October Newsletter "Sneak Peak"

This will be sent home on Monday:)

Daily Five

The kindergarteners are doing a great job with Daily Five activites. We have worked on "read to self, work on writing, word work, and listening to reading". Above are some pictures of the different activities. Soon we will learn "read to a buddy"

Technology Project

Our New Read Aloud

We have begun reading "My Father's Dragon" which is always a favorite among kindergarteners even though it was written in 1948 (author is Ruth Stiles Gannett). The favorite part is looking at the map in the back of the book that shows all the adventures of the little boy, Elmer Elevator.

Computer Lab

We are continuing to practice using the mouse. These colorful pictures were created on Friday in the computer lab using the computer program Pixie.

Thursday is Library Day:)

Hi parents! We had to tweak our class routine for checking out library books. In the past, I have always had my kindergarten students check books out each day they brought one back. But this year our school population has expanded- we have added a new class in several grade levels and have almost 900 students in our school (we are currently the second largest elementary school in Virginia Beach). Anyways, we have tried really hard to do daily checkout this past few days and it is a bit overwelming for our cute little kindergarten students because so many older students are using the library. Our grade level has decided to let the older students establish their library routines first and then later we will try daily checkout in all kindergarten classes. We will now only checkout books on Thursdays- so please make sure your child brings back their library back before or on Thursday of each week. Thanks!

Dr. Adolf Brown

Tonight I went to hear Dr. Adolf Brown speak about bullying at John B. Dey for his program called "one love". Dr. Brown is a national speaker and one special thing about him is that he graduated from Virginia Beach Public Schools. For me, the most compelling part of his program was when he called his third grade teacher (who was his teacher at Newtown Road Elementary) and put her on speaker phone. They chatted about how they both made a difference in each others lives. I always think that no student will remember me because I can't remember my own kindergarten teacher, but knowing that a student and teacher are still in touch after all these years is really inspiring!
Check out his bio and website at http://www.docspeaks.com/.

Reading Independently

We have been working hard on reading to ourselves in class. During "reading to self" we focus on finding a place to read right away, reading the entire time, having "bubble space", and using a quiet whisper reading voice. We have learned to read a book by looking at the pictures, reading words we know, and reading a familiar book.

During this time we also "listen to reading" and we share the computers to listen to tumblebooks.

Library Lessons on Thursdays

Today was library day and your child was able to check out a book to take home. In my class each day a child brings back a library book they are able to check out a new book. Last year I had several students who checked out a new book each day! Occasionally the library is closed for special events- if this happens I will post it on twitter and your child will check out a book the next day. Your child will be responsible for taking the library book out of their backpacks each day. Occasionally we might have a mix up where your child's book is returned, but they didn't bring a new one home (keeping track of 44 students who may or may not bring back library books can get a little confusing for subs or half days). If this happens simply put a note in your child's folder or email me and we will fix the situation immediately. Thanks!

SPARCH

This year we have a new program at JBD with our two wonderful specialists the art teacher, Ms. Rossetti and speech teacher, Ms. Ward. SPARCH combines speech and art lessons and we are so excited to havethis type of class for our kindergarten classes. Stay tuned this year for more pictures of our finished art projects.