Dear Families-

Can you believe that we are halfway through this adventure known as Kindergarten?  It is hard to imagine what it was like just 5 months ago compared to what the kids can do now.  We are so proud of the perseverance and hard work that the kids have displayed so far this school year.

Next week the students will be receiving their first report card.  You will notice that kindergarteners do not receive letter grades, but numbers.  Do not equate these numbers with a letter grade, but rather a continuum of their learning and what they are able to do at this point.  Please refer to the “What Do the Marks/Grades Mean?” information sheet for more details about what the numbers mean, along with a visual that you may find helpful.  You will also notice that some standards may have a “NT” or “NA” next to it.  “NT” means not taught, while “NA” means that something was introduced but not yet fully assessed.

If you have additional questions after you receive the report card, please feel free to reach out directly to your child’s teacher. Thank you for your continued support, patience, flexibility and grace this year.

The Kindergarten Team

Language Arts

What are we learning?

• We will be starting a new unit and this unit will be all about Learning about Print through Characters! Kindergarten will take time to thoroughly look at characters in a story. We will look at what the characters think, say and do in order to understand them better. 

• Readers will use the sounds of a word to figure out what it says. 
• Readers will use words they know (i.e. sight words) to help make sense of what they are reading. 
• Readers listen to the words and look at the pictures to understand what is happening in the story.
• Readers follow the characters in the story and share ideas about them.
• Readers think about the characters’ feelings to understand what is happening and make predictions about what might happen next.
• Writers will share stories from their own lives through Personal Narratives. 
• Writers will create Small Moment stories about something that has happened in their lives.

Home/School Connection

• 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 
  • here
  • you
  • on
  • no 
  • go 
  • so 
• Pick out some of you and your student’s favorite Fiction books! Spend time looking closely at the characters and describing them together. 
  • What is the character doing? Saying? Thinking? 
  • What do we know about the character from what we have observed? 
• Ask your student to pick a small moment of their day that they remember; now have them draw a picture and write about it. Here are a few things to encourage them to do: 
  • Have clear pictures that match their small moment…this isn’t their whole day, just a small part of it. 
  • When writing: 
  • Are they starting the sentence with a capital letter? 
  • Do they have their finger spaces between words? 
  • Are Sight Words spelled correctly? 
  • Are words sounded out phonetically? (ie. pizza→pezu)
  • Is there a period at the end of the sentence?
  • Do a few of these throughout the month of February and create a book with the saved writings! 

Math

What are we learning?

We will be beginning our next unit, Counting and Numbers (part 3). In this unit we will…

• Count forward by ones from 0 to 100
• Identify the number after, without counting
• Identify the number before, without counting
• Count by tens to determine the total number of objects to 100

Home/School Connection

When working on this unit at home, you can ask students to…

• Count your toys as you put them away.
• Group your toys into groups of ten. Count the toys by 10. 
• Count with me. 
• Write a number, ask the student to say the number.
• Ask the student what number comes before ___
• Ask the student what number comes after ____
• Count objects at home
• How high can you count?

Science/Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will learn about community helpers.
• Students will investigate and understand that shadows occur when light is blocked by an object.

Home/School Connection

• Who are some of the community helpers in Reston?  What is their occupation and what do they do?
• Take a walk outdoors…do you see any shadows?  How do you think they are made?

Class Compliments

• Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon are so proud of how the students have persevered since returning from winter break.  They have met every challenge, including our virtual snow day, with an “I can do it” attitude.  Way to go!  You make us so proud!🧡🖤🐯
• Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B were impressed with students (and families 🙂) flexibility with our first virtual snow day.  It was great seeing their excited faces!
• Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout out the class for showing enthusiasm and flexibility! We have been trying out some new activities with technology and everyone has been up for the challenge!
• Ms Powers and Mrs. T are so happy to see our counting friends! We are so excited for our friends to practice counting to 100! Keep practicing at home! Math rockstars!

Social Emotional/Positivity Project

• This week, the Kimochis® Character named Cat joined our classroom to teach children about the feelings curious, cranky, and sorry. Cat is the Kimochis® Character who knows what she wants, when she wants it, and why she wants it! When Cat makes up her mind, there is no stopping her. When the group needs a leader, Cat is always ready to help. She loves to be in charge, but she can be a little bit bossy. Cat may seem mean on the outside, but on the inside, she is very sweet. Cat has lots of bandages to help her redo times when she makes a mistake and hurts someone’s feelings.

Home/School Connection

• Common Language “Talk nicely”: A child can say this to remind friends who are using bossy talk to talk in a friendlier way 
• Coach Talking Voice (in Self and Others)
  •  Notice when you accidentally use an unnecessary tone of voice that could come across as bossy or cranky. “I better start again. My voice is sounding a bit cranky.” 
•  Remind your child to use a talking tone when you hear him/her using one that has a bossy or demanding quality. “Emily, why don’t you say that again with your Talking Voice.”

Important Upcoming Dates

• February 10 and February 24: Mind in the Making Parent Workshop with Jen Blum.   These sessions will be virtual, and you can see the flyer for topics .To learn more, visit the Mind in the Making website or email [email protected]. Click here to sign up for the workshops.
• Monday, February 21: Presidents’ Day, no school

Click here to see what students are learning in Specials!