September 19-23rd

Now that we have our brand new rug in our learning area, I am going to incorporate some different lessons and activities in that area of the classroom. Each child is assigned a particular color square on the carpet, which is where he/she will sit each time we do activities on that carpet. We have practiced transitioning from our alphabet carpet, where we start our day, to the new carpet for our letter lessons.

Here is a look at our daily schedule:

AM

8:10-8:20 Morning Work

8:20-Announcements (children arriving after announcements are counted as tardy)

8:25-Greeting Circle with daily share (I greet each child by name and they say hello to me, then I ask a daily question and each child gets a turn to answer)

8:30-9:00-Fast Track Phonics (daily letter lesson)

9:00-9:30-Math (we start with a daily math routine, then have a math lesson)

9:30-10:00 English Language Development (ELD) for some students, others remain in class with me

10:00-10:30 Science/Sight Word Activities

10:30-10:40 Story/Star of the Week

10:40 Dismissal

PM 

11:55-12:05 Morning Work

12:10-Morning Greeting

12:15-12:45-Fast Track Phonics 

12:45-1:15-Math

1:15-1:40 Science/Sight Word Activities

1:40-1:50 Story/Star of the Week

1:50-2:20 ELD

2:20 Dismissal (I bring the Kinders out 5 minutes early to make sure they get on buses before the older children)

Reading & Writing
We  started our Fast Track Phonics Program today and have will cover the the sounds /m/ and /a/ and most likely /s/ this week. Starting next week, we will also have a letter of the week that we will focus on, but our phonics program introduces several sounds each week so that the children can learn the sounds and letters at a faster pace. The phonics program incorporates some video elements which both classes loved. Our letter of the week activities will review the letters that we have already done in Fast Track Phonics and will involve other skills and projects.

Each sound card has a picture that incorporates the formation of the letter. There is an "animated alphabet" video clip where we see that picture in action. This is meant to help the children connect the image on the cards (which are posted in the classroom) and the sound that the letter makes. So far this week we have done the /m/ card for which we say The man marches on mountains and the /a/ card for which we say Alphie asks for apples.

Alphie the Alligator is a puppet that is used with the program and the kids learned some "games" that we play with Alphie to help them become readers. We Say It Fast (Alphie uses his special Alphie Talk to say each individual sound in a word and the children say the word fast) and we also Break It Down (I say a word and the children say each sound in the word). Both of these skills are very important for reading and spelling/writing. Another aspect of the Fast Track Phonics (FTP) program is learning how to write the letters. Some students are tracing letters and others are writing them independently. As I monitor progress, I am looking at how each child is holding his/her pencil, whether or not the can write their name, and how much support they need to write letters.

Both groups are doing a great job remembering their morning routines. When they arrive at school they hang up their backpacks, check in with the attendance chart by turning over their picture, and then sit down at their tables for seat work. You will see a lot of coloring pages coming home in the Friday folders, but please don't think all we do is color! I use coloring activities in the morning because the children can work on them independently which makes me available to talk with parents, collect bus notes etc. As we continue to build skills, morning work will probably start to look different.

Math:

We are continuing to work on Rainbow Numbers this week. You should have seen several examples come home in your child's Friday folder along with groups of stamps to show the particular number on the page. Take a look at your child's sheets to see if he/she is stamping the correct number of times for that particular day. We are working on stopping when we get to the number of the day, circling the group, and writing the number next to the group of stamps. Most of the kiddos are doing a great job, but some are still struggling to match the number of the day with the same number of stamps. It's great to practice counting out loud and counting particular objects while saying the numbers at home as well as practicing to write numbers.

 Stories:

This week our stories will focus on different kinds of friends. Today we read Let's Be Enemies and we will also read My Friend is Sad, Little Red Hen, Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, and Bear Feels Scared. Each of these stories touches on how friends treat each other and we will connect this to the "Bucket Book" and talk about how we should treat other people and qualities of a good friend. Starting next week, we won't have a daily story because we need to make time for our Star of the Week activities, but I will of course try to fit them in as often as I can.

ELD Time:

Some children receive ELD instruction for 30 minutes outside the classroom each day. Children who participate in this are children who speak a language besides English at home. During this time, children who do not participate stay in the classroom and we will do a rotation of activities throughout the week. Our activity rotation will be...


Monday Math-math tile games for extra practice and enrichment
Travel Tuesday-children get their very own passport and "travel" to different stations where they earn stamps upon competing work. Stations will involve reading, sight word practice, science, and learning games.
Words on Wednesday-I will use a program called Words Their Way which includes picture, letter, and sound sorts.
Thoughtful Thursdays-Time for stories or projects that focus on thoughtfulness and being kind to/helping others
Flexible Fridays-a chance to catch up or do something different

Helpers:

We have three students from Tigard High helping us in the classroom this year. These students are all participating in a class geared towards working with young children, so they come and help in classrooms to learn and gain experience. It is wonderful to have the additional hands and help. In the morning class we are sharing Miss Emily and Miss Zaineh (Zay-nuh) with Mrs. McLean's class so they will come once a week to help for an hour each. In the afternoon, Miss Taylor comes for an hour each day.
I have a few parents starting to come in and volunteer this week for jobs that I need help with every week, but other parents who are interested in coming in to help are also more than welcome.

Activities/Special Events:

This Thursday every child at Durham will take the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills DIBELS) reading assessment. This is a screening measure to help the Kindergarten teachers and our Literacy Specialist know which students may need additional support in reading. Students in Kindergarten will do the Letter Naming Fluency and Initial Sound Fluency portions of this assessment.



On Friday we will have our Jog-a-thon. I have water bottles for each student which will be filled and labeled with their name. If your child is in the AM class, please have him/her wear a green shirt on Friday if possible. If your child is in the PM class, please have him/her wear a blue shirt on Friday if possible. AM kiddos will run from 9:35-10:05. PM kiddos will run from 1:30-2:00. Parents are more than welcome to come and watch or participate with the children. PSO usually provides a treat after we run.


Next Thursday is Picture Day
AM 10:10
PM 12:50