Heart Words

The kids have been reading and writing new heart words each week. Word bird holds and helps us remember our new heart word of the week. INQUIRE with your child who 'word bird' is.   So far this year, your child should know how to read and spell many words including: I, a, is, up, on, my, me, we, on, see, like, can, and, and here.  While students spend time on word work during daily 5, they are practicing reading and writing these words in many different ways.  Students who have mastered spelling this set of words have been working on additional words.  We have also been perfecting our handwriting of lower case letters and discussed how words at the beginning of sentences must have uppercase letters.  We looked closely at the word The/the and realized that even though the words look different, they are the same! At this point in the kindergarten year, students should be writing all lower case letters in their writing. This writing should be legible. If you'd like guidance as to how to help your child at home with their handwriting or with developing their automaticity of either reading or writing heart words, let me know. I'm happy to help you. 

Have fun practicing these high frequency words with your child at home. Have your child repeat the word after listening.  After much practice, challenge your child by pushing mute and having them do it on their own!

Poems

Throughout the next few weeks, students will be reading a variety of winter poems across the curriculum.  This week, we have focused on the poem, "Walking in the Snow." Students are practicing the comprehension strategy of visualizing, many accuracy strategies, and rereading the poem over and over again to help build fluency.  Children will continue reading these poems in their independent reading time as all the poems will be made into a poem book.  Students are using the visualization strategy to visualize and then make a picture to match the words. 

Happy Reading!

On Monday, your child will bring home a letter describing our home-school reading program.  Although we have briefly started this, a few things have changed, so please read this letter.  The big difference is that your child will be recording their books and the books will be sent home in a YELLOW folder.  Please sign the agreement if you'd like to participate in the program.  

If you have any questions about how to best support your child's reading at home, please contact me. The purpose of our at home reading program is to read for pleasure and to share the excitement of reading together.  It should also give you an idea of what your child is reading at school.  These books have been practiced many times before being sent home, so they might appear to be too easy.  If the book is too easy for him/her it shows you how much your child has practiced it.  As a child rereads a text, their fluency increases.  These books can be sent back as frequently as you'd like.  I will try my best to help your child refill them each day.  If you prefer not to have books sent home, please let me know.  It is your families responsibility to take care of the books and return them in a reasonable amount of time.


I'd love a sense of how frequently your child is reading - either to you - or by him/herself each night.  Please complete the poll on the side column of our blog! 

Star Student Project

In your child's folder on Friday, you received a letter telling you about "Star Student."  The letter introduced you to a new home-school project we’d like your participation in.  To connect home and school learning, you will get to help your child in preparation for their Star Student Week.  During the next few months, your child will have an entire week to be the, “Star Student!”  While your child is the Star Student they will be honored with a different activity or event.  This project will integrate our social curriculum with literacy and math learning.  

On the Friday before your child is the Star Student, they will be given a special star container to bring home for the weekend.  Over the weekend, they are to use its contents to complete the activities, and fill the box with all of the items listed below.  Please make sure what they choose fits into the Star Box, and nothing extra.  

On the Monday of your child’s week, please return the Star Box (completed) with your STAR KINDERGARTENER! The following events/activities will happen on each day.  

 MONDAY- Stuffed Animal and Journal
In the Star Student Box ,there will be a stuffed animal and journal inside.  With your help, you and your child will work together to write and illustrate (photos, magazine cut outs or photographs are fun mediums for illustrations, too) something your child did with the animal during the weekend.  PLEASE RETURN THE ANIMAL AND JOURNAL TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY INSIDE THE STAR BOX FOR YOUR CHILD TO SHARE WITH THE CLASS.  This activity connects what your child is learning at school and extends that learning into his/her home!

TUESDAY- C.A.R.E.S. and ME!
Also in the Star Student box, you will find a questionnaire about C.A.R.E.S.  Please help your child fill out and prepare the questionnaire, making sure it is placed in the Star Student box on Monday.  On Tuesday, they will have a chance to share and we will celebrate their individual C.A.R.E.S. efforts.  

WEDNESDAY- Favorite book  
Please help your child choose a favorite book from home that they have read.  Remember, reading in Kindergarten may be 1.) reading the words, 2.) reading the pictures, and or 3.) retelling the story.  Take time to find out what strategies your child knows at this point in Kindergarten and help them prepare a personal/family favorite to share with the class.  The special book will remain in the box until Wednesday.

THURSDAY- Letter from Parent or Family Member
Please write a letter to the class telling us how special your child is to you.  Send the letter in a sealed envelope with your child inside the Star Box on Monday.  I will read the letter to the class on Thursday.  The content of the letter is up to you, however, here are some ideas:  Describe a special or funny story about your child for the class to hear; write a silly or serious poem about your child; tell us some neato’ things we may not know about your child, or write about why you are proud of your child.  Included in the Star Student box, please send in a baby picture for your child to share with their class community!  

FRIDAY- Estimation Jar
One of the goals of the Kindergarten curriculum is to provide an opportunity for children to estimate.  The “Estimation Jar” is a chance for children to estimate, compare, count, and enjoy the world of numbers.  It also provides practice in making and checking predictions, while learning the concept of place value.  Please help your child choose a number of small items that will fit into the, “Estimation Jar.”  Have your child count exactly how many items are in the jar using the 100’s chart (please keep in box) found in the Star Student Box and write down the number on a separate note to attach to the bottom of the jar.  PLEASE, NO MORE THAN 100 items.  Encourage your child to keep the number of items in the jar a secret.  At school, the class will try to estimate the actual number of items in the jar.  Then the actual number will be revealed.  We will compare the guesses to the actual number.  Next, we will count and group the items by ten to further practice place value.  PLEASE be sure to return the estimation jar in the Star Student Box on Monday.  Some suggested items are: marbles, dice, cotton balls, seashells, rocks, crayons, ziti pasta, etc.  Please be sure each item is no smaller than a dice!  Before estimating we will pull out a handful to count to use as a guide in making educated predictions.  

Have fun working with your Star Kindergarten Student on this special activity.  Please contact me with any questions at all.  If you need to switch with a peer from your child’s class, please contact that family or let me know how I can be of help.  A schedule can be found below.  

Week Of:	Closter’s Class
January 7th, 2013	Finn/Owen
January 14th, 2013	Elke/Alex
January 21st, 2013 (will begin Tuesday)	McKenzie/Lucas
January 28th, 2013	Bella/Calvin
February 4th, 2013	Tatum/Rye
February 11th, 2013	Stella/Rowan
February 18th, 2013	Juliet/Ian
March 6th, 2013 (Wednesday-Tuesday)	Adri/Declan

Daily "4"

Our morning literacy block  uses the "Daily 5" structure.  Daily 5 emphasizes independence while reading and writing.  The students have been building their stamina throughout the year and are thoroughly engaged in their work during this time.  Each session begins with a whole group mini lesson and then students are given the choice of reading to self, listening to reading, working on writing, or engaging in word work.  This week, we've begun learning how to make these choices.  Prior to vacation, students were all working on the same thing.  Now, students will have a choice as to what they would like to do and where they'd like to do their work around the room.  I am keeping track, however, of what students choice, to ensure students are balancing their choices.   While students are situated around the room working on building their independent skills, I am able to spend more time in small groups teaching particular skills or conferring with children independently. I am impressed at the focus, hard work, concentration, and improvement the students are showing during this block of time.  Ask your child what choices they made today.  Check out this video showing our students engaged in Daily 5!  We will be learning about the last component (read to someone) next week.   

Happy Birthday x2

While celebrating a classmates birthday this afternoon, we thought it'd be nice to double the fun.  It was Principal Bradley's birthday as well, so we joined him in the office to sing a silly birthday song to him!  We presented him with a crown and birthday treats and even integrated math practice while chanting, "Are you 1....are you 2...."  counting all the way up to......  

Upon returning to the classroom, our student birthday boy shared a "class present" with us and shared a special goody bag treat with us...pretzels, animal crackers, and juice...what a healthy treat! Thanks so much!  If your child is having a birthday and you'd like to send something in, please contact me in advance. Thanks!  

Friday Guest Reader

Royce came in for guest reader this morning and shared a few of their families favorites! Your children continue to enjoy having new family members join our class and read to them! I think they could sit on the rug ALL day and listen to more stories...they're always begging for more.  Thank you Royce for taking time out of your day to share your love for books with our emergent readers.  If you'd like to sign up to be guest reader, follow the link below.  If Friday's don't work for you, let me know what day you'd be prefer. We're more than happy to accommodate your work schedules! 
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044AADAF2BA46-friday

Welcome Back!

I hope everybody enjoyed a restful winter break and were able to spend some quality time with your family. I was happy to hear all the stories about what your family did over the vacation.  Smiles and laughter filled the classroom today after students welcomed each other back after more than a week off.  Although cooped up inside due to the chilly temps outside, all friends remembered to show C.A.R.E.S. throughout the day.  Routines were reestablished and rules were reviewed as we said goodbye to fall and hello to winter! Our focus today was on the seasons, the new calendar year, and reestablishing the community of learners.  Check out some photos from today!

Making snowman calendar markers for January!

Interactive and individual writing to say goodbye to fall and welcoming winter.  Students are working on stretching words and hearing beginning, middle, and ending sounds.  

 

Fun with the camera at snack time - lots of time to chat and catch up!

Cooperation during workplaces - most are partner based and students are showing empathy by choosing new friends to play with!  What empathic students I have!

With the windchill below zero, the admin voted for indoor recess.  You may wonder what we often do during this time to ensure we get some energy out!  Most days, students vote for a dance party in the classroom - check out these videos to get a feel for what indoor recess looks like in Room 5!

Helping Families Celebrate

On Tuesday, we helped a friend's family celebrate the anniversary of their adoption.  We learned about the process of adoption, how and why it happens, and made many connections to our own background knowledge.  Kelly answered many questions about adoption and shared a story written by Todd Parr telling about adoption.  While listening to the story, students enjoyed a special treat.  If your family would like to share a special day with our class, just let me know.  We love having parents visit and helping to build community not only within our class but with families as well.  

E.C.O. Celebration

All Kindergarten classes joined together in Harrison Field today to celebrate the ending of the fall E.C.O.  program.  (Don't worry, we'll start up again in January)  Twice a year, we like to gather all the children together in a fun outdoor day.  Today, we had four stations set up in Harrison Field.  Students enjoyed making snow sculptures, playing field games, throwing snowballs at a target, making tea, listening to stories, and going on a scavenger hunt.  Students engaged in each activity throughout the morning. It was great to see all the children working together to show Cooperation.  Thanks to Katie for donating apples for our morning snack and to Grandpa Charlie for supplying us with some warm water!  

Updates from the week

Despite the lack of blogging, we've had quite a busy week in Kindergarten!  Here is a recap of some of our learning and fun-filled activities that we've done or will continue to work on this week.  

We wrote thank you notes for adults in our school who have helped us throughout the year.  We attached these notes to a gift bag full of gingerbread cookies that we made ourselves.  Students then traveled around the school distributing the bags to our wonderful helpers. 

Students have finished their first handwriting books for the year. We've been working on these slowly and spending time learning about how each letter is formed.  We will continue to practice handwriting upon returning from winter break. We will be using a variety of tools to strenghthen our fine motor muscles. As students become more fluent in their writing, they tend to put aside their great handwriting skills they've learned. We'll continue to reinforce proper letter formation.  ALL students will be expected to write in lower case letters throughout the new year. 

In writing, we're working on building our stamina in writing words.  As students spend more time on their writing and not just their illustrations, they have been thinking about how they can make their stories more interesting.  INQUIRE with your child how they have done this in their stories this week.

During reading, your children are working on putting all their strategies together when reading their just right books. As each of them learn new strategies, they are working on remembering the ones taught prior.  After break, students will be working in small guided reading groups with me.  Students will be grouped by both strategy learning and text level.  More about this in January...

We have all picked a "nature animal name."  This 2nd identity will be used both in the classroom and while at E.C.O.  Although we'll begin to learn about these particular animals this year, the meat of the learning will happen during their first grade year. Don't be surprised to hear your child calling their friend, "great horned owl!"  Each student (and teacher) has their own name. INQUIRE with your child what their nature animal name is.

We will have a Kindergarten sing-along tomorrow in the big gym.  Our new song is about a mole and a few other Vermont animals. Ask your child to sing it to you!

During choice time, students have been engaging in two dramatic play centers.  While some children enjoy reenacting a doctors office or hospital, others are pretending to be the "teacher." It's quite amusing to hear yourself in the voice of a student!   I've been enjoying listening to children read like a teacher, count like a teacher, remind students about C.A.R.E.S. and have a good time! 

Again, sorry about the lack of blogging, but all of a sudden everything is catching up!  I hope you all have a great holiday and enjoy the time with your families! 

A Note From Owen

I am sure most us have spent a great deal of time this weekend thinking about the best way to support our children in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, December 14^th.

On Monday morning we will meet as a staff to share ideas and support each other. UES will continue to keep our students and staff safe. If students ask staff and faculty about the tragedy we will address those questions and comments individually. We will not address this information in an assembly format.

A small group of UES professional staff met with me on Sunday afternoon to develop a response plan for the upcoming week. We had the good fortune to speak with Dr. Anne Stewart, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University in Virginia. Dr. Stewart is an expert in crisis response and specifically in school crisis response. Dr. Stewart has given us express authority to use her research to support the UES community through this difficult time.   Dr Stewart has written several articles in response to recent school tragedies. www.psyc.jmu.edu/gradpsyc/people/stewart.html.

Please let me know if there is anything that you need. It is important that we work together with tenderness, care and compassion as we move forward during this difficult time.

In this very dark week both on the calendar and in our lives let’s lift light up around us both literally and figuratively.

Here are some resources about talking with children:

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=672 (American School Counselor’s Association – Helping Kids During Crisis)

http://www.savethechildren.org (How to Help Children Cope with a Crisis)

parenting.blogs.nytimes.com (How Not to Talk With Children About…)

Math This Week

This past week students explored measurement in Math. Today we introduced the balance scale, and learned the meaning of math words: weight and heavier & lighter. During our lesson students chose objects and compared the weights of a variety of classroom objects of dis-similar sizes, shapes and weights and compared the weight of a collection of varying objects to a single object, set weight. Inquire with your child about what heavier and lighter means, and talk about what objects around your home may be heavier and lighter than one another, and discuss the comparisons and their thinking about how they know. 

Students have also been working on sharing their thinking and strategies with one another during number corner (calendar).  When counting or grouping objects, students are expected to think of a variety of ways to solve.  For example, when counting the 14 dots on today's calendar square, students could figure out the amount in a variety of ways.  While some may have counted each dot 1 by 1, others noticed it was one more than yesterday, and others noticed 2 groups of 5 equal 10 and then they saw 4 more.  A variety of strategies are shared and students are always thinking of "other" ways to solve.  When looking at the dots this month on our calendar pieces, students have been provided a basic introduction to number sentences (ie. 10+4=14 and 4 +10=14). 

While we continue to practice counting by 10's, our friends are also practicing counting on from a given object - start at 8 and count on, start at 48 and count on, and learning to count backwards - again from a variety of numbers.  Math during number corner is often differentiated for individual learners and students are challenged to solve problems and questions geared to their "just right" level.  INQUIRE with your child how to play, "Magic Number."  

Earlier in the week, students were introduced to the concept of money (in particular a penny) and subtraction.  After reading Bennies Pennies, a story about how Benny goes out and starts with 5 cents but keeps buying things for other people.  He was soon left with 0 cents.  Students made observations of the penny, learned a money song to help us remember the different coins, and also played, "Count and Compare Pennies."  

Guest Readers are the best!

....and not because I get to drink my coffee uninterrupted for 15 minutes during the read aloud but because your children love having their family visit the classroom and hearing your favorite stories!  Kate and Seamus were our guest readers this morning.  Check out how engaged and enthralled our listeners were!  It's easier than it looks, I promise!  Next week, my sister will be in town and is excited to be our guest reader, but don't worry..there are many more days after break. 14 to be exact! Check out the link to sign up for a day!  Thank you to all those signed up so far - parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles!  We look forward to having you join us in our classroom. If you'd like to do more, please drop me an email.  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044AADAF2BA46-friday

Gingerbread Celebration

INQUIRE this weekend, what Gingerbread story was your child's favorite.  This morning we voted and used a ballot to mark our favorite story that was read.  Although we've been reading a range of gingerbread stories, five were available to choose from. Students then completed some response to writing prompts about their favorite characters and why they chose the book they did.  In math, students worked on creating a growing chart with gingerbread men.  INQUIRE with your child how many gingerbread men were displayed on it? Can they count backwards from that number?  This afternoon, after rolling out and baking gingerbread cookies, we tallied the votes and determinted, "Gingerbread Girl" was the most popular story in our class...but not by much!  Check out the votes below!  We enjoyed a "baby" gingerbread cookie this afternoon while hearing the story of what happened when Mrs. Webb (kitchen worker) and myself took out the cookies.  INQUIRE with your child what happened!  What a fun day in Kindergarten!

Note from Dr. Ricca

Good Evening Montpelier Public Schools,

I have been trying unsuccessfully to get PowerSchool to send out this message for me.  So I am resorting to our e-mail system.

As we deal with the aftermath of the unspeakable events that took place in Newtown, CT today, please take good care of each other and take good care of all the children in our District Family. 

If they know of the events, talk to them about it, sharing as much information as is developmentally appropriate.  Try to limit their exposure to television and news this weekend.  Listen to them and reassure them that our world is a good place to be, with some people who do bad things.

The Vermont Department of Mental Health has a link to help adults talk with children about events like this: http://mentalhealth.vermont.gov/node/1289.

If you find that your child is overly upset, know that guidance counselors will be available to students next week when they return to school. 

Hug your children a little tighter tonight.

Gratefully,
B. Ricca

Working Together

Students showed Cooperation this afternoon when working together to make Gingerbread Cookies.  Each student contributed to adding ingredients or mixing. Tomorrow, we'll roll them and bake them and perhaps try one for an afternoon snack.  The majority of the cookies, however, will be packaged and delivered as a thank you to various people in our school.  What a great way of saying thanks!

Art Show

You may be wondering why you haven't seen artwork come home or posted on the blog.  So far this year, Kindergartners have studied Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh and have completed their own renditions of "Apples and Oranges" and "Starry Night."  All family members will be able to view these pieces of art work along with a few others at an Art Show in the spring.  Once this date is firmed up (probably not for a few months) we'll let you know so you can save the date.  We're hoping to tie this in with a Kindergarten Concert as well!  Stay tuned....  In the meantime, INQUIRE with your child how they created each piece of artwork.  What medium did they use? What is similar in their art to that of the famous artists?

Responsibility

How do children show responsibility at school?  Students arrive to school on time, wear appropriate INDOOR shoes, come prepared with gym shoes, remember library books, complete their daily jobs, do their best work, keep track of their own belongings and help keep our classroom tidy.  Some friends need help with a few tasks to show responsibiltiy and I am looking for your support at home. Many key components to being responsible involve preparation for the day. Please help your child come prepared for school with the proper outdoor clothing AND indoor clothing.  Review with your child what is missing upon arriving home and remind your child to take responsibility to track it down.  INQUIRE with your child what steps they    
                                                                  take to be responsible at school?

Book Boxes

The children have been learning how to choose a just right book this week for their book boxes.  They now are allowed to have no more than 2 high preference books in their boxes, but can have an endless amount of just right readers.  They will be introduced to the analogies that picking out books is like riding a bike or trying on shoes.  Some books are too easy, some are too hard, and some are just right!  Children are learning that it is important to choose a just right book for their independent reading and have been exploring strategies to use when evaluating a book.  They learned how to use the 5 finger rule when choosing a book to know whether it is a just right book.  If you stumble on 2-3 words in a book, it is a just right book.   An appropriately leveled book will allow a reader to apply strategies for understanding the text.  A book that is too hard (5 or more difficult words) will only lead to frustration and a book that is too easy (no difficult words) will not support opportunities for growth.  A just right book will have some challenging words that the reader will have to solve and will also cause the reader to at times reread a sentence to better comprehend the meaning.  Our library of just right books is leveled and ensures each child has books to read at their own instructional level.  After break, expect to begin seeing books come home a few times a week.  Helping your child with reading at home is helpful to them as they practice building fluency.