Dear Parents,
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Technology Department
Hello Families!
Last week I highlighted the importance of play in our classroom, and shared with you a few of the ways children learn by interacting with materials in the different areas of the room. This week I wanted to take a few moments to talk about another important part of our day, Daily 5. The Daily 5 is a literacy program used by our district to foster literacy independence in the elementary grades. What does that mean for my preschooler you might ask? Teaching Daily 5 skills helps children learn strategies for reading a story, increase reading skills, and build their stamina for independent tasks. I firmly believe that every child is a reader, and we begin Daily 5 by talking about the three ways to read a story: Read the pictures, Read the words, and Retell the story. Even very young children can look at the pictures in a story and describe what they see happening! Daily 5 has five components we will work on through out the year; Read-to-Self, Read-to-Someone, Listen-to-Reading, Work-on-Writing, and Word Work. This week we began working on Read-to-Self.
“Having children read to themselves is the first component of Daily 5 and the underpinning to creating independent readers and writers” (Bousey & Moser, 2014). During Daily 5 this week we talked about the guidelines for Read-to-Self, as well and what students and teachers will be doing during the time. Together we created a chart with pictures and words for children to refer to when unsure of what to do. Then we practiced, practiced, practiced!
I have included some pictures of children working on Read-to-Self in our classroom this week, please enjoy!
A few reminders for next week:
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet
References:
Boushey, G., and Moser, J. (2014). The daily five: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary grades (2nd edition). Stenhouse Publishers.
As preschoolers your children are experiencing new things everyday, this is especially true now as they have completed their first week of staying at school for a full day. They are playing, eating, and even sleeping in a new environment! I’m sure you have been hearing all about the exciting things we have been learning at school, and don’t be surprised if you begin to see them acting out parts of our daily routine at home. Stuffed animals become students sitting on the rug and being read to by a “teacher,” siblings become classmates as they play together in the backyard. Young children use their play to process what they are learning, and acting out these scenarios at home helps your child to solidify and remember what they have learned.
This week we continued to explore the classroom and looked closely at the Block Area, Toy Area, House Area, and Art Area during small group time. Here’s a snapshot of what your child learns as they play in each area of our classroom:
Block Area
-Math concepts such as patterning, sequencing, and geometry (shapes)
-Problem solving and critical thinking
-Balance
-Cooperation
Toy Area
-Counting
-Classifying and sorting
-Measuring
-Hand-Eye coordination
House Area
-Developing social relationships and skills
-Language skills
-Making a plan and following through
-Problem solving
Art Area
-Hand eye coordination
-Fine motor skills (holding a pencil, writing, etc)
-Independence and self-help skills
-Creativity/imagination
A few reminders for next week:
-Thank you for being patient as everyone gets used to the parking lot routine. I know it can be frustrating to wait for a spot in the morning, but please know that the safety of you and your child is our top concern. We want to make sure that everyone makes it home safely at the end of the day.
-Wash and return nap things to school Monday
Have a great weekend and stay dry!
~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet
Ms. Thabet and I would like to thank everyone for so graciously inviting us into your homes over the fast few weeks, and for attending our classroom parent meeting on Tuesday. It has been a pleasure getting to know everyone and seeing the children at school!
This week we had two half days where we worked on getting used to being at school without mom and dad, as well as familiarizing ourselves with the classroom routine. Along with our classroom we explored the playground on Wednesday and got to eat lunch at school on Thursday!
A few reminders for next week:
Please enjoy these pictures from our classroom parent meeting and have a great weekend!
~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet
