Reindeer Games

Wednesday and Thursday K2 will be taking part in "reindeer games" down in the gym during their special time. Please have your K2er wear sneakers to school both days!

Thank you!

Week in Review ~ December 11 - 15

Our week started off with a trip to the Elf Shoppe for the K2ers to do some holiday shopping.  They really enjoyed looking at all the items for sale.

In ELA our essential question was "What do people use to do their jobs?" Our vocabulary words were equipment, uniform, utensils, expect, and remained. We focused in on the letter Oo and introduced the sight word you.  With the letter Oo we talked about the short vowel sound as in dog and the two sounds of oo as in book and spoon.  In learning centers we practiced writing Oo, reviewed the two sounds of Cc, wrote in journals about what equipment certain people need to do their job, and practiced the sight word you. 

In Math we continued working in Topic 4 where we compared groups of items to 10, compared numbers using numerals to 10 and then compared numbers to 10.  They are doing a great job easily finding the number that is greater than or less than the other number. 

Next week is sure to be a busy and exciting week with our holiday break quickly approaching.  Next Friday will be Pajama Day thanks to all the generous donations to the Toy Drive.  Please be sure your child wears appropriate jammies for the weather. 

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Toy Drive

Mrs. Mason's 1D class and Mrs. Weldon's 3E class are asking for donations ($1.00 or more) to help buy toys for children in the hospital on the UMass Pediatric floor during the holiday season.    If they raise $500.00 then students at JA can celebrate with a pajama day on December 22nd.  If they raise $1000.00 then students AND staff at JA can celebrate with pajama day. All donations will be collected this week.

Week in Review ~ December 4 - 8

This week in ELA our essential question was "What places do you go to during the week?" We listened to the stories "Please Take Me For a Walk, " Field Trips" and "A Neighborhood."  Our vocabulary words were routine, neighborhood, local, volunteer and intelligent.  We focused in on the letter Cc and the two sounds it can make: /k/, /s/. The sight word go was introduced as well.  We also talked about sequence words such as first, then, next, and finally.  In learning centers we matched letters to pictures with the initial sound that matched the letter, sorted the sight word go, practiced writing the letter Cc and listened to the sound, and wrote in journals about places we visit during the week.

In Math we finished up Topic 3. The end of assessment was sent home on Thursday.  We started Topic 4 today, where we will be comparing numbers 0 to 10 and will be discussing greater than, less than, more, less and equal again. We watched this quick cute song called number gators and figured out which number the gator would want to eat so he could fill his belly.




Then we practiced finding the greater group or greater number and made the symbol with our arms. We even knew to make an equal sign with our hands when the numbers were the same. 

On Monday we enjoyed a beautiful warm day for the end of fall, but with this weekend's predicted snow, winter is definitely on our doorstep.  Please be sure to dress your child for the appropriate colder temperatures at recess time.  We go out every day if the temperature (windchill included) is 25 degrees or higher.  Getting outside each day for 15 minutes helps to keep the germs out. If your child is not dressed warm enough then they may have to stay in for recess.  Also, if you send your child to school in winter boots, please pack them a pair of shoes to change into while they are at school. 

Here we are enjoying Monday's weather.

As a reminder, Monday is K2's day to visit the Elf Shoppe down in the gym.  We will be going from 9:00 - 9:30. 

Lastly, we are still in need of donations of tissues.  Any donations would be greatly appreciated!

Enjoy the first snowfall of the season!

Cold Season is Here!

Unfortunately with the cold weather also comes cold and flu season.  We have gone through MANY boxes of tissues in the past couple of weeks. Any donations of tissues, as well as Clorox wipes, would be greatly appreciated so we can try and keep K2 healthy!

Week in Review ~ November 13th - 17th

With last week's short week due to Teacher PD and the Veterans Day holiday on Friday we worked on both Unit 2 Week 3 and Unit 3 Week 1 between the two weeks in ELA.  In Unit 2 Week 3 we reviewed the letters Mm, Aa, Ss, Tt and Pp and the sight words learned so far.  We listened to the story "I Love Bugs." Our vocabulary words were curious, observe, process, slender, and attaches. We also learned all about the life cycle of the butterfly. 
This week, in Unit 3 Week 1, our essential question was "What rules do we follow in different places?" Our vocabulary words were rules, cooperate, guard, prank and responsible.  We listened to the stories "How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?", "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and "Be Safe!" We focused in on the letter Ii and introduced the sight word to. We also continued to talk about action verbs and named different action words. In learning centers we practiced writing the letter Ii, sorted lowercase and uppercase Ii, sorted pictures by their middle sound (either /a/ as in cat or /i/ as in pig), practiced our sight words,  wrote in our journals about rules we follow at school, and matched words that rhymed. 

In Math we continued working with Topic 3 where we are counting, reading and writing numbers 6 - 10.  Please continue to practice writing these numbers at home. 

As some reminders...

Next Monday and Tuesday are half days for students due to parent/teacher conferences. Dismissal will be at 11:30 am. Lunch will be served on the half days at 8:55 am for kindergarten.  If you would like your child to just have a snack at that time please send that in with them.  

Tuesday, November 21st is the Jump Rope for Heart event with Mrs. Bernard.  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD WEAR SNEAKERS ON TUESDAY!

There is no school on Wednesday as that is the start of our Thanksgiving Break.  Due to the short week next week there will not be a Week in Review on the Blog. I hope everyone has a restful and wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones. 

Week in Review ~ October 30th - November 3rd

This was certainly a very busy week full of lots of excitement between Halloween on Tuesday and our Rump Fair on Friday. 

In ELA our essential question was What shapes do you see around you? Our vocabulary words were nature, materials, games, decoration and world.  We listened to the stories Shapes All Around, Kites in Flight, and Find the Shapes.  The letter of the week that we focused in on was Tt. We listened for where we heard the /t/ sound in words; the initial sound or the final sound. Our new sight word this week was like. We also discussed what a verb is.  In learning centers we practiced writing Tt, listened for where the /t/ sound was and sorted pictures, wrote in our journals about shapes in we see in our classroom, practiced writing our sight words and matched uppercase to lowercase letters. 

In Math we started Topic 3: Numbers 6-10.  We will be reading, writing and counting numbers 6-10. Practice at home with writing these numbers would be greatly appreciated.  On Halloween we enjoyed some fun Halloween-themed math centers. The K2ers had a lot of fun visiting them.  We also read The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything which had a sequencing activity to go with it. 

On Friday we enjoyed a fun-filled "Rump Day" to celebrate our school wide read-aloud.  Our day started with a spinning wheel demonstration. We learned how the wool from sheep are shaved, cleaned, combed and spun into yarn. 

Then we went and visited the Fair where we made name bracelets, played games, looked for gold, listened to 5th grade do a quick skit and even had a special snack. 

Last, we got to go on a hayride throughout the parking lot at JA. The K2ers really loved that!

Our Pixie Habitat was completed on Friday as well and what an awesome Pixie Habitat it was. Everyone painted, glued or did some part to make it. Great job, K2...I think ours was the best!!

I would also like to just take this opportunity to thank everyone for their thoughts and well wishes at the passing of my Mom. This was a very difficult time for my family and me as she was not sick long and her passing so quickly was unexpected. She was truly one of the best! She was always so proud of me for being a teacher so while coming back to work this past Monday was tough, I knew it was what she would want me to do. Being greeted by my K2ers in the cafeteria with smiles, hugs and "Mrs. Joslyn's back" certainly made it easier. 

Week in Review ~ October 9th - 13th

In ELA  we talked about how baby animals move.  Our vocabulary words were movement, exhausted, exciting, arrived, and adventure.  We listened to the stories Pouch! and The Tortoise and the Hare.  Pouch! was a favorite story by all. Ask your child about the animals that scared the baby kangaroo back into his mom's pouch.  We focused in on the letter Aa and read words that were part of the _at, _am and _ap word families such as hat, ram and tap.  The sight word we was introduced as well. This week we also talked about what a noun is. The K2ers sorted picture cards into person, place, thing/animal categories. In learning centers the K2ers sorted names that had an Aa in them and names that did not, wrote in their journals about how animals move, practiced writing uppercase and lowercase Aa, and practiced writing the sight words I, can and the for review.

In Math we continued on with Topic 2.  We worked on the terms "equal to" and "greater than." Each math lesson starts with something called a Solve & Share.  Students are given a problem to solve and as I walk around I am always looking for different ways that the K2ers came to the same correct answer. I then choose some students to "share" how they came to their answer.  The purpose of this activity is to show the students that often there isn't just one way to come to the answer.  I was so impressed with the math thinking that went on during one of our lessons this week...I found 5 different ways that the problem was solved.  Here is a glimpse into the mathematical thinking of K2!

We will be working on Topic 2 again this coming week. 

We are also well into our School Wide read-aloud of the book Rump! On November 3rd we will be participating in a School Wide Read-Aloud celebration.  Each classroom has been asked to make a pixie habitat on that day using various materials collected by the students in each class. The K2ers brainstormed some items to bring in. If you have any of the following items and would like to send them in, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Lexia Core 5 and Symphony Math

Your K2er came home today with a letter about two programs they can use at home that we use here in school.  Attached to the letters you will find how to access the games (computer or iPad/Android tablet) as well as their username and password.  I would like to have students go on 2 times per week for each program for about 15 minutes if possible. (2 nights on Lexia, 2 night on Symphony) 

It is imperative that you DO NOT help your child when they are using these programs because it adjusts what they are learning to their understanding. Many parents in the past have found it helpful to have their child use headphones so that they are not tempted to help however, headphones are not needed to use these programs. 

As always, please contact me if you have any questions!

Week in Review ~ October 2nd - 6th

It was a fun but busy week in K2 with all the extra activities that went on such as the magazine drive assembly, school picture day and then the walk to school day/half day. We were still able to get a lot done in the classroom despite the craziness of our schedule.

In ELA our essential questions was: How can we get along with new friends? We listened to the stories What About Bear and The Lion and the Mouse. We focused in on the letter Mm and introduced the sight word the.  During learning centers we practiced writing the letter Mm, sorted our classmates names by if they have the letter Mm or don't have the letter Mm in their name, distinguished between uppercase and lowercase Mm with a letter match cover-up, sorted letters, and we also did some activities around the word the. 

In Math we finished up Topic 1 and moved into Topic 2.  In topic 2 we will be comparing numbers 0-5.  We introduced the terms more and fewer. However, the K2ers were doing a great job with these terms because each morning at morning meeting we have been comparing the names of our Regal Beagles by deciding which classmate has the longest/shortest name or who has more/fewer letters. To practice these terms the K2ers paired up and used counters and a dice to see who had more and who had fewer.  We will continue on with Topic 2 this week. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! 

Walk to School Day

We had such a fun morning on our walk to school today and we could not have asked for a better weather day. All the K2ers that participated did a great job walking the 1.4 mile stretch.  Here is a little video with some highlights from the walk. 

Our Week in Review ~ September 25th - 29th

It was another great week to be in K2! 

In ELA we finished introducing all the letters of the alphabet. Our essential question was "What can you do?" We discussed all the things we can already do that we maybe couldn't do when we were younger and wrote about that in our journals.  We reviewed our sight words I, can and in learning centers we practiced saying them, reading them and writing them. We also sorted the sight words as well. During learning centers we also practiced writing our name with just an uppercase at the beginning and the rest lowercase. If you can have your K2er practice that at home as well, it would be greatly appreciated. We practiced writing letters with a fun game called roll & record and matched uppercase to lowercase letters.  Next week we will begin focusing in on a letter each week where we will work on letter formation, remembering the sound the letter makes, and coming up with things that begin with that sound.

Then on Friday we talked about the "power of YET" after we read the story "Giraffes Can't Dance" and then everyone came up with something they can't do...yet! It was such a fun activity and I loved hearing the K2ers say what they couldn't do and how quick they were to add the word yet.  I think they are well on their way to having a growth mindset. This is a great explanation of what a growth mindset is...

Here is our chart of the things K2 can't do...YET!

I

In Math this week we finished up our Topic 1 lessons.  We continued working on reading, writing and counting numbers 0 to 5. We also worked a little bit on different ways we could make 5 such as 3 and 2, 1 and 4, 4 and 1 and 2 and 3. Next week we will reviewing Topic 1 and taking the end of unit assessment. Then we will be moving into Topic 2 where we will Compare Numbers 0 to 5. 

Next week is a VERY busy week at Johnny Appleseed. On Monday we have our Magazine Drive kick-off assembly, Tuesday is picture day and Wednesday is "International Walk to School Day" and a half day for students. Be sure to send in your walk to school permission slips on Monday. They are due back by 9:00 am on Tuesday, October 3rd.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday, Johnny Appleseed!

Today we had a special visit from Johnny Appleseed in honor of his birthday.

 Johnny told stories to all the kindergarten and 1st grade students about his life, that he was born in Leominster, MA, that he had 11 brothers and sisters, and how he planted his apple seeds.  The K2ers loved listening to him talk.

Half Day ~ Wednesday, September 20th

As a reminder, Wednesday, September 20th is a Half Day of school.  Dismissal is at 11:30 am.  Lunch will be served at 8:55 am so if you rather have your child have a snack at that time, you can send one in.  If your child's dismissal routine will be different, please be sure to send in a note with the change.

Thank You!

Our Week in Review ~ September 11th - 15th

We had a great week in K2. Everyone is starting to adjust to the routines of our classroom and we started following our typical daily schedule. It is so nice to have a routine in place!
In ELA (English Language Arts) we listened to the the story "Animals in the Park: An ABC Story" and introduced the letters p,b, t, d, f, v, k, g, s, z.  We have been using a program called Telian to introduce the letters.  These "lively letters" have a short story and song that help the students to remember the sound of the letter and how their mouth forms to produce the sound. So far they LOVE learning the letters.  This is an example of the song for the letter p and b.


This week we also introduced our first sight word: I. We discussed how this word is ALWAYS capitalized. I will update the margin on the right hand side of the blog weekly with our sight words so that you can practice these words at home. Sight word cards will be sent home at our Open House so that you can cut them apart and practice them with your K2er.

We also introduced learning centers this week. After our whole group lesson time the students go off to learning centers so that they can practice and apply things taught during the week.  Here are some pictures from learning center time this week.

In Math we started on Topic 1 in our math series titled "Numbers 0 to 5." We worked on counting, writing and reading the numbers 1, 2 and 3.  We also started counting sets of 4 and 5.  Next week we will continue counting and writing 4 and 5 as well. Writing numbers can be frustrating for some students. Any practice you can give your child at home would be helpful.  A great tip is to use a highlighter or yellow marker and write numbers (or even letters) on a piece of paper. Your child can then take a pencil and trace the number written. It is a great way to reinforce how to write and what a number or letter looks like.

As a reminder, Tuesday, September 19th is Open House at Johnny Appleseed from 5:30 - 7:30. At this time you and your child can come visit the classroom and see me, visit their specialists teachers, and see other things happening at JA. I hope to see you there!