Hi Families! 

We hope that everyone was able to take a look at their student’s report card for Quarter 2. The students have worked really hard and we continue to see their growth and progress each day. If you have any questions regarding how your student is performing in school or a grade they received on their report card, please feel free to reach out to your teacher! 

There are lots of exciting events coming up next week at school: on Monday, February 14th, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day and the 100th Day of School! You will be receiving information (if you haven’t already) about details for each of these special occasions via Tuesday Folders. 

The Kindergarten Team would like to thank all of our families for your continued support at home and at school!

The Kindergarten Team

Language Arts

What are we learning?

• Readers notice how a character’s feelings change and think about why they changed. (The Reading Strategies Book 6.4)  
• Readers ask questions when they read, thinking about what the author wants them to learn or understand about the characters. 
• 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 
  • he 
  • she
  • and
• 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 math unit! In this unit students will…

• Compare two objects lengths/heights
• Use comparisons using one of the following attributes: length, height, weight, temperature, volume, and time
• Use words longer and shorter or taller and shorter or hotter and colder
• Use words more and less when comparing
• Compare passage of time or events

Home/School Connection

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

• Compare different items at home using vocabulary from above
• Use different items to measure toys or areas (use a pencil to measure the height of a bear and a doll)
• As children are cleaning up, ask them to pick up two items and share which is heavier or lighter
• Challenge students to clean up the heaviest items first

Science/Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will demonstrate being a good citizen within their community, on and offline.
• Students will understand how communities express patriotism through events and symbols.
• Students will  recognize that history describes events and people from other times and places.
• Students will sequence events in the past and present and begin to recognize that things change over time.

Home/School Connection

• What is the same and different about rules in our homes, our classroom, our school, online, and in our community?
• How might people honor and celebrate traditions and events of the past?  For example we celebrate President’s Day.  Who do we honor and what do we do?
• Some things change over time, while other things remain the same.  What is something that is the same?  What is something that has changed?

Class Compliments

• Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon’s Kindergarten have been working on writing 5 star sentences and counting to 100.  Some of these things have been hard for us but we are embracing the “power of yet”.  We may not be able to do it yet, but we will keep trying!  Way to go!🌟
• Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to recognize the class for being such great friends! The class talked about how they can be good friends and they have really tried to show their classmates that they care about them and respect them!
• Ms. Powers and Mrs. Powers are so proud of our class’s hard work! We worked so hard to make our “How to” books and transitioned effortlessly into our next unit on small moments. We loved hearing about each of our friends' small moments! We love how we can make the small moments into a story!
• Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B’s class discussed our dream professions and what we need to learn to do the jobs well.  Students want to be doctors, dentists, zookeepers, bakers, gymnasts, swim teachers, paleontologists, detectives, and the hardest job of all . . . parents!

Social Emotional

• Kindergarten has learned about the Kimochis® Character named Bug. He taught children about the feelings left out, shy, brave, and scared. Bug is the Kimochis® Character who is thoughtful and very careful. He is very smart and loves to talk. But Bug is afraid of change, and because he is a caterpillar, this is hard for him. Although Bug is afraid, he secretly dreams of flying, but it is hard for him to try new things!

Home/School Connection

• Common Language: Positive self-talk: Encouraging self-talk you use inside your head, such as: “I think I can,” “I have done hard things before,” “I know I can do it” 
• Coach Positive Self-Talk 

• • Share your positive self-talk. “I’m not giving up even though I am frustrated. I can do this.” 

  • Suggest positive self-talk when you see your child is reluctant to try something new. Whisper in his/ her ear, “Estelle, I know you can do it! Tell yourself, ‘I can do it!’ 

  • With your child, wonder aloud about times he/she used self-talk when challenged. “I noticed you stuck with [name the task or activity]. What did you say inside your head to help?”

Positivity Project

What are we learning?

• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of February 7- 11 is humility
• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of February 14-18  is love

Home/School Connection

• As with every other character trait, modeling is one of the most effective  ways to encourage these traits in our children. As adults we can apologize when we make mistakes and we can thank the people that help us succeed. 
• Compliment a child’s efforts in addition to their successes. 
• And take a few minutes after reading this to show your child you love them with a big hug, a kiss, a cuddle, or a dance party!

Important Upcoming Dates

• Monday, February 21: Presidents’ Day, no school
• February 24 and March 10: 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.
• Thursday, March 3: 2 hour early release
• Friday, March 4: Teacher work day, no school for students
• Saturday, March 6: PTO Skate Night 6:10-8:00pm, 1800 Michael Faraday Ct.

Click here to see what students are learning in Specials!