January Curricular Update

2015 is here and we are settling back into our Kindergarten routine.  Winter Break was a wonderful time for all and our little brains often need a number of school days (often a week or two) to get back into routine.  This year, we have tested our flexibility with weather delays, a snow day, teacher transitions and stomach bugs, and our wonderful Day of Service.  We work together to strengthen our regular routines and begin to add new routines as make our way into the second half of our school year.  PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION (and subsequent blog posts) CAREFULLY as they highlight many new routines.

Reading
Each year, Kindergarteners take a break from our traditional Guided Reading groups in January to build new reading routines into our school day.  This allows the students opportunities to further enhance their reading time at school, giving them time and space to solidify new routines before combining them with old routines.  In January, students watched as their afternoon Rest Time transformed into a Quiet Reading Time (QRT).  During this time, students pick books from the library and from leveled sets to encourage personalized reading success.  It is a time to build reading stamina.  Our 2nd semester goal is to work towards 20 minutes of uninterrupted, focused reading time.  In January, we started with just ONE minute of uninterrupted reading time (followed by a relaxed QRT where students could read or rest) and have already moved towards FOUR minutes of uninterrupted reading time.  This is done purposefully and allows students to slowly build their ability to focus solely on reading and interacting with books.

With this new routine strongly in place, we are excited to add back in Guided Reading groups while still using QRT to grow our reading brains.  Look for your child to have new black and white books in their canvas Book Bags this week.  In addition, TODAY, your child took home a plastic Ziploc bag of books to share with you at home.  Your child self-selected these books from an identified set of readers that are geared for your child's appropriate reading level.  This new plastic bag and the books inside should stay at home throughout the week (the canvas Book Bag still returns to school daily).  Encourage your child to read these books to you - the may need a bit of help initially.  Each Monday, please return this plastic bag, and its books, to school where your child will check these books back in and "check out" new books for the new week.

Math
Our Math time continues to be a highlight of our day.  Students enjoy working with their classmates as they investigate numbers through hands-on activities, games, partner work, and workbook pages.  Please note that due to Kindergarten staffing transitions our math groups have merged back into classroom math classes.  Even with this grouping change, both Kindergarten classes receive 45-60 minutes of math time per day.  With the welcoming of Ms. Megan (the Cottontail Kindergarten Assistant) her time will be utilized to further enhance math skills in our students who show a need for further support.

Both Kindergarten classes are finishing up our Math in Focus's Chapter 6 study of ordinal numbers.  Children integrate their understanding of spatial relationships in the real world and the concept of order and position.  They use ordinal numbers in their full (first, second, etc) and abbreviated forms (1st, 2nd, etc).  Relevant vocabulary that is essential for understanding relative positions include left, right, in front, behind.  Children also use position words such as just before, just after, or between to indicate the position of something relative to another.

Social Studies
Much of our January Kindergarten focus has been centered around our Winter unit - Random Acts of Kindness (RAK).  Please encourage your child and family to complete acts of kindness.  We ask that they at least turn in their initial RAK homework to share with classmates and schoolmates.  Please be sure to have your child turn in their yellow RAK flash card.  Also, snap a picture of them completing their RAK and print or email the picture to me to put on display with their flash card.  If your child is eager to complete more please have them journal on the "Family RAK" page sent home last week or on an additional flash card.  We want to display ALL of our RAKs big or small to show others how easy it is to complete act of kindness at school, home, or in our community.  Today at GD, we presented the idea to our older friends of completing 300 RAKs in 30 days.  Your child is thrilled to take a leadership role in this school wide project.  Encourage their desire to lead by example.  In the meantime, take a look at THIS great NY Times article on Paying it Forward.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement.