Kindergarten report!

Bonjour,

We had a great week and the bears really are starting to gel and it is obvious. Routines are getting tighter, almost everyones knows what to do and when and things are just running very smoothly. Great work!

We have started working on a couple of new and interesting projects.

In French:

We have started a book study.Bernard et le monstre (Bernard and the monster) is a cute story about a child trying to get his parents attention but they just seem too busy. He wants to tell them about the monster in the yard that is going to eat him up, but since his parents don't seem to care, the inevitable happens. The monster eats Bernard and then turns out to be ignored just as much as Bernard did. The text in that book is very basic and a good source of important vocabulary. The activities that go along with the book study revolve around the alphabetical principle, letter and word recognition, transcribing words from small caps to all caps, etc… 

We have also started working on our handwriting, concentrating on letter with only vertical and horizontal lines. We have done, L, E, F and H. Once all the letters have been done, they will be put together for an individualized alphabet book. We have a little ways to go for this obviously. But you can start holding your child accountable for writing these letter with proper mechanics at home. 

In math:

We have moved into numbers 11-20 with gusto. We are starting to feel pretty comfortable naming any number when pointed to, count forward, backward and beginning to compare their values. There is a little activity we do in which the students crouch as small as possible to show zero, and as we count up to 10 we slowly move to make ourselves bigger and bigger. Now I can ask them to show me what a 3 should look like, or 7, or 4, etc… Something you can try at home.

We have also moved into the combination that make 5 and we started visualizing these combinations in different ways (with our bracelets, with an activity we call Dedans Dehors which means Inside outside, and with colored blocks). Ask your children for details.

Next week, we will be welcoming our newest addition. Jude will be joining us for the first time on Monday. This moves our class total to 25 and changes a couple of things in terms of our seating arrangements, but the more the merrier!

On Monday, RUN FOR THE ARTS is happening. If you are volunteering for this event, or want to please email Stacy Foster atstacyfosterpdx@gmail.com. I also have some pertinent information to give you (volunteers only) so please see me in the morning so I can give it to you. 

Remember to have your pledge list figured out, and at least make one pledge of $1  and sign it so your child can get a prize when the time comes.

Stacy Foster, our class parent, is still missing a couple emails from our class. This means that you are missing out on fun extracurricular activities that class partakes in and you are also missing on volunteering opportunities as well. Remember that this list of emails remains for our class and is independent from any other school list you might be on. Her email again is stacyfosterpdx@gmail.com

Please remember to bring shoes to school. Boots are allowed for going to Lincoln, but they are loud and squeaky and having regular shoes in the classroom is a must, and part of the uniform. Thanks.

Les cahiers de vie have gone home again this weekend. Don't forget to send them back to school on Monday. Something you can do with them at home, which we started doing this week aid sing the song while you are following the words with your fingers. This helps students understand the connection between the written and spoken words and is an invaluable skill to learn to read. Great thing to practice. 

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Alexis

Sent with my thumb-operated device