Welcome, welcome, welcome to another great week of Kindergarten. This week we painted pumpkins with our fifth-grade helpers, learned about stretching out words phonetically, and had our first whole school assembly over zoom! But first, the important stuff…
The Halloween Party will be from 10:00-11:00 because the parade’s NEW TIME IS 11:15. Monday is a half day of school, and you are welcome to take your child home after the parade. I will have a sign-out list in our classroom that you will have to sign. Please wear your costume to school as there will not be time to change into the costume during the school day.
Please be sure that costumes do not depict violence, and masks are not allowed. Fake weapon accessories are prohibited.
Students choosing to participate will walk with their class in our Halloween parade on Monday, October 31st, at 11:15 AM. We will begin our parade inside and then walk in the front of the building, where we will have a family viewing area. We would love to have you if you could come to view the parade!
Our Monday half-day schedule will be as follows;
9:00-9:30- Morning work snack and free choice
9:30-10:00 Morning meeting, message, and calendar
10:00- I will explain the centers; students can move freely to each center.
11:00ish- Clean up
11:15- The parade
11:45- Come back to the classroom, stack the chairs and get ready to go home.
12:00- Watch a movie while Anchor’s Away and Buses are dismissed
12:00-4:00- I have to go to a boring meeting (if anyone wants to go in my place, you are more than welcome—-I am joking.)
Please remember that the massive schedule change can bring about some behaviors in students that are not regularly seen.
Weekly homework after Halloween
The district expects ALL students to practice 30 minutes a week in math and reading on iReady. If you need help with this, please let me know. I keep track of the number of minutes your child is on iReady weekly. However, if a student sits in front of iReady or only plays the games, these do not count as minutes. iReady only counts active reading and math lesson work as minutes. Therefore, having it open for 30 minutes does not show up as minutes on iReady; students must be engaged in the iReady lessons.
Remember that your Turkey in Disguise homework is due 11-1. We will hang these out in the hallway until Thanksgiving.
Snack:
Many students must bring in two snacks daily and wait for me to provide a snack. If they do not like the snack, they complain they are hungry. Please pack your child (at least) two peanut-free snacks a day, separated from your student’s lunch. Also, please do not send in Halloween candy for snacks.
Reading:
We are coming to the end of the unit, and this week we acted out Caps for Sale. Unfortunately, I left my camera at school; therefore, I will post the videos in next week’s newsletter. In the meantime, ask your student about Caps for Sale and have them retell you the story. We will finish unit 1 in reading next week. Our next unit in reading is about decoding words.
Phonics and Writing:
As an early reader, do you remember struggling with a word and being told to “sound it out”? Breaking a written word into its various parts requires several skills, but only does the reader well if that child has a strong sense of phonemic awareness.
Phonemic awareness is one of the number one predictors of reading success. Here’s a quick explanation: Phonemes are the individual sounds in words. Before children can read the sounds in words, they need to be able to hear, isolate, and manipulate the sounds in words.
Stretching words is one activity that helps children hear, segment, and blend phonemes. Using a rubber band or a slinky, I show the children how I can stretch the item and snap it back together. I have the children illustrate using their hands, starting with their palms together, pulling the hands apart, and then snapping them back together into a clap. (Sound and motion — the kids are sucked right in!)
Now that they have the visual and physical concept of slowly stretching and snapping back together, we start stretching some words. With each sound in the word, stretch your hands, slinkies, or rubber bands slightly farther. So, to segment the word cat, you have three phonemes: /c/ /a/ /t/. For turn: /t/ /ur/ /n/.
When a child has built a foundation of stretching and snapping words, combining that ability with a growing knowledge of the alphabetic principle and phonics to begin “sounding out” words is a natural step. Just another way that our kids start to read before ever studying a word on a page. When writing with your child, please, do not tell them how to spell the word, instead, listen for the sounds and help them identify each sound.
Here is an example I use in class of someone teaching how to stretch out a word.
Math
We are working on graphing and different ways to make the number ten. One of the more complicated concepts for Kindergarteners is making the number 10 differently. The game “Spill the Beans” is a fun way to have your students meet these outcomes. When we played in class, I purchased two-sided counters. These counters are placed in a small cup and “spilled.” Students sort the bean by colors and come up with an addition problem. Here is an example of another teacher explaining the game:
Dates:
October 28 – November 14 – Poinsettia Sale to Benefit PLE Green Team’s Recycling Efforts
October 31 – 1/2 Day of School and Halloween Parade @ 11:15 AM
November 8 – No School – Election Day
November 16 – Pastries with Parents A-L
November 17 – Pastries with Parents M-Z
November 17 – 1/2 Day of School
Friday, November 18 – Picture RETAKE Day
November 24-25 – Thanksgiving Break – No School
Tuesday, April 11, 2023 – Spring Picture Day
Picture ordering information
Order online at mylifetouch.com
Use the code: EVT92CJTB
School Fundraiser:
Today we start our Winter Holiday Fundraiser. Please take a few minutes to view our kick-off video.
Click here to view and download a PDF of our Winter Holiday flyer containing pictures and information to help you begin shopping and sharing with others using our online shopping format.
When can I shop? The online sale for Pleasant Lake Elementary is from 12:01am on 10/28/2022 until 11:59pm on 11/14/2022.
Who benefits from my purchase? Your fundraising assistance will help Pleasant Lake Elementary.
