News for You

This Thursday, we have our first field trip to the Plymouth Apple Orchard!  Please return the permission slip and the admission cost ($6.50) on Monday, if you have not already.  We will be able to learn about how apples grow, take a wagon ride around the orchard, pick an apple & a pumpkin, and try some cider and donuts!
We will be eating lunch there as well so your child needs to BRING A LUNCH that day.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriate, we will be outside most of the morning.
I will confirm who are chaperones are on Monday.

Halloween at Carpenter
Because of our diverse cultural and religious beliefs, we generally do not "celebrate" Halloween at Carpenter.  As we have our field trip on Halloween, we will not be able to wear costumes to school that day.  Thank you for your cooperation.

On Wednesday, I will be sending home a Carpenter Cougar T-Shirt for your child.  This is sponsored by the PTO and is a shirt your child may keep and wear on Fridays to school for Spirit Days.  I also suggest your child wear this T-Shirt on Field Trip days, so please have your child wear it to school this Thursday.


Here are a few things we have been up to lately:

Math Work Stations:  Sorting & building the names in our classroom by the number of letters

Literacy Work Stations:  Listening Station

At this station, students listen to a book on CD: here it is Pete the Cat!  Then students can do various activities related to the story.  These two kiddos put the story cards in order and used them to re-tell the story!

Literacy Work Stations: Dramatic Play

We have a new birthday station!  Students can pretend it is someones birthday and have cake, sing/read happy birthday, make a happy birthday card, & build birthday words with magnetic letters.

We have been visiting the school computer lab!  Here students are using the ABCYA Kindergarten activities.  Click here to play at home!

Social Studies:  We are continuing to learn how to interact positively with others and to solve problems constructively.  We have been learning to use "fix it' words when we say or do something hurtful to others.  This has worked really well so far.  If any issues arise, I am encouraging students to ask for "fix it" words from others and to say them in order to help solve a problem.

The idea of "You break it, you fix it" comes from Responsive Classroom.  Here are a few resources to read to learn more about it:

Three Types of Logical Consequences

Apology of Action

Literacy Work Stations:  Sorting words by the number of syllables

Something to keep in mind...

What your child eats throughout the school day can have an impact on their attention, behavior, and ability to focus & stay on track.  For snack, I highly encourage fresh fruits and vegetables in order to support these issues and to encourage healthy eating habits.

Take a look at this:

Pre-packaged & prepared fruits are different from fresh fruit.

This "fruit" cup as 26 grams of sugar - YIKES!  This is added and unnatural.  Small details like this can have a large impact on your child's health.

Click here for a short article on this topic.

In small group math time during Math Work Stations, we have been putting numbers 0-10 in order, number scrolling, & building numbers with ten frames.  Here students built 2 numbers and then compared them.  We used the language __ is more than __.  Take a listen!

Parent Teacher Conferences Start this Week!

This Thursday, October 24th, we begin Parent Teacher Conferences!  I am looking forward to discussing your child's learning and getting to know your family better.
Here is the schedule for Thursday:

4:00 - 4:15  Legacy
4:20 - 4:35  Ciaran
4:40 - 4:55  Eilidh
You can see that each conference is 15 minutes.  Therefore, it is critical that you are on-time.  (I have graduate class following these 3 conferences, so I cannot stay past 5:00).

Here are some topics we will discuss:
* Your child's strengths
* Your child's learning & social behaviors
* Your child's readiness and areas of improvement
* Your questions & concerns at this point
Please begin to think about these topics, as it will help our conferences run smoother.  Feel free to bring some notes.

Your child does not need to be present at the conference.  And it is best if you do not bring young children.

Here is the rest of our schedule for conferences:
Wednesday, Oct. 30th
4:00 - 4:15  Daunte
4:20 - 4:35  Evan
4:40 - 4:55  Blake

Monday, Nov. 4th
4:00 - 4:15 Kaia
4:20 - 4:35  Crystal
4:40 - 4:55  Emilie
5:00 - 5:15  Emma & Ava
5:20 - 5:35  Toby
5:40 - 5:55  La'Khyia
6:00 - 6:15  Cora
6:20 - 6:35  Daniel
6: 40 - 6:55  Carver

Tuesday, Nov. 12th

4:00 - 4:15  Fiza

4:20 - 4:35  Mayte

4:40 - 4:55  Christian

5:00 - 5:15  Moemin

5:20 - 5:35  

5:40 - 5:55  

6:00 - 6:15  

6:20 - 6:35  Aaliyah

6: 40 - 6:55  Lewis 

It's Hard to Fix a Wrinkled Heart

Do you remember how we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes last week?


In the story, the main character Chrysanthemum was being teased by others in her classroom about her name.  This is a great opportunity to begin to teach about bullying.
So we read the story again.  But this time, each time something hurtful was said, we wrinkled a big heart.  We discussed that some words can try to fix a wrinkled heart, but the wrinkles never come completely out.  This visual really helps kids in understanding that the words we use can have a lasting effect on others.
Take a look:

When something hurtful is said or done, I have been encouraging the kids to say, "That wrinkles my heart."  This helps them to become more independent in solving problems with others.

Today, we discussed the difference between kind words (words that keep hearts straight) and words that wrinkle:

Unfortunately, Kindergarteners do say some of these wrinkle words.   I am teaching the kids two things: (1) to stop and think about their words BEFORE they same them and (2) fixing the situation when they do say hurtful words.

We will also discuss more positive ways to deal with our anger.  I encourage you to continue this discussion at home with your child.

So, what else have we been learning? 

Look at an example from our shape collages:

We are learning to describe the characteristics of each shape.

For example, a square has 4 sides that are all the same length, 4 corners, and straight sides.  A circle has 1 curved side and no corners.  Using this vocabulary at home will help to reinforce the learning we do in the classroom!

In Phonics, we have been focusing on syllables this week.  Watch this video at home with your child:

Try this chant at home with the names in your family:

Hickety-pickity bumble bee

Won't you say your name for me?

Caitlin

Let's say it: Caitlin

Let's clap it: Cait-lin

Let's whisper it: Caitlin

This chant led into a perfect graphing activity: we graphed the number of syllables in our names!

We also did some shared reading with a syllable chant:

I love pizza

Yum, yum, yum

I love pizza

In my tum!

(On pizza, we pat, clap, or count the syllables on our fingers.  Then we replace pizza with other food we like to eat!)

Ask your child to teach you at home!

Ok, time for a shout-out!  This is what I LOVE about Literacy Work Stations.  This week, we had a Whiteboard Station where students practiced matching letters on the Alphabet Linking Chart.  Well, these two kiddos thought of something NEW to do with the letters: they put them in alphabetic order!!  I love seeing great thinking like this!

We are Kindergarten Writers

What have we been up to in Writing?  Well, let me show you!

Writing is a challenging subject to teach and to learn for young Ks.  A critical beginning step and skill in Kindergarten writing is learning to show a story on paper through drawing.  Representational drawing is assessed on the Report Card.  But, what if your child doesn't have too much experience or confidence drawing?  Well, that's what we work on in our first unit.  We have done a variety of lessons that focus on drawing so for this year.  Take a look:

In this lesson, we focused on adding a setting.

Here, Aaliyah created her playground setting by adding the monkey bars!

In this lesson, we focused on drawing faces that show feelings.

Here, Eilidh drew a silly face.

This was another example of adding a setting.

Here, Krush shows a story of swimming in the pool with his dad.

Here is another example of showing feelings on faces.  Look at those tears!  Good work, Cora!

In this lesson, we focused on our creativity and confidence as a writer and illustrator.

We watched the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.

I encouraged the kids to start with a dot and see where it takes them!  We got some very creative results!  Above, Moemin's dot took him to illustrating a big hole.

In this lesson, we used how to drawing supports to help us try to draw new things.  Here, Emma draws a lady bug.

Here is another example of drawing faces from Emilie.

This is another example from our Dot lesson.

Here, Lewis's dot transformed into the play area at the mall.

In this lesson, we worked on drawing people.

Step-by-step we learned how to draw the details of a person (no stick-figures here!).

Great work Blake!

This is another example of drawing faces.

In the book, All About Faces by La Zoo, we saw that faces can be different shapes.

Here, Kaia tries a square face!

Another example for The Dot lesson:  a peach tree!

We have also been working on some parts to the writing process.

We...

Draw with pencil first!

Fill in color and details!

We also read many other books as a part of our study of drawing:

Harold and the Purple Crayon by 

Dog Loves Drawing by Louise Yates

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean & Eric Litwin

We studied James Dean's drawings and learned that he fills the pages with color.  So, we tried it too!

Lines That Wiggle by Candice Whitman & Steve Wilson

With this book, we learned to draw different types of lines.

Now that we are beginning to be more confident with drawing, we will transition to our narrative writing unit where we will focus on sharing our own story from our lives on paper.

So, how can you support your child with drawing at home?!

* Ask your child to draw about one thing they did at school that day.

* When your child says, "I can't draw a ..." show them each step on paper and have him/her try along with you.  Using pencil first is key!

* Locate how to drawing pages on the internet to print at home.  Click here and here for some!

* Check out how to drawing books from the library (or purchase them) for him/her to use as a resource.  Try these:

How to Draw

Drawing Book of Animals

How to Draw 101 Animals

How to Draw People

How to Draw Pets

How to Draw Faces

How to Draw Planes, Trains, & Boats

How to Draw Cars, Trucks, & Other Vehicles

Follow the Directions & Draw it All by Yourself

How to Draw Princesses & Other Fairy Tale Pictures

New Literacy Stations!

We have been working on some new literacy stations this week:

Reading new books we have shared together, like Llama Llama Misses Mama

Here is a video of the story to watch at home together:

Whiteboard Station:  Matching uppercase letters to the alphabet linking chart.

Memory Match with Environmental Print!

Once the game is done, they can choose to build some of the words with magnetic letters.

Alphabet Bingo!  Click here to play at home!

Fishing for Letters!

Students take turn fishing for letters & match them on the alphabet linking chart.

Write the Room

with Environmental Print

Writing Center:  These two writers worked on showing a story on paper! 

Fine Motor Station:  Cut & paste the alphabet linking chart

In MATH, we have been working a lot on number sense.  We finished our Names for Numbers Book 1-10 and have been learning about new number based math stations.

We read the story Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed to practice taking away and the concept of zero.  Click here to watch a fun video of the song at home!

We also learned how to number scroll:

This is a GREAT skill to practice number writing at home.  Pencil and paper will do just fine!

We also practice counting the number of letters in our names.  First we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.  Watch it at home:

Then, we counted the letters in Chrysanthemum's name: 13!!!!!

We built our names with unifix cubes and counted the letters.

We even compared the length of our names, using words like longer, taller, and shorter.  These words will be assessed in our Fall Report Cards, so it was great practice.

Then....

We graphed the results!

We counted the number of people for each number of letters.  Then, we learned to find the MOST.  We discovered that the most people had 6 letters in their name.

P.S. While we were reading Chrysanthemum, many of the kids were concerned in how the other kids in her class were treating her.  We talked a lot about teasing and how it made Chrysanthemum feel.  This is a great introduction to next week's work on friendships and bullying.  As you watch the video at home, I encourage you to use the opportunity to talk about how we treat others.

Emergent Literacy: Environmental Print

Today, we began a very important step in the emergence of beginning reading.  I asked the kiddos, "How many of you can read?" and some hands went up.  Then I showed them some environmental print.  And abra-cadabra, we were ALL reading!  Wow, were we EXCITED!

Environmental print is the print found in the everyday world around us and is usually some of the first print a child recognizes because it holds great meaning.  Recognizing this print is one of the beginning stages of literacy development.  Many times, your child might simply need you to point this print out to them and point out that he/she IS READING!

So today, I used your examples of EP you sent in and posted them around the room.  The kiddos walked around and looked for a piece of print they could read.  Then, we made a class book:

So, you have some more HOMEWORK! :)  This weekend, take an "Environment Print Field Trip."  You can do this on a walk, in the car, or by visiting a meaningful place for your child.  Point out the signs and print around you.  See which ones your child can read and support him/her in reading new ones.  And HAVE FUN!  You can even say, "Look around, look around, what do you see?" and have your child respond with, "I see __ in front of me!"  This experience will build your child's confidence as a new reader.

Click here for an article on Environmental Print.  Try some of the other ideas they suggest!