One of the most important things children will learn in Kindergarten is letter names and sounds, as this is the foundation for reading and writing words. We have been working on this since the beginning of the year, using a program called Fundations to learn letters a few at a time. Each letter has an associated picture and key word to help students remember the sound. Perhaps you have heard your child saying t, top, /t/  or b, bat, /b/. We have finished almost all of the letters and now know enough to begin blending sounds to read simple words such as cat and bat.  

Children have also been eagerly applying this knowledge to their writing. I encourage them to try to write independently by stretching words, or saying them very slowly, writing  any sounds they hear. For some children it is easier to hear the sounds if a classmate stretches the word, and helping a friend is a fantastic way to learn.   At first glance it is sometimes challenging to read what has been written (I have years of practice!), but most often when I ask a child to tell me what they wrote I can begin to pick out corresponding sounds. With time, as children hear more and more sounds and begin to leave spaces between words, it becomes much easier to read what has been written.  After writing we spend a few minutes sharing work and celebrating the effort and growth of each child. 

Writing has become a favorite time of the day for many, with some even choosing to write during choice time. This is hard work and requires a lot of effort from students. Everyone should feel proud of their growth!

 Kindergarteners had a lot of fun carving pumpkins with their reading buddies. These will be placed on Loop Road for family viewing. Happy Halloween!

 Our weekly sightings of red efts during ECO sparked children's curiosity, so over the past several weeks we conducted research as a whole group to learn more about these cute creatures. First we brainstormed a list of questions we had about red efts to help focus our research. We talked about how scientists sometimes gather information from  non-fiction sources such as books and how they gather information by observing. Children were encouraged to observe the efts closely during our forest time to see what questions they could answer this way: red efts are not actually red, in fact their color can vary quite a bit, from orange to greenish, but they always have spots. Red efts have distinct toes that seem to be quite grippy and yes indeed, they can climb trees. We've seen them do it, but when they get to a certain height they almost always gently tumble down! We also read a few books about red efts which answered many of our other questions, such as: What do they eat? What do they do in winter? How do they find their way? and Where do they live? 

After gathering all of this information we synthesized by completing four sentence stems: Red efts can.... Red efts are...  Red efts have...  and Red efts need. We capped our research by completing painted illustrations. These are now hanging in the hall and will be there during conferences.

 More ECO Fun! Some of the activities we have done the last few weeks include finding colors in the forest and engaging in forest art, considering the "ingredients" that make a forest and creating recipes for a forest, forest kitchen, and using peelers to whittle sticks. Every week ends with sit spots and journals, which is a lovely, peaceful way to close out our time in the woods.

Every Friday after lunch we meet with third and fourth grade reading buddies from Mrs. Hale's class. This is  a great opportunity for kindergartners to establish a relationship with older childrenin the school while giving third and fourth graders a chance to be in a mentoring role. We will switch partners throughout the year so children can make multiple connections across grades. Ask your child who their current reading buddy is.