Hello Everybody,

Fundations
 We have spent the last two weeks practicing the “sky line” letters on white boards. t, l, b, k, h, and f. I have included an individualized sheet of the letters your child knows and the ones he/she still needs to practice. Please have your child practice writing these letters and identifying them around the house.  You can make the practice fun. Have your child draw the letters with his/her finger in flour or sugar or shaving cream. Invest in magnetic letters for your fridge. Name a letter and have your child pull it down out of the collection of letters. This is a fun way for your kinder to practice spelling out his/her name too. You can also write the letters on index cards and place them around your house. As your child walks by, he/she has to name the letter. 

We will be moving on to the “Plane Line Letters” this week. i, r, n, m, p, q, j.  I will keep reviewing the previous letters as well.

Name Writing
The name writing is looking better and better! Keep practicing at home. 

Writer’s Workshop
This week we kicked off our Writer’s Workshop. To get the Kindergartners to see themselves as writers, I launch the Workshop by following the steps in the book Teaching Writing in Kindergarten. The book's "First Six Weeks of School" chart breaks down writing instruction week by week with attention to specific literacy skills.  Analyzing the chart, one can see the gradual time shift from teacher-directed lessons to increased student autonomy.  Beginning with a method to teach sound-symbol relationships, the author addresses everything from pencil grasp, letter formation, and word spacing, to linking words and phrases and all the stages of spelling development.

Space Man  
Each child got to meet their own “SpaceMan” today. This clothespin astronaut is used to help the students put spaces between their words. We are writing sentences with the two sights words I and am.

Math
In math, the students are exploring all our manipulatives. They are also practicing writing the numerals 0-10 and counting out and drawing amounts to match those numerals.

We're Going on a Field Trip!
 Kindergartners will be going on a field trip to Chase Farms in Macedon in October.  Our class will be going on Thursday, October 6, 2011.  The bus departs at 9:00 AM and returns at 10:30 AM.  

We will be going on a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, picking a pumpkin & gourds, going through a corn maze, petting/feeding goats and picking/sampling some raspberries.  Please have your child dress appropriately for the weather and bring two plastic grocery bags inside each other labeled with your child's first and last name.  

Picture Day
School Picture Day is October 5th at 10:20AM.