The Kindergarten Family Mailer

October 24th-28th, 2016

By Mrs. Chien and Mrs. Lizarralde Have I mentioned…I LOVE FALL!! Although I grew-up at the Jersey Shore, we had huge oak trees in front

of our house and I can remember as a little kid, raking up piles of leaves with my brother and taking a running start to jump in them.

. This Week, Kindergarten…

Why is teaching rhyming important?

Oh, teaching rhyming is important for so many reasons! To begin with, a multitude of research has shown a correlation between rhyming mastery and

eventual reading preparedness. On top of that, rhyming helps kids improve their oral language skills overall. It helps them to playfully manipulate their language, which gives them a kind of “permission” to manipulate language in other ways. Children have more

ownership over their language when they’re encouraged to change it and play with how they speak.

Phonics: LESSONS 25-28 Aa "a" as in "a"pple rhymes vowel-If "a" is followed by a consonant, then we code the "a" with a breve. recognizing, writing Aa reading hat, pot, tag, gag, gap, lag, lap, log, got, hot, top, tap, pal, the, end, a, at counting sounds matching words HOT! HOT! HOT! Reader #1

compound words reading front to back, title, sentences, period (stop sign), exclamation mark (exciting mark), retelling a story, comprehending a story final (ending) sounds, assessment #5

Reading/Writing: *We focus on concepts of print during reading. (following words left to right, top to bottom, return sweep) It is important to encourage one-to-one match of spoken words to printed words *Identify environmental print (labels/signs) *Use before, during, after reading strategies to make connections, predict, ask and answer questions, recall information *Comprehension: Recalling important details in a story *Story sequencing *Making predictions before reading *Compare and Contrast *linking reading and writing experiences Handwriting:

White boards, markers and erasers, oh my! When it comes to active engagement, nothing beats a classroom whiteboard. Not the expensive, high-tech kind – I’m referring to the low-tech white boards that students write on with dry erase markers.

Reasons I Choose To Use A Classroom Whiteboard 1. I can use them to engage every child in every single lesson.

2. Minute by minute, I know exactly who’s grasping the concepts and who’s not.

3. Students love them because they’re fun. Mistakes made during guided practice can be easily brushed away.

4. Using dry erase boards will save paper and significantly reduce the stack of work we take home to grade.

5. Dry erase boards can be used in whole group instruction, small guided groups, and learning centers.

6. No need to worry about technology failing when you need it most.

7. No learning curve or advanced prep! Just pass out the dry erase boards and let the learning begin!

When your child has homework involving writing, please encourage them to stretch the sounds and write what they hear. It is developmentally appropriate for them to use this word stretching technique and only have a few letter sounds at this point in the year. Please encourage them to word stretch rather than spell the word correctly. The more confident your child becomes with word stretching the more independent they will become during writing.

Language Arts: Books we have read:

We read this book by Steve Metzger…

One of my favorite fall reads!! It’s great for SO many reasons and there are SO many teaching opportunities that come from it. I decided to use this book to teach the kids about action words…aka: verbs :) We talked about action words and compared them to nouns…then we played a quick little “Action or Not?!” whole group game before reading. Basically, I just called out a lot of different words {nouns & verbs}. If they heard a noun, they did nothing. If they heard a verb, they had to act out the word I said. Clearly, you can’t act out the word “green” or “girl”…so that helped them to quickly see the difference between the two.

Bobby and his friends wait all day for school to end and for their chance to play outdoors in the fall weather. Flying leaves, swirling colors, and crisp air make the perfect setting for a game of football with Sparky the dog. The kids are surprised by how quickly it gets dark and even more surprised when it begins to snow. But there's no need to worry―the chilly nights ahead will mean watching football on the couch with family, tucked under a cozy blanket.

At a fancy hotel dinner, Fly Guy gets into some trouble — and the restaurant's soup! When Buzz and his family have dinner in a fancy hotel's restaurant, Fly Guy isn't allowed in. After searching through the hotel's trash, Fly Guy smells a wonderful aroma coming from the restaurant's kitchen.

Fly Guy causes some messy mayhem in the restaurant, and in the end, everyone needs a bath!

Spanish with Señora Seay we continue to learn greetings; hello, “Hola!” “Buenos días” - Good day; Buenas Tardes - Good afternoon/evening is; Buenas noches - good night. Siéntense = sit down) and párense = stand up. Reviewed color words: azul — blue, blanco — white, negro — black, rojo — red, rosado — pink, verde — green, naranja — orange, amarillo — yellow,

anaranjado — orange, numbers: And the children listened to information about Latino artist, Pablo Picasso-- "Every child is an artist.

The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." ~ Pablo Picasso

Health: Mrs. Houtz continued using the Safeside series to teach Stranger Safety: Hot Tips To Keep Cool Kids Safe With People They Don't Know And Kinda Know.

PE Paddle and Racquet skills: Learning the basic skills needed to strike an object using paddles and racquets.

Art The children finished their Mexican marigold projects. You may have seen some of them decorating the bulletin board outside of the art room!

Mrs. Hess and I need parental help! Have your child practice cutting. Thumb is up and using their opposite hand to rotate the paper.

Social Studies Who will be President?

The president is the person in charge of our country, the United States. It’s similar to how the school principal is in charge of the school. The president is “hired” by the American people for a four-year job. Once the four years are up, the people can either re-hire him or choose someone else. No one can be hired more than twice. Barack Obama is the current and 44th president of the United States. He was re-hired in November 2012.

The next U.S. president will be elected in November 2016.

Science

Leaves:

We went on a leaf hunt all over the property and graphed our leaf “findings.” Music Mrs. Wells had the children play her various musical instruments and practice using

rhythm.

Religion: The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. As we all know, praying the Holy Rosary is envisioning the face of Christ through the eyes of Mary. Mary, the Mother of God, the person closest to Jesus, the only person honored to be united with Jesus so closely, will surely help us to know and love her Son more. To pray the Rosary is to reflect on the life of Jesus and Mary, working as one to fulfill God’s will. The will of God is the salvation of all creation. Praying the Rosary is praying the Lord’s Prayer, the ‘Our Father’, the prayer Jesus Himself taught his apostles to pray. As a class we continue to pray using the rosary.

**Students should be practicing prayers at home.

Math Wrapped-up Chapter 2 and Moving into Chapter 3, Position and directions

Fire Drill: Wednesday the school had a fire drill and

Kindergarten did a fantastic job!

Technology in the Classroom

Brainpopjr.

Halloween

There’s more to Halloween than candy, trick-or-treating, and costumes! In this movie, you’ll learn how this spooky October holiday began. You’ll learn how it was first celebrated by the Celts in Great Britain and Ireland. They celebrated the end of the fall harvest with a festival called Samhain and wore masks and costumes. Once called All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween was celebrated the night before All Hallows’ Day (or All Souls’ Day) on

November 1st and All Saints’ Day on November 2nd. Learn about common Halloween symbols and the traditions people practice today. Also learn tips for staying safe on Halloween night!

This story comes from the past for me, and I have not seen it in many years, if I ever find it on DVD I must own it!

The story is told using that warm fuzzy animation style we (I am dating myself!) grew so fond of in the past. Telling the tale of a pumpkin that could not smile, and a boy who wanted a jack o' lantern, but his mother/grandmother (?) would not allow him to have one for Halloween on the basis that they attract fruit flies. Raggedy Ann and Andy determined to help said Pumpkin to smile and find him a home with the boy.

The most memorable scenes of this movie are the Pumpkin actively crying tears that consist of pumpkin seeds, and all the silhouette scenes of Halloween in the Neighborhood...a definite classic for reliving your (my) trick-or-treating past!

Special Projects None at this time!

Celebrating Our Diversity

We wish to celebrate our diversity by having family and friends come to present information about their culture and heritage. We would like to have one to two speakers a month who come in to share information about where they are from (if you are from outside the United States) or their heritage (e.g. Polish), as well as their culture (e.g. dress, food, activities, music, housing). The presentation, including snack, should be no more than 45 minutes. By celebrating what is special about all of the people in the world, we can learn to better appreciate one another. If you or another family member is available to come in to present to Kindergarten, please let us know so we can start scheduling these wonderful opportunities for learning.

Important Reminders

Dressing In kindergarten, we are focusing on responsibility and independence. We ask that you send your child to school with coats and shoes that they can easily be put on by themselves or with minimal assistance. Also we ask that you send an extra set of clothing with your child to keep in their backpacks just in case it is needed.

Please pack a school sweater or sweatshirt, daily, for your child. The classroom is kept cool! ☺ Please check book bags EVERYDAY! ☺ Please make sure your child can read a calendar, tell you how many days are in a week, read the days of the week, tell you how many months are in a year, and say the months in order. We practice this daily and they should be able to tell you, too! ☺ Read, read, read to your child. ☺ Use flashcards with your child for letters, sight words, and numbers. ☺ Your child should be able to tell his/her full name, full address, telephone number, and birth date - including the year.

Please remember to label all belongings of your child; the lost and found has many items without names! Daily Prayers

Every day we say prayers in the morning and afternoon. The children are learning them and would benefit from reinforcement from home. Please continue to review the prayers with your children. Thank you for your help! Prayers can be found on the class website.

Chuckles and Heart warmers

During a class discussion, Mrs. Chien asked, “What is the job of the President?” One of the

kiddos responded, “To rule the World!”

Wish List

If anyone has extra buttons or small game pieces we could use for sorting activities, check the junk drawers….

Our St. Francis statue lost the bottom and cannot be repaired… Napco St. Francis Statue, 20-Inch Tall on Amazon

List Price: $69.99 Price: $54.46 Free Shipping for Prime Members

Upcoming Events Please note the following three reminders from last week. Oct. 27th Saint Crowns were due into class Oct. 27th Pumpkin Book Report Project were due into class Oct. 27th Last Day of Warm Weather Uniforms NO MORE SHORTS

Oct. 31st 1:30 Halloween Party (Bring Costume)

Nov. 1st 8:45 MASS All Saints Day (Holy Day of Obligation) Kindergarten’s first all-school mass. Nov. 10th 11:30 Dismissal Conferences Nov. 11th 11:30 Dismissal Conferences Nov. 15th Thanksgiving play and party Nov. 17th Healthy Plat Presentation Nov. 23rd -25th NO School Thanksgiving Nov. 29th 9:15 Tiny Tots @ Forest Park Field Trip

Dec. 8th The Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Holy Day of Obligation) **Kindergarten DOES NOT receive report cards every nine weeks; only in January and June. *Suggestions For Success* Have your child practice tying their own shoes and zipping their own

jacket.

Have your child practice cutting with their thumb up and using their opposite hand to rotate the paper.

A Note from the Teachers

We would like to thank all of the families that have helped us get the year off to a great start!

Thank you to those of you that have had “homework” to complete; tracing, cutting, or preparing materials. Those that have volunteered their time to come in and help pull pages from books and the driver/chaperones that made

our field trip to Belvedere a safe and memorable experience for the children! All of your contributions to the classroom have been tremendous and we could not do it

without your support!

This is a peanut, tree nut free and Gluten aware classroom!

Pennies for Peru

The St. Francis School “Pennies for Peru” program was established in September 2007. This is an on-going monetary collection to aid the members of our Sister Parish in Peru. Thank you for supporting this very worthy cause.

Box Tops and Campbell’s Labels -

Funds generated from the collections go directly back to the school to purchase school materials.

We are collecting Box Tops and Campbell’s Soup Labels. Please send them in a plastic bag in the Boomerang folder. We will be collecting these throughout the year.