To kick off Volunteer appreciation week "Hats off to you", Monday 4/16 is hat day. Students should wear their favorite hat to school.
Check out all the cute hats and banners in the hallway this week. There will also be donuts in the front office on Monday for volunteers, come by and get a donut as a token of our thanks. We couldn't do what we do without all our amazing volunteers - thank you!
We've been studying the Rainforest for the past two weeks. We have learned about the layers of the rainforest, where in world the rainforests are located and we learned about some of the animals in the rainforest.
We completed a research project with our book buddies, they helped the students research one chosen rainforest animal. All the students had fun looking up facts about MaCaws, Anachondas, Boas, Jaguars and many more animals, both the 3rd grade book buddies and the kinders learned new things. (I did too) Our class used these facts to do some writing about their animal.
We have been working hard in math, learning all about shapes, the differences between 2D (flat) and 3D (solid) shapes. We learned about sides and vertices of 2D shapes and this coming week, we will learn about the properties of 3D shapes.
We are continuing to work on handwriting and proper letter formation. During teacher time we have begun reading readers together, answering questions about what we read and ask each other questions about the books. We are working on reading for understanding, comprehending what we read instead of just reading the words.
In writer's workshop, we have been writing stories with a beginning, middle and end and writing how to books. We are working hard on writing for readers; writing ledgibly, using spaces between our words and proper punctuation.
Our brains are full and your students are thriviing! One of our favorite things to do these days is have a hug line. I sit on the edge of the table and the kids line up and I hug each student, sometimes 3 or 4 times as they keep cycling through the line. It's so sweet and it puts a smile on all of our faces. Your littles are such good huggers!
Spring conferences are under way. These conferences are optional! I have a few more dates available if you would like to come in and chat about your student. Again, these are optional, I have contacted you already if I wanted/needed to conference with you. Please see the sign-up genius for my available times if you would like to conference with me.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-parent
This week (4/16-4/20) we are learning all about taking care of our earth.
Check out all the cute hats and banners in the hallway this week. There will also be donuts in the front office on Monday for volunteers, come by and get a donut as a token of our thanks. We couldn't do what we do without all our amazing volunteers - thank you!
We've been studying the Rainforest for the past two weeks. We have learned about the layers of the rainforest, where in world the rainforests are located and we learned about some of the animals in the rainforest.
We completed a research project with our book buddies, they helped the students research one chosen rainforest animal. All the students had fun looking up facts about MaCaws, Anachondas, Boas, Jaguars and many more animals, both the 3rd grade book buddies and the kinders learned new things. (I did too) Our class used these facts to do some writing about their animal.
We have been working hard in math, learning all about shapes, the differences between 2D (flat) and 3D (solid) shapes. We learned about sides and vertices of 2D shapes and this coming week, we will learn about the properties of 3D shapes.
We are continuing to work on handwriting and proper letter formation. During teacher time we have begun reading readers together, answering questions about what we read and ask each other questions about the books. We are working on reading for understanding, comprehending what we read instead of just reading the words.
In writer's workshop, we have been writing stories with a beginning, middle and end and writing how to books. We are working hard on writing for readers; writing ledgibly, using spaces between our words and proper punctuation.
Our brains are full and your students are thriviing! One of our favorite things to do these days is have a hug line. I sit on the edge of the table and the kids line up and I hug each student, sometimes 3 or 4 times as they keep cycling through the line. It's so sweet and it puts a smile on all of our faces. Your littles are such good huggers!
Spring conferences are under way. These conferences are optional! I have a few more dates available if you would like to come in and chat about your student. Again, these are optional, I have contacted you already if I wanted/needed to conference with you. Please see the sign-up genius for my available times if you would like to conference with me.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-parent
This week (4/16-4/20) we are learning all about taking care of our earth.
Thursday March 2nd
We need volunteers for workstations to get us through the last few months of school. Please sign-up if you can volunteer! We love when the moms and dads come in!
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation1
Wow! We have been busy learning in kindergarten over the past couple of weeks. Your students have been working so hard and pesevering with reading, writing, math and sight words. I am impressed with how motivated they are to practice sight words at home and come back ready to test within a couple of days! Kudos to you guys.
Last week was all about Dr. Seuss. It was so fun to see the kids dress up for Dr. Seuss week. I think my favorite was all the wacky outfits on Wednesday - they really got creative with their clothes.
In math we are working on teen numbers using 10 frames and the wording 10 + some more ones. We are also doing some things with 100's charts. We continue to review addition and subtraction within 5.
In writing, we are writing true stories, with a beginning, middle and ending. Share some stories with your child this weekend about things you have done together or places you have been as a family!
We continue to work on proper letter formation and using the lines on our paper correctly.
During WIN, all classes are working on fine motor (fingers) development and gross motor development (big muscles).
Have a great weekend and enjoy some time oustide - it's going to be warm!
Week of 2/11/18
Can you believe we have been in school for over 100 days? I feel so blessed to have had you and your children in my lives for the past 100 + days. I am grateful everyday for the love and hugs from your littles. This is the best job in the world and I can't imagine doing anything else - thank you for letting me love and hug on your littles each day!
Last week we had a fun 100's day celebration that couldn't have been done without the wonderful volunteers, thank you for choosing to spend part of your day with us - we really appreciate your help!
This week has been all about Valentines day and the winter olympics. We've had some fun learning about the different Olympic sports and talking about the Olympics we've watched on T.V. The winter olympics are my favorite and I love the kids excitement when they talk about watching the skiers and snowboarders on the half pipe or the skaters, etc. It's been such a joy to experience these winter games with your kiddos!
We had a wonderful Valentine's Day party on Tuesday - Kudos to the awesome volunteers to put together some really fun games and crafts. I loved that each center focused on a different thing, and that we got to give back by sending a handmade card to a sweet girl battling cancer.
Today we had a ROAR assembly and named our 2nd Super Zeph of the year.
Keep up the great work at home! I've seen such wonderful growth in reading, writing and sight words because of the work you all do at home with your sweet babies!
Can you believe we have been in school for over 100 days? I feel so blessed to have had you and your children in my lives for the past 100 + days. I am grateful everyday for the love and hugs from your littles. This is the best job in the world and I can't imagine doing anything else - thank you for letting me love and hug on your littles each day!
Last week we had a fun 100's day celebration that couldn't have been done without the wonderful volunteers, thank you for choosing to spend part of your day with us - we really appreciate your help!
This week has been all about Valentines day and the winter olympics. We've had some fun learning about the different Olympic sports and talking about the Olympics we've watched on T.V. The winter olympics are my favorite and I love the kids excitement when they talk about watching the skiers and snowboarders on the half pipe or the skaters, etc. It's been such a joy to experience these winter games with your kiddos!
We had a wonderful Valentine's Day party on Tuesday - Kudos to the awesome volunteers to put together some really fun games and crafts. I loved that each center focused on a different thing, and that we got to give back by sending a handmade card to a sweet girl battling cancer.
Today we had a ROAR assembly and named our 2nd Super Zeph of the year.
Keep up the great work at home! I've seen such wonderful growth in reading, writing and sight words because of the work you all do at home with your sweet babies!
We have been learning so much since we returned from winter break! I can't wait to tell you all about it, but first, we have some house keeping items:
This week we are learning all about the traditions around groundhog day. Ask you student what their predictation is... will the groundhog see his shadow or not? I'm hoping for not - I am ready for spring and summer!
Next week, we will celebrate the 100th day of school. Can you believe your little cuties have been in school for 100 days and are over half way through with kindergarten?
- We are in need of volunteers for the 100th day of school celebration. A bright pink sheet came home in folders yesterday, please fill it out and return it if you can volunteer.
- We will be exchanging Valentines as a class, you can make or purchase valentines. We have a school rule that valentines cannot contain candy. Please note that your child needs to write his classmates names on the valentines - so plan for larger writing.
- A class list will be coming home with your student this week. Your student needs to write the name of each classmate plus their book buddy on a valentine. Please make sure you have one valentine for each student in the class, plus your child's book buddy.
- There are 22 students in our class.
This week we are learning all about the traditions around groundhog day. Ask you student what their predictation is... will the groundhog see his shadow or not? I'm hoping for not - I am ready for spring and summer!
Next week, we will celebrate the 100th day of school. Can you believe your little cuties have been in school for 100 days and are over half way through with kindergarten?
House keeping and reminders:
We still need volunteers to help in our classroom and with making copies for all the kindergarten teachers, please sign-up to help if you can:
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation1www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-friday1
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten1
We now have a Facebook page and Twitter account for our class! https://www.facebook.com/mrs.dachel/
https://twitter.com/mrs_dachel
Follow us for updates!
It's been a while since I have updated you all on the kindergarten happenings.
We have done and grown so much over the last couple of months. January is such an amazing time of growth in kindergarten. The students come back from break refreshed and ready to learn. By this time in the year, they know the expectations and can spend all their energy on the learning and it is really incredible how much they grow this time of year.
Your students have begun the process of learning sight words. In their folder is a sight word ring with the current list each student is working on. Please take a few minutes each day to practice sight words with your student. (We included some suggested activities when we first sent the rings home.) Students must know the words by sight, this means they must be able to say it within 3 seconds and not sound it out. Once your student knows all the words on their rings, please put the green "I know my sight words" card in the front - this is how we know to test them on their words.
I am in the process of assessing reading levels and will have all reading assessments completed in time for book choosing next Friday. Please continue to read with your child each night and remember to sign the reading log. Also, please continue to have your student spend time on Reading Eggs and Math seeds. We have seen big growth in both math and reading for the students who have consistently spent 20 minutes a week on these apps.
This week we learned all about the continent of Antartica; where it is on the globe, what animals live there and about Antartica's climate. We ended the week with "dress like a penguin" day! This afternoon we watched part of the movie March of the Penguins to wrap up our Antartica unit.
Next week we are studying Aisa.
Housekeeping and Reminders:
- We are continuing readers, please have your child read one book to you each night and return all the readers in their bag each day. Parent volunteers read with your students during workstations, so they may tell you they have already read a book. You do not need to mark the already read column on the reading log unless they have had that book previously in their book bag.
- Please check your students folder each night for any important information and empty it each night. On Friday we will send the majority of work home, please take a few minutes to go through your students work with them and talk about what they did during the week. Please send the empty folder back on Monday.
- Please check the sign up genius for your volunteer times/days
- We could use more help in our classroom with workstations, Friday folders and kindergarten copy crew. www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation1
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten1
Here's what we've been up to in Kindergarten:
We had a great time this week learning all about our 5 senses. We did some writing about winter. We talked about what winter smells like, feels like and tastes like. The students made some wonderful real world connections. We talked a lot about the differnce between sounds, scents and what you can feel. The students would say winter smells cold, we discussed whether cold was a smell and then brainstormed what it meant to smell cold. They came up with so many great describing words. What I loved most about this was that when went to work during writers workshop, the kiddos began to really think about describing what they wanted to say! They explored their stories through all of their senses- so cool to see!
We are continuing to work hard on segmenting and blending words - saying each sound and then putting it back together into a word.
Many of you have asked what terminology I use with the kiddos when teaching them to read. I tell them to stretch out the word (this means to say each sound) and put it back together. I also use the terms, segment and blend. I also tell them not to guess. Sometimes they will segment and then guess a word that begins with the same sound. I know the process of reading with your student can be frustrating. (I did it with my two boys as they learned to read and there were times where I wanted to scream! :-) ). Please be patient and give the kids the time they need to stretch out the words and put them back together. This may mean that they say the sounds over and over. If they guess, simply tell them not to guess and give them a few more minutes to try to figure out the word. If they truly cannot come up with the word, then it is okay to give them the word.
For the next two weeks we are studying Winter holiday's leading up to winter break. We have such a wonderful and diverse student population and I am excited to teach them about Holidays around the world. Please let me know of any special holiday celebrations your family participates in, I would love to include these in our learning over the next couple weeks!
Housekeeping and Reminders:
- We are continuing readers, please have your child read one book to you each night and return all the readers in their bag each day. Parent volunteers read with your students during workstations, so they may tell you they have already read a book. You do not need to mark the already read column on the reading log unless they have had that book previously in their book bag.
- Please check your students folder each night for any important information and empty it each night. On Friday we will send the majority of work home, please take a few minutes to go through your students work with them and talk about what they did during the week. Please send the empty folder back on Monday.
- Please check the sign up genius for your volunteer times/days
- We could use more help in our classroom with workstations, Friday folders and kindergarten copy crew. www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation1
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten1
- Remember to sign up for parent/teacher conferences
Last week we learned all about Kings and Queens and a little bit about the Continent of Europe.
We focused on the sight words, We, like and see and the color words yellow and green. Ask you student if they can sing the songs to you.
We learned about the Fairy Tale writing Genre when we read The Princess and The Pea and The Bremen Town Musicians. We worked on story sequencing and retell with both of these stories. Ask your student if they can tell you either of these core stories.
We continue to work on letter/sound recognition, number recognition and counting to 100. Ask your student about the secret stories. We have learned about the Super Hero vowels (when they wear their cape, they say their name, when they are in disguise, they are short and lazy and say their short vowel sound). And today we learned about sh - when s and h are together, they always go to the library and remind people to be very, very quiet, so when they are together, they always say shhhhhh. Your students love these secret stories!
Week of 9/25/17
Housekeeping and Reminders:
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten1
Now for the fun stuff! This week we learned all about apples! We had great workstations that helped us learn to sequence numbers, count the dots or look at the number pattern on dice and match it with the numeral. We sequenced apples from biggest to smallest and practiced our sight words. We even made our very own applesauce! The students helped peel and chop the apples they brought. We used my Instant Pot and it only took 8 minutes to cook. The students loved watching the steam rush out of the pot and it filled our room with such a delicious scent!
In math, we completed topic 1 and took the topic assessment today - your students are becoming quite the mathematicians! Ask them to show you one way to make five by drawing counters on a piece of paper.
Today was our hay ride - it was a lot of fun. The rain stopped and the sun peaked out just in time! We saw some great fall colors and a few Halloween decorations. Ask your child to tell you about the one really scary house! We also went by some of your houses - the kids were excited to point out their houses to friends. After our hay ride, we tasted the applesauce we made yesterday - it was yummy! Thank you for sending an apple with your child - they loved helping and then eating their creation.
Next week we are talking about Kings and Queens and the continent of Europe. I am planning on assessing reading levels again next week (I originally assessed in August). So, expect the same level readers next week and possibly a change in level the second week of October!
Housekeeping and Reminders:
- We are continuing readers, please have your child read one book to you each night and return all the readers in their bag each day
- We do not send readers home on the weekend
- If you have signed up to volunteer for workstations, and cannot make it, please let me know.
- Please check the sign up genius for your volunteer times/days
- We could use more help in our classroom with workstations, Friday folders and kindergarten copy crew. www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation1
www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten1
- Remember to sign up for parent/teacher conferences
Now for the fun stuff! This week we learned all about apples! We had great workstations that helped us learn to sequence numbers, count the dots or look at the number pattern on dice and match it with the numeral. We sequenced apples from biggest to smallest and practiced our sight words. We even made our very own applesauce! The students helped peel and chop the apples they brought. We used my Instant Pot and it only took 8 minutes to cook. The students loved watching the steam rush out of the pot and it filled our room with such a delicious scent!
In math, we completed topic 1 and took the topic assessment today - your students are becoming quite the mathematicians! Ask them to show you one way to make five by drawing counters on a piece of paper.
Today was our hay ride - it was a lot of fun. The rain stopped and the sun peaked out just in time! We saw some great fall colors and a few Halloween decorations. Ask your child to tell you about the one really scary house! We also went by some of your houses - the kids were excited to point out their houses to friends. After our hay ride, we tasted the applesauce we made yesterday - it was yummy! Thank you for sending an apple with your child - they loved helping and then eating their creation.
Next week we are talking about Kings and Queens and the continent of Europe. I am planning on assessing reading levels again next week (I originally assessed in August). So, expect the same level readers next week and possibly a change in level the second week of October!
Week of 9/18/17:
We started take home readers this week. Please read one reader each night with your child, sign the reading log and send all the readers (in the bag) back with your students each day! We will read with your students during workstations, so if they seem to know all the words or have the book memorized, it's because they have already read it once. Reader bags need to last all year, please be gentle with them.
We packed a lot of learning into this short week.! This week our focus was plants. Parts f a plant, what plants need to grow and different kinds of plants. We've been learning and practicing some sight word songs. So far we've learned the color word songs for red, orange, yellow, and green. We've also learned the songs for The, can and like. Ask your student to sing some of these songs to you!
The students are doing a wonderful job with rules and routines.
The students have been working hard in their tracing books. practicing kindergarten coloring and refining their fine motor skills.
Next week we will focus on Apples! We will even make applesauce on Wednesday and taste it on Thursday after our hay ride. You will get a note home on Tuesday to send an apple with your student on Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!
We started take home readers this week. Please read one reader each night with your child, sign the reading log and send all the readers (in the bag) back with your students each day! We will read with your students during workstations, so if they seem to know all the words or have the book memorized, it's because they have already read it once. Reader bags need to last all year, please be gentle with them.
We packed a lot of learning into this short week.! This week our focus was plants. Parts f a plant, what plants need to grow and different kinds of plants. We've been learning and practicing some sight word songs. So far we've learned the color word songs for red, orange, yellow, and green. We've also learned the songs for The, can and like. Ask your student to sing some of these songs to you!
The students are doing a wonderful job with rules and routines.
The students have been working hard in their tracing books. practicing kindergarten coloring and refining their fine motor skills.
Next week we will focus on Apples! We will even make applesauce on Wednesday and taste it on Thursday after our hay ride. You will get a note home on Tuesday to send an apple with your student on Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!
Kindergarten happenings March 27-31, 2017
I wanted to share this link with you, it has some fun questions to ask your students about school - it's a great way to get information about how their day was... I know whenever I ask my boys "how was school today?" I get a one word answer "fine." "good". These are some fun questions to ask to really make kids think about their day and hopefully you will get more than a one word answer. :-)
https://snotty-noses.com/blog/2015/08/13/questions-ask-kids/
We learned all about Africa this week. Your students learned that there are 54 countries on the continent of Africa and over 2000 languages are spoken there. We also learned that Africa is the 2nd largest continent and has a diverse physical geography, desert, grass lands, river basins, etc. We could spend weeks just studying Africa and your students will learn much more about it as they progress through elementary school.
On Friday, we watched the Lion King movie, it was a perfect way to end our unit on Africa, as it shows the diverse landscapes and animal life of the continent. It was also a perfect way to end a rainy Friday.
This coming week, we will learn all about South America.
Announcements and House keeping items:
Follow our class on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mrs.dachel/ and
Twitter @mrs_dachel
Optional spring conferences: Spring conferences are optional, if you would like to schedule a conference, please email me. If I feel we need to conference about your student, I will email you.
*Please note that I cannot discuss class placement for next year with you.
I wanted to share this link with you, it has some fun questions to ask your students about school - it's a great way to get information about how their day was... I know whenever I ask my boys "how was school today?" I get a one word answer "fine." "good". These are some fun questions to ask to really make kids think about their day and hopefully you will get more than a one word answer. :-)
https://snotty-noses.com/blog/2015/08/13/questions-ask-kids/
We learned all about Africa this week. Your students learned that there are 54 countries on the continent of Africa and over 2000 languages are spoken there. We also learned that Africa is the 2nd largest continent and has a diverse physical geography, desert, grass lands, river basins, etc. We could spend weeks just studying Africa and your students will learn much more about it as they progress through elementary school.
On Friday, we watched the Lion King movie, it was a perfect way to end our unit on Africa, as it shows the diverse landscapes and animal life of the continent. It was also a perfect way to end a rainy Friday.
This coming week, we will learn all about South America.
Announcements and House keeping items:
Follow our class on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mrs.dachel/ and
Twitter @mrs_dachel
Optional spring conferences: Spring conferences are optional, if you would like to schedule a conference, please email me. If I feel we need to conference about your student, I will email you.
*Please note that I cannot discuss class placement for next year with you.
What's been happening in Kindergarten?
We now have a Facebook page and Twitter account for our class! https://www.facebook.com/mrs.dachel/
https://twitter.com/mrs_dachel
Follow us for updates!
It's been a while since I have updated you all on the kindergarten happenings.
We have done and grown so much over the last couple of months. January is such an amazing time of growth in kindergarten. The students come back from break refreshed and ready to learn. By this time in the year, they know the expectations and can spend all their energy on the learning and it is really incredibly how much they grow this time of year.
Your students have begun the process of learning sight words. In their folder is a sight word ring with the current list each student is working on. Please take a few minutes each day to practice sight words with your student. (We included some suggested activities when we first sent the rings home.) Students must know the words by sight, this means they must be able to say it within 3 seconds and not sound it out. Once your student knows all the words on their rings, please put the green "I know my sight words" card in the front - this is how we know to test them on their words.
Since winter break, we have learned about Antarctica, The Arctic, and Asia. The students have studied the climates, animal life and cultures of these continents. Today we finished our Asia unit by celebrating Lunar New Year. Thinh and his mom shared with us the Lunar New Year traditions of Vietnam and gave each student a red envelope with the symbol for happiness on it. Jackie and her mom shared with us the Lunar New Year traditions of China. Jackie, Yihan and Maggie sang a New Year song in Chinese and Jackie and her mom gave each student a red envelope with the Chinese symbol for blessings. We had a lot of fun learning about the traditions of our students and their families. Thank you all for sharing with us!
Next week we are studying ground hog day and celebrating the 100th day of school!
We now have a Facebook page and Twitter account for our class! https://www.facebook.com/mrs.dachel/
https://twitter.com/mrs_dachel
Follow us for updates!
It's been a while since I have updated you all on the kindergarten happenings.
We have done and grown so much over the last couple of months. January is such an amazing time of growth in kindergarten. The students come back from break refreshed and ready to learn. By this time in the year, they know the expectations and can spend all their energy on the learning and it is really incredibly how much they grow this time of year.
Your students have begun the process of learning sight words. In their folder is a sight word ring with the current list each student is working on. Please take a few minutes each day to practice sight words with your student. (We included some suggested activities when we first sent the rings home.) Students must know the words by sight, this means they must be able to say it within 3 seconds and not sound it out. Once your student knows all the words on their rings, please put the green "I know my sight words" card in the front - this is how we know to test them on their words.
Since winter break, we have learned about Antarctica, The Arctic, and Asia. The students have studied the climates, animal life and cultures of these continents. Today we finished our Asia unit by celebrating Lunar New Year. Thinh and his mom shared with us the Lunar New Year traditions of Vietnam and gave each student a red envelope with the symbol for happiness on it. Jackie and her mom shared with us the Lunar New Year traditions of China. Jackie, Yihan and Maggie sang a New Year song in Chinese and Jackie and her mom gave each student a red envelope with the Chinese symbol for blessings. We had a lot of fun learning about the traditions of our students and their families. Thank you all for sharing with us!
Next week we are studying ground hog day and celebrating the 100th day of school!
Here's what we've been up to in Kindergarten:
We had a great time this week learning all about our 5 senses. We did some writing about winter. We talked about what winder smells like, feels like and tastes like. The students made some wonderful real world connections. We talked a lot about the differnce between sounds, sents and what you can feel. The students would say winter smells cold, we discussed whether cold was a smell and then brainstormed what it meant to smell cold. They came up with so many great describing words. What I loved most about this was that when we to work during writers workshop, the kiddos began to really think about describing what they wanted to say! They explored their stories through all of their senses- so cool to see!
We are continuing to work hard on segmenting and blending words - saying each sound and then putting it back together into a word.
Many of you have asked what terminology I use with the kiddos when teaching them to read. I tell them to stretch out the word (this means to say each sound) and put it back together. I also use the terms, segment and blend. I also tell them not to guess. Sometimes they will segment and then guess a word that begins with the same sound. I know the process of reading with your student can be frustrating. (I did it with my two boys as they learned to read and there were times where I wanted to scream! :-) ). Please be patient and give the kids the time they need to stretch out the words and put them back together. This may mean that they say the sounds over and over. If they guess, simply tell them not to guess and give them a fewe more minutes to try to figure out the word. If they truly cannot come up with the word, then it is okay to give them the word.
This week we are studying winter. And then Winter holiday's leading up to winter break. We have such a wonderful and diverse student population and I am excited to teach them about Holidays around the world. Please let me know of any special holiday celebrations your family participates in, I would love to include these in our learning over the next few weeks!
We had a great time this week learning all about our 5 senses. We did some writing about winter. We talked about what winder smells like, feels like and tastes like. The students made some wonderful real world connections. We talked a lot about the differnce between sounds, sents and what you can feel. The students would say winter smells cold, we discussed whether cold was a smell and then brainstormed what it meant to smell cold. They came up with so many great describing words. What I loved most about this was that when we to work during writers workshop, the kiddos began to really think about describing what they wanted to say! They explored their stories through all of their senses- so cool to see!
We are continuing to work hard on segmenting and blending words - saying each sound and then putting it back together into a word.
Many of you have asked what terminology I use with the kiddos when teaching them to read. I tell them to stretch out the word (this means to say each sound) and put it back together. I also use the terms, segment and blend. I also tell them not to guess. Sometimes they will segment and then guess a word that begins with the same sound. I know the process of reading with your student can be frustrating. (I did it with my two boys as they learned to read and there were times where I wanted to scream! :-) ). Please be patient and give the kids the time they need to stretch out the words and put them back together. This may mean that they say the sounds over and over. If they guess, simply tell them not to guess and give them a fewe more minutes to try to figure out the word. If they truly cannot come up with the word, then it is okay to give them the word.
This week we are studying winter. And then Winter holiday's leading up to winter break. We have such a wonderful and diverse student population and I am excited to teach them about Holidays around the world. Please let me know of any special holiday celebrations your family participates in, I would love to include these in our learning over the next few weeks!
Two weeks ago in Kindergarten (11/6-11/12)
We learned about the Native Americans. The students were very knowledgeable about how the Native people hunted and used skins and furs for their homes (Tepees) and clothing. The students suggested that we "came from" the Native Americans, "because we live in the United States". I used this opportunity to discuss our classroom diversity. I explained that some of us might be descended from the Native Americans, some of us are of European descent (the Pilgrims), others of us are of Asian descent and some of us descended from other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Africa. We talked about how it is sometimes difficult to tell by looking at a person where their ancestors lived. (Yes, I used these big words with the Kindergartners and explained what they mean) I showed them a picture of my son's Hayden and Harrison and explained that they are part Native American. We compared their picture (both boys are blond and blue eyed) with pictures of Native American people. It was a fun lesson in diversity and the students loved learning that we all come from different backgrounds and descents. This was a great lead into This week in Kindergarten (see below)
Last week in Kindergarten (11/14-11/18)
We have had so much fun learning about the Pilgrims and their journey to North American. The students have made some wonderful connections between the early settlers in North America and the Native Americans. It has been hard for these Kinders to imagine what life was like when the Pilgrims arrived. We talked about how they had to cut down trees to build their homes, it was November and it was cold. They didn't have warm winter coats like we do now. This cold that we've been experiencing made for a good discussion point "can you imagine being outside building your home right now without your warm winter coat, your hat and your warm fuzzy gloves?" There was a lot of talk about what that would be like.
On Friday, we had our first ROAR assembly. ROAR is our school wide behavior system. Each classroom teacher chose one student to be their Super Zeph. This student always shows ROAR in All Ways. In our class, I also gave some students a ROAR award. This is usually giving for going above and beyond in one area of ROAR (responsible, organized, attentive and respectful).
Next week we will learn about Thanksgiving.
House keeping and reminders:
Please let me know if you do not celebrate any of the traditional winter Holidays (Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa) Thank you!
Thanksgiving Feast is Monday 11/21. Please send your assigned food item. We are teaching the students how the Native Americans and the Pilgrims came together and each contributed something to the feast. Thank you!
Your students have begun to choose their own take home readers. Each student chooses four books from a basket at their reading level. This allows the student to choose books they are interested in reading.
Please have your student read one take home reader to you each night!
Please have your child continue to use Reading Eggs and Math seeds for 20 minutes a week
We learned about the Native Americans. The students were very knowledgeable about how the Native people hunted and used skins and furs for their homes (Tepees) and clothing. The students suggested that we "came from" the Native Americans, "because we live in the United States". I used this opportunity to discuss our classroom diversity. I explained that some of us might be descended from the Native Americans, some of us are of European descent (the Pilgrims), others of us are of Asian descent and some of us descended from other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Africa. We talked about how it is sometimes difficult to tell by looking at a person where their ancestors lived. (Yes, I used these big words with the Kindergartners and explained what they mean) I showed them a picture of my son's Hayden and Harrison and explained that they are part Native American. We compared their picture (both boys are blond and blue eyed) with pictures of Native American people. It was a fun lesson in diversity and the students loved learning that we all come from different backgrounds and descents. This was a great lead into This week in Kindergarten (see below)
Last week in Kindergarten (11/14-11/18)
We have had so much fun learning about the Pilgrims and their journey to North American. The students have made some wonderful connections between the early settlers in North America and the Native Americans. It has been hard for these Kinders to imagine what life was like when the Pilgrims arrived. We talked about how they had to cut down trees to build their homes, it was November and it was cold. They didn't have warm winter coats like we do now. This cold that we've been experiencing made for a good discussion point "can you imagine being outside building your home right now without your warm winter coat, your hat and your warm fuzzy gloves?" There was a lot of talk about what that would be like.
On Friday, we had our first ROAR assembly. ROAR is our school wide behavior system. Each classroom teacher chose one student to be their Super Zeph. This student always shows ROAR in All Ways. In our class, I also gave some students a ROAR award. This is usually giving for going above and beyond in one area of ROAR (responsible, organized, attentive and respectful).
Next week we will learn about Thanksgiving.
House keeping and reminders:
Please let me know if you do not celebrate any of the traditional winter Holidays (Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa) Thank you!
Thanksgiving Feast is Monday 11/21. Please send your assigned food item. We are teaching the students how the Native Americans and the Pilgrims came together and each contributed something to the feast. Thank you!
Your students have begun to choose their own take home readers. Each student chooses four books from a basket at their reading level. This allows the student to choose books they are interested in reading.
Please have your student read one take home reader to you each night!
Please have your child continue to use Reading Eggs and Math seeds for 20 minutes a week
Week of October 24th, 2016
We have had a couple of great weeks in Kindergarten. Last week we learned all about Columbus, North American and continued our learning about Europe. Last Friday we took our first field trip around Observatory Village on a tractor pulled hayride. We had a lot of fun singing songs and looking at the Halloween decorations. This week we learned all about Halloween.
The students have been working so hard to learn letters, numbers, sounds, and greater than and less than. I am so proud of the progress they have made! Their spongy little brains are soaking it all up- make this teachers heart happy!
We have been hard at work during writers workshop, writing teaching books. Your students are teaching me things they know a lot about. I can't wait for them to publish their books next week!
We had book buddies today and we made some Halloween spiders! SO MUCH FUN! Check out Seesaw to see pictures of our book buddy time.
Next week we will be studying Native Americans. If you have any Native American artifacts your student would like to share, please send them in next week. Thanks!
A few house keeping items:
- Our Halloween party is Monday 10/31 from 10-11. You are welcome to join us for a fun celebration. (Younger siblings are welcome, but please note that all activities and snacks are for Kindergartners only)
- Students should wear their costume to school on Monday and bring any necessary pieces (masks, etc.)
- The Halloween parade begins at 2:15. Kindergarten parents should sit in the media center or outside by the Kindergarten rooms.
- Please send a filled water bottle with you student each day.
- Please have your student read one reader to you each night. If you are having a sibling read with your student, please make sure you (the parent) read with your student at least once a week.
- Please continue to have your student complete the tasks on Reading Eggs and Math Seeds.
- We need some help copying and preparing all the the workstations each week. You do not need to commit to every week, even if you can help out just once, we would really appreciate it!! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten
Week of October 3rd, 2016
This week we learned about Europe and Kings and Queens. The students had fun and strengthened their fine motor muscles while building European landmarks out of Legos; and European flags out of playdoh. Hopefully you saw the pictures of these in Seesaw. We continue to write in our writing journals each week for writing workstation, I love seeing how much the students grow in writing from week to week! We continue to practice classroom routines and review the five rules of the classroom, ask you student about our five rules.
This week, we launched Writer's workshop and the students learn what super writers do. We also learned about labeling our pictures (as many of you saw on Seesaw) :-)
In math, we starting number tiles, a really great program that allows students to move at their own pace as they explore math concepts. We are continuing with the Envision math curriculum as well.
We also discussed Hurricanes during our calendar time. When we check the weather, we click on the weather channel website and the students saw the radar of Hurricane Matthew and asked what it was. We just talked about how it rains a lot and gets really, really windy. We discussed how people who live near the ocean are asked to leave their homes during the storm and stay in a place that is further from the ocean.
Next week we will be working on core stories, with the main focus on The Three Little pigs and Golidlocks and the Three Bears.
This week we learned about Europe and Kings and Queens. The students had fun and strengthened their fine motor muscles while building European landmarks out of Legos; and European flags out of playdoh. Hopefully you saw the pictures of these in Seesaw. We continue to write in our writing journals each week for writing workstation, I love seeing how much the students grow in writing from week to week! We continue to practice classroom routines and review the five rules of the classroom, ask you student about our five rules.
This week, we launched Writer's workshop and the students learn what super writers do. We also learned about labeling our pictures (as many of you saw on Seesaw) :-)
In math, we starting number tiles, a really great program that allows students to move at their own pace as they explore math concepts. We are continuing with the Envision math curriculum as well.
We also discussed Hurricanes during our calendar time. When we check the weather, we click on the weather channel website and the students saw the radar of Hurricane Matthew and asked what it was. We just talked about how it rains a lot and gets really, really windy. We discussed how people who live near the ocean are asked to leave their homes during the storm and stay in a place that is further from the ocean.
Next week we will be working on core stories, with the main focus on The Three Little pigs and Golidlocks and the Three Bears.
Week of September 19th
This week, our focus was apples. We had great workstations that featured apples. We learned about biggest to smallest, we compared the number on a die to it's numeral. We focused on our cutting skills while learning sight words and we improved our fine motor skills with lots of coloring, drawing and writing. And today (Friday) we worked together to make some delicious applesauce!
Please continue to read with your students each night, I am so pleased with how they are all progressing in this area.
Next week, we are focusing on fall and pumpkins,
Thank you to the amazing parent volunteers who have spent time helping us in the classroom - I cannot do what I do without you! We still have plenty of volunteer opportunities:
Workstations 10:00-11:05 M-Th http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-workstation
Library help: 11:10-11:55
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-library2
Kindergarten Copy crew 9:15-11:30 Wed.:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-kindergarten
Friday folders anytime before noon on Friday:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-friday
Please sign up for parent teacher conferences. I will be out of town Oct. 13-17, so, I am hosting conferences in the weeks leading up to then. If these dates/times do not work for you, please let me know and we will work it out.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4da9a92daaf58-parentteacher1
Enjoy the weekend!
Week of September 11
We have squeezed so much learning into the last two weeks. I am so proud of your sweet kiddos! They have mastered our classroom routines and are settling in.
Last week we learned all about plants. We discussed all the things we knew about plants - they knew a lot! They were able to tell me what plants need to grow, how they start and the parts of a plant. They also knew how seeds are spread. The students had no misconceptions about plants and we didn't have to kiddle (google for kids) anything. I was impressed - kudos to you all!
This week we talked about farms. We discussed the animals that live on a farm and the things they need to survive. We learned a lot about animals and their needs. During workstations this week, the students were exposed to a lot of different activities. We are really working on strengthening fine motor muscles. These muscles allow us to grip a pencil or other writing utensil and scissors (among other things). This week we experienced cutting, coloring, writing and creating with playdoh.
The students LOVE putting things into their Seesaw digital portfolio and I hope you are loving seeing all the things we are up to during our days.
Next week we are studying apples. We will even make applesauce on Thursday - yum!
Thank you all for reading with your children this week as we start our nightly readers routine! Please remember that all readers need to be returned to school each day in the readers bag. Each day we have a parent volunteer read with the students. The parent volunteer will choose a reader from the students bag to read with them.
Students should also bring their take home folder to school each day, we often send important reminders or communications home and the folder ensures things don't disappear in their backpacks.
Week of August 29th
We have had an amazing couple of weeks in Kindergarten! I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know your sweet children.
We have learned about and discussed so many things over the last two weeks, our hopes and dreams for kindergarten, dinosaurs, kindergarten routines and procedures and Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Mierzwa taught us all about Stop, Walk, Talk. We have been practicing lining up, how to use the bathroom and how to transition between activities. We have begun our workstations and learning all the steps in the workstations routine. I am sure your students have been coming home tired- their brains have been working really hard!
Speaking of the word hard.... we threw it in the trash in our classroom - instead we use the word challenging. When we encounter something challenging, we tell ourselves "this is challenging, but I can do challenging things." Using the word challenging instead of the word hard re-frames our mindset and "tricks' our brain into doing things we might avoid if they are hard. I have heard the students using it this week as they encounter difficult things.
A few house keeping items and reminders:
We have had an amazing couple of weeks in Kindergarten! I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know your sweet children.
We have learned about and discussed so many things over the last two weeks, our hopes and dreams for kindergarten, dinosaurs, kindergarten routines and procedures and Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Mierzwa taught us all about Stop, Walk, Talk. We have been practicing lining up, how to use the bathroom and how to transition between activities. We have begun our workstations and learning all the steps in the workstations routine. I am sure your students have been coming home tired- their brains have been working really hard!
Speaking of the word hard.... we threw it in the trash in our classroom - instead we use the word challenging. When we encounter something challenging, we tell ourselves "this is challenging, but I can do challenging things." Using the word challenging instead of the word hard re-frames our mindset and "tricks' our brain into doing things we might avoid if they are hard. I have heard the students using it this week as they encounter difficult things.
A few house keeping items and reminders:
- If you haven't sent your blue hopes and dreams sheet back, please take a minute to write your hopes and dreams for you student in Kindergarten and send it back. I am excited to put your hopes and dreams next to theirs on a puzzle piece.
- If your student's after school transportation changes, (IE: they are going to base camp on a day you usually pick them up) PLEASE send me a text through Remind, an email. or a note in your students folder.
- No school Monday - enjoy a nice three day weekend
- Check your students take home folder EVERYDAY!
- School pictures are on Wednesday, Sept. 7th. Order forms are in your students take home folder today.
- Thank you for sending approved snacks with you students each day - we really appreciate your help in creating a safe environment for all our students!
Hello!
I am so excited for a new school year! I had a relaxing and enjoyable summer and I hope you did to.
A few reminders:
Please do not hesitate to email or call me with any questions:
[email protected] 970-488-5128
I am so excited for a new school year! I had a relaxing and enjoyable summer and I hope you did to.
A few reminders:
- Please a change of clothes in your student's back pack
- Complete and return all paperwork by Aug. 26th
- Complete and return your students all about me poster on their presentation day (calendar attached to poster)
Please do not hesitate to email or call me with any questions:
[email protected] 970-488-5128
Week of April 25, 2016
Hello!
It has been a while since I have updated the website, instead, the students have been writing (almost) weekly newsletters and bringing them home in their folders. These newsletter are tiny snippets of what we're working on, what they should be working on at home and what exciting things are coming up.
May 4th is our music program at Fossil Ridge H.S.
Please see the "Important Dates" section to right for other upcoming events.
April 28th was the last day for parent volunteers - A big shout out to all the amazing parents who took time out of their days to come volunteer in our classroom! THANK YOU so much for you dedication to the student's! Michelle and I appreciate you all SO much.
Over the last few weeks, we have learned about 2 different continents, Africa and South America. Our room and the hallway outside our room were turned into Jungles. The students had a great time creating things for the jungles. We learned that Africa has 54 independent countries and 1500-2000 different languages! In an effort to put that into perspective and make a connection, we discussed that there are 4 languages other than English spoken in homes of students in our classroom.
This week, we learned about Spring and witnessed first hand how crazy the weather can be during springtime in Colorado! (warm and sunny one day, raining and snowing the next) We discussed some severe weather as we participated in a tornado drill on Wednesday. We talked about thunderstorms, blizzards, dust storms and tornadoes. The students did an incredible job during our tornado drill - I am so proud of them!
I am thankful that we postponed our field trip to the Environmental Learning Center - the students will enjoy it much more when they are not trying to stay warm and dry! Let's hope for sunshine and warmer temps on May 12th.
Next week we are learning all about Cinco De Mayo. The students will complete workstations in the 3 other kindergarten rooms. During this week each year, we open the rooms and allow the students to "float" in and out of each room completing the stations. It's a fun fiesta of workstations and allows the students to form stronger bonds with students from other classes as we near the end of the year.
We have a lot of fun things planned for the last few weeks of school. Please refer to the note that was sent home about all the things coming up in Kindergarten!
Hello!
It has been a while since I have updated the website, instead, the students have been writing (almost) weekly newsletters and bringing them home in their folders. These newsletter are tiny snippets of what we're working on, what they should be working on at home and what exciting things are coming up.
May 4th is our music program at Fossil Ridge H.S.
Please see the "Important Dates" section to right for other upcoming events.
April 28th was the last day for parent volunteers - A big shout out to all the amazing parents who took time out of their days to come volunteer in our classroom! THANK YOU so much for you dedication to the student's! Michelle and I appreciate you all SO much.
Over the last few weeks, we have learned about 2 different continents, Africa and South America. Our room and the hallway outside our room were turned into Jungles. The students had a great time creating things for the jungles. We learned that Africa has 54 independent countries and 1500-2000 different languages! In an effort to put that into perspective and make a connection, we discussed that there are 4 languages other than English spoken in homes of students in our classroom.
This week, we learned about Spring and witnessed first hand how crazy the weather can be during springtime in Colorado! (warm and sunny one day, raining and snowing the next) We discussed some severe weather as we participated in a tornado drill on Wednesday. We talked about thunderstorms, blizzards, dust storms and tornadoes. The students did an incredible job during our tornado drill - I am so proud of them!
I am thankful that we postponed our field trip to the Environmental Learning Center - the students will enjoy it much more when they are not trying to stay warm and dry! Let's hope for sunshine and warmer temps on May 12th.
Next week we are learning all about Cinco De Mayo. The students will complete workstations in the 3 other kindergarten rooms. During this week each year, we open the rooms and allow the students to "float" in and out of each room completing the stations. It's a fun fiesta of workstations and allows the students to form stronger bonds with students from other classes as we near the end of the year.
We have a lot of fun things planned for the last few weeks of school. Please refer to the note that was sent home about all the things coming up in Kindergarten!
Week of January 25, 2016
Reminders and announcements:
Now for the good stuff...
What an exciting week we had learning about Australia! We learned all about the animals that live there, what they eat and a little bit about their habitats. We also learned about the Opera House, the Bay Bridge and the Great Barrier Reef. Mr. Dachel and I traveled to Australia 15 year ago, so I was able to share some personal stories with them.
On Friday Mr. Dachel came in a played the Didgeridoo for all of Kindergarten. I always have him in and play it, because when I play it, it sounds like a really sad elephant! He is much better at it!
We learned how to write the sounds i, u, and r.
In Writer's workshop we are beginning to write true stories. The students are learning to take a small moment (something that happened in their life) and make it into a story. We are working on using a lot of detail in our drawings.
Math is all about addition! We are working with sums of 5 and 10 right now. The students are really getting excited about addition!
Have a great week!
Reminders and announcements:
- I have created a sign up genius for Workstations volunteer for February and the first couple weeks of March. Please consider helping if you can!
- We are still in need of a volunteer for 2 different days in February - Mrs. Irving would love if you could help!
- I will not be at school this week Tuesday- Friday. I have a training and a conference in Denver. My guest teacher is Mrs. Easter. The kiddos and I talked about it a lot last week, but please remind them on Tuesday as they leave for school.
- Friday is the 100th day of school! Can you believe it? Your kiddos are 100 days smarter! (I am sad to missing this) Kindergarten will spend the day doing all kinds of activities involving 100!
- Please have students log on to Raz-Kids and Reading Eggs. As I was updating reading levels today, I noticed many of our students have not logged on once. And many others have not logged on in months. These programs are great for helping kids learn to read!
- Keep practicing those sight words! We have sight word super heroes in our classroom and the students are really enjoying watching their super hero progress!
- There will not be a newsletter next week - since I will be missing most of this week
Now for the good stuff...
What an exciting week we had learning about Australia! We learned all about the animals that live there, what they eat and a little bit about their habitats. We also learned about the Opera House, the Bay Bridge and the Great Barrier Reef. Mr. Dachel and I traveled to Australia 15 year ago, so I was able to share some personal stories with them.
On Friday Mr. Dachel came in a played the Didgeridoo for all of Kindergarten. I always have him in and play it, because when I play it, it sounds like a really sad elephant! He is much better at it!
We learned how to write the sounds i, u, and r.
In Writer's workshop we are beginning to write true stories. The students are learning to take a small moment (something that happened in their life) and make it into a story. We are working on using a lot of detail in our drawings.
Math is all about addition! We are working with sums of 5 and 10 right now. The students are really getting excited about addition!
Have a great week!
Newsletter Week of 1/11
This week we finished up our unit on the Poles. Last week we learned about Antarctica, the weather, the animals who live there and where it is located on the globe. This week we learned the same things about the Arctic. The students enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences between the 2.
In math we learned about 3D shapes and in WIN, we are working on addition.
This week in writing we started story writing. We finished up our teaching books and began brainstorming ideas for story writing. Ask your student about the book Creak Said the Bed. The students worked with their writing partner to come up with an ending for the story. Ask them if they can remember the ending they made up.
This week we are learning about Asia. Don't forget if you have any artifacts from Asia that would like to send in with your student - please do!
This week we finished up our unit on the Poles. Last week we learned about Antarctica, the weather, the animals who live there and where it is located on the globe. This week we learned the same things about the Arctic. The students enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences between the 2.
In math we learned about 3D shapes and in WIN, we are working on addition.
This week in writing we started story writing. We finished up our teaching books and began brainstorming ideas for story writing. Ask your student about the book Creak Said the Bed. The students worked with their writing partner to come up with an ending for the story. Ask them if they can remember the ending they made up.
This week we are learning about Asia. Don't forget if you have any artifacts from Asia that would like to send in with your student - please do!
Week of November 19th
Report cards are in Friday folders today! The kindergarten report card will look different from older siblings or from previous years. This was discussed at parent-teacher conferences back in October. I know that was a while ago, so I just wanted to give you a heads up!
Dear Parents-
This week we updated the blog as a class. Here's what the students had to say about our week
Maddie reminded us that we studied the Pilgrims who sailed from England (Emmaline provided this information) to Plymouth Rock. Autumn remembered that the journey was hard. When they arrived they did not have enough supplies and barely survived the winter. Luckily they met some friendly Native Americans. Wesley said they traded with the Pilgrims so the Pilgrims could have food. Autumn remembered the Native American people taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn and other crops. Daxton said that the Pilgrims and Native American's had a fall harvest party to celebrate give thanks for the help the Native Americans gave.
We did a lot of fun activities that went along with our Core subject (Pilgrims and Thanksgiving), including:
Mayflower ship made with paper plates and Popsicle sticks
Pilgrim trading cards to go with the Native American trading cards and Parflech we made last week. Ask your student about trading and how we used these in class.
The First Thanksgiving story bracelet. Ask your student to tell you the story of the First Thanksgiving.
We are looking forward to our Thanksgiving Feast next Tuesday!
Week of October 26th
I am so proud of your Kinders! They continue to work hard and their little minds are absorbing so much information. All year, we've been working on saying our learning targets in their own words. Each week when we talk about our workstations or math centers, we discuss why we are doing them. At the beginning of the year, I would tell the kids why, but now, they can think about it and are getting really good at telling me why they think we are doing each workstation or math center. It is so awesome to listen to them! When Mrs. Thomas came in this week, they were able to tell her why they were doing each math center. These kids make my heart sing everyday!
This week we learned all about Halloween. We learned the origins of Halloween, ask your student if they can remember some facts about how Halloween started hear in the United States.
We had a lot of fun creating Halloween decorations for our classroom. We did some Halloween math, wrote about waking up as a monster and listened to a story about a ghost in the house.
The Halloween party was a huge success! Thank you to all the Mrs. Kelsch for planning and organizing it and to all the wonderful volunteers who helped with each station!
This week we are learning about Native Americans.
Week of October 19th
Who ordered this weather? The kids promised me it wasn't them.., because they know sunny days are my favorite!
I'm excited to share this blog post with you. During parent teacher conferences, many of you told me that your student doesn't tell you about school when you ask. This article has some fun and different questions to ask your student and get them talking.
https://snotty-noses.com/blog/2015/08/13/questions-ask-kids/
Also, I set up a Pinterest page to help you find ideas for enriching your students learning at home. If you are on Pinterest, I would love for you to follow me. I will periodically post links to activities and articles here that I also pin on Pinterest. Here's the link to my Pinterest or you can search MrsDachel.
https://www.pinterest.com/dachel1620/
Now, on to what your wonderful kinders were up to this week....
We learned all about Columbus, who he was, where he was born, what he discovered and why he sailed across the ocean. I asked the students why Columbus sailed across the ocean and didn't just fly like we do. They were briefly perplexed, but soon figured out that planes were not invented yet and sailing was the only way to travel over the ocean. We discussed a little more about Europe, we began talking about Europe two weeks ago when we started our Kings and Queens unit.
The students had a great day with Mrs. Bostrom on Wednesday, she was impressed with their behavior and manners - kudos to you all for raising such polite children!
Next week we are studying Halloween. We will talk about the origins of Halloween, where it is celebrated (largely in the U.S.) and the symbols of Halloween.
Have a great weekend - get out and enjoy the sunshine... you never know how long it will be here.
Week of October 12th:
Thank you wonderful parents for making time in your busy lives to meet with me and chat about your amazing children!
We continued our Kings and Queens unit by continuing to discuss the role of the Royal family. We even got to see a picture of a real life Royal Family - the King and Queen of Spain and their two daughters - as they celebrated a Spanish National Holiday on Monday.
On Tuesday we had a cool magic of science assembly. The students were introduced to everyday science, the science that we might use everyday, or the the science experiments we can do with things we might have at home. The students heard a lot of big words during this assembly, ask them if they remember any of the big words (chemistry and optical illusion are a couple of them).
Wednesday we finished up our workstations for the week, which included learning a new color song - green- ask you student to sing it for you. Then we went on our hayride through Observatory Village. Ask you student about some of the Fall and Halloween decorations we saw. Or ask them about the super scary house!
This week (10/19) we are studying Columbus. Ask you student where Columbus' ships landed and where he thought he was. (Bahama's and India)
I will be gone this Wednesday for the PSD Wellness Conference. I told the kiddos today, but a Wednesday morning reminder from you wouldn't hurt. :-)
Thank you wonderful parents for making time in your busy lives to meet with me and chat about your amazing children!
We continued our Kings and Queens unit by continuing to discuss the role of the Royal family. We even got to see a picture of a real life Royal Family - the King and Queen of Spain and their two daughters - as they celebrated a Spanish National Holiday on Monday.
On Tuesday we had a cool magic of science assembly. The students were introduced to everyday science, the science that we might use everyday, or the the science experiments we can do with things we might have at home. The students heard a lot of big words during this assembly, ask them if they remember any of the big words (chemistry and optical illusion are a couple of them).
Wednesday we finished up our workstations for the week, which included learning a new color song - green- ask you student to sing it for you. Then we went on our hayride through Observatory Village. Ask you student about some of the Fall and Halloween decorations we saw. Or ask them about the super scary house!
This week (10/19) we are studying Columbus. Ask you student where Columbus' ships landed and where he thought he was. (Bahama's and India)
I will be gone this Wednesday for the PSD Wellness Conference. I told the kiddos today, but a Wednesday morning reminder from you wouldn't hurt. :-)
Week of September 28th
Please send a reusable grocery bag with your student by tomorrow. We need these for our field trip on Thursday!
Last week we learned all about pumpkins. We learned the different parts of a pumpkin, discussed the pumpkin life cycle and looked at our kinder garden to see the pumpkins growing there. We compared different kinds of pumpkins and learned the name of the white variety (albino, or fairy tale pumpkins)
The students are working really hard on letter sounds, number recognition and sight words. We have been learning sight words through songs - they love it!
In math we are working on number recognition and ten frames (base 10). We have a fun ten frame smartboard game we like to play for warm up, it asks the kids how many apples are there or sometimes it switches and asks them how many boxes are empty.
This week we are learning about Kings and Queens and the continent of Europe.
Please send a reusable grocery bag with your student by tomorrow. We need these for our field trip on Thursday!
Last week we learned all about pumpkins. We learned the different parts of a pumpkin, discussed the pumpkin life cycle and looked at our kinder garden to see the pumpkins growing there. We compared different kinds of pumpkins and learned the name of the white variety (albino, or fairy tale pumpkins)
The students are working really hard on letter sounds, number recognition and sight words. We have been learning sight words through songs - they love it!
In math we are working on number recognition and ten frames (base 10). We have a fun ten frame smartboard game we like to play for warm up, it asks the kids how many apples are there or sometimes it switches and asks them how many boxes are empty.
This week we are learning about Kings and Queens and the continent of Europe.
Week of 9/7:
We started take home readers this week. Please read one reader each night with your child, sign the reading log and send all the readers (in the bag) back with your students each day! We will read with your students during workstations, so if they seem to know all the words or have the book memorized, it's because they have already read it once.
We packed a lot of learning into this short week.! This week our focus was plants. Parts f a plant, what plants need to grow and different kinds of plants. Ask your students the three things plants need to grow. We learned a new color song B-L-U-E, see if your student can remember the words. I know they will remember the words to R-E-D and
O-R-A-N-G-E - they couldn't stop singing those songs as they worked this week. I love to hear their little singing voices!
The students are doing a wonderful job with rules and routines. As you know, we filled our jewel jar yesterday and rewarded ourselves with a PJ day today. We also learned a little bit about democracy when we voted for the reward we wanted. :-)
The students have been working hard in their tracing books. practicing kindergarten coloring and refining their fine motor skills.
Next week we will focus on Animals and their needs.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy some time outside!
We started take home readers this week. Please read one reader each night with your child, sign the reading log and send all the readers (in the bag) back with your students each day! We will read with your students during workstations, so if they seem to know all the words or have the book memorized, it's because they have already read it once.
We packed a lot of learning into this short week.! This week our focus was plants. Parts f a plant, what plants need to grow and different kinds of plants. Ask your students the three things plants need to grow. We learned a new color song B-L-U-E, see if your student can remember the words. I know they will remember the words to R-E-D and
O-R-A-N-G-E - they couldn't stop singing those songs as they worked this week. I love to hear their little singing voices!
The students are doing a wonderful job with rules and routines. As you know, we filled our jewel jar yesterday and rewarded ourselves with a PJ day today. We also learned a little bit about democracy when we voted for the reward we wanted. :-)
The students have been working hard in their tracing books. practicing kindergarten coloring and refining their fine motor skills.
Next week we will focus on Animals and their needs.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy some time outside!
Week of August 31, 2015
Thank you to all who attended the Fall Family Festival! I had a great time visiting with you and playing with your kiddos. I think I might need a big inflatable slide and obstacle course in my back yard - I had too much fun!
If you haven't already sign up for a conference on Oct. 15th, please email me for the available times.
Wow! We had another amazing week in kindergarten! I am so impressed with your students. They are learning and remembering all the important routines and rules. Ask your student if they remember rule #1. (follow directions quickly) We have, of course, learned many other things this week. The students practiced some writing to a prompt as a pre-assessment for our writer's workshop, they learned and practiced shapes and colors. We learned five new songs,
R-E-D, O-R-A-N-G-E, B-L-U-E, Where do you start your letters, and Mat man. Ask your child to sing one of these songs for you. (Beware: these songs will get stuck in your head) One of the things we worked on this week was learning our workstation routines. This week we had two or three different stations. The students need to stay working at one station until the timer goes off, then they all switch to another station, this takes a lot of practice and stamina to sit at one station for 15 minutes. We will continue practicing and perfecting this routine all year!
We had our first fire drill on Monday morning and the kiddos did a great job, they stayed in line behind me all the way to field and they were silent when we got there so I could take attendance. Mrs. Thomas talked to the whole school before the drill about how it was just practice, and we talked a little more about that when we came back inside.
Looking ahead to next week:
At the end of last year the kindergarten team purchased a fleet of 30 bicycles for our kindergartens to use during recess. We will be introducing the bicycling rules this week and giving students a chance to ride them! We have bicycles without training wheels and strider bikes. We have helmets for students to use, donated by the City of Fort Collins Safe Rides to School program.
We will begin a unit on plants!
Specials schedule for next week is posted to the right.
No school Monday- enjoy the long weekend!
Thank you to all who attended the Fall Family Festival! I had a great time visiting with you and playing with your kiddos. I think I might need a big inflatable slide and obstacle course in my back yard - I had too much fun!
If you haven't already sign up for a conference on Oct. 15th, please email me for the available times.
Wow! We had another amazing week in kindergarten! I am so impressed with your students. They are learning and remembering all the important routines and rules. Ask your student if they remember rule #1. (follow directions quickly) We have, of course, learned many other things this week. The students practiced some writing to a prompt as a pre-assessment for our writer's workshop, they learned and practiced shapes and colors. We learned five new songs,
R-E-D, O-R-A-N-G-E, B-L-U-E, Where do you start your letters, and Mat man. Ask your child to sing one of these songs for you. (Beware: these songs will get stuck in your head) One of the things we worked on this week was learning our workstation routines. This week we had two or three different stations. The students need to stay working at one station until the timer goes off, then they all switch to another station, this takes a lot of practice and stamina to sit at one station for 15 minutes. We will continue practicing and perfecting this routine all year!
We had our first fire drill on Monday morning and the kiddos did a great job, they stayed in line behind me all the way to field and they were silent when we got there so I could take attendance. Mrs. Thomas talked to the whole school before the drill about how it was just practice, and we talked a little more about that when we came back inside.
Looking ahead to next week:
At the end of last year the kindergarten team purchased a fleet of 30 bicycles for our kindergartens to use during recess. We will be introducing the bicycling rules this week and giving students a chance to ride them! We have bicycles without training wheels and strider bikes. We have helmets for students to use, donated by the City of Fort Collins Safe Rides to School program.
We will begin a unit on plants!
Specials schedule for next week is posted to the right.
No school Monday- enjoy the long weekend!
Week of August 24th
We had a wonderful week in Kindergarten! Thank you all for bringing your students in for such a brief time on Monday, it was great to spend a little one-on-one time with them and for them to meet a few friends at a time.
This week we worked on learning and practicing rules and routines. We learned all about staying safe on the playground, walking in the hallway and how to navigate the lunch room. I am sure you have had some tired kiddos this week! Ask your student to tell you one playground rule.
Next week we will continue to practice routines, ROAR (ask your student if they remember what ROAR stands for) and learn about dinosaurs.
A few house keeping items:
- If you need to have a face to face conversation with me, please email me to set up a time. Drop-off and pick-up times are not a good time to have a long conversation, as I am focusing on your children and am unable to give you my full attention. If there is something I need to know for that day, please put a short note in your child's folder.
- Please complete and send back any paperwork from the Zach Elementary folder.
- Please email me to sign up for a parent/teacher conference on Thursday Oct. 15
Have a great weekend!
This week in Kindergarten (11/10-11/13)
We have had so much fun learning about the Pilgrims and their journey to North American. The students have made some wonderful connections between the early settlers in North America and the Native Americans. It has been hard for these Kinders to imagine what life was like when the Pilgrims arrived. We talked about how they had to cut down trees to build their homes, it was November and it was cold. They didn't have warm winter coats like we do now. This cold that we've been experiencing made for a good discussion point "can you imagine being outside building your home right now without your warm winter coat, your hat and your warm fuzzy gloves?" There was a lot of talk about what that would be like.
Your students have begun to choose their own take home readers. Each student chooses four books from a basket at their reading level. This allows the student to choose books they are interested in reading.
Next week we will learn about Thanksgiving.
House keeping and reminders:
Please have your child continue to use Reading Eggs and Raz-kids for 20 minutes a week
Please read one take home reader each night!
We have had so much fun learning about the Pilgrims and their journey to North American. The students have made some wonderful connections between the early settlers in North America and the Native Americans. It has been hard for these Kinders to imagine what life was like when the Pilgrims arrived. We talked about how they had to cut down trees to build their homes, it was November and it was cold. They didn't have warm winter coats like we do now. This cold that we've been experiencing made for a good discussion point "can you imagine being outside building your home right now without your warm winter coat, your hat and your warm fuzzy gloves?" There was a lot of talk about what that would be like.
Your students have begun to choose their own take home readers. Each student chooses four books from a basket at their reading level. This allows the student to choose books they are interested in reading.
Next week we will learn about Thanksgiving.
House keeping and reminders:
Please have your child continue to use Reading Eggs and Raz-kids for 20 minutes a week
Please read one take home reader each night!
What's been happening in Kindergarten?
We have been doing and learning so much! But before I tell you all about it, I want to thank all of you for conferencing with me. I truly enjoying teaching each of your children everyday!
After conference week, we learned about Columbus. We had a lot of fun discussions about how Columbus thought he was in India when his ship came ashore, but he was really in the Bahama's (on days like today, I wish I was in the Bahama's!). One of our discussions center around the lack of GPS back in 1492. Earlier in October, we had talked about Maps and globes, so we pulled those tools out and discussed how Columbus only had maps and they weren't even like the maps we have today. These kiddos are curious - I love it!
Following Columbus, we learned about Halloween. I told the kids a little bit of the history of Halloween, what it means, why we dress up and why we got trick or treating, but mostly we just had fun doing Halloween things! The Halloween parties were both fantastic - thank you to my amazing party coordinators and the wonderful volunteers who helped out!
Last week, we studied Native Americans. We have several students in half day Kindergarten who are of Native American descent, it was so neat to hear about the tribes and their traditions. The students loved the connections their classmates have. We learned about Native American symbols. We read a book about how the Iroquois Nation says thank you everyday, but I think the students favorite part of the week was making a Papoose and a baby to go in it. They couldn't wait to get them done, so they could wear them on their backs. SO cute!
This week we are studying the Pilgrims. Next week we will talk about Thanksgiving, tying everything together.
We have been doing and learning so much! But before I tell you all about it, I want to thank all of you for conferencing with me. I truly enjoying teaching each of your children everyday!
After conference week, we learned about Columbus. We had a lot of fun discussions about how Columbus thought he was in India when his ship came ashore, but he was really in the Bahama's (on days like today, I wish I was in the Bahama's!). One of our discussions center around the lack of GPS back in 1492. Earlier in October, we had talked about Maps and globes, so we pulled those tools out and discussed how Columbus only had maps and they weren't even like the maps we have today. These kiddos are curious - I love it!
Following Columbus, we learned about Halloween. I told the kids a little bit of the history of Halloween, what it means, why we dress up and why we got trick or treating, but mostly we just had fun doing Halloween things! The Halloween parties were both fantastic - thank you to my amazing party coordinators and the wonderful volunteers who helped out!
Last week, we studied Native Americans. We have several students in half day Kindergarten who are of Native American descent, it was so neat to hear about the tribes and their traditions. The students loved the connections their classmates have. We learned about Native American symbols. We read a book about how the Iroquois Nation says thank you everyday, but I think the students favorite part of the week was making a Papoose and a baby to go in it. They couldn't wait to get them done, so they could wear them on their backs. SO cute!
This week we are studying the Pilgrims. Next week we will talk about Thanksgiving, tying everything together.
Week of October 6th
This week we worked hard learning all about pumpkins, beginning sounds and syllables, and comparing numbers 1-5. Your students have been busy showing me what they know in preparation for parent/teacher conferences.
Ask you student about the pumpkin life cycle, and how pumpkins grow (what do you have to do before you plant). We sequenced the pumpkin life cycle at our workstations this week and our listening center was a book about the pumpkin life cycle and all the work that goes into growing pumpkins. We did some fun finger painting this week, we mixed red and yellow paint to make big orange pumpkins, look for them (later this week) on the bulletin board in the hall across from our classroom.
Okay - time to brag... my kindergartners are so well behaved (I just knocked on some wood - don't worry). Kudos to you all for raising such amazing, wonderful children! I enjoy every minute I get to spend with these kiddos!
Reminders and house keeping items:
This week we worked hard learning all about pumpkins, beginning sounds and syllables, and comparing numbers 1-5. Your students have been busy showing me what they know in preparation for parent/teacher conferences.
Ask you student about the pumpkin life cycle, and how pumpkins grow (what do you have to do before you plant). We sequenced the pumpkin life cycle at our workstations this week and our listening center was a book about the pumpkin life cycle and all the work that goes into growing pumpkins. We did some fun finger painting this week, we mixed red and yellow paint to make big orange pumpkins, look for them (later this week) on the bulletin board in the hall across from our classroom.
Okay - time to brag... my kindergartners are so well behaved (I just knocked on some wood - don't worry). Kudos to you all for raising such amazing, wonderful children! I enjoy every minute I get to spend with these kiddos!
Reminders and house keeping items:
- Please continue to check your students hair for lice, daily. We still have cases at the school.
- Money for the hayride field trip is due Monday 10/13
- Homework is due Monday 10/13
- Please continue to have your student get on Raz-kids and Reading Eggs. I have enjoyed logging on and listening to them read on Raz-Kids.
- Parent-Teacher conferences are Monday 10/13 and Thursday 10/16. There are still times available on Thursday 10/16 if you haven't signed up yet. If this date/time doesn't work for you, email me and we will work it out.
September 21- October 3
We have had a great couple of weeks in Kindergarten. Your children never cease to amaze me! Over the past couple of weeks, we have learned about farm animals, farming and apples.
We had fun filled day at Miller Farms! We rode in a trailer filled with hay, pulled by a tractor out into the farmer's fields. At each stop, we searched for wonderful produce. We enjoyed digging up onions, carrots and potatoes. We pulled corn off the stalks, leeks out of the ground and Kale leaves off the bunch. The students learned first hand what it's like to be a farmer, as they searched for the peppers and tomatoes that were just right, with the hot sun beating down on us.
This week, our focus was apples. We had great workstations based on the Colorado Academic Standards that featured apples. We learned about biggest to smallest, we compared the number on a die to it's numeral. We focused on our cutting skills while learning sight words and we improved our fine motor skills with lots of coloring, drawing and writing.
Next week, we are focusing on fall and pumpkins, beginning our writers workshop model in writing and working on comparing numbers 1-5 and writing numbers 6-9 in math.
Reminders and Housekeeping
Please have your students continue to use the Raz-kids site. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to their recordings!
A link to a sign-up genius was sent out Saturday, Oct. 4th. Please sign up for 1 time slot on either 10/13 or 10/16
Always look for important reminders in your child's take home folder.
Check out the new pictures page on this site!
We have had a great couple of weeks in Kindergarten. Your children never cease to amaze me! Over the past couple of weeks, we have learned about farm animals, farming and apples.
We had fun filled day at Miller Farms! We rode in a trailer filled with hay, pulled by a tractor out into the farmer's fields. At each stop, we searched for wonderful produce. We enjoyed digging up onions, carrots and potatoes. We pulled corn off the stalks, leeks out of the ground and Kale leaves off the bunch. The students learned first hand what it's like to be a farmer, as they searched for the peppers and tomatoes that were just right, with the hot sun beating down on us.
This week, our focus was apples. We had great workstations based on the Colorado Academic Standards that featured apples. We learned about biggest to smallest, we compared the number on a die to it's numeral. We focused on our cutting skills while learning sight words and we improved our fine motor skills with lots of coloring, drawing and writing.
Next week, we are focusing on fall and pumpkins, beginning our writers workshop model in writing and working on comparing numbers 1-5 and writing numbers 6-9 in math.
Reminders and Housekeeping
Please have your students continue to use the Raz-kids site. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to their recordings!
A link to a sign-up genius was sent out Saturday, Oct. 4th. Please sign up for 1 time slot on either 10/13 or 10/16
Always look for important reminders in your child's take home folder.
Check out the new pictures page on this site!
The first four weeks of school...
The past four weeks have been an amazing journey of learning, laughter and fun!
We have learned about the routines and expectations in Kindergarten. We have practiced proper pencil grip and writing our names. We learned and practiced the sounds each alphabet letter makes. Ask you child to sing the treasures alphabet to you - the one we learned in class.
Your children have worked very hard creating drawings of their friends doing something they told us about during our student of the day presentations. They have also begun to sound out words that describe their pictures.
We have practiced our workstation routine. We have 3 rotations a day, 2 independent workstations and one small group meeting.
On Monday, we will begin sending home take home readers. You will see 4 readers in your child's book bag in their red or yellow folder, along with a letter on purple paper detailing our take home reader protocol. Please read with your child each night, this is especially important in half day kindergarten! And send the books (in the book bag) back to school each day. Mrs. Chesson, myself or a parent volunteer with read with the students each day during workstations.
Look for a volunteer schedule in your child's folder this week as well, volunteering in the classroom begins the week of September 22nd. I look forward to having you all in my classroom!
A few quick reminders and housekeeping items:
The past four weeks have been an amazing journey of learning, laughter and fun!
We have learned about the routines and expectations in Kindergarten. We have practiced proper pencil grip and writing our names. We learned and practiced the sounds each alphabet letter makes. Ask you child to sing the treasures alphabet to you - the one we learned in class.
Your children have worked very hard creating drawings of their friends doing something they told us about during our student of the day presentations. They have also begun to sound out words that describe their pictures.
We have practiced our workstation routine. We have 3 rotations a day, 2 independent workstations and one small group meeting.
On Monday, we will begin sending home take home readers. You will see 4 readers in your child's book bag in their red or yellow folder, along with a letter on purple paper detailing our take home reader protocol. Please read with your child each night, this is especially important in half day kindergarten! And send the books (in the book bag) back to school each day. Mrs. Chesson, myself or a parent volunteer with read with the students each day during workstations.
Look for a volunteer schedule in your child's folder this week as well, volunteering in the classroom begins the week of September 22nd. I look forward to having you all in my classroom!
A few quick reminders and housekeeping items:
- Please return your child's folder to school everyday and check it every night. Anything on the home side can stay home. Things on the school side usually require some action from you and then need to be returned to school.
- Library books and bags can stay home until the next library day. If students are done reading the book and would like to return it before the next library day, we have a bin the room where they can put it.
- Please make sure your child wears tennis shoes on P.E. days.
- Picture Day is this Tuesday 9/16
- Field trip to Miller Farm's on 9/23 all half day kindergartners will need to be at school at 8:45 (the bus leave at 9) and will need to stay until 3 PM when we return from the farm.