Weekly Recap: 9/25-9/29

First of all, it was great to meet many of you at curriculum night J  Thank you so much for coming and allowing me to share a little bit about myself and what the kiddos will be doing. It’s going to be a great year!

This week was a busy one!  In reading we read the book “Beautiful Oops” to show students that they can keep going when things are not perfect and that we can turn our mistakes into something beautiful.  Students got a chance to make something beautiful from the “mistake” Ms. Gabriel made on her paper ;)  We also worked on a poem called “As I Was Walking.” After learning it (with motions) the kids found the rhyming words and we looked for letters in the poem that were in our names.  Students are still working on reading independently and with a buddy-trying to build more and more stamina which will be helpful once we begin center work soon!

In writing we started to think about sharing our stories with others.  It is one thing to produce your own writing, but it is another thing to be able to explain what you wrote about to someone else.  Part of Kindergarten is learning basic “presentation” skills.  We will continue to work on sharing our creations as the year goes on.  Next week we will continue to write stories that are 1-2 pages in length.

For math we have continued to work with numbers 1-10 by writing them and modeling them with different manipulatives.  The kids loved using dry erase boards, snap cubes, and play dough this week.  The more senses we involve/engage while learning the better!! Plus it is MORE fun J

Remember to try and read for 20 minutes a night and review sight words with your child.  Repetition is key for these little ones, so anything you do at home will be beneficial.

Ms. Gabriel

“Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.”

Weekly Recap: 9/18-9/22

Finally a full week again! 

Since we had more than a week off, it was important to get the kids back into the routine.  We are still working on remembering everyone’s names and getting to know one another.  We are also talking about feelings (practice identifying) and how to appropriately and calmly react and respond in the classroom.  

On Monday we talked about different types of books and how some are fiction while others are nonfiction (“learn about the world” books).  Students read nonfiction books together and shared things that they learned from their books.  We continued studying nonfiction books with a book about the life of a monarch butterfly.  This week we will be learning about rereading books to keep learning more and more.

Students are still writing one page stories and will move on to 2-3 page stories this week.  Students are encouraged to write using pictures, labels, letters, scribbles, etc.  The main goal is to have students thinking and producing stories (with events in order). Now the kids will start sharing their creations with partners to show that they have written specific things that they can talk about.

In math we have worked on numbers 1-4 and will continue to learn more and more numbers this week.  The kids practice writing each numeral as well as representing the number (model).  They will also start using tens frames this week.

Also a quick reminder that curriculum night is Thursday at 5pm and I am excited to see you there J

Ms. Gabriel

“Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.”

School to resume Monday, September 18th

NO School Thursday-Tuesday!

Good luck in your hurricane preparations. Stay safe!

NO School Monday September 4th!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Weekly Recap: 8/28-9/1

Welcome to Kindergarten! Here’s all the fun we’ve had in one short week together!

Our first FULL week as a new class has officially been completed J  It has been an adjustment for the kids to have a new teacher, but each day we celebrate small victories as we learn new routines and procedures together.  I have spent a lot of the week getting adjusted to my new room as well, so thank you for your patience as I have received folders and such from previous teachers around the building. 

Since the students are just getting to know each other (and me as their new teacher), we have spent much of the week getting to know each other and review class expectations.  The rules of the classroom are to BE SAFE, BE KIND, and BE RESPECTFUL.  We have talked about ways to follow these rules, and I would appreciate if you discuss some of these things with your child-Asking them what each of these things would look like (both in and out of the classroom).  I have already seen lots of progress in many kids’ abilities to share and communicate more effectively with their peers.  Let’s keep this going!

Along these lines we have talked about being “Bucket Fillers” instead of “Bucket Dippers.”  Bucket fillers are kind to their friends.  They use nice words, they share, etc.  Students had the opportunity to draw a bucket filled with pictures of nice things they can do to be a good friend.  These are meant to establish a community in which the class can learn and thrive TOGETHER.  We do games as a class to try and promote working together and getting to know one another.

Part of our new routine has included independent and buddy reading.  On Wednesday we talked about what it means to read (at this specific stage in their learning).  A lot of it is focused in looking at visual cues (ex. Words and pictures in a story) to think about and interpret what the book is about.  The kids are off to a great start with this and I love going around and hearing their ideas about what they are reading.  Encourage your child to do this at home-maybe before you read to them have them predict based on pictures and words/letters they may recognize.  We will continue to work on this and practice our reading skills moving forward.

Please feel free to contact me. Also, don’t forget to check announcements and resources for additional practice for your child in things that we have covered each week. Also, make sure to subscribe to receive emails every time I post something :) 

Ms. Gabriel

“Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.”