September 17th-21st

A big thank you to all the of the parents who came to Durham for the Jog-a-thon today! The kiddos had a great time and were definitely tired out when we were done! It's wonderful to have so many families involved in special activities like that. 

Reading and Writing

We  started our Fast Track Phonics Program this week and covered the the sounds /m/ and /a/ and  /s/. 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.

I introduced a new app called "Letter School" this morning that was a HUGE hit. The kiddos did not get a chance to do it themselves because we were busy with the jog-a-thon, but they will get a chance to try it out next week. The app helps children practice letter and number writing with cues for where to start and how to correctly form the letter.

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, Tuesday, & Wednesday: Small group work rotation including iPad time, math tile games, and literacy activities. 

Thursday: sound sort which involves identifying which pictures show words that begin with each sound, sorting the pictures, then gluing them on a large sheet. 

Friday: chapter book read aloud (Our first book is called The Magician's Boy by Susan Cooper)

Activities/Special Events:

This Thursday every child at Durham took 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 did Letter Naming Fluency and Initial Sound Fluency portions of this assessment. They also did a short math exercise as well. These assessments give us information that helps us know where kiddos are in their skills so that we can plan instruction accordingly.

Next Thursday is Picture Day!

September 10th-14th

We are continuing to practice routines and expectations this week. As I mentioned before these first few weeks are all about learning to follow directions and learning all the procedures that we have in the classroom. We've been working on our morning routine and then practicing getting to assigned carpet spots on the rainbow carpet that we'll use for phonics and math instruction. We've also been doing a daily project that involves using glue and/or scissors.

This week we had our first word of the week, which was I. Each week we will have  word of the week and most weeks we will also have a letter of the week. Many of our activities throughout the week relate to our word/letter of the week. I teach the kiddos a song for the word of the week which we sing daily and we always create the word using die cut letters so they have practice spelling the word correctly. The words of the week are Kindergarten sight words that we expect the kiddos to be able to read and spell as we continue on in the year.

Today was a super exciting day because the kiddos finally got their hands on their very own iPads. We started with an app called Sketchio, which is basically a whiteboard app, that allows you to choose the color and thickness of the line you draw/write with. We practiced selected particular colors and line thickness, then drawing shapes, writing names, and at the end they got time for a free draw. Each time we use the iPads the directions will be very step by step until the kiddos really get the hang of using them. We talked a lot about doing only what is demonstrated and then stopping. They did a really great job listening and following the directions. I can tell they are really excited about having iPads this year and I am too! In the future, I will use Sketchio for letter and number writing practice, name writing practice, and shape identification. Additionally, once we are a little ways into our phonics program I will use Sketchio for the writing part of our Fast Track Phonics assessment when the students are asked to write words that I sound out.

A few reminders:
Scholastic Book Club orders are due Monday. You can send in a check/order form or order online.
Next Friday is the Jog-a-thon.

First Week

I hope that your children have been coming home and telling you all about what we've been up to in Kindergarten this week, but I know that kiddos don't necessarily have a knack for sharing all the details. My goal is to post on here at least once a week to keep you updated on what we've been doing and give you a glimpse into the classroom! I am finding that working half time means taking a lot of projects and work home, so between juggling that and a new baby, I will do my best to keep you informed! 

I want to start by saying that Kindergarten is not what it used to be...I always feel bad when my new kiddos ask me when we are going to the playground or when we are going to play or have recess because the answer is--we don't. In our short day, we focus mainly on academics with phonics, math and writing being the big subjects that we cover. When most people think of Kindergarten they think of finger painting, the housekeeping corner, and lots of arts and crafts, but if you visit our classroom, you will see something very different. Our schedule is jam-packed with lots of learning activities and the expectations are very high in terms of what we hope children will learn/be able to do, but we do make sure to have a lot of fun as we go! I would not call myself a good singer by any means, but I use a LOT of music in the classroom and we make sure that our activities are engaging and age appropriate for young learners.  (When I say "we" I mean the other Kinder teachers and myself because we work together to make sure our Kinder program at Durham is consistent between classrooms). 

The first few weeks of school are filled with a lot of instruction about rules and expectations. Setting up routines and procedures is a very important part of creating a classroom that runs smoothly and allows for maximum time dedicated to learning. I use a classroom management system where each child starts of the week with three popsicle sticks that I keep in a pocket chart. Their job is to "protect" their sticks by following the rules and directions in the classroom. Sticks can be lost for misbehavior/not following directions. Students are rewarded for keeping their sticks with a "choice time" on Friday. Choice time isn't exactly recess but it is a chance for the kiddos to choose what they would like to do out of the activities that I put out during that time. Students who have at least one stick left by Friday will get to participate in choice time. Students who lose all three sticks during the week do not earn choice time. I send home a "refocus form" when all three sticks are lost in order to communicate with you why that occurred. Students who keep all three sticks for the entire week receive a special certificate on Friday. At the outset of the year, I replace sticks daily until the kiddos get used to the system. In addition to that I will use a "warning system" of sorts that comes from a book we read this week called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? 

This is a great book for reminding children to be nice and kind (bucket fillers) rather than bucket dippers. I have my own "bucket" in the classroom which I fill with pom poms as they follow the rules, listen, etc. Each time my bucket is completely filled the class earns a dance party! I remove a pom pom as a warning prior to taking a stick away. That way a child gets a reminder prior to a consequence. 

We also read a story on the first day called Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes. If your child has been singing about loving shoes and you have no idea why--this is why...

The book came with a CD that we listened to and I got requests every single day to read it/play it again. They have already pretty much memorized the entire story. And good news--you can purchase this book and another one about Pete the Cat in the September Scholastic Book Club that I sent home on Friday. 

In addition to a lot of stories, we also did a few projects this week that allowed me to get a sense of how the kiddos are doing with cutting, gluing, and writing their names. 

Like I mentioned before, the activities in the first few weeks are mainly ways to teach and practice the classroom expectations and rules. We will definitely kick it up a few notches when we start our phonics and math lessons. I will share more about the particular curricula we use at Back to School Night. Don't forget to mark your calendar, Back to School Night is Wednesday September 19th from 6:00-7:30. 

Since this post is already long enough, I will end by saying that your child received a Friday Folder on Friday. This folder will come home every Friday and should be returned to school on Monday. The folder will be used to send home classroom work, homework, and information from me. Please use the folder to return papers that need to be signed, anything that should be submitted to the office, and returning homework.

If you have any questions so far, please email me! Most likely I will return your email in the afternoon while my daughter is napping or in the evening. Since I am sharing a classroom this year with Mrs. Duncan who teaches the PM session, I spend most of my time after the children leave cleaning up and making sure the room is ready for her students. I don't always get to check email before I leave for the day.