Today was exciting because we learned about the amazing ibex of Asia and also got to see and hear instruments from India. At the end of the day, we had an assembly where the group Prodhanica came and introduced us to the India native instruments of sitar, tabla and native dances, as well. The kids did a great job throughout the assembly. If you click on the link below, you can listen to a tabla and sitar like we did today!
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
I'm Back!
Hello! Remember me? Mrs. Essary, your child's teacher! I am back! Yay! Oh my goodness. It has been a long time. So, I was gone all last week with these crazy ulcers on my tongue which prevented me from talking, eating and sometimes even swallowing. The doctors/dentists are not sure what caused the ulcers. Nothing contagious. The pain was terrible, but things are on the mend now!
Mrs. Olson was here on Tuesday and then Mrs. Gustafson (retired Orion Kindergarten teacher who just did my maternity leave last year) finished out three days to end the week. The days went on as normal and both substitutes said the kids did a fine job remembering to be safe, kind and responsible. It was nice to be back today and see their smiling faces.
Today we learned about hippos, played a more than/less than game with partners, wrote the ending to our narrative stories in writer's workshop and reviewed what good listeners and learners should look and sound like.
I am working on helper schedules for February through the end of the year and I will also be sending home the February snack calendar this week.
Be sure to send in your baggie of 100 items by Friday so we are sure to have them for our 100th Day of School activities next Monday.
I am looking forward to a great week back!
Mrs. Olson was here on Tuesday and then Mrs. Gustafson (retired Orion Kindergarten teacher who just did my maternity leave last year) finished out three days to end the week. The days went on as normal and both substitutes said the kids did a fine job remembering to be safe, kind and responsible. It was nice to be back today and see their smiling faces.
Today we learned about hippos, played a more than/less than game with partners, wrote the ending to our narrative stories in writer's workshop and reviewed what good listeners and learners should look and sound like.
I am working on helper schedules for February through the end of the year and I will also be sending home the February snack calendar this week.
Be sure to send in your baggie of 100 items by Friday so we are sure to have them for our 100th Day of School activities next Monday.
I am looking forward to a great week back!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Addition, Subtraction & Homework
The newest addition and subtraction homework looks like it is going OK........................Or is it?
I know that seeing a problem written as ____ = 3-2 looks strange, but there is purpose in preparation for first grade where the missing number in a problem can be anywhere (4 + ____=10, or 7 = 10-_____) and eventually algebra. Seems crazy to think about that now, but that foundation of knowledge ALL begins in Kindergarten. So, the equal sign is not meant, in mathematics, to be something to signal "solution", it is a symbol showing that one thing is "equal to" or "the same as" another.
Everything on the left of the equal sign is the same as everything on the right of the equal sign.
1 = (is the same as) (what you get when you take)3-2.
Students are just getting used to what each symbol + - = mean, and then they move places....it can be difficult. Just keep working on it together. On the homework, draw pictures if you want to. Use fingers or snacks to act out the problems. Tell a story using those numbers and operations (add, subtract). We use all of these strategies in class. And, the more you have your child be the one to draw, act, tell, the better they will understand. Over time, the understanding and fluency will come but the more consistently we practice at school AND at home, the quicker and more solid that knowledge will be.
I know that seeing a problem written as ____ = 3-2 looks strange, but there is purpose in preparation for first grade where the missing number in a problem can be anywhere (4 + ____=10, or 7 = 10-_____) and eventually algebra. Seems crazy to think about that now, but that foundation of knowledge ALL begins in Kindergarten. So, the equal sign is not meant, in mathematics, to be something to signal "solution", it is a symbol showing that one thing is "equal to" or "the same as" another.
Everything on the left of the equal sign is the same as everything on the right of the equal sign.
1 = (is the same as) (what you get when you take)3-2.
Students are just getting used to what each symbol + - = mean, and then they move places....it can be difficult. Just keep working on it together. On the homework, draw pictures if you want to. Use fingers or snacks to act out the problems. Tell a story using those numbers and operations (add, subtract). We use all of these strategies in class. And, the more you have your child be the one to draw, act, tell, the better they will understand. Over time, the understanding and fluency will come but the more consistently we practice at school AND at home, the quicker and more solid that knowledge will be.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
New Homework
Today you will find a new kind of homework. For each letter of the alphabet, we have a homework page where students have to look at a picture and then stretch out and write the sounds that spell that picture. The letter of the day will be used somewhere (not always at the beginning) in the word. Soon, addition and subtraction will be included on the math side of the homework.
RHYMING
The homework also has a quick rhyming review. Recognizing/Making rhyming pairs has been a difficult skill in my classroom this year. We practice it every day, but some students are not picking it up as quickly as others. If you notice that your child struggles a bit with the rhyming portion of the homework from time to time (and especially if he/she earned a NI grade on their report card- coming home Friday), please be sure to start practicing. In the car is a great place to practice as we are all busy and on the go throughout the week. Look in and out of the car and you can take turns playing a little rhyming game: "I see something that rhymes with duck. Do you see it? It's a...." "......TRUCK! "I see something that rhymes with meat. Do you see it? It's a......" "....SEAT!" "I see something that rhymes with flop. Do you see it? It is.....".....STOP! Rhyming is an important/useful skill for reading and writing. If your student can read/write hop, then he/she should be able to trade out the first letter/sound and read/write cop, top, bop, mop, and pop without much additional effort ONCE they hear and understand rhyming.
For our unit, we studied Apes today. See if your child can tell you the easiest way to tell a monkey from an ape. See if your child can name the three kinds of apes pictured below:
Monday, January 4, 2016
2016
Welcome back! What a wonderful day it was seeing all of these little smiling faces so excited to be back, full of stories from break and ready to get back into the routine of our Kindergarten day. It was a SUPER day! We reviewed some rules and expectations first thing this morning and the kids did a great job being Kind, Safe, and Responsible.
For the rest of the Kindergarten year, we will have a "Book of the Week". With the book of the week, we will do a small activity each day focusing on things like: characters, setting, vocabulary, sight words, categorizing, sequencing and opinions. Our first Book of the Week is There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer. See if your student is able to tell you about how the little boy in the story traps an alligator.
In math, we reviewed measuring words: shorter, taller, longer, heavier and lighter. For the rest of the week we're focusing on capacity using containers and rice. It is now the third quarter and we will be working hard on those addition and subtraction facts with numbers 0-5. Keep practicing at home.
And on Tuesday we begin our 3rd time through the alphabet. For this time through we will discuss the letter each day, find and name things that begin with that letter, and learn about a zoo animal that begins with that letter. We will also introduce long vowels this time through where the vowels (a,e,i,o and u) sometimes say their name in words. Each day we will read informational text about the animals, brainstorm facts and make a little project and write a sentence about what we learned about that animal. It is a big project and will take all of the 3rd quarter to complete. You will surely learn some interesting facts about animals throughout this unit! The Kindergartners always love it and every year they teach me something about animals that I did not know.
Keep working on the family shape projects and return the cards and bags to school whenever you have them done. We will start using them to play several games in the coming weeks.
I hope you were all able to find some time to relax and enjoy your time together. I know that I loved every moment home with my husband, Jason and our little ones, Alexis and Dawson.
2016- Here We Go!!!
For the rest of the Kindergarten year, we will have a "Book of the Week". With the book of the week, we will do a small activity each day focusing on things like: characters, setting, vocabulary, sight words, categorizing, sequencing and opinions. Our first Book of the Week is There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer. See if your student is able to tell you about how the little boy in the story traps an alligator.
In math, we reviewed measuring words: shorter, taller, longer, heavier and lighter. For the rest of the week we're focusing on capacity using containers and rice. It is now the third quarter and we will be working hard on those addition and subtraction facts with numbers 0-5. Keep practicing at home.
And on Tuesday we begin our 3rd time through the alphabet. For this time through we will discuss the letter each day, find and name things that begin with that letter, and learn about a zoo animal that begins with that letter. We will also introduce long vowels this time through where the vowels (a,e,i,o and u) sometimes say their name in words. Each day we will read informational text about the animals, brainstorm facts and make a little project and write a sentence about what we learned about that animal. It is a big project and will take all of the 3rd quarter to complete. You will surely learn some interesting facts about animals throughout this unit! The Kindergartners always love it and every year they teach me something about animals that I did not know.
Keep working on the family shape projects and return the cards and bags to school whenever you have them done. We will start using them to play several games in the coming weeks.
I hope you were all able to find some time to relax and enjoy your time together. I know that I loved every moment home with my husband, Jason and our little ones, Alexis and Dawson.
2016- Here We Go!!!
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