Week #2 in Review

We had a great 2nd week of Kindergarten!  The kids are really learning the routines and expectations.  This will help set the tone for a fantastic year of learning and growing.  Here's what we worked on this week:
Language Arts:
-We read Pete the Cat books and talked about character and setting.
-We worked on pointing to words in simple books and following text from left to right.
-We introduced the Michael Heggerty phonemic awareness program (separate from Passport to Reading) which will start later in the year.
Math:
-We worked on identifying the four basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, and rectangle).
Handwriting:
-We practiced holding our pencils and crayons correctly.
-We worked with scissors and holding them safely.

We had a great first visit with our 5th Grade Reading Buddies from Mr. Hayward's class.  The kids completed a color by number activity and got to know their buddies.  We are going to have fun with this group of students!  We will see our Reading Buddies weekly on Friday mornings.

*Please remember to send library books on Thursdays.  We will have a basket in our classroom if your child finishes reading the books before Thursday and wants to return them.

*If your child is going to be absent from school, please email me and let me know.  Send Ms. Rosa an e-mail as well (rordaz@op97.org).

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have a question or concern.  My preferred way of communication is via e-mail.  That way I can respond to you as I am able (within 24 hours for most situations).

Things to Work on at Home:
-Writing first and last name with lowercase letters (not all caps).
-Identifying letters (flash cards for capital and lowercase letters work great!)
-Tying shoes!
-Establish a place for your child to keep all the mini-books we create in class.  These are great confidence boosting books and fun for them to practice reading independently once they can read them.  A Ziploc bag, small shoe box or some container like that is a perfect place.  We make lots of books throughout the year so they will have their own library of things they can read!