Dear Families,

         We are off to a wonderful start here in Kindergarten!  We are learning how to login to our laptops and have enjoyed stories and projects to help us get to know one another and build our classroom community.  We have also been so busy learning all about how to be a student and are improving every day with our routines.  We know how to walk in the hallway, how to be a friend and how to  play and clean up afterwards, just to name a few.  Here are a few reminders to help us out:

• Please make sure you are sending your child with a water bottle every day.  We are unable to use the water fountains and kids get thirsty.
• If you have not already done so, please make sure that there is a change of clothing in your child’s backpack. 
• Please, please, please send 2-3 extra masks every day.  Masks break, get lost and also get wet and need to be changed out.  Also talk to your child about the importance of having that mask over their nose.

         Hopefully you all were able to watch the virtual Back to School Night Video and have any questions you may have had answered at our Q&A last night.  If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher.  Thank you for all of your help and support!

The Kindergarten Team

Language Arts

What are we learning?

• Students will learn characteristics of their names and the names of students in their class.
• Students will learn to use the pictures in a text to help them read. 
• Students will use known words to help them read texts.
• Students will practice retelling a story.
• Students will practice telling stories orally. (This is the first step to Kindergarten writing.)

Home/School Connection

• Have students practice writing their names and reading the letters in their name.
• Use various materials (playdoh, magnetic letters, etc) to help students learn their name.
• When reading stories with your student, have them try to read the pictures. Work on making sure their “reading” matches the illustrations. 
• After reading a book to your student, have them retell as much as they can about what they read.
• Practice finding our Sight Words (we have new words each week):
  • I
  • a
  • see
  • the
• Ask students to share what they did during the day at school.

Math

What are we learning?

• Students will learn to sort by color.
• Students will learn to sort by shape.
• Students will learn to sort by size.

Home/School Connection

• Go on a color/shape hunt around your house.  Pick a color and see how many things you can find that are that color.
• Give your child an opportunity to sort by color, shape and/or size.

Science/Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will learn how to be a good citizen within their community.
• Students will understand how communities express patriotism through events and symbols.
• Students will sequence events in the past and present and recognize that things change over time.

Home/School Connection

• Practice saying “The Pledge of Allegiance” to a grown-up.
• Practice saying the “Terraset Tiger Pledge” to a grown-up.
• Look at pictures of your family members from when they were a baby.  What do you notice?  How have they changed?

Class Compliments

• Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout out the entire class! The past few weeks the students have worked really hard learning new routines and they are rocking it! Everyone is working hard and growing their brains; what a great start to our year!
• Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B are very impressed with how fast students are learning our kindergarten routines.  We are all using our growth mindset to exercise and grow our strong brains.  We are setting ourselves up to have a great year in kindergarten!
• Way to go Kindergarten!  Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon are so proud of their class.  They are learning how to be great Terraset Tigers and working hard every day!  Keep it up!
• Ms. Powers and Mrs. T are so excited with the growth that all students have already shown by learning new routines, making friends, and developing stamina! Everyone has worked so hard these first few weeks and we are so thrilled that we have the opportunity to grow in kindergarten with you!

Social Emotional/Positivity Project

• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of Sept. 13-17 is Curiosity
• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of Sept. 20-24 is Teamwork

Home/School Connection

• Click here for Positivity Project’s P2 for families.  The password is: P2. There is a short video clip and some questions you can discuss with your child at home for each character trait.

Important Upcoming Dates

• September 13-19: Tiger Club Registration (information sheet went home in a Tuesday Folder)
• September 28 4:00-8:00pm: Tigers on the Town PTO fundraiser at Flippin Pizza
• October 1: Outdoor movie night, location to be announced

Click here to see what students are learning in Specials!