KINDERGARTEN CONNECTION
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March proves to be an impressive time in kindergarten as students academic and social skills really take off! The children can rotate independently through literacy and math stations. Ask your child to teach you all about the stations: Guided reading, Word Work, Computer/iPad, ABC (phonics), FUNdations, Writer’s Workshop, 123 (math work), partner games, teacher games, Math Workplaces, Science, and Explore.
Literacy Highlights
We are reading and writing up a storm in kindergarten! We are focusing on using a variety of strategies to read instructional level books. We are learning how to recognize spelling chunks and little words inside of big words to read and write tricky words. This week we worked on the initial consonant blends bl, fl, gr, br and we added –ut, -ud, -ag to our list of known word families. During Writer’s Workshop we wrote more ‘How To’ books. We also ‘changed out’ our classroom library to reflect the spring season. Make time to read and write with your blooming child everyday!
We can read and write the listed high-frequency words quickly. Make a word wall in your home and encourage your child to practice reading and writing these words often. Hunt for high frequency words in books and magazines. Write a note/letter to someone special. Write a story about an important moment or event. Make time to read and write with your child everyday ~ I am a can the we see will he she it is in no yes on have like look you are love me for my so go off big little here up and an if Mom Dad cat dog going
Math Highlights
We are learning how to represent and solve addition and subtraction story problems using objects, number sentences, props, math talk and our math hands. We are working hard to solve problems in more than one way and to justify our math thinking. We know that when we work hard, persevere through stuck points and share our thinking, our brains grow and we feel good! Just for fun, play adding and subtracting games with your child using pennies and beans. Ask your child: How many different combinations to make 5 or 10? What happens to a group when you add or subtract 1? Encourage your child to justify his/her math reasoning with words, objects and equations.
We are beginning to learn about measurement and will have opportunities to use math tools to measure capacity, weight, temperature and length. Help your child locate and use measuring tools in your home.
We are learning about two-dimensional and three -dimensional shapes. Go on a shape walk and identify circles, spheres, squares, cubes, triangles, cones, rectangles, and rectangular prisms. Ask your child to teach you all about shapes and their different attributes.
Counting, counting and more counting! We are working hard at counting on from random numbers, counting backwards from 20 and skip counting to 20 by 2’s. We are also working on identifying before and after numbers. In addition, we are learning how to use graphs to collect and analyze date.
Science Highlights
We will wrap up of Weather unit this week. The children have learned so much about different types of weather and how weather impacts our day to day lives and our environment.
We will began a unit on our 5 senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching) next week.
The children have been busy bees at the Maker Explore Station! Individual and groups of children have engineered traps, robots, simple machines, cars, and so much more. Thank you for making contributions to make this station possible. Please continue to send maker items and tape to school with your children.
Thank You, Parents!
Thank you for taking time to conference with me about your child’s growth in kindergarten. I look forward to partnering with you for the remainder of the year as your child gears up for first grade.
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| We spent a lot of time exploring with shapes at the beginning of our geometry unit. |
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| We worked with our AB math partners to build with shapes. |
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| We played with a variety of shape apps on iPads. |
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| We can make 10 in different ways. |
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| We studied different animals and studied books to help us write informational pieces. |
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| We can say, tap, build, and write three CVC words. We are feeling more and more confident in our ability to hear and record short vowel sounds. |
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| This month's calendar graphs and data collectors. |
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| We know are learning about two dimensional and three dimensional shapes. |
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| We discovered that a circle is a two dimensional flat shape and that a ball is called sphere and is a three dimensional shape. |
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| We made March lions and lambs with Mrs. Rowntree's class for Fun Friday. |
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| We are beginning to add the digraphs sh, th, wh, and ch in our writing. |
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| We are working hard to add labels to our pictures to offer the reader even more information about out stories. We discovered that scientists use a lot of labels in their work. |
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| Partner Shape Game |
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| Here are few friends collaborating at the Maker Explore Station. |
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| More friends working together in the Maker Station. |
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| Four Winds We learned all about galls in Four Winds. Ask your little scientist to teach you how and whey these outgrowths form on the surface lifeforms like branches and leaves. |
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| We found a larva inside of this gall. |
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| We played a counting and comparing game to help us talk math with our AB partners. Ask you child to teach you how we talk math at school and why it's important to listen closely to understand our peers share their math thinking. |
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| We are writing How To book during Writer's Workshop. This genre of writing helps us teach others how to do something following an organized sequence of steps. |
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| We are working to use these transitional words in our How To pieces. |
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| Teacher Example |
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| We can count on from any given number. |
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| We can build addition sentences. |
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| March Calendars |
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| Spring is in the air! |
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| We can read and match rainbow colors. |
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| Nothing better than a fresh batch of play dough. Thanks to all of our parent volunteers for providing us with homemade play dough each month |
