October 21st-25th 2013

                                          Kindergarten news- October 21st-25th, 2013

Next week in phonics we will be learning the letter “A”.  We will learn that apple has a short /a/ sound and acorn has a long /a/ sound.  Show and tell will be on Friday as usual but I will not be sending a bag home anymore.

We will be beginning the story “Life in an Ocean” in Reading.  The genre is “informational text” and the comprehension skill is “compare and contrast”.

For the next week’s lessons in Math we will be focusing on:

* Numbers and operations

* Children will solve problems by analyzing growing patterns to predict what comes next.

*Recognize and write numerals that describe the quantities 8 and 9.

We will not be giving the kindergarten children a report card for the first card period because combined with the change to the common core standards and the new report card format; the assessment might not be valid.  We always believed that the children needed to learn how to be in kindergarten before we can grade them academically.    The things that we have learned so far and that I expect them to have mastered as of now are:  letter and number recognition up to 10, letter and number formation up to 10, and letter sounds for l, o, g, h ,t ,p and a.  Also practice the memory words “I, a, am, to, the, little, love, the words of, have, and is will be introduced shortly. They should be able to make and extend an A,B pattern, and be able to give me a rhyming word when I provide them with a word (tell me word that rhymes with hat) and be able to tell me if two words rhyme(like bug- rug).

 Instead of giving a report card, we will be holding parent conferences to discuss the new report card and your child’s progress thus far.  Look for two notes today in your child’s folder.  Please return the conference form as soon as possible.  If you cannot make it in the day provided, I will arrange to meet with you on a different day if necessary.  I am usually available after school.

 

The fall festival was a huge success.  The children had a wonderful time. A lot of people devoted a huge amount of time to making this an enjoyable day for our students, and it is appreciated.

We had a wonderful time at the pajama party on Wednesday.  Some of the activities were: pasta necklaces, printing with Halloween sponges, pig puppets on purple bags, and painting pussy willows. Everyone looked perfect in their pajamas, and we even had pancakes.  For snack time we munched on popcorn. Thanks to the homeroom moms that helped out.

 If you signed up to be a homeroom mom and have your clearances, and you would like to help out for the Halloween party on October 31^st(Wednesday) please send a note to me and I will be in touch with more details.

The weekender backpack program began last week for participating families.  Please return the empty food bag to school on Monday.  The next distribution is today October 17^th.

Picture retake day is Monday, Nov. 1^st.  Anyone who was absent on picture day is asked to be photographed on re-take day.  Also anyone not happy with their photo taken in September may return the complete package of photos and have their picture retaken.

Monday will be day # 2 and we have gym class!  Don’t forget your sneakers!!!!!

 Have a Perfectly Peachy weekend!

 No school for students on Friday, October 18 due to a teacher inservice/Act 80 day.