September 19-23

What a beautiful weekend! Hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy the warm weather while it's still here.

 Please remember to send your child’s writing folder to school if you have not already done so--we will start using them this week!

Upcoming events:
9/19-9/23 Safety Week-a letter will be sent home explaining the exact drills we will practice.
9/19: PSC Meeting
9/20: No School for students
9/22: Family Night: Hot Dogs and How to Help

Students and staff are able to wear NDLC apparel every Friday! If you would like to order NDLC wear, use this link to check out Eagle Graphics' online store.  The code is NDLCSPIRIT. Clothing samples are available in the office and will be out at family night on September 22nd.  Orders are due by September 25th.

Here's what's happening in Kindergarten this week:

Reading: This week we will be starting a new bend in our reading unit, meaning the focus shifts a bit. We have been reading learn-about-the-world books, or informational texts, to practice rereading and thinking about how pages go together. This week, we will begin to focus on reading old favorite storybooks. We have been reading books such as Mrs. Wishy-Washy, The Carrot Seed, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff throughout the last couple of weeks. Now, we can “read” by retelling the story using the character’s voice and saying more and more of the story. Have your child practice reading a familiar book at home! They are great storytellers!

Writing: In writing, we have started to create books! Students are using packets of three or more pages to write about things they know about. First, they plan what they are going to write about by pointing to the page and talking through their book. Then, they draw and write! Later this week, we will be working with writing buddies that will ask questions about our writing; this will help students to look over their writing and start to think about revising. Finally, we will continue to stretch out words to label our work.

Math: I am excited to announce that we will be starting centers in math! Working in the centers will give students the opportunity to explore the math activities at their own pace and discover some concepts independently.
Students will rotate through centers focused on:
•Drawing pictures to represent numbers 1-5
•Playing memory with cards that have 1-5 numerals and dot patterns
• Building numbers using the purple, blue, and red tiles
   Here are what they look like!

•Students will look at a box full of objects. They will pick a card 1-10. If they pick a 7, they need to search to find seven of something in the box (i.e. 7 paper clips). This will help students visualize and group numbers

Word Study: We have four stations that students rotate around throughout the week. Although some of the centers may seem the same as last week, we have switched materials with the other Kindergarten class so that they are working with exciting new names, puzzles, etc.

1. Students are given cards with names and pictures of each student in the class. Students take ABC foam pieces and build their own names and friends’ names.
2. Students are working on ABC puzzles
3. We will build color words using cutout letters and color words!
4. Students are using magnetic letters and a large metal board to sort the alphabet.

Social Studies: After creating our hopes and dreams last week, we will create rules that will help us to reach our hopes and dreams. Many of the students said that they hope to read, write, or be great listeners! We have already compiled a list of ideas for our rules. We will sort, combine, and reword them so that we have positive rules to create a safe and friendly place where we can learn!

Here is our hopes and dreams board! 

Have a great week! Hope to see you at our first family night on Thursday. Email or call with any questions or concerns!

Molly