Kindergarten Newsletter
March 21, 2022
Hello families-
Happy spring! With spring comes the end of quarter 3. Wow! Didn’t we just start Kindergarten?!?!?! As we reflect on all that the kids have learned so far this year we are also looking forward to seeing what else we need to accomplish to make sure they are prepared for a successful year in First Grade.
Back in January, we administered the SEL Screener to all Kindergarteners. This survey offers valuable information about students’ SEL skills, relationships, school environment, and well -being. Next week you will be getting the results of this screener mailed to your home. Please keep in mind that this was administered 2 months ago to establish a baseline. We will be administering this screener again next month and will be able to see the growth that our students have made and identify some areas of need as well. Please check out this site which has a lot of information about the SEL screener. You may also reach out to our clinical team of Chelsey Perkins @email (Guidance Counselor), Susan Palatucci @email (Guidance Counselor), Kelly Sweeney @email (School Psychologist), or Marcela Dzeda @email (Social Worker) who would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Have a safe and enjoyable Spring Break!
The Kindergarten Team
Language Arts
What are we learning?
- Readers change their voice to match the feeling of a poem.
- Readers talk about poems with other readers.
- Readers notice that poets see things in new ways.
- Readers discuss the ways poets see things in new ways
- Poets use different tools to show the feeling of a poem.
- Repetition
- Fonts
- Line Breaks
- Poets make drawings to add to the meaning of the poem.
- Poets create titles for poems.
- Poets share their favorite poems with friends.
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
it
on
come
are
my
we
have
to
- Pick some fun and silly poems to read to your student before going to bed or when you read together.
- When reading the poems, change the tone of your voice to match the feeling of the poem. Let your child give it a try afterwards!
- Have fun with it! Try acting out the poem as a family; assign parts of the poem to each member!
- Try writing a list poem! Students can list and draw pictures that belong with the topic they choose.
- Example: Color Poems
-
Blue (Title)
The Ocean
Blueberries
Shoes
Blue Bird
The Sky
- Check out the book, “My Dog is as Smelly as a Dirty Sock.”
- Create family portraits using items at your house to describe each person.
Math
What are we learning?
We will be continuing our unit, composing and decomposing part 2. In this unit we will…
- Continue to develop our understanding of numbers by counting and comparing sets of objects
- Investigate and describe part-whole relationships for numbers up to 10
- Model and solve single-step story and picture problems with sums to 5 and differences within 5, using concrete objects
Home/School Connection
At home, you can support your child’s learning by…
- Asking them to count to 10
- Asking them to count their toys as they pick them up
- Create story problems with your child’s toys, “I had 3 of your stuffed animals, you have 2, how many stuffed animals do we have together?” Then, ask students how they solved for the answer.
- Group their toys into 5’s and have them count by 5’s to see how many toys they have
- Count plates/silverware/napkins as they set the table for you (1, 2, 3, 4…)
Science/Social Studies
What are we learning?
- The student will compare and contrast simple job descriptions of the work people do to earn money.
Home/School Connection
- Ask a grown-up what kind of work they do.
- Share with a grown-up what kind of job you would like when you grow up.
Class Compliments
- Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon would like to give a “shout-out” to their class for exhibiting the P2 trait love of learning. They have shown so much growth in all academic areas and have truly shown their love of learning in all they do. Way to shine you superstars!🌟
- Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout out the class for their creative thinking! They have come a long way in generating their own thoughts and ideas. We can’t wait to watch them continue to grow their brains.
- Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B. are celebrating authors! Students have worked very hard to add details to illustrations and sentences of their small moment stories. All students pushed themselves to try new things in their stories. Writing and illustrating a book takes perseverance!
- Ms. Powers and Mrs. T are celebrating our amazing authors! We have worked so hard on our small moment stories and now they are working hard to create amazing poems! We love your creativity and perseverance! We love to learn with you!
Positivity Project
What are we learning?
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of March 21-25 is wildcard/makeup
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of March 28-31 is humor
Home/School Connection
- Tell jokes with your child(ren)! This is the age when children start to understand more jokes. Although, they still might find jokes with an unrelated punch line the most funny.
- Humor helps build resilience and stress relief. Laughter sometimes is the best medicine!
Important Upcoming Dates
- March 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.
- March 25: Picture retakes
- March 31- 2 hour Early Release 3rd grading period ends
- March 31: Basketball Challenge at South Lakes. Doors open at 5:30pm
- April 1- Teacher work day, no school
- April 4-April 8: Spring Break- no school