week of Oct. 1, 2018

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (Week of October 1)

Handwriting/Writing:  We will continue to review “Frog Jump Capitals” while we are teaching the remaining capital letters.  We will also continue to work on “Starting Corner Capitals” and numbers to 5.  We are very impressed with how handwriting is improving each and every day.  Things like: staying within the boundaries, making the correct curves and lines to form the letters, and being able to copy the letter formation has been going very well.  Keep up the good work!

Reading: Our new story is: Dig, Dig, Digging and it is a nonfiction story.  Our weekly essential question is: “How do machines help you work? “We will be classifying and categorizing.  Our amazing words are: scooping, swooshing, squelching, gobbling, spinning, rumbling.  We will continue to talk about nouns.  We have been introducing many letters and sounds wherever possible (Morning Meeting, Handwriting, Reading, Small Groups) to get as many of the letters and sounds taught as possible.  We continue to chop sounds in words and clap out the syllables.

In Math, we will be wrapping up our topic on Numbers 0-10.  We will review counting to 10, writing the numbers, identifying the numbers, and counting objects to represent the numbers.  We will continue to count to 100, add numbers on our daily school day count, and talk about calendar and weather.

Science/Social Studies:  This past week, we had an amazing apple unit to celebrate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday and the beginning of Fall.  We made applesauce, made Johnny Appleseed headbands, read several books about apples, graphed our favorite apples after having an apple taste test, labeled parts of an apple, made an apple craft, and so much more!  We thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Important dates to remember:

*** FREE DRESS DOWN DAY IF YOU WEAR a Blue Shirt on October 1^st to Support Bullying Prevention in Schuylkill County.

***AR book logs for September due no later than October 1^st.  Great job reading J

***Friday October 5-  Act 80 Half Day, Early Dismissal for students

***Monday, October 8- No School for Students, Teacher In-Service Day

week of Sept. 24, 2018

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (Week of September 24)

Handwriting/Writing:  We will start working on “Starting Corner Capitals” and still review the “Frog Jump Capitals”.  We have been working so hard on writing our name, using a 2-finger space in between our first and last name, starting our letters at the top, and using our helper hand!  We are working so hard every day and our hands are getting stronger and our writing is improving.  We have also worked together to compose a letter and pointed out where a period is to stop our thought, making sounds in words to write the correct letter, and making sure our sentences make sense.

Reading: Our new story is: Smash! Crash! and it is a fantasy story.  Our weekly essential question is: “What do you like to do with your friends? “We will be identifying the characters in the story.  Our amazing words are: signals, dud, proper, pirates, perfect, fabulous.  We have also been working hard on identifying the initial sounds in words. (example: /m/ is the initial sound in map). We have also been clapping out syllables, and identifying rhyming pairs.  We have been naming nouns and verbs as well.

In Math, our essential question is: “How do we read, write, and count numbers up to 10?” We have been working on five frames, counting as high as we can, calendar activities, tally marks, and sorting activities.  We will continue to work on number sense and being able to read and write the numbers so we can build on that skill as we go. 

Science/Social Studies:  We have completed a lesson on what is it like to be a good friend and sharing/taking turns using one of our favorite stories, Rainbow Fish.  We will revisit the entire unit of being a good citizen throughout the school year because we are constantly reinforcing positive school habits.    

Important dates to remember:

***The next Fall Festival Meeting will be will be September 24th at Francesco's at 7 pm.  If you have your clearances and would like to volunteer and could not attend the first meeting here at school, you can attend this meeting. 

*** FREE DRESS DOWN DAY IF YOU WEAR a Blue Shirt on October 1^st to Support Bullying Prevention in Schuylkill County.

***AR book logs for September due no later than October 1^st.  Great job reading J

week of September 17, 2018

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (Week of September 17)

Handwriting/Writing:  We will continue work on the Frog Jump Capitals and work on letters: B, R, N, M and review all of the ones taught so far.  We are also practicing numbers 0-3 almost daily.  We have been talking about the author/illustrator and the audience when reading stories and our morning message so we know who wrote the selection.

Reading: Our new story is: Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip and we will talk about community helpers.  Our weekly essential question is: “How do people in a community cooperate? “We will be classifying and categorizing.  Our amazing words are: bakery, park, library, fire station, post office, chaperone.  We have also been working hard on identifying the initial sounds in words. (example: /m/ is the initial sound in map).

In Math, our essential question is: “How do we read, write, and count numbers up to 5?” and we will be counting a set of objects and demonstrating that the last number said tells the number of objects in that set.  We have been using domino cards, five frames, number cards, and handwriting practice to help us out in our small and large group lessons.

Science/Social Studies: We will tie in our community helpers from our weekly Reading story along with reviewing what being a good school/community citizen looks like from our previous social studies lessons. 

Important dates to remember:

***Paid Dress Down Friday, September 21st.  1-dollar donation to participate.

***The next Fall Festival Meeting will be will be September 24th at Francesco's at 7 pm.  If you have your clearances and would like to volunteer and could not attend the first meeting here at school, you can attend this meeting. 

*** FREE DRESS DOWN DAY IF YOU WEAR a Blue Shirt on October 1^st to Support Bullying Prevention in Schuylkill County.

week of September 10, 2018

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (Week of September 10)

Handwriting/Writing:  Our first unit is Unit 1: Readiness, Name, Frog Jump Capitals, Numbers 1-3.  We have been working on strengthening our hands and using our helper hand to steady our paper when coloring and writing along with working on coloring every morning to warm up for the day.  We have been working on writing our first and last names and writing the numbers 0-2.  In our Morning Message, we have identified 2-finger spaces between words when we write along with starting at the top when writing our letters.

Reading: Our new story is: Pladypus Lost and it is Realistic Fiction.  Our weekly essential question is: “How do families cooperate? “We will be sequencing the story’s events and listening for Rhyme and Rhythm.  Our amazing words are: platypus, around, lost, found, market, groceries.  Just a reminder that AR book log books could be books at home, books from the library, or they can borrow from our “pool”.  Keep on reading J

In Math, we are working on Numbers 0-5.  We have been busy writing numbers, counting objects, and demonstrating 1-1 correspondence using objects and a 5 frame.  In Math Meeting, we are working on: filling in the daily calendar, oral counting to 100, introduction to basic shapes, and talking about time of day/seasons of the year.

Science/Social Studies: We are learning about “What is Science” and what science means to us.  We are also talking about “Being A Good Citizen” and we have been reviewing all of the points of the SPARTY way and we have attached our Larry the Listener that we use to review what whole body listening looks like to us so that we are ready to learn.

Important dates to remember:

***Picture Day will be on September 14^th.  Next Friday, September 14, 2018, is the first official PAID DRESS DOWN DAY for the district. It is also picture day at NSE.  Therefore, we are rescheduling our paid dress down day at NSE to Friday, September 21st.  Please return the picture paper and money ASAP.

***School store will be starting on September 10^th, and Mondays are the days that Kindergarten can shop.  If your child would like to buy something from the school store, make sure that he/she has an envelope marked with their name and homeroom and that the money is for “School Store”.

***The next PTO meeting is September 10 and if you did not yet sign up for PTO, you can do so at this meeting.  Please make sure to sign up and also send in your clearances if you would like to volunteer at school.