We have had a wonderful start to the Kindergarten year!

Your children have become comfortable with the classroom routines and are beginning to form new friendships with their crewmates. It has been a pleasure to get to know each and every one of them. Here is the news…

 

Expedition News


Title: Building Community

Guiding Questions:

  • How do we build community?
  • How do we contribute to community?

Case Study #1: Building Our Community

Learning targets:

  • I can describe the behaviors of a good crew member.
  • I can identify and explain the SIERRA norms.

Our fall expedition, Building Community, is well underway! In our first case study, Building Our Community, we are working hard to identify the attributes of a good crewmember. We have read stacks of picture books and nursery rhymes in search of examples of “good crewmember behavior.” Your children have become quite skilled at finding evidence of this behavior in the literature we have read and at articulating their findings. We are impressed with their willingness to work together in small groups and to cooperate on challenging tasks. In the upcoming days we will complete small-group assessment interviews. Your children will determine which nursery rhyme characters would be good crewmembers–based on clear evidence from the text. Literary analysis in Kindergarten! It promises to be a year steeped in great learning!

 

Next week we will begin our work with the SIERRA norms-Strength, Integrity, Empathy, Respect, Responsibility. We will model/act out examples of each norm and begin to hold ourselves accountable to those norms both in and out of the classroom. We encourage you to begin using/discussing these norms at home to support our classroom learning. Thank you!

 

Crew News

We had a fabulous adventure hike in Martis two weeks ago! Thank you to the many parents who were able to drive and chaperone. We loved your company and your assistance! Your children did a beautiful job supporting each other in the “challenge-by-choice” creek crossing and blindfold/trust walk. We were pleased to hear them encouraging and congratulating each other along the way.

 

Literacy/Shared Reading Time is a bustling part of the Kindergarten day! Your children work in small groups to practice reading skills, listening comprehension skills as well as beginning math concepts (yes, we know it’s called “Literacy Time!”). We greatly rely upon our volunteers during this time. If you are interested in helping in our classroom, please come in and sign up on the calendar. We would ideally like 1-2 volunteers each day. If you are unable to come in on your assigned day, please try to find a substitute if at all possible. Thank you so much! Here are some literacy skills learned thus far:

  • 3 ways to read: read the pictures/read the words/retell a familiar story
  • reading strategies: Look at the pictures…Use the beginning sound.
  • rhyming: critical building block to reading success! Keep practicing at home!

 

 

SELS News

Goal-setting conferences are two weeks away! Start talking with your student about possible character and academic goals for the year. We will send a sign-up calendar soon via email.

 

 

Dates to Remember:

Oct. 14-18th: Goal-setting conferences; Students dismissed at 1:00pm. all week