Kindergarten Newsletter: Nov. 20th---25th

We continue learning about the Pilgrims,  Indians, and turkeys and are planning our Thanksgiving Feast.   We finished making our Indian and Pilgrim outfits and drew to see whether they will be an Indian or a Pilgrim for the feast.  The children will bring both sets of outfits  home, so they can choose whichever one they want to wear for their family's Thanksgiving.  They all are very excited to bring their decorations and costumes with them wherever they are celebrating Thanksgiving.

We have begun writing in Journals and have made a cover for this first Journal.  At first I will give a sentence starter for the students. This week I'll have them write what they like to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. The children are encouraged to write their ideas the best they can.  Believe it or not, the more they do this, the easier it gets.  Any practice you give them at home is very beneficial.  Let them write one sentence about a movie they watched, or about a party they attended. Any activity that your child is interested in, or has participated in, can provide a writing experience. 

Remember to send in 2 stamps for the report card envelope. 

SPECIALTIES 

Monday, AM:Spanish  PM: Art/Computer

Tuesday, AM:Music     PM:PE

Wednesday, AM:Art    PM:Spanish and Reading Parent

Thursday, AM:Library  PM:Music

Friday, AM:PE               PM:Music

Weekly Subjects/Material Covered

Religion: We are learning about Jesus as our teacher. Jesus teaches us many things.  One of the important lessons He teaches us is to treat others fairly, the way you want to be treated.  Jesus also taught us the Lord's Prayer, or as we usually call it, The Our Father.  We are discovering what the words of that prayer really mean, so the children will understand what they are saying when they pray.

Math:  We began our chapter on counting, comparing, and writing numbers through 31. I will be encouraging the children to "count on" from ten.  For example, the number 14 means you have 10 and 4 more: 10: 11, 12, 13, 14. We will also be discussing  the terms MORE , LESS, GREATER THAN.

Reading: We concluded our L,l Letter Book and began our I,i  Letter Book. In this book we will only be listening for the short sound of -i- as at the beginning of Indian or igloo.  We are trying to hear and read the short vowel sounds in the middle of words, like can, mop, or sit. We are also writing these short words and words that rhyme with them.  Play rhyming games with your children often so they are familiar and "hear" words that have the same middle and ending sounds. We are also beginning to write our ideas by ourselves; using the "best guess" method of spelling. Encourage your child to "write" their ideas as much as possible at home. This provides opportunities to express and organize his/her thoughts, without getting worried about spelling. This week we will finish some sentences about Thanksgiving.

Handwriting: We have been practicing our C,c's; O,o's; and G,g's, D,d's, S,s's  and L,l's on paper, on wipe-off boards, and on the Promethean Board.  As they practice these letters at home, watch their letter formation.  Remember the letters should rest on the lines and begin at the top and go down.  We wrote what we are thankful for and what we did over our long weekend.

Social Studies: Thanksgiving: Indians, Pilgrims, and the Mayflower. We had some fun on the Promethean Board  learning about Thanksgiving.  The children loved making their teepees and totem poles.

Science: We are experimenting to see if we can produce raisins from grapes. This seems to take a long time.  As one of our bright students said, "We don't have enough sunlight". I'm afraid this experiment has not been very successful, but it's a good lesson.  Not everything we try is going to work out; it's fun to make predictions and test things anyway. Our sweet potatoes, however, are growing exceptionally well. We also "talked turkey" this week and learned some interesting things turkeys do. In connection with the turkey lesson, we learned a song about turkeys and painted turkey feathers, that we turned into turkeys. We brainstormed  about what other animals the Indians would have seen and used for clothing and food.  The children then picked 3 of these animals to put on their totem poles.

Calendar Dates

11/24: H1N1 vaccinations today.

11/25: Our Kindergarten Feast; Early dismissal at 11:45.

11/26-11/27th: Thanksgiving vacation

Birthdays

November 1: Will Loynd

Have a great weekend!  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Mrs. Marilyn  Bergmann