HomeNewsHomeworkCalendarClass Pictures

Friday, August 28, 2015

Weekly News: August 31-September 4

We had a wonderful second week of school together! 

I am almost done with my beginning of the year assessments, including letters and sounds, numbers, and phonemic awareness skills. Be on the look out for those assessment results coming home in your child's folder this week. Please take some time to review these results with your child. My goal for all students is to have 100% letter, sound, phonemic awareness, shape, and number recognition by the end of our first trimester in November.

We are ready to begin our Friday parent volunteers THIS WEEK!! We are excited to have you join our class for Fun Friday Centers!  Our center time is from 11:00 - 12:30. Please plan on arriving a few minutes early so that we can begin our centers right at 11:00. Our parent helpers who have volunteered include: Mrs. Pettit, Mrs. Crabtree, Mrs. Nesbit, and Mrs. Beauchamp. Our Fridays are always so much fun and I'm really looking forward to our time together this year! 

The very first Scholastic Book order went out last week. If you would like to order books for your child, please visit our Book Order tab for more information on signing onto the Scholastic Website. With every order, we also get one free book for our classroom library. Place your orders by September 11th! 

Please do not forget that while most of our homework in kindergarten is done at home, we do have "Turn-In Homework" every week. This is either a sentence to be written at home and turned in or something to bring in to share. Homework can be turned in ANY day of the week. Please check the Homework tab for the "Turn-In" topic of the week, as well as reading, writing, math, and phonemic awareness ideas. Thank you! 

There is no school on Monday, September 7 due to the Labor Day holiday. Enjoy the time off with your families! 

School picture day will be Friday, September 11th! Be on the look-out for a flyer being sent home soon!


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: I, LIKE, MY. 

Letter Team: SH (like in "she" and "push") and ER (like in "her" and "mother") - ask your child to tell you about Mr. ER - he is one crazy driver!!!

Word Family: IP - like in dip, chip, rip, sip, tip, etc.

Reading: We will continue to learn that vowels make 2 sounds - a short sound and a long sound. We will continue to read big books to help us with our reading strategies. This week, we will also read many books about colors and our five senses. We will introduce non-fiction as we read Scholastic magazines in week. 

Writing: We are writing a new book together about our five senses using our sight words of the week. We are continuing to use an uppercase at the beginning of a sentence, finger spaces between our words, and a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. You can help your child at home by using the same sound chart on the back of  your Homework Folder to help with sounding out words and writing at home.

Math: We will continue to practice number identification, number writing, days of the week, months of the year, shapes, and counting on/"Popcorn Counting". 

Leadership: This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. 

Homework: August 31-September 4

Flashcards: Please make flashcards for our sight words of the week (I, LIKE, MY), our letter team of the week (SH and ER) and our word family (IP - rip, sip, flip, etc.) Study these flashcards every day. Have your child read the word, spell the word, read the word. Please see our Sight Word tab and scroll to the very bottom for more flashcards tips and ideas. We will have a Sentence Test on our sight words every Friday. A sentence test means we will be asking your child to write a sentence that we give them using our sight words of the week. We will not only be looking for correct spelling of our sight words, but also for an uppercase at the beginning, spaces between words, a proper punctuation at the end. An example of a sentence is, "We can see a man." It may be a good idea to have a practice Sentence Test with your child on Thursday night. 


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. I am still doing my beginning of the year testing on Phonemic Awareness skills this week and sending home the results early this upcoming week. That way, you will have a better idea of exactly which Phonemic Awareness skills you need to work on!


Reading: Smarty Ants is up and running! Have fun playing reading games on Smarty Ants, read to your child every day, and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing your ABC's both uppercase and lowercase. Practice writing your sight words of the week in a short sentence. We are learning to start our letters at the TOP! 


Math: Dreambox is up and running for you to play at home. You should also practice counting 1-30 or higher, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Ask your child to name different attributes of shapes. For example, "What shape has three sides?" or "How many vertices does a rectangle have?" Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: This week, we will be learning about our five senses. For Turn-In Homework this week, please write one sentence about your favorite sense and how you use it. (Example: I like my nose because I can smell cookies with my nose.) Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Your child may attempt to write this sentence themselves, or you may dictate the sentence your child would like to write.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Weekly News: August 24-18

What a great first full week of school! I am the luckiest teacher to have such a great group of students with me and I am excited about our year together. We are having so much fun getting to know one another and adjusting to this crazy little thing called kindergarten :) 

Ads by Razor WebAd Options
Thank you again to the parents that signed up to help us out in the morning with Daily Folders. Here is a reminder of our helpers: 

Mondays: Mrs. Johnson 
Tuesdays: Mrs. Reyes 
Wednesdays: Mrs. Sams
Thursdays: Mrs. Wetmore-Castle
Fridays: Mrs. Pettit

At Back to School Night, you should have received a Sight Word CD with most of our sight word songs. This is a fun way to learn our sight words and reinforce letter identification too. Have your child point to each letter on their flashcard as they sing the letter name and have fun singing! 

At Back to School Night, you should have also received a note showing you how to download the QR CODE app onto your phone or tablet. Your children will have the opportunity to scan QR codes in the classroom and watch great videos to help with reading, phonemic awareness, penmanship, and math. Every week, some of the papers we are working on in class will come home. Have your child scan those QR codes again and again for practice! They love the videos!

There is no school on Monday, September 7 due to the Labor Day holiday. Enjoy the time off with your families! 


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: IS, THE, ME, OR.

Letter Team: TH (we are learning that TH has two different sounds - a hard sound, like in MOTHER and THE, and a soft sound, like in THUMB and WITH). 

Word Family: AP (cap, tap, rap, etc.)

Reading: We are learning the vowels! Ask your child about our special vowel song and what sounds the vowels can make! We are learning that each vowel can make 2 sounds - short and long. We are also learning the parts of a book, including title, author, illustrator, and title page. You can help at home by having your child point to each part of the book before you read. Students will continue one-to-one matching, and we will learn a few more reading strategies, including, "Get your mouth ready for the first sound", "Know the Letter Sounds" and "Stretch out the sounds".

Writing: We are writing a new book together about our shapes and colors using our sight words of the week. We will practice that a sentence starts with an uppercase letters and ends with a period. We are working on putting finger spaces in between our words. We are learning that our ABC Sound Chart helps us to identify sounds/letters in words. (You will also find the ABC Sound Chart on your child's Take Home Folder!!)

Math: We will practice number identification, number writing, days of the week, months of the year, and shapes. We will also focus on identifying what number comes next without having to go back to start counting at 1. In class, we call it "Popcorn Counting". For example, if I ask a student to count on from the number 7, I would like them to say "8, 9, 10" and the numbers just pop out of our brain like popcorn. 

Leadership: This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. We will discuss ways to demonstrate grit at home and at school. This topic will be our Turn-In Homework this week. 

Homework: August 24-28

Flashcards: Please make flashcards for our sight words of the week (IS, THE, ME, OR), our letter team of the week (TH) and our word family (AP - cap, rap, tap, etc.) Study these flashcards every day. Have your child read the word, spell the word, read the word. Please see our Sight Word tab and scroll to the very bottom for more flashcards tips and ideas. We will have a Sentence Test on our sight words every Friday. A sentence test means we will be asking your child to write a sentence that we give them using our sight words of the week. We will not only be looking for correct spelling of our sight words, but also for an uppercase at the beginning, spaces between words, a proper punctuation at the end. An example of a sentence is, "We can see a man." It may be a good idea to have a practice Sentence Test with your child on Thursday night. 


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. I will be doing my beginning of the year testing on Phonemic Awareness skills this week and sending home the results. That way, you will have a better idea of exactly which Phonemic Awareness skills you need to work on!


Reading: Smarty Ants is up and running! Have fun playing reading games on Smarty Ants, read to your child every day, and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing your ABC's both uppercase and lowercase. Practice writing your sight words of the week in a short sentence. We are learning to start our letters at the TOP! 


Math: Dreambox is up and running for you to play at home. You should also practice counting 1-30 or higher, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Ask your child to name different attributes of shapes. For example, "What shape has three sides?" or "How many vertices does a rectangle have?" Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: For Turn-In Homework this week, please write one sentence about how you can demonstrate grit at home or in the classroom. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Your child may attempt to write this sentence themselves, or you may dictate the sentence your child would like to write.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Weekly News: August 17-21

We had a great first two days of school! It has been so nice to meet all of you and your awesome kiddos! I have a wonderful group of students and I am truly looking forward to a fantastic school year! 

Ads by Razor WebAd Options
Thank you for ALL of your generous donations!!! Don't forget to attend Back to School Night on Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 in the Cub's Den (the church sanctuary). We will be covering a lot of important information. For this reason, we encourage you to find child care for your children.

I will start sending home our Take-Home Folders this Wednesday. This folder needs to go to school and home EVERYDAY! We will also begin Morning Folder Helpers on Wednesday. If you would like to sign up to be a helper or to volunteer in the classroom, there will be a sign-up sheet at Back to School Night. 


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WE, CAN, SEE, A.

Letter Team: EE (like in SEE and BEE).

Reading: We are reading many books about beginning school!  We are also learning a few reading strategies from our CAFE menu: Make Your Finger Match the Word, Look at the Pictures, and Retell What You Just Read. Please see the Reading Strategies tab for more information.

Writing: We are learning to neatly write the alphabet using correct letter formation.  We are writing a book together about shapes using our sight words of the week. This week we are learning that a sentence starts with an uppercase letters and ends with a period. We are working on putting finger spaces in between our words. We are learning that our ABC Sound Chart helps us to identify sounds/letters in words. (You will also find the ABC Sound Chart on your child's Take Home Folder!!)

Math: We are learning to identify, order, write, and count numbers to 30, identify and name shapes and sort them by different attributes.  We are also learning songs for the days of the week and months of the year.  Your child will also be working on “Daily Math” practice pages in class.  These practice pages will be sent home each day for you to review with your child. Keep an eye out for this to come home soon! Please take a moment to go over any missed problems you see on these practice pages.  

Leadership: Here at ILCS, we focus on a certain leadership theme each month. This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. We will discuss ways to demonstrate grit at home and at school. 

Homework: August 17-21

We will be going over each aspect of homework more in detail at Back to School Night on Tuesday. Hope to see you there! 

Flashcards: Please make flashcards for our sight words of the week (WE, CAN, SEE, A), our letter team of the week (EE) and our word family (AN - man, can, pan, fan, etc.) Study these flashcards every day. Have your child read the word, spell the word, read the word. Please see our Sight Word tab and scroll to the very bottom for more flashcards tips and ideas. We will have a Sentence Test on our sight words every Friday. A sentence test means we will be asking your child to write a sentence that we give them using our sight words of the week. We will not only be looking for correct spelling of our sight words, but also for an uppercase at the beginning, spaces between words, a proper punctuation at the end. An example of a sentence is, "We can see a man." It may be a good idea to have a practice Sentence Test with your child on Thursday night. 


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. 


Reading: In a few short weeks, your child will be bringing home little books that we have been reading in class to read at home for YOU! We also have a wonderful online reading program that we will introduce soon and will be an integral part of your reading homework. In the meantime, please read to and with your child every day. Have your child find sight words in the books that you are reading. 


Writing: Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing your ABC's both uppercase and lowercase. Your child took an ABC Writing Assessment in class and these will come home on Wednesday so you can see what your child needs to practice. You can also practice writing your sight words of the week in a short sentence. We are learning to start our letters at the TOP! 


Math: Practice counting 1-30 or higher. Make number flashcards and have your child identify numbers out of order. Practice number writing - your child took a Number Writing Assessment in class and these will also come home on Wednesday so you can see what needs to be practiced! Practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Ask your child to name different attributes of shapes. For example, "What shape has three sides?" or "How many vertices does a rectangle have?" Your child will also be bringing home "Daily Math" practice pages that we do every morning in class. Please take a moment to go over these practice pages to see if there is anything specific your child needs to work on. We will also have a wonderful math online program that we will introduce soon and will be an integral part of your math homework. 

Turn-In Homework: Every week, we will only have ONE thing to bring back to school and turn in to the classroom. The expectation is that the rest of your homework will be done at home together. Turn-In Homework can be brought in ANY day of the week but must be turned in by Friday. Sometimes Turn-In Homework will be a special project and sometimes it will be a piece of writing. For Turn-In Homework this week, students will be sharing their Book Boxes made at home. A note about Book Boxes was sent home on Friday. 

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

First Day of School

  1. The first day of school is almost here! I am so excited to meet my new class! I am certain many of you have questions, comments, concerns, and emotions. Hopefully the following information will help. Here are a few things to know about the first day:

    1. We will meet down on the playground between 7:50 - 8:10 (school starts at 8:10am).  The basketball court is where we will line up each morning.

    1. Please remember, no backpacks.  Although it's fun to choose a new backpack, we just don't have the space for them.  Backpacks will be something to look forward to in first grade.  

    1. Please send a small snack for our nutrition break.  It can be in a lunch box or bag with your child's name.  This is not lunch, just a short break, so a small healthy snack is plenty.

    1. If you are able, we invite you to join us for the first 15 minutes in our classroom as we read our first story together as a class.

    1. Dismissal will be at 12:30!!  Please pick up you child on the ramp in the front of the school. I ask that you come introduce yourself to me - tell me your name and your child's name - this way, I can start getting to know faces and make pick-up as safe as possible. 

    1. On the first day of school, your child will come home with a first day packet full of papers from the office. Please be on the look out for this important packet, fill out the appropriate paperwork, and return to school as soon as possible. 

    1. Smile! The first day of Kindergarten is exciting!

    2. Also, Back to School Night will be Tuesday, August 18th, 
      starting at 5:30pm in the Cub's Den (Sanctuary) on our 
      campus.  Please plan to attend.  We will be covering a lot of
        important information.  For this reason we encourage you to find child care for your children.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Welcome!


Welcome to kindergarten!! I am Mrs. Bess and I am thrilled to be your child's kindergarten teacher! Over the next year, you will become very familiar with our classroom website, checking it EVERY WEEK for homework, announcements, pictures of us having fun, and classroom news. Feel free to look around and familiarize yourself! Make sure to check out our School Supply List and Wish List tab for Back-to-School Supplies and remember - you do NOT need to bring a backpack to school.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our classroom website for the first time of many. Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer and I will meet you all soon! YAY :)