Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our feast a fun and rewarding experience.  Thanks to Collin, Michael, Autum, Davion, Jeremiah, McKenzie, Makilah, Kamarrion, Kenny, Marco, Lily, Adriel, Jeisy, Ariana, Allison, Brandon, Sofia, Tyson, Natalie, Mason, Marvin, William, Lincoln, Jace, Daemon, Roberto, Eden, E’Mariah, and Marisol to bringing in food items.  Thanks also to the families of Tyson, Ariana and Michael for donating your time to cook, clean and serve.  Additionally, thanks to Grant staff who joined in to help:  Mrs. Sens, Ms. Swank, Ms. MacCready and Mrs. Gallil.  We appreciate your support of our learning experiences!

Please make sure that your child arrives at school with shoes that are tied each day.  Double knots work best!  Please also work on learning to tie your own shoes!

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Cut and Return

During the month of December, the Kindergarten classes will be learning about holidays and celebrations around the world.  We would love to incorporate your family’s traditions into our unit of study.  Please let us know about your winter holiday celebrations (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa…) and any special traditions you have surrounding your holiday observances (hanging stocking, a shoe out for St. Nick, lighting candles…)  Please return by Friday, December 4^th!

Name ______________________

Winter Holidays You Celebrate _____________________________________________

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Family Holiday Traditions _____________________________________________

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Important Information

Attendance Challenge

We did not win the November attendance challenge.  One easy way to increase our attendance rates is arriving at school on time.  Tardies count against our class record, so we need everyone at school on time.  School begins at 8:10am.  Students should be in line on the playground no later than 8:05am.

Another important reason to be on time is that your child is better able to succeed in school if they are part of our morning routines.  The first 15 minutes are critical to setting the tone for the entire day.  We get organized, have morning meeting to welcome each other, share our thoughts, solve problems and build character.  We get warmed up with phonics activities and build important reading and math skills.  This time is SO important.  Don’t miss it! 

Recess during Winter Months

We continue to enjoy recess during the winter months.  We go outside daily as long as the temperature is at or above 10 degrees.  Kindergartners should be able to zip coats, pull on boots, get snowpants on, pull on mittens and put on hats or hoods.  The goal is get all gear on in less than 3 minutes (2 minutes is even better!). 

We cannot keep children in for recess due to minor illnesses or preference.  All students must go outside on days that the weather permits.

December Kindergarten Dates to Know

What do we do during: Reading and Writing Workshops

Read Alouds - Each day, students hear terrific stories and informational texts, talk about them and learn strategies to help them understand.

Word Work – We are learning letters and sight words and how letters work together to build new words. 

Writing –  We are learning to draw detailed pictures and write to describe those pictures.  This month, we are working on adding details to drawing, labeling pictures using letter sounds to spell new words and writing simple sentences to give a message.

Guided Reading and Literacy Stations – In small groups, students visit 3 literacy stations each day.  There are 4 total stations including: Read With Others (reading with a partner), Word Work (learning letters, sounds and words), Reader’s Theatre (acting out and telling stories) and Listening (reading and listening to books online).  While students are in literacy stations, groups of students are called together to participate in targeted reading instruction for about 20 minutes.

IMPORTANT:  Students will bring home Guided Reading books on Wednesdays to read to you; you will need to sign a reading log; the book MUST be returned the following day.  We use these books every day, so it is very important to send the books back.

What do we do during:  Math Workshop

Fluency Practice – Each day, we work on a skill that should become quick and easy.  We are working on identifying small groups (0-5) of items without counting, counting to 30, and reading numbers (0-20).

Concept Development – Additionally, we have hands-on experiences to manipulate items to solve mathematical problems like adding, sorting, and comparing.

Math Stations & Guided Math – In small groups, students visit 4 math stations: Practice Zone (math games and manipulative), Recording Zone (writing math concepts), Reading Zone (using books to explore topics related to math) and Technology Zone (using iPads and laptops to practice focus skills).  While students are working on teams at the Zones, small groups are also participating in guided math groups.

What do we do during: Investigations

Science and Social Studies are called Investigations because we use these opportunities to explore the world and how things work.  We experiment, read, talk, hypothesize and create.  This month, we will be investigating:  Fall, harvest, and Christopher Columbus. 

October Homework