9-28-13

Happy Saturday Families!

Our class had a very busy week, So busy I did not get to take any pictures=( Those are my favorite to post. This week we started our reading and math curriculum. We as well, did out Dibels testing in math and reading. These scores will be given to parents during parent conferences.

Here are a few things we did this week.

In reading we are learning a letter a day and the sign to go with it. We are as well practicing rhyming and syllables. The students are very good at breaking the words up to count syllables. We are continuing to do our Daily 5, and students are able to pick their own rotations now.

In Math we are practicing counting and writing to 5.  In Math Workstations we are continuing to practice routines and expectations, and learning new counting stations each day.

In social studies we talked about families, and how families and different and the same. They all look different but they are the same because they all have love. We as well, discussed how we are all apart of God’s family. I am excited about next week’s unit, we are talking about Community building with in our classroom. This includes how to be a good classmate, and things we can do to help our class. This unit includes a lot of fun games and activities for the students, which I will make sure to get pictures of!

I hope everyone enjoys their rainy day, and takes time to relax inside! And if you haven’t taken time to look at scholastics for the September book buy here is the website

https://clubs2.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/LogonForm?fileName=get-started&anchorLink=gs_page-menu-startedlink

Class activation code: M9B42

Bible verse next week:

Proverbs 3: 5- Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

~Mrs. Lee

Week 3

3^rd Week of school-

We had an awesome week! All of the students are learning the procedures very well. They are becoming very comfortable with each other too; making lots of friends.

We are slowly adding more Sign Language signs to our daily routine. Thanks goes to Eliza and her mother for teaching us new signs everyday! Every day when we come in from recess I use signs to see if they need to use the restroom or get a drink of water and they respond with a yes or no sign. Next week as we begin practicing our letters we will as well learn our letter signs!

This week our focus in Social Studies was butterflies! We made Lap books, which I will send home on Monday. We labeled our butterflies and talked about the lifecycle. We even watched a video of the life cycle which they loved! In art we talked about symmetry to accompany our unit. Students painted butterflies, and when they were done pressed both sides together to make it symmetrical.

In daily five we added two new things: Listen to Reading and Word Work. The students have the routine down very well, and are saying they love doing it. It is my favorite time of day too, the students are all quietly reading, writing, and working with words. The best part though is this is the time where authentic learning is happening! Next week I will begin working with students one on one and in one more week begin small groups.

In math we are continuing to learn how to use all of the manipulatives, including computers. On Friday, they learned how to use the workstation board and find where they should be. Next week we begin lessons on counting.

I have to say all of my students are becoming very independent, which amazes me and I am very proud of. Some examples are in Daily 5 they pick where they will sit in the room, in math they look to see what station they work at, they grab that station and pick a place to sit in the room, and while walking in line the line leader leads us not me!

Next week we begin digging into our curriculum, now that our class has a routine down. We will be doing dibbles testing all next week. Lastly, in Social Studies we will be talking about families.

As well, look out for our October calendar and a News Letter next week. There are a lot of fun things going on in October!

*For easier access, I have added a link on my blog to follow me by email so you can receive an email when I post a blog each week.*

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thank you,

Mrs. Lee

9-9-13

Wow, this week went by REALLY fast. I feel like we got a lot accomplished though!

This week our focus in social studies was All About Me. We made self portraits that turned out super cute, if you haven’t had a chance to see them they are hanging on the hallway wall. We made our names out of beans. The students loved this so much they did this in after care as well, and spelled their sight words. Lastly we made an all about me book.

In literacy we continued to build our stamina in reading, we are at 7 minutes, double what we did last week! Students also began using their whisper phones (they whisper into it and it comes out louder in their ear). We also introduced writing and built our stamina to 4 minutes. We have not done any lessons, we are just learning to sit and write/draw for 10 minutes (goal).

In math we are learning different math workstations. This week we introduced how to use the interactive white board, and a few board games that help with counting (and taking turns=)).

We also started specials this week. Here is a picture of Senorita Victoria reading them a story in Spanish. It was pretty neat because she taught the whole class in Spanish, the kids were very intrigued in trying to understand what she was saying. 

Extra notes:

Verse of the week:

Psalm 51:10a- create in me a pure heart,

 oh God.

-If you would like to volunteer on Friday's to test students on sight words and Bible verses let us know!

Our First Week of School

We had an amazing first week of school! I feel very blessed with the great students I have.

Last week, we did a lot of learning procedures. I even had to do a lot of learning, but by the end of the week our class was doing very well. We also did some really fun things. 

One the first day we had a gingerbread man hunt, which we never found(I have a feeling we will be looking for him again later in the year=))! This gave us a chance to explore our school too. We also talked about our feelings on the first day, read The Kissing Hand, and did a craft to go with it.

We explored of the classroom, the materials we will be using, and how to use our materials.  We practiced using glue, scissors, books, pencils, crayons, and even toys.

My favorite part was starting our Daily 5. We learned 3 ways to read a book, with words, with pictures, and retelling a story. We explored our book boxes, and practiced how to read to self. On the first day we were able to sit for 1 min (This is really good for Kindergartners)! Our goal is to build our stamina (yes I use this word with them=)) and get to 10 minutes. I was also very happy with how the students could not wait to start writing in their journals; I was very impressed with their skills.

Next week, we are going to continue practicing our Daily 5, begin exploring math manipulative, start our specials, and start our All About Me unit. I will be trying my best to post every week about what we have done in class. I believe it is good for the parents to know what we are doing and it gives relatives like Grandmas and Grampas a chance to see what their grandkids are doing in class.  

Also do not forget Curriculum night on Tuesday at 6:30!

Thank you,

Mrs. Lee