Key-Words in Our Kindergarten Class
STOP...LOOK...Think
Tis' the season to struggle with impulse control but let's be honest, when you are five or six years old, impulse control is a difficult thing all year long. For that reason the class and I have come up with three key-words to help ourselves and friends manage impulsivity. Our words are
STOP...LOOK...THINK
When we are given a direction or when someone is talking to us we...
STOP: stop our bodies from moving and our mouths from talking
LOOK: look at the person who is talking
THINK: think about what is being said and what you will need to do once the directions are finished.
This would be great to practice at home. Practice giving a direction and make sure your child stops their bodies, looks at you and thinks about what you are asking and then send them off to complete the task independently.
Thank you!
A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Horton and the big kids for helping us Code this week. The kindergartners had a great time using and creating code with them. Check out this cool video of the Bee-Bots the kids used during our Coding time.
Reader’s Workshop
We continued our lessons on what good readers do. This week our focus was on decoding words and making sure our reading sounded right and matched the letters we saw in words. When young children are just learning to read they are so focused on decoding those tough words that they don’t really listen to themselves read to make sure that what they are saying sounds right and makes sense. This is something we will continue to work on all year long.
Writer’s Workshop
I am so proud of all the progress the children have made in their writing in such a short amount of time. Writing is a great thing to practice at home. If your child is looking for something to do over vacation, ask them to write me a Small Moment story about their vacation. I would love to read them if they bring them into school in January.
Math Lessons
We continued our work with teen numbers this week. Ask your child to flash some Tricky Teens for you. They are learning that the teen numbers are made up of a group of ten and then some more. They are all working on showing these numbers with their fingers. It would be great for them to practice writing numbers to 20 over the vacation.
Independence
At this point of the kindergarten year, all of the children are expected to be working on skills to build independence. Thank you to all the parents that have been having their child take care of their own belongings in the morning. That means the children are carrying their own belongings into school, getting themselves organized for the day (i.e. dressing and undressing from their outdoor clothing, unpacking their backpacks, carrying their folder and other items into the classroom…) Thank you for your help in building some strong, independent kindergartners.
Gingerbread Houses
Our gingerbread houses were a huge success today. They were all sent home today for families to enjoy. Thank you to all the families that donated items to help make this event a success. Also, a big thank you goes out to Mrs. Lotto and Mrs. Leonard for taking time out of their day to come in and help us build our wonderful gingerbread creations.
Nutmeg and Holly
You may have heard about Nutmeg and Holly the Kindness Elves that came to visit kindergarten this week. They are keeping an eye out for acts of kindness and writing letters to the children. They have been finding new lookout spots throughout the school this week to keep an eye on everyone and reporting back about all of the acts of kindness they are seeing.
Thank you for all of the bells that came back with wonderful family traditions written on them. If you haven't sent your bell back to school, please do so on Monday. The children will share their traditions at Morning Meeting next week.
Next Week
Next week will be a busy one. Here is a quick snapshot of what the week looks like just to give you a heads up.
Monday: Working on our parent gifts (shhhh, it's a surprise)
Tuesday: The children have a guest teacher while I am at an all day meeting
Wednesday: Pajama Day & Craft Day (see below for more details about pajama day)
Thursday: Finishing up our parent gifts (shhhh, it's a surprise)
Friday: COL - The kindergartners are performing the annual Runaway Cookie play. COL starts at 8:10. Later that day, they will learn some holiday ASL signs in the classroom. In the afternoon, the kindergartners will watch Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas.
Morning Meeting
GREETING: The Mitten Match
ACTIVITY: Sign Language (I went to my grandmother's house...)
We filled our jar with marbles and now we get to have Pajama Day!
We Did It!!
We have been showing acts of kindness and have earned Pajama Day! The children may wear their pajamas and slippers (or comfy cozy clothes) to school on Wednesday, December 18th. They may bring a stuffed animal that fits in their backpack. We will read The Polar Express story, drink hot cocoa and do special arts and crafts. Please make sure your child has outdoor footwear on to get to and from school as well as for recess. It should be an exciting day!
