Shape Collages

Today the kids had fun looking for shapes in magazines and then cutting them out and pasting them out and gluing them onto large cutout shapes.  The kids weren't satisfied with just a square, rectangle, circle and triangle.  They asked me to also cut them out an oval and hexagon.  Then it was time to count the shapes.   The class felt like the circle had the most shapes on it, so we counted 34 circles.  It was a fun way to learn about shapes.

Name Ball

 Yesterday one of our students found a beach ball in our storage area.  "Let's DO something with this!" he pleaded.  Yes, we thought, let's do something with it.  We wrote everyone's name on the ball and then let the kids pass the ball back and forth.  Then they read the name their thumb was closest to after catching the ball.  It was great fun, and wonderful practice in turn taking.

We have also been increasing our Read to Self and Read to Someone times.  The class is settling into this routine so well.  We have been able to work with individual children while they are reading. Thanks to everyone who sent books in for the book boxes.  If you haven't sent books in for your child yet, find some books your child likes to "read" (think read the pictures, retell the story, read the words).

Team Teaching

Ms. Roper’s and Mrs. Burgess’s Kindergarten

Welcome to kindergarten!  We are so excited to both be team teaching all the kindergarten students this year.  This is a new way of teaching kindergarten so we thought we would answer some of your questions.

WHAT is team teaching?

A definition of team teaching we like is “it’s a style of instruction in which resources as well as interests and expertise of a team of teachers are pooled in order to enhance the effectiveness of instruction.” (Dipu Kalanilayam, "Educational Technology for All” blog).

 WHY team teach kindergarten?

1)     Each year our kindergarten students enter with a huge variety of academic, social and behavioral skills and needs.  When one teacher works with one class, she is spread so thin it is difficult to effectively teach to the wide spectrum of abilities.  When two teachers are working with all the students of two classes, we can better group these students based upon their strengths and challenges and have double the staffing to teach to where the children are.  For example, instead of being able to work with three different ability groups each day, we can now meet with six different ability groups.

2)     Teachers also have different strengths and talents.  The children benefit from the specific abilities and interests of two teachers instead of one.

3)     The children now have two sets of eyes on them, observing and planning for their individual needs.  The team teaching set up we have allows for continual analysis of each child and collaborative planning to best meet that child’s needs.

HOW does team teaching work?

1)  The teachers work together to plan instruction. They both take responsibility for all the students.  The children are divided into two set groups only for specials (music, art, library, computers and physical education).  The rest of the time the groupings are flexible, changing as the students grow.

2) When whole group instruction is being delivered, one teacher is teaching, while the other is supporting or working with individual students.

3)  Small group instruction is delivered by both teachers.  Teachers may be working with half of the class or they may be working with groups of 3-7 children while the rest of the class works independently.    

4)     The teachers are constantly observing and taking notes on the students.  They share their observations and use them to collaboratively make instructional decisions.

What should I do if I have more questions?

ASK US!

We are working hard to provide you with as much information as possible. 

1)  We have parent friendly copies of the Common Core for kindergarten that were distributed on our information night.  That will answer the question of “what” we are teaching your child.

2)  We write in home-school notebooks almost every day, to let you know how your own child is doing in the class.  This is a great place to ask questions.

3)    We send home almost weekly newsletters that can also be read on our blog.

4)    We keep an almost daily blog detailing what we do to teach the Common Core standards.  The blog can be found at

http://wiscassetkindergarten.blogspot.com/

5)    We respond to e-mail sent to broper@svrsu.org and lburgess@svrsu.org.

6)     Call us at 882-7585.

Newsletter

                                            September 19, 2013

Dear Families,

Kindergarten is having a great time doing calendar,

morning message, writing, and reading.  We have

increased our Read to Self time to 14 minutes.  This

is a great accomplishment, but it comes with a

challenge.  Our kids are running out of books to read

in the 14 minute time span.  Please send your child in

with 3 or 4 books from home that he or she is

confident reading (think those Dr. Seuss books, or the

ones they beg you to read over and over).  Remember they 

can "read the pictures," "read the words," or retell the story.

We know some of you are interested in volunteering

as well.  Please let us know in your child’s notebook

what days and times would work best for you and

we’ll call you to set it up and see what you are most

interested in doing.

We enjoyed chatting with many of you during our

kindergarten information night.  If you missed it, you

can pick up the Common Core handout at the Open

House on Tuesday, September 24 from 5:30-6:30. 

We look forward to seeing you then!

                                                            Your Partners in Learning,

                                                            Ms. Roper and Mrs. Burgess

Pick a Character

We have been enjoying two very different book characters, Pete the Cat and Pigeon.  Today the kids talked about which was their favorite and why.  Then we each drew our favorite character with a speech bubble.  Some of us had to draw both because we just couldn't pick one.  Brandon summed it up well when he told us, "Pete the Cat says, 'It's all good.' and Pigeon says, 'It's all bad."

Everyone also tried their hand at drawing their own Mat Man, they had to include several parts of the body including ears, fingers, toes, and belly buttons.  They are on display so you can see them at the Open House on Tuesday, September 24 from 5:30 to 6:30.

Have a super weekend!

Read to Someone and Mat Man

Today the kids learned how to use our handwriting blocks to make "Mat Man."  Mat Man is helping us become familiar with big and little lines as well as big and little curves.  We will be using these concepts as we start writing our letters.  Then we tried our next component of the Daily Five, Read to Someone.  The kids all partnered up and read Elbow to Elbow and Knee to Knee for three minutes.  They loved the opportunity to share their books.  We will continue to add minutes to Read to Someone as the kids build their stamina.  There is a lot of brain power in this classroom!

Scientists in Training

 Today was a day for science.  We experimented with "magic color" bottles and recorded what happened when we shook the bottles.  You can make one at home by mixing water with food coloring and then adding oil. We observed a live praying mantis.  And we practiced using magnifying glasses to make objects look bigger.  The kids had fun recording what they saw, just like real scientists do.  We continued to collect data in our morning message by finding out how many fish each child had.  This is a class that loves to experiment and observe.