November 19, 2009
kprocks123
From Mrs. Paris’ Desk
Dear Families,
It's hard to believe that we're
heading into our third month of school. The days and weeks in kindergarten
truly seem to fly by! We are extremely proud of how hard your children are
working in
all different areas.
With the holidays fast
approaching, we would like to acknowledge everyone's celebration by inviting
you to come in and share your holiday celebration/tradition with us. Please
complete the holiday’s questionnaire that went home. In the past, parents had
celebrated by: reading a book, showing family pictures or doing a craft
project.
ALL ABOUT LITERACY:
We continue to work on
establishing our writing routines. The students are illustrating their ideas
and sounding (stretching) out words while making their best effort to write.
We are utilizing various
components of the Handwriting Without Tears program. The children will
continue to practice the basic strokes and pencil grip while practicing
uppercase, lowercase and numbers formation. The children will participate in
various multisensory lessons aimed at helping with letter and number
reversals. We will learn “letter stories,” songs, and poems to ensure the
students start the letter correctly and consistently (especially the tricky
ones!) Please visit the “Handwriting
Without Tears” page for
ideas that can be easily implemented at home.
We will engage in conversation
about the meaning of Thanksgiving while completing various Thanksgiving
activities. Again, please let me know if you would like to come in and read a
story or
do a craft activity.
In our author studies, we
will be learning about the author Pat Hutchins. We will learn about the style
she employs in her illustrations. We will become familiar with the characters
in her stories, particularly, Sam and Titch. We will also write (and send!)
letters to Pat Hutchins letting her know what aspects of her work we like
best.
ALL ABOUT MATH:
We are currently working on
Chapter 2. This chapter focus on Two-Dimensional Figures and Quantities:
“Young children are familiar with a
number of shapes from their everyday experiences, and many kindergartners can
also identify and name simple two-dimensional figures such as circles,
triangles,
and squares. This chapter builds
on children’s informal knowledge and encourages them to further explore
attributes of two-dimensional figures. Children also use two-dimensional
figures as a context for continued work with counting the number of items in a
collection.” (ThinkMath!)
This chapter will focus
on: identifying shape as an attribute (via the use of pattern blocks),
describing two-dimensional figures (a triangle has three sides), and
recognizing figures in different
orientations (a triangle upside
down is still a triangle).
Children will work in the
Lesson Activity Book (LAB) during math time. We will send home many of these
LAB pages regularly. Our math time involves whole group activities, work in
smaller groups at centers sorting shapes, and exploring math games.
Some Highlights of Chapter
2 Will Include:
. Making designs with pattern
blocks grid paper
. Cutting paper to make shapes
. Going on a shape hunt in the
classroom and/or school
. Playing with Quantity Cards to
make matches
The Big Ideas:
- Use pattern blocks
to identify and compare two-dimensional figures
- Use objects to count
The Learning Goals:
. Count by rote using objects
. Match quantities using one-to-one
correspondence
. Name, describe, sort, and draw
two-dimensional shapes
. Describe attributes of
two-dimensional shapes
Vocabulary:
. Rectangle, square, triangle,
circle, rhombus, trapezoid, hexagon, different, same, pattern, more,
less, equal, shape
ALL ABOUT SCIENCE:
We will continue to use our
senses to observe and record changes in the environment. We planted pumpkin
seeds. We will also plant lima beans, corn, and potatoes. The children will
observe and record the growth of these seeds/plants on their scientific
journals.
We will begin a new science unit
called Day and Night. These are some of the scientific questions KP
will be exploring:
* What do you do day and
night?
* What does the sun do?
* What do you see in the
night sky?
* What do you do each
season?
ALL ABOUT ART:
The children had a wonderful
time creating a Fall Foliage Relief Tile with the direction of Ms. Birden, the
art teacher. Look for their finished work soon!
FROM THE COMPUTER LAB:
We will create illustrations
demonstrating some facts that we have learned through out Nutrition unit. We
hope to compile the students’ work and use the tool “bookr” to create a
photobook.
SPECIAL THANKS!
Thanks to the many parents who
continue to: volunteer to help with special activities, participate as guess
readers, support our science projects by purchasing materials, and come after
school to
help me with special tasks. Thanks
also to our room parents for a wonderful job keeping everyone informed and
involved! It’s wonderful to have all this great support!
REMINDERS:
Please be mindful of the weather.
Children must bring in appropriate clothing as we go outside
everyday.
Wishing everyone a fantastic
Thanksgiving holiday,
Mrs. Paris