Let's Build With 100 Pieces! Wednesday is the 100th Day of Kindergarten!
The Stars will be using the 100 building pieces photographed to construct *something* on our round math table. They can't add extra pieces, and they can't leave any left over! I'm looking forward to seeing their 100 piece creative constructions!
Welcome Back! Welcome back to kindergarten!
I hope you and your families enjoyed winter vacation. Though Mother Nature has gifted us with warmer weather each afternoon, morning recess still finds us playing on thoroughly chilled metal playground equipment. Thank you for sending your Star to school appropriately dressed for the weather:
Happy New Year! Royal Icing Recipe for Class Party Royal Icing Recipe (*inedible!*)
This recipe yields a very small amount of frosting- so consider making a multiple batch. Three times the amount works well for TWO children. We'll need the royal icing no later than Thursday, December 15 so that we can use it to assemble our "gingerbread" (graham cracker) houses during our class party on Friday, December 16 (2:00-3:00 p.m.).
3 egg whites at room temperature
¾ tsp cream of tartar (in spice/baking aisle at grocery store)
1 pound (about 3 and ¾ cups) confectioner’s (“powdered”) sugar
Combine ingredients in bowl and beat on high speed for ten minutes or until VERY fluffy~ if the icing seems runny, add a bit more powdered sugar and mix, mix, mix some more. Store in airtight container *at room temperature*. Do NOT refrigerate, and remember, DO NOT EAT!
This frosting/icing hardens much more quickly and holds all of the components of our graham cracker houses together firmly. Though your Star's architectural masterpiece will LOOK good enough to eat, please keep the house up and away from children and pets as raw egg whites are used in the recipe.
For an EDIBLE alternative, consider making gingerbread house-shaped cookies at home, and encourage your child to decorate them with regular frosting and assorted hard candies, pretzel rods, and cereal!
The Stars are looking forward to their class party. Healthy snacks and/or not-terribly-messy treats are appreciated if you'd like to bring food items for the students and parents to nosh on as we develop our housebuilding talents. We have 21 students, and both Miss Marizza and I will be able to take pictures as you work if you'd like us to capture fun moments for your own holiday scrapbook pages. Families with siblings in other grades are welcome to "come and go" so that all childrens' parties are attended, but if you decide to leave school prior to our 3:20 dismissal, please remember to 1) let me know and 2) sign your child out at the office.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Bon Natale, and Happy New Year to you all!
M. Sommerville
Pumpkin Measurement on Friday
This Friday, October 28, the Stars will begin their introduction to measurement. They will be identifying and using rulers, yardsticks, and tape measures, and adding "inch" and "diameter" to their math vocabulary. The Stars will also be estimating the number of seeds they think each pumpkin contains, and counting out seeds into sets of ten. We hope to have the Stars counting by 10's to make it easier/faster to determine if the small, medium, or large pumpkin has the most seeds.
If you would like to volunteer for this activity, please:
1) Wear something ~washable~!
2) Bring pumpkin carving/decorating kit. (I will have several sharp knives for adult use only to create the "lid" for the pumpkins.)
3) Be prepared to model the use of rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tape. For instance, help students orient the ruler/yardstick so that they measure beginning at the end with the number 1. Show why it is easier to use a measuring tape to determine the diameter of pumpkins, instead of using a ruler or yardstick. Ask students to estimate, or "guess" how many seeds might be in each of the pumpkins, small, medium, and large.
The Super Stars will be having lunch from 11:35-12:05, so if you would like to stay in the classroom to carve faces into the pumpkins, I will gladly bring a string of twinkle lights to illuminate them for a jack-o-lantern display!
If you would like to take seeds home for next year's garden or to roast for a special snack, please feel free to take them.
Thank you so much for your help! The Stars are ~very~ excited to work with our pumpkins!
M. Sommerville
Land O Lakes Save 5 for Schools Program Land O Lakes will continue it's "Save 5 for Schools" Fundraising Program for schools this year:
It works like this:
- Buy gallons of LAND O LAKES® Milk, Orange Juice or Chocolate Milk.
- Save the caps with the Save Five For Schools® stickers.
- Bring the caps to Bradley.
- A school representative will send the caps in with a Redemption Form [minimum 2,000 caps].
- A check will be sent to Bradley.
Feel free to send the caps in with your child(ren) to school as they become available.
We will continue to collect Box Tops for Education as well.
Thank you for helping Bradley obtain additional school funding!
Our Behavior/Discipline Plan and Expectations Welcome to Kindergarten! This year we will be having lots of new, interesting, and fun experiences in our classroom and in other locations throughout the school! Teachers, secretaries, our nurse, our aide, our principal, the custodians and even parent volunteers will help us remember how to stay safe while we learn lots of new things!
Our Super Stars will observe the following rules and develop their own intrinsic motivation:
1) Keep hands, feet, and objects to ourselves.
2) Follow the teacher's directions.
3) Use our indoor voices.
Our Super Stars will be given appreciative feedback for their appropriate behavior by their teacher. Everyone will get to use manner words, such as "please," "thank you," and "no thank you." We will practice taking turns listening, and taking turns talking. We will practice sharing, trading, and communicating with words. We will practice being safe with our bodies, safe with our classroom objects, and safe with our feelings by using appropriate phrases and vocabulary. Appropriate, safe, and respectful behaviors will be demonstrated/modeled, and encouraged by the teacher.
If a Super Star has a difficult time following any of the rules, he or she will be reminded of the rule(s) and given the opportunity to continue the activity after correcting his/her behavior. If it's "just one of those days" and a Super Star would prefer to have a little quiet time and space to himself/herself, s/he will be given the opportunity to find a quiet spot to read, draw, or catch a breath. The Super Stars will always be within view and earshot of whatever activity is taking place, and will be reminded that they are always welcome to rejoin the activity and group when they are ready.
If a student becomes physically hurtful or overly disruptive and refuses to observe our rules of behavior, a student may be referred to the office, and parents will be contacted. Parents are welcome to meet with me to create a behavior modification plan if necessary that provides the student with timely positive feedback regarding his/her appropriate behavior so that the student can experience more success.
I appreciate your open communication with me via email, by phone message through the school secretary or talking with one another face to face in a conference. I prefer to contact parents in as timely a fashion as is possible, so you will probably receive an email message as a "heads up" before you'll receive a phone call. Please do not interpret my tendency to primarily email you as me being impersonal, since 1) the earliest opportunity I have to contact you is during lunch or Brain Break and 2) if my free time is during Brain Break, I do not want to disturb our Super Stars as they rest by speaking out loud over the phone with you. I also do not want to upset or risk embarrassing a student when it becomes necessary for parents and I to team up to problem solve or create a behavior modification plan. If you have questions, reminders, or just want to let me know it was "one of those mornings," I will always appreciate the "heads up!"
Thank you for working with me to provide an educationally safe and stimulating experience for your child, and thank you for all that you do.
M. Sommerville
Sneak Peek! Would you and your Super Star like a "sneak peek" of some of the fun things being prepared for the start of kindergarten? Click on the "multimedia blog" link to see what happened when Buffalo Brad snuck out of the counselor's office to see our room!
 Help Us Learn, Give Us Hope: Bradley Fundraiser Bradley's Student Council is hosting "Help Us Learn, Give Us Hope," a fundraiser that donates money to purchase school supplies for children who live in difficult areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. Though United States soldiers deliver the school supplies in support of education, it's our monetary donations that make the purchase of necessary items possible.
The Student Council is accepting coins and bills (but no checks please) daily from each class, as primary and secondary grades compete to see who can bring in the largest donated amount. Winners will earn a popsicle party with Brad and Lee, our resident school spirit buffaloes!
Our collection jar sits next to our Box Tops for Education container (yes, we're still collecting those too!):
The Stars are encouraged to identify the coins and bills that they bring to donate: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollar bills, five dollar bills, etc. as an enrichment component to the money chapter we worked through last week. Participation in this activity is strictly voluntary.
Super Stars Reciting School Pledges Next Week!
The Stars will recite the morning pledges over the intercom next week!
This weekend is the perfect time to practice reciting the following, at an even tempo, in a normal speaking voice with your child:
Good morning, please stand for the morning pledges.
First, the Bradley Pledge.
I pledge to work hard, do my best, and respect the safety and needs of others.
And now, the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance, to the flag,
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic, for which it stands,
one nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
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Students will practice reciting the pledges next week as well, but it's important that this special opportunity be well prepared for in advance.
Thank you for your help!
M. Sommerville Super Star January Letter Happy Friday!
The Stars have done a great job settling back into our school routine this week! They've reminded themselves of our classroom rules (Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself; use your indoor voice; follow the teacher's directions), how to use a finger-space between words, how to clean up centers for their classmates' use, and how to raise their hands to take turns instead of shouting out answers. We've shared stories of our favorite holiday activities and gifts received, enjoyed listening to stories about winter and snow, learned some new songs and even worked on subtraction! Great job Stars!
Report cards will be coming home with your child this afternoon. Included in your child's white envelope are curriculum information sheets from our Art, Music, Science and PE teachers. Your child's report card and these curriculum sheets do NOT need to be returned to me. The white envelope however, needs to be signed, once on the "1st Quarter" line (indicating we met for conferences during first quarter, NOT that your child received grades), and once on the "2nd Quarter" line, indicating that you've received your child's grade report for this quarter. Please return your child's signed and empty envelope to me no later than next Tuesday, January 11, so that I can have them in your child's folder, ready for third quarter grades. Thanks!
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Please add the following activity to this month's Star Helper Calendar:
Friday, January 28, Kansas Dress Up Day Celebrating Kansas' 150th Birthday
Some dress-up ideas:
Pioneers, cowboys, hunters/trappers (Lewis and Clark), outlaws
First woman mayor, Susana Salter
Carry Nation
Suffragettes: we got the vote in Kansas in 1912
First woman mayor
Sheriff – Wyatt Earp
Pilot – Amelia Earhart
President or general – Dwight Eisenhower
Senator – Bob Dole, Nancy Landon Kassebaum
Jayhawker from territorial/border war days (John Brown)
Authors: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Poet: Langston Hughes
Filmmaker/author/photographer: Gordon Parks
... or costumes/shirts with Kansas symbols: wheat, buffalo, meadowlarks, tiger salamanders, honeybees, box turtles, or Jayhawks!
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Scholastic book order fliers were sent home with your Star this week. Book orders and payment are due back to me (or online) no later than Friday, January 14.
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Please let me know if the changes I've made to the Star Helper Calendar are...~helpful~! I've added math and literacy unit/concept information in the Sunday blocks so you'll know what skills to help us reinforce at home during the school week. Thank you for all of your help, input and support!
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If we get snow next week (and school isn't cancelled), please dress your child in clothing appropriate for the weather. While it is unlikely that we'd go out for recess if the weather was too cold, I'd like the Stars to be warm if we had to leave the building for a drill or emergency. Your child's PE/indoor shoes may be brought in his/her backpack, and I'll make sure that everyone has time to switch shoes for comfort or PE activities.
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Kindergarten Quotes:
"Mrs. Sommerville, someone subtracted our artwork off of your door! We need to make more and add it back!"
"Mrs. Sommerville, you can't ask me any questions today, 'cause I'm being anonymous."
(Said to another teacher in the hallway): "Mrs. Sommerville isn't good at sharing." Teacher: What do you mean? "She doesn't share us with anyone." Teacher: Why doesn't she share you? "Because she likes to keep us to herself." Teacher: Why does she do that? " 'Cause we're her favorite people!"
"Uh, Teacher, how come sometimes you smell like cookies and sometimes you smell like coffee?"
"Mrs. Sommerville, I missed my friends and you know what? I think they missed me too!"
"Teacher, you're kind of silly, but I won't tell my mom."
"I think I like doing the plus better than doing the minus. I want to plus toys for my birthday!"
*****
Have a great weekend,
M. Sommerville
 Welcome Back! I'm looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday! Our January Star Helper Calendar has been emailed to families, but just in case the attachment won't open, I'll send home a hard copy with your Star.
Report cards will come home with your child on Friday, January 7, so please check his or her backpack as soon as you get home.
Please remember that students go out for recess until the temperature reaches twenty degrees. Though sunny, the wind certainly can chill us quickly, so thank you for sending your Star to school wearing appropriate and warm clothing. Layers are GOOD: long pants, socks, outdoor shoes, jacket, hat, scarf, mittens/gloves, and a sweater.
January's Scholastic book order information is available at Scholastic.com! Orders are due back with payment by Friday, January 14.
Happy New Year!
"Gingerbread" House Activity on Thursday Don't forget: all parents are invited to attend our class party (we'll be making graham cracker "gingerbread" houses) tomorrow, Thursday, December 16, from 2-3 p.m. in our classroom.
Cameras are welcome and it's a great opportunity to swap phone numbers and set up play dates for winter break!
November Wrap Up November 15, 2010
Though it’s only mid-month, it’s time to update you about the activities that will round out the remainder of November:
Wednesday, November 17 is Bradley School’s Thanksgiving Lunch. If you plan on eating with your Super Star that day (11:35-12:05) and intend to purchase SCHOOL LUNCH (turkey, stuffing, etc), please let me know tomorrow (Tuesday) so that I can include you in our class lunch count for Wednesday. Gobble gobble gobble!
Our Open House is this Thursday, November 18, between 3:45-5:00. Please come and visit your child’s classroom, have him/her share journals, artwork and favorite centers with you, and tour the rest of Bradley to see all of the wonderful learning that has been taking place this semester! Visit the Educational Dome Theater, music room, art room, library, gym, and Science room as well!
Holiday/Gift book orders from Scholastic are due back to me (or online) with payment no later than this Friday, November 19. If the items you order are intended as gifts, please let me know and I’ll hold on to them (or send them home discreetly packaged) instead of sending them home “out in the open” in your child’s backpack.
Our next visit to the Educational Dome Theater will be Monday, November 22, from 12:05-12:50.
There will be no school Wednesday-Friday, November 24, 25 and 26 so that families may enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday together.
December’s Star Helper calendar will be sent home/emailed by Tuesday, November 30.
Tom the Turkey reminds the Stars to continue to practice:
Writing their ABC’s and 1-2-3’s using proper lines
Counting to 30 without errors or omissions
Writing their names using proper lines
Working neatly November News Happy November!
I've emailed copies of numeral handwriting guides to you for your use at home. Our Stars will need to 1) start at the dot, 2) write the stroke following the direction of the arrows and 3) keep the numbers formed touching the correct lines. It is VERY important that the first few times you work on this page with your child that you use the "hand over hand" technique: allow your child to properly hold his/her pencil, and then place your hand over his/her hand, guiding the strokes as you both write the numerals correctly.
After you feel your child is forming the numbers correctly consistently, allow your Star to complete the page several more times each week, under your watchful eye (poor writing habits are EASILY slid back into when grownups aren't looking!).
In February, the Stars will have to complete a handwriting assessment page for numbers 1-20, and by the end of the year, they should all be able to write numbers 1-30 correctly without assistance.
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Letters: The Stars will also have their handwriting assessed for both uppercase and lowercase letter formation by the end of December. I attached the practice pages to the email message so you can print off as many as you like. Please use the "hand over hand" technique with your child as you work on these pages as well. Being able to properly and comfortably form letters will help your child's reading and writing skills and boost his/her creativity as well!
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It was a VERY busy yet fun week with all of our Red Ribbon Activities. I'll be posting photos to our class blog later this week once they're all uploaded to the school's server. Many thanks again to the families who donated pumpkins for our Pumpkin Math Measurement activity, as well as to Mrs. Marsh and Mrs. Wright for helping facilitate the activities themselves- the Stars LOVED the faces Mrs. Wright carved for them!
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If your family will be traveling prior to November 24 (the start of Thanksgiving Break), please let me know so that I can 1) mark your Star as "excused" and 2) send a work packet home for the days that will be missed.
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We are still collecting Box Tops for Education! Clip Box Tops and send them in with your Star each week. We have a special collection jar that's kept on my desk and we love to try and guess how many Box Tops have been deposited each week!
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With the arrival of colder weather, it's time to wear heavy hooded sweatshirts or coats/hats and gloves to school! That being said, it's also time to **cough, hack** AHEM.... allow/teach your Star to dress him/herself! Coats and jackets can be tricky things: zippers are hard to "start," sleeves get pulled wrong side out, and double layer jackets can be BOTH right AND wrong side out at once! Instead of putting coats or jackets on your Super Star this week, please take the time to have him/her do it alone, with help and direction from you AS NEEDED. As you can imagine, getting ready for recess and dismissal takes an excessive amount of time when twenty-three students won't or can't put their coats on by themselves. Mrs. Colon is not available to help either as she has school duties elsewhere during those times.
I'll remind the Stars that hats and gloves can be kept in a coat sleeve or pockets, but you might want to find glove clips or attach mitten strings to run through both sleeves just in case!
*****
Have a ~wonderful~ week! October Info October 6, 2010
Just some quick reminders:
· We’ll be visiting the Fire Station on Thursday, October 7, from 9:00-9:30. Please make sure your Star wears comfortable and sturdy clothes as we learn about and practice fire safety skills. I’ve seen a lot of students practicing stop, drop and roll at recess!
· This weekend is the perfect time to replace the old batteries in your smoke detectors, practice fire escape routes, and help your child memorize his/her name, address, and phone number in case of an emergency.
· Book orders are due back to me this Friday, October 8, or online, Saturday, October 9. If paying by check, please make sure it’s made out to Scholastic, and that your child’s name is on the book order forms.
· Regularly check our calendar (to the right on this screen) for updated information regarding upcoming activities such as the Bradley Book Fair (brochure sent home yesterday), Red Ribbon Week (the last week of October) and the donations needed for our Pumpkin Math activity.
· Picture retakes for those students absent (or families dissatisfied with the first photo) will take place on Wednesday, October 13.
· I’ve scheduled parent teacher conferences to occur prior to the October 15 date. Thank you for sharing your time with me so I can explain your child’s progress and answer questions you might have!
· The Bradley Book Fair will take place at school October 15-20. Though students don’t attend class on Friday, October 15, you are welcome to bring them to the library to help you make selections or purchases. Thank you for supporting literacy and the love of reading!
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Many thanks to Mrs. Wright for preparing materials for an upcoming Halloween art project! The next parent volunteer opportunity will take place next Tuesday, October 12. We’ll have workbook pages that need to be pulled and sorted, and will have additional art materials to prepare as well from 2:30-3:00 (though please do feel free to stay longer!).
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We are in need of (total, NOT PER STUDENT) 3 large pumpkins, 3 medium pumpkins, and 3 small pumpkins for our Pumpkin Math activity that will introduce basic measurement to the Stars. If you’d like to donate a pumpkin, please send it to our class by Friday, October 22.
If you’d like to help us learn how to use rulers, yardsticks and tape measures, estimate the amount of seeds in each pumpkin, or just help clean and carve jack-o-lantern faces, please join us on Monday, October 25 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Please bring SAFE carving utensils. If anyone would like to take the seeds home to season and roast them so the Stars could try them as an autumn snack, I’ll bag them for you!
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We’re listening for and writing Tt, Bb, and Nn! What things are in your home that start with each of those letters? What would those items be called if they started with a different letter? A (t)oaster might be a MOASTER! Or a (b)anana might be a JANANA!
See you soon!
M. Sommerville
P.S. Kindergarten Quotes:
“Mrs. Sommerville, you’re older than my dad! Could you put him in Time Out?
“Teacher, we could be sisters, ‘cept you’re an old lady and I’m a little girl!”
“When my mom sees how much I have learned, she’s gonna cry. But not ‘cause she’s mad, she just cries those happy tears.”
“Teacher, how come you think you’re the boss of me?”
“Mrs. Sommerville, you’re kinda silly, but that’s okay. I like silly people.”  Shiver Me Timbers! Super Star Weekly Wrap Up Ahoy Mateys!
We will be wrapping up our second literacy/reading unit “Colors All Around” next week! Our learning objectives for this unit have been:
· Listening for beginning sounds and words in oral sentences (focusing on Mm, Ss, and Rr)
· Using high frequency words (“sight words”): I, see
· Predicting, inferring, and summarizing
· Sequencing events and predicting what will happen next
· Using describing and location words (left, right, above, below, short, tall, next to, in the middle, first, last)
· Recognizing capital letters and ending punctuation (! and ?)
· Writing/drawing daily in our journals
· Taking turns talking, listening, and thinking about information being shared
Hopefully your Super Star Pirate has been sharing his/her classwork with you at home. Along with our reading and math concepts, we’ve been taking time to continue practice cutting safely, using the right amount of glue, and solving day to day problems: how to ask for help; how to trade a pencil with broken lead for a sharpened pencil (a basket of sharpened pencils is kept on the corner of my desk for students to “trade” when necessary); how to ~explain~ to a center partner why you might not like what s/he is playing or want to play instead of yelling or whining; and how to pay attention to the person in FRONT of us when walking in a line instead of turning around to see everyone BEHIND us. Hallway collisions can be uncomfortable, so extra “line walking practice” can occur when necessary.
The Stars have become very good at playing the “quiet game” in the hallway after lunch and specials! Some teachers and staff members have come around the corner to the cafeteria and been surprised to find us there, standing so quietly and still! Mr. Ernst even gave us a “thumbs up” and a smile when he saw how nicely we were making our way down the hallway! We really enjoy the compliments we receive when we’ve given grown-ups a good surprise.
Next week we will:
Visit the Educational Dome Theater
Take our first MAP Reading and Math Assessments
Have hearing and vision screened by the nurse
Visit with Mr. Bunge, school counselor
Make autumn paper leaf spirals with 6th Grade Buddies
Have a GREAT weekend (and don’t forget to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19!) Mateys, shiver me timbers!
(More pirate photos can be found at the blog!)
Pirate Captain Sommerville Check Out Our Blog! Click on the "multimedia blog" link above to see what our Super Stars have been up to lately!
Transition Success! The Bradley Kindergarten Team is pleased with the smooth transition from half-day to full day kindergarten. We look forward to a successful year of learning and exploring our with math and language arts curriculum. Thank you for your continuing support!
Class Page Up and Running! Welcome Super Star Parents! Please check out our "fusion page" and links I've provided for your use via "Files" and our Calendar.
Each month I will email you a copy of our "Star Helper Calendar" that shows which day your child will be our special helper, passing out papers, helping prepare art/activity materials, etc. The calendar will also have our daily "specials" posted for each day so you'll know when your child should wear tennis shoes for P.E. I will also save the calendar in our "Files" section at the bottom of this screen so you can retrieve it any time.
I'll be sending home Scholastic Book Club order forms in September, giving you the opportunity to purchase your child's favorite stories at affordable prices. You are not obligated to make a purchase. I will also provide you with the on-line links necessary to make your purchase via debit or credit card via Scholastic. com. Thank you for supporting literacy and encouraging the love of reading our Stars have already begun to develop.
Thank you for all of your help, patience, and support! The Stars have had a GREAT introduction to Bradley, our classroom, routines, and the various places we'll visit for the remainder of the year.
Welcome to Kindergarten! ...and welcome to my class! Please read over my profile page to get to know me better.
We are going to have a *GREAT* year!
(I wonder whose kindergarten photo this might be- can you guess?)
 Kindergarten Curriculum Information Kindergarten Curriculum Information
Language
The heart of our language program is the Houghton Mifflin reading series. Students develop phonemic awareness by listening for individual letter sounds and word parts that rhyme. Poetry is one of the key components used to teach phonemic awareness. Letters are introduced weekly through Alphafriend characters and songs. The children learn to apply phonetic skills to blend sounds and decode words. Through read-aloud literature, the students learn various oral language and comprehension strategies. Students also build a sight vocabulary of high frequency words. Practice Book pages reinforce these strategies by developing listening skills and asking students to respond to the stories.
Handwriting
We use the Zaner Bloser method for teaching letter formation. The children learn to use guidelines to write upper and lower case letters. They learn about correct spacing within a word and between words. Important elements of instruction are top to bottom strokes, counterclockwise circles, and left to right slide strokes.
Math
The Houghton Mifflin math series guides our math instruction. Manipulatives are used to provide hands-on reinforcement. The math curriculum focuses on problem solving and computation skills.
Special Classes
The students go to Art, Music, P.E., and Library several times per week. We'll visit the Science Lab and Computer Lab once a week.
Learning Centers
Learning to make choices is an important skill. Kindergartners have a scheduled block of time each day when they are able to work individually, partnered, or within a small group at centers that reinforce curriculum concepts and inspire creative thinking and self expression through play and the use of appropriate manipulatives and tools. This is also a time for students to develop social skills through play, such as negotiating, sharing, compromising, encouraging and helping.
Learning Centers provide an opportunity to meet the needs of various learning styles. It allows time for small group and one to one instruction.
Listening Skills and Work Habits
Kindergarten provides the foundation for good work habits that students will use throughout their education. We focus on developing listening and comprehension skills and encourage our students to develop academic and social responsibility.
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After the first two weeks of kindergarten orientation, our "specials" schedule follows this key:
"A" Day - Library/P.E.
"B" Day - Art/Music
"C" Day - Library/P.E.
"D" Day - Art/Music
(I'll send home our "Super Star Helper Calendar with curricular activities, book order due dates, volunteer opportunities and "specials" marked at the beginning of each month.)
Our Super Stars eat lunch daily from 11:35-12:05.
On Monday afternoons we will visit Mr. Denton in the 21st Century Science Room from 12:15-12:45 p.m..
Our visits to the Compass Lab (computer time) will take place:
 Dolch Sight Word ListClick here for a Dolch Sight Word chart beautifully illustrated by Jan BrettIXL Math PracticeIXL is a comprehensive, standards-aligned math program offering unlimited practice in thousands of skills. IXL can be accessed from school and from home! Scholastic BooksYou will have the opportunity to purchase affordable books for your child each month through Scholastic Books. Feel free to visit their site!
Our school collects Box Tops! You may send these in as they become available (school-wide collection usually takes place each Friday) to help Bradley Elementary earn extra money for supplies, projects, and activities. Understanding our Weekly Skills Tests (Reading) Developmental Acquistion of Sounds Chart Are you or your spouse deploying during the school year? Bradley Elementary offers a student activity program in which your child can participate while you're gone. Please fill out this form and return it to your child's teacher. Strategies to Support Literacy Development Phonemic Skills Activities for Parents, page 2 Phonemic Skills Activities for Parents Our Discipline/Behavior Plan and Expectations January Star Helper Calendar |
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