Mrs Sarafa's Class Blog

What We Did During Our Week:

We are working on the vowels, and being able to differentiate between short and long vowels. This week we focused extensively on the vowel A, ands learning that the silent e is usually an indicator that the word is long A.

Next week’s spelling words: no, he, of, we, men, hen, ten, pen, then, when

We have also introduced our writing process. This is something that we have been doing all year, but now it is a little more refined. They now move their popsicle stick along our stair step model in order to be aware of what step of writing they are working on. There are 4 steps: pre-writing, drafting, editing, and publishing. We have introduced editing and publishing. Now, they go back and edit their errors and when it is perfect they transfer their writing to a final copy. THEN, as a stretch for students that are wanting to push their work to the next level, they get on google docs and type their work! They did a fantastic job this week with their writing! They will bring these home so be sure to celebrate their major growth in writing!

In Math we continue to work on number bonds. We are learning how to write them, and how to talk about them. They come up with fun stories to match their number bonds.

We had our dinosaur excavation! Within in small groups, they used paleontologist tools to carefully dig up and assemble dinosaurs bones to reveal a complete dinosaur! They had a blast doing this – it was a perfect way to end our Dino unit!

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We have gotten to share every single timeline project, they loved getting to share their pictures and past events with their classmates!

Other:

NWEA is complete! We started the year with 47% on grade level for reading and 40% on grade level for math.We now have 70% of the class on grade level for reading and math! Keep in mind it is the middle of the year, and we are going to really start seeing even more progress for the remainder of the year. Awesome job kindergartners!

Thursday we saw big buddies and did some typing with them!

Upcoming Events:

Friday, February 8th – NO SCHOOL for KINDERGARTEN only

February 15th and 18th – NO SCHOOL

Friendly reminder to have $8 for class t-shirt today! Make sure to indicate what size as well.

Also, remember no school tomorrow, on Friday February 8th!

Thanks!

The menu has been changed for the rest of this week!

With a snow day yesterday and below zero temperatures upon us for tomorrow, the kindergarten team has decided to postpone the spelling test for this week. We will not have a spelling test on Friday, and these words will carry over for next week. So, the -ad family will be tested next Thursday (we do not have school next Friday the 8th. We are not sending home homework or a communication log this week – those will return again next week. 🙂 Hope we can all stay warm these next few days!

Also, please still send gym shoes with your child on Tuesdays and Fridays – we have quite a few today that are unable to participate in gym.

What We Did During Our Week:

We had a very short 2 days together with me being out on Tuesday….so not a whole lot to report! We finished up learning about dinosaurs. Next week they will write an informational report on their favorite one! Then we will finished the week with an excavation. We introduced vowels this week, and started to discuss the short and long sounds for each.

We have begun math module 4 – number bonds, and addition and subtraction up to 10.

The timeline projects look great! We will share a few everyday until everyone has gone – they are really enjoying getting to talk about all the events in their lives. 🙂

Other:

Next week we will completely finish up all of our testing. A report of your child’s current standings will be coming home with NWEA scores. After next week we will start meeting again in small reading groups and get back to new books in our book bag.

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, February 6th – Late start

Friday, February 8th – NO SCHOOL for KINDERGARTEN only

February 15th and 18th – NO SCHOOL

What We Did During Our Week:

We continued to learn about dinosaurs this week! We learned and wrote about the stegosaurus, the apatosaurus, and the pterodactyl! In Daily 5 we focused on asking and answering questions in a text. I have a mystery bag filled with a mystery item and they have to ask questions in order to find out what is in my bag! They had a blast with this game.

Every kid has taken their NWEA for reading and next week we will hopefully have finished the math portion! They are doing a great job going slow and taking their time with the test. 🙂

Spelling words for next week:

Like, see, my, if, and, fun, run, bun, sun and an application problem

Math we have finished module 3, next week we start module 4 – Number Pairs, Addition and Subtraction to 10

Other:

NWEA, DRA reading level, and DRA tasks (alphabet and sight word recognition) continues – please continue to be on time and getting lots of rest so they can try to pie Mr. Short!

We had a great time on our field trip, for many kids it was their first time on a bus. They did great and we enjoyed seeing the play. We came back and wrote a report on it!

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Upcoming Events:

Monday, Jan. 21 – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, Jan. 22 – Half day – dismissal 11:40am

What We Did During Our Week:

We reviewed lots of material this week in order to refresh our brains on all of the material that will be on NWEA. Most will be taking the test sometime next week in small group. In addition, we spent more time on story retelling. Retell ropes will be coming home this month – practice using them after reading any story. When using the rope they discuss the setting, character, problem, the events, the solution, and also their favorite part and/or what the story reminds them of. We also wrote about our star student, Mazen!

We have begun a new unit for the month of January. We are focused on informational text – for both reading and writing. With informational text, we have started a dinosaur unit! Each day we learn about a new dinosaur and then write what they could, had, and were. We will end this unit with a fossil excavation!  

Spelling words for next week: Please note that we will be doing all 10 words now for weekly spelling tests. 🙂

For, up, look, hop, pop, top, cop, mop, stop and an application problem

Math we finished up module 3. We discussed how to tell if there is enough of an object, more than, less than, and area! Next week we will be taking our end of unit test, and then a new homework book will be coming home. As a reminder, I do not need these returned to me. 🙂

Other:

NWEA, DRA reading level, and DRA tasks (alphabet and sight word recognition) has begun!! January is the month for all sorts of testing – this will consume much of our time, so your child will not be receiving as many books in their green book bag since I am busy testing one-on-one as well as small group. With testing beginning, please try to make sure your child is getting a good night of sleep and is packing a healthy snack for school. 🙂 I can’t wait to see the growth they have made so far this year! Friday we had an assembly with Mr. Short to get the kids excited about NWEA, if kindergarten shows 80% at or above grade level 2 students from each class will get to pie Mr. Short in the face!

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, Jan. 17 – Tinkerbell field trip

Friday, Jan. 18 – Half day – dismissal 11:40am

Monday, Jan. 21 – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, Jan. 22 – Half day – dismissal 11:40am

What We Did During Our Week:

We talked about story retelling this week – discussing the setting, characters, problem, and solution. We also wrote about our star student, Nihal With the next round of NWEA happening in the fall, we will be starting to review what we have learned so far when we return from break.

We finished our holidays around the world unit! This week we traveled to Russia to learn about grandfather frost, China to learn about the dragons at Chinese New Year, and of course we finished in the USA where we talked about our favorite thing to do over winter break. 🙂 We have hung our work in the hallway for others to see and then we will send home our work after break.

Spelling words for when we come back from break….

is,go,we,big,dig,pig,wig,zig,jig

Other:

Thank you so much everyone for all of the gifts!!! Holidays as a teacher is almost more exciting that holidays at home. Haha The kids are so excited and they make it so special. I have so much enjoyed the 1st half of the year spending time and learning alongside each and every one of them. I look forward to the rest of the year, and I hope everyone has a relaxing break and enjoys spending time together as a family. 🙂 They will be missed!

We had a great time watching Polar Express for our PBIS party and had some awesome activities for our winter party! See picture below….

Upcoming Events:

January 7th – school resumes! 🙂

Thursday, Jan. 17 – Tinkerbell field trip

Friday, Jan. 18 – Half day – dismissal 11:40am

Monday, Jan. 21 – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, Jan. 22 – Half day – dismissal 11:40am

What We Did During Our Week:

This week we continued opinion writing. We tie opinion writing into our Holidays around the world unit. We also wrote about our star student, Zainab! With the next round of NWEA happening in the fall, we will be starting to review what we have learned so far when we return from break.

This week we traveled to England, Israel, and Sweden! We learned that people in England watch the Queen’s speech on TV every year. We learned that people in Israel light 8 candles and play a game called dreidel. Lastly, we learned that people in Sweden celebrate St. Lucia’s day – a day to help out other people in need. At the end of each day we share our favorite part of the day and many say our Holiday unit. Be sure to ask them about these countries! When we are done we will display our work in the hallway and then in January they will bring these home.

Next week’s spelling words: (please note that we will randomly select 6 words for our spelling tests and add one application word as well) Their booklets come home on Monday, please sign and return in their green folder by Tuesday.

It, in, said, jet, met, pet, set, net, vet.

We continued to work on measuring taller than, shorter than. We also talked about measuring which object has more than and less than. We also discussed weight – heavier than and lighter than. Next week we have mid-module testing!

Other:

Thursday we met with big buddies and read a gingerbread man magazine. They then completed a sheet on how to make gingerbread men!

Watch the video below of them opening their winter gift – have to love the pure joy that books bring. 🙂

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Upcoming Events:

Thursday, Dec. 20th – PBIS and PAJAMA DAY

What We Did During Our Week:

This week we introduced opinion writing. They wrote about their favorite food, as well as what they think would make the best pet. We explained that an opinion is how you feel about something, that you must provide a reason why for your opinion, and that everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. 🙂 We also wrote about our star student, Noah!

We have also introduced our “Holidays Around the World” unit! Every day we fill out an airline ticket – they then use this to board our airplane and we use google earth to travel around the world! Once there, we watch a video on the country, read a book, and then write our opinion! What was your favorite thing about Holidays in _____?

This week we traveled to Germany, Australia, and India! We learned that people in Germany hide a pickle in their tree, that Australians eat lobster on the beach, and that people in India celebrate Diwali – a 5 day festival of lights.

Next week’s spelling words: (please note that we will randomly select 6 words for our spelling tests and add one application word as well) Their booklets come home on Monday, please sign and return in their green folder by Tuesday.

To, am, you, can, man, tan, pan, ran, fan

We started working on our measuring unit – we focused on measuring things as taller than and as shorter than. We measured items around the room and measured to see who was the tallest in our class, and who was the shortest in our class.

Other:

Thursday we met with big buddies and did some measuring polar animals with them on seesaw. Next week we will be doing a winter craft together!

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, Dec. 12 – Late Start

Friday, Dec. 14 – No School for Kindergarten