Patterns Everywhere

In math for the last 2 weeks, we have been learning about patterns. In the classroom we have been able to make all kinds of patterns: color patterns, shape patterns, object patterns, movement patterns and people patterns. We defined a pattern as something that repeats over and over. We concentrated on AB and ABB patterns. Yesterday we went outside and looked for patterns in nature and in the structures.

The kids were finding patterns everywhere we looked. They noticed the pattern of the fence and also saw a pattern in the nails on the fence. (Please don't judge me by my huge gigantic arm. I'm working on it. I'm going to call this the "before" picture.)

I love this pattern in the tree bark.

The chain link fence makes a very interesting pattern.

One of the kids pointed out all the patterns you see here: several brick patterns and the pattern in the circle. We had a good time looking for patterns and I was really surprised at how many they were able to find. Thanks to Mrs. Walrath, I have pictures. I forgot to take my camera with me.

Next week we wll be talking about the months of the year. The students will need to be able to tell me the names of the days of the week and the months of the year by the end of the next 6 weeks period.

October Dates and More About Writing

October is going to be a busy month. Please mark the following dates on your calendar.

Oct. 3 - Open House 5:00 - 6:30
This is a come and go event. We will have some student work on display and the kids will enjoy telling you about everything we do.

Oct. 11 - We will walk to Fletcher's after lunch to see the Pumpkin Patch. They have a short program for the kids.

Oct. 19 - Field Trip to Elgin Pumpkin Patch. This is an all day field trip. We've done this one before and it is so much fun. Parents are welcome to go. I will send a permission slip for this one soon. It will cost $7 per child. $5 for parents and younger siblings.

Oct. 31 - We are bringing back the community helper parade! We haven't done this the last couple of years and we miss it. The kids can dress up to show us what they want to be when they grow up. We will also have our Fall class party on this day.

I am so excited about how the kids are coming along with their writing. I see improvement every day. I hope you are talking to your child about what they are writing. I want to show you the example below because it is very typical of what you may be seeing your child do.
This student wrote "I like my octopus". You can see in the bottom right hand corner where he wrote "I lke". There is an M for "my" on the left side and in the top left corner there is an O for octopus. When he read this to the class, he was able to point to the letters that represented what he was saying. He was very intentional about the letters he put down. This is very appropriate for a beginning Kindergarten student. The author has to read it to you but when they do, it makes sense. Remember, I don't tell the kids how to spell words. I tell them to write what they hear.

We work on letter sounds every day. You can help at home by asking your child to tell you what sounds the letters make. If you have some ABC flash cards, you could go through those at night to reinforce what we do at school.

Red Out

What a great looking bunch of kids today! All the red looked great.

I think it made them a little crazy seeing all the red.

We've been learning about the letter "T" this week so we made tigers to hang in the classroom.

Crazy Socks and Clothes

It's been a fun week with a lot of crazy stuff going on. Today was mismatch clothes day.

Yesterday was crazy sock day.

Tomorrow is red out. It would be great to have the whole class dressed in red.

This week we started writing sentences in class. You're going to start seeing papers that look a little like these. You probably won't be able to read them yet, but please have your child read it to you. We've been using pictures to help us think of memories to write about. They have learned that a sentence starts with a capital, ends with a period and has spaces between words. They also know that a sentence has to tell you something. It can't just be a list of words.

The kids have great ideas and I love to hear about their memories.

Today they will bring home a book in the blue folder that has words. It's very simple and they will have memorized it already. When they read it to you, I need you to make sure they point to the words as they read and that the word they are saying should match the word they are pointing to. That's the hard part. Since they will have it memorized, they won't want to actually look at the word as they say it.

Thanks so much for your help at home.

Spirit Week

I've been out of the class the last day and a half so I've missed the first part of Spirit Week. My substitute took these pictures for me today. Thank you, Mrs. Hill! It looks like we had some very handsome twinkies today.

I saw the kids Monday morning with the college shirts on but I didn't get a picture. It looked like the class was evenly split between A&M and Texas.

Tomorrow is crazy sock day. I'm going to have to go dig up some crazy socks. Can't wait to see what the kids wear.

We Love Fridays!

Fridays are so much fun for us. Our schedule is a little different and the day is much more relaxed. It's a nice change of pace after a very busy week. We always make a craft on Friday that goes with the letter of the week. This week we learned about "H" and so today we made houses. I give the kids directions but then they are free to create and use their imagination. I tell them that what they make will not look like what their neighbor is making and that's a good thing. It would be boring if we were all exactly the same.

We got to go to the computer lab for the first time today. We will start doing that every Friday.

They were so quiet and stayed so busy.

We also go to the library on Friday. Your child will bring a library book home for you to read to them. You can keep the book until the next Thursday and that is when they need to be turned in so the kids can get a new one on Friday. They are very sad if they don't get to check out a book so please help us with this and remind your child to turn the book in by Thursday.

The last part of our day is snack time. That's always a hit. They are hungry by the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who has sent snacks.

It's been a really good week. Your kids are hard workers and I am so glad to be their teacher.

Homework and Robots

The kids are doing a great job with the homework. The homework reinforces what we are learning in class. It goes home on Wednesday and it is due on Friday. I don't put a grade on it, but everyone who brings it back gets a sticker on Friday. You will be starting a good habit with your child if you have a place designated to do homework at your house. If you have a really busy week and your child can't do it by Friday, just have him/her do it as soon as possible.
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, the students will be bringing home a blue reading folder. It will come home on Wednesday and Thursday. Please have your child read the book 3 times and then sign the paper in the front of the folder by the title of the book.

The first 3 books they will bring home will have no words. In class, we will talk about each picture and look for details. Then we will make up a story about the pictures. Ask your child to tell you a story about each picture and then talk about the details in the picture. I am emphasising details in writing also so you can have this same type of discussion about the writing papers they bring home.


The robots were great! I was so impressed by the imagination that was used in creating these robots. Thank you, parents, for helping your child. They were so proud of their creations.

Busy, Busy Week

Three day weekends are great, but four day work weeks are hectic. We still have 5 days of work to do in 4.
You are going to start seeing a lot of papers like the one below. I want to let you know what you are seeing and how to talk to your child about it. This is what we do for writing. I tell the children that they are authors and illustrators. Almost every day they will have the opportunity to write. We talk about how to get ideas for writing. This week we were using books to help us with ideas. I would read a story to them and they would write about their favorite part. When we write, I tell the kids to THINK, DRAW, WRITE. They think of an idea first, draw a picture of the idea, and then write about it. Right now, I am teaching them to label their drawings. I do not tell the children how to spell a word. I'm teaching them to listen to the sounds they hear in words and write what they hear. I the drawing above, the child wrote "shopping". You can see how he was listening to the sounds and writing what he heard.

In this drawing, the child did more labeling. When you see papers like this, ask your child to read it to you. You can ask about the sounds they heard. Please don't talk about "correct" spelling yet. I don't want the kids to become fearful of writing because they think they aren't doing it right. Correct spelling will come later. Enjoy your child's attempts and treasure them because this stage doesn't last long.

It's fun to watch the kids make new friends and learn to get along.

This is octopus. (You were probably wondering.) Every week we will make a craft that goes with our letter of the week. So far, we have learned the letters L, O, G.

We also read our first word this week - log. They were excited to read a word. We will keep adding to our words every week. Soon I will have class full of readers and writers.

Lots To Learn

The class has been working really hard on learning the letters of the alphabet. They keep asking me when am I going to teach them to read and I keep telling them we have to learn the alphabet first. I like their enthusiasm! You can help us by having your child say the alphabet at home to you and point to letters and see if they can tell you the name of the letter. If your child seems comfortable with naming the alphabet, then you can start asking them if they know what sound the letter makes.

Every week we will focus on a letter to really learn it well. So far we have learned the letters "L" and "O". Your child should be able to tell you what sound they make, is it a consonant or a vowel, and name some words that start with that letter.

Handwriting is also very important. The kids are working on writing their first and last name and all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase.

You can monitor their progress by checking the work that comes home in the red folder every day. I won't give grades until the second 6 weeks grading period but I will make corrections on the papers.

In Math, we have been exploring manipulatives such as pattern blocks, linking cubes, and color tiles.

The class is working hard for me. They know the routines now and I'm very proud of how far they have come just since last week. They are a great group of kids.