This past week we talked a lot about fall. Many of the kids brought in "signs" of fall and we added them into our science center. We brainstormed MANY fun things that you can do in the fall, and it was a great weekend for them! I hope you all had a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. I know I had a good time picking out pumpkins with my kids, running in our first family 5K race, and visiting Starved Rock. I sometimes forget how amazing Illinois is this time of year!
This week we will introduce the letter R. During the week we will read about things that start with r like...rabbits, rocks, and rain. Students will need to bring in a rock towards the end of the week for our science lesson. Our main focus though will be rhyming. Students will practice making rhyming words with partners, make a rhyming dog, and play games with rhyming words. We of course will read lots of books with rhyming patterns and discuss how they make the stories sound. I added a rhyming link on the blog. You may want your child to check it out. During math, students will learn about the tricky teens, as we practice reading and writing teen numbers. Teen numbers are sometimes difficult for kids to read and write, so be sure to practice them at home as well. During our weekly citizenship lesson, we will introduce the first lesson for the May Watts bully program. Jolly Phonics is almost over. Hopefully you have been practicing the sounds and motions for the letters each week. At this point, we are doing a lot of blending together of the sounds. At home, you can slowly say the sounds of words and ask your child to blend it together to make a word, or you can ask them to write the sounds down that you say. Many of the kids have become very good at this skill, they just need practice and confidence.
In addition, I will be assessing math skills for first quarter this week. At conferences, I will share with you a snap shot of your child's school performance and we can discuss any concerns that we have together. By now we have many enrichment and interventions in place as we try to best meet the needs of each of the students in kindergarten. Kindergarten is a BUSY place!
If you have not done so, PLEASE send back your field trip permission form and money. Also, please return the conference forms so that I can be sure we have a time to meet in November. Have a super week!
