Thank you for helping your kindergartner becoming more independent transitioning to the classroom each morning. Most of the children are entering the classroom by themselves and following the morning routines independently. This is an important step in their development!
BALANCED LITERACY
Fundations: This month in Fundations we will learn the following letters and their sounds: Oo-octopus-/o/, Aa-apple-/a, Gg-game-/g/, Dd-dog-/d/, and Ss-snake-/s/.
Writing:
During writer’s workshop students continue to write “teaching” stories about topics they know about. Students are working on carrying on as writers and writing their stories in 3-page booklets, making sure that each page relates to the topic they have chosen to write about. We will also start learning how to stretch out words to hear even more sounds. Students have certainly been working hard. We will also be incorporating some writing during science as well as we make observations about our bulb plants.
Word Wall Words:
We have started to add words to our word wall this fall. Each word that is added to the wall is a word that we read and write frequently. With practice students are able to use the word wall as a tool to help them when they are writing. Some of those words are me, I, the, and can. In the coming weeks we will add the words on, at and am. When you are reading or writing with your child at home you can ask him/her to try and find a kindergarten word wall word.
Read Alouds, Shared Reading and Poems:
In December, we will continue our unit on Tales of Three by reading many different versions of The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. During this unit we focus on retelling. Kindergartners will learn several different strategies for retelling including oral retelling, dramatic retelling, and puppet retelling. Retelling is an important comprehension strategy in grades K through 2.
SCIENCE
We have started our study of Living & Non-Living Things. We will continue to investigate the question: Is a bulb a living thing? The children will participate in various experiments in order to answer this question. Each child has also planted and is caring for his or her own narcissus bulb. As scientists, we will observe, record, measure and compare our plants using a variety of tools. You will have a chance to learn more about this investigation at our K Family Drop-In on December 19th.
K Drop-In
Our first K Family Drop-In is Thursday, December 19, from 8:20 to 8:45 AM. We will be sharing what we are learning in our Science unit.
MATH
This month in math we will begin to learn about numbers in the “tricky teens”. We also be working on writing these numbers, making sure the digit “1” always comes first. We will also begin talking about number stories. We will also integrate math into our science unit this month, as we measure the growth of our bulbs.
WINTER CLOTHING
Please keep in mind that all kindergartners go out for recess daily! Unless the weather is extremely cold or our playground is very icy, we will go outside. Please send your child with appropriate clothing each day. This includes; jacket, hat, and mittens/gloves. When it begins to snow students will also need boots & snow pants. Please be sure to label all of the winter clothing that comes into school. It is also very helpful if you practice zipping and fastening the winter clothes at home so students can have more success getting ready independently at school.
