Welcome to Kindergarten--The First Three Days

What a GREAT first three days of kindergarten! The class has been busy learning their roles and responsibilities as new independent kindergarteners! We have practiced several routines that help make our day run smoothly, played with our new friends, adjusting to a FULL day of learning and tried to have some fun along the way. If you haven’t signed up for REMIND text reminders, please do so ASAP. It is completely FREE to sign up! Text the words @mrsbrown26 to the phone number 317-333-6825. If you have had a chance to look through the parent packet that you received at Monday night’s open house, let me know if you have any questions!

Reading:

-We will begin learning a new sight word next week!

-The CAFÉ strategy we worked on this week was the strategy.

“3 Ways to Read a Book”

We began this lesson by discussing who is able to read in the class. The majority of the students informed me that they cannot read. I told each of them, yes you can! You are already readers and I’m going to show you how I know that. We took a book from my basket and practiced the first way to read a book, which is “Read the Pictures”. I started off by reading what I saw in the pictures on each of the pages. I then called on students to help me read the rest of the book. They proved that they were already becoming readers by being able to read a book by reading the pictures! We continued on the rest of the week by practicing the other two ways “Read the Words” and “Retell Familiar Stories”. .

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?
 

1. When reading with your child, have him/her first read the book to you by just looking at the pictures and creating their very own story!

2. Another option would be to have your child choose one of his/her favorite bedtime stories and encourage them to retell the story to you. If they have heard the story multiple times, he/she should be able to retell the story to you almost word for word.

3. Use the following questions to promote this strategy. Ask your child:

 

What do you see in the pictures that helps you read them?
What is something you remember about this story on this page?

Can you find a word on this page that you know? Maybe a few letters?

Writing:

-This week in writing we focused on creating two charts as a class. The charts we made and wrote together were “What is a good friend?” and “What is a good teacher?”. The class brainstormed a list of things they think makes a good friend and a good teacher. I loved hearing their thoughts and ideas. We will be sure to look back at these charts throughout the year if we ever have issues of getting along with one another.

Math:

-This week in math, we introduced our calendar and explored our math tubs. We used our imagination using each of the tubs! We will be using these tubs when learning math skills all year long!

-On Friday, we practiced sharing and getting along with each other while exploring and playing with classroom toys during play stations!

Next week:
--In writing, we will begin practicing a different letter of the alphabet each day!

--In math, we will focus on numbers 1-5 at the beginning of the week and numbers 6-10 by the middle of the week!

--In reading, we will continue to practice building our stamina for Read to Self.

--Our theme next week is “Getting to Know You”. We will continue learning about each other.

--We will begin our “normal” routine next week. Be on the lookout for homework in your child’s BLUE home folder Monday night! All homework is due back any day Tues-Friday!

 

PRACTICE AT HOME:

See if your child can tell you our 5 classroom rules! We have hand motions for each of the rules too!

 

1. Follow directions quickly.

 

2. Raise your hand for permission to speak.

 

3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

 

4. Make smart choices.

 

5. Keep your dear teacher happy. J