Thank you to everyone who was able to come to Open House.  It is always exciting for children to share their classroom and some of the things they are working on with families.

For a couple of weeks we have been working on sight words, focusing initially on is, a, and the, which are almost always in our morning message.  Practicing and learning sight words is a great way to work on fluency in reading, as many of these words can't be sounded out, but are words we just need to recognize.   This week each child also got a sight word ring which has five sight words on it.  They practice these with me each day and when they have mastered a word they will get to take it home and a new one will be added to the ring.    Today I sent home a list of the first 100 sight words as a resource for you.  This is not homework- there is no expectation that children will work on these at home-but sometimes children really enjoy practicing them outside of school.  Most kindergarteners focus on list one, but I sent the whole list for children who are learning them quickly or feeling extra ambitious!  It is very exciting when children begin to learn these words and can use them in their writing or to begin reading.

On Wednesday morning we had a visit from Lindsey Vandal, who will be leading us in ECO this year.  We talked a bit about the program (ask your child about the 3 cares) and spent sometime outside looking for critters.  Our first day of ECO is next Wednesday, October 2nd.   We will leave school at 8:15 and be riding the bus to the Wu Forest, which is just over the covered bridge in town.  We will spend our first session getting acquainted with the forest and establishing routines that will be in place every week.  After a couple of hours in the woods we pack up and walk back to school, arriving back around 11:00.  The forest is apt to be cool early in the morning- please make sure your child comes with warm clothing, layers work best.  The ground is also likely to be wet so please also send rain boots or some kind of water proof foot wear.  I will send a reminder again next week!

Children from last year's kindergarten class participating in ECO.

This week we began our first science unit, which focuses on living and non-living things.  I usually begin this unit with monarch caterpillars in the classroom, but have been unable to find any this year.  Fortunately we have loads of other interesting caterpillars on our playground and some of us are particularly good at finding them!  Today we brought in a woolly bear caterpillar and what we think (based on our research in a caterpillar field guide) was a large maple span worm.  We had a discussion about what both of these caterpillars would need to survive, before letting them return to their natural habitat.

We have also had a discussion about scientific drawings and how these may be different from artistic drawings.  We talked about the importance of matching the colors we see to what we draw and using lots of detail (without adding extra details that aren't really there).  Then we went out to the playground and  practiced making scientific drawings of a maple tree and one other living thing.  Children will be able to share their drawings and other bits and pieces of our days during Open House on Tuesday evening from 5:30-6:30!

As we continue to get to know each other we have been spending time looking at our names.  We have counted the letters along with syllables (or claps) for each child's name.  We have spent time comparing the names of 2-3 children at a time, noticing that two classmates have ll in their names, although one's is twice as long as the other's, or two people have names that begin with J.  We have also read several books with a focus on names and worked the characters from these books into our discussions.  Chrysanthemum has 13 letters in her name, and four claps- the same number as one of our classmates.  Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo has 50 letters and 21 claps! (We triple checked this.) His brother Chang on the other hand has a much shorter name.  This is a fun way to get to know each other even better, really learn each other's names, and work on some literacy skills.

If you haven't returned the clothing checklist for ECO please send it in soon- it's very helpful to know what extra things we might need.

The copier is fixed and today your child brought home information about the ECO program.  Please return the clothing checklist as soon as possible!

I also wanted to share the hot snack menu with you, which stays the same each week.  Monday is bagel with cream cheese, Tuesday is banana bread, Wednesday is cheerios with milk, Thursday is egg and cheese burrito, and Friday is bagel with cream cheese.  This is posted on the bottom of the lunch menu if you need to find it again.  I am sharing it because most of the children who are getting hot snack on Thursdays are saying they don't like the burritos.  I sometimes have an extra apple, but otherwise don't have extra snacks so if they choose not to eat the burrito they probably aren't having a snack.

Wow- today was really hot!  With the weather fluctuations we've been having please make sure you're child is prepared to be outside (last week some of the mornings we're quite chilly!)  Being prepared for the weather will be especially important when we begin ECO (Educating Children Outdoors) in October.  I have information about this program along with a clothing checklist all ready to send home today.  Unfortunately our copier is broken, so I will try again tomorrow!

This week we have begun working on handwriting, practicing writing our names beginning with an upper case letter and ending with lower case letters, and practicing writing numbers 0-5.  We have also started the Fundations program which will focus on letter formation as well as letter sounds for the next few months.  So far we have worked on lower case t, f, and b.  We practice these in a variety of ways including using our fingers to write really big in the air, using white boards and dry erase markers, and using fancy hi-lighters!  In addition, we have been working on letter recognition through our morning message.  Each day after we read the message, volunteers underline specific words by listening to the beginning sound and finding that letter at the beginning of the word.

Yesterday in your child's yellow folder or backpack there was a letter from Eric Mongeon our technology integrationist, explaining Google Apps for Education.  This also includes a permission form that should be returned as soon as possible.

Reading about our class.

Rolling dice and building towers in math.

Partner reading.

We have had a very busy week, continuing to practice routines that were established last week and adding in some new ones.  We began writer's workshop this week by reading a book call Library Mouse (ask your child to tell you about it), and then setting off to be authors ourselves.  We talked about many ways of writing including telling a story with pictures, writing pretend words (scribble writing), or writing letters or words that we already know.  At this point most of us using pictures to convey a story and I am scribing as the children share their stories with me. We have been practicing writing for about 10-15 minutes and then sharing the work of a few children each day, which is a great way to spread ideas and strategies.

After lunch each day we have a short quiet time.Children come in to their own space and may rest, look at books, or draw in their quiet time journals.  This gives children a chance to recharge for the afternoon and many children have come to look forward to this time (a few have asked me mid-morning when it will be quite time!)

Perhaps most importantly, we are continuing to get to know one another and working on being good friends.  Most children had a chance to share their artifact bags this week.  If your child hasn't shared yet, please send it in next week.  This is a great way for us to learn more about each other and many children are discovering that they share common interests.  Have a fantastic weekend.

Reading with 3rd and 4th grade buddies.

Quiet time journal writing.

Practicing number formation during math stations.

A choice time creation made by four students.

I hope everyone had a fantastic three day weekend!  We spent lots of time reviewing routines (three days is a long time to go without practicing!)  We have also been working really hard to learn the names of everyone in the class.  To help out with this, and get in a little reading practice, today in your child's yellow folder there is a class book.  These copies are for you to keep- each child also has a copy here at school.  We have also started sharing artifact bags.  As these are shared, the children who are not sharing are working on being really good listeners, trying to think of comments or questions for their classmates, and making sure that the focus stays on the person who is sharing (this is a challenge- even for adults sometimes!)  If your child hasn't brought his bag in yet, please send it in the next couple of days.  It is really fun for all of us to learn more about the individuals in the class.  Also, just a reminder that picture day is Friday.  Information about this was sent home in the red folder on the first day of school.