Greetings from the Kindergarten:
After a wonderful day last Thursday, sitting outside in the sun and looking for signs of spring, the recent snow was met with mixed feelings by the Kindergartners. It was great "snowman snow," so the children had a great time outside making forts and giant snowballs. Today the crocuses are blooming outside the office. Ah, New England!
This week and next the Kindergarten is selling bagels and cream cheese at snack time. Bagels are $2 each. This is a fundraiser that we are doing with 1st and 2nd grades to raise money for Haiti. We will undertake another fundraiser with the Preschoolers to raise money for relief in Japan. This is a result of Ibby's wanting to do something to help the Japanese people in this time of extreme need. It is likely we will have a bake sale. More details will follow in the coming weeks as to the date and how we will organize this effort.
Students have now learned to correctly write all of their lower and upper case letters. The children enjoy practicing these letters. Since they have the most experience with their upper case letters, this practice helps them in forming them correctly. In addition, it is helpful to encourage them to use upper and lower case letters in their writing and to use the correct pencil grip. We have been singing the alphabet song using the letter sounds (we sing the short vowels) instead of just the letter names. I continue to read one-on-one with children during quiet reading and guided reading times. It is exciting to see their emerging reading skills.
Our math explorations have been about time this week. How many minutes are there in one hour? How long is a minute? How can we count by 5s around the clock? We continue to work with non-standard measurement, using parts of our body to measure various things in our classroom. Students have also been learning to differentiate shapes - learning about squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, rhombuses and trapezoids and different ways to form them using geoboards. We have also been exploring 3-D shapes including spheres, cones, cylinders and cubes, as well as extending patterns and working on simple weaving patterns.
Next week we will begin a unit on magnets. This will be a science and math exploration and will include lots of wonderful hands-on activities and experiments.
I hope that you and your children are enjoying the Reading Challenge. There are two weeks left, and I look forward to learning about all the wonderful books you have read.
You will be receiving your child's progress report soon, if you have not already received it. Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns. This is meant to be an on-going dialogue and record of your child's approach to learning and academic development. This is an opportunity to highlight your child's individual strengths and address any issues that may pertain to his or her transition to the next grade level.
April 15 from 12:30 - 4:00 p.m. we will have parent/teacher conferences. Please sign up with Tammy in the office for a slot. If these times are not convenient for you I am happy to schedule another time. Please be aware that school will close at noon on that day.
Enjoy this warmer weather. Let's hope March goes out like a lamb.
Sowing the Seeds of Spring
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Greetings From the Kindergarten!
After a wonderful and relaxing break, it is great to be back working with the children. Our first day back we celebrated the 100th day of school with a variety of activities in our classroom and with the first grade. The children brought in very challenging Mystery 100 items, and both classes had lots of fun guessing each other's items. Some were very tricky. We also made fruit loop necklaces and masks, each project enabling the children to practice counting by tens to 100. With the first graders, we counted how many times we could perform certain physical tasks in 100 seconds including jumping jacks, hopping on one foot and push-ups. It turns out that 100 seconds is much longer than we all imagined! Other math work this week has included estimation and more practice counting on from larger numbers and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.
In our writer's workshop sessions, students have been working on color poems and have completed extended journal entries. The class is really moving forward as we discuss the writing process -- how do we think of ideas and how do we begin to put our ideas on paper? We have been focusing on choosing events from our own lives for our writing, as these are things we know best. Students begin with a drawing and then move through the stages of labeling their pictures or writing sentences to describe what is depicted. We are just starting to talk about the structure of a story, as I read aloud several different versions of The Three Little Pigs and we discuss the stories' differences and similarities.
On Monday, March 7, The Reading Challenge begins and will conclude on Friday, April 1. For those of you who are new to this program, it is an opportunity for students to set goals for reading outside of school for a four-week period. They keep track of their reading each day, and I ask them to speak at meeting about the books they are reading. Materials explaining the program will come home tomorrow in backpacks. Included are contracts for students and for any adults who would like to participate. While I know you all read with your children regularly, the Reading Challenge is fun for all. It is not required, but I hope you will all consider participating.
On March 22 and 23, a string quartet from Yellow Barn in Putney will be coming to school to work with each class and perform for the school. This will be a wonderful chance for students, particularly those in this class who are so interested in string instruments, to talk with the quartet about their instruments. The group will also perform some original compositions submitted by Grammar School students to Vermont's Opus competition.
On a personal note, the children overheard me speaking of a musical I am in that opens this weekend in Saxton's River at Main Street Arts, and they asked me about it. I am in the chorus and it is a fun show for all ages, though I want to let you know that a small gun appears in the show for a moment and there is a brief slapstick fight. I like to let folks know this who might consider bringing children. I thought I'd send a link in case you would like to attend. It runs for two weekends. Please do not in any way feel obligated to come.
http://www.mainstreetarts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=107
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Feel free to call or e-mail if you need to reach me.
In our writer's workshop sessions, students have been working on color poems and have completed extended journal entries. The class is really moving forward as we discuss the writing process -- how do we think of ideas and how do we begin to put our ideas on paper? We have been focusing on choosing events from our own lives for our writing, as these are things we know best. Students begin with a drawing and then move through the stages of labeling their pictures or writing sentences to describe what is depicted. We are just starting to talk about the structure of a story, as I read aloud several different versions of The Three Little Pigs and we discuss the stories' differences and similarities.
On Monday, March 7, The Reading Challenge begins and will conclude on Friday, April 1. For those of you who are new to this program, it is an opportunity for students to set goals for reading outside of school for a four-week period. They keep track of their reading each day, and I ask them to speak at meeting about the books they are reading. Materials explaining the program will come home tomorrow in backpacks. Included are contracts for students and for any adults who would like to participate. While I know you all read with your children regularly, the Reading Challenge is fun for all. It is not required, but I hope you will all consider participating.
On March 22 and 23, a string quartet from Yellow Barn in Putney will be coming to school to work with each class and perform for the school. This will be a wonderful chance for students, particularly those in this class who are so interested in string instruments, to talk with the quartet about their instruments. The group will also perform some original compositions submitted by Grammar School students to Vermont's Opus competition.
Late in March, you will be receiving a Progress Assessment letter from me. This letter is intended to be a component of an ongoing dialogue and record of your child’s approach to learning and academic development. This is an opportunity for me to highlight your child’s individual strengths and to address any issues that may be pertinent to his or her transition to the next grade level.
On a personal note, the children overheard me speaking of a musical I am in that opens this weekend in Saxton's River at Main Street Arts, and they asked me about it. I am in the chorus and it is a fun show for all ages, though I want to let you know that a small gun appears in the show for a moment and there is a brief slapstick fight. I like to let folks know this who might consider bringing children. I thought I'd send a link in case you would like to attend. It runs for two weekends. Please do not in any way feel obligated to come.
http://www.mainstreetarts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=107
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Feel free to call or e-mail if you need to reach me.
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