Meet Paws!

Welcome, Paws! We have a new class mascot, Paws the Panther! Paws is an expert on Panther Pride, and he is looking forward to coming to each of your homes before the end of the school year. If your child ever brings Paws home, you can keep him for the weekend and journal about what he did with your family. The kids are all very much looking forward to their turn with Paws!

 

We hope you have been enjoying your child's "Old Favorite" storybook at home. While it may seem redundant to reread this book so many times, this work you are doing with your child is very important. It helps your child build a sense of story, which makes both reading and writing more fluent and enjoyable for your child. They are so proud of the expert storybook readers they are becoming, and they love their "Old Favorites!"

Cutest pumpkins in the patch! The kids had the idea to put a photo of our pumpkins on the blog so their parents can guess which pumpkin they made. We hope you enjoy!

The Gift of Stories!

This week, we started a new bend in our We Are Readers unit. Until now, we have been reading Learn-About-the-World books (nonfiction). This week, I gave each child a present during Reading Workshop and explained how exciting it was to discover the gift of Storytelling!

They were SO excited about their books. We talked about how wonderful it is that these presents are for all of us to enjoy in our classroom. Next week, you will begin to see some of these wonderful storytelling books coming home. Make sure to celebrate your child's enthusiasm and excitement!

We have also begun learning some math games. Math games are great for children to practice mathematical concepts and strategies, and when used in the classroom, they are a fantastic tool to allow time for teacher differentiation. While children are engaged in a math game, I am able to work with students one-on-one or in a small group to teach new concepts or reteach concepts that need further review. The kids love playing their new math games. Make sure to ask your child about Compare and Dice Race!

One more exciting addition to our classroom in the past week or so have been our classroom Leadership Jobs! The kids helped brainstorm 'jobs' for our classroom. Each week, we will switch jobs so the children have many opportunities to assume each leadership job throughout the year. Everyone in our classroom has had a chance so far to take on a leadership job. Make sure to ask your child about his/her first job!

Learning Centers

If you ask your child what his or her favorite time of day in kindergarten is, it's likely he or she will say Learning Centers! Learning through play is so important, and the children are also building social skills and learning to get along with one another.



We are continuing our work during Reading Workshop to empower these young readers! We have been learning how to read with a partner. It is amazing to see and hear them reading with each other. They have learned that reading IS reading the pictures of a book, so they all feel confident. They are so excited about their own learning and reading.


We also had a class safety walk this week with our School Resource Officer, Officer Kaatman. We talked about four things to do during an emergency at school: 1 - Stay quiet. 2 - Listen. 3 - Look. 4 - Stay with your group. Make sure to ask your child about ways we stay safe at school.