September/October Read Aloud

In September and October in kindergarten, we will be reading the following emergent books repeatedly to encourage story language and build comprehension.

With enough practice,  your child will "read" these stories through pictures and memory.

Please encourage reading these books over and again.

Proud

Bully

Worried

Furious

Patient

Clever/Wise

Selfish

Caring

Determined

Adventurous

Brav

Frustrated

Bossy

Determined

September Math Workshop

       

 In the month of September, Kindergarten is very excited to dive into expanding our knowledge about math and how math can help us in so many different situations in our life! We will...

Sort and Classify 
Through exploration and experimentation, we will learn what makes two objects look similar and different and sort objects into categories.  Students will be asked to describe two objects as "exactly the same" or "the same but _____." These activities allow students to begin to reason and articulate their thinking.  

Figure Out "How Many?" 

Students will count, order, and write up to 10 objects to answer "how many" questions.  They count objects in different configurations and will learn that the last number said tells the number of objects counted.  They will also understand that objects counted in different ways still yield the same total.  

Understand Relationships Between Numbers

Students will build on their understanding of relationships between numbers.  They will realize that  each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one greater and that the number before is one less.  This will lay the foundation for later in the year when we focus on "counting on" rather than "counting all." 

We want students to expect school to be a dynamic and safe place to learn, an objective that will definitely be achieved with the help of our wonderful parents! We look forward to a wonderful school year, with continuous growth and learning from our students! 

                   

  Parents … Try linking to one of these websites to explore games and/or print worksheets that support your child's work in math!

http://www.k5learning.com/free-preschool-kindergarten-worksheets/same-different-worksheets

http://www.abcya.com/counting_sorting_comparing.htm

http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/busyday/bubbles/

September Reader's Workshop

Reader’s Workshop in Kindergarten - September 2015

 Our first unit of study for reader’s workshop is “Readerly Life”.  The purpose of this unit is to set the foundation for good reading habits in school and at home.  This unit allows for teachers to put important routines and procedures in place as well as assess and teach book-handling skills.  Our goal is to build enthusiastic readers, develop routines and procedures for reading independently and in partnerships. During the month of September the kindergarten teachers are assessing the students to get to know them as readers. They will assess each child individually for letter/sound recognition, book-handling skills, sight word recognition and leveled book assessments if a child is reading conventionally.

Please return a signed book contract in order for your child to bring books from school home.  Please encourage your child to read any books they bring home by looking at the pictures and saying what is happening on each page using storybook language.  At this time of the year, in kindergarten, a child is expected to read for 15 minutes with somebody.

September Word Study

To kick-off the school year in Word Study, we will be playing the “Star Name Game” each day in class! This game will not only give each student an opportunity to be the “Star of the Day” and get to know their classmates better, but it will also help them begin to recognize the letters of the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes.

Each Star of the Day will have the chance to tell a little bit about themselves as they are interviewed by their classmates, and we will practice recognizing and writing their name as a class.  We will create a chart with all students’ names so that we can compare the similarities and differences in our names.  To reinforce what we have learned in class, we will send home a Star Name Game homework sheet each night.  

Parent Tip:

This is a great time to focus on the names of the important people in your child's life. Using side-walk chalk, paper and pencil, or any other writing tool, write and talk about the names of the people you and your child know. He or she will soon begin connecting the beginning sound of those names with the letter at the beginning of that name, and the sound it makes. Even better, write the first letter of the name in a different color!

September Writer's Workshop

Welcome to our Writer’s Workshop!

     In this first unit of Writer’s Workshop the children will understand many types of writing. The children will be creating lists, signs and stories.  They will learn to recognize and talk about signs that they see around the neighborhood. They will then draw and make up their own signs to display around their rooms.  As well as writing lists, signs and stories the students will learn the routines of the writer’s workshop, which are very important for our workshop to succeed.

Here are some tips that you can do

1.  Hang signs in your home. Label the door, clock, window etc.
2.  Go for a walk with your child. Have your child recognize the environmental print in the neighborhood.
3. Have your child make a grocery list with you when you go shopping! Be creative and have fun! 

Remember that at this point,

drawing pictures is a very valid and

important way for students to write

and communicate ideas. 

So, if you are "writing a list"

together, it might look like a list of

pictures, labeled with the first letter.

Kindergarten Policies

                                                                 September 2015

Dear Kindergarten Families,

This memo is intended to help you understand some kindergarten policies and procedures.

Arrival and Dismissal

§  Students will be picked up by their teachers at 8:35 in the auditorium.

§  School starts promptly at 8:40.

§  Breakfast is served daily starting at 8:00 in the cafeteria.

§  School ends at 3:00.  Kindergarten classes will be dismissed along the gate on 4^th avenue.

Absences and Early Dismissal

§  Attendance is extremely important.  If your child is absent, please call the school office and leave a message regarding your child’s absence.  The phone number is (718) 965-4200.

§  If your child is absent, please send a doctor’s note in your child’s folder when they return.

§  If your child must leave school early for an appointment, please send a note telling us what time your child will be leaving.  This will help us have homework ready for your child without disrupting the class.

Homework Folder

§  Homework will be assigned daily.

§  Please check to make sure your child completes their homework and brings it to school every day.

§  Please remove all homework after it has been checked from the homework folder.

§  Please check the homework folder daily for notices from the school and sign and return if applicable.

§  Reading each night is part of the students’ homework assignment.  Please fill out the reading log each night and make sure it remains inside of their folder.

Field Trips

§  Please sign and return trip slips as soon as possible.  Please put the slip and money in a sealed envelope in your child’s homework folder.  Write your child’s name and classroom number on the envelope.

§  Volunteers are needed to chaperone field trips.  For each trip, we will let you know how many chaperones are needed.  On some field trips, we must limit the number of chaperones.

§  For trips in which we will not be back for lunch, the school will provide lunch for your child to bring.  Unless there is a student allergy in the class, this lunch will be either peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cheese sandwiches.  We do not know ahead of time which option will be provided, so if you child does not eat these choices, please make sure to send them to school with a lunch on trip days.

Birthdays

§  If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday in school, please contact your child’s teacher to make arrangements.

§  If you do choose to do so, the birthday will be celebrated during last period, at 2:40.

§  If you are bringing in food, please make sure it is in individual servings, such as a cupcake or cookie (no cakes or items that need to be cut).

§  If you are giving out goody bags to students, please make sure there is no food or candy in the goody bag.

Thank you for your cooperation and support, we look forward to a great school year!

Sincerely,

The Kindergarten Team