We had a very busy week working with pumpkins, learning about more letters and sounds and playing a new math game.
What is Co-Teaching? I frequently write about different professionals co-teaching with me. What does that mean in our classroom? It means that different staff members apply their areas of expertise to a content we are teaching in kindergarten. This week, we had a great example. One of the science themes for kindergarten is "Change over Time". On Wednesday, we looked at three trees here at Milton Elementary School. (Due to rain, we looked at photos I took instead of going outdoors.) Ms. C., our art teacher, came into our classroom and taught us some art techniques we could use to make scientist drawings of our trees. She gave us hints on how to best use our color sticks for drawing and coloring, discussed different lines and spoke about relative height between the trees. The drawings came out beautifully.
On Thursday, Mrs. Lee, one of our speech-language pathologists, came in to co-teach. She and I continued teaching the children about describing words and we led conversations with small groups to brainstorm words we could use to describe our trees. (Describing words are another kindergarten concept.) We then modeled how to sound out words so that the children could write a different describing word next to each tree. Mrs. Lee's expertise with language development adds a great deal to our lessons.
FYI...these trees will be re-visited during the winter, spring and summer. We will be able to observe the change that the trees experience over time. We will also be able to see how the kindergarten students' drawing and writing skills change over time.
Math: Ms. Kittell read us the book "Ten Black Dots". We will be working on some activities this coming week based on that book. We learned how to play the card game "Garbage". It's a great way for the children to practice counting, numeral recognition and sequencing numbers. We use different types of cards in our classroom and we also deal out ten cards (for the numbers one to ten). However, here is a link to some directions that will teach you how to play with a standard deck of cards. Have fun!
Directions for Playing Garbage
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| Using a "whisper phone" during Quiet Reading Time. |
Parent Teacher Conferences: Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, October 17 between 4:30pm and 6:30pm AND Thursday, October 18 between 8:00am and 1:00pm. These conferences will be to discuss your child's adjustment to kindergarten and to share observations on your child's school behavior and social skills. If you would like to schedule a conference time, please click on the link below. You will be brought to an electronic sign up sheet associated with the website "Please Bring It". Click "sign up" next to the date and time you prefer. When you sign up, please put your child's name for the "assigned name". Add your email address if you would like an automatic electronic reminder sent to you. Then, click on "save" so that your time is reserved.
October Conference Sign Up Link
Upcoming Absences: I will not be teaching on Friday, October 12 due to a kindergarten curriculum meeting. I will also be the kindergarten representative at a writing conference on Tuesday, October 16 and Wednesday, October 17 and will not be in the building on those days. In order to maintain as much consistency as possible, Guest Teacher Extraordinaire Melissa Lauzon will be in our classroom for all three days. She is familiar with the kindergarten curriculum and routine and is a familiar face around our building. Please remind your children to follow all school expectations when we have a guest teacher. Mrs. Harding should be in on those days also.
Coming Events:
Monday, October 8: Pumpkin Picking Field Trip at Sam Mazza's Pumpkin Patch 9:30 - 11:30. Please dress for a chilly morning! Library today. Please return your book. Letter of the Day: Ww
Tuesday, October 9: Art today. Letter of the Day: Xx
Wednesday, October 10: School Picture Day. Our class will have pictures taken at 10:30. PE today. Please wear sneakers. (Shoes will not be visible in the school pictures.) Letter of the Day: Yy
Thursday, October 11: Music Today. Letter of the Day: Zz
Friday, October 12: Mrs. Maurer will be in a day-long meeting. Fire Safety Assembly and PE today.
Monday, October 15: Library Today. Please return your book.
Tuesday, October 16: Mrs. Maurer will be at a conference. Art today.
Wednesday, October 17: Mrs. Maurer will be at a conference. PE today. Parent-Teacher conferences scheduled 4:30 - 6:00pm.
Thursday, October 18: NO SCHOOL TODAY! Parent-Teacher conferences scheduled 8:00am - 1:00pm.
Friday, October 19: NO SCHOOL TODAY!
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