Classroom News

Reading Workshop

We have been learning all about the elements of poetry during reading workshop and have been having fun learning about how poems look and sound. We have also been practicing identifying literary devices such as: repetition, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.

 

Sight Words

The students continue to do a great job with our sight word routine each week. It is important to review the sight word cards in your child's blue book bag to help them become more confident and fluent readers when they recognize these words in the books they are reading. The poetry folder is a great way to practice these words as well!

Math

We are currently learning strategies to recognize and solve addition and subtraction problems. Students have had many opportunities to practice these skills with hands-on materials as well as representing their thinking with number sentences.

Writing Workshop

During writing time, we have been focusing on adding detail to our writing and remembering to leave spaces between words. Some students have been transitioning from writing one sentence on a topic to two or more sentences as they become ready for this step. The children continue to grow and develop as writers, and it is amazing to see how far they have come since the beginning of the year!

Handwriting

The students have been doing a great job learning how to write their first and last names. We have also continued to review and practice our lowercase letters in our handwriting books and during writing workshop time. For students who are working to strengthen their fine motor skills, the following activities are great ways to practice at home.

RULER

Recently during our social emotional learning, we learned what it means to be nervous and where we can find that emotion on the mood meter. Then we practiced taking a "meta-moment" by taking deep breaths in through our nose and out through our mouths to help us practice how we can calm our bodies to be our best selves.

Enjoy your Spring Break!

Classroom News

We have had a busy and exciting month back from winter break! Here is a little bit about what we have been up to in Kindergarten recently:

Reading Workshop

We have been learning all about the elements of fictional stories in reading workshop, and have been practicing identifying characters, setting, a problem/solution in the story if there is one, and retelling the main events that take place. It is a good idea to ask your child basic questions about books you read at home to get them into the habit of talking about what they've read!

Sight Words

The students continue to do a great job with our sight word routine each week. It is important to review the sight word cards in your child's blue book bag to help them become more confident and fluent readers when they recognize these words in the books they are reading. The poetry folder is a great way to practice these words as well!

Math

We are wrapping up our shapes unit in math, where we reviewed 2D shapes, and learned about 3D shapes. We also worked on using shapes to make pictures, using flat shapes to make solid shapes, and patterns! Next we will begin working on addition and subtraction.

Writing Workshop

We continue to work on sounding out words to communicate an idea in a complete sentence. Writing is an easy activity to practice at home as well! Students can draw a picture and write about it, write about an experience or outing, or help make a grocery list!

Handwriting

We have now introduced the correct formation for all numbers, uppercase letters, and lowercase letters!

RULER

Recently during our social emotional learning, we explored the idea of our best selves. We learned that when we are our best selves, we make good choices, do the right thing, and make others feel good.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Classroom News

I hope everyone has had a restful weekend and stayed cozy in this blustery weather! Here is a little bit about what we have been up to in kindergarten: 

Reading Workshop
Our reading workshop routines are underway, and in our first unit students have begun to develop an understanding of themselves as readers and the different genres of text that interest them. We have also practiced how to actively engage in conversations during reading workshop time by asking questions and expressing our opinions about the books we are reading. 

Sight Words 
The students continue to do a great job with our sight word routine each week. We have now learned the following words. Continued practice with these words will help students gain confidence as they begin learning how to read. 
I, can, a, an, see, the, like, look, go, to, do, am, at, no, so, for, or, we, me, he, she 
  
Math 
We have just begun Chapter 4 in math, which focuses on composing and decomposing numbers through 5, ordering numbers 0-10, using our fingers to count, adding one more to a number, and comparing number values using more and less. 
  
Writing Workshop 
Now that we have completed our Jolly Phonics instruction, we now have more time to put those letter sounds into practice as we sound out words to write labels and an idea about our drawings. Continued practice with the Jolly Phonics sounds will help make our kindergarten authors more confident in attempting to write words independently! 
  
Handwriting 
We have now introduced the correct formation for all numbers and uppercase letters. We have moved on to lowercase letter formation and have introduced the following letters so far: 
c, o, s, v, w 

Guest Readers 
The students have been so excited to welcome our special guest readers! Thank you for sharing your love of reading with us!

Halloween 

Thanks again to our amazing parent volunteers for the fun we had at our Halloween parties! These adorable kindergarteners had a blast!

What's Happening?

 I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful fall weather this weekend! Don't forget the students have a short week ahead, with parent teacher conferences falling on Thursday and Friday. I am looking forward to meeting with you all and sharing the amazing progress your kindergartener has made so far this year! Here's what we have been up to recently:

Jolly Phonics

We continue to learn new sounds each week and review the sounds we have previously learned. This week we began introducing double-letter sounds. Using our Jolly Phonics book at home to practice naming letters and sounds has ben very helpful. Keep up the great work kinder friends!

These are the sounds that have been introduced so far:

s, a, t, i, p, n, ck

e, h, r, m, d, g

o, u, l, f, b, j, z, w, v

y, x, qu, ch, sh, th

Sight Words

The students continue to do a great job with our sight word routine each week. We have now learned the following words:

I, can, a, an, see, the, like, look, go, to, do, am, at

Math

We just wrapped up Chapter 2 in math, where we spent time focusing on identifying numbers that were one more, one less, or the same as a given number. We also paired sets of objects to compare numbers and determine how many more or less the second set of objects had compared to the first set. We have just begun Chapter 3, which focuses on ordering objects by size, length, or weight.

Literacy

We recently received new literacy materials and training to support guided reading in kindergarten. Although our official guided reading instruction will not begin until January, students will begin to bring home books that match their reading levels after parent- teacher conferences. 

Handwriting

The children continue to develop their fine motor skills and confidence as they learn to write letters and numbers. 

So far, the students have learned how to write the following letters and numbers.

Letters: F, E, D, P, B, R, V, W, X, Y, Z, C, O, Q, G, S, A

Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0

Me Bags

We loved getting to know our kindergarten friends as they took turns presenting their all about me bags. We learned about family members, pets, favorite places, hobbies, toys, colors, and foods! Check out our slideshows below to see what items were most important to our kindergarteners! 

Morning Class

Afternoon Class

Classroom News

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is looking forward to another exciting week ahead! Below are a few tidbits about what we've been up to in kindergarten! 

Jolly Phonics

We are learning new sounds each day and beginning to apply them as we learn to write and read words. We have introduced the following sounds so far:

s, a, t, i, p, n, ck

e, h, r, m, d, g

o, u, l, f, b, j, z, w, v

Sight Words

The students are eager to learn our new sight words each week, and they are doing a great job highlighting our poems. We have now learned the following words:

I, can, a, an, see, the, like, look

Math

We continue to work on numbers 1-10. We are learning to write, count, and compare numbers. We are also learning how to represent numbers in a variety of ways including using ten frames, which helps lay the building blocks for addition and subtraction. These skills are often reinforced during our daily calendar routine.

Literacy

We have begun our phonemic awareness routine and are currently learning the following skills:

Reviewing letters and sounds

Rhyming

Identifying beginning and ending sounds in words

Segmenting and blending compound words

Substituting word parts to make new words

Handwriting

The children continue to develop their fine motor skills as they are learning to write letters and numbers. We can see their hand strength and confidence growing each week. 

So far, the students have learned how to write the following letters and numbers.

Letters: 

F, E, D, P, B, R, V, W, X, Y, Z

Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

AM Class

PM Class

Classroom News

 What's Happening?

Jolly Phonics

The students continue to do a nice job learning our Jolly Phonics sounds. Keep reviewing the sounds we have learned with your child at home! They are gaining more and more confidence with these skills each day! We have introduced the following sounds so far:

s, a, t, i, p, n, ck

e, h, r, m, d, g

Sight Words

We continue to add new sight word cards to our baggies each week, and highlight new poems in our poetry folders. The students have now learned the following words:

I, can, a, an

Math

We just wrapped up our first math unit, which focused on an in-depth look at the numbers 1-5. We will begin our next math unit next week, which is similar to the first unit, but now focusing on numbers 1-10. A letter will be coming home in your child's folder next week with more information.

Literacy

The past two weeks we have been reading stories that focus on letters of the alphabet and how we can use letters to make words, our sight words, and even our names!  A few of our stories touched on the importance of everyone's unique names. We enjoyed the following books together on these topics:

The Name Jar

Chrysanthemum

Alphabet Adventure

Alphabet Mystery 

Alphabet Rescue

Handwriting

We continue to practice how to hold our pencils with a firm and proper grip and are learning to write our letters and numbers with good formation. The occupational therapists in our district have noticed a need for further practice with activities that would develop fine motor skills and hand strength. Here are some activities you can do at home with your child. They are beneficial for all of our early learners!

So far, the students have learned how to write the following letters and numbers:

Letters: F, E, D, P, B, R

Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

AM Photos

PM Photos

Classroom News

What's Happening?

Jolly Phonics

The students are doing a great job learning our Jolly Phonics sounds. We have introduced the following sounds so far:

s, a, t, i, p, n, ck

Sight Words

We have begun our weekly sight word routine. The students learned the following word this week:

I

Math

We began our first math unit, which focuses on an in-depth look at the numbers 1-5. We have covered the following topics

Number formation and writing practice

Spotting similarities and differences

Different ways to show a given number

Hands-on counting and comparing activities

Literacy

During the first part of the school year, we have been focusing on building our classroom community and spreading kindness. We have read several stories about building friendships, classroom routines, and including others. The students have had many opportunities to practice these skills at recess and during cooperative play time in the classroom.

Writing

We spent some time getting our hands and bodies ready for writing. We learned how we can use simple lines and curves to make letters and numbers, and we even practiced using simple shapes to draw a person who we call "Mat Man". We also practice how to hold our pencils using the proper grip and are learning to form our letters with good formation.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to our newest Dryden Dolphins!! I am so excited to be your kindergarten teacher, and cannot wait to meet all of you! Next Tuesday, August 17th is our Ice Cream Social, where you can visit our classroom from 5:00-5:45, and the PTA will be serving ice cream treats from 5:00-6:30 to give everyone a chance to mingle with new friends. 

We are going to have a fantastic year together, I cannot wait for our kindergarten adventure to begin! See you soon!!

Love, 

Mrs. Glaser

Welcome to Kindergarten!

 

Welcome to our newest Dryden Dolphins!! I am so excited to be your kindergarten teacher, and cannot wait to meet all of you! We are going to have a memorable year, and I am eager to get started learning, growing, and having fun together! See you soon!!

Love, Mrs. Glaser

Classroom News

We've had a busy couple of weeks! In math, we began Unit 8, which focuses on numbers to 100. There is a heavy emphasis on place value in this unit, as well as counting by 2s and 5s in addition to counting by 10s and 1s. This unit will develop and stretch our understanding of all two digit numbers.

We began with some exercises in organizing items by 5s and 10s to make counting large groups of objects easier. We also introduced tally marks and practiced using the rhyme below to help us remember when to cross the group of tallies:

We have introduced the tens and ones place with connecting cubes, and learned how we can use the tens groups to count the total more quickly.

During Reading Workshop, we continued our study of poetry by taking a closer look at literary devices. We read various poems and had such fun identifying examples of repetition, alliteration, and onomatopoeia!

You may have noticed another pause in guided reading group meetings. I was in the process of reassessing students as we came to the end of the second trimester. I enjoy meeting individually with each child to see the growth they've made, but was excited to return to our regular guided reading schedule!

During writing workshop, we have been pushing ourselves to write more! Many students have found that if they go back and add something else to their picture, they may have another detail to add to their writing as well. We use the phrase, "add to the picture, add to the words!" to remind us to take this next step when we first think we are finished with our writing pieces.

We also marked Dr. Seuss's birthday with a special Cat in the Hat project to celebrate the rhyming practice we have done this week!

We also spent time working with onsets and rimes in words, and blending together the first sound with the rest of the word. We found that some words have a single sound for the initial sound, and others have a two letter blend or digraph at the beginning.

We were excited to learn more about our friend Molly! She shared with us a beautiful photo of her family, and a fan that she likes to play dress up with. We learned that when she's sad, she likes to shake a snow globe her dad got her from Switzerland to cheer herself up! She also brought in some of her favorite dolls, including one that is bendable, and a Descendants doll who sings. Molly is a natural performer, who loves singing songs in her microphone! 

Molly's Gaga joined us to read the stories, The Good Egg and The Bad Seed. We were so excited to share all kinds of fun facts about ourselves with her grandma!

Next up was Antonio, and we had the best time learning more about him! He shared sweet pictures of his family and his adorable dog, Charlie, shaking hands. We learned about some of Antonio's favorite toys, including Pokemon, his blue power ranger, a cyborg that does flips, and a race car that launches. Antonio is also a big Star Wars fan, and he brought R2D2, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca figures to represent his love of Star Wars! Lastly, he shared his favorite accessory, his slap bracelet!

Antonio's Nonna joined us to read a special story in honor of St. Patrick's Day approaching, The Leprechaun in the Basement. She also brought in St. Patrick's Day coloring pages for the class to enjoy at home this weekend! 

 

To wrap up the week, we had our latest celebration for filling our class behavior board. We earn pieces for following the Dolphin Do's, good listening and teamwork, and whenever we receive compliments from other staff members for our behavior in the hallways or specials classes. We always brainstorm ideas for our celebrations, and one of our students came up with one I've not tried before- making slime! I must admit I was very nervous about how this would go, but I was so impressed with how well everyone followed directions and worked cooperatively to make our slime! Great job, kindergarten friends! Special thanks to the Henkel family for sending in some of the items we needed, and to Mrs. Conklin for offering to come in and provide an extra set of hands! And to all of the parents for tolerating a messy item coming home from school! 

Our class recently had the opportunity to say the Pledge of Allegiance on the school announcements! Here are our brave kindergarten friends reciting the pledge on camera!