The past few weeks I have been able to spend one on one time with each student doing assessments.  That time is so enjoyable to see how much each child has grown!  As a whole, this is a fun class, full of personality.  It is also nice to see each child individually as the unique and special people God has created.  I look forward to our time together Monday or Tuesday at parent teacher conferences celebrating your child!

We have been working on our new Bible verse:

“And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

In Bible we have started learning about Moses.  From the beginning of Moses’ life, God kept him safe and had a very special plan for Moses.  God has a plan for each one of us too!

In Handwriting this week we worked on letters C and O.  I am encouraging the class to be more careful on writing on the line.  Especially when the letter is one they are able to form very well, I want them to be careful on writing it neatly and doing their best.

We are looking back at the stories/sketches students have made during writing workshop.  Each child chose one to fix up and fancy-adding details and coloring their story.  This coming week we will celebrate their writing by reading the stories and having a special treat (oreos). 🙂

In Math this week we have been practicing adding and subtracting! We are using a few games and manipulative to practice these concepts.  Students also wrote out a few math equations.

Daily 5 – The class was so excited to start listen to reading this week!  Everyone was able to take a turn listening to a book on the iPad using headphones and following along in a real book.  After Thanksgiving, we will also be adding Work on Writing and Word Work to our Daily 5 choices.  It is so much fun to see all of this practice and building stamina come together.

We are beginning a new study on God’s earth.  This week we used a globe to see how God created the earth with more water then land.  We tossed a blow up globe to friends and looked where our hands landed—it was on a lot of water! As we were walking down the hall by the office Friday, a student asked about the picture of earth on the wall.  We were able to talk about the earth being round and the picture being flat and how it looks a little different.

In Phonics this week we listened for the beginning sounds in words and sorted out words according to their beginning sounds.

Our Interactive Read Aloud this week was “A Pocket for Corduroy”.  We talked about the setting, characters, problem and solution.

Our Word Wall Word was is.  The class LOVES finding our word wall words all over!  Everyone had a chance to read the word wall book with me.  Please take a few minutes and have your child read it to you!

REMINDERS:

November 21 & 22: evening parent teacher conferences

November 21: Chapel at 10:30 (you are welcome to attend)

November 22: picture trade. Please send in 21 pictures of your child.

November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break

If you have empty toilet paper tubes, please send them in to school.  I will be collecting tubes until December 2. Thank you!

Photo Highlights of the Week

This past week has been another busy and fun week in Kindergarten.  We were blessed with beautiful weather outside and evidence of so much growth inside.  The class has shown such in interest in writing words!  They continue to choose whiteboards and markers and write the names of friends, words they see around the classroom and anything they can.  It makes me smile every time I see it.

In Bible we finished up studying Joseph.  I often read from the Bible and then use activities to review the story.  On Friday, we used the Read and Share Bible DVD to review the the challenges Joseph went through.

New Bible Memory: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Writer’s Workshop- We continue to sketch our stories and label as many things as we can.  In Phonics this week we practiced stretching words out as we say them so we can hear the letter sounds.  We used the same chart throughout the week to review letters and sounds.  This coming week students will receive a copy of the chart to keep in their writer’s workshop folder to help them sound out the words in their story.  This is a process that we will continue to work on throughout the year.

Math-This week we continued to practice writing numerals properly.  We are also looking at numbers in groups.  This week we practiced 5 and some more.  For example 8 is 5 and 3 more.

Daily 5-It is so exciting to see our Daily 5 time come together!  This week the class was rotating between Read to Self, Read to Someone and Work with Teacher.  I hope to have the iPads ready for Listen to Reading this week.  I am looking for a few more headphones though. If you have any spare headphones that the class can use, please send them in!  Thanks!

Handwriting-We practiced writing Z and reviewed the letters we have learned so far.  Your children write so well during handwriting!  Encourage them to keep writing the “school way.”  I am encouraging many to take time with their name and focus on the letter that go “upstairs, downstairs or are in the middle.”

Up In Lights-Thank you for taking the time to fill out the many pages of Up in Lights pages when it is your child’s turn.  I know it is a lot of work, but the class loves learning more about their friends!  It is also such a treat for them to have you visit.  Thank you!

Reminders:

November 21 & 22 – parent teacher conferences

November 21: Chapel 10:30am

November 22: picture trade (please send in 21 wallets or 4×6 photos of just your child)

November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break

What a wonderful week last week!  It started off with chapel on Monday and lots of learning throughout the week.  Grandparent’s Day Friday was such a special time.  The love between generations of family is something to be celebrated.

Here are some other highlights:

Bible-We learned about Joseph.  It was interesting reading about how Joseph was the favorite son.  I assured your children their families do not have favorites 🙂  We also read about the bad things that happened to Joseph, but God was with him when his brothers turned against him and God was with him when he was in Egypt.  God is faithful.  All the time.

Daily 5-We are building stamina in “Read to Someone” and the class is doing great!  We will start this week with Read to Someone again, but then move onto Daily 5 rotations where students are choosing between the Daily 5 and I am working with small groups.  They are very excited because they know that listen to reading (iPads) are coming soon.

Word Wall-Our word wall contains the following words: a, at, go, I, look, see and the.  This week we are adding me and up.  I LOVE that throughout the day your children are so excited to tell me when they see one of our words and also when they hear them.  Ask them to read their word wall books to you!  They are also very good at writing more pages to go with the books.

Handwriting-This week we practiced X and Y.  These letters are full of slanted lines and the kids are doing great.

Math-This past week we took our first Math “test”.  I will share this with you at conferences 🙂  It is just a glimpse of what your child is doing and gives us a chance to celebrate the concepts they have mastered!

Speaking of conferences, please make sure to sign up for a parent/teacher conference. I look forward to meeting with each of you! I will send home an email this week with a link to a conference questionnaire that will help me plan for our time together.

Looking ahead…

November 9, 10, 11: No hot lunch

November 9 & 10: No PM bussing

November 10: Picture retakes

November 11: No AM or PM bussing

November 21 & 22: conferences during the afternoon/evening

November 22: We will learn about trading and exchange photos.  Please send in 21 wallet or 4×6 photos of just your child.  These do not have to be professional photos, but I would like them to be of just your child.

What a blessing Grandparents are!  It was a wonderful morning to celebrate Grandparents and God’s faithfulness in our families.

Thank you to the volunteers: Lisa, Marie and Laurie! You helped make the day go smoothly for the children and grandparents.

Enjoy the photos Lisa captured today.