Dear Grown-ups,

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!  We have 3 weeks before our Winter Break and are looking forward to nonfiction reading and writing, working on numbers to 20 and learning all about maps and globes while incorporating how people celebrate holidays around the world.  We will also welcome winter which brings colder weather.  Please remember that we do go outside on cold days and it is vital that students are properly clothed for the elements and know how to put on these items.  Please take time to practice with your child on how to get ready to go outside.  Here are some steps to help:

1. First, put on your coat and zip or button it up.
2. Next, put on your hat and/or scarf.
3. Finally, put on your gloves.

Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.  If you are in need of a winter coat or have any other questions or concerns as always reach out to your child’s teacher. 

The Kindergarten Team

Language Arts

What are we learning?

We will be starting our next unit all about Nonfiction!

• Readers notice how fiction and nonfiction books are different. 
• Readers preview a text to learn how the text works.
• Readers study the pictures and think about what information it teaches them.
• Readers talk with others about connections made to the text. 
• Writers will use already learned knowledge to create an “All About” book. 
  • Drawings
  • Labels
  • Sentences (i.e “Squirrels can…)

Home/School Connection

• When reading with your student at home, begin to incorporate more Nonfiction books into the rotation.
• Talk about how Fiction and Nonfiction books differ: 
  • Fiction: Made up stories, pictures are usually illustrated, contain characters and other story elements (Problem, solution, setting, motivation, etc)
  • Nonfiction: Teaches you something about a topic, pictures are usually in the form of photographs, containing elements like Table of Contents, labels of pictures, Glossary, etc.
• When reading Nonfiction, stop occasionally and ask the student what they see in the picture. What do they notice? What does the author want you to learn? 
• Sight Word Practice: Continue to practice reading and writing these words at home!
  • a
  • the
  • I
  • see
  • can 
  • am
  • look 
  • at
  • me
  • said
  • like 
  • we
  • is (will be introduced week of 12/13)

Math

What are we learning?

We will begin our next math unit, Counting and Number Part 2. In this unit we will...

• Develop an understanding of number by counting and comparing sets of objects
• Tell how many are in a given set
• Use vocabulary such as “fewer” or “more”
• Read, write, and represent numbers 0 through 20
• Compare and order sets from least to greatest and greatest to least
• Count forward orally by ones from 0 to 31
• Count backward by ones orally when given any number between 1 and 10
• Identify the after, without counting, when given any number between 0 and 30

Home/School Connection

At home, this may look like...

• Ask your child to count to 20
• Have your child find sets of items (to 10) from around your house
• Ask your child to clean up items in chunks (4 at a time, 6 at a time)
• Ask your child to clean up 5 items and then 6 items; then ask your child which had more toys? Less toys?
• Have your child put away the silverware and count it; then ask them to say which has more/less (spoons or forks)
• Have your child count the items on the grocery list

Science/Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will use simple maps and globes to identify places and objects.
• Students will understand that maps and globes model different perspectives.

Home/School Connection

• Pick an object (puppet, stuffed animal, book, etc.) to move around the room. Give the object to a person and have him/her move it around the room, according to your directions, which include the positional words near/far, above/below, left/right, and behind/in front of. 
• Ask a person to describe/give clues to the location of an object in the room.  Guess what object may be described.  (i.e. “This item is near the sink. It is below the cabinet. It is in front of the basket.”)
• Talk about the differences/similarities of a globe and map.

Class Compliments

• Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout out the class for their hard work during Writing! Students have come a long way with making sure their pictures are detailed and adding labels to their drawings. We have even started adding sentences! Keep up the hard work!
• Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B have enjoyed reading students’ pattern books! Students worked hard adding details to pictures and sounding out words. We can’t wait to write more books this year in kindergarten.
• Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon are SO proud of the perseverance the class has shown with the schoolwide ST Math Challenge!  They made their goal all 3 weeks and every week surpassed the number of puzzles completed the week before!  Way to go! 🐧🐧🐧
• Ms. Powers and Mrs. T would like to give the entire class a shout out on their fantastic work with patterns! We have found patterns all over our room, outside, and in our lives! Thank you for always working so hard!!

Social Emotional/Positivity Project

• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of November 29- December 3 is kindness
• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of December 6-10  is knowing my words and actions affect others

Home/School Connection

• Make sure your children are friendly and grateful with all the people in their daily lives, such as a bus driver or a waitress.
• Encourage children to care for those who are vulnerable. Give children some simple ideas for stepping into the “caring and courage zone,” like comforting a classmate who was teased.
• Use a newspaper or TV story to encourage your child to think about hardships faced by children in another country (or in our country). 
• From the article Are you Raising Nice Kids?

Important Upcoming Dates

• December 14: PTO meeting, zoom
• December 20-December 31  Winter Break, no school

Click here to see what students are learning in Specials!