I will hand out copies of this PowerPoint at Open House, however they will be in black and white. If you would like to view it in color or print off a copy feel free. :)
(Also, I can't take any credit for the look of the slideshow. I found it on Teacher Pay Teacher and LOVED IT!! I just added the text.)
After lots of drawing practice, we finally finished the pictures of Moms and Dad for our Bulletin Board. They are so cute!! Not to mention the students are so proud of themselves. :)
I don't want to spoil the surprise of which student did each drawing... but I had to take pictures and showcase them on the blog!! So check out the slideshow and be sure to check it out before Open House Tonight at 6:00.
Also, make sure to check out the tables for School Magnets, School Shirts, and Safety Patrol Chocolates! OOh and bring cash in case you want to purchase the items!!
This blog post is going to be pretty simple... we are completing online testing.
All Kindergarteners at CLE will be taking the i-ready Reading and Math Diagnostic. This will be the first time the students even look at our school laptops. So I will not be rushing testing, but rather discussing the parts of the computer and getting them to feel comfortable wearing headphones. (** If you did not send in headphones, do not worry! The Capel Family purchased a class set of headphones, so we are well stocked!!) Also, the students do not need to use a traditional mouse. I allow the students to touch the screens when answering their questions. Doing this helps ease a lot of five year old anxiety. :) If you are thinking about how your child can study for this test- STOP! There is no need to study right now. This is a baseline test for me to see strengths and weaknesses for each child. This allows me to see what items we need to focus on and one's that I can just brush over.
I plan on having 3-4 students test at a time. This means not all students will complete the tests on Monday. Plus there is a chance that students will be absent, so we may not be finished by Friday. With that being said-when everyone has completed both Diagnostics, I will send the information home.
Our Resources for the week are: MONDAY-P.E., TUESDAY-MUSIC, THURSDAY-MEDIA and Friday- ART. Wednesday is an Early Release Day. On Friday it is Sunglasses Day. I allow them to be worn all day in the classroom and during Recess. :) Zacari will be bringing Fun Friday Snacks for the whole class!! ooh I almost forgot Open House!! Thursday is Open House for K-2. It begins at 6:00. :) Don't forget students and teachers will be selling school Magnets, T-Shirts and Safety Patrol Chocolates will be sold that night.
Although the week will be a little off, I don't want to miss a week of Sight Words. So here are the words we will be working on. Also, I will be sending home the first set of Sight Word Money on Monday. :) The words are yours to keep. No need to return them to school!! So... color them, cut them apart and practice having your child read them. I've attached the words at the bottom of the post so you can print additional copies.
Check out the cutest Kindergartners at CLE in their Character t-shirts. :) If your child is not pictured I apologize... there were two other K classes on the playground and it was CRAZY!! haha So I did my best.
The students visited Math and Reading Centers this week. I did a quick circle around the room and took pictures. :) Enjoy watching your child learn with their classmates!
During Open House, the Teachers of Tomorrow (TOT'S) Sponsors will be selling school t-shirts. (The design is above and the blue will be the color of the shirt) I was told that they are $10.00. **There will be limited quantities available, however orders can be made for t-shirts once they run out.**
School shirts are great to have for Spirit Days and Field Trips. I even recommend that parents buy them too! They are great for you to wear when you come in to volunteer at school events or chaperone a field trip. :) PLUS purchasing them helps support TOTs and Chimney Lakes!!
~ I was informed that they will be sold during both Open Houses. So if you miss them at the K-2 Open House, please check back during the 3-5. Also, I will be at the 3-5 Open House selling school magnets. So if you're there, make sure to wave hi!!
If you have any questions about school t-shirts let me know with an email and I will forward it on to the TOT Sponsors.
This week the students completed an art project with Mrs. Thomas. She came in multiple times, so that she could work with the students one-on-one. :) She chatted with them while they used the bingo daubers and discussed ALL of their favorite things. She informed me many times that your children are the sweetest, kindest kids. And it's true... We have the best K Class!!
Here is the note Mrs.Thomas left the class at the end of the day. :) I left it on the board for all the students to see Friday Morning.
(ooh For those of you that have been at Chimney Lakes a few years... Mrs.Thomas is the retired Kindergarten teacher from CLE. I try to use her throughout the year as a substitute. So be ready, when I'm out she'll probably be the one with the class.)
Today a purple Cheetah Paw paper went home in your child's red Daily Communication Folder.
This paper is for you to glue/ tape box tops in each rectangle spot. There are a total of 25 spots and the paper does not need to be turned in until it is completed. When I receive the completed paper, your child will earn a Treasure Box and a new paper will go home in the folder.
Thanks for supporting Chimney Lakes and Box Tops!!
This week I will be sending home Book Log Papers. Book logs are for keeping track of the books you read to and with your child. :) At the end of the school year, the student in the class that has completed and turned in the most book logs is recognized with an Award Certificate.
I'm sure you all want to get started! So I am attaching the paper at the end of the post. Feel free to click on it and make copies. After this week, I will only send home an additional paper after a completed one is turned in to me or one is requested.
** All Kindergarten Teachers use this book log layout, however we all have different expectations and rewards for using this book log.
Dum Dum Reading Challenges are the BEST! About once a week your child will bring home a paper book. The book could be one I've printed off of a website (ReadingAtoZ, Hubbards Cupboard,etc) or a Saxon Reader. Have your child read the book to three different people. Readings can be done in person, over the phone or even through Skype! After your child has read the book, the adult or older sibling that listened will write their name on the back. For book read over the phone, parents please write the name. When the book is returned to school and I verify the names, your child earns a dum dum and they get to put the book into their Independent Book Baggie!
DO NOT allow your child to write the names of the people they read their book to. If this happens I reserve the right to keep the dum dum.
We have a busy, busy week! This week we begin Resources and we start the Kindergarten Curriculum. :) Due to the Solar Eclipse on Monday ~ the students can wear a hat all day!! In the hallways, classroom, even the Cafeteria! I'll be wearing my Tampa Bay Buccaneers hat. :)
Our Resources for the week are: MONDAY-Computer Lab, TUESDAY-Media, WEDNESDAY-Art, THURSDAY-Music and Friday- Computer Lab. On Friday it is Character T-Shirt Day. (Last week, Friday was BUSY!! I will do my best to take the pictures early in the day and make a blog post of the photos.) And Lucas will be bringing Fun Friday Snacks for the whole class!! ooh We will also have a Code of Conduct Assembly with the Administrators in the Multi-Purpose room.
***If your child is staying home on Monday or any day that your child is absent from school, please discuss with them what we are learning in class. I will not reteach the lesson, but I do a quick recap the following school day. ***
MATH
We will be working on Math Skills~ counting to 100, writing 0-10 and making groups to 10. Our Math Module will be sorting objects by similar characteristics into 2 and sometimes 3 groups. To grab the kids attention and get them talking about how the items in the groups are similar, but not exactly the same we will check out Sid the Science Kid's Sorting Game. Here's a link for you to visit it with your child, just click HERE. Also, below is a quick 30 second Youtube video for sorting. Our Math series offers Home Learning Sheets that review the skills taught in class. Look for them in the Red Daily Folder. They won't go home every day, but most days and can be completed in jut a few minutes!
WRITING
We will be focusing on character drawings. We'll discuss that necks are very important for holding up our heads, that arms come our of the body below the neck, that arms and legs have muscles- not sticks, that our faces have a ton of details and so much more!! If you are not an illustrator, check out the video below. The man in the video goes into great detail with his drawings and forgets necks haha, but I use it to show the students that drawing people takes time and we don't rush.
READING
We are continuing the Module on Nursery Rhymes. This week we will work on Jack Be Nimble~ Little Jack Horner~ Jack and Jill~ Little Miss Muffet~ This Little Pig Went to Market~ 1,2 Buckle My Shoe~ Star Light, Star Bright~ and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We will discuss the characters in each and the students will be asked questions after each reading. A few examples of questions they will be asked are: Why does Jack need to be quick? , Are there other ways to explain what the word crown means? , How would you react if a spider came near you?
Our Sight Words for the week are orange, brown, I & the. We didn't get to work on 1-1 word matching with our predictable chart as much as I would like to... so we will be working with the We Like Colors chart again.
SAXON
This is our District Wide Phonics Program. Every day we review the letters of the alphabet and the sound that each letter produces. We discuss which letters are vowels and which are consonants. Then we focus on a particular letter. We discuss the formation for writing the letter and words that begin with the letter. We also discuss any names in the class that have the letter in them. Saxon begins with letter Ll. It's easy to write and recognize, however the sound can be a tricky one for students to produce. (I noticed from the Kindergarten Screenings that many of the students said, "luh.") Below is a Jack Hartmann letter video that focuses solely on letter Ll.
On Monday, I will send home a letter asking for a picture of your child with Mom and Dad. I know some of you may want to start looking for a photo or even take a new one this weekend. :) So I'm giving you a heads up by posting the information here. Read it and if you have any questions, please email me. DO NOT comment a question about the project here, I may not see it.
**This is not mandatory, but participation is FUN!**
Please send in a picture of your
child with Mom and Dad. The picture can be a 4X6 or smaller. Nothing bigger than that. (I am requesting that other siblings and pets not be
in the photo. This is strictly a Mom, Dad and kid thing! J)
If you need to have two pictures~
your child with Dad and then your child with Mom, that will be fine. “MY
DISCLAIMER”: The pictures will be returned, however they will be glued to a piece of construction paper. So if it’s the
only copy of the photograph and you love it a lot… PLEASE send in a copy of it
or another photo. Thank you!
I can’t explain exactly what the
activity is without giving it away, but I promise it’s going to be adorable!! Also,
I want to make you aware that some of the work will be hung in the hallway outside
of our classroom and others will be hung in the classroom. If you decide to not send in a photo, your
child’s work will be hung in the classroom.
If you have any questions or
concerns, please let me know. J
So I need to warn all of you that I am REALLY into taking pictures... I want all of you to see your child with their friends and watch them learn and grow! Well, Wednesday while the students worked on their Rainbow Hair books, Mrs. Phillips (one of our Art Teachers) called them over to the windows and took their photos. :) These shots are adorable!! I loved seeing all their huge smiles and joy in their faces!
Our CLE Safety Patrols are selling Cherrydale Farms chocolates for $1.00 to raise money for their trip to Washington, D.C. If you would like to support the Patrols and have your child buy a chocolate bar (or two!) send the money to school in a bag or envelope labeled Chocolate Money.
The flavors being sold are: milk chocolate, milk chocolate with peanut butter, milk chocolate crisp, milk chocolate almonds & milk chocolate with caramel.
The first week of school is always the busiest!! I have lessons planned and I will do my best to get to all of them... However Rituals and Routines trump everything this week!! We will discuss our "BEE Attitudes" and our class rules for being a CHAMP. (Bee Attitudes are our school wide rules. Look out for the posters around school. They will be posted at every water fountain in the building. CHAMPS explain to the students what is expected with their voice level, who to ask when they need help, whether the activity is an independent one or a partner one, what they need to complete the activity and how much moving around the room is acceptable. )
The BEE Attitude poster that will be hung near the water fountain at the end of the Kindergarten hallway. :)
CHAMPS example...
My CHAMP pictures are hung on the front of the bathroom door. They are Kindergarten friendly.
READING: I love reading and we are beginning week one discussing the following Sight Words= red, green of & a. (A slideshow to help you practice these words will be found at the end of this post.) We will also complete a class Predictable Chart titled~ Colors We Love! The repetitive sentence structure is I like ____. Along with sight word readers on all of the colors!! The books I chose for this week are Rainbow Hair, Cars and The Monster Color Book. The students are going to love them!! Plus we will begin Nursery Rhymes. The ones we will listen to this week are Roses Are Red; Ring Around the Rosie; Rain, Rain Go Away & It's Raining, It's Pouring.
MATH: We will sing songs and dance for number recogntion and counting to 100. (There is a link to a few of the counting songs I use at the top of our blog. It's one of the hot pink quick links I made. ) We will also break out MATH Journals and discuss the district Mathematical Practices!
Learning for Life Lesson: Every month we will complete a lesson that supports a life skill. (I am told to do these by the District. Thankfully I can gear them to the needs of our class.) This month the skill is HONESTY. We will watch a video and discuss why the people no longer believed the boy and thought he was telling tails. (The video can be found at the end of the post~ The Boy Who Cried Wolf.)
WRITING: Kindergarten writing starts out very simple!! The main focus right now is to get your child connecting the pencil to the paper and drawing pictures. We will be working a lot on getting our pictures of people DETAILED. Detailed faces, a neck, arms coming out of the upper torso, legs coming out of the lower body, etc. (Keep an eye out for some pictures to be posted next week on the blog.)
Also... Every Friday we have Fun Friday Snack and a special little dress up activity. This Friday, August 18 is School Color Day. Please have your child dress in Chimney Lakes Colors by wearing yellow and blue. They can choose to wear as much or as little as they want! I make a slideshow of picture every Friday of the students that participate. :)
Monday is going to be super busy for me dealing with dismissal checks and I know many of you will be dropping off school supplies. So... Help me and your child out :) by putting all the supplies into the cubbies with the supply it matches.
**If Monday is going to be crazy busy for your family, please wait and bring in the supplies another day this week. I'm in no rush to recieve them!!**
Thank you to everyone that took time out of their busy schedules and came to Kindergarten Orientation. It was so nice getting to meet all of you!! Hopefully you left Chimney Lakes feeling good about our school and the school year ahead. :)
I will be looking over all the paperwork that was filled out yesterday. You'll be receiving an email or a phone call from me asking for more information. Other than that... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND WITH YOUR KINDERGARTENER AND I'LL SEE YOU ALL ON MONDAY!!
