This week in literacy, we learned /c/, /k/, /e/, and /h/ in Jolly Phonics and Handwriting, and we also started talking about Identity. Identity is the first step in our kindergarten thematic concept of community. We talked about how  identity is all about YOU and what makes up you. This week, we focused on our 5 senses and our emotions. 
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We read the book My Five Senses by Aliki and practiced identifying what we use our senses for. We also started our identity books we are making, and made all about the things we like to see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. ​

In math this week, we made a witches' brew potion! To start with, we pulled out our ingredients out of the "cauldron" and made guesses as to how many of each were in the jars. ​

Then, we dumped out all the ingredients and counted to tell how many were in each jar. We compared the ingredients  sf talked about which had more and which had less. We then practiced writing our numbers and drawing the correct amount for each ingredient (more counting practice). It was such a fun activity and the students really got into it! ​

This week we also worked with our 3rd grade buddies. We did an activity called "How many pumpkins tall are you?" The buddies measured themselves, and then we graphed all our results. We talked about comparing the different lengths, which number had the most people and which had the least. We love working with our buddies! ​

We also made it outside for recess twice this week to enjoy the fall weather :) 

Last but not least, Rebecca's mom was our Mystery Reader on Friday! We loved hearing a Franklin story.
​It was a fun week. 

10/5-10/910/12/2015

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Some important announcements this week: 

- We have finished the first round of Jolly Phonics! I will be assessing the students on /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/, /p/, and /n/ next week Monday and Tuesday (10/19 and 10/20). I will be sending home a packet for you to help your child practice and prepare at home. What I send home is NOT required and does NOT need to be sent back to school, it is purely to help your child practice! You can complete whichever activities are best for your child. 

- The Jolly Phonics tab has been updated with our new video! Please refer to the resources page as well to listen to all the songs and practice /s/ through /n/.

- a note from our school speech pathologist, Miss Barrett: All kindergarteners will participate in a speech/language screening with the speech therapist.  Screenings will begin the week of October 18th.  If there are any concerns surrounding your child's speech/language skills, Miss Duckman or Miss Barrett will be in touch. 


It was a jam-packed week in Kindergarten. We were so busy with our vision and hearing testing,  picture day, working on Jolly Phonics, and new math centers that there are not as many pictures this week. 

Monday- Wednesday in literacy we started talking about key details in a text. We are starting with characters and setting. We watched The 3 Little Pigs and identified the characters and setting in that story. We also talked about our favorite characters in movies, TV, and books. Elsa and Ana, PAW Patrol, Batman, and No David were just a few we love :) 
*If you are reading with your child at home OR watching a movie or TV show, stop and ask them about the characters and setting. This will be great practice!*
In literacy we also learned /i/, /p/, and /n/ in Jolly Phonics, and writing our lowercase i, p, and n letters in Handwriting Without Tears. 

The focus in math all week was counting to tell number of objects and to answer the question, "how many?"
We did many activities to practice counting in a line and in an array. We played the tower races game we learned last week (rolling the dice and stacking the unifix cubes), a POP counting game practicing identifying numbers and counting objects, and a fun Halloween-themed counting activity that involved eyeballs and spiders :) 
On Thursday, I assessed the students in counting to tell how many in an array by having them complete a worksheet where they needed to count the number of pumpkins or candies and then circle the correct number. They did GREAT!

This week was also Anti-Bullying week at Indian Trail. We talked about what bullying is, that we should ALWAYS be nice to our friends and classmates, and that in our Kindergarten classroom we are all on a team and we all work together. 

We read the book One by Kathryn Otoshi. The story is about the color Blue and the number One, and learning to stand up for yourselves. The students LOVED this book. We even acted out the characters. 
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We also watched this YouTube video about being kind and how it makes you happy and others happy. We related it to our bucket filling. ​

The class did such a great job during picture day on Thursday, the photographer told us they were the best behaved of the day! We celebrated with an extra recess to enjoy the perfect fall day :)

Friday we came to school in the morning! It was a fun change of pace. We did centers in literacy and math... and we tried out the iPads! We used them to practice writing our uppercase letters, and to count in 10 frames. We also practiced our uppercase letters with the Handwriting blocks, and practiced saying our sounds and letters with the magnetic letters.

Tuesday we had ALO with Mrs. Belkind. She read the students a book about being "ok" at something. The students made their own book about something they are "ok" at by turning the word OK into a person. They came up with some great ideas. 
(I will have all the books the students have made in ALO out for you to see at conferences!) 

We also met our 3rd grade buddies in Ms. Freitag's class! This was a highlight of our week. The students are working together to make a buddy book... pictures to come soon!

In math, we practiced counting to answer the question "how many?" while practicing working with dice. 

Wednesday we did /a/ in Jolly Phonics and Handwriting.  We also practiced reading independently for stamina. We are practicing our understanding of basic print features such as relating the words and the pictures and following from left to right. 

In math, we played "Superhero Tower Races". The students worked with a partner and had to roll the dice, count the number of unifix cubes, and then place it on the correct number on the mat to make a tower. This practiced many of our math skills including comparing length, counting to tell number of objects, and comparing numbers. ​

Thursday Mrs. Castillo-Oh worked with us on our speaking and listening literacy skills. The students practiced "turning and talking" to a partner to ask and answer questions about a story. ​

We also reviewed "bucket filling", being nice to our friends and following the rules and how that makes you and other people feel good. Please ask your student how they can fill someone else's bucket! ​

Last but not least, Friday was /t/ in Jolly and Handwriting, more "Superhero Tower Races" in math, and outdoor recess for getting 100 Dojo points! 
It was the PERFECT fall day!

These 9 boys play SO well together, they are so fun! 

...and these 4 girls can hold their own :)
​They are such sweet friends!

It was a fun and full week.