September 22, 2013
Hello Everyone!
Many of you may know that Mrs. Johnson
had her baby on Monday morning 9/16. I was just as surprised as the
students! She named him Max Daniel, although his sister insists his
name is Squeakers:) I'm sure she will contact all of you, once she
gets settled in at home with her new baby boy.
I want to thank everyone for making me
feel so welcome at HCS. I have met parents through the community
social and during pick-ups and drop-offs. It feels so great to be in
such a welcoming place! As you may have imagined, last week was
quite busy with Mrs. Johnson's surprise on Monday, so I have been
gathering email addresses, preparing classroom materials, and
learning all of the HCS routines and schedules. I'm so happy Mrs.
Johnson and I were able to spend 3 days together during the second
week of September. Your students have been so helpful with any
questions I may have around the classroom. I will generally write
weekly letters on Sunday or Monday evenings to make sure you hear
about all of the wonderful things we are learning! I generally post
the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) on the bottom of student work,
so if you see things such as, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1a at the bottom
of something sent home, it's simply a way of showing which Common
Core State Standard(s) we were focusing on for that learning
adventure.
Last week we had two special days,
International Dot Day on Monday and International Talk Like a Pirate
day on Thursday. I'm sure you were greeted by a pirate hat wearing
student after school on Thursday evening, they were very proud of
their creations. Here we are below:)
If you look very closely, you can see
Mrs. Miller in the doorway sneaking a peek of our pirate photo shoot.
In literacy last week we focused on the
lowercase letters m and n and their sounds. We now know the sounds
and how to correctly write lowercase letters t, b, m, n, and f! Ask
your student, “What is a worm line and what do you do with it?”
This week we will focus on letters c and a. Maybe you can ask your
student questions such as, “What sound do you hear at the beginning
of the word couch?” it can be any word that begins with any of the
letters we are currently focusing on.
Last week we made it into a game and I
challenged them. I told them I was going to think of words that
started with a t, f, m, n, or b sound and they needed to identify the
beginning sound letter. If they identified it correctly they
received a point, if I was able to “trick” them, I received a
point. Our score right now is Miss Livingston 0 and the class 6:)
During our Writing Club, also known as
Writer's Workshop, students are learning to transfer their skills
from Fundations (Phonics Program) onto paper, as they write stories
about things they are experts at. We have a lot of students who are
expert explorers at recess, expert readers, and expert friends.
Everyone is having a great time in the Writing Club writing with
pens, illustrating detailed pictures, creating labels and writing
some of their first sentences.
In Reader's Workshop we have introduced
independent reading, partner reading and how to use text and
illustrations to guide our reading. Next week, and many weeks to
follow we will be practicing these skills to become better readers!
In math last week, we explored more
with 5 frames and 10 frames. Ask your student what a 5 frame is and
how it helps him/her count. Students were introduced to a new
workplace on Friday named “Beat you to 5.” This workplace
encourages students to explore their knowledge of Counting,
Cardinality, Operations and Algebraic Thinking according to the CCSS.
Our theme last week was school
community and we started focusing on being “bucket fillers,” ask
your student why it's important people are a “bucket filler”
rather than a “bucket dipper?” This week we will continue with
our community focus and pair it with a nature exploration of apples.
We will make our very own applesauce at the end of the week!
I am in the process of trying to
organize a class volunteer schedule and a “Mystery Reader”
schedule. A mystery reader is someone who comes into our classroom
on Friday mornings for around 10-15 minutes and reads a book of their
choice to the class. Monday-Thursday of that week, students will
receive clues about the reader. Each morning students will have the
opportunity to make predictions about the “Mystery Reader.” You
can bring your favorite book from home or I can provide one for you.
The 4 clues you provide should start general and get more specific as
the week goes on. If you are interested in becoming a “Mystery
Reader” please let me know by the end of next week (9/27) if any
specific Friday works better than others. I understand that not all
work schedules will allow you to come in and read to our class.
That's OK! You can support reading all year long by taking your child
to the library, reading to them, having them read to you, and reading
in front of them...so they can see that parents and grandparents read
too!
I hope to see everyone at Open House on
Wednesday evening!
Thank you for being amazing parents,
Jenn Livingston
Kindergarten Long-Term Substitute
Hinesburg Community School
802-363-7934
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