Arrival/AttendanceThe bell rings at 8:30 a.m. on the playground, signaling it's time for school to start. As students walk quietly into the classroom they check in for the day at our chart, switching their cards over from "at home" to "at school." They also have cards for cold lunch or hot lunch, milk or no milk for snack time. Once checked in students put away backpacks and coats in their cubbies and walk to their circle spot ready for morning meeting. We do all of this so quickly and efficiently to the "backpack boogie" song.
Morning Routine: 1.Walk inside quietly 2.Check in at chart 3.Backpack and coat in cubby 4.Meet at rug |
Morning MeetingWe begin each day with morning meeting, a twenty minute gathering during which we practice the academic skills we're working on as well as important social skills such as listening, speaking, problem-solving, and group participation.
Morning Meeting has four parts: *Greeting: Each child is greeted by name and welcomed. *Sharing: A few children share news and interests, which helps the children get to know each other. *Group Activity: We might play a cooperation game, recite a poem together, sing a song, or do a math or language activity together. *Morning Message: The children read a message I've written on a big chart paper that helps them look forward to the day ahead. |
Calendar Number CornerCalendar is part of our day where we practice math skills.
During Calendar we: *Recite which numeral day it is today *Day of the Week *Month of the Year *Seasons and Weather Today *Count the days of School *Practice counting to 100 by 1's and 10's These activities are done a variety of different ways including choral reciting, partner sharing, individual think aloud, singing, and movement! |
Social SkillsHaving the social skills to work cooperatively with friends is a crucial aspect of the kindergarten curriculum. In order to learn best kids need to feel safe, respected, and encouraged to take risks in their school work to stretch their thinking. We practice this with a short mini-lesson daily.
Lessons Include: *Conscious Discipline Feeling Buddies (what are feelings, how do they affect how I learn and act, what do I do if I feel to sad or angry to learn-going to the Safe Spot) *Second Step Curriculum from the district for how to act in different situations including bullying prevention and personal safety *Responsive Classroom- CARES (Cooperation, Assertiveness, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control). We use literature stories and acting dramatic play to practice these skills. *Olweus Class Meetings to build cooperation and problem solving skills. *Foundations School Wide Rules on playground, halls, cafeteria, etc. |
Readers WorkshopReaders Workshop is a research based best practice for gaining foundational reading skills. Readers Workshop is comprised of three different components:
*Lesson-The lesson includes connecting to previous learning experiences, teaching the strategy of the day, actively engaging students in meaningful practice while still gathered together, and a link or tie to students future learning endeavors. I use large anchor charts for students to view during the lesson and then matching small anchor charts are given to them to glue in their journals to refer to later. *Application-After the lesson is over I will provide time to students to practice what we are learning. Students will be engaged in reading a selection of self-selected texts at their level which will be stored in individual reading bins. The teacher will conference with individual students for understanding and how to move forward. *Closure-A time to review the lesson of the day, highlight students who were using the strategy correctly as positive examples, and make sure students have grasped the lesson taught. |
PhonicsWe do a variety of different activities during phonics time including learning about letters in the alphabet, sight words, blends, and sentence structure.
* Zoo Phonics- learn about the letters of the alphabet with fun animal friends combining movement and visual phonics to remember sounds, uppercase, and lowercase letters. *Sight Words-these are the most common words found in books for the english language. When student know these words by "sight" they will become more fluent with emergent readers and put more energy toward sounding out the tougher words.
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Literacy StationsLiteracy Stations are games done in pairs that practice literacy, reading foundations, and phonics skills. These are skills that have been already taught and stations allows time for students to practice. These stations are tailored for students needs on what they require more practice in order to master literacy skills. Students are taught independence skills to be able to find their partner, check the chart to find their game for the day, play the game with "I Can" picture directions on the lid, and put the station away when the timer is up.
During literacy stations time the teacher pulls small groups of students to work on guided reading, practice reading skills, and complete student assessments. |
Guided Reading GroupsGuided reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can all read similar levels of texts. The text is easy enough for students to read with teacher support. The text offers challenges and opportunities for problem solving, but is easy enough for students to read with some fluency.
When your child enters Kindergarten he or she is assessed and assigned a guided reading level based on word-knowledge, comprehension, and fluency. The levels range alphabetically from A to Z, with level A representing the lowest level and level Z the highest. This allows the teacher to work closely with each student to help them become better readers by introducing them to increasingly challenging books while meeting the varying instructional needs of each child in the room through guided reading. Kindergarten student generally start at aa (alphabet books or picture only books) or level A (simple sight word books). Our goal for the end of Kindergarten is level D. Books are assigned guided reading levels based on several general expectations and capabilities of a reader. As the levels progress, the books become more difficult. Each level is based upon the increasing complexity of common book characteristics that readers encounter at all stages of the reading process from when your child picks up his or her first book through the time when he or she becomes a fluent reader. |
Morning RecessWe have three recess times every day: 15 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunch, and 15 minutes in the afternoon. This is a great time for students to play together, enjoy the fresh air outdoors, and learn cooperations skills. For the first month of Kindergarten students ease into recess by first learning how to use equipment properly and learn rules to various games with the guidance of their teacher. Once students have gained these independent skills they will then choose what they want to play at recess time.
We go out rain, shine, or snow so make sure as the weather gets colder that your child is prepared with a hat, gloves, coat, boots, and snow pants. Practice having them put all their gear on by themselves at home. Make it a game and see how fast they can get everything on! Story Time and SnackThis is a time for us to relax a little, read a good picture book together, and have our snack.
Snack-We do community snack daily. At the beginning of the year the school supply list requests a large box of snack crackers we will use. Periodically throughout the year in newsletters I will ask for replenishment for our snack cabinet.
Whenever possible I try to give fresh snack of vegetables, fruit, yogurt, cheese sticks, etc. Sign up below if you would like to help out with Fresh Snack Friday. |
HandwritingProper handwriting is important to learn early in a child's school career. I use the Handwriting Without Tears program in my classroom. This program starts with forming letters using sensory tools and then moves into pencil and paper writing. These hands on materials include roll a dough letters, stamp and screen letters, as well as wood pieces to make capital letters. By first exploring letters in this multi sensory way kids will then be ready for "handwriting without tears." I have seen this program work wonders with students and they get so excited about writing.
Writers WorkshopWriters workshop is a mirror to readers workshop with a similar three part structure.
*Lesson-students gather at the carpet to look at a mentor writer, see the teacher model the skill of the lesson, and get ideas for their own writing *Work Time-students have their own writing bins in which they have a variety of tools to help them write and practice the skill taught in the lesson *Share-we get together at the end of the lesson to review the concept taught that day and highlight positive student examples who used this new skill correctly. Three Types of Writing are taught in Kindergarten including: personal narrative, informational, and persuasive. |
Lunch Recess Outside and Lunch Time in CafeteriaLunch recess is first outside followed by lunch eating in the cafeteria. At lunch time students may have hot school lunch or bring a sack cold lunch. We eat together as a class at an assigned table in the cafeteria. You can put money in your child's lunch account online below, you will need your child's ID. Just e-mail me and I'll send it to you.
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Quiet TimeWe have ten minutes of quiet time when students return from lunch and recess. After a very busy and structured morning of learning, lunch time, and playing hard at recess students are ready for a short break to "breathe" before heading into afternoon activities. This research based best practice is used in schools throughout the country and has shown positive results for better learning during the afternoon.
Our routine involves coming in from lunch recess after the bell rings, putting coats and lunch boxes back in cubbies, getting a small stuffed animal to snuggle with, and resting around the room. The lights are dimmed, soft soothing music is playing, and students are coloring, looking at books, or just resting. I encourage children to bring a small (less than 12") stuffed animal that can be their school snuggle and stay in their cubby. This item reminds them of home to feel comforted. Math WorkshopKindergarten math is very hands on with the use of manipulatives, games, and project based learning to explore mathematical concepts. In Kindergarten Math focuses on: *Counting and Cardinality (count to 100, write numbers to 20, etc). *Base Ten (tens and ones to make up teen numbers) *Geometry (2-D and 3-D shapes) *Measurement (length, volume, weight) *Operations (addition and subtraction with numbers up to 5) Find out more about our math program Bridges below. www.mathlearningcenter.org/families/bridges2 Math StationsMath stations have the same concept as literacy stations but with math skills. Stations are games done in pairs that practice counting, geometry, base ten, measurement, addition, and subtraction skills. These are skills that have been already taught and stations allows time for students to practice. These stations are tailored for students needs on what they require more practice in order to master mathmatical skills. Students are taught independence skills to be able to find their partner, check the chart to find their game for the day, play the game with "I Can" picture directions on the lid, and put the station away when the timer is up.
During stations time the teacher pulls small groups of students to work on math skills and complete student assessments. Special Classes-Gym, Music, LibraryWe will attend specialist classes Monday-Thursday. Students do need gym shoes to wear on days we have P.E. Please have gym shoes be either velcro or your child knows how to tie them on their own. I don't have time to tie 40 shoes! Library books will be checked out on Monday.
Monday- Music, Library Tuesday- Gym Wednesday- Gym Thursday-Gym, Music |
Art, Science, Social Studies, Computer LabWe do various art projects in many different mediums learning about art techniques inspired by famous artists throughout the year.
Science in Kindergarten is focuses on: five senses, weather, simple machines, magnets, properties of matter, plants, and life cycles. Many of our projects include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in a collaborative project based format. Social Studies in Kindergarten focuses on: rules & laws, community helpers, maps & globes, timelines, traditions of different cultures around the world, health & safety, famous leaders, Montana Native Americans, economics needs & wants, and folk & fairy tales from around the world. We used technology daily in our classroom with a computer white board and iPads. Weekly we get to use the computer lab to learn about properties of the computer and internet safety with safe sites picked by the teacher. |
Afternoon RecessWe have three recess times every day: 15 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunch, and 15 minutes in the afternoon. This is a great time for students to play together, enjoy the fresh air outdoors, and learn cooperations skills. For the first month of Kindergarten students ease into recess by first learning how to use equipment properly and learn rules to various games with the guidance of their teacher. Once students have gained these independent skills they will then choose what they want to play at recess time.
We go out rain, shine, or snow so make sure as the weather gets colder that your child is prepared with a hat, gloves, coat, boots, and snow pants. Practice having them put all their gear on by themselves at home. Make it a game and see how fast they can get everything on! |
Playtime ChoicesTime for play is not just social but academic as well. Part of our exploration center time will include both academic support stations as well as collaborative social play centers.
Here is a note about the importance of play from our district assistant superintendent, Dr. Marilyn King, “If we think about what characteristics we desire for our students so that they have the skills to be successful in school and life, we want them to be self-regulating, critical thinkers. We want them to be able to resolve conflict successfully, have good work ethics, be inquisitive and enjoy learning. Constructive and free/creative play helps children develop social skills while laying critical foundation for academics. For this age and developmental level, play is work. For example, when children set up a pretend post office or a restaurant, they are learning how to take turns, how to speak clearly to one another, and how to make up their own stories — stories that are the foundation for writing. Children who never learn to play with one another — who rely on grown-ups to resolve disputes — never learn the self-regulation and teamwork for their adulthood. We all understand the importance of content area instruction in kindergarten…and we cannot forget the importance of play. In a time when public pressure often, unfortunately, focuses solely on test scores, we must work to educate those who don’t understand how these fundamental skills that support academic success are learned and practiced.” |
Clean Up, Closing Circle, and DismissalAt the end of the day we clean up, meet for a closing circle to talk about what we learned today, and then get backpacks from cubbies to head home. Dismissal is at 3:25 p.m. Monday-Thursday, every Friday is early dismissal at 2:05 p.m.
Take Home Folders with student work from week, newsletters, notes, etc. come home every Thursday in a take home folder. Student Dismissal: *Parent pick up (car, bike, walk, meet big sibling, etc.) *Bus (we have adult helpers to make sure students get on the right bus) *After School Program (meets on stage by lobby) Once I get your child's normal dismissal schedule I will follow that. If you have a change to the schedule such as Grandma's in town and wants to pick up your child please let me know ahead of time via e-mail or phone call to office.
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