Sight Word Fun!

Hello Families!

The Peeps are bringing home sight word lists and flash cards for "Level 1." These are the most basic sight words that we see most often! If your child attended preschool, he/she may already know some of these words. Please practice them at home when you can. Here are some suggestions:

**If your child is a new reader, please just stick with the pace that we're on in class, or even work a little bit behind us. We've learned the words "the" and "my." You could just practice those. We'll add 1-2 new words each week, so by the end of the first quarter, the kids will have seen the whole list for level 1. I'll list the words we've learned on the blog each week.

**If your child can already recognize some words, you can work at your child's pace. When your child knows all of the words on the list, you can get a bonus word list. You could also practice spelling the words. 

**Every time you practice with flash cards, have your child color in one star. The stars on the flash cards help your child learn that it's important to practice the words on lots of different days. We need to know sight words "in a snap."

Why learn sight words at all?

When we are learning to read beginning level books, we start by looking at the pictures and thinking about what would make sense on the page. We don't use letter sounds or "sound it out." So few words actually sound out, that is one of the very last reading strategies that we teach. First, we use the pictures. Then we look for words we know. When children know sight words, they can focus on just the unknown words on the page. They aren't stuck on every word. 

There are so many fun ways to practice sight words...I'll put more ideas in the blog on Friday. Please just work at your child's pace, so that he/she is not frustrated or feels like they can't read. I told the Peeps today that it's OK just to practice "the" and "my." We know those!

Thanks and have a great night!

Kelley

Partner Reading

During Reading Workshop, we're building so many skills! We've been working on partner reading. When we read by ourselves, we talk about everything we see on the page. We mark "Wow" pages with sticky notes, so we can be sure to show our partner.

Meeting Mrs. Maddock

Our Kindergarten counselor, Mrs. Maddock, came to visit us on Monday morning! She will be coming to our classroom every two weeks to work with us. Today she played some fun "getting to know you" games! 

Things to Think About at Home

I love Cookie Monster and his "Crumby Pictures!" I thought you might like this one we watched about whole-body listening.

Here is some information about holding scissors correctly, so that you can practice when cutting at home!

Working With Scissors

Correct Scissor Grip

This is the ideal scissor grip: the thumb through one (smaller) hole and the middle/tall finger through the other (big) hole, and the index/pointer finger resting on the outside of the scissors. When cutting, the thumb should be on top with scissors pointing away from you.

If your child’s fingers are very small and/or if the finger hole is large, it is OK to put the index and middle fingers through the same hole. But if you keep your pointer finger OUT, it can "lead the way" and help steer the scissors, giving you better control. (We sing, "Bah-bah bah bah bah bah! CHARGE!")

Holding the scissors in this way enables the tripod fingers to work together well. It helps build our finger muscles for writing, too!

Open the scissors wide and put them on the paper, but take little nibbles to cut. The scissors should close just a little--"nibble, nibble, nibble." NOT "Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!" (closing all of the way) each time. If you chomp the paper with scissors, you can only cut straight lines, and not curves.

Our Peeps have really been practicing well! Just see our pictures in posts below to see great cutting in action!

Weekly Report

It's been a busy week establishing routines and procedures for our day. I'm so proud of how well everyone has been listening, and how hard they've all been working. This group of children is absolutely fantastic. I'm enjoying them so much!



In our shared reading lessons, we've started to focus on individual letters and sounds. Each day we sing "Hands Up For Letter Sounds" to practice. We find letters in the books we read, and we look for the sight word "the." Several of the children remembered learning that word in preschool! We've learned that there are different types of books--story books and books we can learn things from. We've been "reading" lots of non-fiction books, and marking our favorite parts with sticky notes. Then we share the books with our reading partners. We're learning how reading workshop should look and sound, and we're learning how to study a book carefully from cover to cover. It's OK that we can't read all of the words yet. We're learning how to get a lot of information ("read") the pictures!

During our read aloud times, we've had fun reading The Little School Bus, My Little Sister Ate One Hare, Bark George, The Kissing Hand, and Count the Monkeys, among other books! (I found good read-alouds on YouTube for you to share with your child if you'd like to enjoy some of these books together! Click the links, and don't forget to count them on your Reading Log!)

During Writing Workshop, we've practiced sharpening our pencils, gripping our pencil the right way, using all of the paper we have before we get a new one, and putting our finished pages in our writing folder. We're practicing good habits while we're using our tools!

Look for our "All About the Number 1" booklet to come home in binders today. We're learning how to show numbers in many different ways, including in number and word form, on a ten frame, and on a number line. We're also working on the concept of 0, sorting by color and size, and circles. We know that circles have no sides and no vertices. We know that "vertices" are corners!

We have rule books that we've been working in, and they look like big rulers! That's silly! We've been learning all about good rules to have at school that will keep us safe, and help us learn and have fun. We've talked about raising hands, lining up, eating lunch quietly, going down the slide correctly at recess, and always trying our best. Our rule books will be finished in the next few days, and then you'll be able to see our terrific work!

In other news, we had our first fire drill this afternoon. I was so proud of the Peeps' awesome behavior! They were terrific!



Monday is C Day - P.E. Please have your child wear tennis shoes to school. We won't always have time to change shoes, and this can be problematic.

Tuesday is D Day - P.E./Health. Be sure to wear tennis shoes!

Wednesday is E Day - Library/Technology

Thursday is A Day - Art

Friday is B Day - Music
Friday is also Bus Driver's Day. So if your child is a bus rider, you might have him/her draw a special picture for the bus driver, or find another way to say "thanks!" This is a terrific time of year to build a relationship with your driver!

Click here to view our lunch menu.

Please be sure that you have all beginning of the year forms and LPTO party money ($7) turned in as soon as possible. Thank you! I put extra forms in binders if I don't have a certain one from you.

A Sign-Up-Genius email was sent home on Thursday, so that you can sign up for parties and special events during the year. Please let me know if you did not receive that email.

During the second half of the school year, we will be going on several field trips. If you'd like to be a chaperone, you will need to have a police record check on file. Look for forms to come home in binders, so that you can fill them out if you'd like to chaperone this year. If you don't want to chaperone, or if you have a current police record check on file, there's no need to return this.

Thank you for all you do! Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

Scenes Around the Room This Week

In the School Center, the children can re-read the books that we've been enjoying together!

Construction Center has been crowded, but LOTS of fun!

During Social Studies lessons, we're working on our School Rules book. The Peeps are practicing using the tools in their toolbox to color, cut, and glue items on each page!

Look at these scissor positions! It can be tricky to remember how to hold scissors, but we are doing it! 

In our math booklets for learning about number 1, there was cutting, too! Academic concepts are fairly simple at this point in Kindergarten. We're focusing on managing our materials, using tools correctly, and following directions. I'm so proud of our hardworking Peeps!

We LOVE our watercolors! Today we had the best time painting during our rest and recharge time. The boys and girls didn't even realize that painting helps us practice important handwriting skills. They painted beautiful pictures! (Look for those in binders on Monday.)

Reading Workshop in Action

We've learned that there are story books that tell a story about someone, and there are books that we can use to learn about the world. We've been "reading" non-fiction books a lot during our Reading Workshop time. We're studying the pictures to see what the book can teach us. We've learned that there are different ways to read, too! We can read by ourselves, and we can read with a partner!

 Reading Workshop is lots of fun!

Lookin' Good, Peeps!

As we were walking back from Art on Thursday, one of our building aides looked at the Peeps and said, "What cute little guys!" as she walked by. The Peeps heard her, and several of them were really offended.

"She said we're CUTE LITTLE GUYS?!?!?" one friend said.

"Wait! We're NOT little!" another friend said.

I said, "Nope. No little kids here. This is Kindergarten and we're all really big."

I hope you enjoy seeing these pictures of the hard-working, good-listening, responsible, BIG Peeps. Just you remember that they are neither cute, nor little.

 

I love these great big kids!