The students have been enjoying gingerbread stories and poems.  We have read The Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, The Gingerbread Bear, and Gingerbread Pirates.  We will also read The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Man, and The Gingerbread Cowboy.  The new popcorn words we have had are: little, and yes, go, no so. We have been doing many fun reading activities in partners and small groups.  In math we have been spending a lot of time understanding teen numbers.  The activities we are doing involve understanding place value of numbers 1-20, greater than, less than, and equal to and missing numbers. 

A Peek At Next Week (the week of January 6th)

January 7-10 Maps testing

January 14th Aims-Web testing

Reading: Students will: Practice visualizing with a familiar text, connect mental images with a poem, learn and use the cooperative structure, "Think, Pair, Share", begin working with new partners, give each other time to think. 

New Vocabulary: various, edge, fits, cupboard
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, enormous,  assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice, slam, filthy, concerned, moan, enormous, observe, patient, scoop, uncomfortable, comfortable, wade, mend, cozy, straight, evening, complete
Jolly Phonics: ch, sh
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, identifying medial sounds, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: 2d and 3d shapes: square, circle, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, cube, cone, cylinder, sphere 
Handwriting: lowercase letters: magic c,o,s
Popcorn Word: the, you, down
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, ai, oa, ie, ee, or, z, w, v, y, x, oo (2 sounds)
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Counting by 10's to 100. Number formation, recognition, place value and counting objects #1-20,
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, at, on, we, me, am, did, not, is, can, but, to, too, ran, into, for, little, and, yes, go, no, so
Read together :)

Our poem this week was, I'm a Little Snowman.  The students found the rhyming words, popcorn words, and made up actions.  We added the words: ran, into, for to our popcorn word wall.  During centers the students worked on activities to learn these new words and review all of the words we have had so far.  They also worked on CVC words and read with me.  The sounds we learned in Jolly Phonics were w & v.  This week's Making Meaning story was, Maisy's Pool.  The students practiced retelling this story.  The new vocabulary words were uncomfortable, comfortable, mend & wade.  In math we have been focusing on numbers 11-20.  Some of the activities we are doing is place value, greater than/less than, and using ten frames.  Have a great weekend! 

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: Charlie Needs A Cloak by Tomie dePaola
Students will: Make text-to-self-connections, use sequence of events to retell a story, answer questions to understand the story, hear and discuss a story, listen to one another and speak clearly while taking turns.

New Vocabulary: cozy, straight, evening, complete
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, enormous,  assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice, slam, filthy, concerned, moan, enormous, observe, patient, scoop, uncomfortable, comfortable, wade, mend
Jolly Phonics: y, x
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, identifying ending sounds, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10, counting, patterns & sorting
Handwriting: J, and review printing capitals
Popcorn Word: little, and, yes
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, ai, oa, ie, ee, or, z, w, v
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Counting by 10's. Number formation, recognition, place value and counting objects #1-20,
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, at, on, we, me, am, did, not, is, can, but, to, too, ran, into, for
Read together :)

 

Turkeys, Turkeys, Turkeys!  This week we read lots of fun stories such as Run, Turkey, Run! A Plump and Perky Turkey, 10 Fat Turkeys, Turkey Trouble and This Is The Turkey.  The poem this week was called, The Turkey.  Our new popcorn words were is, can & but.  During daily five centers, students practiced popcorn words, making and reading cvc words, and read with me.  They also listened to reading on the computer and listening center.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds ee, and or.  Our math activities focused on teen numbers, counting, patterns, number writing and comparing numbers. The capitals letters we have been working on in handwriting are the "magic c capitals" C, O, Q & G.  

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: Thanksgiving stories
Students will: Make text-to-self-connections, hear and discuss a story, refer to the text to support their thinking, talk and listen to one another.
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice, slam, filthy, concerned, moan, enormous, observe, patient, scoop
Jolly Phonics: z
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, identifying ending sounds, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10, counting, patterns & sorting
Handwriting: S
Popcorn Word: to, too
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, ai, oa, ie, ee, or
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Counting by 10's. Number formation, recognition and counting objects #1-20,
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, at, on, we, me, am, did, not, is, can, but
Read together :)

Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, November 26th.  The gold copy will be yours to keep.  Please sign and return the manilla envelope as soon as possible.  Remember to return November reading logs after Thanksgiving.  Last month we had 15 out of 18 students return their log.  Let's try to get all 19 this month :)  



November was our poem this week.  We talked about how the month of November starts to look and feel more like winter...we see fewer leaves on the trees, no birds or bees etc.  The students really enjoy the poetry book that we have been putting together and are getting really good at noticing all of the words that they now recognize.  Beginning this week, we will introduce 3 popcorn words per week.  Our new words this week were am, did, not.  Please continue to practice all of the words we have had so far so that your child can read them by sight.  During daily 5 centers, the students worked on reading and making words, practiced popcorn words, and sorted pictures by beginning sounds.  The letter sounds we focused on in Jolly Phonics this week were: oa & ie.  We began printing the "magic c" capital letters in handwriting.  These letters (C, O, Q, G) have a magic c in them that you make first when printing the letters.  In math we are working on counting beyond 50, counting by 10's, & counting backwards from 20.  The students have been working in centers on counting activities as well as making patterns and sorting.  We had another great week in Kindergarten!  Enjoy your weekend!

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: Thanksgiving stories
Students will: Make text-to-self-commections, hear and discuss a story, refer to the text to support their thinking, talk and listen to one another.
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice, slam, filthy, concerned, moan, enormous, observe, patient, scoop
Jolly Phonics: ee, or
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, identifying ending sounds, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10, counting, patterns & sorting
Handwriting: C, O, Q, G, S
Popcorn Word: is, can but  (then to & too the week of 11/25)
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, ai, oa, ie
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Number recognition and counting objects #1-10
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, at, on, we, me, am, did, not
Read together :)

Wednesday, November 20th is Early Dismissal Day in District 66.  Students will be dismissed at noon.  Pick-ups will be dismissed about ten minutes later after the buses have left.  Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, November 26th.  The gold copy will be yours to keep.  Please sign and return the manilla envelope as soon as possible.





This week we had fun celebrating Halloween.  We read fun stories such as Room On The Broom, Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks At School, and The Spooky Wheels On The Bus.  Our poem was One, Two Halloween Boo!  The new popcorn words this week were at & on.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds of b & j.  The students made a class book page about what they were for Halloween.  Our math centers including Halloween patterns, monster wiggly eye counting, numbers on ten frames, spider memory game, and counting activities on the computer.  We had a visit from a firefighter and learned about fire safety.  The class enjoyed the wonderful Halloween party.  Thank you to all of the parents who donated items, created games and were able to be here for the festivities.  The rain didn't stop us from having a great indoor costume parade!  Have a great weekend.

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: Making Meaning Story: Noisy Nora by: Rosemary Wells
Students will: Make text-to-self-commections, hear and discuss a story, refer to the text to support their thinking, talk and listen to one another.
New Vocabulary: slam, filthy, concerned, moanVocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice
Jolly Phonics: ai
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, identifying ending sounds, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10, counting, patterns & sorting
Handwriting: X, Y, Z
Popcorn Word: we, me
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Number recognition and counting objects #1-10
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, at, on
Read together :)
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held in my classroom on Tuesday, November 5th and Thursday, November 7th.  I look forward to discussing your child's progress so far.
There is no school on Friday, November 8th or Monday, November 11th.  Enjoy your long weekend!

Our reading story this week was I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer. Through this story we learned the following vocabulary words: allow, frustrated, decide & practice.  Students made text-to-self connections about times that they have been frustrated.  The poem of the week was called, Jack-O-Lantern.  A lot of popcorn words popped up in this poem!  Our two new popcorn words this week were up & run.  Please be sure to practice popcorn words at home.  In Jolly Phonics we worked on the sounds for the letters l & f.  The capital letters we worked on in handwriting were H, K & L.  In math we continued to work on number formation of numbers to 10, counting to 50 from one and random numbers, and counting backward from 20.  We also have been working on patterns, counting objects and numbers and ten frames.  Have a great weekend!

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: Halloween stories
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome, allow, frustrated, decide, practice
Jolly Phonics: b, j
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10, counting, patterns & sorting
Handwriting: U, V, W
Popcorn Word: at, on
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Number recognition and counting objects #1-10
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run
Read together :)
A fireman from the Darien-Woodridge fire department will visit us on Monday to learn about fire safety.On October 31st, students may bring costumes to school to be put on over their clothes for the parade and party.  Weapons will not be allowed.  Candy or other edible treats are also not allowed.  Our school has a costume parade at 1:40 that day, so please come by school to watch if you can.  Our classroom party will be from 2:00-3:00 that day.

The poem we worked on this week was called, The Scarecrow.  Through this poem, we worked on rhyming, beginning sounds and found popcorn words. Our new popcorn words were my & like.  In reading, we focused on the story, When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really, Angry. The vocabulary words from this story were snatch, furious, comfort & welcome.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds that o & u make and used these sounds to make words.  We reviewed the frog jump capitals and started working on number writing in handwriting.  Our math centers this week focused on counting to 50, counting objects to 20, making patterns, sorting by color, and using ten frames.  It was another great week in kindergarten!

A Peek At Next Week

Reading: I Was So Mad! by Mercer Mayer
Students will: take responsibility for themselves, hear and discuss a story, practice, "Turn to Your Partner", talk & listen to one another, make text-to-self connections to enjoy and understand the story as well as support their thinking.
New Vocabulary: allow, frustrated, decide, practice
Vocabulary we have learned: creature, imitate, companion, explore, generous, nuisance, energetic, exhausted, soar, tangled, snooze, drowsy, pedestrian, passenger, eager, assortment, enjoy, gooey, container, scrumptious, whirl, scramble, determined, proud, snatch, furious, comfort, welcome
Jolly Phonics: l, f
Phonemic Awareness: letter naming, rhyming, onset fluency, blending, segmenting, substituting, adding phonemes, deleting phonemes, language awareness
Math: Numbers to 10
Handwriting: H, K, L
Popcorn Word: up, run
Library: Mondays (book return/check out) and Wednesdays
Art: Tuesdays
Music: Thursdays and Fridays 
Gym & Recess: Everyday
Things to review and practice: 
phonics:recognition & sounds of/making words with s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u
Counting: forward from 1 and random numbers and backward from 20. Number recognition and counting objects #1-10
Practice popcorn words: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like
Read together :)

Thursday, October 24th is early dismissal day in District 66. Ide students will be dismissed at noon.  Pick ups will be dismissed after the buses leave around 12:10.
On October 31st, students bring costumes to school to be put over their clothes for the parade and party.  Weapons will not be allowed.  Candy or other edible treats are also not allowed.  Our school has a costume parade at 1:40 that day, so please come by school to watch if you can.  Our classroom party will be from 2:00-3:00 that day.

This week we read the story, Flower Garden.  We practiced, "turn to your partner".  To use this strategy, students have to look and listen to their partner and take turns discussing. The vocabulary words we practiced from this story were pedestrian, passenger, eager, and assortment.  The centers the students worked at this week were read to self, listen to reading, and word work.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds for the letters e & h and used all of the letter sounds we learned so far to make words.  Our new popcorn word was, in.  In our Michael Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program, students are reviewing letter names and sounds.  They are also listening to words and deciding if they rhyme or not, as well as beginning sounds of words.  The letters we focused on for handwriting were the "frog jump capitals" D & P.  Our math activities this week have focused on counting, number recognition and number order. 

Last week we learned a new strategy in reading called, "turn to your partner".  The students were able to practice this strategy through the story, Cat's Colors.  The new vocabulary words we learned from this story were: soar, tangled, snooze, and drowsy.  The popcorn word we focused on this week was, it.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds/actions for the letters n, and c,k.  We also made words with letter sounds we have learned already (s,a,t,i,p,n,c,k).  The upper case letters we worked on in handwriting were: F, E.  These are two of the "frog jump" capitals because when we make these letters, we start at the top, make a big line down, and then frog jump back to the starting point to finish the letter.  The students worked in centers during reading time.  They listened to a story at the listening center, worked on The Imagination Station computer reading program, and read to themselves.  They are doing so well learning the daily 5 routines and working at them independently!  In math we are working on counting and number recognition.  Students are counting forward (from 1 and random numbers) and backward to one.  We are putting numbers in order and counting objects.  We are also matching numbers to sets of objects.  The students have enjoyed working in partners and small groups to complete math activities.

We've had another great week in kindergarten!  We read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and other fun stories by Laura Numeroff.  The vocabulary words that we introduced through these stories were generous, nuisance, energetic, and exhausted.  If you hear these words at home, it's because we talked about them a lot this week and tried using them in our conversations.  In Jolly Phonics we learned the sounds of i & p.  We made words with the letters that we have learned so far (s, a, t, i, p, n).  Our new popcorn word was, I.  We heard it popping up in our reading all week.  We introduced and practiced the next daily 5 activity: Listen to Reading.  The kids were able to practice listening to a story on our listening center and on the computers.  In math we did counting activities.  The kids are counting objects, matching the amount to the number, putting numbers and number words 0-20 in order.  We are also learning place value with the number of days we are in school (12= 1 stick of ten and 2 ones).  We've been counting forward each day from 1 and also backwards to 1. The students seem to enjoy having class jobs and we will start the student of the week program next Friday.  Thank you for getting those posters in on time :)  Have a great weekend!   

We have accomplished so much in our first 7 days of kindergarten!  The students are doing a wonderful job adjusting to school!  We have been learning and practicing the behavioral expectations around our school and in the classroom.  We have started our reading program, Making Meaning, and our Jolly Phonics program.  This week we have learned the sounds for s, a & t.  We will be doing the Daily 5 during our literacy time, so we practiced the first center, Read to Self.  We also began our popcorn word program. The first word we learned was, a.  The class went to music, library, gym, recess, and practiced our first fire drill of the year. Next week we will be taking Maps test (see below at "A Peek At Next Week") and we will go to art class.  Have a great weekend!