Week 5- Bats Fiction AND Nonfiction

This week we will learn about bats through a nonfiction text as well as enjoy the story of Stellaluna.  We will continue our exploration of fiction and nonfiction as types of text (this is an endeavor we continue throughout the year). We will also be examining how the different parts of the book (front cover, title page, and back cover) help us get our brains ready for what we are going to be reading.

We will continue our work on identifying rhymes.

We will also continue our writing work. This week's writing will focus on various things we enjoy doing.

We are starting a new math unit this week, which is all about Sorting and Classifying. We will be focusing on how things are alike and different, as well as sorting by attributes.  

We will be meeting our final Tribble Appreciations, while learning about the concept of Bucket Filling. Essentially, "the concept of being a bucket filer comes from Carol McCloud’s Book Have You Filled A Bucket Today?  and stems around the idea that everyone carries around an invisible bucket that throughout the day is being filled by the kind things that you do for others or that others do for you.  A bucket filler is someone who is showing positive character traits (kind, considerate, caring, respectful) and is being a responsible citizen.  When our buckets are full, we feel happy and when our buckets are empty we feel sad." (from https://sites.google.com/site/wearebucketfillers/parent-letter) When we do something that saddens or hurts another person, we are dipping into that person's bucket. We strive to avoid being bucket dippers and to fill others' buckets as often as we can.

We have an important Kindergarten benchmark approaching. We hope to have all students able to identify all of the letters names and primary sounds by the end of the 6th week of school. A handful of students have demonstrated this, with several more quickly approaching this goal. However, this is not a demonstrate-the-skill-one-time-and-we-consider-it-mastered type of skill (nothing really is). Kindergartners are exposed to and are using an astounding amount of information.  They are practicing a wide range of skills.  This can lead to some "using and confusing" of information (such as using the wrong word to identify a new concept or idea -author for illustrator, fiction for nonfcition).  As well as a seeming lack of consistency with some skills (one day they know a letter sound, the next day they don't recall it).  This is normal. Kindergartners are working to transfer information from their short term to their long term memory. This requires a lot of repetition and practice using developing skills. Alphabetic knowledge is key to our students becoming confident readers and writers, so I am urging you to have the Zoo Phonics song be a part of your reading homework each night. These animals and motions are a great anchor for your child’s developing understanding of these letters. Once students have been able to identify letter names and sounds, we work throughout the year to make these skills more solid and automatic.

Your child is accomplishing an amazing amount of learning and growth week in and week out. I am constantly impressed with what these students do!

HOMEWORK

Reading:
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names. I strongly recommend having your child sing and act the Zoo Phonics song with you. These animals serve as fun anchors to the all important letters and sounds that we use so much!

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes.
Monday- P.1 Different

Tuesday -P.2 Same

Wednesday- P.3 Same and different

Thursday- P.4 Classify shapes by color

Skills can be revisited and repeated to increase your child's automaticity. 

Week 4- Fiction and Nonfiction

This week we will be enjoying the story Bear Snores On, as well as reading a nonfiction book about cats and dogs. With this week's theme, we jump into an important concept, distinguishing between fiction and nonfiction. Students will be learning about how works of fiction are stories that are made up and works of nonfiction teach us real information and facts. You can reinforce these concepts when reading with your child by having them identify what they are reading using these terms and having them explain how they know. These terms are very similar and are often switched or used inconsistently which makes it important that the students have many encounters with the terms and opportunities to use them appropriately in their conversations.

This week, we begin a phonemic awareness focus of rhyming. Kindergartners need to be able to identify rhyming words as well as generate their own examples. This link includes a couple of ideas you can use to reinforce this skill at home, if you are interested: http://www.4nannies.com/blog/10-fun-rhyming-games-to-play-with-kids/

The students are now working to incorporate all 3 Ways to Write (detailed pictures, letter/sound labels, and planned out sentences) to craft their writing pages. They are doing impressive jobs, especially with only 3 weeks of Kindergarten under their belts!

In math, we continue to work on the important skills of being able to determine, model, and label amounts. Our work on ordering numerals and amounts continues. We are also comparing amounts to determine which has more and which have less/fewer. This week will end our first math unit. In addition to the listed objectives for this week's homework, now is the perfect time to have your child revisit any objectives from IXL sections A and B as you see fit.

The students will meet another Tribble this week- No Put Downs. This Tribble helps us recognize how our words can upset and hurt others. It also helps us realize that our words can uplift others as well, which will lead into our final Tribble- Appreciations. The story The Crayon Box That Talked illustrates both impacts. (We also have several activities this week that will have us working with color words.) 

The students will have a 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed take home game. This game serves double duty, when it is used to practice retelling the story AND to reinforce math concepts (both number orders are illustrated, as well as one to one correspondence when counting).

We will be beginning our Listen to Reading station this week. Please send in some over-the-head, inexpensive headphones that can stay here at school, as soon as you are able. Only a limited amount of children can visit this station per day, so if you need a bit of time to get your child's headphones- no worries. 

Reading: 
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names. I strongly recommend having your child sing and act the Zoo Phonics song with you. These animals serve as fun anchors to the all important letters and sounds that we use so much!

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes. 
Monday- B.9 One less - up to 5
Tuesday -B.10 Count one less - up to 5
Wednesday- G.1 Are there enough?
Thursday- G.2 Fewer and more - compare by matching

Skills can be revisited and repeated to increase your child's automaticity. 

Optional math extension: Count small objects with your child. Have them move each object as it is counted. Have them count as high as they can. Some ideas for objects are cereal, pennies, tiny toys (Shopkins or Hot Wheels or LEGO pieces or whatever your child has a bunch of).

At times, your child may bring home a math sheet that appears to be "unfinished". This will be because the back sheet was an extension activity for students that finished the assigned task earlier than others. If your child is interested or if you desire, they may finish the sheet as part of their homework time. It is not required, but it is encouraged.

Week 3 - Open a Book

Our theme this week is Open a Book. We will be delving into the 3rd Way to Read- Retelling a story. This involves a reader sharing what they heard when the story was read to them and what they see in the pictures. Our read aloud will be Bears Don't Read. We will also be revisiting Froggy and Big Bear to practice our retelling skills.

We will continue to focus on and practice our skill of Attentive Listening.

The Kindergartners did a great job of writing their first sentences this week. We will continue to work on crafting pages that include detailed pictures, labels, and complete sentences. This week we will be writing about pets that we like.

We will continue our focus on letter sounds and names, as well as word awareness. When your child reads to you, please encourage them to point to each word as it is said.

In math, we continue our work with reading, writing, and counting amounts. We also begin to notice and practice descending number patterns (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0) in addition to the ascending pattern (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) we may be more used to.

HOMEWORK  
When logging in to IXL, please make sure that you are using the updated login provided by Mr. Kelly- otherwise your child's work will not be reported to my teacher account.
  
If your child has not yet decorated their binder cover page, please have them do so, as this will be the topic of our Community Share on Monday.
 
Reading: 
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names. 

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes. 
Monday- B.5 Show numbers on ten frames - up to 5
Tuesday - B.6 Represent numbers - up to 5
Wednesday- B.7 One more - up to 5
Thursday- B.8 Count one more - up to 5 

Skills can be revisited and repeated to increase your child's automaticity. 

Optional math extension: Count small objects with your child. Have them move each object as it is counted. Have them count as high as they can. Some ideas for objects are cereal, pennies, tiny toys (Shopkins or Hot Wheels or LEGO pieces or whatever your child has a bunch of).

At times, your child may bring home a math sheet that appears to be "unfinished". This will be because the back sheet was an extension activity for students that finished the assigned task earlier than others. If your child is interested or if you desire, they may finish the sheet as part of their homework time. It is not required, but it is encouraged.

Note from the Principal:
If your child is going to be absent from school please notify the front office by 9 a.m. 423-5437.  Please remember that if anyone comes to check your children out of school who is not on the emergency card, they will not be released to them. You can update that list by going to Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

Note from the Office:
Beginning Monday, Sept 18, 2017 we will have gate monitors at the walk up gate.  You will now be able to park in the big parking lot on the south side of the building (the Bealls, Big Five and Dollar Tree side) and walk up to get your child if you choose. In the morning, please instruct your child to go to the walk up line. Parents, please form a single file line outside the gate and wait for a gate monitor to bring you your child. 

If you choose to do this, please be ready to tell the gate monitor your child's name and teacher.  Hold your child's hand all the way back to your car.  

Thank you for your patience and dedication to the safety of our students.

Week 2- Sharing

Hello, Families!

Welcome to the second week of Kindergarten. If your child was tuckered out on Thursday- they are in the majority. Plenty of sleep will help us tackle all the great learning we have in store.

Our theme this week is Sharing. Our primary read aloud will be Share, Big Bear, Share- a delightful book that I discovered this summer on the shelves of the local library. It is about a bear who misunderstands what others are saying, but by the end he learns to pay attention to others and remembers to share with his friends.

Last week, we got to know our first Tribble- Mutual Respect. He helps us remember to treat others the way we want to be treated and to be kind. This week, we will meet the next Tribble- Attentive Listening. The tale of Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen will kick off our discussion of what it means to be an attentive listener.

One of our focuses at the beginning of the year is developing and firming up our Alphabet Knowledge. We have some groovy "animal friends" that help us learn the sounds and names of our letters. (Zoo Phonics) Each animal has a name and motion that help us solidify the sounds and letter names. After we've worked with them a bit, they will be added to your child's binder. Singing and acting out their song is a great "reading homework" activity.

Word awareness is another important skill we are working on developing. This skill is important to reading and writing. When your child is reading their poems and books, it is important that they are noticing that words have spaces between them. Encourage them to point to or "poke" at each word as they reread. When we write sentences we plan them out across our fingers.

In math, we are working on reading, writing, and counting out amounts.

Community Calendars will be filled out, starting this week. Our Kindergartners are busy learning a bunch of routines and expectations. Please keep in mind, that this is a process. I will contact you if any choices/behaviors are of a great concern- otherwise, we are using them as learning opportunities within the school setting.

I had a training this Friday about the MAPS testing that our students will be taking in the winter. One of the concerns about the standardized assessment for Kindergartners, is that many of them are not very experienced with using a computer mouse. This is the tool that they will be using when they take this test. To get the most accurate picture of their reading knowledge, it will help for them to have some experience using a mouse beforehand. We will do some center work at school using a mouse, however you may want to provide your child with additional mouse experience at home. Games that require "dragging and dropping" would be especially beneficial.

If you are looking for some extra reading material, I came across this great article about mindset: https://www.nwea.org/blog/2017/starting-school-year-off-mindset-lesson-three-year-old/  It's worth the quick read as it has a valuable message for us as parents. 

Picture Day is Monday. Forms came home in binders- however, you may also order online at the site: mylifetouch.com

HOMEWORK
When logging in to IXL, please make sure that you are using the updated login provided by Mr. Kelly- otherwise your child's work will not be reported to my teacher account.

Reading: 10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names.

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes.

Monday- B.1 Learn to count to 5
Tuesday - B.2 Count to 5
Wednesday- B.3 Count using stickers - up to 5
Thursday- B.4 Count on ten frames - up to 5

Skills can be revisited and repeated to increase your child's automaticity.

Optional math extension: Count small objects with your child. Have them move each object as it is counted. Have them count as high as they can. Some ideas for objects are cereal, pennies, tiny toys (Shopkins or Hot Wheels or LEGO pieces or whatever your child has a bunch of).

Please make sure your child got to decorate their binder cover page as well.

Week of 9/5 - Starting School

I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! I enjoyed mine, but I'm definitely ready to see all my eager and ready to learn students tomorrow morning!

The beginning of Kindergarten is largely about learning new routines and school expectations, as well as becoming familiar with our room, teacher, and classmates.

This week, we will be reading about Froggy's First Day of School. Students will be learning about how to "read the pictures" of a book. This is a way for beginning readers to thoughtfully interact with a book even if the text is not yet accessible to them.  Thinking and talking about what we see characters "thinking, feeling, and doing" is a valuable way to begin to raise reading comprehension.

In math, we will explore different math manipulatives- tools that help us solidify understanding while having hands on fun.

HOMEWORK

Reading: Read with your child for 10 minutes each night. Enjoy discussing the story with your child. Take things slow and encourage your child to describe what they notice in the pictures and to share what they are thinking about the characters.

Math:
Log in to https://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes.

Tuesday- A.1 Learn to count to 3
                A.2 Count to 3
Wednesday- A. 3 Count using stickers- up to three
                     A.4 Count on ten frames- up to three
Thurs- A.5 Show numbers on ten frames- up to three
           A. 6 Represent numbers- up to three 


Optional math extension: Count small objects with your child. Have them move each object as it is counted. Have them count as high as they can. Some ideas for objects are cereal, pennies, tiny toys (Shopkins or Hot Wheels or LEGO pieces or whatever your child has a bunch of).

Your child will also get to decorate a paper for the front of their binder. This is open ended and totally up to you and your child. Some options are stickers, drawings, photographs, or some combination. Your child can decorate the binder page whichever night you choose.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

The beginning of our Kindergarten adventure together is right around the corner!

I wanted to give you information about our beginning of the year events, along with a little about me. I am also including the supply list in case you need it.

Back to School Night will be next Wednesday night, August 30th, 5:30-7:00. Please plan to attend this important evening. The information you receive will help our year run smoothly. This is a time for parents rather than children as there is a lot of information. You can even even make a night out of it- plan a date for an early dinner or a late dinner afterwards. 

Please bring in any supplies for classroom use that you have gathered. A shopping bag is useful.

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday night!

Kindergarten Practice Day will be Thursday, August 31st, from 9 am to 12 noon. This shortened day gives your child a great introduction to the Kindergarten classroom. They will meet new friends and start learning important routines.

Here is some information to help you prepare for this exciting day:

Please plan to park in front of the building by Louie’s Dollar Plus. Walk your child back to the playground and feel free to wait with them. We will show them where to line up and walk them into the building. To help your child have the best start to their day, please plan to say goodbye at our line up spot rather than coming inside with them. Coming inside with your child makes it so much more difficult for them to say goodbye.

This year, Mrs. Mackedon will be holding an informational session in the cafeteria at 9:00 am. If you are new to the school or just have questions, please plan to attend this short but very useful time.

Please have your child wear their uniform. Also, send in a yummy lunch and an easy to eat snack. The best way to manage the snack is to put it into the small pocket on the front of the backpack. This way they do not have to open their lunchbox to find the snack.

To help make our very first pick up time a better experience, please plan to use the pickup line. Do not park and get out of your car. Instead come down the West side of the school (enter from the Louie’s parking lot) and form a line that wraps around the North side of the playground. There are two gates on the North side where your children will exit. Please wait in line to pull up to the gate. A teacher will help your child get to and into your car and you will pull out. To make this even easier take a piece of regular paper and write your child’s first and last name in bold black marker. Then place it in your passenger window or on the right side of your windshield.

Thank you in advance for making this a great day!

About Me: My name is Mikayla Morrison. I am so excited to be getting to work with your child!

This will be my first year teaching.  I graduated from UNR with a degree in Elementary  Education. I also hold an Early Childhood Education endorsement.  I have student taught in a Kindergarten class in Reno and also subbed in various different K-5th classrooms, but this is my first year with my very own classroom and I can't wait to share it with your children!

 With my first year, the more support I can get, the better outcome we will all have for your children! So, I will be contacting you all about the abundant volunteer opportunities that will come up throughout the school year. 

Fun facts about me: I am a little obsessed with the color pink and owls (you can tell by my classroom decorations). I enjoy spending as much time as I can outside: nature walks, camping, lake activities, skiing (Tahoe is one of my favorite places!) My favorite sport to play is soccer and my favorite sport to watch is football (Go Packers!)

Supplies

This is a list of supplies for the Kindergarten students. If you are unable to obtain these supplies, please just let me know ahead of time. (mmorrison@oasisacademyfallon.us) This is not a problem!

Kindergarten Supply List:
2 dry erase markers (black only please- Expo if possible*)
4 glue sticks (Elmer's if possible*)
1 box of crayons (8, 16, or 24 count of Crayola brand)
1 package of pencils (plain yellow ones, please- Ticonderoga if possible*)
1 package of pencil top erasers or large pink erasers

1 pair of children's scissors
1 box of tissue 
 
1 pocket folder (with three holes- no metal prongs, the metal prongs will make it unsuitable for our needs)
Reusable water bottle with your child's name clearly marked in permanent marker (these will be sent home on Thursdays for cleaning) 
Backpack (this needs to be large enough to hold a two inch binder)

* I only mention these brands because we really do get better use out of them, however it isn't a huge deal.

Optional Items (not required, but definitely appreciated):
Markers
Cleaning wipes
Ziploc bags (sandwich and/or gallon size)
(1) 4 pack of bathroom tissue
1 roll of paper towels

Plastic page protectors (preferably the heavier weight ones): We use these a ton, if you want to make my teacher heart happy, this is the classroom supply right here. 

We will be sharing all items (except the folder, backpack, and water bottle) so there is no need to put your child's name on them. I know that it is fun to buy some special items when school shopping. If this is the case, one way to use a special item may be to set up a "homework office" to use these items at home. 

Thank you so much for your support!

A Million Words or Less

Hello, Families!
 I am thrilled to have your child in my class this year! I am very excited to get started. I would love to have an open line of communication between home and school. After all, we now have something very special in common- your child! You are your child's first teacher and you know them better than anyone else. I would love to start the year out with a glimpse of who your child really is. What makes them so amazing? What do they struggle with? What are their hobbies or special interests?

 I am asking you to write or email me about your child in a million words or less. If we were able to sit down over coffee and chat about your child, what do you want me to know? This letter is for me only. It can help give me a deeper understanding of your child. I will learn a lot about your child as we spend time together, but why wait?

 Please know that I will not be judging your writing. I don't care about your spelling and grammar. I care about what you have to say. 

 If you would like a bit more structure here are some example things you could tell me about:

• What are your child's strengths/weaknesses?
• Does your child have any fears or health problems?
• Has your child had any events or life experiences that make their life unique?
• How does your child show frustration or anger?
• What expectations do you have for your child this year?
• What does your child enjoy doing outside of school?
• Tell me about some of your child's favorites-such as foods, color, animals.

These are just some ideas. You are not limited to them nor do you have to answer all of them. Remember it can be as long or as short as you want. Share with me whatever you would like to share. 

 Thank you so much for sharing your child with me and for taking the time to tell me about your child!

                            

                  Sincerely,

                           Miss Morrison

                           mmorrison@oasisacademyfallon.us