Buddies

We met with our fifth grade reading buddies again last week. The fifth graders have been working on the reading comprehension strategy of visualizing, so to practice they wrote short stories with descriptive language that would help their readers better visualize their words. KG-M listened to the stories and then drew pictures illustrating what was happening in the stories. The fifth graders then looked at these pictures to see what details their buddies heard.

 

  

Also with our buddies we practiced singing "Hey Dum, Diddley Dum", which we will perform together at the next ES assembly on October 11!

  

Senses Galore!

Last week we explored our senses even more deeply through a variety of investigations. Mr. Jacobson, our PYP coordinator, came in to help us examine our sense of smell and its tie to memories. After smelling a variety of smells we discussed what the smells made us think of or reminded us of. At the same time, another group explored its sense of hearing and the connection between emotions and sounds. We realized that different sounds and types of music create different emotions.

We also explored our sense of touch more deeply by going on a texture walk. By using touch we noticed that things feel differently and can sometimes give us signals as to whether something is safe or not. We made texture rubbings to create visual representations and found connections between objects of similar textures. Encourage your child to explain these texture words to you.

We have wrapped up our Unit of Inquiry on the five senses and will be moving into a new Unit on imagination. Stay tuned! 

Positive Parenting Workshop

Parents:

Please review the note below from Dave Prewitt, the elementary school counselor.

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Positive Parenting Workshop

Elementary School Information Session
Wednesday, September 26th 7:45-9:00
Middle School Assembly Room
Presenters: Dave and Carol Prewitt

This is a two-part workshop. Part I will explore basic concepts and skills of how
parents can help children know that they are loved and are capable, both of which
are extremely important for a healthy positive self-concept. We will also look at
guidelines for setting limits, determining consequences, use of time out, helping
children learn to be independent and those behaviors that foster communication.
(Part II will be held in November.) Come join us for a taste of “Positive Parenting.”

Raz-kids

KG-M has an account for a wonderful online reading program called Raz-kids. Raz-kids provides books at students' individual reading levels and can be accessed from anywhere with internet. The students have been introduced to Raz-kids at school and are excited to use it at home to improve and practice their reading. Please encourage your child to visit this site regularly and both listen to and read the books on his/her page. Levels A and beyond have a wonderful comprehension feature in which students are prompted to answer a series of questions. Additionally, students can record their voices so both I can hear their reading and they can review their "presenting" skills. To access this program, simply go to the site http://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login and type in the Teacher Username kmolloyc.   Happy reading!

Yankee Doodle Dance

Last week all kindergarten students performed a dance to "Yankee Doodle" during the ES assembly. In case you missed it, watch below. Thanks to Ms. Betty Chang, our Performing Arts teacher, for giving our students this opportunity!

"Just Right" Books

KG-M is turning into a room full of readers! Every day we have guided reading group in which students practice phonemic awareness, decoding words, and using comprehension strategies we have studied in class. We are currently working on the strategy of making connections. Making connections is important in developing understanding of text. We have learned the connections text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world. Encourage your child to share his/her connections with you as you read books together.

Students in KG-M have begun bringing home "just right" books to read with you. These books have been selected at reading levels that are "just right" for them. Please listen to your child read his/her book and then either ask your child some basic comprehension questions, or have your child ask YOU questions! Make sure your child puts the book back into his/her backpack to return the following day. These books belong to our school library, so they must be returned. Rather than returning them to the library, however, they need to be returned to our classroom as they are checked out to all of KG-M. Please also ensure that these books go into the front pocket on your child's backpack or somewhere they won't get wet or bent.

Blindfolded Obstacle Course

One of the lines of inquiry for our Unit on the five senses is, "Learning to appreciate the value of our senses". To explore this line KG-M partook in a blindfolded obstacle course activity. The students began by looking at the obstacle course and then completed the course independently. We followed this by a discussion on which sense helped them the most in successfully completing the course. Next we exited the room so our helpers, Gareth Jacobson and Elaine Johnson, could change the course. This time upon entering, one person was blindfolded and a friend was in charge of directing his/her partner verbally through the course. We discussed which sense each student valued the most the second time through and found that each child's perspective varied. The students really learned the value of sight!

We recently met with our fifth grade reading buddies from Ms. Kitto-Switzer's class. We had a wonderful time reading and making bookmarks together. We will meet with our buddies regularly and practice a variety of skills.

Last week we also celebrated Kanika's birthday. She had a delicious cake to share with all of us. Happy Birthday Kanika!

Parent Reminders:

• Swimming: Our swimming unit begins next Sunday and continues every day 1 and 5 until October 15. Please ensure your child brings the necessary gear and please consider volunteering to help during swim times.
• Blog Comments:  Thank you to Iftekar, Fatima's dad, for commenting on our blog. We will look at our blog as a class regularly for feedback. Please comment and ask questions to spark classroom discussion!
• Classroom Volunteers: We have had several parent volunteers come in to assist with learning centers. Thank you to those that have helped! I understand some of you may be unable to do so because of work, however, if you are free any day (except Tuesdays) fro 12:30 - 2:00 we'd love your help. You can contact me via email to set this up.
• Assembly Performance: All three kindergarten classes will be performing tomorrow in the theater during the ES assembly at 7:45 am. You are all welcome to come watch. Please remember to sit in the very back of the theater, however, as the students fill up the other sections.

Five Senses Song by Hi-5

We learned a new five senses song by Hi-5. Watch us dance!

Smelling, Tasting and Sorting

We've been exploring our five senses in lots of ways. We explored a variety of smells through smelling jars and then explored what it was like to take away our sense of smell while eating. The students discovered the food was tasteless. This led to a discussion about the connection between our sense of taste and sense of smell. Ask your child to explain our experiments!

We've also been learning all about sorting. Today we did an exercise with a collection of different balls. Students described their balls and we charted what they noticed. We will use these words tomorrow to discuss attributes and how we can use attributes to sort in different ways.