Hope everyone was able to enjoy the weather the last couple of days.  Hopefully Spring Weather is here to stay!  Spring is always a fun (and BUSY!) time in Kindergarten.  We are preparing for some upcoming activities and need your help! 

Spring Scavenger Hunt

We are planning for a spring scavenger hunt on Wednesday, April 1 at 12:45pm.

We will need LOTS of plastic eggs prepared ahead of time.  I have attached a classroom link on the blog for you to sign up and send in needed items.  The way that we have this scavenger hunt planned is to have children “hunt” for specific eggs.  For instance, they are all given a checklist and they have to find an egg that has a circle drawn on it and another egg with a triangle.  They’ll need to find eggs that spell out the word S-p-r-i-n-g, and so forth.   Please click on the Spring Scavenger Hunt sign-up sheet under Important Classroom Links to see what you can donate for this fun event!  You can pick a letter or symbol and write that symbol on each of the 21 eggs and then fill the egg with a small piece of candy or trinket (tattoo, sticker, etc.). 

  

I am asking that all items be sent back to school by

           Monday, March 30^st.      

THANK YOU so much for your help!!

In addition to the items listed on the sign up sheet, we also need 3 bags of basic jellybeans-no fancy colors or gourmet flavors.  We need this by Friday, March 20.  Please email me if you can send these in!  Thanks!!

What’s Going On In the Classroom?

In reading, we have been talking about becoming “strategic readers”.  This means that when we come to an unknown word, we “work” to solve the word by using our reading strategies carefully, flexibly, and independently. 

Strategic readers solve words by decoding them phonetically, by thinking about the meaning of what they are reading, and by knowing the structure of the English language (grammar).  If a reader only uses only one of these to solve words, then solving the words becomes a struggle, often resulting in NOT solving the unknown word correctly and ultimately comprehension will break down.  If a reader is able to solve unknown words by using a multitude of reading strategies, then their efforts to solve the word becomes more automatic, more independent, & more accurate, and their comprehension increases. 

So, how do we help these budding readers…..

First, we become acquainted with early reading behavior strategies.  I have included a page on the top of the blog which includes ALL of the strategies that we have gone over so far during our Daily 5 time. (I will update it as we go along.)  You will notice that your child automatically does some of these without even thinking about it.  They are building the foundation of good reading habits with these strategies- which will help them as they continue to grow as readers.

Secondly, I think it is important to give the kids WAIT TIME.  Wait a minute before you jump in and give them the correct word.

One thing that we have taught the kids when they Read to Someone (Partner Read) during the Daily 5 and their partner gets stuck on a word is to ask this question….

“Do you want more time?  Or do you want coaching?”

If they say wait time, then they count to 10. 

If they say coaching, then we are working with the kids to help each other pick a good “reading strategy” to try and to not just “give” the word to their partner.

So at home when your child gets stuck on a word,

ask your child…..

“Do you want more time?  Or do you want coaching?”

If they say coaching, then help guide them by using the prompts that I've provided or guide them by mentioning one of the reading strategies.

MATH: 

We have continued to work with addition within 5.  The objective is to build fluency in knowing that 3+2, 4+1, etc. add up to 5.  We are working to build a good working knowledge of this and to move toward being about to solve this without the use of manipulatives or our fingers.

As we move into the 4^th quarter, we will begin practicing addition within 10. 

We are introducing word problems and working to solve various types of problems such as:

4+2=?

4+?=6

?+2=6

10-3=?

10-?=7

?-3=7

Also, we are learning the reciprocity between addition and subtraction. 

Such as…

10=7+3

10-7=3

7+3=10

March Madness!

The Healthy Choice Marathon was a huge success!  Thank you to everyone who donated to the fundraiser-over $15,000 was earned in classroom donations alone!  Also thanks to everyone who donated books-we collected over 3,000 books!  It was great to see everyone at the 5K race on Sunday too.  What a beautiful day to finish our Healthy Choice Marathon! 

Literacy:  I have added a Target Word page & Retelling Question page to the blog.  These are found by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page. 

*The Target Word page includes all the sight words that we have learned and those we are currently learning.  These are words your child should learn to recognize on sight.  I have also listed some ways that you can practice with your child at home. 

*The Retelling questions are the same type of questions that are used for assessment.  After reading a book, practice asking your child some of these questions.  You can even have them retell a movie or show they have seen!

Afterschool Enrichment Clubs-Joyner will now be offering a variety of afterschool clubs led by JYJ teachers.  I am very excited that I will be running the “Shake Hands with Science” club for Kindergartners through 2^nd graders.  We will get to explore scientific concepts and perform lots of hands-on experiments.  We will be extending the science your child is learning in his/her classroom and having fun at the same time!  Look for the orange registration form in OTIS for a description of all the clubs.  There are only 15 available spots in each club, so if your child is interested, register quick! 

We have Book ‘n Bite next week!  Thanks to those who have signed up! We still have some spots open for Book ‘n Bite in April and May.