Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Word Wall Words: We now have 21 words on our Word Wall. We add three new words each word. Our three new words are am, he, & she. Please practice reading and writing all of these words at home. You can make flashcards or simply write the words with markers, crayons, colored pencils, dry erase markers, etc. Talk about the letter sounds in each word. You can even make two sets of cards and play a matching game. Practicing these words will help your child grow as a reader and as a writer. The words on our wall are: a, am, and, at, go, he, I, it, is, like, me, my, no, run, see, she, the, to, will, & yes.
This week will continue our work with Daily Five activities and our Writing Workshop. The children are currently writing personal narratives during writing workshop time. Our goal is to tell a personal story using pictures, words, and simple sentences. The children are really enjoying this time each day and are growing as writers.
During math we are working on adding numbers and writing number sentences. We have been rolling dice, drawing pictures, & playing the 'shake, spill, count' game in our classroom. I will send home additional practice math papers. These papers are optional, but some of the children love having kindergarten homework!
We are also beginning to learn all about penguins. We will be reading both fiction and nonfiction books during this unit. We will also create some fun penguin projects and nonfiction writing. This is a fun unit that I'm sure the children will love!
As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Sunday, January 13, 2013
January Learning
We are back into the swing of learning in our kindergarten classroom!
During reading and our Daily Five activities, we are exploring winter themes. Some of our favorites are Jan Brett's The Mitten and The Hat. We are comparing and contrasting these stories, learning about the different characters, and identifying the beginning, middle, and end of these stories. We are also creating some fun projects to go along with these stories and our winter theme.
Word Wall Words: We now have 18 words on our Word Wall. We add three new words each word. Please practice reading and writing these words. This will help your child grow as a reader and as a writer. The words on our wall are... a, and, at, go, I, it, is, like, me, my, no, run, see, the, to, will, yes
We have officially begun Writing Workshop in our kindergarten classroom. Each day we spend time working as authors and illustrators. The children are very excited to be writing and illustrating their own stories. During Writing Workshop, we are currently writing our very own personal narratives. We learned that a personal narrative is a true story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is sometimes tricky to stick with one topic to create a story, but we are getting better each day! Be sure to ask your child all about it. :)
During math we completed our unit on numbers 11 - 20, but we will continue to practice reading, writing, counting, and working with 'ten frames' each day. The teen numbers can be tricky! I will send home some practice math pages this week. Work at your own pace and send the completed pages back in for a sticker. This week we will begin working on adding numbers together. We will read and write number sentences each day.
As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)
Word Wall Words: We now have 18 words on our Word Wall. We add three new words each word. Please practice reading and writing these words. This will help your child grow as a reader and as a writer. The words on our wall are... a, and, at, go, I, it, is, like, me, my, no, run, see, the, to, will, yes
During reading and our Daily Five activities, we are exploring winter themes. Some of our favorites are Jan Brett's The Mitten and The Hat. We are comparing and contrasting these stories, learning about the different characters, and identifying the beginning, middle, and end of these stories. We are also creating some fun projects to go along with these stories and our winter theme.
Word Wall Words: We now have 18 words on our Word Wall. We add three new words each word. Please practice reading and writing these words. This will help your child grow as a reader and as a writer. The words on our wall are... a, and, at, go, I, it, is, like, me, my, no, run, see, the, to, will, yes
We have officially begun Writing Workshop in our kindergarten classroom. Each day we spend time working as authors and illustrators. The children are very excited to be writing and illustrating their own stories. During Writing Workshop, we are currently writing our very own personal narratives. We learned that a personal narrative is a true story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is sometimes tricky to stick with one topic to create a story, but we are getting better each day! Be sure to ask your child all about it. :)
During math we completed our unit on numbers 11 - 20, but we will continue to practice reading, writing, counting, and working with 'ten frames' each day. The teen numbers can be tricky! I will send home some practice math pages this week. Work at your own pace and send the completed pages back in for a sticker. This week we will begin working on adding numbers together. We will read and write number sentences each day.
As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)
Word Wall Words: We now have 18 words on our Word Wall. We add three new words each word. Please practice reading and writing these words. This will help your child grow as a reader and as a writer. The words on our wall are... a, and, at, go, I, it, is, like, me, my, no, run, see, the, to, will, yes
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Welcome 2013!
Happy New Year! I hope you had a terrific break with your family and friends and also enjoyed some snowy fun! :)
This is a short week in our kindergarten classroom. We will spend time gently easing back into the routines of our kindergarten day. We will practice our reading, writing, math, and listening skills as we read stories about snowy weather.
Please note that the children will go outside each day for recess to play in the snow. It is very important that the children come to school with mittens/gloves, hats, snow pants, snow boots, and sneakers (to change into for classroom use). Please also make sure that your child has extra socks in his/her backpack each day. The children love playing in the snow during recess, but they do not like wearing wet socks in the afternoon. Unfortunately, due to lack of space for drying clothing, your child's wet snow clothes will go home each day in his/her backpack. Please make sure to dry out the clothing each night and to pack it again, along with a plastic bag, for the next day. A plastic bag will help contain the wet clothing each day. Thank you for your support!
We are looking forward to a great start to 2013 in our kindergarten classroom. :)
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
This is a short week in our kindergarten classroom. We will spend time gently easing back into the routines of our kindergarten day. We will practice our reading, writing, math, and listening skills as we read stories about snowy weather.
Please note that the children will go outside each day for recess to play in the snow. It is very important that the children come to school with mittens/gloves, hats, snow pants, snow boots, and sneakers (to change into for classroom use). Please also make sure that your child has extra socks in his/her backpack each day. The children love playing in the snow during recess, but they do not like wearing wet socks in the afternoon. Unfortunately, due to lack of space for drying clothing, your child's wet snow clothes will go home each day in his/her backpack. Please make sure to dry out the clothing each night and to pack it again, along with a plastic bag, for the next day. A plastic bag will help contain the wet clothing each day. Thank you for your support!
We are looking forward to a great start to 2013 in our kindergarten classroom. :)
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Gingerbread Stories
As you can imagine, our kindergarten classroom is filled with energy and excitement during this holiday season. This week we will keep ourselves busy with reading, writing, math, and many fun projects to go along with our Gingerbread theme.
During reading, we have just begun comparing and contrasting different versions of the Gingerbread Man stories. As we read, we are talking about the 'big idea' (main idea), the 'main character', and the many different characters in each of the stories. We are also discussing the beginning, the middle, and the end of each story. The children love noticing the similarities and differences between the stories and are so good at remembering the details!
As writers, we have begun Writing Workshop. This is very exciting! We are all working on writing our very own list books. Each child has their very own book that they are writing. They are so excited to be authors and illustrators and I am so proud of their efforts during our writing time each day.
During math, we have been comparing and contrasting numbers and putting numbers in order from least to greatest and from greatest to least. Practice naming a number and then asking your child to name a number that is 1 more, 2 more, 1 less, 2 less and so forth. We are also using many different manipulatives during our math time each day.
Technology~ Last week we were very happy to have Mrs. Jones visit our classroom. She helped us learn all about ibooks and how to take care of them. We will begin using ibooks and ipads in our classroom each week to enrich our math and reading skills. Logging on and off were the tricky parts, but overall we did a great job working with the ibooks. Check out some of the websites on the left sidebar of this blog. This week we worked on Starfall. This is a great literacy site for kindergarten kids.
Holiday Celebration~ Our holiday celebration will take place on Friday, December 1:45 - 2:15. You may arrive between 1:30-1:45, but we will begin decorating our gingerbread houses at 1:45 promptly. We will need to end our celebration at 2:15 due to a school wide assembly, buses, and overall dismissal safety. You may sign your child out at this time or you may leave your child with me to attend the assembly and ride the bus home. All gingerbread houses will need to go home with an adult or remain at school until after break. I don't believe that any gingerbread house would survive a bus ride home in one piece! Thanks so much for your support!
I am looking forward to a fun, messy, and exciting week in kindergarten!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
During reading, we have just begun comparing and contrasting different versions of the Gingerbread Man stories. As we read, we are talking about the 'big idea' (main idea), the 'main character', and the many different characters in each of the stories. We are also discussing the beginning, the middle, and the end of each story. The children love noticing the similarities and differences between the stories and are so good at remembering the details!
As writers, we have begun Writing Workshop. This is very exciting! We are all working on writing our very own list books. Each child has their very own book that they are writing. They are so excited to be authors and illustrators and I am so proud of their efforts during our writing time each day.
During math, we have been comparing and contrasting numbers and putting numbers in order from least to greatest and from greatest to least. Practice naming a number and then asking your child to name a number that is 1 more, 2 more, 1 less, 2 less and so forth. We are also using many different manipulatives during our math time each day.
Technology~ Last week we were very happy to have Mrs. Jones visit our classroom. She helped us learn all about ibooks and how to take care of them. We will begin using ibooks and ipads in our classroom each week to enrich our math and reading skills. Logging on and off were the tricky parts, but overall we did a great job working with the ibooks. Check out some of the websites on the left sidebar of this blog. This week we worked on Starfall. This is a great literacy site for kindergarten kids.
Holiday Celebration~ Our holiday celebration will take place on Friday, December 1:45 - 2:15. You may arrive between 1:30-1:45, but we will begin decorating our gingerbread houses at 1:45 promptly. We will need to end our celebration at 2:15 due to a school wide assembly, buses, and overall dismissal safety. You may sign your child out at this time or you may leave your child with me to attend the assembly and ride the bus home. All gingerbread houses will need to go home with an adult or remain at school until after break. I don't believe that any gingerbread house would survive a bus ride home in one piece! Thanks so much for your support!
I am looking forward to a fun, messy, and exciting week in kindergarten!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Teddy Bear Week!
I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Below is a peek at some of our learning that will be taking place in our kindergarten classroom.
This week we will continue learning all about bears. As part of a reward for filling up our 'warm and fuzzy jar' we will be having Teddy Bear Week in our kindergarten classroom. Please send in a teddy bear that can fit inside your child's backpack. The bears will help us with various learning activities all week long. We will be reading, writing, and working on different math activities to go along with our bear unit. Some of the stories that we will read are Corduroy, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Bear Snores On (series). All teddy bears will go home on Friday. Thank you for your support!
During science, we will continue learning about our Five Senses. So far we learned about our sense of sight, touch, and smell. This week we will explore the senses of hearing and taste. The children have enjoyed reading nonfiction stories and working on experiments during our Five Senses activities. We will be wrapping up our actual unit this week, but we will continue to talk about our Five Senses throughout the year in all that we do.
Our December Family Project will be sent home this week. Please check your child's folder for instructions. Please send in completed projects any day before December 14th. We love sharing our family projects with our kindergarten friends. I hope that you enjoy working on them!
During the second and third weeks of December, we will begin reading, writing, and comparing different gingerbread stories. Please note that we will be building gingerbread houses with our fourth grade buddies during the school day. Families are invited to join us in our classroom to help decorate our gingerbread houses and to bring the houses home. This celebration will take place on Friday, December 21st at 1:45. Please join us! More information will follow, but I wanted to make you aware of the date and time. This will be a fun and messy way to celebrate our gingerbread unit before our December break.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
This week we will continue learning all about bears. As part of a reward for filling up our 'warm and fuzzy jar' we will be having Teddy Bear Week in our kindergarten classroom. Please send in a teddy bear that can fit inside your child's backpack. The bears will help us with various learning activities all week long. We will be reading, writing, and working on different math activities to go along with our bear unit. Some of the stories that we will read are Corduroy, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Bear Snores On (series). All teddy bears will go home on Friday. Thank you for your support!
During science, we will continue learning about our Five Senses. So far we learned about our sense of sight, touch, and smell. This week we will explore the senses of hearing and taste. The children have enjoyed reading nonfiction stories and working on experiments during our Five Senses activities. We will be wrapping up our actual unit this week, but we will continue to talk about our Five Senses throughout the year in all that we do.
Our December Family Project will be sent home this week. Please check your child's folder for instructions. Please send in completed projects any day before December 14th. We love sharing our family projects with our kindergarten friends. I hope that you enjoy working on them!
During the second and third weeks of December, we will begin reading, writing, and comparing different gingerbread stories. Please note that we will be building gingerbread houses with our fourth grade buddies during the school day. Families are invited to join us in our classroom to help decorate our gingerbread houses and to bring the houses home. This celebration will take place on Friday, December 21st at 1:45. Please join us! More information will follow, but I wanted to make you aware of the date and time. This will be a fun and messy way to celebrate our gingerbread unit before our December break.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Sunday, November 25, 2012
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends!
This week we will wrap up our unit on families. By the end of the week, we will begin a fun unit on hibernation and bears! We will read many different fiction and nonfiction stories. The nonfiction books will help us identify facts as we learn all about bears. The fiction stories will help us to identify the main characters, the setting, and the beginning, middle, and end of different stories. Some of the stories we will read are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Bear Snores On, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, and the different versions of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We also work on many different projects and activities to go along with this unit.
During math, we will finish our unit on patterns. We will then go back to working on numbers 11-20. We will practice reading, writing, and showing these numbers in many different ways. These skills will be worked on throughout the entire school year.
As readers and writers, we will continue working on our Daily Five activities. The children really look forward to choosing their literacy activities during the day. We are trying hard to build our independence during this time. We are also beginning to add sight words to our Word Wall. We have been practicing reading and writing sight words, but we will now add them to our Word Wall. We will call them 'heart words' because these are words that we should 'know by heart'. They are not words that should be stretched or sounded out. The first three words are I, a, and the. We will add two or three words each week until the end of the school year. Practice reading and writing these words at home too! :)
I am looking forward to another great week of kindergarten fun in our classroom!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
This week we will wrap up our unit on families. By the end of the week, we will begin a fun unit on hibernation and bears! We will read many different fiction and nonfiction stories. The nonfiction books will help us identify facts as we learn all about bears. The fiction stories will help us to identify the main characters, the setting, and the beginning, middle, and end of different stories. Some of the stories we will read are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Bear Snores On, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, and the different versions of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We also work on many different projects and activities to go along with this unit.
During math, we will finish our unit on patterns. We will then go back to working on numbers 11-20. We will practice reading, writing, and showing these numbers in many different ways. These skills will be worked on throughout the entire school year.
As readers and writers, we will continue working on our Daily Five activities. The children really look forward to choosing their literacy activities during the day. We are trying hard to build our independence during this time. We are also beginning to add sight words to our Word Wall. We have been practicing reading and writing sight words, but we will now add them to our Word Wall. We will call them 'heart words' because these are words that we should 'know by heart'. They are not words that should be stretched or sounded out. The first three words are I, a, and the. We will add two or three words each week until the end of the school year. Practice reading and writing these words at home too! :)
I am looking forward to another great week of kindergarten fun in our classroom!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Saturday, November 17, 2012
50th Day of School, Thanksgiving Fun, and a New Friend!
50th Day of School! Since September, we have been counting the days of school in our kindergarten
classroom. Our friend, Zero the Hero, visits us each time we reach
a new group of ten. He visited on the 10th day, the 20th day, the 30th
day, and the 40th day. Zero the Hero will visit us on Monday and we will
also have a 50th Day of School Celebration. The kindergarten teachers will provide the
activities and the treats, but please help us by dressing your child in clothes
that celebrate the 1950s! Please do not buy anything new. Your
child can wear rolled up jeans, a white shirt, rolled down socks. Please see the letter that went home in your child's folder for some more ideas. Use
what you already have at home!
Parent Teacher Conference Days: Tuesday is a half day due to parent teacher conferences. Please note that the children will be dismissed at 11:45 on these days. We will still eat our morning snack, but lunch will be eaten at home. Please make sure that your child has a healthy morning snack on these three half days. Your child's report card will be on BC@HOME the day prior to your child's conference. Please review your child's report card prior to the conference. Feel free to contact me or the main office with any questions or concerns regarding this. Also, Wendesday is a full day of school. Please let me know if your child will be absent or if you plan on leaving early due to traveling for the long holiday weekend.
Parent Teacher Conference Days: Tuesday is a half day due to parent teacher conferences. Please note that the children will be dismissed at 11:45 on these days. We will still eat our morning snack, but lunch will be eaten at home. Please make sure that your child has a healthy morning snack on these three half days. Your child's report card will be on BC@HOME the day prior to your child's conference. Please review your child's report card prior to the conference. Feel free to contact me or the main office with any questions or concerns regarding this. Also, Wendesday is a full day of school. Please let me know if your child will be absent or if you plan on leaving early due to traveling for the long holiday weekend.
As a class, we have been working very hard on putting on our coats, zippering our coats, and putting on our own hats and mittens for recess and at the end of the school day. We are also practicing putting our gloves, mittens, and hats inside our coat sleeves after taking them off so that they do not get lost. Please note that the kindergarten children go to lunch after recess. Each day they take off their winter clothes in the cafeteria before sitting down to eat. Students should be putting hats and gloves in their sleeves so they don't get lost. Please also remember that students need sneakers to change into if they wear boots. Our goal is to keep our classroom neat and safe each day and to prevent clothing from entering the Lost and Found! Thank you so much for your support in this area. It is a huge help.
Mystery Readers: We had our very first Mystery Reader on Friday. The children loved hearing the clues about our reader and were very excited to meet Lily's grandmother! Thank you for sending back your clues to me. We can stretch this out during the next couple of months to ensure that every child's family has a chance to be a Mystery Reader. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. It's never to late to sign up to be a Mystery Reader! :)
I am looking forward to a busy three days with your children! :) I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
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