February 2018
Dear Parents –
Third Quarter is in full swing and the students have been very busy since our snow days. Students have learned all about the winter season. They have discovered why it snows and completed several experiments involving this process. They also sequenced several winter stories and connected these to their own life experiences. Besides this, we have been discussing arctic animals and the Groundhog Day legend.
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This month our units are “Groundhogs and Shadows”, “Be My Sweetheart”, “Healthy teeth and bodies”, and “Famous Americans.” The students will learn all about taking care of their teeth and other ways to keep their bodies healthy. Our famous Americans unit will cover a few of our most well known presidents and some famous authors, including Dr, Seuss.
On February 9th the students will celebrate their 100th day of Kindergarten. We will spend the day manipulating and having fun with the number 100. The students will get to measure objects using 100 hearts, try to build the tallest tower in 100 seconds, see what they can find that weighs the same as 100 counting bears, and draw a picture of their 100 year old self. They will even go on a treasure hunt to find 100 special objects. We will match these to a large 100 chart and do several fun math activities. Also be watching for a family project that is coming home this week involving the number 100. This is a great day where we get to celebrate everything they have learned over the past 100 days of school!
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On February 14th we will celebrate Valentine’s Day. We will pass out Valentine cards before we leave that afternoon, so please remember to send them with your child. A list of the students’ names has been sent home. Please let me know if your first list got misplaced and you need another. Please have your child write their classmates names on the cards. This is a great opportunity for them to learn to write their friends names correctly which is part of our Kindergarten curriculum. If you find your child has extra time, it may be fun for them to make the cards as well.
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On February 15, we will take a field trip to Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh. This is a wonderfully age appropriate museum for kindergartners. While there, the students will have an opportunity to explore various community helper occupations, discover several ways to stay fit and healthy, and most importantly engage their imagination in learning. There are a lot of activities available at the museum and we will not be able to complete them all in our short time there. If you are chaperoning, you may want to consider keeping your child at the museum with you after the field trip, so they will have the opportunity to finish exploring.
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In Reading this year we have been using a reading program called the Daily 5. You may have heard your child mention some of the activities from it at home. In Kindergarten, we are beginning to learn many of the structures of the Daily 5 to prepare the students for 1st grade independence. One part of this program is learning to appropriately "Read to Self." The students have been taking some time each day to independently read books at their reading level to practice their reading stamina and work on using their reading problem solving and comprehension skills. We are also working on how to appropriately "Read to Someone" without distracting ourselves or others from reading. This helps the students improve their reading fluency and use reading strategies to solve unknown words with occasional peer assistance. The students take turns reading books at their own reading levels. They also learn to be good listeners. After a book is read the partners discuss who the characters were, what was the setting, and they sequence the events from the story. The students are very proud of the stamina and fluency they are gaining from this experience and I am very proud of all the progress they are making! The remaining parts of the Daily 5 program include meaningfully "Listening to Reading", "Working on Writing" to develop their writing fluency, and completing "Word Work" to help them better understand how words are put together.
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We will begin learning to use groups of 5 and 10 to help us add and subtract numbers during math later this month. The students will be using counting wands and various other manipulatives that are grouped by 5s to help them. Please practice this skill with your child at home using groups of 5 or 10 when adding or subtracting. For example - 8 is equal to one group of 5 plus 3 ones. 12 is equal to two groups of 5 plus 2 ones. 18 is equal to three groups of 5 plus 3 ones. If I take away two groups of 5 from 13, 3 ones are left. If I take away three groups of 5 from 20, one group of 5 is left. 14 is equal to one group of 10 and 4 ones. 18 is equal to one 10 group, one 5 group, and 3 ones. Learning these skills will help the students become more fluent in their addition and subtraction abilities. Thanks for continuing to practice this skill at home with your child!
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Special Points of Interest-
* Please remember to send a change of clothes for your child to keep at school. A pair of pants and a t-shirt is perfect for any season. Accidents often happen during the kindergarten day requiring students to change clothes.
* The children will go out to recess everyday unless it is raining or extremely cold. Please keep this in mind when helping your child select clothing for the day. In order to play on the playground equipment, your child must wear closed-toed, covered-heel shoes (sneakers or tennis shoes are best).
* We will have snack in the afternoon everyday. Due to our early lunch, the students tend to be very hungry by this point. Please be sure to send a healthy snack with your child each day. It is also important that you make sure you child is able to easily open or manipulate the containers in which you send food. Spend time practicing this at home.
* Each month a specials calendar will be sent home. Please look this over so you will know when to return library books and when to wear sneakers for PE classes.
* Please make sure to check your child's backpack everyday for work or notes.
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Mrs. Worrell
