Book Fair Begins On Monday/House keeping!

Our class has been scheduled to visit the book fair Monday-Friday from 7:55-8:20.  You may accompany your child. If your child can spend their money with ease they may go themselves.  Mrs. Stinard and I will not be going with them.  

Check out this app! 

Please send in your child's Admiral Reading Log as soon as possible.  Your tickets will come home as soon as all logs are in.  Homework, please send it in on Monday.  If your child has Sam the Snowman please return Sam and the writing log on Monday.  When your child brings home Sam please encourage them to write as many sentences as they can.  Please ask your child to reread to you and one to one point what he or she has written.  During our class time the children are writing 2 or more sentences daily. 

Eye On The Alphabet~

Parent,
It's not to late to order your EYE ON THE ALPHABET KIT for your child.
If you want to purchase one now and use it as an enrichment tool this summer go for it!
If you need another order form send me an E-mail and let me know.
Thanks!

Last week (when we were here) and this week (if we are here)...

I love snow, but man does it mess up my lesson plans!  
Thank you parents for sending your children to school well rested and ready to learn.  Missing days has been challenging, but not for the kids of Rainbow Valley!
Last week and this week in math our focus has been using a Rekenrek and getting familiar with the calculating frame and collecting data, applying it into a graph, and analyzing that data. 
Here are some places that you and your children can visit at home for extra practice.
IPAD APP- The Number Rack

Like other rekenreks or number racks, it allows you to work on big ideas around numeracy, addition and subtraction.  You can go from one bead string up to 10 which makes it very versatile as I move between  ability levels.

ABCYA.Com- Great for math!!!


http://www.kidweatherapp.com/ (FUN!!!!)


Ask your child a question like how many windows are in the house? Have them use tally marks and tally their answer.  Then ask how many doors?  Have them tally.  Then they can draw and cut out doors and windows and lay them into a graph.  
Ask which has more?  Which has fewer?  How may are there all together?
You can do this activity with just about anything in your home. 

Ask your child to share their tally poem.
One, two, three, four.
Number five shuts the door.
Six, seven, eight, nine.
Number ten draws the line. 

We have a dream....

We have a dream...

We have a dream...

EYE ON THE ALPHABET

Today our friend Mrs. Law came in to share with us a project that has been offered to every K student to be a part of.
Information went home about the project in their folders today as well.
Please check your child's folder for the information.
This projects helps to reinforce letter identification, reading, writing, and observing.

 These posters are on sale in the office for $1.00.  Get one while they last!

(This is not the project, it is an example of a poster of a project done in 2003 when it was first launch in kindergarten.)  

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today we activated our schema and made text to self connections about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  
We read about this great man.
Ask your child about Dr. King.
We will continue to learn about him this week as well as Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges and how they had a positive impact on our country. 

Homework

Homework is an important part of our daily review.  
This week the children have an option to rainbow write their high frequency words.

The children have been practicing decomposing numbers.
Here is an example of ways to make 4. 
This quarter the children are expected to be able to decompose numbers up to 10.
I have taught them how to write their number sentences to match their pictures.

Decomposing Numbers

During our math time we are working on decomposing numbers.  We have been using ten frames and on Monday I will be introducing the rekenrek. 
Decomposing numbers means to find as many combinations for a given number as possible.

This week we also read and discussed why winter is the warmest season.  We activated our schema for winter, share text to self connections about winter, and retold the story in our own words. 

AS THE WORDS TURN!

All of our kindergarten friends were given a group of high frequency word cards a few weeks ago.  Each day we are practicing these words.  
In the next week or so we will be assessing the children on their word knowledge.  
If  you are uncertain as to what cards I am referring to please let me know, and I will provide you with another copy.  
FAQ-
What can we do with these words?

• Tape them to the door or wall and play flashlight, flashlight.  Here the children will shine the light on the word.  Read it, spell it, and use it in a sentence.
• Tape them on the stairs and have them walk to the word
• Play BINGO
• Rainbow write them (use different color crayons)
• Build the words out of WIKKI Sticks or PLAY DOH
• Create a board game with the words (CANDY LAND is a great game board b/c its primarily blank)
• Chose a few to use when you write you homework sentences

Should my child be able to spell them?
Yes.

Are these the words that are to be used for January homework?
Yes.  

Does everyone have the same words?
No.

Are these DOLCH or FRYE WORDS?
Great question! They are a bit of both as well as for some of our friends they are harvested out of their readers.  :) 

Are there a certain number of words my child needs to know by June?
No. However,  here is a clip of an article I recently read.  Why is teaching sight words so important? The 220 words included in the Dolch Basic Sight Word Vocabulary (originally formulated by E.W. Dolch in 1941), still comprise more than 50 percent of the words primary-age children encounter most frequently in the print materials they use (Johns, 1987; as cited in Blevins, 2006). The benefits of having a bank of sight words at the ready are significant for children who are learning to read. Accurate and automatic recognition of these high-frequency words enables a child to read more smoothly and at a faster rate, helping the child remember more of what he or she has just read and to make sense of it. The lessons and activities in this program provide the repeated practice children need to develop automatically in reading, spelling, and writing sight words- and put them on the road to reading success. (from Systematic Sight Word Instruction for Reading Success, grades K-2)

Should my child be able to recognize the words when they coma across them in text?
Yes.  This is the key! If they can read them fluently in text, they know them! They own them! They won't forget them.

Are there APPS for this? 
Yes. Like I mentioned above the children vary as far as which words they were sent home with. This doesn't mean they can learn more or other words.
Please feel free to download apps and play games with them
APPS-

• FRY WORDS
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anna.FryWords
• Check out PINTREST 

Community Involvement In Rainbow Valley- Making Connections That Last!

Today was really exciting our friend MPO Krieger visited our classroom to share with us all about being a police officer.  She was amazing!  She shared with our friends all about the tools that she uses, why she became a police officer, and how our kindergarten friends can become police officers if they listen carefully, follow rules, try their best, and exercise to stay healthy and strong.
MPO Krieger also shared with our friends how important it is for them to know their full name, address(es), and phone number(s), in case of an emergency.  Ask your child if he or she can tell you this important information.   She also shared with the class information about strangers and what to do if they encounter a stranger.  She explained to the children that even if a person is someone they "know" they should never go into their house without permission from a parent.  
She discussed gun safety with the children and how BB guns can't be used by children under the age of 12.  MPO Krieger explained to the children about the importance of wearing a helmet while riding on something with wheels.  :)  

Today we had  friends of Mrs. Chiaverotti's as our Mystery Reader, Mrs. Beverly Anderson and her granddaughter Raven.  Raven is a kindergarten student and was visiting from Japan.  She was  also a friend of some of our Rainbow Valley friends as she went to Pre-K with them prior to moving.  

Mrs. Anderson is a former kindergarten teacher and a VB School Board Member.  It was really awesome to have both of them.  They taught us a really cool song about schema and making connections to text. Mrs. Anderson and Raven read us a story about Harry The Dirty Dog.  

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014!
As we return from our holiday break I want to remind everyone that the children need to be reading nightly.
I sent home the "color in" reading log. We are NOT going to use that one.  We ARE going to use the Admirals Reading Log. This is an AWESOME opportunity to encourage daily reading.  If the children read they earn TICKETS to a game!!!!
The logs will be in your child's folder tomorrow. (Jan. 3rd)
Please encourage your child to practice applying their reading strategies while they are reading.
If you need books let me know.