Mrs. Parkinson's Kindergarten: October 2018

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Reading: We have been using our reading SUPER POWERS! We use our

🌟 POINTER POWER!

🌟 Re-READ POWER!

🌟 PICTURE POWER!

Next week we will learn even more SUPER POWERS! BAM! POW! ZAP!

We have read non-fiction and fiction books this week about bats, pumpkins, and shapes. But most of all, we have been reading Halloween Books! Boo!

WRITING: We have been working on these goals during writing. It is amazing how much progress the students are making every single day.

I have sent flashcards and snap word lists off to print shop. As soon as those come in I will be sending home a list of words for students to work on at home.

Math

We have been looking at 3D shapes and using words like

-face

-corners

-curves

-edges

We are also working on our counting and organizing skills during math bins.

From email:

Thank you to our room parents for planning our party! I am excited to to see many of you tomorrow afternoon.

A few reminders/announcements:

You can come at 12:35 to help with costumes even if you did not sign up. After we are all in our costumes we wait to hear that the parade has started.
No weapons. Masks are fine. Comfortable shoes suggested. If your child needs to wear a jacket for the 15 minute parade, please let me know. If not- I will let them decide for themselves.
The parade starts at the main doors, walks around the block, and then goes around the playground. I takes about 15 minutes. Some parents will want to set up for the party after watching a few minutes of the parade.
Once we are back in the room we will have a fall celebration with games and a healthy snack
Dismissal is at 2:30. If you decide to take your child early, please remember to check out in the office
I've been known to say hi to trick or treaters on the 1100 block of Scoville during trick or treating hours. You might even spot our librarian, Ms. Noonan. ;)

Fun Run Party

You are AWESOME! I am so amazed at how generous you have been to the school through your support of the Fun Run as volunteers and donors. We will celebrate by having a picnic in our classroom on Tuesday, November 12th. Details to come. NO PIZZA will be served because of district policy. I will remind you closer to the day to pack a NUT free lunch or order a hot lunch from the school. (Please direct questions to Nurse Jamie if you ever have health related concerns.)

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Conference Week

It was fantastic meeting with all of you this week. Thank you so much for participating in parent teacher conferences. It was great getting to know you a little better and sharing all the great progress your children are making in Kindergarten.

High Frequency Words (snap words) came up in a number of the conferences. Here are the current snap words we know.
a
the
me
like
see
I
my
look

And here is a link for ideas of practicing these words at home. I will be sending off a list of the words for the year to our district print shop for you to practice at home. Look for that in the next week or two.

Math:
We are starting 3D shapes next week in math. As you walk around the house point out cylinders, cubes and spheres!

Writing:
As we work on True Stories we use this checklist to see if our writing is easy to read. As I mentioned at many of the conferences, it is an exciting time in the classroom to watch writers develop. I am seeing the students use more sounds in their words and add details to their stories.

Thank You!

Our class earned the PIZZA PARTY for having the most donations to the Fun Run! You all are awesome! I don't have details yet, but as soon as I do I will let you know! It's so exciting!

Friday, October 12, 2018

Busy Week!

Whew! We had a lot going on this week!
Next week will also be fun. We have our first field trip on Thursday. We will be outside all day so please make sure your child is dressed for the weather.

The Fun Run was a blast! Thanks to all of you who donated so generously- either your time or through monetary donations. It is a huge fundraiser for our school and really helps the PTO. Thanks to the parents who showed up and cheered!

Also exciting...New Math Bins! We continue to work on counting and recording a number (neatly). We are also working on shapes, number stories and subitizing. Our next unit will focus on shapes, shape names and learning to talk about shapes.

In reading we are working on using our POINTER POWER! Check out Mackenzie reading this book. So many awesome things are happening. She is pointing to each word as she reads it. She uses the word she knows, THE, to help her keep track. She rereads (AWESOME!) and she looks at the picture and then the word to put it all together. Way to go, Kindergarteners! You are SUPER READERS!

Finally- we made applesauce. It's my favorite time of the year. It was a huge success. We got lots of thumbs up!

Monday, October 1, 2018

Math in Kindergarten

Calendar: We spend a lot of time on our calendar routines. Here we practice number writing, listening to math stories, and learning about the calendar. Calendar is whole group and we do calendar about 3 times a week.

Math Workshop: This is a mini lesson given to the whole class. Partners break off and practice the skill together. This is where students learn to talk about math and use math language.

Math Bins: This is independent math practice. Activities are open ended and generally review. This gives me the opportunity to work with small groups and one on one with students.
Here are some pictures of math in action!

Our PBIS celebration last week was a blast! We all loved having pajamas and extra time to play and read. But we really loved reading in our FORT! Check out the fun we had on Friday!