Quarter 2 Week 1

 

This week in Kindergarten:

In Language Arts, the students listened to the story of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. They were able to make a 'Mary Anne' craft and Mike Mulligan puppets. At the end of the story, Mike Mulligan dug so fast that he and Mary Anne were at the bottom of the cellar and the townspeople brainstormed on how to get them out. If you remember the story, a little boy comes up with the idea that they turn Mary Anne into a furnace for the new Town Hall. The students had to come up with a creative solution on how they would get out of a cellar and they presented their ideas to the class using the document camera. My favorites were using a green helicopter and ladder, phoning a friend with a rope ladder and using a hot air balloon. Kindergartners are great problem solvers.

In Math, the class worked on descending and ascending order of numbers to 10. It is one of those great 'number sense' ideas - to practice counting up from any number or counting backward from any number. That ability to manipulate a number line is an important developmental skill that takes practice. 

In History, the students moved from the continent of North America to the continent of Europe. They filled in a mini-book of facts about Europe. One of the most sad/interesting facts was that the most visited place in Europe is Disneyland Paris. The class remembered that Columbus came from Europe in 1492 but they will soon learn that there were other 'famous' people who came from England to America in 1620.

In Science, the class has been learning about pumpkins. We did an experiment in school where we opened a small pumpkin and added soil and water and it is now sitting in the sun until next Friday. The hope is that the many seeds inside the little pumpkin will germinate. We will continue this theme of Pumpkins next week too.

In Spalding, we reviewed the first 26 phonograms and reviewed proper letter formation. Next week, the students will start learning 2 letter phonograms. Remember why we underline 2 letter phonograms? "It's 2 phonograms, working together to make one sound." We will no longer be using hand signals for new phonograms, so I and Ms. Leary will make sure to speak directly to the computer when we introduce new sounds. I'll put the link of the teacher saying the phonograms here for reference and your child can do the phonograms with her as we add more phonograms. Link: https://safeYouTube.net/w/GX1V 

September 14

                                  

There is no school Monday, September 14. Teachers are having a professional development day of meetings. Please take the time to read with your child and work on sight words. All students should have 12 sight words (or more) by Thursday. Also review the phonograms - there is a cumulative phonogram test the first week of October over the first 26 phonograms. It takes consistent practice at school and at home (or double at home) to reach these quarter goals.

As you heard, we are trying to finish Dibels reading tests by early next week but as you can imagine, it is difficult to find the 15-20 minutes per student while they are in school, scheduling distance learners can only take place during non-teaching times such as prep time, lunch or offering after school time slots. Luckily, Mrs. Bettis has stepped in and she has offered a safe, sanitized, quick and easy way for distance learners to come to the lobby of the school and take their Dibels test in person. Dibels is a national test, the results go in student's permanent record, we want everyone to do their very best but as you have noticed, zoom testing doesn't always reflect the student's true skill level. Please consider contacting Mrs. Bettis for an in-person time slot. It would take 20-30 minutes of your time and I would appreciate it. I understand if you don't want to come in, and I will schedule your child next week if you just don't feel comfortable. (dbettis@archwaychandler.org) 

Good Evening! 

 It was really nice to see so many of you in the classroom Friday afternoon! I really enjoyed meeting everyone face to face. 

This week in Kindergarten: 

 

Language Arts was all about Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf - until today's story twist of three little wolves and the big bad pig! I hope your child enjoyed learning about the story elements of characters, setting, problem and solution. I enjoyed seeing the pig drawings, everyone really put in a great effort!

 

Math was starting in our new math books - and learning how things are exactly the same or almost the same or totally different and matching objects according to those characteristics. The students finished the numbers 4 and 5, learning about counting 1 to 1 correspondence, number lines, ten frames and number writing. 

 

In History/Geography, the students watched videos of important aspects of North America and began learning about American Symbols with the study of Mr. Rushmore in South Dakota. 

In Science the students investigated apples by using their 5 senses. And even with a power outage at school, we managed to measure, make careful observations and experiment whether an apple sank or floated.

 

Spalding officially started with our first 5 phonograms. It was fun to watch through the zoom window as the students said and used the hand signals for the phonograms. We had our first true test over phonograms today. As an FYI: next week's test will be five new phonograms for a grade and a review of this week's phonograms. Keep reviewing, Spalding tests are cumulative.

 

Thank you for watching the Zoom Curriculum Night! I so appreciate your grace, your enthusiasm, and your efforts to keep up with everything.

 

Week 2

 Good Evening Parents!

Thank you for all you are doing at home, I really enjoy seeing everyone engaged as we are working together on a Zoom assignment. It makes it feel almost 'normal'. 

Thank you for the pictures of your child in a Goat Mask! We loved them. I hope you had fun reenacting the story. There is always that person who loves being the troll and one who loves being the Big Billy Goat. Who will that be in your family? Enjoy! Laugh! 

This week in Language Arts, the students explored the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff (read by KB Teacher Mrs. Campbell and KC Teaching Assistant Mrs. Thareja) by learning about the setting, characters, problem and solution and they learned that stories have a sequence. Today the students listened to the book ,"Do unto Otters' read by KB Teaching Assistant Mrs. Stuart which was an interesting take on the saying, "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You", the Golden Rule. The students watched how harsh words can hurt someone's heart and even though we say 'sorry', the 'wrinkles' never quite get rubbed out of our hearts. We need to be 'great hearted' and treat people how we want to be treated.

In Math, the students made the numbers 2 and 3 by sorting and grouping, by using ten frames, number lines, tally marks, drawing and tracing and writing the numbers. The class is getting very familiar with these papers but there are some serious concepts being introduced, even if it seems 'easy'. 

History/Geography this week, the students reviewed that there are seven continents on planet Earth and learned that we live on the continent of North America. They filled out half of the book called "I'm learning about the Continent of North America" live on Zoom and then the second half with me by watching a video. I learned that Mexico City is the largest city in North America. I didn't know that.

The students watched Mrs. Jarrett, our Dean of Students and 504 Coordinator, read the story about the Apple Life Cycle for Science and then the students filled out the parts of the apple and the Apple Life Cycle paper. Then LIVE on Wednesday, the students were read the story of Johnny Appleseed, who was a real person, although his story has been exaggerated. It is a Tall Tale (part fact/part fiction).

In Spalding, the students continued to practice all 6 strokes or lines: the clock circle, the short, tall, straight, slant and horizontal lines and they took their first "test" on whether they could write the correct stroke by name. This was great test taking practice as we introduce the first 5 phonograms on Monday with our first true test on Friday.

Week 2

 Good Evening Parents!

You did it! A week ago you were wondering if you could do online kindergarten and now you know - you can! You did! And you did remarkably, amazingly, wonderfully well! You caught on so fast. We are seeing assignments uploaded to the right areas, and we are seeing students participate and do their work with us through the zoom camera, and in our individual assessment zoom sessions. Way to go Parents!

One of the reasons for writing a blog is that in the not so distance past, students would come home from school and their answer to the question, "What did you learn at school today?" was, "I don't know." The blog was written to give parents talking points about the themes of the week so that students would open up and share about their time at school. With At Home Learning or Distance Learning, this isn't an issue, is it? You know exactly what your child is learning because you are helping them with every assignment!

In Language Arts this week, the students listened to the story of "The Kissing Hand" and they learned that it can be hard to leave Mom and Dad and come to school but a parent's love goes with them wherever they go. Color words were presented using two classic books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "The Crayon Box Who Talked". Miss Pyper our headmaster, introduced herself and read the book, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". The students learned that there is correct order, or sequence to a story.  AND the students learned that BOOM cards are really a fun way to learn - once the initial sign-up kinks were worked out!

In Math this week, the students started with "All About The Number One" and that might seem very simple except that we are building a foundation for your child's number sense, which will follow them to the next grade. There is a lot to know about the number 1 - such as it represents an amount, one block. It's not a letter, it doesn't make a sound like a phonogram. When counting, numbers have order, they make sense - one is followed by two. The students learned how to put the number one in a ten frame, a number line, and a tally mark. They drew one object and learned that we write the number one from the top down. The students recognized and sorted objects into categories - one and not one, to do this, they had to be able to count accurately. When you really think about it, there was a lot of learning taking place with those 'simple' math pages! AND there were BOOM cards! 

In History/Geography this week, the class learned about the features of a map and about map symbols. Globes and folded paper maps (and Google Maps) are used to tell us location and the planet Earth is made up of 7 continents and 5 oceans.

In Science this week, the students matched up pets with their homes and listened to different types of animal noises. They learned that farm animals are not pets (although some are so cute, they could be a pet) and that farmers have a lot of jobs and some farmers even grow food for us to eat,

In mid-week, we introduced Spalding by learning about the Spalding clock and how to start writing the different lines that we need to use to form phonograms. For new Kindergarten parents, Spalding can seem intimidating, but it is really easy to learn, step by step. 

Just like you learned Google Classroom, you will also learn how to do Spalding with your Kindergartner. 

Here are the things you need to know about Spalding: 

·                Spalding is taking the spoken word, learning to break it into individual sounds and writing it on paper so that it can be read.

·                We will be practicing writing the lines or 'strokes' for one more week because it is vitally important that your child learn the correct way to form the phonograms. 

·                In a Spalding Test, points are given for the correct phonogram AND correct letter formation. 

·                As you are watching your child learn this skill of writing phonograms, notice how they are holding their pencil or dry erase marker, do they have a good pencil grip? How are they starting the stroke (2 on the clock or perhaps top down). If you child learns where a phonogram starts, they will never write a reversed letter. 

·                We will talk more about Spalding on Curriculum Night. Just start with the handwriting.

Other things: 

We will be assessing reading level and sight word totals in our zoom sessions this coming week. Everyone starts where they start, there is a lot of variation in abilities coming into Kindergarten, so don't worry about this assessment. Soon your child will have access to Reading A to Z and they will have plenty of online books to practice with. It’s a great program!

We will be starting the math books on the 27th so it is important that your child has both the KA textbook and the KA Essential Math workbook, Common Core Edition. before that date.

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

This is not how any of us thought Kindergarten should start - online and with Zoom meetings. It will certainly be different... but it will be okay.

Please be reassured, we've got this at school. It won't be perfect, but I promise that we will give every lesson and every video and every zoom session our very best effort. I will respond to your questions promptly by email and we will be there for you.

You've got this at home - you are going to watch YouTube videos on how to do Google Classroom and you are going to find the time/keep a detailed schedule to help your Kindergartner access the materials, do the work and be on time to watch the live zoom teaching and sign up for the one on one reading/assessment time. Organization is the key to life balance. Please know that I appreciate how much you have to juggle. This stay at home order is not easy, but it is doable.

Please remember that attitude is everything - convey confidence and joy in regard to remote learning to your kindergartner. You have been, and always will be, your child's best teacher. Your child does not have a reference as to what "Kindergarten is supposed to be like". This version is all they know. And one day soon, we will be back in the classroom (in our new normal with face masks and desk shields), and we will have a great story to tell.

Let the adventure begin - online August 10th. ~Mrs. Beatty