We're going on a leaf hunt...

Pumpkins, Leaves, and Listening

We are continuing to embrace the autumn weather and fall theme. This week we focused on pumpkins, leaves, and even started to talk about Halloween. 

Read Alouds

    

FUNdations

This week, students learned their first two vowels, i and u. Vowels are very important in our reading and writing. They are special sounds that happen in your mouth rather than pushed out.  Below are our sound cards. Notice how the vowel cards are pink rather than yellow for consonants. Each week brings new letters and sounds but we continue to say, write, and use all of the letters we've learned thus far. 

 

I-Itch- /i/ and U-Up- /u/

Centers

-Students are getting to 3-4 work centers a day. They have a workboard to help guide them to each table and there are teachers at centers to help when needed. While other times there are independent center work which can be completed without assistance.

-Some of these include:

-Spooky and Halloween Syllables 

-Letter/Fundation writing practice.

-Letter books (Please have your child read you their book when it comes home)

-Poetry- 5 Little Pumpkins
-Poem Review

-Writing
-Writing around the room: T,B,F

-Letter Detectives-Letter recognition/Sorting
-Rainbow U

-Art: Pumpkin painting, Bat Pointillism with hot colors 

-Listening Center **New this week**- Students use an i-pad to scan a QR Code to listen to a story and fill out a response sheet as a follow up activity.  They love the opportunity to use our classroom i-pads and learn how to be a 21st century learner along the way!

Math

-Topic 3 is focused on counting, reading, and writing numbers 6 to 10. The class is picking the lessons up quickly and easily. We practice counting every morning. Counting to 100 is a Kindergarten expectation. They should be able to count by 1's and 10's to 100 by the end of the school year.  

-Counting is an activity you can do with your child while running errands, eating dinner, or even in the car on the way to school.

We're going on a Leaf Hunt

On Thursday, we took advantage of the warmer weather and went outside on the playground to search for some colorful leaves! The students selected a few leaves to bring back to the classroom where they "Investigated" their leaf. We talked about the size, shape, and color of their leaf. We even explored how many coins/pennies could fit on the leaf.  On Friday, we used our leaves to do some leaf rubbings. What a great experience!

Book Fair

Thursday we visited the library book fair. Mr. Murphy did a great job transforming the space into a real book store! I hope the wishlists help organize yourself and your child for our visit. If you have any questions or would like more information on how to purchase a book online please visit Mr. Murphy's blog: https://foxhillmediacenter.wordpress.com/

Halloween

Information for our Halloween celebration and parade was sent home earlier this week. It is also posted in the blog. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know. It will be a fun filled day. Students will travel through the school to show off their costumes and sing some songs. When we return to the classroom students will change back into their clothes and rotate through the Kindergarten classrooms to do Halloween themed activities and games. Please remember to pack your child's Halloween costume in a bag. 

Compliments & Whole Class Goals

-Mrs. Johnson recognized our class over the loud speaker. She was VERY impressed with our Hallway behavior. She observed our class in the hall walking to lunch, recess, and buses. She noticed how quiet, straight, and responsible our class was in the hall.  It was a very special honor.  To recognize these special compliments and reward students for their positive behaviors, we started our class reward system. Every time we receive a compliment from another teacher or staff member in the building for our positive behavior as a whole class we add a piece to our class thermometer. Once we reach the top our whole class will be rewarded with a special reward (ie extra recess, pajama day, show and tell, etc.) 

-We will continue our individual behavior system too. 


FYI: There is a student in Kindergarten who is looking for their lost North Face Jacket with Initials NK on the Tag.  Please keep your eyes out of this. Thanks in advance!