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| The Fall Fiesta! The Leaves are Falling. |
WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
Our first assembly last Friday was a big hit. The children loved performing on stage. We sang the welcome song with Mrs. White performing “Gaia Wana Hey,” on her hand-made drum. We also sang two additional songs “Fall Fiesta,” and “Shoo Fly Pie.” For the past few weeks we had been practicing together to prepare for the event. It has been a great opportunity to combine the classes, sing fun songs and meet new and familiar friends. We will have additional opportunities throughout the year to collaborate with Mrs. White’s “Can Do Kids.” I look forward to these gatherings as opportunities to learn about each other while being exposed to a variety of cultural and academic curricula.
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| Kaitlyn practicing the actions as she says the letter sounds. |
Jolly Phonics: We started our next grouping of sounds, /g/, /o/ and /u/. As the list of sounds we are learning has grown we are now able to play a variety of phonics games. I introduced one such game this week, “Sound Memory.” This game is based on the traditional matching pictures Memory game, but instead of pictures we are matching sounds. It is important to say the sound of the letter and to do the actions as the cards are turned over. This helps build automaticity and fluency, while keeping the process fun and engaging. The students worked in pairs playing the game. I will be sending the games throughout the week. I have six sets, so if your child doesn’t come home this weekend with it, look for it later in the week. I will rotate the games and continue to add in new letters as they are introduced. Another sound picture game will be introduced on Friday. Look for them in your folders.
Reading:
You will have noticed today bright colored book bags (should fit in most backpacks) that came home with your child today. Please keep green folders, Jolly Phonics Sound Books and workbooks in it. Hopefully it will help keep the folders and reading/writing materials organized. It will hold small predictable books for your child to read with you. As more books become introduced for them to read I will send home information to help guide you in the process of supporting their work. We will talk more at conference time as well. Thank you for your support!
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| Brady and Ian building Cooperatively with the Legos. |
Social & Emotional Growth:
As I look through the series of photos at the end of the week preparing to put together this newsletter, I am pleased to step back and view their progress. Although we have our challenges, staying on task, following directions and/or rules, at the end of the day they are beginning to learn from their mistakes, work out their differences, take responsibility for their actions, take turns, and be cooperative. Please continue to remind them to think about their own behavior and not others. You all should be very proud of them. J
Share: The Share theme this past week was /m/. Great shares this week! Next week sound theme is /r/,
ELF: This past week the ELF designs in nature class focused on leaves and patterns. Thank you to our ELF Volunteers, Lynn Morrell, Finn’s Grandfather and Tom Haley. Although the snow came early and made it difficult for them to get outside, they had a very busy and interesting class inside! Look for your child’s leaf rubbings in today’s folder.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:
- Thank you to Andrew’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snacks! Next week’s snack will be provided by Kayla’s family.
- 1st Quarter Conference Sign Up: Conference confirmation sheets have been going home in the folder. If you haven’t signed up for a conference yet, send me an email or note . Let me know what is a good time to meet. Friday afternoon is fairly open. Thank you.
- Winter clothing time. Your child will need to wear snow pants and boots at recess if snow is on the ground. If your child has an extra pair of boots or snow pants that can be kept at school, send in a note to let me know. It will cut down on stuffing backpacks at the end of the day and on what your child has to carry. Also, please let me know if your child can keep their sneakers in their cubby.
- Please practice shoe-tieing, zipping, putting on coats, boots, mittens and hats. This will help make them more independent and streamline transitions to and from recess. Thank you!
- Spill-Safe Water bottles: Please send in water bottles for your child to use in the classroom. Although the weather is colder, the air in the classroom can be very dry. They get very thirsty and it is important for them to stay dehydrated. The line at the water fountain can get long, which makes smooth transitions difficult.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bodnar J
