Today I sent home a school calendar that has important dates for the school. I wanted to highlight particular ones that have to do with Kindergarten. I will be sending a note home about this also. The note should have more information.
After this week, there is just one more week until Spring Break! Wow! I can't believe it!
April 16th we have our DIBELS reading test. It is important for your child to be here and to be on time. It is also important that he/she is well rested and has a good breakfast/lunch before coming so he/she will not be hungry.
On April 19th, 20th, and 21st the Kindergarten will have SEP conferences, so there will be no kindergarten on those days. (The rest of the school just has April 20th off for SEP conferences.) Next week Mrs. Duque and I should be sending home the preliminary note to see what the best day and time is for you. Please send this back ASAP.
May 21st is our Kindergarten field trip. We will also be doing the end-of-the year party during the trip. More information on this will be coming as it will mean the AM and PM students will be coming at the same time.
The last day of school for Kindergarten is Wed., May 26th. (The rest of the school goes to school a half day on May 27th.)
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Spring has Begun
Well, Spring is here but it sure was rainy today.
This week in phonics we are working on "ck." (/k/ two-letter /k/ used at the end of a short word with a breve vowel.) Examples: truck, duck, lick, rack, lock, etc.
In math we will continue with identifying coins and numbers 11-20. Tuesday we will work on Quarters and then Wednesday and Thursday we will work to identify the different coins when they are all together.
Our vocabulary words are: survey (looking something over carefully and trying to understand or measure it), beacon (a bright light on a hill or tower which shows where something is), mammoth (very large), memorable (very easy to remember)and labor (very hard work).
This week in phonics we are working on "ck." (/k/ two-letter /k/ used at the end of a short word with a breve vowel.) Examples: truck, duck, lick, rack, lock, etc.
In math we will continue with identifying coins and numbers 11-20. Tuesday we will work on Quarters and then Wednesday and Thursday we will work to identify the different coins when they are all together.
Our vocabulary words are: survey (looking something over carefully and trying to understand or measure it), beacon (a bright light on a hill or tower which shows where something is), mammoth (very large), memorable (very easy to remember)and labor (very hard work).
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Santa
For some reason, in the past two weeks the students in the PM class keep having arguments about if Santa is real. (Isn't it March, not December?) Different students keep bringing it up at the oddest times. Each time it comes up I tell the kids that people believe different things but that we don't get to talk about it at school. All in all, I wanted you to know in case you get questions at home.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Spring and Outside Recess
It is so pretty outside! The best part is that our kindergarten playground isn't even muddy! We've been going outside and loving it!
This week we are working on words that have vowels at the end of them. Vowels say their names at the end of words (and syllables). Some examples we have been working on are: go, he, hi, so, me, we, no, and she.
Our vocabulary words are slime, slither, eager, hatch, and haven. On Thursday we will be writing about where we are eager to go.
In math we are learning to identify and know the value of money coins. On Monday we worked on pennies. We looked at the color, face, and building on the back. We also walked out to the front of the school to look at the Lincoln penny on our building. The second "Night at the Museum" movie helped with identifying the Lincoln Memorial on the back and the children who had seen the movie knew what the Lincoln statue looked like. They were excited to find out that if you look closely at a Lincoln penny you can see the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial. We learned that pennies are easy to count because they are each worth 1 cent. Today we worked on nickels. We found out they are worth 5 cents and that 5 pennies equal 1 nickel. Tomorrow we will look at dimes and find out how much they are worth. On Thursday we work on one of our little math books and Friday is math rotations. Next Monday we will work on quarters.
Because Saturday is the beginning of Spring we are talking this week about Spring and practicing the names and order of all the seasons. On Thursday we will be looking at a number book that combines counting and seasons.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I told the students they can wear green or if they forget I can put a green spot on their hands. We also talked about the rule that if someone doesn't wear green we DO NOT get to pinch him/her. This is a safe place and we will lose pins if we pinch anyone (just like every other day).
In writing we are writing a book called, "Toss it to Me." Remember that when your child brings home a book he/she has written and illustrated, please have him/her read it three times to someone. It can be to one person or three different people. We practice these books a lot so he/she should be able to read them.
I need to be gone all day on Thursday. We have a very good substitute coming that day.
This week we are working on words that have vowels at the end of them. Vowels say their names at the end of words (and syllables). Some examples we have been working on are: go, he, hi, so, me, we, no, and she.
Our vocabulary words are slime, slither, eager, hatch, and haven. On Thursday we will be writing about where we are eager to go.
In math we are learning to identify and know the value of money coins. On Monday we worked on pennies. We looked at the color, face, and building on the back. We also walked out to the front of the school to look at the Lincoln penny on our building. The second "Night at the Museum" movie helped with identifying the Lincoln Memorial on the back and the children who had seen the movie knew what the Lincoln statue looked like. They were excited to find out that if you look closely at a Lincoln penny you can see the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial. We learned that pennies are easy to count because they are each worth 1 cent. Today we worked on nickels. We found out they are worth 5 cents and that 5 pennies equal 1 nickel. Tomorrow we will look at dimes and find out how much they are worth. On Thursday we work on one of our little math books and Friday is math rotations. Next Monday we will work on quarters.
Because Saturday is the beginning of Spring we are talking this week about Spring and practicing the names and order of all the seasons. On Thursday we will be looking at a number book that combines counting and seasons.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I told the students they can wear green or if they forget I can put a green spot on their hands. We also talked about the rule that if someone doesn't wear green we DO NOT get to pinch him/her. This is a safe place and we will lose pins if we pinch anyone (just like every other day).
In writing we are writing a book called, "Toss it to Me." Remember that when your child brings home a book he/she has written and illustrated, please have him/her read it three times to someone. It can be to one person or three different people. We practice these books a lot so he/she should be able to read them.
I need to be gone all day on Thursday. We have a very good substitute coming that day.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Official Language
O.k., I decided to let you know what our kindergarten Core Objectives say about using 10 as a base because it will make it much clearer...or maybe more confusing! Here it is: "Objective 2. c. -- Identify and use simple relationships among whole numbers up to 30--recognize 5 or 10 as a part of the part-whole relationship of numbers."
Is that clear....or just clear as mud? Anyway....another way to practice is by giving your child a paper or plastic plate that has three sections to it. Your child can put the large section at the top. In the large section have your child count out a particular number of beans or other counters. For example, 16. Have your child then separate ten into one of the smaller sections and then count out the rest to the other section. It is good to keep the ten on the left since this corresponds with place value and the way we write the numerals.
Another way to do this is to put the small sections on the top and your child can put ten in the left section. S/he can then roll, spin, or draw a card and put this many beans or counters into the right section. S/he can move the beans to the large section on the bottom while counting them. S/he should then write down the number. If two people play together, the person with the largest number wins.
For numbers smaller than 10 the numbers can be split into 5 in one section and the rest into the other. For example, 5 and 2 is 7. Since we know how to add numbers less than 10 your child should be able to write out the actual math problem: 5 + 2 = 7.
Is that clear....or just clear as mud? Anyway....another way to practice is by giving your child a paper or plastic plate that has three sections to it. Your child can put the large section at the top. In the large section have your child count out a particular number of beans or other counters. For example, 16. Have your child then separate ten into one of the smaller sections and then count out the rest to the other section. It is good to keep the ten on the left since this corresponds with place value and the way we write the numerals.
Another way to do this is to put the small sections on the top and your child can put ten in the left section. S/he can then roll, spin, or draw a card and put this many beans or counters into the right section. S/he can move the beans to the large section on the bottom while counting them. S/he should then write down the number. If two people play together, the person with the largest number wins.
For numbers smaller than 10 the numbers can be split into 5 in one section and the rest into the other. For example, 5 and 2 is 7. Since we know how to add numbers less than 10 your child should be able to write out the actual math problem: 5 + 2 = 7.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
More About Larger Numbers
Something we need to practice in kindergarten is to use ten as a base for adding other numbers onto. One of the things we are practicing with our numbers 11 through 20 is if we have ten how many ones are left over to make a particular number. For example, 17 is ten plus how many more? Seven more are needed to make 17.
A game you can play to practice this is to use playing cards. Take out all the face cards as they won't be needed in this game. The Ace counts as one. Put one of the tens on the table right side up. Shuffle the remaining cards and deal out the rest of the cards to the players. The first player draws a card and figures out how many ten plus his/her number equals. S/he tells the number out loud. The next player takes a card and puts it by the ten and figures out how much his/her number equals with the ten and says the answer. The person who has the largest number gets to keep the two cards that were drawn. (The ten stays on the table.) If the player needs to count the shapes or count on to figure the answer, that is fine but hopefully after awhile s/he will be able to say the answer automatically. Play until one player has all the cards or someone wants to quit. The person with the most cards wins.
A game you can play to practice this is to use playing cards. Take out all the face cards as they won't be needed in this game. The Ace counts as one. Put one of the tens on the table right side up. Shuffle the remaining cards and deal out the rest of the cards to the players. The first player draws a card and figures out how many ten plus his/her number equals. S/he tells the number out loud. The next player takes a card and puts it by the ten and figures out how much his/her number equals with the ten and says the answer. The person who has the largest number gets to keep the two cards that were drawn. (The ten stays on the table.) If the player needs to count the shapes or count on to figure the answer, that is fine but hopefully after awhile s/he will be able to say the answer automatically. Play until one player has all the cards or someone wants to quit. The person with the most cards wins.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Learning More Every Day!
Our children are learning more and more every day! It always amazes me this time of year just how much they know! Wow!
This week in Phonics we are studying "qu." We will practice the rule that "u" always comes after "q" in English words. To make it more fun, in our class we say, "'Q' always goes with 'u' because 'q' is shy."
In math we are continuing to learn the numbers 11-20. We will also be looking at odd and even numbers and be practicing counting by twos. We will be finding groups of tens and practicing counting by tens.
Our vocabulary words this week are romp (When children or animals romp, they play happily.), fad (If something is a fad, it is popular for a short time.), gather (When you gather things, you collect them all into a group.), entertain (To entertain means to do something like sing, dance, or play an instrument to please an audience.), creative (A creative person is someone who is always thinking up new and interesting ideas.).
I still would like to start taking the kids outside to recess except this week is suppose to be kind of stormy. If we start having some nicer days maybe we can still go outside. The kids really need to be outside running around!
This week in Phonics we are studying "qu." We will practice the rule that "u" always comes after "q" in English words. To make it more fun, in our class we say, "'Q' always goes with 'u' because 'q' is shy."
In math we are continuing to learn the numbers 11-20. We will also be looking at odd and even numbers and be practicing counting by twos. We will be finding groups of tens and practicing counting by tens.
Our vocabulary words this week are romp (When children or animals romp, they play happily.), fad (If something is a fad, it is popular for a short time.), gather (When you gather things, you collect them all into a group.), entertain (To entertain means to do something like sing, dance, or play an instrument to please an audience.), creative (A creative person is someone who is always thinking up new and interesting ideas.).
I still would like to start taking the kids outside to recess except this week is suppose to be kind of stormy. If we start having some nicer days maybe we can still go outside. The kids really need to be outside running around!
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