Hello families!

Now that students are starting to grasp the routines and expectations of kindergarten, we can start our beginning of year assessments. In Fairfax County Public Schools we use the VKRP (Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program).  The VKRP assesses 4 different areas: literacy, math, social skills, and self regulation.  The literacy assessments are done either in small groups or 1-1 with the teacher, the math assessments are done 1-1, and the social skills/self-regulation assessment is done as a teacher survey through our observations. These assessments are one way we can find out students’ needs and  it helps inform our math and language arts groupings. These assessments will also be administered in the Spring to see students’ growth.  Here is the website for families if you would like more information.

The Kindergarten Team

Language Arts

What are we learning?

• We will be beginning our second Language Arts Unit! 
• Readers will practice holding a book correctly and reading from left to right. 
• Readers will use knowledge they have of letters and their sounds to solve tricky words in texts. 
• Readers will practice pointing under words as they read.
• Readers will use pictures to help make sense of the story.
• Writers will practice drawing pictures to help tell a story. 
• Writers will plan what they want to share in their writing.

Home/School Connection

• Continue to have students read the pictures. 
• Now that we have had a few more sight words introduced in class, encourage students to find these in books they read or in books that are being read to them. 
  • a
  • the
  • I
  • see
  • can (this one will be introduced next week)
• Have students practice drawing pictures to match their stories. 
• When reading you can ask your student to guess the word by looking at the first sound and using the picture to help.

Math

What are we learning?

• We will be beginning our second math unit! In this unit, students will…
• Learn to count objects and write numbers. 
• Learn to put numbers in order. 
• Learn how to count and compare.

Home/School Connection

• Allow students to count different items in/around your house!
• Encourage students to number items on your grocery list or to do list. 
• Create numbers with play-doh.

Science/Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will learn to identify the 5 senses.
• Students will recognize that people make choices because they cannot have everything they want.
• Students will learn about the basic needs and life processes of ants.

Home/School Connection

• Go on a nature walk and use your 5 senses to describe what you see.
• Have students draw and label a picture of some of the choices they made (during the day or week at home, at school, and in their community).
• Go on an ant hunt.  Where did you find some ants?  What did you notice about their habitat?

Class Compliments

• Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout out the entire class for showing awesome teamwork! Our class has been helping one another in various ways throughout the school day; they really care about seeing their classmates do well in school. They have worked together to make our station time at school smooth and fun!
• Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B’s class has started sharing acts of kindness we observed daily at our closing circle.  Each day we run out of time before all students can share. There are so many helpful and kind students in kindergarten!
• Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon would like to shout out the entire class! We are so proud of how hard they have been working on logging into their laptops.  They have exhibited so much patience and are getting so fast at logging in!  You rock!
• Ms. Powers and Mrs. T would love to shout out the entire class for working so hard each day! Our class has been working on the daily routines and are even helping others stay on task throughout the day! Great teamwork!

Social Emotional/Positivity Project

• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1 is Open-Mindedness
• Positivity Project (P2) for the week of Oct. 4-8 is Being Present

Home/School Connection

• Celebrate your child’s attempts at trying something new! Congratulate them on being open-minded! Trying new things is hard.  
• Take a mindful moment with your child.  Before a meal or bedtime, take a moment to sit with your child and focus on your breath.  Take a deep breath in and out. Then put your hand on your belly when you take a deep breath in and out.  Focus on your belly going up and down with your breath.  Do this for 5 breaths. 
• Let your child pick the topic of conversation for one meal.  Let them share their ideas on that topic.

Important Upcoming Dates

• October 1: 7:00pm Outdoor Movie Night at Hunters Woods Park. Free for all Terraset families. Movie: Raya and the Last Dragon. Doors open at 6pm. Bring blankets or lawn chairs 🙂
• October 11: Indigenous Peoples Day- no school for students
• October 12: PTO meeting (Virtual)
• October 29- end of first quarter

Click here to see what students are learning in Specials!