Grant El. Kindergarten
Weekly News
From Mrs. Conran and
Mrs. Caya
Week Beginning: February 2, 2015
Important Dates
Feb 5 OPT Meeting
6:30pm
Feb 10 Family Night
– Watch for details.
Feb 11 Sprit Day – Wear red and pink!
Feb 18 2nd
Coffee – for parents 8:10am Room 108
Feb 20 Father
Daughter Dance – Watch for Details
Feb 21 Saturday Morning
Book Club
Feb 25-27 Parent-Teacher Conferences (No CLC)
Reading
Comprehension: Readers use many strategies to decode and
understand text. Sometimes, readers
sound out words, sometimes they think about what sounds right and sometimes
they use the meaning of the story (context) to figure things out. This week, we are working on using meaning to
figure out stories and specific words in stories. Since most of our stories have wonderful
illustrations, we are noticing how the illustrations connect to (and help us
figure out) the text. Be sure to review
the meaning of author and illustrator with your Kindergartner.
Learning Target: I can describe the relationship between
illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g. what moment in a story
an illustration depicts).
Phonics: We are working this week on learning sight
words and using them well when reading and writing. There are 60 Kindergarten words. Your child should be able to easily read 30
or more words at this time. By the end
of February, our goal is 40 or more words.
Words to practice
& review: make, play, said, good, like, and, the, see,
we, a, to, come, me, with, my, you, what, are, now, is, find, this, will, be,
go, for, how
Writing
Describing words are the focus this week. We are brainstorming ways to make our writing
more interesting by adding vivid details.
We are extending our shape knowledge onto 3-D shapes.
Learning Target
1: I can correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or
overall size. (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones,
cylinders, spheres)
Learning Target 2: I can identify shapes as two-dimensional
(lying in a plane, “flat”) or three-dimensional (“solid”).
Investigations
Our new unit for science is wood. We will be looking at the properties of wood and how
different kinds of wood are alike and different. Then we will investigate how
wood can be processed as we sand wood and make simulated plywood.
Parenting Tips on Social and Emotional Behavior
Parents can help their
children understand and express their emotions. The following strategies are
some of the ways you can help your child express his feelings:
*Help your children understand
their emotions by first giving the feelings names and then encouraging them to
talk about how they are feeling. For example, you might say to your child,
“Daddy left on a trip, you are sad. You said you want your Daddy.” By giving
your child a label for her emotions, you enable your child to develop a vocabulary
for talking about feelings.
*Give children lots of
opportunities to identify feelings in themselves and others. For example, you
might say to your child, “Riding your bike is so much fun. I see you smiling.
Are you happy?” Or you might point out a situation and ask your child to
reflect on what someone else may be feeling: “Joey bumped his head on the
slide. How do you think Joey feels?”
*Teach your children the
different ways they can respond to specific feelings, conflicts, or problems. Talk
about your own feelings with your children. “Remember yesterday when the water
in the bathtub would not go down the drain? Mommy got so mad and do you
remember what my face looked like when I got mad? Can you make a mad face like
Mommy’s?” Talk with your children about different ways you deal with specific
feelings. “When I get mad I take a deep breath, count to three, and then try to
think of the best way to deal with my problem.”
*Teach your child to identify
and express their emotions in ways that your family and friends find acceptable.
For example, you might tell your child “Sometimes Grandfather is angry when things
don’t go well at work. What does he do? He sits on the porch until he figures
out what he wants to say about it. You should sit and think when you get
angry.”
Reminders
Field Trip
If you have not yet returned
your Seussical Field Trip permission slip or payment, please return by Wednesday,
2/4.
