Clubhouse News...

Morning Exploring: Egg addition, counting on, rhyming words and word families and magic words!  So many rich skills packed into fun hands on learning.
Reading: As Avid Readers this week we learned to visualize and think about the story to comprehend better and then moved into non-fiction and learned how to talk like an expert and teach people through our books: fancy new words, facts, etc. instead of just reacting "wow" or "that's cute".  Next week we'll get to do a reading workshop in the library and pick topics of choice!
Math: In math workshop we are working hard at subtraction.  This is a tricky switch from addition so we'll be focusing on subtraction again next week.  I encourage you to naturally add in word problems as you go about your day with your kinder!  
Writing: We are starting a new unit next week, this week we wrote in our ABC countdown book each day reflecting on our fun, wrote an opinion piece on Peeps vs. jelly beans and did some word detective work with digraphs (sh, ch, th, ph, wh, ck)!
STEAM: We continued learning about animals and plants and how animals, plants and humans make changes to their environment to make it the best for their survival.
Social: We're using our lessons from our NCADA lessons to focus on teddy bear words and actions instead of porcupine words and actions.  We are also working hard to continue being our best with quick transitions, following directions the first time and letting our Jaguar PRIDE shine!  
Tips For Home: Book talk!  Who's the characters, the sequence, setting, problem/solution?... Also, addition/subtraction naturally in conversation.  (Example: "You had eight green beans and ate 3 how many more do you have left to eat?"...
Upcoming: 
Mon-Green Day!
Tues-Hat Day!

In "Otter" News...(title help from Berit)

Morning Exploring: "School", color by word family, puppets/oral storytelling, literacy fine motor (linking letter matches, trace pictures and match letters, build and spell CVCe words and ABC uppercase/lowercase puzzle, iPAD free choice.
Reading:  In workshop this week we talked about using 'just right' words for characters feelings, reflected on our reading strategies and set goals to help us grow as readers and learned about 'reading playdates'!  We had so much fun playing school with our partners, doing read alouds and playing games with our books. As we do read alouds in whole group we've been incorporating a lot more book talk: characters, setting, problem/solution, sequencing...
Math: Addition! We used lots of strategies to solve addition problems: rekenraks or math counters, cubes, tallies, pictures, our fingers... We know that addition problems have to have a plus and equals sign and that we need to double check our work with a different strategy!  We are also working on HOW to show our thinking instead of just saying 'because we know'.  Strategy groups are meeting with me a few times a week to practice a specific skill within addition.
Writing: We did some sentence building paying attention to sentence structures.  We also used writing in science to label our work.  
STEAM: Living/non-living items and plants!  We'll jump into animals next week! 
Social Skills: We are continuing to use specific words to explain and communicate our feelings and thoughts to our peers and adults.  They have been SO great coming back from break, I've been so proud of their Jaguar PRIDE!
Tips for Home: Add as your doing things around the house, playing or in the car.  Giving little story problems for your kinder to figure out naturally through conversations.  Book talk with books you're reading at home!
Upcoming Events: 

• All kindergarten teachers are attending a phonics professional development next Tues./Wed./Thurs.  We will have a fabulous sub I requested who will be in here all 3 days that we had when I was out sick.  I will still have daily access to emails.
• Please turn in EXACT field trip money or a check asap!  The quicker we get a head count on chaperones, the better!  We do not keep cash that we're able to give change, sorry!
• 4/9: Special Olympics @ WGHS...GO Sam R.!!!
• Thurs. 4/11: KDG Musical @ 2:00 in the gym and also 6:00PM (students should arrive 15 min prior to classroom) --I will be at both performances!
• Next Friday we'll start our ABC countdown!  Keep an eye out for handouts coming home soon with more information!

Creative Clubhouse Adventures!

Morning Exploring: 3D creations with toothpicks and marshmallows, Shamrock art, Race to 100, Number practice and +/- learning invitation, rainbow painting
Reading: This week's lessons included: reading like characters (using EXPRESSION), RETELLING (including who/what happened/setting/in sequence order) and FLUENCY (paying attention to punctuation, read like we are talking, and use expression). 
Math: We were all about 3D shapes this week!  We remembered them by using the saying "they're fat not flat."  We looked at attributes like: edges, vertices (they think this is so fancy!) and faces.  We'll be finishing our shape unit next week and head into +/-!
Writing: We focused on our how-to writing making sure it has: numbered steps (with sequence words-first, next, then, last), detailed pictures with labels and words to explain each step.  We had to reread our work and ask ourselves and partners "Can we follow this?"  
STEAM: We worked some more on force and motion focusing on 'work words' like: scrub, grind, lift, scoop, pull, push, wash...  We also had our FUN Friday with the theme of Rainbows.  We learned the science behind rainbows, created collaborative art, built with rainbow materials, had rainbow math and literacy activities, rainbow sensory bin and did some 'color' mixing science! 
Tips For Home: If you use a recipe book to make anything or do something in steps, make a connection to how-to!  We're using words like first, next, then, last.  Retell stories and read like characters--always fun! 
Apps: Bedtime Math: Fun and engaging quick story problems for before bedtime, great for the whole family!  Vooks: (See my Instagram post), bring books to life--amazing!  
If you have Amazon Music: Mindful Moments For Kids is simply the best.  The whole crew loves these!  They are very quick mindful activities that have a deep breathing exercise in a fun and kid friendly way!  This is a wonderful tool for over excitement, getting in the present moment, angry, sad...all the above! I enjoy doing them with the kids also :)
Social/Emotional: Lots of talk about being pals and appreciating each other as friends.  Not as boyfriend/girlfriend/crushes/marriages/best friends...we're all PALS! <3 

What's New with the Crew!

Morning Exploring: Osmo (coding, Monster Studio and Disney Studio), heart art, word work stations (real/nonsense words, CVC word building), Brickyards STEM building, tens frames, double compare with cards
Reading: This week we book shopped for just right books/vacation books/fluency books!  We also started book groups to work on skills specific to each different reader and what their needs are.  They also visited a word work station to practice a phonics skill, listen to reading station and work on writing.  We continued with looking at word chunks/blends and reading fluently.
Math: We did some review and subitizing for our whole group this week and rotated through stations focusing on: teen numbers, toss the coin (intro to decomposing numbers) and shapes (our next unit)!
Writing: This week we talked about the writing cycle and being the boss of our own writing and really taking ownership that WE are authors and illustrators and can do our best!  We started checking in with classmates to help us edit/revise.  After writing a true story with a beginning/middle/ending/feeling sentence they were able to move on to whatever story genre they wanted either independently or with a buddy.
Social Studies: We are in our Black History unit right now.  We are celebrating our differences, talking about the past, recognizing that things are different and that there's laws in place to protect us but also realizing that some people still don't always thing the same and follow those laws.  Next we'll look at some very special people who did fabulous work!
Social Skills: Letting our Jaguar PRIDE shine!  We are really working hard on thinking before we speak and act to make sure it's all love and kindness and what we can do if we're not feeling those things: walk away, shake it off a bit, take breaths and get back to green zone.
We are now participating in health, counselor (same as always-every other week) and gifted push-in with Mrs. Pott.  

Hip..Hip..HOORAY for the 100th Day!

Morning Exploring: Super Why phonics/reading on iPads (FABULOUS app I highly recommend!), Identifying larger numbers out of a pair, fine motor math: making winter items with pattern blocks/making 10 icicles on the house, composing/decomposing numbers 2-10 fine motor with gems, hands on building.
Reading: This week in reader's workshop we discussed the importance of comprehending the books we read (tricky for a lot of them to book talk at this age) and using beginning sounds to decode words.  We use the prompt: "Get your mouth ready for the first sound" if we get to an unknown word and then ask our selves: Does it look right?  Does it sound right?  Does it make sense?
Math Workshop: Learned to play "Build it, Change it"--great game for home!  Talked about dissecting a story problem to find out what a question is asking us to do and worked with math tiles to create arrangements of 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 to start leading in to composing/decomposing numbers.
Writing: Our focus right now is making sure our writing is "easy to read."  This means we should be double checking our sentence structures, stretch words out, use our word wall for sight words, adding detailed pictures with speech bubbles and labels and making sure it makes sense.  If we find it isn't readable or doesn't make sense we should go back and fix it!
Phonics: We are working with blends/digraphs and beginning/middle/end sounds making sure we use vowels.  I've also introduced "wacky y" (as i/e), bossy r, "ing" and vowel teams just casually through whole group lessons. 
Social Emotional Skills: Problem solving BEFORE involving an adult (especially using our "I messages") and treating everyone with respect.
Tips for Home: Book talk at home: characters, setting, what happened in the begging/middle/end, what was the book mostly about...

Happy New Year!

Morning Exploring: Sight word fine motor, sensory table: winter ice literacy, math fine motor, New Years cut/glue/trace, ABC uppercase order
Reading: New powers: pattern power and being careful to notice when the author changes the pattern in a story, checking for understanding by asking ourselves: Does it make sense?  Does it sound right?  Does it look right?
Math: Numbers 1-20 what comes before/after, number towers with cubes and dominoes, Moose Math, Racing Bears game (this is an easy and fun game to play and you can find it for free online to print and play at home!--Please let me know if you'd like to borrow ours with supplies and I'd gladly send home), roll 2 dice and record 1-12.  We also did subitizing and some fancy vocabulary and skills with math chats (see Instagram).
Writing: We started new true stories this week and focused on using our resources and tools: word wall, stretching words out, using an ABC chart, making sure we have a vowel in our words, blends/digraphs chart and continuing to be sure our sentence structure is correct and we have detailed pictures that tell who/what/where. 
Social Skills: We were all about Jaguar PRIDE this week!  I really loved the definition of respect that came up in a clip we watched: treating others like they're loved, cared for and important.  We've continued to use that language and make it powerful in our classroom.  We focused on following directions the FIRST time and actually earned some Friday FUN Free time today from our Classroom BINGO chart.  We only earned a square for the whole class showing PRIDE, following directions the first time or me catching kindness!
Coming Up: Next week we'll be NWEA testing and reading level assessing.  Please be sure students are getting a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfasts!  Health will start next week and we'll have 8 sessions (every Tuesday).
Tips For Home: Give your child a number and asks what comes before/after.  Look for sight words, blends, word families...in books you read :)  

From the Hive, 205

Morning Exploring: Winter coloring by letter, light table + counting, Tiggly Shapes on iPad, beginning sounds, math racks + counting invitations
Reading: This week we really practiced our reading super powers and focused on how we can become better readers and help ourselves grow.  We talked a lot about being fluent readers: paying attention to punctuation--stop at periods, pause at commas, voice goes up with exclamation points, voice goes up and down with questions; reading smoothly and using strategies.  I individually met with *almost* everyone to fill their book boxes with at least 6 'just right' books that I have read with them and they can read.  These will come home soon in their clear pouch (in BEE Folders) to practice at home.  I will finish this process next week and give a heads up before sending home and when they should be returned. 
Math: Measuring! We had so much fun kicking off this unit.  We used cubes and Popsicle sticks to measure this week and were introduced to vocabulary words. Next week we'll continue measuring and exploring!
Writing: We are continuing to write for readers, making sure everything can be read by someone else.  Our writing should have detailed pictures that use: lots of colors, pictures tell who/what/where, labels, speech bubbles.  We are focusing on sentence structure: using sight words, capitals at the beginning then lowercase, finger spaces between words, punctuation at the end and a thought that makes sense!
STEAM: We read "Building Up, a Celebration of Building" and created some fun stuff with Mr. Keller's buddies today.  Throughout the week in free choice it's fun to see their creations through the maker space, working through problems, redesigning and their final products.  
Social: We've had some great conversations about being a leader and not a follower.  When someone else isn't doing the right thing, we can lead by example and be empowered!  We talked about how it makes us feel good and spreads positivity to others!
Tips for Home: 
-Book talk: Make predictions about the book, try to figure out tricky words by using our strategies
-Play guess my number: give clues and have them ask questions
-Encourage writing by having your kinder help with lists, menus, etc!  

Newsflash!

Morning Exploring: Fine motor fun, beginning sounds matching, color by sight word, word work or Teach Your Monster to read on the iPad and November QR stories on the iPads. 
Reading: This week we focused on sight words: being able to read and write them.  We looked, read, took a picture in our head, spelled and wrote them in the air.  We practiced using sound power and persistence power.  We discussed how we have lots of powers and when one doesn't work, we find a new one to solve our reading problem!  We tied in determination with this and read "After the Fall."
Math: We continued with pattern work this week.  We learned how to "break the train" figure out in a pattern sequence where the pattern ends and starts repeating, matched numeral cards 0-20 to the correlating tally card, learned about 1-2 patterns, created different patterns and played "what comes next."  (Definitely something fun you can play at home!)
Writing: This week we finished our leaf writing and kicked off our new writing unit: writing for readers.  We discussed the importance of people being able to read our writing, how to write a true story, planning our pages, orally telling our story first and adding very detailed drawings so our readers know where the story took place, who was involved and what happened!  We'll continue these next week.  We will use sentence starters to help us get our thoughts down.
Social: We talked a lot about being thankful, things at home such as: a warm comfy bed, a couch, food, family, friends...they came up with the sweetest ideas!  Continuing working on showing Jaguar PRIDE, being their personal best and being bucket fillers.  These are always ongoing themes throughout our year to build happy, confident, kind and accepting little ones.
Tips for Home: Grab a cup and some small items (Legos, etc.) and have your kinder teach you the game "What Comes Next?"  from our pattern unit (this is where those fabulous mini-erasers from Target dollar aisle come in handy!!  You can also use them for counting, playing games, spelling words, etc.  Lots of fun!
Coming Up: 

• Conferences are next week!  Please be on time for your slot so we can make the most of our time together.  I'm looking forward to meeting with you all!
• I am out of the building Tuesday during the day for PLC Leadership Team meeting, Mr. Stahl will be subbing.
• NO SCHOOL next Friday, 11/16
• NO SCHOOL 11/21-11/23

Mystery Reader: Kara Merrill

Jaguar of the Week: Faith 

Fall Fun!

Morning Exploring: Halloween writing, rain forest sensory table, painting at the easel, "I Like Myself" book learning invitation, Halloween handwriting/pumpkin sight words
Reading: This week we continued working with our reading super powers.  We talked about how super heroes never just use one power, we use lots!  We practiced using pictures to help us decode words, pointer power and sight word power.  We also talked about making our lips get ready to say the first sound we see.
Math: Patterns!  This week we worked with patterns (AB, AAB, ABB, ABC...).  We'll continue pattern work and number sense (teen numbers) activities next week.  
Writing: We continued writing as scientists this week.  We are working hard on using simple sentence starters in our newest book, such as: These are _______.  This leaf is ______.  These look like _______.  After using the sentence starter they should be using their ABC chart to stretch a word out.  We've talked a lot about being brave as an author and taking risks.  If we aren't taking risks we aren't growing as writers! 
Social: This week we revisited our PRIDE words and what it looks/sounds like in different situations--great conversations!  I will give prompts such as "is that in control for our mini-lesson?"  "What would it look like for a mathematician to show Jaguar PRIDE at math stations?"...  We did our first compliment circle and they were all beaming!  They loved hearing nice things and they also loved filling someone else's bucket.  I cannot wait to do it again next week!
Tips for Home: Use PRIDE words at home too!  What does it look like to problem solve, be respectful, in control, determined and empowered at home?  When reading ask your child to help you solve words by: looking at the picture, finding sight (snap words they know)  and stretching sounds out. 
Coming Up: 
*Please sign up for Fall conferences!  (I'll send home a survey soon)--Conference sign up directions are on the PawPrint
*Halloween: We will parade around school at 1:15 and then head outside for an all-school dance party.  For this celebration, the students get in costumes in the classroom this must be something to slip over clothes, they will not be able to leave to change into something.  School policy: no masks, face make-up or anything violent.  It would be a good idea to leave small accessories at home. We'll then come back to the classroom for Fall party fun! Party is over at 2:45.  For any parents attending the party, you may sign your child out in the classroom and take them at that time.  
Apps/Programs in the Class We've Been Using: 

• In math we've been using a free pattern app: Patterns for Kids-Free
• Cosmic Kids Yoga is on YouTube and a favorite by the class!  It goes along with themes or stories 
• Mrs. Honeybee's Classroom (YouTube) mindful breathing/stories
• Peace Out Guided Relaxation (YouTube)
• Jack Hartmann has wonderful (yes, a bit silly!) videos for math and literacy for various levels

Going Batty...

Morning Tubs: Bats!  Creepy Crawlers at the sensory table, math games (more/less), monster eyes learning invitation "How many eyes?" color by number (they LOVE these!)d
Reading: We are SUPER READERS!!!  Here's our powers:

• Pointer powers (each word gets one tap)
• Snap word power (finding sight words)
• Reread power 
• Partner power
• Picture power (using pictures to decide on words)Learn With Homer

Math: This week we started exploring patterns!  In math stations we did Moose Math and a RekenRak app, teen number station, exploring patterns, counting jar (1:1 counting, showing the numeral, put it on a tens frame, show it in tallies--all teen numbers).  Continuing pattern work and teen numbers next week, Monday we'll play a fun game that they'll learn and  can be easily played at home.  Be sure to ask your kinder after school next week to teach you!
Writing: We started our writing like scientist unit this week.  After a nature hunt collecting items we started books to label and create!  We brainstormed words and really have been working hard to be brave and determined in our writer's workshop. 
STEAM: We went batty!  We did lots of fun bat inquiry learning this week and today came to school to find our classroom had transformed to a bat cave!
Social:  I loved this week sharing things that went well in partnerships, what made them happy at recess, someone they enjoyed playing with etc.  A common theme was "I loved playing with ______ because we played nice together and no one was bossy."  We will continue celebrating things that make us feel good and happy.  When they aren't going well we talk about how we can make it better next time!  Mrs. Cocos shared an amazing song that we've started now singing in our class, "It's You I Like"-Mr. Rogers, and we talked about all the words.  It's your kind heart we like, not your clothes/toys/hair... 
Tips for Home: Practice zipping jackets :);  When reading books look for sight words or matching words to pictures!  Target's dollar aisle always has mini-erasers.  These are WONDERFUL!!!  They can use these for counting, creating, showing teen numbers, they spell words with them, make patterns, the options are endless--I highly recommend giving them a try at home and letting your kinder just explore and show what they know! 
Next Thursday is Picture Retake Day!

Weekly Wrap-Up!

Morning Exploring: Archaeology fun at the sensory table, Playdough/cube/Lego creation challenges, Halloween counters
Writing: We are working on sentence structure and simple sentences.  Capital letter at the beginning, finger space in between words, punctuation at the end.  Next week we'll start a new writing unit, "Writing as Scientists."
Phonics/Word Work: Beginning sounds and stretching words out (looking at CVC-consonant vowel consonant words) we can touch each letter to say the sound, go back and slide our finger under the whole word and say it.  
Reading:This week we finished our first reading unit and celebrated by looking at all the strategies and tools we've learned so far!  I'm so excited to kick off our Super Readers unit next week!
Math: This week in stations and whole group we focused on: joining numbers to make bigger numbers (addition), missing numbers, counting on, teen numbers, number formation and subitizing.  We'll be starting a new unit next week: Patterns, but we'll continue working on number sense (this goes all throughout the year) and really dig into teen numbers in the coming weeks.

Tips for Home: Number talk!  Talk about numbers: "How many?"  "How do you know?"  "How else can you show it?" Count as you do things around the house/car, etc.  Talk about the sequence of a story you read using words like: beginning/middle/end...
Coming Up:It's time for a schedule shake-up!  So much goes into schedule planning and I want to be sure that each part of the day is planned so they can do their best learning.  It will go as follows:

Morning Exploring

Morning Meeting

Reading Workshop

Math Workshop

Lunch/Recess

Play-to-Learn (OR they may still relax/read if they wish)

Writing Workshop

Word Study/Tech Time

STEAM

Afternoon Snack/Recess

Specials

Dismissal

-Picture retake day is next Thursday!Jaguar of the Week 10/22: Jaydon
Mystery Reader Next Friday (10:30am):  Carmen Suarez

Weekly Recap:

Morning Tubs: This week in morning tubs we used the book Bear Counts as a learning invitation to use our counting bears and popsicle sticks, created letters using Halloween erasers, poetry, spider exploration, community helpers, number puzzles, counting pumpkins and abc puzzles.
Writing: This week we were introduced to speech bubbles!  We explored speech bubbles through the book Pigeon Wants to Stay Up Late (these books are always a big hit)!  These are the things they are trying in writing: adding to pictures with labels, words, sentences and/or speech bubbles.  In small groups we wrote "I like ______" sentences that will be going up in the hallway (stay tuned next week for the finished product pictures).
Reading: This week we focused on tracking words with our fingers/eyes, matching pictures to words and practiced sequencing with our read alouds.
STEAM: Communities and Career week was SO FUN!!!  THANK YOU to all who came in and shared with our kinders.  They truly enjoyed exploring all different occupations.  It was fun to see them being so hands on and invested in exploring.  Seeing them now pretend in play to learn time is the best.
Tips for Home: See if your kinder can identify a small word in a story to match a picture (dog, cat, specific character, etc.)
Coming Up: Next week Burlington Coat Factory will be coming to join us at 1:00 for our play-to-learn (free choice) time.  They are excited to see how we're using our grant items and want to formally present us with a certificate.
Classroom Items We'd Love to Add: Quick Stix to our easel!  These allow for mess free, quick and fun painting!  They have lots of different options, but here's a sample of what they are: Link: http://a.co/d/5TxSsvj

What's New with the Crew...

Morning Tubs: Fall art, fine motor tracing/seek-and-finds, building numbers, math games, letter/number writing
Writing: We continued to look at what we could do as a writer to grow: add more details, labels, sentences.  This unit has ended, work will come home soon!  We'll be focusing on word study and building sentences next week before our fall writing unit.
Phonics: In our word work station we are learning color words.  We are also working hard to slowly stretch words out (pretending like we are stretching out a rubber band with our hands)
Reading: We are in our "We are Storybook Readers" Unit.  The skills we've learned and practiced: 

Math: We worked with our names to build name towers, used cubes to measure things around the room, learned and used tally marks and continued number sense.  Some of our math vocab. from the week: same/different, longer/shorter, bigger/smaller, taller/shorter, more/less, patterns, colors, both.
STEAM: As weather watchers today we used thermometers to observe the temperature inside and outside and explored shadows.
Next Week: Next week we'll be focusing on Community!  We'll take a look at community helpers and careers.  We will have parent visitors Tues-Fri to share some fun insight on lots of different jobs.  We are very excited! While students are not visiting with a parent, they'll be exploring career centers. I will be out on Wednesday, 10/3 for district math professional development.
Tips for Home: Practice tracking words at home of a familiar text, reading like the characters, talk about the sequence of the story, find sight words/letters/words they recognize. 
Sight Words We've Added: a, and, am, I, the, like 
Mystery Reader Sign Up Link: Mystery Reader!

News Report: Room 105!

Morning Exploring: Puppets/oral storytelling, apple fine motor, animals, color matching/sorting, building

Morning Stations (while testing this week): We did our first NWEA testing this week, which to the students we referred to as an iPad game, while we rotated students in and out of the testing room others chose different stations to collaborate at: apple books/sorting, math games, literacy games, puppets/oral story telling, puzzles, light table, yoga, being weather watchers outside, writing and coloring.  Everyone had so much fun and was so engaged!
Math: Continued number sense work.  Our mini-lessons included some games to practice careful counting, number id and number formation.  Stations supported these lessons.  We are working hard to be sure that during math stations our hands/brains/mouths/eyes are used as a mathematician instead of being silly and not using the stations properly.

Science: We are all about being weather watchers!  We look at the sky, think about what people are wearing, look at what's happening outside and feel for the temperature.  We'll continue our work with weather next week.  We were also introduced to seasons.

Phonics: Using our names to practice letter formation and take a look at vowels we also compared our name bags with classmates!  

Social Skills: Our theme for the week was "treat others how you want to be treated."  We are having some issues with kindness and I really try to help them through by asking how they'd like someone to treat them in that particular situation.  We will continue working on throwing kindness around like confetti!  A great book to reread at home (if you don't own it, it's on youtube) is "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?"
At-Home: Find a favorite book that your kinder loves and read it each night!  Next week we'll talk about falling in love with books and being able to read them over and over again.  By doing this we'll be able to match pictures to the words and know what each page says.  In class we'll be working with "The Three Billy Goats Fluff." 

Next Week: I will be out on Wednesday on behalf of the kindergarten team for professional development.  Mr. Stahl will be with us again!  Please let the office know day of if dismissal plans change or you need immediate assistance I will have limited email during the day. 

Here's the Scoop!

Morning Exploring: Construction, gems and letters with pattern pages, tree pieces and bears, racing around numbers and letters with cars and an art activity with dots!  Lots of fun was had. 
Writing: We worked on oral story telling and made up a group story.  Oral story telling is SO important at this age and really helps thcm grow as writers.  They continued to tell their story across their fingers planning each page.  As a choice they could uses puppets, animals and retell story kits to explore with story telling.  We also focused on adding details to pictures and stories!
Reading: We learned that readers can "sound like teachers." Meaning that they can read fluently when reading familiar stories.  We used Brown Bear, Brown Bear as our story for the week to use pictures as clues to help us match our words to print.  We also created our own Brown Bear books as our first book to add to our book boxes that we'll start next week!
Word Study: We were introduced to vowels this week!  We'll be building off this introduction in the coming weeks.  We used the song "Apples and Bananas" to check out the different sounds of vowels. 
Math: We continued our work with number sense and subitizing through lots of hands on stations: How many ways can you show 1-10?, Tens Frames, Flip and Build, Read, Roll and Cover 
Science: We're all about weather!  Today we collaborated with Mrs. Cocos' friends to explore shadows.  We have some new science materials coming soon that will be an everyday choice during free time to support our science goals.
Social Skills: We continued talking about our "Be the Best YOU" chart and being the boss of ourselves and we also covered tattles vs. reports.  
Next Week: We will do NWEA testing next week on the iPads so our mornings Tues-Fri will look different and we'll be doing more center work in one kindergarten room while another group tests.  We'll do a baseline for reading and math.  Please be sure your kiddo gets a good night sleep and a healthy breakfast!
Ideas for Home: Oral story tell asking for details as you go :) 

Here's the Scoop...

Morning Tubs: Tracing letters in sand, finger lasers for ABC books (letter sounds/formation), color by # (using our color word wall), Legos, ABC magnets + pictures and sticker art
Writing: We worked really hard at stretching our words out to add labels and words to our work and details to our pictures.  Stay tuned next week to see what your kinder has completed in writer's workshop thus far with a checklist of all the skills we've been introduced to and tried out! 
Reading: Our mini-lessons this week focused on: 3 ways to read: 1) Read the pictures, 2) Read the words, 3) Retell the story in our own words and we discussed what it looks like "real read" vs. "fake reading"--eyes moving on the page, brain thinking about the text or connections, mouth stretching words out.  They are really working hard building stamina to private read (they sit around the room in the best spot for them)!  Partner reading is sitting side by side book in middle sharing stories.  Next week will be a fun week in reading with retelling stories. 
Phonics: We are working a lot with names and will continue this work next week.  The focus is on letter sound/proper formation.  Our "STAR" letters we've looked at: M, S, T, N, R (next week).  I am proud of their hard work to shift from all uppercase to capital at the beginning of their name and then lowercase.
Math: Math workshop: finding and identifying numbers 1-20, subitizing, number sense/id, and working with a tens frame.  We'll be continuing number sense next week.  This is an important foundation for the rest of the year!  They also get to really be hands on with creating and exploring with numbers which I love seeing them get excited about.
Science: During our Friday collaboration with Mrs. Cocos' class we kicked off our weather unit today!  We brainstormed different kinds of weather, listened to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and talked about the silly kinds of weather from the story, brainstormed and drew a plan for a type of shelter to protect them from weather and then they created with various building materials.  Some used animals and people to try it out!  
Social Skills: This week we focused on whole-body listening, problem solving and most importantly, being the best 'you'!  We came up with this list together and I put it on the SmartBoard so we can start our days by remembering how to make our day awesome.  Dr. Wuch even popped in when we talked about it and loved hearing how the crew is going to work on being the best Jaguars they can be!

Coming Up: Picture day is next week on the 12th!  I will be out for professional development all day but they will have a 'normal' day per usual.  If there is something that needs immediate attention that day for pick-up, please call the office.  Otherwise, I will have email access. 

Edgar Road and Webster Groves Spirit Wear!

Woo Hoo! The Spirit Wear Store is open!  Please see the link below to purchase any of the awesome items we have available!  They will be delivered to school shortly after the store closes (September 14th), and sent home with your child.

https://edgarroad2018.itemorder.com/sale 

What's New with the Crew?...

Morning Tubs: Water-color painting, light table, letter/number puzzles and activities
Writing: This week in writing we learned that writers label their pictures to help readers know more about their stories.  We can hear a sound and use our ABC chart to put a sound on our paper.  We also become fancy authors that write actual books!!!  We have writing partners that help us when we're stuck on a story.  We practiced telling our story plan across 3 fingers to know the order of our story.  When we think we're done, we can go back to see if we can add more detail or labels.  If so, we can start a new idea!  We are writing fiction or non-fiction.  Whatever inspires the authors. 
Word Study: We're all about names!  We've been doing some fun name chants.  We're also doing proper letter formation (starting letters from the top) and learning about uppercase/lowercase and letter sounds.  We'll continue to grow as readers and writers through our word work.  
Reading: Readers can reread to learn more!  Pages are connected, we can use the words "and then" to tell what happens from page to page.  We can add a pinch of us by sharing our thoughts with partners, "I think..."  We're working on building our stamina to be able to private/partner read for longer amounts of time.  
Math: Our main focus right now is number recognition and number formation.  We do lots of counting during transitions and our stations practice 1:1 and anything/all about exposure to numbers!  We're all about subitizing and looking at different ways to make each number.  We'll continue with hands on math stations next week building on vocabulary.  
Social Skills: We continued focusing on how to show our Jaguar PRIDE but really put extra focus on problem solving, how to express our feelings through an "I message" and practicing self control.  We are working hard to sit and be a learner for our 5 minute mini-lessons at the beginning of each workshop throughout the day.  This is still a little tricky for us :) 
Sight Words: I, a, am, and, the
Coming Up: 
-NO SCHOOL tomorrow or Monday!  
-I am the ER representative for a district committee and the kindergarten team representative for our Professional Learning Committee (PLC).  With that being said, there will be a total of 6 professional development days that I will be out of the building.  Please know that on days that I am out, very detailed plans are left to ensure an 'ordinary' kindergarten day goes as usual.  Thank you in advance for your understanding!  The first two dates I'll be out are 9/12 and 9/26.

Helpful Videos: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyKdUpJQBTY Letter Sounds
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMQpyjFkdtA   Number Formations 

Success in our Second Week!

Morning Tubs: Shapes to build and create with, Tic-Tac-Toe/Puzzles, Legos, Coloring and Puppets

Writing: This week in writing we learned about what writers do: think of a topic, picture it in their head and then draw their pictures.  We also made a chart on 3-Star Coloring to help us take our time and do our best.  We also had a lesson on how they are their own boss of their writing--they can decide if they're going to add to their piece or start a new one.  We do shares at the end of writing on our stage!  We also will use a motto we learned for the remainder of the year "when we're done we've just begun!"  What else can we add?  Can I put words or labels?  Can I add details?...

Reading: This week's lessons were: "We can look, we can think, we can read, we can learn!"  We were introduced to learn-about-the-world books (non-fiction) and storybooks (fiction).  We also discussed concepts of print: starting with the cover, flipping and looking at each page.  We practiced private reading (independently) and partner reading--sitting elbow/to knee book in the middle.  

Math: This week we continued to explore our manipulatives (they LOVED trying to say this!).  We also jumped right into math workshop and did stations after our whole group lessons to practice our math skills.  Before going off to stations each day, we looked over our "what a mathematician looks like" as a reminder!

Social Skills: Each day we focused on a different pride word!  All throughout their years at Edgar Road this will be common language no matter where they are. I encourage you to talk with your kinder about what this looks like at school and home.  

At Home: At home you can practice the Pledge of Allegiance and how we stand respectfully with our right hand on our hearts.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn6MnYJNSUw 

We enjoyed these songs that went along with our PRIDE words: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWp6kkz-pnQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeUvZvuvAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mZbzDOpylA

Reminders: Next week is Jump Start Conferences!  I'm looking forward to seeing you all!  I have 15 minute time slots, so please be respectful of your time and be here so we can make the most of our time together.  No school for students 

No school for students next Friday!

Fabulous First Week!

Routines & Procedures We Learned this Week:

• Morning routine: Move our rock to "here today" in the hallway upon arrival (students will soon start being in charge of attendance!)
• Unpack backpack-Check BEE Folder (if anything is in it put it in Mrs. Eagan basket), but BEE Folder in the basket
• Lunch/water bottle in cubby or make lunch choice
• Hang back pack up
• Find a table spot and explore and create with morning tubs and visit with friends
• Transitions: We use songs to help us move from one thing to the next.  Once at the carpet we start our day with a morning song.  Throughout the day we do a "brain break" to get our wiggles out. We learned to push our chairs in and be responsible for our materials.
• Community Circle: How we start our day!  We use our speaker voice when talking and we are listening to our friends if we don't have the 'talking piece.'  
• "Give Me 5!"  when this is said we know an adult needs our attention: EYES are watching, EARS are listening, HANDS are free, BODY is still, MOUTH is quiet.
• Bathroom: Use a level '0' voice, one pump of soap, wash hands good, shake them off in the sink, dry with paper towel and get a drink if they wish!
• Relax & Recharge: Put lunch boxes away, get towel/blanket/mat and find the best spot for them and journal or relax.  We do yoga after to get us ready for math!
• End of Day: Check mailbox, put papers on the 'keep at home' or 'return to school' side of BEE folder, put lunchbox and folder in backpack 

Writing: We read "Rocket Writes a Story" and had an intro to Writer's Workshop starting next week!  We talked about how we can tell stories through pictures, words and letters.  We also did our first self-portrait and name writing (we'll do this monthly to see changes!).
Math: We had an introduction to Math Workshop.  Talked about how we'll do a lesson together and then go off to stations.  This week we explored math manipulatives and did some work with #'s 1-8.  We'll continue next week looking more at #'s 5-10 and will have stations to support our exploration with manipulatives and number sense.  
Social Skills: We were introduced to PRIDE this week!  We talked a little about it each day and next week we'll dive into each letter one each day--the whole school will!  We talked about problem solving, how to be friends, safe and fun recess games and how to express ourselves in a nice tone of voice when talking to friends.  Kindergarten is going to really work a lot with social emotional learning this week so stay tuned as we start diving in more after PRIDE week!