Weekly Updates

Weekly Update 5/10-5/14

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: Since we have been introduced to all of the kindergarten sight words, we have been reviewing the words we’ve already learned. We are doing great with the Quarter 1 and 2 sight words, but still need some extra practice with the Quarter 3 and 4 words.

  • Math: We learned a new game, Cubes in my hand, to become fluent with our combinations to 5.

  • Writing: We continued writing our All About books! Ask your student to tell you some interesting facts about their animal.

  • Reading: We continued reading Eric Carle books and focused on how illustrations depict what is happening in the story.

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Return decorated Continuation Caps by Friday, May 21st.

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15) Wear neon colors! Due to COVID restrictions, Field Day will just be for the kids this year. We will take pictures and share them with you in the Weekly Update!

  • SUMMER Countdown! Starting on Tuesday, May 18th, kindies will have a different letter theme for each day that will help us countdown the final days of school until summer break (it will spell out the word ‘SUMMER’)! See the flyer below for more info.

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

Please click here if you would like to order school supplies for next year. Last day to order is May 28th.

Continuation Flyer


SCHOOL SUPPLY KITS


Are you ready to make back-to-school shopping easier for yourself?


Once again, we are partnering with Teacher Tailored supply kit program to take the stress off of parents by ordering pre-packaged school supplies.


Order by May 29th to have your supplies delivered on the first day of school for the 2021-2022 school year!

We celebrated two birthdays last week! Happy Birthday Silas and Scarlette!

Weekly Update 5/3-5/7

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: Since we have been introduced to all of the kindergarten sight words, we have been reviewing the words we’ve already learned. We are doing great with the Quarter 1 and 2 sight words, but still need some extra practice with the Quarter 3 and 4 words.

  • Math: We practiced different strategies to solve story problems. Examples of story problems we have been working on: If there are 5 frogs on a log, how many eyes are there? If there are 3 chickens and 1 sheep in a barn, how many legs do they have in all?

  • Writing: We started writing our All About books! After researching different animals, students chose the animal they were most interested in and started writing an informational book about that animal. Ask your kiddo which animal they chose!

  • Reading: We continued reading Eric Carle books and focused on how illustrations depict what is happening in the story. We also read some more nonfiction books about animals.

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Please return all library books by Friday, May 14th. Let me know if you would like a list of the books your student still has checked out.

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15) Wear neon colors! Due to COVID restrictions, Field Day will just be for the kids this year. We will take pictures and share them with you in the Weekly Update!

  • SUMMER Countdown! Starting on Tuesday, May 18th, kindies will have a different letter theme for each day that will help us countdown the final days of school until summer break (it will spell out the word ‘SUMMER’)! See the flyer below for more info.

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

  • Please click here if you would like to order school supplies for next year.

Indoor recess

STEAM- We are making a fun project! We cant wait for you to see it!

Butterfly release

Weekly Update 4/26-4/30

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: we have now learned all of our kindergarten sight words! This means we will be going back to practice the words we have learned throughout the year. Please practice this at home as well!

  • Math: We continued working with measurement and estimating. We also learned more about teen numbers and describing a number as greater than or less than another number.

  • Writing: We finished writing about sloths and started to research hermit crabs. We are so excited to pick an animal so that we can begin writing our All About books!

  • Reading: We read “A House for Hermit Crab” by Eric Carle and discussed how the illustrations depict the character’s environment and growth over time.

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15) Wear neon colors!

  • SUMMER Countdown! Starting on Tuesday, May 18th, kindies will have a different letter theme for each day that will help us countdown the final days of school until summer break (it will spell out the word ‘SUMMER’)! More information about this is coming soon.

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

  • Please click here if you would like to order school supplies for next year.

Happy birthday Wade!

We celebrated two birthdays this week!

Happy birthday Vinny!

We celebrated earning our 300th paw this week with an extra recess party!

Weekly Update 4/20-4/23

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: help, find, do

  • Math: We started a new math unit about weight and measurement. We learned how to compare weights and use a pan balance scale.

  • Writing: We used a circle map and a tree map to research and take notes about sloths. We used the information from the circle and tree maps to write sentences about what we learned about sloths. We are sure loving learning all about animals!

  • Reading: We read Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth by Eric Carle and focused on how he uses illustrations and words to show repetition, movement, and feelings.

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Next week we have our last iReady diagnostic of the year! Please help us by making sure iPads are charged and your student has working headphones.

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15)

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

We researched sloths this week! Then, we learned how to draw a sloth before using our notes to write about them! I am proud of their perseverance while drawing something new!

Weekly Update 4/12-4/15

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: now, yes, way

  • Math: We played the game “Shake those beans” and made unifix cube trains to help find all of the combinations to 5,6, and 7! We also played “Fill it up five”, to help us practice adding 5 and some more.

  • Writing: We created a circle map and a tree map with our teachers to tell facts about ladybugs!

  • Reading: For our Eric Carle unit, we focused on the book The Grouchy Ladybug!

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • If you would still like to order continuation photos (individual student photos) go to mylifetouch.com and enter the Picture Day ID: EVTNCB8RJ

  • Thursday is our library day. :) Last day to check out books is May, 6th.

  • No School: Monday, April 19th- Teacher Professional Development Day

  • Next week we have iReady progress monitoring. Please help us by making sure iPads are charged and your student has working headphones.

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15)

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

Exciting News! MVE and NE students will have an opportunity to participate in a re-imagined field day during one of their Specials times the week of May 17th. While we know this will look different than in year's past, our wonderful Specials team will host a modified NEON themed field day for each individual class! Each class/cohort will have the opportunity to participate in several fun activities during a dedicated time the week of May 17th. So start digging through those closets to look for the brightest neon you can find to help students "Highlight the End of the Year" OR order a neon NE/MVE 20-21 Field Day t-shirt here: https://www.customink.com/fundraising/2021-nemve-fun-run-tee. Order soon - sales close on April 18th!



SCHOOL SUPPLY KITS


Are you ready to make back-to-school shopping easier for yourself?


Once again, we are partnering with Teacher Tailored supply kit program to take the stress off of parents by ordering pre-packaged school supplies.


Order by May 29th to have your supplies delivered on the first day of school for the 2021-2022 school year!


Link to flyer:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fk2bA7NaJ1AxTbgySTeRA6kvT3ElhI2l/view?usp=sharing



Happy Birthday Ace and Toryn!

In STEAM we used tools to help us learn how Eric Carle makes his illustrations!

Weekly Update 4/5-4/9

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: saw, who, away

  • Math: We played Mystery Number with teen numbers (10-20), continued to learn about money (especially pennies and dimes), and played roll, add, and compare (practicing adding numbers to 5).

  • Writing: We created a circle map and a tree map with our teachers to tell facts about chameleons! We wrote sentences to inform others about chameleons using the following sentence starters: Chameleons can… Chameleons have… Chameleons live…

  • Reading: We began our Eric Carle unit! This week, we focused on the book The Mixed-Up Chameleon. We did a picture walk of the story, looked at the illustrations and how they tell how the characters are feeling, and we explored descriptive language and the repetition of words in this story.

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Class Photos:

    • Whole class pictures are on Tuesday, April 13. Our time slot is 10:30, before lunch/recess. :)

    • Kindergarten Continuation Photos are on Wednesday, April 14

  • No School: Friday, April 16th

  • No School: Monday, April 19th- Teacher Professional Development Day

  • Kindergarten Field Day- May 17th (1:45-3:15)

  • Kindergarten Continuation/Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

We researched Chameleons this week and read the "Mixed-up Chameleon" by Eric Carle.

STEAM this week! We are learning how Eric Carle makes his illustrations.

Thank you for your support for the Funrun! The kids reached our class goal ...so they each got to pie me in the face! :)

Weekly Update 3/29-4/2

Reminders:

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Class Photos: April 13-15

  • Kindergarten Continuation Photos: April 14-15

  • No School: Friday, April 16th

  • No School: Monday, April 19th- Teacher Professional Development Day

  • Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: when, what, want

  • Math: Building 3D shapes with polydrons, sorting shapes by their attributes, making combinations to 5, intro to teen numbers

  • Writing: To conclude our wants, needs, and money unit, we made a list of items we would buy with the money we earned to go on a camping trip. Students had to decide if the items they chose were wants or needs and write about items they would purchase if they were caught in a blizzard!

  • Reading: We read nonfiction books about animals and discussed what animals need in order to survive in their habitats.

Weekly Update 3/22-26

Reminders:

  • Please send in a t-shirt for your student by Monday 3/29. Thank you so much to those of you who have sent in extras! We SO appreciate your generosity! :)

    • Remember, we will be decorating these t-shirts next week in preparation for the actual fun run event.

  • Friday, April 2nd is our fun run event! Our class will be wearing the matching t-shirts we made as we participate in this event. Please be sure to send a water bottle on this day so your student can stay hydrated! :)

  • Please check in with your student and make sure they have headphones to use at school every day. It is difficult to take an i-Ready assessment if they do not have headphones and are distracted by the sounds of other iPads. Thank you!

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Spring break: March 15-19

  • Class Photos: April 13-15

  • Kindergarten Continuation Photos: April 14-15

  • No School: Friday, April 16th

  • No School: Monday, April 19th- Teacher Professional Development Day

  • Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

What we learned this week:

  • Sight words: her, or, were

  • Math: We learned about different 3D shapes and how to build and draw them.

  • Writing: We learned how to label pictures and worked on personal and imagined narratives.

  • Reading: We read fiction and nonfiction books about money and made a venn diagram to compare and contrast the different books we read.



Happy birthday Ruby and Arden!

Weekly Update 3/8-/12

Reminders:

  • Please continue to send in fully charged iPads and headphones every day. Thank you!

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • Spring break: March 15-19

  • Boosterthon Fun Run kickoff: March 24th (giving opens 3/10)

    • Fun Run Event day: April 2nd

    • Click here for the Fun Run flyer

  • Class Photos: April 13-15

  • Kindergarten Continuation Photos: April 14-15

  • No School: Friday, April 16th

  • No School: Monday, April 19th- Teacher Professional Development Day

  • Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

What we learned this week:

  • Phonological Awareness: We practiced substituting a sound in a word to make a new word.

  • Reading: We started a new literacy unit about wants, needs, and money.

  • Writing: We practiced narrative writing. After a paper plate skating around the room, we wrote about what we did using the words “First”, “Next”, and “Last”.

  • Math: We discussed what we knew about 2D and 3D shapes, sorted 2D and 3D shapes by their attributes, and described the attributes of a cylinder.

  • STEAM:We learned about what walruses need to survive in their habitat and why they have blubber!

We started our week with a paw party, celebrating our 200th paw card! We have earned 230 as of yesterday!

We will be writing stories about us either real or imagined. So we started this week with learning how to paper plate skate! Then we wrote a story about it using first, next, last!

Weekly Update 3/1-3/5

Reminders:

  • Please continue to send in fully charged iPads and headphones every day. Thank you! :)

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

  • We have earned our 200th paw card! We will celebrate with a movie and popcorn party next week!

  • Spring break: March 15-19

  • Boosterthon Fun Run kickoff: March 24th (giving opens 3/10)

    • Fun Run Event day: April 2nd

    • Click here for the Fun Run flyer

  • Class Photos: April 13-15

  • Kindergarten Continuation Photos: April 14-15

  • No school: Monday, April 19th

  • Last day of school: Tuesday, May 25th

What we learned:

  • We read the following books this week to teach students about diversity and inclusion: Ricky the Rock Who Couldn’t Roll, Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish, Same Same but Different, Suki’s Kimono, and I Am Enough.

    • We also had fun dressing up in different ways for Read Across America Week!

  • 95% skill 5.10: deleting sounds from the beginning and ending of words (for example, say the sounds in “slid” delete the /s/ sound and what is your word? “lid”)

  • Sight words: about, there, but

  • More shapes in math! We also played a few new workplace games- Spin & Count Shapes and Hungry Caterpillars. We also asked questions about shapes’ attributes to determine what the mystery shape could be (for example, “Does the shape have straight sides?”)

  • We finished writing the words to our class book “Chalk” and read our book aloud to some special visitors. Please celebrate your student’s hard work on this collaborative project and ask about it at home!

Karen, welcome to our class!

Favorite story book character day!

Wacky mix-matched clothes day!

Pure happiness!

Weekly Update 2/22-2/26

Reminders

  • Please continue to send in fully charged iPads and headphones every day. Thank you!

  • March 1-5: Read Across America Week - Celebrating Diversity (click here to see the fun spirit days we will have!)

  • We will be switching Essentials on Tuesday, March 2nd.

    • Lynch: music

    • Wilczynski: PE

    • Reichert: art

  • Spring break: March 15-19

  • Please make sure to bring your yellow pick up sign every day to pick up your student.

What we learned:

  • 95% skill 5.9: adding sounds to the beginning and ending of words (for example, making “at” into “bat” and “tea” into “team”

  • Sight words: little, has, put

  • More shapes in math! We also played a few new workplace games- circles and squares race to 20, geoboard shapes, and shapes and spinners graphing!

  • We read more wordless picture books and discussed what we would write to match the illustrations if we were the author of the book.

The kindergarten teachers dressed up for the 100th day of school! :)

How many licks to eat a lollipop? The kids estimated and we found out it takes way more than 100 licks to eat a lollipop!

100 cup stack!

We estimated how many times it would take to roll to 100 and made paper crowns!

Fun with chalk!

Weekly Update 2/16-2/19

Reminders

  • Please check the homework tab to see the homework assignments for next week.

  • If you are willing and able to donate more foaming hand sanitizer, we would greatly appreciate it!

  • Monday 2/22: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old! (Examples to the left)

  • March 15th-19th: Spring break

What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We continued our wordless picture book unit and read “Good Dog Carl”. Students made predictions about what would happen next as the dog watched the baby while the mom was away.

  • Writing: We practiced writing sentences to match illustrations.

  • Sight Words: no, big, all

  • Phonological Awareness: add sounds to the beginning of words to make a new word (for example, start with “at” and add the sound /c/ to the beginning to make “cat”).

  • Math: We explored different shape attributes and sorted shapes by color, shape, and number of sides and corners

Weekly Update 2/8-2/11

Reminders:

  • Please send home students take-home book bag by Friday every week.

  • Please check the homework tab to see the homework assignments for next week.

  • Please continue to charge your student’s iPad every night and also check to make sure their headphones are not broken… We have had a few broken pairs of headphones lately. :)

  • If you are willing to donate more foaming sanitizer we would appreciate it.

  • Monday 2/15: NO SCHOOL for students

  • Tuesday 2/16: I will be out of the building, the students will have a guest teacher.

  • Friday 2/19: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old! (Examples below)

  • March 15-19: Spring Break



Here is the flyer for the 100th day of school: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OMnoz6aMVc4b45eqBRsHnf0hXouURSSza2DM1Q7KFyE/edit?usp=sharing

What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We continued our wordless picture book unit and read “A Ball for Daisy”. Students shared what they would write if they were the author of the book.

  • Writing: We learned how to give our peers feedback on their writing and how to make our writing better.

  • Sight Words: this, with, jump

  • Phonological Awareness: sorting short and long vowel sounds

  • Math: We began our unit about shapes and started to notice similarities and differences between 2D and 3D shapes. We focused on comparing circles and spheres this week by making spheres out of playdoh and flattening them into circles!

  • STEAM: We experimented with magnets to see what type of items are magnetic and tested how far away a magnet needs to be in order to attract.


Valentines Party! We had fun celebrating. :)

Bubbles!

More fun outside!

STEAM

These kids impressed me with their teamwork skills during math this week!

Weekly Update 2/1-2/5

Reminders:

  • Please check the homework tab to see the homework assignments for next week.

  • Please continue to charge your student’s iPad every night.

  • Monday 2/8: Students bring in Valentine cards (individually wrapped food items are OK to bring… boxes of Conversation Hearts, fruit snacks, etc. are just a few ideas). Valentines must sit out for at least 3 days AT SCHOOL before they can be passed out to other students. We have 23 students in our class. Have your student write their name in the “from” section on their Valentine cards but leave the “to” section blank.

  • Monday 2/8: Bring in a decorated box for your student to collect Valentine cards from their friends

  • Thursday 2/11: Valentine’s Day Celebration!

  • Friday 2/12 and Monday 2/15: NO SCHOOL for students

  • Friday 2/19: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old!

Thank you so much for your donations of Valentine's Day supplies and Treasure Box prizes! I appreciate your help!

We started our unit on wordless picture books!

We have had a lot of fun writing and sending notes in our classroom "post office"!

What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We started our Wordless Picture Books unit and read “The Book with No Pictures” and “Chalk”

  • Writing: We learned how to give our peers feedback on their writing and how to make our writing better.

  • Sight Words: his, of, ten

  • Phonological Awareness: counting the number of sounds we hear in a word

  • Math: We played 2 new games involving pennies and nickels and counting on from 5

  • STEAM: We used legos, rubber bands, and foil to see if we could build a contraption to launch a foil ball.

Weekly Update 1/25-1/29

Reminders:

  • Please check the homework tab to see the homework assignments for next week.

  • (Edit) I am going to be creating a "post office" in our classroom for the month of February. I would love any donations of cards, envelopes, or postcards. Thank you! :)

  • Monday 2/8: Students bring in Valentine cards (individually wrapped food items are OK to bring… boxes of Conversation Hearts, fruit snacks, etc. are just a few ideas). Valentines must sit out for at least 3 days AT SCHOOL before they can be passed out to other students.

  • Please click here to see the sign-up for our Valentine's Day celebration. We are looking forward to our party. If you are willing and able to purchase these items, we would appreciate it!

  • We have 23 students in our class. If your student would like to bring in Valentine cards, please have them write their name in the “from” section and leave the “to” section blank.

  • Monday 2/8: Bring in a decorated box for your student to collect Valentine cards from their friends

  • Thursday 2/11: Students exchange Valentine cards and bring them home

  • Friday 2/12 and Monday 2/15: NO SCHOOL for students

  • Friday 2/19: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old!

  • We are accepting donations for treasure box prizes! The kids have been working so hard at filling out their reading logs! If you are willing and able we would appreciate it!

These kids have worked so hard to segment and blend CVC (Consonant Vowel Consonant) and CCVC words (Consonant Consonant Vowel Consonant) words. I am so proud of their perseverance!

We made book reviews this week! Your kiddos worked so so hard on these and they turned out great!

STEAM and library

Watching them play math games and have FUN makes my teacher heart SO happy!

What we learned this week:

  • We took our monthly i-Ready growth monitoring reading assessment.

  • Sight Words: had, have, nine

  • Phonological Awareness: We practiced segmenting words with 4 phonemes

  • Writing: We wrote a book review about our favorite Goldilocks book.

  • Math: We learned to compare numbers and were introduced to coins and their value.

  • Reading: We finished our Fairy Tale unit by reading 2 more fractured fairy tales about the Three Little Pigs

Weekly Update 1/19-1/22

Reminders:

  • Please be sure you are checking your student’s blue communication folder every night and emptying it. Thank you!

  • Don’t forget to sign-up for a virtual conference slot through the Sign-up Genius link that was sent out on Wednesday.

  • Please check the homework tab to see the homework assignments for next week.

  • Monday 2/1-Friday 2/5: Parent-Teacher Conferences (a link to a sign-up was sent to you on Wednesday 1/20)

  • Monday 2/8: Students bring in Valentine cards (individually wrapped food items are OK to bring… boxes of Conversation Hearts, fruit snacks, etc. are just a few ideas). Valentines must sit out for at least 2 days AT SCHOOL before they can be passed out to other students.

  • We have 23 kids in our class . Your student may write their name on the back of each valentine but please do not address each valentine to individual students.

  • Monday 2/8: Bring in a decorated box for your student to collect Valentine cards from their friends

  • Thursday 2/11: Students exchange Valentine cards and bring them home

  • Friday 2/12 and Monday 2/15: NO SCHOOL for students

  • Friday 2/19: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old!

  • Homework clarification: Every week, your student will have a Seesaw assignment to add the previous week’s sight words to their flashcards. This means that even though they will be learning new words at school, they will be making the flashcards for words from the previous week. For example, this week at school we learned the words your, as, and eight, but the Seesaw assignment for this week is to make the flashcards for last week’s words (where, will, seven).

What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We finished reading books about Goldilocks and started reading “The Three Little Pigs”

  • Writing: opinion writing, using the word “because”- Which book did you like better? Why?

  • Sight Words: your, as, eight

  • Phonological Awareness: blending and segmenting words with digraphs

  • Math: Introduction to measurement using the words “longer” and “shorter”

We worked so hard on writing this week! I couldn't be more proud of how they are persevering and trying their best! :)

Library :)

In STEAM we used pushes and pulls to knock down the 3 pigs houses!

Weekly Update 1/11-1/15

Things we learned:

  • Sight Words: where, will, seven

  • Phonological Awareness: blending and segmenting 2 & 3 phoneme words

  • Reading: Continued our Fairy Tale unit by reading “Goldilocks and Just the One Bear” and “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs”. We created a venn diagram to compare and contrast 2 different stories.

  • Writing: We practiced writing complete sentences with an uppercase letter, finger spaces, sight words spelled correctly, stretching out words by hearing the sounds, and using a punctuation mark. We practiced descriptive writing and wrote our opinion about the Fairy Tale books we’ve read so far.

  • Math: Counting on from a number other than 1, identifying numbers to 20


Things coming up:

  • Monday 1/18: No school

  • Monday 2/1-Friday 2/5: Parent-Teacher Conferences (a link to a sign-up will be sent to you on Wednesday 1/20)

  • Monday 2/8: Students bring in Valentine cards (individually wrapped food items are OK to bring… boxes of Conversation Hearts, fruit snacks, etc. are just a few ideas)

  • Thursday 2/11: Students exchange Valentine cards and bring them home

  • Friday 2/12 and Monday 2/15: No school for students

  • Friday 2/19: 100th day of school- Students dress like they are 100 years old!


Welcome to our class Dakota!

Happy Birthday Sofia! It was too cold to put her birthday rock outside on Thursday so we waited until Friday!

Happy belated birthday Macie!

We had fun at STEAM!

We had fun during our mug swap!

Weekly Update 1/5-1/8

Some important reminders…

  • These items can remain at home: math kit (in the brown box), Bridges Home Connections workbook, writing journal, handwriting workbook

  • Please send your students blue communication folder each day and check it each day.

  • A flyer was sent home about our Mug swap next Friday. Please reach out if you are unable to purchase a mug for your student and need me to provide one for them.

  • Homework will begin again next week. Please check the homework tab to find out what is due next Friday.


We have been learning…

  • 95% Phonemic Awareness Skill 5.5 (blending 2 and 3 phoneme words). Students have worked on listening for beginning sounds a lot so far this year! Now, we are practicing listening to ALL of the sounds in words to blend them together and form a whole word.

  • We played and practiced these math workplace games this week: Grab Bag More or Less, Bicycle Race, Fives Up, and Scrambled Numbers 1-10.

  • Three new sight words: they, went, six. Please be sure to add these to your flashcards!

  • We started our Fairy Tales reading unit this week. Our anchor text (the book that we will be focusing on for a bit) is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We will be reading different versions of this story and then comparing, contrasting, and writing about our favorite stories. We will also read The Three Little Pigs and various other “twisted fairy tale” versions of this book in the coming weeks!

Look below for some cute pictures! :)

To say we missed each other is an understatement! :)

Welcome to our class Macie!

Happy belated birthday to Eric and Harry!

We played outside and reconnected!

We re-told stories on our felt board!

And...... we had fun learning about the -ug word family, and writing lists in literacy stations!

Weekly Update 12/7-12/11

What did we learn this week?

  • Sight words: we learned the sight words come, not, got, here, play this week. Click here for a list of all the sight words we have learned so far in kindergarten.

  • Phonemic awareness: we worked on 95% skill 5.3- sorting by exclusion. We listened to different words and sorted them based on whether the beginning sounds were the same or different.

  • Reading: We continued working on retelling gingerbread stories using a five finger retell (characters, setting, beginning, middle, end) and we also compared and contrasted character experiences using a Venn Diagram.

  • Writing: we worked on more “how-to” writing this week. We wrote about how to get ready to go outside and how to make hot chocolate!

  • Math: we learned the game Fives Up and practiced counting five and more.

  • STEAM: Ms. Ott led us through some experiments and activities to explore different types of weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and snowstorms. We also counted how many drops it takes to dissolve a gingerbread cookie!

Reminders/things coming up:

  • Thursday 12/17 is our Festive dress-up day! Remember to wear fun holiday sweaters, hats, or other winter clothes to your Google Meets (optional).

  • Friday 12/18: No school (Staff furlough day: no activities will be posted to Seesaw either).

  • Tuesday 1/5: Students return to school. We can’t wait to see you again!

Weekly Update 11/30-12/4

What did we learn this week?

  • Reading: We started our Gingerbread unit and compared the experiences of different gingerbread characters.

  • Writing: We worked on writing multiple narrative sentences. We used the words “first” and “next” to tell what happened in order.

  • Math: We learned how to double numbers, and how to tell if something is more or less.

  • Phonological Awareness: Skills 5.2 and 5.3- listening to beginning sounds and sorting by initial phonemes.

  • We listened to words with digraphs (ch, sh, th) and sorted them based on their sound.

  • Sight Words: and, we, are, four, five

What’s coming up soon?

  • Fun Friday (and a Thursday) dress-up days!

    • Friday, December 11th: Fun hat Friday! Wear a fun hat to your Google Meets.

    • Thursday, December 16th: Festive clothes (ideas: holiday sweater, santa hat, reindeer hat)! Wear something festive to your Google Meets.

  • Friday, December 18: NO SCHOOL! Winter break begins.

    • Friday 12/18-Monday 1/4: Winter break. Happy Holidays!

  • Tuesday, January 5: School resumes

Other reminders from the MVE Kindie team:

  • Please help your student find a quiet place where they can focus to do their at-home learning, especially when we are live. Students’ expectations on Google Meets are the same as those at school… Eyes watching, ears listening, voice quiet, body still. Thank you for your support with this!

Flat teacher

Earlier this week, I sent out "Flat Teacher Bingo" with my Bitmoji. :)

I look forward to seeing pictures. :)

Weekly Update 11/9-11/13

Happy Friday and Happy Thanksgiving break!

Our MVE kindergartners have been working hard and learning lots over the past few weeks. We are so excited to share our new knowledge with you at home! Here are this week’s reminders and weekly update of things we’ve been working on…

Reminders and things coming up:

  • Next week is Thanksgiving break! Stay safe and enjoy.

  • At-Home Learning will begin on Monday 11/30. Schedules were sent out this morning.

  • Please charge your students’ iPad prior to Monday 11/30 to prepare for at-home learning.

  • Please remember the Google Meets expectations, including...

    • Arrive on time and be prepared for learning.

    • Raise your hand and wait for your teacher to call on you before sharing.

    • Follow our same classroom expectations- eyes watching, ears listening, voice quiet, body still.

What we’ve been learning:

  • We learned these sight words this week: mom, two, my, up, three

  • 95% Skills 5.1 and 5.2 - introduction to medial vowels and identifying same or different initial sounds in words

  • We completed the i-Ready reading growth monitoring assessment on our iPads.

  • We wrote about our Turkeys in Disguise by telling what they were dressed up as!

  • We learned about bicycle story problems and how to write addition equations in math.

  • We made fun turkey hats with Ms. Ott during STEAM!

  • We went to new essentials classes!

Joey will be 6 on 11/27! We wish you a happy birthday Joey!

Weekly Update 11/9-11/13

Happy Friday

We have made it to the end of another fun week in kindergarten! Here is your weekly update along with some reminders.

Reminders/things coming up:

  • Please remember to help your student keep their iPad, charging cord, and headphones in their big bag inside of their backpack.

  • Remember to check the homework tab on my website and have your student update and practice their sight word flashcards.

  • Turkeys in disguise were due today. If your student did not turn one in, please have them complete it and turn it in on Monday. We will need them for our in-class writing assignment on Monday.

  • No School Friday 11/20.

  • 11/23-11/27- Thanksgiving Break

  • 12/21-1/1 -Winter Break


Things we learned this week:

  • Five new sight words: dad, he, look, zero, one.

  • Initial (beginning) sounds in words (95% skill 5.1a) and practiced segmenting words to listen for the initial sound.

  • Ending sounds in words (95% skill 5.1b) and how to stretch words out to listen for these ending sounds.

  • Math: Intro to addition and subtraction- We read 2 math books this week “Butterfly Countdown” and “Munch, Crunch, What a Lunch!” and played a new workplace called “Butterfly Race”.

  • Writing: We continued opinion writing and used the sentence frames “ I like __.” and “I do not like ___.”


We wrote book reviews for Kevin Henkes books!!

Weekly Update 11/2-11/6

Hello and happy Friday!

I hope you have been enjoying the warm weather this week. We have definitely been having some fun in the sun at recess! Please be prepared for colder weather next week and don’t forget to help your students continue to practice zipping their coats and putting on their snow boots!

Reminders:

  • Please charge your iPad every night and send it to school every day.

  • Please check the blue communication folder EVERY NIGHT and empty it. It is super important for you to keep up with this to know what your student is working on at school (and if there is any homework to be returned)!

  • Turkey project: please complete this and return it by next Friday 11/13.

  • Please practice, practice, practice those sight word flashcards!

What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We read books by Kevin Henkes. Ask your student about Paula the Predictor, Quincy the Questioner, Clara the Clarifier and Sammy the Summarizer! :)

  • Writing: We learned the difference between facts and opinions. We practiced opinion writing (ex: “I like the ___.”)

  • Sight Words: We learned the words brown, pink, white, black gray. Please be sure to add these words to your sight word flashcards and continue to practice them every night!

  • Phonological Awareness: We continued our work with rhyming words. We reviewed skill 4.3 Isolating the rime (last part of the word).

  • Math: We started our discussion of doubles and counting by 2 by looking at bicycle wheels and playing a new game called Grab Bag Doubles.

STEAM & Library!

Weekly Update 10/26-10/30

Reminders:

  • No school on Tuesday 11/3.

What we learned this week:

  • We completed our monthly i-Ready growth monitoring.

  • Reading: We read fun Halloween books this week, noticed rhyming words and learned our first reading strategy!

  • Writing: We used sight words that we know and letter sounds to help us stretch out words and write about Halloween.

  • Sight Words: we learned the words be, yellow, it, purple, on. Please be sure to add these words to your sight word flashcards and continue to practice them every night! :)

  • Phonological Awareness: We worked on skills 4.3-4.6: isolating the rime, rhyming words, sorting by exclusion, and substitution.

  • Math: We finished our Number Corner checkup to show what we know about writing numbers, recognizing and drawing shapes, counting forward from 1 and starting from numbers other than 1.

  • We celebrated Halloween by wearing our costumes on Thursday. We also had a class celebration with a fun snack and craft!

  • We earned our 100th Paw card and celebrated with a PJ party!


We love STEAM!

We had fun making our Spookly cookies!

Weekly Update 10/19-10/23

Reminders:

  • With the colder weather that is here, please be sure to send your student in a warm coat, hat, and gloves every day. Please help your student practice zipping/buttoning coats and putting on their gloves. This will be a tremendous help to me when we go out to recess each day!

  • Please continue to send your student’s iPad bag to school in their backpack each day. Make sure that the following items are in the bag: charged iPad, charging cord, and headphones. We will be using them for literacy rotations as well as i-Ready growth monitoring.

  • We went to the library on Thursday! We will be going to the library every Thursday at 3:00. Please check your child's backpack for their library book. Please bring them back in the plastic bag next Thursday the 29th so they can check out another!

  • We will be having our Halloween celebration on Thursday, October 29th in the afternoon. Students may come to school dressed in their costume.

  • For homework next week, please have your student add the following sight words to their flashcard ring and practice reading them nightly: that, was, you, green, red. We will send home a reading log as part of their homework starting the first week of November.

What we learned this week:

  • We have 5 new sight words that we learned this week: that, was, you, green, red.

    • Don’t forget to keep practicing your sight word flashcards at home!

  • We continued to practice blending and segmenting onset and rime. Please keep practicing segmenting because this is a really tricky skill!

  • We played two new math games: Which Bug Will Win? And Beat You to Ten!

    • We also learned about tally marks and recognizing numbers as tally marks.

  • We worked on making our own Fall Fact books to practice informational writing.

  • We continued to practice writing our names and identifying letter names and letter sounds.

  • We continued our counting practice by learning 2 new work places: Which Bug Will Win? and Beat You to Ten.


Happy Birthday Aspen & Catherine

Other fun pictures from this week! :)

Weekly Update 10/5-10/9

Hello, Kindergarten Families!


Happy (almost) Fall Break! I am so excited to welcome both cohorts back to our classroom on Monday, October 19th. It will definitely be an adjustment as we get to know each other and learn the expectations with a full class here, but we can handle virtually anything at this point, right?!


Here is your weekly update for the week of 10/5-10/9:

  • We learned four new sight words: orange, a, for, in. Don’t forget to keep practicing your flashcards over fall break!

  • We built number racks using a pipe cleaner, red and white beads, and a small piece of cardboard. We also learned a new math workplace called Numbers and Number Racks.

  • We are still working on informational writing. We wrote pumpkin facts this week!

    • Be sure to encourage your student to practice using one uppercase letter at the beginning of a sentence, and then writing all the rest of the letters lowercase.

  • We practiced blending and segmenting words at school and on Seesaw! Students learned about the onset and rime in words (for example, in the word “cat” the onset is the sound /c/ and the rime is /at/) and we practiced both blending and segmenting words together as a group. We will continue practicing this skill and more after fall break.


Reminders/Coming up Soon…

  • Please fill out this google form regarding kindergarten readiness plans ASAP if you have not done so already.

  • Next week is Fall Break! Enjoy some family time and maybe go check out a pumpkin patch or two! Your student will have lots of pumpkin facts to share with you if you go! :)

  • Picture retakes are on Tuesday 10/20. Click here to view the picture order form

  • Halloween dress-up day will be on Thursday, 10/29. Please do NOT send in potentially distracting accessories including swords/magic wands or masks that cover the whole face. Remember that we will still have recess and essentials on this day, so students will need to be careful in their costumes since we are celebrating before Halloween.

    • Instead of sending in sweet treats for our Halloween party, we are asking for donations in the form of King Soopers and Hobby Lobby gift cards. With these gift cards, Ms. Grotts will be purchasing the supplies that each class will need to have a treat and make a craft. Thank you in advance! (Please only donate if you are able.)


Weekly Update 9/28-10/2

Dear Kindie Families,

We are at the end of another amazing week here at Mountain View Elementary. It was great getting to meet with everyone for parent teacher conferences! This week, we did lots of learning and had some fun rounding out our apple unit by making applesauce! Here are a few more things that we worked on in kindergarten this week:

  • We started working on informational writing by writing apple facts!

  • We learned and practiced the sight words "the" and "to"!

  • We practiced blending and segmenting words and counting how many syllables are in non-compound words.

  • We practiced determining whether a book is fiction or nonfiction.

    • Fiction= a “fake” or made-up story with characters, a setting, a problem, and a solution. Nonfiction= a book with real photographs that teaches us facts.

  • We learned a new math workplace called Count and Compare numbers! In this game, two students go head to head to see whose ten frame dot card is greater or lesser. Whoever collects the most cards is the winner!

    • This game went along with our lesson on subitizing- showing students a flash of a ten frame card and having them know how many dots there were within 3-5 seconds of seeing it.

  • We made applesauce and got to taste it! The recipe was sent home in folders, so if your student enjoyed the applesauce you can make it again.

Additionally, I was asked where to find the District calendar. Click here to see the 2020-21 DCSD school calendar.


Happy Birthday Madi!

Applesauce! YUM!!

Fine Motor Skills

I try to embed fine motor practice into everything I do! Especially into literacy centers. Fine motor activities are important because they help students develop their hand and finger muscles. It is also engaging, so it's a win, win! :)

Weekly Update 9/21-9/25

Dear Kindie Families,

Happy last Friday of September!

Thank you all for joining our community circle and read aloud this morning! Everyone was there, that's a huge success! :)


We celebrated Charlie's birthday this week! Happy birthday Charlie!


Reminders:

  • If your student goes to BASE, please make sure they come prepared to complete the activities that have been assigned for the week on Seesaw. For example, your student will need to have their sight word cards handy in their backpack or folder to write new sight words and read their sight words to their teacher. Additionally, if there are any handwriting worksheets or Bridges Home Connections workbook pages assigned for the week, please make sure these are also in your student’s folder so that they can be working on them with Mr. Marc at BASE.

  • Yellow conference folders were sent home this week in your child’s blue communication folder. Please have this folder handy during our Parent-Teacher Conference so that we can discuss your child’s progress in kindergarten thus far.

  • Prior to next week, please fill out this Google form regarding any specific things you would like us to cover during your student's conference next week.

Please check your child’s blue communication folder each day and take out any papers that were placed on the “keep at home” side.


What we learned this week:

  • Reading: We learned the differences between fiction and nonfiction texts as we read about apples!

  • Math: We created patterns with our bodies as well as unifix cubes. Students explained what type of pattern they saw (AB, ABC, AAB, etc.)

  • Writing: We have been focusing on narrative writing. Students wrote about themselves and different places that they go. (ex: I go to __.)

  • Phonological Awareness: We practiced identifying where certain syllables are in a compound word (dog is first in the word hotdog, but it is last in the word sheepdog).

  • Sight Words: me, see, like

Weekly Update 9/14-9/18

Happy Fri-YAY Kindie Families!

I am so excited that our whole class will be here together in person in just a few short weeks. It has been great to have the chance to learn and practice many of our routines with smaller groups first and now we are so ready to get back to some more normal routines.

This week we worked on...

  • The sight words “can” and “go”.

  • Matching words one-to-one in a sentence (cutting and gluing “The butterfly is on the flower”).

  • Learning and practicing the new math game “Beat You to Five”!

  • Learning the difference between numbers and letters and sorting them!

  • Practicing an efficient pencil grip and scissor grip.

  • Writing using sight words and the beginning sounds of words (“I like school” might look like “I like s”- keep in mind that in kindergarten we use sound spelling, not always correct spelling!)

  • Being a bucket filler and using kind words with our teachers and our friends.

Reminders...

  • Great job getting onto our Community Circle this morning! I have been taking attendance during our live sessions, so keep up the great work with being there on time and engaging with me! I am so proud of you… students AND parents! :)

  • On Fridays, Essentials classes will have a different Google Meet login. Click on the Google Meet app from your student’s iPad, then click “Join a meeting”. When it asks for a meeting code, type “ak” for art, “pek” for PE, or “mk” for music.

Coming soon...

  • Parent-teacher conferences are the week of 9/28-10/2. Each kindie teacher will send the link to their sign up, which goes live on Monday 9/21 at 4:00 pm.

  • Sight word rings came home Wednesday and yesterday. Please take them out of your student’s backpack and keep them in a safe spot. Soon, we will start having students write their sight words (one on each card) and flip through the flashcards to record themselves reading the words. (This is great for extra practice at home, too!)

  • We will begin sight word flashcards next week. Look for directions on Seesaw. Here is the full list of sight words that we will be learning each quarter this school year.

Weekly Update 9/7-9/11

This week, we worked on…

  • Scissor safety and cutting on a line/curve

  • Our first kindergarten sight words: at, am

  • Reading the pictures by asking who is doing what?

  • Spelling and writing our names

    • Tracing each letter with our pointer finger

    • Using a whiteboard to trace and write it

  • Counting objects and sorting objects

  • Finishing up the iReady assessments on iPads

  • Phonics skills: adding and deleting words

    • Continued practice with our “pointer power”/tracking words on a page

  • 3-star coloring

Happy (belated) birthday Tony!

We celebrated Tony's birthday with his birthday rock celebration! I cant wait to celebrate other students' birthdays!

Reminders:

  • Friday eLearning P.E. class will be on a different link.

    • First, click on the google meets app on the iPad.

    • Next, click the join a meeting button.

    • Then, type in the meeting code: pek


  • Keep less things in your students’ backpacks to prevent them from getting too heavy- here is what you need to pack each day (leave the rest at home!):

    • Blue folder

    • Two snacks and water bottle

    • iPad bag with headphones

    • Lunchbox (if bringing lunch from home)


  • Dress for the weather! We will go outside for recess if the “feels like” temperature is 20 degrees or higher. When it is snowing, please pack:

    • Warm coat

    • Snow boots

    • Gloves

    • Hat


Weekly Update 8/31-9/4

Happy FriYAY Kindie Families!

I hope you had a wonderful week. It’s hard to believe we are already finished with 11 days of kindergarten!


Reminders:

  • NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 7th (Labor Day). This means that Cohort A will not come to school and Cohort B will not have any assignments scheduled for that day.

  • Please make sure to bring your new yellow pickup tag with you if you are walking up to the school to pick up your child at the end of the day. If we have a substitute, they will be checking for the yellow tag to make sure they are dismissing each student to the correct person. You can take a picture of the yellow tag and show us the picture on your phone. Then you will always have it with you! If someone else will be picking up your child after school, just send them the picture and they can show us from their phone.

  • If you are picking your child up through the carpool line, make sure the yellow pickup tag is on your dashboard so that the staff members at carpool can clearly see the name.

  • If you have not already done so, please send in or email a family photo and a baby picture of your child.

  • We will be using the iPads in class so please make sure to send your child’s iPad, headphones, and charger to school every day in its large ziplock bag.

  • Snack donation: If you're at Costco or Walmart over the weekend and are willing and able to donate some extra snacks for us to keep in our classroom, we would be so grateful! Life happens and sometimes we don't always have our 2 snacks!

  • Please make sure all snacks are dry and peanut and tree nut free.


Keep an eye out for these changes next week:

  • At-home learning choice board: if your student finishes their at-home learning activities early and you need something for them to work on, please utilize the kindergarten choice board! This will be attached to the at-home learning calendar every week going forward.

  • Starting next week, our Friday eLearning schedule will change. Based on feedback from PTO, we will be consolidating our Friday Google Meets to a smaller amount of time instead of stretching our lessons out throughout the day.

  • Essentials classes will be 25 minutes long instead of 45 minutes.

  • It is crucial to complete the Seesaw activities on the assigned day. This will be counting toward student attendance beginning next week.

  • Starting next week, Seesaw assignments will be available on the days that they are listed on the At Home Learning Calendar. This will help students stay on track with their assignments throughout the week.

  • Essentials teachers will list the days that students should work on Essentials assignments on the activity in Seesaw. All Essentials assignments will be due on Fridays.



We had so much fun this week!

We are learning to recognize and form numbers 0-5! Also we have enjoyed getting to know each other and creating our classroom community! Together we came up with our class promise! They are all so sweet and truly care about their friends!

We have been talking about the Zones of Regulation and what each zone means. This will help us to identify when we need to use a calm down strategy!

Weekly Update 8/24-8/28

Dear kindergarten families,

Congratulations! You have just completed our first week of hybrid learning! I hope that things went smoothly on the days that your student(s) learned from home. We had so much fun getting to know each other and I can’t wait to see each of your kiddos again next week. Here are a few of the things we worked on this week at school…

  • Learning expectations and writing our class promise.

  • Morning and afternoon routines (unpacking and packing up).

  • Hand washing and hygiene at school/practicing keeping our masks on!

  • Learning our class numbers for lineup spots.

  • Writing our name.

  • Practicing Seesaw on our iPads.

  • Working with math manipulatives at math work places.

  • Sorting by color, shape, and size.


Reminders for next week:


Here are a few reminders for next week:

  • All About Me bags are due on Monday/Tuesday. Please be sure that your student chooses exactly four items to put in their bag. We will share these during our Community Circle time in the morning!

  • Picture day is also on Monday/Tuesday! Don’t forget to put in an online order (click this link) if you’d like printed copies of school pictures.

  • For Friday eLearning days, please remind your student of our Google Meets expectations- especially staying on MUTE unless called on by the teacher. Thank you!

  • We will be taking i-Ready assessments starting September 1st. This online assessment gives us data about your child's reading and math baseline skills. From this information we can create growth goals for your child and have a better idea of how to differentiate for their specific needs in class. We will also use this data to form reading groups. Once we start reading groups in class and the students' stamina on Google Meets has increased, we will add reading group time slots into our Friday eLearning schedule. More info on reading groups to come soon!



Pictures

If you do not see your child's first day of kindergarten picture, it may be because you checked the media restriction box during express check-in. If you do not see your child's picture and you would like to see pictures of them on my website, please email me and I will find out what needs to be done to take the restriction off in the system.

We had fun learning how to do literacy stations and math work places! :)

Fun on the playground with our new friends! :)