November Snack/Leader Calendar

 

October 25th Newsletter

Important Dates:

October 28- Late Start

October 30- Halloween Celebration

November 4- Late Start

November 11- Late Start

November 12 & 13- Half days of school (parent/teacher conferences)

November 17- 50th day of school

November 18- Late Start

November 20- Half day of school

What's Happening in Kindergarten?

Last week we started studying the reading strategy of Analyzing Characters in the stories we read. This week we are reading The Three Little Pigs and focusing on how the pigs acted and felt and why. We will also be reading different versions of this familiar story and comparing how they are alike and different. 

We learned to write the word 'am' and the word 'Sam' last week using the letters we have studied. This week we are learning letter Tt and will be using it to make new words. We enjoy practicing these letters and words on our white boards in class.  We continue to practice counting syllables in words and coming up with rhyming words. Please see how well your child is doing with this by practicing at home. 

In Science we continue to learn about the weather. This week we are going to learn about a place that does not get much sun and we will think about how we can warm up a frozen playground! 

In Social/Emotional learning we have learned that we need to follow the group plan to help everyone stay happy. This week we will read about flexible and stuck thinking! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I look forward to meeting with you all next week to discuss your child's progress in school so far this year.  I included a link to sign up for a time last week but I will link it again here since there are still quite a few who need to sign up. I will assign time slots on Thursday if you have not chosen one by then. Thank you. 

Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Up

Halloween Party

Our Halloween celebration will be this Friday from 1:30- 2:30 pm. Thank you so much to those that have signed up to send in a snack, craft, or game for our party. I wish you could be here to enjoy it with us. I promise to take pictures and post them so you can see all of the fun! Children CAN wear their costumes to school that day. Please make sure it is not too bulky for them to get around in all day. 

Cold Weather

Since the weather is getting colder, please make sure your child has what they need to stay warm at recess each day! Also, please practice zipping coats at home to help transition times go more smoothly! Thank you so much! 

October 18

 Important Dates

*October 21- Late Start

*October 22- Book Orders Due!

*October 23- Picture re-takes

*October 28- Late Start

*October 30- Halloween party (wear your costume to school)

Halloween

We will celebrate Halloween on Friday, October 30th around 2:15 pm.  The children
may WEAR their costumes to school to wear during the day and for the party. When you

are choosing a costume with your child, please remember that it
should be appropriate for school and not scary for the other children.  If your

child’s costume has a weapon of any kind, please leave it at home.

No weapons are allowed at school.

I have attached a sign up sheet to send in things for the party. 

Halloween Party Donations

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Our time frame for conferences will be the week of November 2nd. Report cards 

will not come home until later in November. I have attached a sign up for conference times. 

All conferences will be virtual. You will need to use the link in Google 

Classroom that you used to connect to our class meeting earlier in the year. I am 

looking forward to meeting with all of you and discussing 

your child’s progress! Please sign up as soon as possible so I can begin to plan.

Bartz Conferences

October 11 Newsletter

Upcoming Events

*Late Starts Every Wed. this month*

*October 15, 16 –Half Days dismissal at 12:35 pm. (12:25 for Kinders) Parent/teacher conferences

*October 19-No School 

*October 23-Picture Re-Take Day

*October 30 1:30-2:30 Halloween party

Last Week

Last week we introduced the 4th choice in Daily 5, word work. During this time we can practice writing and spelling words. We now can read to self, work on writing, listen to reading, and do word work. This week we will start our last choice, read to someone! We are doing an excellent job of becoming better readers and writers during our Daily 5 time each day! 

We had our first virtual guest reader on Friday. Thank you Mrs. Kirshenbaum for reading us a great book! We had a few technical kinks to work out, but the kids loved it! 

You can still sign up to be a virtual guest reader. If you are interested in signing up to be a guest reader, let me know! We can do a google meet for the time you signed up  OR you can record yourself reading a book and send it to us! We are flexible. Here is the link. It is also on my Google Classroom. Bartz Virtual Guest Reader

Our first book order has come in and has been delivered. I hope those of you that ordered books are enjoying them. A new order will come home this week and be due next week!

This Week 

We will continue to work on the skills of identifying main idea and supporting details using the book, What Are Some Rules At Home? Ask your child if the rules we are reading about in school are the same as some you have at home.

In Science for the Weather Watching unit we will talk about how the weather changes with the seasons. We will use what the weather is like on their birthdays to make this point clear to them.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and I am looking forward to another great week with your children!

October 4

 Upcoming Events

*October 15, 16 –Half Days dismissal at 12:26 pm.

*Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28 - Late Starts

*October 19- No School

*October 23- Picture Re-Take Day

This Cycle

We are learning about the main idea and the details in what we read. As we read we are learning how to ask questions to make sure we understand what we are reading.   We will study the letters Mm and Aa next cycle and learn how to spell and read the word ‘am’. We are really focusing on rhyming right now. Please work with your child to see how well they rhyme. You could give two words and have them tell you if they rhyme or not or you can say a word and they have to think of one that rhymes with it. In math we are practicing shapes and writing numbers correctly.

In our journals we are working on using letter sounds to write our words.  Please encourage your child to listen for at least the beginning and ending sounds in words as they write. In Science we continue to learn about the weather. In Social Studies we are learning about different ways to tell time and using the vocabulary of past, present, and future. 

The children continue to LOVE the Magic Tree House chapter books we are reading during our quite time after last recess. We are also charting on a map in our classroom the different areas Jack and Annie travel! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Even though we have half days for conferences next week and some teachers are doing Google meetings with parents at that time, I will be meeting with most of you in November to discuss your child's progress. I believe that our Kindergarteners need more time to adjust to school and 'show what they know'! If you feel a need to meet before this, please let me know. 

Lexia Information

We have taken the placement test for our Lexia Core 5 program. This means that each child is in a level and ready to practice the skills in that level. You received login information for this program in your packet sent home a couple of weeks ago. You do need to log into this program through Clever.  Please remember that even though your child can work on this at home, the Lexia Core 5 program does have to be done INDEPENDENTLY! Each child works through certain skills in a certain order and needs to master these skills before moving on to the next level. Helping your child complete the Core 5 tasks is actually detrimental since they will then not be able to complete the more complex tasks on their own. If you have any questions, please let me know! I hope you and your child enjoy the extra practice these programs provide!

Have a Wonderful Week!

October Snack/Leader Calendar

 

September 27

 Upcoming Events

*September 30- Late Start

*October 7- Late Start

*October 7 - Student Count Day

Last we welcomed two new friends to our class. Claudia Engeln and Kinsley Flynn have joined us and fit right in! We now have 19 wonderful students!

It has been great having our whole class together this past week! The children have been doing a great job of getting to know routines and procedures better each day in our room and school. They are fast learners and are doing well. I am incredibly proud of them! 

 We have had a great start with the Read to Self portion of Daily 5. Students have been building their stamina by reading silently for up to 15 minutes. We have also introduced Work on Writing as a choice as well. This is a time for students to write words or phrases they know or even copy words from around the room. Spending time doing these things is helping us become better readers and writers. This week will introduce a third choice for Daily 5! You can help your child increase his or her stamina at home by having them read quietly each day.  Remember there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar story.  Make sure your child stays in one spot and reads quietly for this practice. 

 We have participated in each special now and are comfortable with the process and teachers. On Monday we met Mr. Pfhaler for gym. We met Mrs. Warsow on Tuesday for art. Mrs. Richards is our music teacher we see on Wednesday. Thursday is Media Center with Mrs. Bacolor and this week Mrs. Gruchot visited our classroom and students were able to check out books. This first time we have kept the books in our classroom (they have them in their book boxes). We have read them during the week and discussed good book care. Next Thursday the children will bring them home for the week. We have a wonderful assortment of books in our library that I’m sure your family will enjoy ☺. On Friday we spent time with Mrs. VanHekken learning about our feelings and appropriate ways to interact with our friends.

 We took the reading and math NWEA tests in the computer lab last week. The children learned to follow the directions and manipulate the mouse. This is solely to get a baseline for the children.

We had our first fire drill last week. The students were wonderful at listening and following directions! 

If your student is going to have school lunch, please remember to order in advance. The link to order is on below. By ordering lunch in advance, our morning routine will go much smoother. Thank you! 

Order Lunch Here

Please make sure you are checking your child’s folder each day! 

What we are doing

In our writing program we will continue working on telling stories.  Writers always begin with a story to share.  We will be verbally telling our stories now to a buddy as we practice being a good speaker and a good audience.

This next cycle we will be starting our first week of our Benchmark Literacy Program.  We will be talking about identifying the main idea of what we read.  We are also going to learn how to ask questions while we read to make sure we understand what we are reading!

In social studies we will be learning about ourselves, and how we are special and unique.  We are learning  that we each have “roles” (like daughter or son) and that we can name something we like about ourselves.  

In Science we will be learning how to be “weather watchers”. We will learn that 4 things tell us about the weather: the sky, the temperature, the wind, and if it’s raining or snowing. 

When writing in our journals, we are listening for letter sounds in our words and putting spaces between our words.  Our newest focus is starting a sentence with a capital letter and ending it with a period.

Homework 

October calendars will come home and September calendars are due by the end of this next week. Your child will receive a prize from our treasure chest when his/her form is returned to school with your signature. This homework is not mandatory and can be used to reinforce what we learn in class.  

The Math About Me form that came home last week can be done and turned in by the end of this week. We will be sharing these with the class and comparing some of the numbers. We will also put them into a class book that we can enjoy as the year goes on. This assignment was to help your child see important reasons for using numbers. Thank you!