October 24, 2014

Dear Fish Families:

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: We practiced writing L and U on the Letterschool app and on our easels. The children found "an" in a word search after reading Huggles Can Juggle by Joy Cowley. They have also been working on labeling all the sounds they hear in words.  We continue to work on fine motor art projects to strengthen our writing muscles.

Writers' Workshop:  Kindergarten writers continue to write small moment stories. This week we learned that authors/illustrators add details to character faces to show feelings and emotions. Many of the students applied this skill to their own pieces. We continue to talk about what small moments are and plan our stories.

Readers' Workshop:  This week, we spent a lot of time reading in partnerships. The children are learning how to; take turns, work together, solve problems while the teachers are conferencing with other readers, and talk about stories.  They were introduced to Post-It notes as a reading tool. During independent reading the children are marking pages that they want to talk about with their partners when they get together. 

Math:  We have been counting by 1s and 10s this week. The children have been acting out addition and subtraction stories and representing the stories using manipulatives and pictures. We have been doing this math work in groups. I also completed the assessment for unit #2 and will be sending the letters home on Monday along with the unit #3 introduction letter.

Social Stories:  Mrs. Griffith showed a video and taught the children about personal body safety. Some key points made were:

• You own your body
• If someone tries to touch you in a spot that would be covered by your bathing suit you should yell no, get away, and tell an adult
• Secrets that make you feel uncomfortable aren't good secrets and you should tell an adult right away

Officer Mike came in to talk to us about trick-or-treat safety. We also got to sit in his police vehicle.
I have put the pictures on FLICKR.

Book of the Week:  Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington

Song of the Week:  Shapes by Hap Palmer 

Up Coming Events:

• Handwriting- V & W
• Phonics- o (another "superstar")
• Word of the Week- I
• Picture re-takes- 10/28
• Halloween celebration- 10/30
• Early Release for Parent Conference- 10/29 and 11/7 *Please email me to schedule if you haven't already.

Fondly,

Kristen