KinderKorner

2012-01-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

This week we began our reading theme, Sunshine and Raindrops. Some of the stories we read were, Chicken Soup with Rice, What Will the Weather Be Like Today? Snow Day, Elmer and Elmer in the Snow. In Jolly Phonics we worked on the sounds qu & ou. Our new popcorn word was, is. In handwriting we printed the lowercase a & d. In math we began working on the numbers 11-20. These numbers are sometimes tricky for the kids to remember because the number doesn't look the way it sounds. We have been talking about place value of tens and ones when learning these numbers. This week Mrs. Hansen read to the class. Zoe's dad also read The Wheels on the Bus to the class since she was the Superstar this week. The students liked her poster, show & tell and making her a special book. On Friday the students changed seats and had pajama day. It was a fun week!

2012-01-20T10:40:00.000-08:00

This week we finished up our reading theme, Let's Count! The sounds we learned in Jolly Phonics were the sounds for ng & th. The students did winter benchmarking tests in which they had to name letters, sounds, and segment words. In handwriting we worked on the letter t & copied words that contained the lowercase letters we have done so far. Our new popcorn words were no & so. The students also worked on The Imagination Station computer reading program. In math we finished our chapter on shapes. We learned about symmetry and equal parts. Michael was the star of the week. Everyone made a special book for him and enjoyed the books his mom read to the class. They also enjoyed seeing his favorite stuffed animals for show & tell and the poster he made about himself. It was a wonderful week!

2012-01-12T12:28:00.001-08:00

The students were so excited to finally get some snow this week! We continued our reading theme, Let's Count! and read the stories, Counting Noodles, & Ten Little Puppies. Our popcorn word was, go. In Jolly Phonics we worked on the digraph sounds, ch & sh. We printed the lowercase v & w in handwriting and practiced sounding out words. In math we compared shapes and talked about the number of sides & corners that they have. We discovered that the 3d shapes (cone, pyramid, cube, rectangular prism and cylinder) have flat shapes on them. We also read about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream for people to get along. The students went to library, gym and recess. They also worked on The Imagination Station computer reading program. Claire was the star of the week. She did a great job sharing her poster and show and tell with the class. The students made a special book for her and enjoyed listening to her dad read to the class!

2012-01-06T08:18:00.001-08:00

Welcome back to school! I hope that everyone shared wonderful holidays with your family and friends. The reading theme we started this week was, Let's Count! Some of the stories that we read were Benny's Pennies, Feast for 10, What's on the Menu? Ten Gingerbread Men, and The Twelve Days of Winter. Our new popcorn word was, and. In Jolly Phonics, we learned the two sounds that oo make (as in the words book & moon). We've started printing the lowercase letters during handwriting. This week we made letters c, o & s, which all begin with making a magic c. We added the season of winter to our calendar time and also added a question of the day. Each day there is a question and the students have to decide if their answer is yes or no. We then make tallies to record the results. In math we are beginning to learn about 3d shapes such as the sphere, cone, cylinder, cube, pyramid and rectangular prism. The students went to library, computers, gym and had beautiful weather for outdoor recess. It was a great week!

2011-12-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

It was gingerbread week in Kindergarten! On Monday, we read the story, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. That night he ran away and left notes to us each day until he was found by Mrs. Hansen on Thursday. We read a lot of gingerbread stories such as, Gingerbread Friends, The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers, The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Cowboy, and The Stinky Cheese Man. The letter sounds we worked on in Jolly Phonics were letters y & x. Our popcorn word was, do. In handwriting we finished up our capital letters and will begin lowercase letters after Winter Break. During math time we read and completed graphs. It was an exciting week! Enjoy the holidays with your families!

2011-12-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

This week we learned the sounds of w & v. The students enjoy the activities in our Jolly Phonics for the Whiteboard program. They have been doing a great job reading words and reviewing sounds. Our new popcorn word was to. Some of the stories we read to go along with our Friends Together theme were The Lion and The Mouse, My Dad and I, Friends Help Friends, and Wanted: Best Friend. In handwriting we practiced printing the letters A, I, T & J. After Winter Break we will work on the lowercase letters. During math time we learned about ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and comparing sets using words like more, fewer, less, etc. Brooke did a great job sharing her poster and show and tell with the class. Her classmates made her a special book and enjoyed the stories that her dad read to them. Have a wonderful weekend!

2011-12-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

This week we began our reading theme, Friends Together. Some of the stories we read were Little Bear's Special Friend, Friends at School, & Aaron and Gayla's Alphabet Book. We reviewed the popcorn words and added the word, a. In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds "ee, or, & z". In handwriting we finished up the magic C capitals- C, O, Q & G and are continuing to focus on other center starting capitals like S, A, I, T & J. In math we modeled numbers on a ten frame using manipulatives. The students brought home more Jolly Phonics letter, word and picture cards today. Be sure to review all of the sounds and see how many different words you can make together. The students brought home their first trimester report card this week. The gold copy is yours to keep. Please sign and return the empty envelope as soon as possible. It's been wonderful meeting with each of you to discuss your child's progress in school so far. Have a great 3 day weekend!

2011-11-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

This week was our Thanksgiving theme. We read fun stories about turkeys and Thanksgiving. Some of the stories we read were, T is for Turkey, Run, Turkey, Run, 10 Fat Turkeys, Franklin's Thanksgiving, & A Plump and Perky Turkey. We worked on a "Thanksgiving I See" booklet and out new popcorn word was friend. In Jolly Phonics we reviewed the sounds that ai, oa & ie make. In handwriting we finished the starting corner capitals, Y & Z. We practiced letter naming, letter sounds, rhyming, beginning sounds, blending, ending sounds, segmenting, substituting beginning sounds, & adding and deleting phonemes in our Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program. In math we continued to work on numbers and assessments for the first trimester report card. We went to an assembly performed by Kids on the Block. During this assembly, the students were taught about children who may have different needs or abilities than them. They learned that even though they may look different on the outside, all kids are the same on the inside and everyone has feelings. The students also went to gym, library, recess and computers. Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving with your families!

2011-11-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

This week we finished our reading theme, We're a Family. Some of the stories we read were, The Amazing Little Porridge Pot, Tortillas and Lullabies (in english & spanish), Koala Lou, & Me & My Dad. The popcorn words that we added to our popcorn bags this week were mom & dad. The Jolly Phonics sounds that were taught were, ai & oa. In Handwriting we are finishing up the starting corner capital letters and will begin center starting capital letters that have a magic c in them. In math we have continued to work on numbers to 10 and numeral writing. Continue to practice these at home in a variety of ways. Some students struggle with printing some of these numbers correctly. The students have no school tomorrow in honor of Veteran's Day. Enjoy your long weekend!

2011-11-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

We started the week with a great day for our costume parade and classroom party. Thank you to the parents who sent in snacks, drinks and paper goods as well as the parents who came in and worked with the kids. They had a great time! We continued our reading theme, We're a Family this week. A few of the stories we read were, Goldilocks and the Three Bears & Shoes From Grandpa. The students made predictions in these stories and practiced retelling. We reviewed our popcorn words and the word that we added to our popcorn bag was, like. The letter sounds we focused on were the sounds that b & j make. In handwriting we continued to practice printing capitals letters that start in the corner, such as H, K & L. During math time we used The Numeral Song by Dr. Jean to help us print the numbers 1-10 correctly. We also practiced modeling these numbers on a frame and counted objects. Gwen was the star of the week. The students enjoyed seeing her poster and show & tell. They started making a special book for her and her dad came in to read to the class. It was a wonderful week!

2011-10-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

This week was our Halloween theme in reading. We read stories such as, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, Five Little Bats Flying in the Night, & Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks at School. The students worked on making predictions and sequence of events with these stories. In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds of the letters l & f. We have been reviewing the letter sounds that have been introduced and using them to make and read words. Our new popcorn word was, by. In handwriting we reviewed the frog jump capitals and are now working on starting corner capitals like H, K, & L. In math we have been focusing on printing the numbers 1-10 correctly. We have a fun song that we make numbers along with called, The Numeral Song. Brody did a great job being our Superstar this week. The students also were read to by our principal, Mrs. Hansen. Have a great weekend!

2011-10-21T10:12:00.001-07:00

We were able to start the week with our field trip to Johansen Farms! The students had a great time! Thank you to the parents who chaperoned this trip. We began our "We're a Family" theme in Reading this week. Some of the stories we read were, Jonathan and His Mommy, and Tortillas and Lullabies. Our new popcorn word was, my. The letter sounds we worked on this week were short o & u. We've been busy making words by putting the sounds together that we have learned. In math we began our numbers unit. Students will practice one-to-one correspondence. We will also count objects and learn the proper formation of the numbers 0-10. Kailey was our Superstar this week. She did a wonderful job sharing her poster and show & tell with the class. The students enjoyed making a special book for her and listening to her Grandma read. It was another great week in Kindergarten!

2011-10-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

The students had a short week of school this week! During the three days that they had school, we worked on the letter g. We also had a new popcorn word, little. We finished up our colors theme and read the stories, Goldilicious, and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves. We read and colored a colorful leaf book according to the words in the sentences. We also practiced printing the last of the frog jump capitals, letter M. The letters F,E,D,P,B,R,N & M are all letters that start in the top corner with a big line down. Then we "frog jump" picking up our pencil to the starting point to finish the letter. Next week we will start a group of capital letters that start in the corner, but are not frog jump letters. During math we made patterns with unifix cubes. Our field trip was rescheduled to Monday, October 17th since today was too rainy. Our school also learned about Fire Safety when two firefighters came to our school from the Darien-Woodridge Fire Department on Wednesday. Have a great weekend!

2011-10-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

This week we continued to work on color words. Some of the stories we read were How The Birds Got Their Colors, The Falling Leaves, The Biggest Leaf Pile, and Let It Fall. Our new popcorn word was big. During handwriting we practiced printing two more frog jump capitals...R & N. Now that the students have learned 13 letter sounds, we have had a lot of fun making words on our Jolly Phonics for the White board program. In math we have continued to create and extend simple patterns. The students learned a fun Macarena Dance for the months of the year during calendar time. They love doing it! The weather was perfect for outdoor recess this week. The students also had computers, library and gym. Chloe did a great job as student of the week. She explained her poster to the class, shared her show & tell and invited her grandma to read to the class. Her classmates did such a nice job on her Superstar book too. Enjoy your long weekend!

2011-09-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

This week we continued to work on the reading theme, Colors All Around. Some of the stories we read were Caps of Many Colors, In The Big Blue Sea, & Caps For Sale. Students worked on making predictions and retelling (or summarizing) a story. We practiced recognizing color words. Our new popcorn word was see. We practiced printing the "frog jump" letters P & B during handwriting time. During math we made & identified patterns. The students are also practicing the days of the week, months of the year, weather, and counting during calendar time. Matthew was our star of the week. He shared his poster and show & tell with the class. He also invited a special reader to come in and read to the class. His classmates enjoyed making him a special book too. We also had library, computers, gym, indoor recess and picture day. It was another great week!

2011-09-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

This week we started our reading theme, Colors All Around. Some of the stories we read were I Need a Lunchbox, I Went Walking, What's My Favorite Color, A Color Of His Own, & Purplicious.
This year the students will be learning high-frequency words that they should recognize quickly by sight. The first of these words, I, was introduced this week. We noticed that this word popped up many times in the stories we read! The Jolly Phonics sounds we learned this week were the sounds of c,k & e. We have been reviewing all of the letter sounds that have been introduced (s,a,t,i,p,n) and have been combining them to make words. During handwriting time, we continued to focus on correct pencil grip and posture. The students have been printing the "frog jump" capitals and have practiced the letters F, E, & D so far. These are called frog jump letters because after you make a big line straight down, you pick up your pencil and "frog jump" back to the corner where you started to finish the letter. In math we have been sorting objects in a variety of ways and focused on positional words such as above, below, over, under, beside, between, next to, in front of & behind. This week we began our Star Of The Week program. Katie did a wonderful job telling us about her poster and show & tell. Her classmates made a special book for her and her uncle read to the class. We sure had a fun week!

2011-09-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

This week we continued to work on our Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program and Jolly Phonics. The letter sounds we focused on were p & n. We also reviewed the sounds of s, a, t, & i. We sorted pictures by beginning sound. In reading we read stories such as, The City Mouse and The Country Mouse, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? and From Head To Toe. The skills we focused on were compare/contrast, left to right, top to bottom directionality, and noting details. We also worked on using describing words and storytelling. In handwriting we continued to work on pencil grip and began making letter F, the first of the "frog jump" capital letters. The class went into our computer lab and were introduced to Imagination Station, a computer reading program that we use. In math we finished up our chapter on sorting by color, size and shape. We had our first fire drill of the year and did a great job! The students also enjoyed having outdoor recess, gym and library. It was a great week!

2011-09-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

This week the students learned the expectations for their behavior throughout our school through PBIS (positive behavior interventions & supports) They learned how to be respectful, responsible and safe in the classroom, hallway, washroom, library, bus, special event, bus line, inside recess and outside recess. At the end of the week they were rewarded with a Popsicle for their efforts with this program.
The Jolly Phonics sounds that we learned this week were the letters t & i. We learned actions to go with these letter sounds and did fun activities on our whiteboard program. We made words and sorted pictures by beginning sound using the letters s,a,t,i. We continued our Look At Us! theme in reading. Some of the stories I read were The Gingerbread Man, Here Are My Hands, How Do You Feel, and The Way I Feel. We also talked about our senses and played Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. Our focus was on left to right & top to bottom directionality, noting details, and compare/contrast. In math we sorted shapes by size, shape, and/or color. We have also been working on alike and different and which does not belong. Please continue to review these concepts at home. Find items your child can sort at home in a variety of ways. Review the sounds of the letters we have worked on (s,a,t,i) and find objects that begin with those sounds. Have a great weekend!

2011-09-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We made it through a full week of Kindergarten! The students are becoming more comfortable with their new school each day. This week we began teaching our curriculum. In the Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program, the students listened for and repeated such things as rhyming words, beginning sounds of words, compound words, letter recognition, and letter sounds. During reading time we read stories such as, Now I'm Big, Mice Squeak, We Speak, Let's Play and We Go To School. We worked on compare/contrast, left to right directionality and size words. In Jolly Phonics we practiced the sounds for s & a using our whiteboard program. Be sure to practice those sounds at home...s (sssss) & a (a as in aaaaple). In handwriting we practiced proper posture and pencil grip and explored some of our handwriting manipulatives. In math we have been working on sorting objects by color, size and shape. We've been using the words, alike and different when we compare objects. The students also had recess, went to gym, and visited the library. We had a great week! Have a wonderful weekend!

2011-08-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten! It was great to meet all of you this week and share my classroom with you. The students have had two great days and are learning all about their new school. Some of the stories we have read are, The Kissing Hand, Curious George's First Day of School, and Kindergarten Rocks! The students had recess outside and gym class too. We have been focusing on how to be a good listener, how to take turns speaking in class, and learning about our classmates. Next week we will begin our Reading, Phonics, and Math Curriculum. The students will also visit our school library. Have a great weekend!

2011-06-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation is almost here! We continued our ABC Countdown with the letters U, V, W, & X. The students wore red, white & blue for USA day on Tuesday and had veggies and video on Wednesday. Thursday was Wow...It's Graduation Day and x-changed autographs on Friday. The PTO provided us with a fun assembly this week. "The Bubble Man" visited our school! He showed us many cool ways he can make bubbles but also had an underlying theme to his program...anything is possible. We hope everyone enjoyed our graduation ceremony on Thursday. The students did a wonderful job and were so proud! On Friday we had our all-school picnic. The students played games outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. They ate lunch in the lunchroom just like they will next year in first grade! It's hard to believe they only have one day left of Kindergarten! Thank you parents for a wonderful year!

2011-05-26T11:33:00.001-07:00

We continued our ABC Countdown this week with letters P, Q, R, S & T. The students enjoyed puzzle day, quiet day, rock 'n roll day, sports team day & top your head with a hat day. During reading centers the students did assessments with me, read with a partner, and went on Imagination Station. They listened to the story, When Dinosaurs Came With Everything, at the listening center, and sorted pictures in the -in & -un families. Some of the stories we read were Library Mouse, Pigs Will Be Pigs, If You Give a Pig a Party and What Time is it Mr. Crocodile? We also read Jim Gill's book, May There Always Be Sunshine, and made a special book of our ideas for him. We continued to work on subtraction in math. Librarians from The Indian Prairie and Woodridge Public Libraries came in to tell the students about their summer reading programs. Please sign your child up at your local library. It is very important to continue reading with your child over the summer.

2011-05-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

For the ABC Countdown this week we had "Kindergarten Rocks" Day, Lion Day, Music Day, Neatness Day & Outside for Gym Day. We took our last field trip of the year to Brookfield Zoo. Thank you to the parents who chaperoned this trip! It was a nice day and we all had such a good time. We learned about the "oo" sounds in words and our last popcorn word was, look. We read stories about the zoo and animals. Some of the stories we read included, Animal Strike at the Zoo, Wild Animals ABC, Hello Baby, & My School's a Zoo. We finished the chapter on addition in math this week. The students really enjoyed working on addition problems. We are now working on the concept of "take away" or subtraction. As we wrap up the end of the school year, please make sure that all library books and any of my little readers are turned back in to school.

2011-05-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

This week we continued our ABC countdown to the last day of school with letters F, G, H, I & J. The students had "freeze dance" day, "game" day, be "happy" day, "I love to read" day & "jumping jacks" day. Our new popcorn words were, big and little. During reading center time, the students read in small groups with me, went on Imagination Station, & listened to another version of Henny Penny at the listening center. They also sorted pictures by the beginning sounds, th, sh, ch, wh. We read a Weekly Reader about butterflies and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In math we continued to work on the concept of addition. We will now move on to subtraction.

2011-05-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

This week we began our ABC countdown to the end of the school year. We had be an "artist" day, "buddy" read day, "clean" up your classroom day, "dance" day, and "exercise" day. During reading centers the students went on Imagination Station, read in small groups with me, sorted pictures in the -an & -en word families, and listened to the story, ABC Animal Jamboree at the listening center. Some of the read alouds I read this week were, The Tale of The Three Little Pigs, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and Bridget's Beret. Our new popcorn words were, yes & no. In math we started working on the concept of addition. We will continue to work on addition next week. The students had library, gym, recess and computers. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

2011-04-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

This week we started our reading theme, A World of Animals. Some of the stories we read were Run Away! Splash! The Foolish Tortoise, One Tiny Turtle, It's Mine! and ABC Animal Jamboree. Our new popcorn word was, are. We made art projects for the reptile/amphibian house for our Kindergarten Zoo for Open House. In math, we finished the chapter on money. The goal in kindergarten is for the students to be able to identify the coins. We looked at the differences between the coins, their values and counted coins that are the same. It would be helpful for first grade to continue to practice distinguishing between the coins and counting various sets of coins. The students had gym, indoor recess, library, computers and changed seats this week. Thank you to those who were able to attend Open House and the Book Fair on Thursday. The students were proud to show you their classroom!

2011-04-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on the long a sound made by ai & ay. Our popcorn word was, he. Some of the stories that we read included Easter Eggs Everywhere, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Mrs. Hansen visited our classroom and played a spring-themed bingo game called, "Bloom". In math we continued to count pennies, nickels, and dimes and started making trades between the coins. We have also started making fun projects for our kindergarten zoo theme for Open House next week. Make sure you stop by and visit. The students also had gym, library and recess. It was a fun week!

2011-04-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

This week we continued working on our spring reading theme. A few of the stories we read were, The Tortoise and The Hare, Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash, An Ant's Day Off, and Giraffes Can't Dance. We made words in the -ug and -uck word families and our new popcorn word was, she. During reading centers, the students read in small groups, sorted pictures in the -ig and -ug word families, worked on Imagination Station, and listened to a story at the listening center. We made a giraffe art project and will start making a Kindergarten Zoo for Open House. In math we have been identifying and counting coins such as the penny, nickel, and dime. We will work on the quarter next week. We went outside for recess, went to library, and gym and had computers. It was another great week!

2011-04-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

Welcome back to school after Spring Break! This week we began our reading theme, Spring is Here! We read stories such as Kevin and His Dad, and Mouse's First Spring. Our new popcorn word was, play, and we made words from the -ut and -un word families. During reading center time, the students read in a small group with me and listened to the story, The Bubble Factory, at the listening center. They also sorted pictures from the -et and -ut families and worked on The Imagination Station computer reading program. Ryan was our Superstar this week. The students made a special book for Ryan and enjoyed seeing his poster. He shared some of his special items for show and tell and invited his dad to read to the class. During library this week the students learned about internet safety. In math we worked on measuring area and capacity and will now begin to learn about money. It was a great week!

2011-03-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

This week we welcomed Spring into our calendar time! We finished up our reading theme about the farm and read some fun stories such as Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type, Dooby, Dooby, Moo! and The Lion On The Path. Our new popcorn word was, animal. We read a Weekly Reader about animals and worked on making singular & plural animal names. Our reading centers involved guided reading, computers, a listening center and word family picture sorts. In math, we worked on measuring objects with nonstandard units. The students enjoyed measuring various classroom objects using shoes, unifix cubes, and paper clips. We also focused on the weight of objects. Students helped to decide which was the heavier and lighter of two objects. Danny was the star of the week. His classmates enjoyed when he shared his poster and show and tell with them. The class made a special book for Danny and his mom read a story about puppies to the class. Enjoy your spring break next week! We will be back in school on Monday, April 4th!

2011-03-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

This week we continued to read stories about the farm and St. Patrick's Day. Some of the stories we read were, The Enormous Turnip, Mouse's Birthday, and Jack and the Leprechaun. We continued to make words from various word families. Our popcorn word this week was, the. We saw how much this word pops up in our guided reading books and read alouds! During center time, the students read in small groups with me, worked on Imagination Station, listened to Goldilocks and The Three Bears at the listening center, and made sentences about farm animals. During calendar we have been "counting on" from random numbers each day and are practicing reading and locating larger numbers on a hundreds chart. In math we practiced telling time to the hour on digital and analog clocks and began our measurement chapter. We had three special readers this week! On Monday Mrs. Hansen read to our class. Then Jonas's mom and Bridget's mom read to the class for star of the week. The students had a great week and enjoyed playing outside for recess!

2011-03-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

We started our reading theme, Down on the Farm, this week. Some of the stories we read were, The Story of Half Chicken, Cows in the Kitchen, and The City Mouse and the Country Mouse. We made words in the -ot & -op word families and our new popcorn word was, said. During our reading center time, the students read in guided reading groups with me, worked on Imagination Station, listened to a story at the listening center, and practiced popcorn words. In math we talked about temperature and the concept of time. We decided if certain activities take more time or less time than others. We also are looking at two types of clocks, digital and analog and learning what various times look like on these clocks. Our main focus in kindergarten is telling time to the hour and learning what each hand tells on an analog clock. The students enjoyed Gabby's student of the week poster, show & tell and guest reader. They also made a special book for her. It was a great week!

2011-03-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

This week we had fun celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday! Some of the stories we read were, Great Day For Up, The Foot Book, and Wacky Wednesday. This week's popcorn word was, up. The students listened to the story, The Cheese, at the listening center, worked on Imagination Station computer reading program, read in guided reading groups with me, and matched rhyming pictures during center time. We also made words from the -eep and -eet word families. During calendar time we have continued to work on seasons, days of the week, months of the year, numbers, counting by 10, and making tally marks. Our chapter in math is reviewing some of these calendar concepts and we will explore temperature and time to the hour next week. The students enjoyed Jacob's show and tell, poster and special reader. They made a special book for him. Many of the students are beginning to write their own sentences! Have a great weekend!

2011-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

We continued our reading theme, Wheels Go Around, this week. We read stories such as The Little Engine That Could & Vroom, Chugga, Vroom, Vroom. Our new popcorn word was, have. We made words from the -ell & -ed word families, and continued our Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program. The students made a special book for the Star of the Week, Sameer. They enjoyed his poster, show & tell and guest reader very much! In math we finished our chapter on numbers 11-30, but will continue to work with reading these numbers throughout the rest of the school year. We have now began a chapter on Calendar, Time and Temperature. This week we had gym, library, computers, indoor recess and spring pictures. It was a good week :)

2011-02-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

We started this week with a valentine exchange and fun party! The students gave cards to each other, played games, made crafts and had a great time. Thank you to all of the parents that were involved in preparing such a fun time! Our reading theme focuses on wheels and transportation. We read stories such as Wheels Around and The Wheels On the Bus. Our new popcorn word was, for. The reading centers this week included guided reading, Imagination Station and the listening center. At the listening center, the students listened to the story, The Little Red Hen. We made words from the -en and -et word families. In math we continued to work on counting, reading and writing numbers to 30. Mrs. Hansen came in and wrote a February poem with the class. The class also enjoyed Catherine's Superstar poster, reader, and show and tell. The students made her a special book and many students are writing their own sentences now! What a great week!

2011-02-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated our 100th day of kindergarten! We read the story, Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten. The students enjoyed showing their 100 day collection to the class. They were quite creative! Some of the other stories we read this week included, The Woodcutter's Cap, The Hat, and Chicken Soup With Rice. The students worked in centers this week. They listened to Chicken Soup With Rice at the listening center and completed a seasons booklet. They practiced reading and writing the popcorn words and worked on Imagination Station. We also did guided reading in small groups and completed various comprehension and vocabulary activities. Our new popcorn word was we, and we made words from the -ig and -ip word families. In math we continued working on modeling, estimating, reading and writing the numbers 11-20. We've also had fun looking at the numbers beyond 100. Thank you to everyone who has sent in canned food for the 100 day food collection. Our class collected 117 food items! Have a wonderful weekend!

2011-02-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

Our week was cut short by the historic blizzard of 2011!
During the 3 days that we were in school , we read the stories, The Sun and The Wind, All To Build A Snowman, and Snow Day! During reading centers, the students made words from the -in word family and listened to the story, Wake Up Groundhog! at the listening center. They also went on Imagination Station for computer time, and read with me in guided reading groups. Our new popcorn word was, here. In math we started our next chapter on numbers higher than ten. We looked at counters on a ten frame and saw how numbers are made. For example, the number 12 is one group of ten and 2 ones. We will continue to work with greater numbers over the next few weeks. Since the week was cut short, Jonas will continue to be the Superstar next week too. Have a great weekend. Due to the snow days, our 100th day of school will now be on Wednesday. Have your child complete the 100th day homework and turn it in by Wednesday. Also, we have collected 58 cans for the food collection so far, we will continue to collect until Wednesday. We are trying to reach a goal of 100 cans! Thanks to everyone who has sent food in so far!

2011-01-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

This week we began the PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) System at Elizabeth Ide School. The students spent part of each day seeing, hearing and role playing, what the expectations are for different areas of our school. They learned expectations for the classroom, hallway, washroom, indoor recess, outdoor recess, special events, bus, bus line and library. In all of these areas, students are to focus on the three "be's": Be responsible, Be respectful, and Be safe. Students will earn "paws" when they are caught demonstrating these behaviors. Some of the stories that we read this week were, Chicken Soup With Rice, What Will The Weather Be Like Today? A Busy Year, and The Mitten. The skills that were targeted in these stories were Predicting & Inferring as well as Fantasy /Realism. Our word building and small group reading focused on words in the -it and -in families. Our new popcorn word was is. We had two special readers visit our class today. Mrs. Hansen read to the students about Martin Luther King Jr. Sammy, our star of the week, invited his mom to read to the class about reptiles. We continued our Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness and Handwriting Without Tears program. We had a busy week!

2011-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

This week we looked at the word families we have worked with so far (-an, -am, -ap, -at) and compared the short a sound in them. I introduced the -ake and -ame families this week, and we practiced making words in these families that have the long a sound. We read stories that have words from these word families, as well as many of our popcorn words. Our new popcorn word was can. During reading centers this week, the students listened to the story, When Will It Snow? at the listening center, and made a paper snowman. They also worked on Imagination Station on the computers. Each group read with me and completed comprehension activities. The students also sorted letters by consonant/vowel. We continued to work on daily handwriting and Phonemic Awareness. In math, we have finished the chapter on Geometry and Fractions, and will soon begin numbers
11-30. The students enjoyed Tayler's poster and show and tell this week. They also loved hearing the story, Green Eggs and Ham read by Tayler's mom. It was a great (but cold) week!

2011-01-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

This week we read stories such as Ten Little Puppies and Counting Noodles. We also read about Martin Luther King Jr, and discussed what it means to be caring. We started our reading centers this week. At one center the students listened to the story, The Snow Rocket, and then made a picture showing what they like to do in the snow. Another center was guided reading. At this center the students read and discussed leveled books with me. The students also visited the computer center, where they worked on Imagination Station. The fourth center was independent work. The students read, matched and wrote the popcorn words and then made them with magnetic letters. Our new popcorn word this week was, go. We focused on making words from the -ap, -am, -an, and -at word families. In math we continued to work with shapes such as the cone, sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism and cube. We also started looking at equal and unequal parts and symmetry. The students enjoyed Timmy's show and tell and seeing his poster. We made a special Superstar book for him and his mom came in to read to the class. It was a super week!

2011-01-06T10:39:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! We got right back into the swing of things this week. The students reviewed our Jolly Phonics letter sounds and actions for the consonants, vowels and digraphs (ch, sh, th). Our new popcorn word this week was and. We sorted pictures by beginning sound, made words from the -at and -an word families with magnetic letters, and read stories that had some of these words in them. You and your child should continue to put letters together to make words (pan, can, van, bat, rat, etc.) at home. Some of our stories this week included Benny's Pennies, The Twelve Days of Winter, Shapes That Roll, Feast For 10, What's On The Menu? and The Biggest Best Snowman. In math we began looking at shapes such as the sphere, cone, cylinder, cube, pyramid and rectangular prism. We have enjoyed comparing and contrasting these shapes with the basic flat shapes like the circle, square, triangle and rectangle. We did have indoor recess this week, went to gym, library and computers.

2010-12-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

What a cold but busy and exciting week we had in Kindergarten! I introduced the class to my Gingerbread Baby and we read his story by Jan Brett. Just like in the story, our Gingerbread Baby ran away! He left us little notes each day, and today Mrs. Hansen found him and returned him to us. We read stories such as The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Friends and Gingerbread Cowboy. It was fun to compare and contrast the stories. I hope your families enjoy reading The Gingerbread Man which I gave to the kids today. We continued to work on phonemic awareness through the Michael Heggerty Program and learned about the "th" digraph in Jolly Phonics. Our new popcorn words were boy & girl. Mrs. Hansen read a story to the class and they discussed what it means to be Caring. We also made fun projects like a gingerbread friend and special holiday gifts for the parents. In math we finished our chapter on graphing and tally tables. As a special treat the class watched the holiday classic, Frosty the Snowman. Don't forget...tomorrow is our Holiday Party and Book Exchange! Enjoy your Winter Break! School resumes Monday, January 3rd, 2011!

2010-12-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

This week we worked on the two digraph sounds, "sh" & "ch". Next week the "th" sound will be introduced. We continued to work on many phonemic awareness skills such as rhyming, beginning sounds, letter names & sounds and blending through the Michael Heggerty Program. Our new popcorn word was, friend. We read many stories about friends such as, Snow Friends, Little Bear's Special Friend, and The Lion and The Mouse. In math we have been making and reading picture graphs and tally tables. The students also continued to practice handwriting. Niya was our Star of the Week. She did a wonderful job sharing her poster and show & tell with the class. The students made a special book for her and enjoyed hearing her favorite Winnie the Pooh story. We will have the next Star of the Week after the Holiday Break.

2010-12-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

We have now learned about all the letters of the alphabet. This week we focused on letters Qq & Xx and their sounds. Our reading theme for the next few weeks is about Friends. We read stories such as Friends At School, Aaron and Gayla's Alphabet Book, and The Three Snow Bears.
We had many popcorn words "pop up" in our reading this week and added the word, to, to our popcorn word bag. We read a Weekly Reader about Polar Bears and learned some interesting facts about them. In math we began our chapter on graphing. The students are making and reading information from simple graphs. This month's calendar pattern will be AABB. Each day we count how many days we have been in school (65 today) and are learning to count by 10's (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 so far) We also review the days of the week, months of the year, seasons and weather. Hailey, our star of the week, did a great job sharing her poster and show & tell. Everyone enjoyed when her 2nd grade sister Morgan came to read to the class. Our class had gym, library, recess and computers. It has been great meeting with all of you this week about your child's progress! Have a wonderful weekend!

2010-11-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

Our letters and sounds of the week were Vv & Yy. We met Ms. V who wears a vegetable vest and Ms. Y who has a yodeling yawn. We learned actions for these letter sounds through Jolly Phonics. Our new popcorn words were a & an. The students sorted pictures by beginning sound and we read some Thanksgiving stories. In math we continued to print the numbers correctly to 10. We counted and compared sets of objects and ordered the numbers. We read a Weekly Reader about needs & wants. The students made a special book for our star of the week, Joey. Everyone enjoyed his poster, show & tell and guest reader. The students went to gym, library, computers and recess. Next week we will do Thanksgiving & review activities and Mrs. Hansen will do her monthly Character Counts activity with the class. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

This week we focused on the letters Zz & Ww and their sounds. We sorted letters into groups of consonants and vowels and are learning the two sounds that the vowels
(a,e,i,o,&u) make. Our popcorn word was, dad. We are almost done learning all of the letters & sounds of the alphabet and have 9 popcorn words, so please practice these at home. In math we have been using The Numeral Song, by Dr. Jean, to print the numbers 1-10 correctly. It works well when the students can put words to the way the numbers are formed. We have also been matching numbers with sets of objects and ordering the numbers to 10. Some of our stories have counted backwards from 10, so we are exploring the concept of counting down and "one less". Some of our stories this week were, Ten In A Bed, Just Me & My Dad, Ten Black Dots, and Letter People books. The students enjoyed Dana's poster and show and tell. They made her a special Superstar book and her mom read to the class.
Enjoy your day off for Veteran's Day!

2010-11-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our letters and sounds of the week were Bb & Jj. We met Mr. B who wears beautiful buttons and Ms. J who wears a jingle, jingle jacket. The students enjoyed hearing their songs and stories. We also learned the actions for Jolly Phonics for these sounds and had fun working with them on our Jolly Phonics for the white board program. We've continued to work on things like letter naming, rhyming, beginning sounds, ending sounds, & blending through the Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program. Our popcorn word this week was, mom. In math we finished the chapter on numbers 0-5 and are now working on reading, writing and counting objects 6-10. The star of the week was Amanda. The class enjoyed seeing the poster she made & her show & tell. The students made a special book for Amanda and listened to Amanda's cousin read to them. The students did not have gym since there was no school on Tuesday. They did visit the library, had computers & recess. Now that the weather is getting colder, have your child practice putting on their own coat and zipping it up. Also, start practicing putting on those gloves and hats! Have a great weekend!

2010-10-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

This week we learned about the letters l & f. Our stories included The Amazing Little Porridge Pot & Stellaluna. We added the word, it, to our popcorn words. In math the students made a paper jack-o-lantern by tracing, cutting & gluing basic shapes. We also continued to practice printing the numbers 1-5 correctly, along with The Numeral Song. Mrs. Hansen, our principal visited our classroom. She read a Halloween story to the class and they colored Halloween pictures. The class enjoyed the story, Room on the Broom that Calders's mom read to the class. He did a wonderful job sharing his poster & show & tell. The class made him a special Superstar book. The students had library, gym, recess & computers. They also learned about bus safety and evacuation. It was a great week!

2010-10-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Our letter of the week was Uu. We learned about the two sounds that u makes and met our Letter Person, Ms. U, who has an unusual umbrella. We have now covered all of the vowels and are practicing both the long and short sounds for these letters. Our new popcorn word was, like. We have been practicing reading and making sentences with our popcorn words. Some of our read-alouds this week included Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Shoes From Grandpa, Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks at School, and H is for Haunted House. In math we worked on one to one correspondence, more, equal and fewer, and began printing numbers along with The Numeral Song. Thank you to Sarah, our Star of the Week for sharing her poster and show & tell! We enjoyed the stories that her mom read to the class about a dog named, Muddy Paws. We will end the week with a special pajama day for filling our marble jar and will change seats! A special thank you to the parents who chaperoned our field trip to Johansen Farms! We had nice weather and a fun time!

2010-10-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

This week we focused on the letters Gg & Oo. Our new popcorn word was my. We finished up printing the frog jump capitals (F,E,P,B,R,D,M & N). Our first Superstar was Hugo. We learned a lot about him through his poster and show & tell. The students made Hugo a special book & enjoyed the story that his dad read to the class. Our Weekly Reader this week was about Fire Safety and we had a visit from Lt. Tabisz from the Darien-Woodridge Fire District. He reminded us about important things such as stop, drop, and roll, calling 911 for emergencies, and crawling under smoke. In math, we continued to do our daily calendar routine, worked on patterns, and started looking at more and fewer and equal sets of objects. The students had gym, recess, library, and computers. It was a super week!

2010-10-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

This week we finished our Colors All Around reading theme. We made a colorful leaves book and graphed our classmates' favorite colors. Some of the stories we enjoyed were, How The Birds Got Their Colors, Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? What's My Favorite Color? and Leaves. Our letters this week were Mm & Dd, and our popcorn word was am. We worked on making simple sentences with our popcorn words and matched rhyming pictures. We continued to work on "frog jump" capitals in handwriting and matched pictures to letters according to their beginning sound. In math we finished our chapter on the concept of patterning, however, we will continue to make patterns throughout the school year. We read a Weekly Reader about Fall Fun & the students practiced their cutting, gluing and listening skills by making a scarecrow art project. The students also went to gym, library, recess and computers. Our class has filled the marble jar for following the rules, so we will be voting on a reward next week! It was another great week!

2010-10-01T12:19:00.001-07:00

Our letters this week were h & r. We met the Letter People, Mr. H & Mr. R and learned actions for the sounds through Jolly Phonics. The theme from our Houghton Mifflin reading series continued to focus on color words. We added a new popcorn word to our popcorn bags. At, I & see are all popcorn words that we are reading and practicing. We have also been busy working with beginning sounds of pictures, rhyming, and printing the "frog jump" capitals. In math we have been creating and extending patterns (such as red, blue, red, blue, red, blue...what comes next?) The students practiced another fire drill this week, had recess, library, gym, picture day & computers. It was a great week!

2010-09-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on letters c, k & e. We looked at color words, and some of the stories we read included I Need a Lunchbox, and
I Went Walking. Our new popcorn word was, I. We read a Weekly Reader about birds that fly and others that do not fly. During handwriting time, we made some of the frog jump capitals (F & E) with manipulatives and in our handwriting books. Our math lessons focused on positional words such as above, below, over, under, beside, next to, between, in front of, behind, inside and outside. The students enjoyed recess outside, gym, library and computers. It was a great week!

2010-09-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on the letters Pp & Nn. We met the Letter People and learned actions for the sounds these letters make through Jolly Phonics. We started our popcorn words (sight words) with the word, at, and learned a song to help remember this word. The students have also been sorting pictures according to beginning sounds for the letters we have covered in class (s, a, t, i, p, n). Some of the stories we read were, The City Mouse And The Country Mouse, Do You Want To Be My Friend? & The New Bear At School. We discussed what it means to be a good friend, and what a good friend does. Then, I traced one of each child's hands on construction paper and they cut them out for our rainbow of friends bulletin board. In math we finished our chapter on sorting and classifying. We have also been working on handwriting. The group of letters we will be working on for a few weeks are called "frog jump capitals". The first two letters we will work on are F & E. The reason they are called "frog jump capitals" is because after we start in the corner and make the big line down, we "frog jump" back to that corner to continue to make the letter. When printing at home, remind your child to start all letters at the top!

2010-09-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

The letters that we focused on this week were Tt & Ii. We met the Letter People, Ms. T & Mr. I, and learned actions for their sounds through Jolly Phonics. Some of the stories we read were The Gingerbread Man, Here Are My Hands, & Inch By Inch. We had fun naming body parts through the song, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Mrs. Hansen, our principal, visited our classroom and read to us. We read a Weekly Reader about School and began our computer reading program, Imagination Station. In math we continued to sort, but looked at two attributes in what we were sorting. The students also went to gym, outside for recess and library. It was a great week!

2010-09-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

This week we started our Houghton Mifflin reading series.
Theme 1 is called, Look At Us! We read the stories, Now I'm Big, Mice Squeak, We Speak, Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? & Ten Apples Up On Top! We met our first two Letter People, Ms. S & Ms. A and learned about the sounds that these letters make. We had fun printing the letters on chalkboards, dry erase boards, and with wikki sticks. We learned actions and songs for the s & a sounds through Jolly Phonics. The students started recording patterns & weather in special calendar folders this week. In math we sorted objects in a variety of ways with manipulatives and in our workbooks. We also read a Weekly Reader about Apples and started to make a project based on the story, Ten Apples Up On Top! The students have been adjusting well to their new school and classroom routine!

2010-08-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten! We have had a great first week of school! The students have gotten acquainted with each other and the building. They learned the playground rules in gym class with Mr. K, and had recess outside. They went to library with Mrs. Bouton and checked out a book. We started working on sorting and classifying objects in our math series and made our first art project. The students have learned new songs for the Days of The Week and Months Of The Year for Calendar time, and The Listening Song. Some stories that we read are The Kissing Hand, Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom, A Was Once An Apple Pie, and Who Will Go To Kindergarten Today? and Kindergarten ABC. We're off to a great start!!

2010-05-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

This week we finished our math chapter on addition and are working on subtraction. We added the words big & little to our popcorn words. We read fun zoo stories and classified animals into the category of "big" or "little". We continued to work on handwriting each day and are learning more about punctuation marks (. ? !) in sentences. Our Weekly Reader this week was about the sun and the moon and was very interesting to the students. On Thursday we had a fun filled field trip to Brookfield Zoo. The weather was perfect! Thank you to the chaperones for making the trip run so smoothly! Today the students had a visit from librarians from the Indian Prairie and Woodridge libraries, to introduce their summer reading programs. I highly recommend signing your child up at your local library and continuing to read with them over the summer. Can you believe there are only 6 more days of kindergarten?

2010-05-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed reading stories about animals and the zoo this week. We observed our seeds and tadpoles growth. In math, we practiced the concept of addition. We continue to work on handwriting each day and added the word, he, to our popcorn words. The class read a Weekly Reader about dragonflies and learned interesting facts about them. The students had computers, gym, recess and library. The books that the students checked out of the library on Wednesday are due back to school on Monday, May 17th. In my kindergarten RtI group the students practiced letter sounds, beginning sounds, popcorn words and the -ug word family. It was a great week!

2010-05-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

This week we were busy preparing for Mother's Day! We read stories about moms and the students made special projects for their mom. We read the story, The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle, and planted sunflower & marigold seeds in our classroom mini-greenhouse. We will observe them grow and take care of them.
We continued to practice handwriting & worked on telling time to the hour with both an analog and digital clock. We read a Weekly Reader about dolphins and other sea mammals. The students already knew a lot of facts about these animals! We ended the week with an assembly provided by the PTO. Craig Pierce, author of the children's book series, American Dog, visited Elizabeth Ide with his greyhound, Honey. The children enjoyed their visit and the story, Sit. Stay. Work. Play. All Dogs Have Their Day. A letter/order form & bookmark were sent home in your child's folder today. Also, thank you very much for all of the thoughtful gifts that your children gave me throughout the week for Teacher Appreciation Week. The PTO also organized lunches made by Ide families for the entire week. It was wonderful!

2010-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

This week we were busy preparing for Open House. We learned interesting facts about reptiles and amphibians since this was our "house" for the Kindergarten Zoo. The students painted turtles and made red-eyed tree frogs. We also read the story, Dear Zoo and created pages to go along with the story. We continued printing lowercase letters for handwriting and worked on calendar and concepts of time in math. The students read a Weekly Reader about poetry & rhymes. We ended the week with a fun assembly sponsored by our PTO. It was a game show type assembly that students were involved in called, Unique Assembly. They took turns as teams answering questions relating to our curriculum and movie/music trivia. The students loved it! In my kindergarten RtI reading group the students red the story, Little Red Hen and made words from the -ed & -en families. We also reviewed letter sounds, popcorn words and vowels. It was a great week!

2010-04-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

This week we read stories about Earth Day and ways we can take care of the earth. Our Weekly Reader gave us many ideas! Next week we will plant seeds and watch them grow! We also continued to work on handwriting and our new popcorn word was, she. We reviewed the days of the week through the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We explored the thermometer and how it looks when the temperature changes. To get ready for our theme about animals and Open House, we made giraffes and red-eyed tree frogs art projects. The students had library time with Mrs. Bouton, gym, recess and computers. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students made words from the -et family. We read stories about different types of pets & worked on popcorn words & sentence structure. It was a great week!

2010-04-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

This week in math we reviewed parts of the calendar such as the days of the week, time of day, dates, and months of the year. We also continued to work on printing lowercase letters. Our new popcorn word was, play. We read a Weekly Reader about trees and learned about the parts of a tree. The students went to gym, recess, library, & computers. During stations this week, the students read with me in small groups and completed a vocabulary activity with animal names. They also worked on Imagination Station and listened to a story at the listening center. In my kindergarten RtI group, the students reviewed vowel sounds and we focused on the vowel sounds of e. We also made words from the -et family with magnetic letters, worked on sentence structure and completed a journal page about pets.

2010-04-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a relaxing Spring Break! This week we finished our unit on money in math. The students learned the name and value of the coins and dollar. We counted, compare and contrasted the coins. Even though we are moving on to calendar, time, and temperature, we will still work with money through the rest of the year. We continued to work on printing lowercase letters through Handwriting Without Tears. We read stories about Easter and finished our farm theme. Animal was the new popcorn word for this week. The students had gym, recess, library(where they learned about Internet safety), and computer stations. During stations on Friday, the students rotated between computers, the listening center, and guided reading with me. In my kindergarten RtI reading group we worked on the short & long a sounds, popcorn words, making and sounding out words, putting the words in order to make a sentence, and journaling about favorite animals.

2010-03-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

This week we continued to read stories from the farm theme. The class especially liked the story, The Enormous Turnip in which the characters worked together to pull an enormous turnip out of the ground. We added the word, the to our popcorn words. We also continued to work on lowercase letter formation in handwriting. Mrs. Hansen did a fun Leprechaun Limerick with the class. They also went to gym, recess, library & computers. In math we have been studying the penny, nickel, and dime. The students are learning to distinguish the coins and their values. After spring break we will learn about the quarter & dollar and make money exchanges. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students did beginning sound picture sorts, built words in the -ot family, reviewed the vowels & focused on the letter Ii, and worked on forming sentences. It was a great week! Enjoy your Spring Break and I will see you on April 5th!

2010-03-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Spring was certainly in the air this week! The students have been so excited to get back outside & play on the playground during recess. This week we began our farm theme in reading and read stories such as, The Story of Half-Chicken & Cows In The Kitchen. We talked about Fantasy & Realism with these stories. We worked with our new popcorn word, said, and practiced handwriting. On Friday the students did centers. During center time, they rotated from the Imagination Station computer reading program, to the listening center to hear a story about Leprechauns, to guided reading groups with me. In math we started our unit on money, so if your child has not brought in their coins yet, please do so next week. They are listed below. In my kindergarten RtI reading group we reviewed the vowels and their sounds. We also made words with magnetic letters, focusing on the -ot family. The students also unscrambled a sentence & illustrated it. We played a leprechaun word reading game & wrote in journals about what we see in the spring.

2010-03-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

We continued to read Dr. Seuss stories this week. We read the story, Great Day for Up! and our new popcorn words was, up. The students made a class book about things that are up. We have also been working on letter formation through the Handwriting Without Tears program. In math we finished our chapter on greater numbers & the students wrote their numbers to 50. The students had gym, recess, library, gym & computers. Also, as a reward for filling our marble jar, we had a fun pajama day! The students brought home their second trimester report card and I have enjoyed meeting with many of you to discuss their progress. In my kindergarten RtI reading group we worked on letter sounds, making words, the -ig word family, and forming sentences.

2010-03-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

It was Dr. Seuss week in Kindergarten! We read favorite stories such as Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish & Oh The Thinks You Can Think. Our favorite had to be Wacky Wednesday. The students dressed wacky for school, heard the story and then drew a wacky picture of their own. They also completed a fun page telling how they would eat green eggs and ham. (ex. on my bike, in my house) In math we have continued to work on greater numbers and have written numbers from
1-50. The students had gym, recess, library and computers this week. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, we worked on rhyming pictures (in honor of Dr. Seuss who loves to rhyme), beginning sounds, word families and completed a journal with the sentence starter, I like to...

2010-02-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

This week we continued our Wheels Go Around theme. We read stories such as The Little Engine That Could & Vroom, Chugga, Vroom-Vroom, & The Wheels on the Bus. Our new popcorn word was, have. In math we focused on the teen numbers & completed recognizing, estimating & counting objects to 20. We have also been working on handwriting with both letters & numbers. We read a story & Weekly Reader about the Winter Olympics. The students also went to gym, outside for recess, computers, library & spring pictures. This week we started to review what we've learned this trimester and completed assessments for report cards. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students matched upper & lowercase letters, worked on beginning sounds & the word families -at, -am, -an & -it. We reviewed the popcorn words that have been introduced this year and used some of the words to complete a journal page about themselves.

2010-02-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

This week our theme in reading was Wheels Go Around. We read various stories about things with wheels and compared the sizes of wheels. We added the sight word, for, to our popcorn words. We have been working on handwriting and printing numbers past 10 (within the next few weeks we will get to 50). The students had gym, library & computers. Each week the students make a special page for the Student of the Week. Many of them are putting their own sentences together! In my Kindergarten RtI reading group we focused on beginning sounds in words and made words from the word families that we have worked on in class: -at, -am,
-an, & -it. We also reviewed the popcorn words and made sentences with them.

2010-02-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

What an exciting week this was...our 100th Day of School, lots of snow, and our Valentine's Day party! The students shared their collection of 100 things with the class & explained their method of counting the objects. There was such a neat variety! The students also decorated a valentine bag to carry their valentine cards home in. We read stories such as Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten, 100 Plus One, & Franklin's Valentines to celebrate both special days. Our new popcorn word was, we. We focused on handwriting and started working on numbers to 50. The students had gym, library & computers. We read a Weekly Reader about President's Day and learned some facts about George Washington & Abraham Lincoln.

2010-02-05T06:36:00.001-08:00

This week we read stories about different types of weather. The students completed a journal page about their favorite kind of weather. We also read groundhog stories and discussed the legend of Groundhog Day. Our new popcorn word was, here. The students had gym, library, computers & a Superstar Reader. We changed seats this week, too. Every few months I move the kids around to new tables with new friends. In math we are finishing up the chapter on Geometry and Fractions and will start working on numbers to 50 next week. In my kindergarten RtI reading group, the students sorted pictures by beginning sounds. We also matched rhyming pictures, reviewed popcorn words & made sentences with the popcorn words.

2010-01-29T08:03:00.000-08:00

This week our stories included, Chicken Soup With Rice, by Maurice Sendak & The Mitten, by Jan Brett. After reading these stories, we discussed the difference between make-believe and real stories, or fiction and non-fiction. We added the word, is, to our popcorn word wall. In math, the students learned about symmetry & equal parts. Our principal, Mrs. Hansen, did her monthly Character Counts project with the class. We also had gym, library, computers and a Superstar Reader. In my kindergarten RtI reading group, we sorted pictures by beginning sound. The students also had a turn on Imagination Station, reviewed popcorn words, letters & sounds. We continued to work on word families, especially the
-an family. It was a great week!

2010-01-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

This week in reading, we focused on beginning, middle, & end. Some of our stories included Ten Little Puppies & The Missing Mitten Mystery. The new word that we added to our Popcorn Word Wall was, can. Our Weekly Reader this week was about the season of Winter. In math we continued to explore 3d shapes such as the cone, sphere, cylinder, cube & rectangular prism. We noticed that many of these 3d shapes have plane figures on them (squares on the sides of the cube, etc.) We also counted how many sides, corners & curves that the shapes have. The students had gym class, checked out new books from the library and attended a fun assembly. Our generous PTO sponsored the assembly, The Magic of Books, performed by Rick Allen. In my Kindergarten RtI Reading group, we worked on letter sounds, beginning sounds of letters r & s. We also made words and emphasized the beginning, middle and ending sounds. We sorted pictures by beginning sounds and worked on rhyming.

2010-01-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

This week we read stories such as Counting Noodles, The Three Snow Bears & Little Bear's Special Friend. Our new popcorn word was "go". We reviewed the Jolly Phonics actions for the letter sounds and used the sounds to make words. In math we have been working on describing and identifying solid figures such as the sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, pyramid and rectangular prism. We compared the shapes to see which shapes could roll and/or stack, and slide. By observing these new shapes, we noticed that there are plane shapes (such as a circle or square) on the flat surfaces. We read a Weekly Reader about Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussed why he was an important person. The students had gym, library, computers, and indoor recess. It was a great week!

2010-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year & welcome back to school! We got back into the school routine by reading stories about snow and snowmen! We started a new Phonemic Awareness program written by Michael Heggerty. Our new popcorn word this week was and. In math we finished the chapter on graphing. The students completed graphs, read graphs, & used tally marks on the graphs. We added the new year (2010), new month (January) & new season (Winter) to our calendar. The students are now counting by 1's, 5's and 10's to 80 since that is how many days we have been in school so far. The students went to gym & library and had computers this week. Although it was snowy and cold, it was a great week back!

2009-12-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

It was Gingerbread Week in Kindergarten! On Monday after reading The Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett, our classroom Gingerbread Baby disappeared! He left us clues all week until Mrs. Hansen captured him & brought him back to our classroom. The students made their own paper gingerbread person and made a special holiday gift for their families. We read a Weekly Reader about different holidays that people celebrate at this time of year. The students also enjoyed listening to a story and making a "cookies for caring" project with Mrs. Hansen. In math we have been reading and completing graphs. Today, the students had a wonderful holiday party! Thanks to all of the moms and dads that took time to plan this event and donate items. We appreciate all of your hard work! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...see you on January 4th!

2009-12-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

The last two letters/sounds were introduced this week...Xx & Qq. The students have now learned all of the letter names & sounds for all 26 letters of the alphabet. After break we will use these letters and sounds to make words. Our new popcorn word this week was "friend". In math we finished the chapter on numbers to 10. The students completed lessons on estimation, most/fewest and more/less. We began the next chapter on graphing. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students read stories and completed activities focusing on the -at & -am families. We also worked on the beginning sounds of qu & the x sound at the end of words. We reviewed the 10 popcorn words we've had so far and played a beginning sounds bingo game. It was a great week!

2009-12-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

This week we worked on letters v & y. Our new popcorn word was "to". We saw this word "pop up" many times in our stories. Now that it is the second trimester of Kindergarten, we have gym twice each week on Mondays and Thursdays. The students have recess (inside or outside depending on the weather) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In math we are finishing up our chapter on numbers to 10. We worked on activities which compared sets of numbers, number lines, and ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students worked on Imagination Station & sorted pictures by beginning sound. We also focused on letters v & y and made words from the -at and -am families. We also had a special guest visit our classroom. Dr. Tiede, our Superintendent, read the story, Snow Friends, to our class.

2009-11-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

Our letters this week were z & w. Our new popcorn word was, "a".
We read the story, Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We have also read stories about turkeys and Thanksgiving. Each student made a page for the Star of the Week and we had a guest reader read to our class. We had computers, library and gym. In math, the students worked on creating patterns, numbers 6-10 and completing assessments for their first trimester report card. We have now been in school for 60 days, so we have been counting by 1's, 10's & 5's to 60. The students check the weather daily and make tally marks for our Question of the Day results. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students focused on beginning sounds of letters including z & w. We also reviewed consonants & vowels and used letters to make words in the -at & -am families. The students reviewed the popcorn words and had a turn on Imagination Station.

2009-11-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Our letters this week were b & j. We learned new actions for these letter sounds. We also added the word "it" to our popcorn bag. We reviewed the vowel sounds and made a class book. Each student looked in a mirror and completed a sentence, I see my ____. Everyone made a page for our star of the week and listened to a special story that our guest reader read. We read a Weekly Reader about hand washing to prevent the spread of germs, and worked on Imagination Station. In math the students used unifix cubes to make and color an AB and AAB pattern. We practiced number writing and finished our chapter on patterns. We will now continue to work on numbers 6-10 & ordinal numbers. In my kindergarten RtI reading group, the students used letters to make the popcorn words, I, am, at, see, like & my. We reviewed letter sounds & sorted pictures beginning with the sounds of b & j, and completed rhyming activities. It was a great week!

2009-11-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

This week the students changed seats and are sitting at a different table with new friends. The letters and sounds we worked on were Ll and Ff. The new word we added to our popcorn bags was "like". The students read a Weekly Reader about opposites. Each student also had a turn on the computer reading program, Imagination Station. We reviewed the vowels and sang our fun vowel songs. We made a class book using our popcorn words, I & like, about foods that we like. In math we worked on identifying patterns, extending patterns, acting out patterns out, and identifying the pattern rules. We also continue to practice printing the numbers 1-10 with The Numeral Song. In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students worked on rhyming activities, vowel activities, popcorn word review, and sorted letters according to vowels/consonants. They also had a turn on Imagination Station. We had a great week!

2009-10-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on letter u and the short vowel sounds. The students learned a few fun songs to help remember the vowel sounds. We made a class book about Halloween, a jack-o-lantern made with the basic shapes, and a bat number line. In math we continued to review positional words and finished our AAB pattern for calendar time. The students enjoyed the Halloween Party! Thanks to the parents who donated their time, games and other items. The students also learned important fire safety tips from Lt. Tabisz from the Darien-Woodridge Fire Department. During gym class this week, the class also learned about bus safety and bus evacuation. It was a bootiful week!

2009-10-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

We spent a soggy Thursday at Johansen Farms for our first Kindergarten field trip, but it was still a fun time! Thanks to the chaperones who joined us! The letters that we focused on this week were Gg & Oo. We practiced printing these letters and learned the sounds they make. Our new popcorn word was "my". We had a few special guests visit our room this week. Mrs. Hansen, our principal, did a fun Halloween counting book with the students. Angelina, our star of the week, invited her mom to read to the class. In math we have been working on printing the numbers 0-5 correctly, and practiced using positional words such as, above, below, over, under. We have also been working on AB and AAB patterns. The students read a Weekly Reader about Owls, had a turn on Imagination Station computer reading program, gym & library. It was a fun week!
In my Kindergarten RtI reading group, the students worked on letter sorting & matching, letter sounds, and rhyming.

2009-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Our letters of the week were m & d. We practiced printing these letters, met the Letter People, and learned new actions from Jolly Phonics to remember their sounds. Our new popcorn word was, am.
The students worked on Imagination Station, our computer reading program. We read a Weekly Reader about owls. In math we finished up our chapter on numbers 0-5 and started to work on patterns. The students practiced a fire drill and went to gym and library.
In my Kindergarten RtI group, the students sorted pictures by beginning sounds. We also read a few alphabet stories and played ABC bingo to help with letter and sound identification.
Things to practice at home: The letters Ss, Aa, Tt, Ii, Pp, Nn, Cc, Kk, Ee, Hh, Rr, Mm, Dd...printing, naming, sound and words that begin with those sounds. Popcorn words: at, am, I, see
Reading at least 15 minutes per night 3-5 times per week.
Shapes, patterns, numbers and counting.

2009-10-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

This week we focused on letters/sounds for h and r. We added the word "see" to our popcorn words and heard the word "see" pop up in many stories, like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The students also sorted words and pictures by beginning sound. Some of the other stories that we read and discussed were, Caps Of Many Colors, In the Big Blue Sea, Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, and Letter People stories. The students worked on our computer reading program, Imagination Station.
In math we learned The Numeral Song and practiced printing and tracing numbers to 5 correctly. We also counted objects and arranged the numbers in order. During calendar time, the students are busy observing, reporting, and graphing the weather & temperature each day. We also discuss the days of the week, months of the year, seasons, patterns, the date and how many days we have been in school. We count each day and are beginning to learn to count by 5's, 10's and make tally marks.
In my Kdg RtI reading group, we worked on recognition of upper and lowercase letters, letter matching and letter sounds.

2009-10-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

This week we learned about three more letters and their sounds, c,k, & e. We have now learned nine letters and their sounds (s,a,t,i,p,n,c,k,e). We added the word "I" to our popcorn word bag, and completed sentences telling about things that each of us do, using the word I, such as: I run. I play. I jump. etc. Some of the stories we read included, I Need A Lunchbox, I Went Walking, and the Letter People stories. The students practiced making predictions, sequencing events & identifying beginning sounds.
We read a Weekly Reader about Fire Safety and went to an assembly performed by Kids on the Block which taught us that all kids have feelings. The puppets taught the children not to treat people differently just because they look differently or because they can't do some of the things that we are able to do.
In math we practiced putting up to five objects on a five frame & practiced counting objects up to five. The students learned The Numeral Song to help form the numbers 1-5 correctly. The students also went to gym, library, computers & had their kindergarten picture taken.
In my RtI reading group, we did activities based on the stories, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom and The Alphabet Tree. The students matched upper & lowercase letters & put the alphabet letters in order.

2009-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

This week we focused on letters p & n and the sounds these letters make. We added our first popcorn word, at, to our word wall & popcorn bags. We saw this word "pop" up a few times in our Weekly Reader about the zoo. Some of the stories we read this week were, The City Mouse and The Country Mouse, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, The Perfect Pet (Ms. P's Story), Not Now, Mr. N! We compared and contrasted cities and countries & told stories about times that we have visited these different types of areas. We also did some beginning sound and rhyming activities. The students worked on the computer reading program, Imagination Station. In math we started chapter 2 which focuses on numbers 0-5. We did some one-to-one correspondence activities and used manipulatives to model sets of objects.
The students also started RtI reading groups this week and are getting used to switching classes and working with another teacher. In my RtI reading group the students listened to the stories, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom & Chicka, Chicka, 1,2,3. We compared & contrasted the two stories. The students also put alphabet magnets in order from A-Z and matched upper and lowercase letters.

2009-09-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

The letters and sounds we focused on this week were t & i. Some of the stories we read included The Gingerbread Man, Ten Apples Up On Top, Here Are My Hands, and Letter People stories. We talked about the five senses and played head, shoulders, knees & toes. The students sorted pictures by beginning sounds and we learned actions to go along with the letter sounds for s,a,t & i through the Jolly Phonics program. In handwriting I have introduced the first 3 letters that are part of a "frog jump" capitals group. The "frog jump" capitals are letters F,E,D,P,R,B,M & N. To form these letters you first make a big line (top to bottom) and then "frog jump" back to the starting corner to finish making the letter. In math, we finished our chapter on sorting by sorting bears by size, shape & color. We have also been working on counting to 20, making tally marks, recognizing the 5's on a hundred chart (5, 10, 15, 20 etc.) and filling in a weather graph each day. We had a few special visitors to our class this week...Mrs. Heckman, our school nurse talked about germs and hand washing. Mrs. Hansen, our principal read to our class. It was a great week!

2009-09-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

We started our Houghton Mifflin reading series, Jolly Phonics, & Letter People programs this week. We focused on the letters s & a and the sounds those letters make. For handwriting practice the students enjoyed making letters in shaving cream and used the big lines and little lines from our Handwriting Without Tears program to form various letters. We also did some pencil grip activities to help hold the pencil correctly. As a group we paired rhyming pictures and listened for rhyming words in stories and poems. The students also enjoyed working on the computer reading program, Imagination Station. In math we continued to sort objects and used reasoning to figure out which objects didn't belong in a group based on the similarities and differences of the objects. We read a Weekly Reader about apples and discussed foods that grow on trees and in the ground. The students also began taking turns as the Special Helper and are now leading calendar time. It was a great week!

2009-09-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

This week in math, the students sorted shapes by color, size, & shape. We also started working in our math workbook. We have been learning the names of the days of the week & months of the year during calendar time. We are keeping track of how many days we are in school, discussing weather & temperature, and the date. One of the stories we read was, Do You Want To Be My Friend? By Eric Carle, and discussed friendship. All of the kindergartners traced one of their hands to make a rainbow of friends for our hallway. We have also begun looking at the alphabet. The students have used manipulatives to form letters of the alphabet that are made up of straight lines, such as H, L, T, etc. Since it is hard for the kids to remember all 22 students names, we have also been playing some name games to help get acquainted. The students have enjoyed working on the computer reading program, Imagination Station. We practiced our first fire drill of the year and the students did a great job!

2009-08-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

During the first week of kindergarten, the students have learned so many new things about Elizabeth Ide School and our classroom routine. We have been practicing walking in a straight line, taking the attendance sheet to the office, and finding the washrooms. The children also began learning our daily routine of hanging up backpacks, checking home folders for mail, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, table captain responsibilities, and doing the daily calendar routine. We read a Weekly Reader about making friends, had gym class with Mr. K, and visited the library with Mrs. Bouton. The students are getting along well and making new friends!!
For the first trimester of kindergarten, (August-November 20) Our class will have gym on Tuesdays. I will let you know our new gym days at
the change of each trimester. Every Wednesday, our class will have library
with Mrs. Bouton. On this day, your child will have the opportunity to check a book out of the school library. The book will be due the following week.
Next week I will be assessing the students to see which letters/sounds they already know, so that they will be placed in the appropriate reading group. On Thursday morning, September 3rd, there will be a substitute in my classroom while I am testing my students individually. I will be right across the hall in our computer room, but just thought I would let you know.
If you haven't already turned in the white sheet stating that you have received the school handbook, please do so ASAP. This was given out in the manila envelope at Open House.
Each week I will update my blog for information like this. To access my blog, you can visit the district 66 website (www.ccsd66.org) and then click on Elizabeth Ide, Kindergarten, and then my name. I update it on Fridays and if you have given the office (or me) your e-mail address, I will send you the link each Friday (starting next week) to my blog to let you know it has been updated.

2009-05-29T10:35:00.001-07:00

This week we noticed that a few of our tadpoles finally have legs! We read about the life cycle of the frog, completed an activity putting the life cycle pictures in order, and made a frog puppet. We practiced telling time to the hour and wrote numbers to 100. Each student had a turn on the Imagination Station computer reading program. The students had such a fun time at the picnic! Thanks to all of the moms and dads who helped plan this event! Please have your child bring their Reading Folder to school on Monday so I can collect the books.

2009-05-22T11:45:00.001-07:00

We started the week with a zoo-per day at Brookfield Zoo! The weather was perfect and our children were so well behaved! Thanks to all of the chaperones who made the day run so smoothly. This week we continued to work on subtraction and numbers to 100. We also read the story, The Grouchy Ladybug and made grouchy ladybug clocks. The students are getting really good at telling time to the hour! Mrs. Hansen came in and did a Character Counts project with the class. We also enjoyed neatness day, outside day, popsicle day and my favorite...quiet day. The students worked on the Imagination Station computer reading program. In my RtI reading group, the students sorted the 18 popcorn words by beginning letter and read them to me. We also read the story, Elmer and the students completed a writing activity telling which color elephant they like. The students also read the story, Eensy, Weensy Spider with me and sequenced the events in the story by beginning, middle and end.

2009-05-15T10:09:00.001-07:00

This week we celebrated Hilarious Hair Day, Ice Cream Day, Jump Rope Day, Kickball Day, and Lollipop Day. We did many activities based on these letters. We have been reviewing each letter/sound through the ABC Countdown. The students enjoy hearing the letter person song again and Jolly Phonics songs. The A.M. Class attended an assembly sponsored by the Chicago Bears. Staley, the Bears mascot, taught the students how to score a touchdown for a healthy lifestyle. The students had a turn on the computer reading program, Imagination Station. In math we began our unit on subtraction. The students have also been working on ordering and recognizing the numbers 1-100. In my RtI reading group the students practiced making CVC words, read in small groups with me and worked on forming sentences.

2009-05-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

This week we focused a few lessons on the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. This story incorporated the days of the week, how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly, and counting. In math we finished our chapter on addition and are starting subtraction. We have also been working on numbers to 100 and telling time to the hour. The students are expected to read/write numbers to 100 & tell time to the hour by the end of kindergarten. We spent time building and reading CVC words. The kids are really getting good at this! The students made special projects for their moms for Mother's Day. The students enjoy observing our tadpoles each day and noting their changes. We were able to see some of the chicks that hatched in first grade too. We also enjoyed cracker day, dance day, earth day and funny feet day for our ABC Countdown. We did not have RtI reading groups this week because all of the kids were being tested to check on their progress at this point.

2009-05-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

This week one of the stories we read was the story, Henny Penny. We learned the importance of not jumping to conclusions. Each student had a turn on Imagination Station, our computer reading program. We practiced building CVC words and forming sentences. Mrs. Hansen read to our class this week for her monthly Character Counts activity. In math the students
continued to model and complete addition problems. We have also been practicing counting on form any given number, counting by tens, fives, and twos, and telling time to the hour. In my RtI reading group, the students read the story, Look at the Animals, with me and completed a sentence about another animal using that frame. They also practiced reading and phonics skills on http://www.starfall.com/ and used magnetic letters to make CVC words.

2009-04-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

This week we enjoyed learning about different types of animals and making art projects for our animal/zoo theme. We hope you enjoyed seeing them at Open House. We read the familiar folktale, The Tale of the Three Little Pigs, and compared and contrasted the houses that the pigs made. We also read the story, Feathers For Lunch. In this humorous, rhyming story, we followed a hungry cat and learned about different types of birds. The children enjoy observing our tadpoles each day. Our new popcorn word this week was, he. The students enjoyed reading and writing about various types of pets and why certain animals would not make good pets. In math the students practiced joining objects together and writing addition sentences. I also introduced the concept of telling time to the hour, and counting by 2's. In my RtI reading group, the students wrote about their favorite zoo animals. We also practiced making words with the CVC pattern.

2009-04-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

This week we finished our money unit in math, and started working on the concept of addition. The students solved addition story problems and began looking at addition as "joining together". We also counted, sorted and graphed jelly beans. The students are enjoying the animal theme in reading. We read a story called, Splash! and discussed the events that occurred at the beginning, middle and end of the story. "Are" was our new popcorn word this week. The students attended a science assembly on Friday, thanks to our PTO. In my RtI reading group the students practiced reading all of the popcorn words and other words following the cvc (consonant/vowel/consonant) pattern. We did this through Easter-related egg activities. The students enjoyed cracking open a plastic egg and unscrambling the magnetic letters that were inside to make a word. What a great week!

2009-04-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

This week we read the tale, Run Away! The students responded to this story and recalled the events in the order that they happened. The students practiced printing the letters Rr, Nn & Mm this week. In math we are finishing up our chapter on money and will soon begin addition. The students worked on the Imagination Station computer reading program. In my RtI reading group, the students made a special “basket” filled with colorful paper easter eggs. They printed each popcorn word on the eggs and we thought of a few games they could use these for at home. Some ideas included...hiding the eggs and when your child finds the egg, they must read the word. He/she may collect all of the words they read in their paper basket. To use the words in sentences, have the family sit around the table. Each person pulls a word out of the bag and has to use it in a sentence. Keep playing until all 18 words are used! Or..pull a word out of the bag and give clues about it and see if your child can guess the word. Fun and practice at the same time!