I am learning!

This is what authors and illustrators look like.

We  have been learning about making connections and retelling stories using vocabulary from the stories.  Instead of saying he or she, we are using the characters' names.

Sharing about graphing on the calendar

Thinking and learning

Our story! Ask your child to share any connections that they made. 

Our new word!

We are building fluency, practicing one to one pointing, and finding words and letters that we know during big book time.

Numbers and Counting!

In math we are working on writing our numbers the school way.
We are also working identifying numbers out of sequence and creating sets of objects to match those numbers using one to one counting.
Everyday we are counting backwards!
Check out this cool song we sing to!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srPktd4k_O8

Please make counting forward and backward part of your daily routine.

Also, show your child a number and ask he or she to count out objects to match that set.

Setting Goals

In an effort to reduce the amount of paper being sent home, today,via E-mail, you received a letter about your child's quarterly goal and a goal support page .
In order to see the highlighted goal you will need to open the attachments on a desktop, laptop, or tablet.
You can print the goal support page to use with your child. 
Thank you again for supporting your child's learning!

Our Week Of Learning!

Sharing many different ways to make five

I can add up numbers to make five!

Changing the spatial arrangement of a set of objects does not change the amount in the set

Collaborating on different ways to show five.

I can use pictures to make 5

This week we opened the reading library.
We practiced how to read a book.
We practiced how to use a shelf marker, so we know where to return our books.

Before we read we activate our schema.
While we read we try to make connections.

I used the strategy look at the picture and I found the word the!

Telling the story using the picture!

Math Station
One of out standards that I am assessing- The student will count orally the number of objects in a set.
We also discussed which has more and less.

The writing station is a class favorite!
Please make writing part of you daily routine at home.
Especially letter formation and name writing

Writing Our Names

I am meeting with the children in small group to work on name writing. I am encouraging proper pencil grip. We say, "Chomp!" "Chomp!" "Chomp!" As we grip our pencil.  We are working on writing our names by pulling from top down.
During the first nine weeks of school the students will be assessed on writing their first and last names.
Please encourage name writing at home.  I like to use the following website to create work pages to support our practice.
HandwritingPractice.net 
Denelian is the style of writing we follow.

Field Trip Time!

It's that time! Field Trip time!
Today your child came home with TWO forms.
Please read and return the bottom portion of the form along with your payment.
Information about chaperons is on there. YES, it's misspelled. OOPS!

Reading and Writing

This week we are reading Brown, Bear, Brown Bear. The children are working on building their fluency when reading the story and they have enjoyed the character sticks in the retelling station.

Our color song this week is BLUE!

We are reading and discussing books about school and friends.
This week we read My Friends and today we are reading I Love School.
The children are responding to what they are reading through journaling.
I am encouraging them to draw and label their pictures using the letter sounds that they hear.
Each day we are working on activating our schema.
Ask your child to sing their schema song.
Today we will make connections to what we are reading.
When the children are reading at home ask- "What does this remind you of?" "What are your connections to the story?"

In math we are working daily on indentifying numbers 0-20. We are counting and matching manipulatives with the given number. Show your child a number at home and have them count manipulatives to match the given number.
Many of our friends can identifying numbers beyond 20, so we are playing games that support their learning.


Our high frequency words that I have taught are
The, and, up, go, love, do, see,can

I am encouraging the children to find these words when they are reading with you at home.
Give your child some sticky notes and have them write these words. They can post them in the house and play find that word!

Scientists

The children are learning to make observations and ask questions like scientist.
We explored our outdoor garden and our scientists recorded and discussed their findings.

Math Stations

The children are enjoying working in math stations.
We are working on taking out our materials, sharing and taking turns while we practice the math skill, and cleaning up.


We read the story When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really, Angry.
We worked on: 
I can listen to a story.
I can be a good citizen.
I can talk about the characters in the story,
I can connect to the characters feeling.

For our whole group writing today we talked about sounding out our words. 
WE MAKE BIG SOUNDS AND STRETCH OUR WORDS
For example, someone shared their connection about their dog.
We sounded out d-o-g.
BIG SOUNDS!
When your child is writing at home please encourage sounding out.

We visualized a time where we felt angry like the character in the story. 
We practiced: I can imagine what I will write.
We shared our ideas with our turn and talk partner.
Then, the children went to their seats and put their ideas on paper.
Ask your child to share their work with you.

This week I sent home a list of I CAN statements for math.
This is just information.  You can certainly ask your child to share with you their skills.

Our room parents are Tracy A. and Cortney S.
They will be sending home a volunteer form shortly.  Please sign up to volunteer.

Peacemakers Rule!

The class continues to work on learning about being a class citizen and leader.
Today we did our first independent writing activity.
We are encouraging the children to carefully write the letters that they know and the letter sounds.

Calendar math/language arts time is a great time for all!

Tomorrow your child will come home with their weekly citizenship and behavior report.

Please sign it and return it.

Your children are developing proficiency each new day. :) 

Math, math and more math! Everyone in our class CAN count up to 10 objects. 

Please continue to make counting a regular part of your at home routine. Ask your child to begin counting from various starting points.

Fun Times Learning!

We are working in small group stations. This is a time where I get to meet with the children an for right now we are practicing following instructions, writing in our journals, one to one pointing as we review our nursery rhymes.  This week we are learning and practicing Jack Be Nimble.
Right now the children rotate 3 times. 
They meet with both teachers and can work on the Promethean Station and the big book station.
Today, Mrs. Whitney did her gifted lesson on being a scientist. The children observed and sorted items. They also used a magnifying glass.  The children were challenged because we asked them to take items such as a branch, chalk, paper clip, block, shell, and lava rocks and sort them in more than one way.

Math Station

I Can charts are our directions that we create together in class. We practice everything together many times before it becomes a station.

Writing Station 

Drawing and writing

Big book time

Whole Group Calendar Math and Language Arts

We have learned and are practicing the following words the, and, go

Scientist investigate!

Promethean Math Station

Journal writing small group with Mrs. C.

Scientists sort

Media Information

New Media Release Opt Out Form VBCPS is always looking to share student accomplishments with the public – including on television, in newspaper articles and on social media channels. In the past, in order for a student to be featured, parents/ legal guardians would have to sign a media release form allowing their child’s image to be recorded, photographed or shown online. Parents/legal guardians would also have to sign another form that allowed a child’s original work, such as essays, artwork or musical compositions to be displayed publically. Now, the process has been simplified. Beginning this school year, VBCPS has a new “opt out” media release procedure. The new, streamlined form allows parents/legal guardians to select how their child is featured. This includes: • Featuring a child in the news, in school publications or on school social media sites • Featuring a child in the school yearbook • Featuring/displaying a child’s work publicly/on division channels • Giving contact information to recruiters for college, career opportunities or the military If parents/guardians do not want their child to be featured in any or all of these ways, they need to complete the form, and return the signed copy to the school. All students who do not have a returned form on file will be considered free to feature or have information released. The new opt-out forms will be distributed to students at the beginning of the school year.

Posting

Good Morning!
Some of you have asked, "Where are the pictures and the videos?"
Great question!
Until media release forms are returned I cannot post pictures. It IS a school board policy. 
I have the utmost respect for every family, and I will not post pictures until I have checked, rechecked, and had our office staff give me the "go ahead," before I post.
I AM taking pictures and video that will be used within the school building, and those pictures and videos will be saved for a special project just for you, that the children will give to you at the end of the year. 

Thank you for asking!  Again, thanks for understanding. :)

Mystery Reader

Thank you for returning your Mystery Reader forms.
We are now booked for September. We have 4 Friday's open in October!
Mystery Reader will be held each Friday unless we have an assembly.
Readers will be sent a clue sheet before their date. Please fill it out and return in before Friday.
We will read the clues to the class prior to your arrival. 
When you arrive, please check in at the security desk. Then, they will call down to the room to let us know that we have a "Mystery Guest."
We will be returning from music right before Mystery Reader time, so please don't stand in the hallway because the kids will see you. 

If you have not returned your form, and want to be a reader, please do so soon.
We will do our best to assign you a date that you requested. 

Reading, writing, team building

We will set weekly targets for learning. In kindergarten we may practice many of them for many weeks. 
This weeks targets are:

Today the children participated in a team building activity where we learned to shake hands with our right hand, make eye contact, learn one another's names, and follow three step directions.
Ask your child to show you. 

During our shared reading time we read the story, The Crayon Box That Talked. We discussed how we are each unique and how each one of us makes our classroom a great place to learn.


All week we are working on the high frequency words the, and
We are finding them in the books we read. 

During our small group time we are working on small group behavior, writing our names, and drawing.  I am encouraging the children to use labels if they know the letter sound.

Rules We Can Use!

Each day we will work together on learning what a leader and good citizen looks like.
Today we created class rules and read How Full Is Your Bucket.
Ask your child what a bucket filler does.

Please continue to encourage your child to be an active listener.

All of our friends have been moving their stars forward. We needed some gentle reminders today about staying on task and on our cushions.

In math we will continue to work  on counting and number identification up to 20 and for those who are ready, we will go beyond.

Please let me know if you are willing to volunteer in our classroom.
I am looking forward to seeing the Mystery Reader paper work come in! It's first come first serve so get them in soon!


Many papers from the PTA will go home on Thursday. Please make sure to look at them and empty out your child's folder.
If you haven't initialed your child's folder each night this week, please begin tomorrow.
This is our way of knowing that you have seen their folder and have celebrated their hard work.

Oh what a day! What a happy day!

Thank you for sending your children to kindergarten today ready to learn! Every single child was well mannered, and worked hard.
Today was a busy day. During our shared reading time we read Hey Diddle, Diddle and talked about fiction and non-fiction. We had a dish and a spoon in our classroom, and
they ran away! That's right folks! They ran away!  Good thing they left us a clue as to where they were.
Ask your child where they found them. 
Hint! Hint! We will be going for our first library lesson tomorrow. ;)

During our first day we talked about making connections to the stories we read.  Today, we read the story The Kissing Hand. We learned that we also had many of the same feelings that Chester the raccoon had when he had to go to school on the first day.

In math today we began our daily calendar math.  We talked about the days of the week, months of the year, and the number of the day.  We also identified numbers and played SPLAT.
This is a great game to play with your child at home to help with number identification.
http://www.primarygames.co.uk/pg2/splat/splatsq100.html

Today we talked about how numbers are everywhere in our world!

We are learning this week the color red song! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMfkODJw30M

Both Hey, Diddle, Diddle and the color red poem/song will be the first to pieces of literature that will go into our big book poetry station.

Speaking of stations...Today we did our first small group rotations. 
We are encouraging  staying on task, and working cooperatively with your partner.

Thank you so much for sending in your forms.  If you have any others at home please return them as soon as possible.

I am working on gathering volunteers for our class. If you didn't sign up at Open House and would like to volunteer please send me an E-mail.
Thanks!

Open House!

Thank you for attending Sneak A Peek and Open House.
I hope that you found the information helpful.

Reminders:
Please sign all paperwork and return it with your child on Tuesday.
Your child should ride the school bus if possible beginning the first day of school.
If you didn't sign up to volunteer in the classroom please send me an E-mail if you would like to be added to the list.

Some of you have asked, "What is room parent?"
Room parents are a critical part of our school year. 
Responsibilities:
Recruit parent volunteers for stations
(Stations are our class parties-they are fun and filled with learning.)
Help with all PTA events- gathering volunteers, sending out email reminders, etc... Many super events will be happening in October!
Create a class list with student information that I will give to you
Asking parents for supplies for stations and other classroom events such as Field Day
Meet with me once at the beginning of the year
Maintain ongoing correspondence with me
Can you job share? YES!

Your child will need their backpack on Tuesday.
Your child will come home with his or her folder.  Please check the folder and return any important paperwork. 
Please initial your child's behavior calendar each day.
Please send in notes via the folder.

Give your kindergartener their special envelope Monday night.
Please make sure your child gets a good night's sleep.  (Is that even possible the night before Kindergarten? I hope that the letter and sparkles help!)

Thanks!
Sara

Tomorrow!

Please send me an E-mail so that I have your E-mail address.

sara.chiaverotti@vbschools.com

I will also be asking for this tomorrow when I see you.

Thanks!

Kindergarten Open House: Parents of kindergarten students, we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, September 2^nd at the following times:

                                    AM Kindergarten at 1:30

                                    PM Kindergarten at 2:30

Course Information guides have been updated and are available as a digital resource posted on the vbschools.com web site at http://www.vbschools.com/curriculum/guides/elementary/.

Elementary Parent/Student Handbooks: The 2015-2016 Elementary handbooks are available on the vbschools.com web site at:  http://www.vbschools.com/handbook/elementary/elementary.pdf

Picture ID Required to Enter Building:  All parents, visitors, and guests entering the building must present a picture id and sign-in and sign-out at the front security desk each time they enter and leave the building. 

Student Drop-Off Information:  Student drop-off is located at the cafeteria side of the building.  The doors open at 8:25 a.m., at which time the students should exit their vehicles and enter the building.  Students should not be dropped-off prior to 8:25 a.m. An adult will be present to receive students until 8:35 a.m.

Bus Schedule Information Now Available:  The bus schedule information is available on www.vbschools.com.The following link will allow you to put in your address and receive the bus number and approximate bus stop times.  This site does not include the Kindergarten mid-day bus runs.  Should you have questions regarding that schedule, please contact the Kingston office.