From the Kindergarten Desk

January 2-5, 2007

Unit: The boys and girls seemed glad to be back in school Tuesday and they settled right in to the new semester. Our new unit is all about Day 100. Right now, our big day is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, and we are in a flurry of preparations! You should have received a pink paper with Day 100 details in your student’s zip-lock bag yesterday.

Language Arts: We just started reading a new set of sight word readers called The Short Books in class. We have several copies of each book featuring one or two sight words, and so we read them together in pairs. Many of these words are already included in our Popcorn Words, and those that aren’t will be added to our list. The children are able to read these books with little or no help. We will continue reading them throughout the semester.

Our other big goal right now is writing some words (at least first and last sounds) in our journals by ourselves.

Math: 100, 100, 100! We are counting by 1s, 5s, and 10s. The kids counted aloud as I taped them, and then they listened to themselves. We’ve counted during opening activities, centers, and even story time.

During our math times, we have been doing some beginning addition and subtraction using beans, fingers, number cards, etc.

Centers: This week’s centers all focused on 100. The students measured and cut bricks for Humpty-Dumpty’s wall (yes, there will be 100 bricks total!). They marked a 100 chart with groups of 10 stamps, stickers, or other marks. At the math center, the children put 100 pegs in the pegboard. And at the reading center, they put 10 groups of 10 flannel pieces on the board. We will finish these centers early next week.

Books: Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag, Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3, by Bill Martin, Jr., Counting by Fives, by Jerry Pallotta, and other number books.

**Note: Since we now have morning dismissal at 11:30 a.m. and all-day optional class, we have adopted a new policy for kindergarten on school days with a 2-hour delay. We will now follow the same schedule as the rest of the school, with class beginning at 10:00 a.m., morning dismissal at 11:30 a.m., and afternoon dismissal at 3:00 p.m. as usual.

It’s good to be back. Have a good weekend!