Classroom News

As we are at the end of the first trimester of kindergarten, I just wanted to share how proud I am of each and every student!  I am so amazed with the growth I have seen these past few months, and I am even more excited to see what is to come throughout the next trimester!

I look forward to meeting with each of you during our conferences to celebrate your child's success!  Please remember that our conferences will be in the conference room, not our classroom.

Please read on to see what we have been up to in the classroom!

Reading Workshop

We are currently learning about fiction books during our reading workshop unit.  After listening to the book, Could Be Worse, the students were able to sort the characters, setting, events, and objects into the categories of realistic or fantasy.

We then read the book, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, by James Marshall.  The students loved this funny version of the story.  I was so impressed with their retelling skills as they were able to identify the characters and setting of the story.  With some help, they did a nice job of being able to describe the important events in the story as well!  

A favorite part of our reading workshop time is the independent reading time!  Students love shopping in the classroom library for books to fill their individual book bins.  I am so proud of their increasing stamina when reading and they are continuing to remember the three different ways to read a book.  

Writing Workshop

The kindergarteners are doing such a great job with their Jolly Phonics sounds.  Thank you for all your support at home with their notebooks!  As we have now introduced and practiced the majority of our sounds, the students are working hard to apply those sounds in their writing.  Each time during writing workshop, the students think of an idea, draw a picture of that idea, label the important parts of the picture, and then try to write a sentence.  During this time, students are encouraged to stretch out their words by saying them slowly to hear the beginning, middle, and ending sounds so they can write the sounds that they hear.  I am excited to share some writing samples with you during our conference!

Math

We have been working hard on Chapter 3 in our math program.  This chapter gave students an introduction to measurement and focused on ordering objects by size, length, and weight.  It was so exciting to hear the students begin to use our math vocabulary when explaining their reasoning.  We learned and explored the following words: bigger, smaller, taller, shorter, heavier, and lighter, while also reviewing the words same and different.

The students loved using a variety of math manipulatives to demonstrate their understanding of these words!

Centers

Center time continues to be a class favorite!  Our most recent rotation of centers allowed students to listen to The Runaway Pumpkin on the computer, build towers to match the numbers on a number line, use Legos to make the letters of the alphabet, use dice to "Roll a Sight Word", and use unifix cubes to match the pattern shown on a card.  

Veterans Day

We were so lucky to be able to honor local veterans last Friday!  From a special breakfast to an amazing assembly with videos, poems, and songs, we hope these veterans know how thankful we are for their service!

Art Appreciation

We are so thankful for Mrs. Pellum who generously volunteers her time to come in once a month to share art with us!  The students love the discussions about the art pieces, but especially enjoy the fun and engaging art projects they get to create!

All About Me Bags

We love learning about our classmates each Monday morning!  The sounds of "ME TOO!" as a student shares shows how many similarities the students have with one another!

Recently, we learned that Dasha has a favorite stuffed animal, loves to make art projects, and has a special necklace!

We learned that Nikola likes to make art projects, enjoys building with Legos, and his favorite animals are snakes and crocodiles.

We learned that Steven loves his family and his teddy bear, loves building with Legos, and likes playing with cars.

Halloween

Just in case you missed seeing some of the Halloween pictures on Twitter (@mrsheathercoyle), here is a short slideshow with a few of the highlights of that fun day!  A very special thank you to all of our parent volunteers that day:  Mrs. Sluder, Mrs. Brancato, Mrs. Kubow, Mrs. Manglaris, Mr. Pellum, and Mrs. Stuckey. 

Halloween from Heather Coyle on Vimeo.

Classroom News

It's hard to believe we are getting close to the end of October!  Read on to see what we have been up to in kindergarten!

Reading Workshop:

We have finished up our first unit!  During the last few weeks, students have learned about how to choose and take care of books, how to notice the details in the illustrations to read the pictures, and how to "buzz" about a good book to a friend.  They are so engaged with their books during our reading time!  This week, the students will have a chance to do some "book shopping" as they browse our classroom library and choose books for their own personal book bins.  I am so excited to see their reading stamina continue to grow!

These strategies help young readers learn the important strategy of visualizing.  This also helps our kindergarteners feel more confident in choosing books where they may not be able to read all of the words, but they can certainly read the pictures to tell the story.  

Buzzing about books we enjoy helps students learn about books that they may not have chosen on their own.  Exposing kindergarteners to many different types of books helps ensure that everyone will find books they love!

Math:

We are continuing to work hard exploring the numbers 0-10.  Students are building their number sense through games, counting activities, and classroom discussions.  It has been so wonderful to see the students using math vocabulary when sharing their observations about numbers!

One Book, One School:

I hope your family is enjoying reading A Nest for Celeste.  The school is enjoying participating in discussion and activities revolving around this great book.  One of their favorites is to listen to the clues during announcements to hear where Celeste may be hiding around the school.  Our kindergarteners are quite good at finding this sneaky mouse!

Centers:

Center time remains a favorite part of our day!  The students love having time to practice different literacy, math, and fine motor skills in a fun, playful way.

Making letters with colorful counters

 Practicing counting, colors, and fine motor skills by putting the correct poms into the muffin tin with tweezers

 Rolling the die and placing the correct number of "apples" on the tree

Putting puzzles together

Whole Body Listening:

We were so lucky to have Mrs. Rebsamen join us to read Whole Body Listening Larry at School.  This book taught us what it means to listen with our entire bodies.  The students enjoyed practicing this important skill!

Spirit Days:

Career Dress Up Day was a hit!  It was so fun to see all the students dressed up as doctors, marine biologists, meteorologists, artists, teachers, chefs, policemen, and firemen!  Our next Dryden spirit day will be Sports Dress Up Day on November 17.

All About Me Bags and Guest Readers:

We love learning about our classmates each week when Me Bags are shared!  We have also had some very special guest readers join us lately!


We learned that Eden loves Pete the Cat books, her pink stuffed animal, and Sleeping Beauty!  We were so lucky to have her sister, Yola, come read a Pete the Cat book to us!

We learned that Vince likes his Nerf gun and a special picture of his dad.  Vince's mom came and read the very funny book, Dinosaurs in the Supermarket, which we all loved!

We learned that Veronica loves playing soccer, the Cubs, and her dog, Biscuit!  We were so excited to have Grandma Jackie join us to read the perfect book for October:  The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.