.

Thank you for all the box tops.... our class turned in over 600 box tops. Our school received over 18000! That comes out to $1,800 dollars for little bits of paper. Pretty Nice! We did not receive the award for the K-2 grades as the kids had hoped. We were in the running in the beginning, but were passed up by at least two other classes. As I reminded the kids though, the most exciting part, was the amount of money ALL the kids earned for the school.

QUESTIONS HAVE COME UP REGARDING THE HOMEWORK CALENDAR:

For those of you who have had Kindergartners before, there were years where we sent home packets of work. Some of that work came from workbooks the school purchased with the math programs. Other work came from worksheets that the Kindergarten teachers found in teacher books and copied on the copy machine. When we added the journal writing in January of those years, many complained that the homework was too much. There were also many concerns that although the work sheets came from Kindergarten Standards based work books, many children were beyond that level. These children felt the homework did not make appropriate use of their time. Add to that the high cost of paper and copying, it was deemed necessary to devise another program.

The state has standards for every subject and somewhere in all that is the recommended amount of homework. Kindergarten isn't even on the chart. However, it has been our experience that homework is beneficial if approached with one's child's abilities in mind. As a result, we have gone to a homework calendar that we modified to fit with our curriculum. In many places we wrote "name" this or "tell someone" that instead of "write" this or "list" that.

The reasoning behind this was that we really wanted our students to be able to do the activities and not get weighed down with the mechanics. Therefore, if a child needed to work on some of these tasks orally and write others, the option of which ones to do that with are there. For the main handwriting activities, we wanted them to focus on the Homework Journals we send home each week. These journals are far more than they appear. The journals put together the skills students have learned so far. They include knowing the letters, how to write them, the sounds they make, blending the sounds to make words, segmenting words to hear the sounds and then match up the letters to the sounds and then write the words. It also gives them a chance to practice writing the sight words they have learned with such repetition that they no longer have to look up the word to spell it. Students can practice the mechanics of penmanship and the use of line and space in a meaningful and practical way. In addition to the standards mentioned above that the journal writing addresses, it also addresses the standard that Kindergartners are to be able to write a sentence on a topic.

In addition to "meeting" the kindergarten standards, the journals also allow those children who are working at a level above the standards to have the freedom to explore their own abilities. Through journal writing, students are learning many of the spelling rules with regard to long vowels, past tense, ing endings, and others. Journal writing also introduces students to adjectives and adverbs as they write more and more descriptive sentences. They may not understand all the "terms" that go with what they are doing but when these topics are taught in later grades, they will have the experiences upon which to reflect and therefore understand and relate to the lesson they are being taught.

As far as math homework, I often send home notes on worksheets when children are writing numbers backwards and ask that they practice writing them. Our web site also has the number charts that allow children to practice writing numbers. In class we try to do as many "story problems" with math as possible to allow children to "experience" math. It is common every day stories that we tell. If you are ever near the line outside our door before school, you will hear the children comparing which line has more and which line has less. They also count and figure out how many more are in one line than the other and also how many of each group are still missing. The terms they use, "greater than, less than, more, less, equal, odd number, even number" that are all standards for Kindergarten and first grade. We do these kinds of story problems in line while waiting for the bell, and they are the same kinds you can do with your child while setting the table, at the market, at the soccer game, all throughout the day. Math will make more sense to them and it will give them the "ownership" of numbers and language that will carry them onto more difficult and abstract concepts.

This same philosophy applies to the RAH (Reading At Home) slips. There is a direct correlation between the number of minutes a student reads, or is read to, or any combination thereof, to the student's reading skills. Different rates of growth always play a role but... practice = success, & success= an additional willingness to try, & an additional willingness to try = additional successes, and then additional successes will result in additional willingness to practice, and so on, and so on. And so goes my tweaked adage of "Success Breeds Success"

MARCH HOMEWORK: The March homework calendar lends itself quite readily to a variety of differentiated homework activities. If your child does an activity that doesn't directly specify writing, have your child write out the answer anyway. You can have your child either write their observations, dictate the observations to another person who will write them down, or else draw a picture of their observations. I am referring to activities such as putting food coloring in a glass of fresh water and then salt water. When your child goes to the library and checks out a book, have him/her locate and write down the title, the author, the illustrator. (All of which are state standards.)

In addition to the March calendar of homework, you will find the Family Homework project. This month it is a shamrock in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Please decorate it any way your child would like. Students have enjoyed sharing their projects with the other students and it is fun to see children learn from each other and then apply what they have learned to their own projects. There are still a few hearts that have not been turned in. Please do so.

The Rainbow name where you come up with an adjective for each letter of your child's name is a fun family activity. I will then choose one of the adjectives for each letter of your child's name and put it on rainbow ribbons hanging from a cloud. It is really interesting to see the reactions of the other children when these are shared. Children see that there are many traits they share with classmates and they also find that they agree with many of the traits you pick for your child. (Just another chance to get to know their classmates better.)

I've included a chart of Journal ideas for your child to use if they are getting stuck and complain they can't think of anything to write about. I try to ask leading questions in my letters back to your children but I am not always successful in triggering their interest, I know.

On the back side of the March Writing Ideas is a 100's chart. Please follow the directions with regard to counting by 5's and coloring those numbers. Please observe your child's number writing and have him/her practice those numbers they write incorrectly.

If you choose to obtain your own "work book" from a teacher store, please send the completed pages in so I can recognize your child for the extra work he/she has done.

DR. SEUSS DAY:

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss Day, your child is invited to wear sweats or p.j's or comfy clothes and bring a blanket or pillow for reading on the floor. It looks like it will be a cozy inside day..... just like the CAT IN THE HAT story!!

SUBSTITUTE: Next Monday, March 9th, there is no school for students. It is a work day for teachers to get report cards ready for conferences the next week. I will be gone the 10th through the 13th to the Charter School Conference with Mrs. Aderman and other members of our school's leadership team. Mrs. Hill has so graciously agreed to be our sub again. I am so pleased to be able to leave your children in such capable hands.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES: Thank you for signing up for conferences on the 17th through 20th. I will send a reminder schedule next week. It is also posted outside the classroom door. n

Sincerely,

Mrs. Karen Duncan