Hello Kindergarten Families!

Happy October to you all!  It has been wonderful to start out the month with classroom volunteers.  The kindergarteners so enjoy your presence in our room, and we greatly appreciate your assistance at Choice Time.  We look forward to seeing more of you in the days to come.  Please be sure to sign in at the Office when you come to volunteer; we would like to keep track of visitors to our campus as well as gather data regarding the number of volunteers throughout the year.

Your children have been hard at work in Kindergarten!  Shared Reading time continues to include repetitive, rhyming songs and poems that offer your children opportunities to practice two strategies that “good readers” use–“looking at the picture” and “getting your mouth ready.”  Hopefully, they have come home reciting the nursery rhymes that you remember from days gone by.  Believe it or not, those old treasures are rich with lyrical phrases that will help your child develop into a reader!  We have included some of our favorites at the end of the newsletter.  

In addition to reciting nursery rhymes, we have been exploring the question, “What makes a good crew member?”  We wish you all could have witnessed your children in the midst of our “literary analysis”.  The process took place over three days.  First, with a partner, they selected a story that we had read as a class.  Together, they re-examined the text and chose a character that portrayed good friendship.  Next, they worked together to draw the character.  On Day Two, the children followed a protocol called “Think-Pair-Share”; they explored the question, “What did you learn about friendship from your character?”  The pairs synthesized their ideas, and together we wrote a list of what a “good crew member/friend does.”  On the final day, your children presented evidence from the stories to support their ideas.  It was extraordinary to see them analyze, collaborate and verbalize their thinking to the group.  They were deservedly proud of their hard work!  Come see the fruits of their labor– right on our Expedition Wall.

During Math Time we have begun to delve more deeply into directed math lessons about sorting and probability.  Your children are working with a parent at Choice Time to complete math games that have been introduced to the whole class.  The reinforcement fosters both math skill development and confidence.

As a crew we are striving for independence! 🙂  In that vein, we would like you to encourage your children to manage the morning classroom routines on their own.  Please allow them to stow lunches in cubbies, hang backpacks, etc.  Teachers and older SELS students will help facilitate the reading of the morning question and the sign-in procedure.  (This is also an effort to minimize some of the bottle-necking/noise that takes place in our narrow entrance.)  Please do not take this as a hard-fast rule!  If your child still depends on your presence in the room, that is certainly fine.  Just know that we are working towards building self-reliance and problem-solving skills.  Last but not least, please have your child practice putting on/taking off all snow clothes.  The past two days have served as a reminder that winter is not far off, and we would like your children to become self-sufficient in the area of dressing for recess.  

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.  We look forward to seeing you in Kindergarten soon!

🙂 Elizabeth & Dana

Poems:

Wee Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs, downstairs,
In his nightgown,
Rapping at the window,
Crying through the lock,
Are your children all in bed, 
For now it’s eight o’clock?

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Baa, baa black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Queen of Hearts
The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts
All on a summer’s day.
The knave of hearts,
He stole some tarts
And took them clean away.

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses,
And all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

There Was an Old Woman
There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe
She had so many children
She didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth
Without any bread
And whipped them all soundly
And sent them to bed.