Concepts we will be focusing on:

• Rules and routines: all day, every day! 
  • Quiet mouth, eyes watching, ears listening, be nice to others, share, finish my work, do my best!  Above all, follow The Wolfpack Way: be respectful, be responsible, and be safe!
  • Values In Action!  We will teach and recognize seven values throughout the year: cooperation, respect, integrity, perseverance, compassion, positive mental attitude, initiative.
• Reading:
  • Phonemic Awareness and Phonics: We are slowly learning (and for some reviewing) our Zoo phonics sounds and motions.  Zoo phonics uses kinesthetic movement to help students learn each letter sound (vowels begin with short vowel sounds only).  Each day we add a new letter and sound.  Ask your student what each letter says, A-Z.
  • Once students have learned all the consonant and short vowel sounds, we will be to manipulate these sounds, blending and stretching words, and learning how sounds work together. This will assist with reading and writing.  In time we will learn long vowel sounds, too.
    • Penmanship and Letters: Control lines are wide-ruled lines that have a dotted or dashed line in the center.  These lines are perfect for kindergarten and first grade to help train students where the letter should sit on the line.  This year, students will learn which letters are short and go below the center line (most lower case), which are tall even when they are lower case, and which dive below the base line.  To help your child with correct printing and letter formation, please help them practice top-to-bottom, and counter-clockwise circles.  In class we use the "magic c" to form the letters a, c, d, e, g, o, q, and even s (mini c to start); the letters b and p are allowed to go clockwise (students should be writing the straight line first before the round part of the letter).
  • Reading Strategies: At the beginning of kindergarten, some students can read basic words, but most cannot.  Students are taught to read the pictures and begin using picture context clues and their imagination to tell the story.  Those who are ready to read the words are encouraged to do so, and will learn strategies over time to help them when they get to a word they do not know.
  • Comprehension: During read- and think-alouds, centers, and reading groups the students are constantly talking about stories.  At home, practice by asking more specific questions using language such as character, setting, problem, and solution.  One of the harder concepts for kinder is setting.  Help your child understand that setting is not only where a story takes place, but also the time.  Also, when talking about the problem and solution, be sure your child is retelling what happens in sequence from beginning, to middle, to the end.
    • Reading Non-fiction - with the new Common Core State Standards, we will be reading, discussing, and writing about non-fiction texts.  We will use cross-curricular thematic units to help student read and write about various non-fiction topics.
    • Currently, we are discussed the character in stories.  Sometimes there is more than one character.  We discuss character traits and the decisions they make in the story, and how it pertains to the problem and how it is solved.
  • Fluency:  It is important to note that fluency is not only a measure of how quickly a child reads, but also their prosody (expression) during reading.  One way to practice at home is to model expressive reading.  During class, the students participate in "echo reading," where I read a phrase or sentence, and then the students repeat.  The students are taught to repeat with the same expression and prosody, which will help them read this way when they begin to read independently.  Another way to practice is to have kids read in phrases while reading their decodable Book-a-Night books.  Continue practicing sight word rings, too, because the sooner they remember these the faster and more efficiently they'll apply this to reading text.
• Math:  We are working closely on counting.  In addition, we are using C.G.I. to learn different strategies to solve word problems and teach each other how they do them.  Some of the problem solving strategies we have learned and continue to practice are using our fingers, drawing pictures, counting on and mental math.  We have recently added the 100s Chart, tallying, and the Open Number Line (in an Open Number Line there is no specific starting place and students can freely jump in whatever increments they choose).
• Writing:  Students form sentences with the help of Thinking Maps to organize ideas.  When spelling words in writing, students can reference the word wall for sight words and sound-spelling (phonetic spelling).  Ideas have come from the students, and I have guided them through spelling, letter formation, and spacing of the words.  The students are writing both narrative and expository text.  For expository text, we described snowmen, wrote about Abraham Lincoln, and have studied Dr. Seuss so that we can write about him, too.  At Open House, come see all that we have studied and written about ocean life!
• Science/Social Studies:  
  • ​As a part of reading and writing expository/informational text, we are studying ocean life for science.  Specifically, we are researching sharks, octopi, and jellyfish.  We will also look at coral reefs and talk about how important it is to take care of our oceans.  We will also study pushes and pulls, weather, and the needs of plants and animals.
  • Our social studies focus is on communities, rules and laws, and times then and now.