Sunday, February 25, 2018

Week 26. February 25 - March 1


Can you believe it’s the last week of February already? Time does move fast when we’re having fun!

Snack and recess




Creativity Celebration: Legos!





Reading Celebration with other grades!



Learning This Week!

Reading Workshop


This week Kindergarten readers begin an exciting new unit about story elements! Our students will begin to learn new ways to read, think, and talk about story books. Who are the characters? What do they do in the story? How can the pictures help us figure out what is happening in our books? How can we notice and explain the beginning, middle, and end of a story? Getting in the habit of thinking about story elements will help students with comprehension! Throughout the unit, kindergarten readers will also continue to review past reading Super Powers like “pointer power” and “persistence power.” 



Writing Workshop


Writers are moving along the writing process as they create their first “All about” books! This week we will continue to focus on planning our books and organizing the information we know. Writers may choose to use planning sheets to organize the facts about the topic they have chosen, to then add pages for each fact. By organizing the information from each topic, writers make sure they stay on topic!

Midweek, we will move into the revision part of the writing process, rereading and adding more to each page. One strategy writers use is asking themselves “what else can I say here?” or use their partners to bounce ideas back and forth. Partners can be very helpful by asking questions about their partner’s topic!


Math

This week mathematicians will work intensively with the number pairs of 9 as they demonstrate different combinations of sleeping bears and honey tree–hunting bears using counters and record with number bonds. Students  will have the opportunity to decompose 9  and 10 into number pairs using representations of fingers, linking cubes, and number bonds. They will explore patterns in the number pairs.

As always, the decompositions are discussed or recorded using number bonds, drawings, and number sentences.This topic’s decomposition situations, like those in Topic B, are put together with both addends unknown addition equations modeled by the equation C = ___ + ___ . 



Circles

This month kindergarten students will start discussing the core value of creativity. They will explore the different manifestations of creativity at school and in their everyday lives. They will be reflecting on what creativity means to them, be it make things by themselves or with others, having great ideas, using their imagination, or exploring new things.
Science


KG scientists continue to generate questions and have conversations about the baby chicks. They are growing fast and whenever we visit them we notice new changes. Their feet are growing! They’re getting little tailfeathers! Students record observations in  their science journals. This week our young scientists will not only visit the chicks, but also visit the CAC tortoises to record observations about these very different animals! 



As always, thank you for reading our newsletters and please email us if you any any questions or feedback.

Ms. Ana, Ms. Paola, and Mr. Balazs

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Week 25. February 18 - 22

Welcome to a new week! Check out our latest guest reader! Have you had a chance to come to your child's class and read a story? Sign up!

Mom and son reading together!

Our students were invited to watch two Middle School plays last Thursday, they had a blast watching the actors perform and interact with the audience. Big thanks to Mr. Johnson and his drama students!



Toys at school


In Kindergarten, toys from home are not encouraged as they interfere with students’ ability to engage with learning tasks throughout the day. Please make sure that your child’s toys stay at home. We appreciate your help in this request that supports all student learning.

Water bottles! We appreciate your support with making sure your child has a filled water bottle in the classroom at all times.

After School Activities Update

We hope your child/children are enjoying their after school activities. These will end next ​week (Feb.18 - Feb.22​).


Please check the link for the detailed dates

Learning This Week

Writing Workshop

Writers are embarking on a new writing unit this week! To add to the nonfiction interest that has been the focus during reading, this week students will start writing “All about” books. As we launch this new unit, we’ll revisit the writing process that must take place in any kind of writing we do: 



This week lessons will focus on the planning stage, thinking of areas of interest that can lead to book topics. Writers think of topics they know well and are experts on, this “topic list” will help them increase the volume of books written as well as support stamina. Writers always have things to write about!

We’re looking forward to more learning opportunities for our young writers!

Reading Workshop


Reading for information has been so much fun. We are learning a lot about how to discover facts in the books we read, how to ask questions as we read, how to notice text features, how to talk to partners about our nonfiction books, how to “Stop and Jot,” and much more. This week we learn even more about how to gather facts from information books and we also get to celebrate all we’ve learned in this unit! Our Wonder Wall and “I Know…” Walls continue to grow as we make more and more discoveries in our amazing nonfiction texts.

Math

This week, we will be finishing up mid module assessments and then we will start working on Topic E. This topic expands student exploration of numerical relationships to include 9 and 10. Returning to work with number bonds after introducing addition and subtraction reminds students about the part–part–whole relationships that underlie these operations.




Science



After an incredible week science, in which we got to meet a real marine biologist and make observations of our brand-new chicks, our young scientists can’t wait for more! Kindergarten students will continue to visit the chicks and observe and record their growth. The chicks grow and develop so quickly that there is always something new to notice and discuss! Circles Kindergarteners continue to have conversations about our core values creativity, integrity, respect and responsibility as values we can show everyday in the actions we take! Using kind words towards others, doing the right thing, helping those in need, and making sure we all have fun together! Thank you all for your support and patience in reading our very important newsletters! Ms.Ana, Mr. Balazs & Ms. Paola


Sunday, February 11, 2018

Week 24. Feb 11-15

Welcome to another great week in Kindergarten! Thanks to all parents who came last Wednesday for our Family Math Night! It was wonderful for us to see all of you having fun playing math games with our kindergarteners. Thank you also for the feedback! Here are some photos:







Important reminders:


  • After School Activities - Session 2. The last day for ASAs will be Thursday, February 22. 
  • Mystery Readers Wanted: KG classes still have lots of openings for parents to come in and read (or do a fun activity of your choice!). Sign up on the Mystery Reader tabs at the top of this page.



  • Please keep sending animal photos for our science unit! We love them so far!



Learning This Week

Writing Workshop



This week, writers will start revising and editing their writing to publish a book of opinions by the end of our unit. They have been meeting with their writing partners to practice sharing their book with others. This book be a collection of opinions. 

For publishing, writers focus on key elements that writers do all the time: writing with lowercase letters, bumping lines, using sight words, and adding finger spaces. After making their writing the best they can, they will work on designing their books, choose a title page and look at details that will make their book more appealing for the audience.




Reading Workshop

Our Super Readers are learning so much about nonfiction texts! They are getting very good at sharing books with partners and retelling what they read. Students are practicing using sentence stems like:
“This reminds me of...” 
“This page is all about…”
“I thought there would be a page about…”
“This is just like…”

This week students will compare getting more from pictures by asking “Does the picture match the words?” and “What EXTRA information can I get from the picture?” We will also have dedicated time for students to explore a variety of nonfiction books to record their “wonder questions.”


Word Study


As we approach the end of Trimester 2. We will be assessing all students to determine their understanding of spelling patterns. These assessments will allow us to differentiate the word study each student needs to work on. Every Thursday, we will send these sorts home for you to see the work your child is doing and have conversations about their learning.




Math

Students will continue to practice with number bonds and number stories as they learn strategies for addition and subtraction. Topic D introduces formal subtraction concepts including writing and solving expressions and equations. Mathematicians will begin at the concrete level with students acting out take away stories and working at the pictorial level crossing off to see what remains. 

This week, students will be decomposing number 7 and 8 using 5-group drawings by hiding a part or crossing it off, and record each decomposition with a drawing and subtraction equation, or as we call them “number sentence”.

They will also practice fluency games during Math Centers, while teachers complete individual assessments.









Science


This week is very exciting in science! Our chicks will be hatching soon and we will make lots of observations in our science journals about what happens when they hatch and begin to move around! We will also welcome a real scientist into the classroom, Mr. Balazs’ wife, who is a real Marine Biologist! She studies bottlenose dolphins, which is perfect for our own KG animal experts. We can’t wait to ask her all about what it is like to be a real scientist. Students will also have time to read their favorite nonfiction animal books from our libraries and watch some incredible short videos about the animal kingdom!



As always, thank you for reading our newsletters and feel free to email us with questions or feedback!

Ms. Ana, Ms. Paola, and Mr. Balazs

Monday, February 5, 2018

Week 23. February 4 - 8

Welcome to a new week in Kindergarten!

Important information! Family Picnic - Feb. 8

Due to popular demand, we will be having another BBQ for picnic day this Thursday, February 8. Kindly sign up through the google form (below) if interested! There is a google sign-up form for each grade (see other links in the Eagle Eye newsletter). For siblings, please sign up each child in their respective grade order form.

The DEADLINE for orders will be on Tuesday, February 6th by 5:00 p.m.
We kindly ask that parents drop off the money in a labelled envelope to the ES office (name, class code and order). Kindergarten lunch time is from 12:10 to 12:50

IMPORTANT: Unfortunately we will not be able to take orders on the day of the BBQ and we will have to cancel orders that have not been paid by Tuesday the 6th.

We look forward to seeing you all!!
KG Family Picnic Order Form


Math Night!


We hope you’re ready for some fun Math games! We look forward to seeing you all this Wednesday from 4:15 to 5:15 pm. Kindergarten will be in the Drama Room.


Mystery Readers Wanted!

All three KG classes have lots of dates available to sign up for parents to come in and read to classes. If you have not had a chance to come in a read, it is a delightfully fun time in out week. Students get so excited to discover who will be coming into their classroom! We can’t wait to listen to you read!

Sign up by clicking on the KGB, KGC, and KGS Mystery Reader tabs at the top of the KG Blog, or send an email to your classroom teacher. Thank you!

Counseling Corner

Dear CAC Parents,

In guidance we are working on emotional management and discussing strong emotions, how they make our bodies feel and calming down strategies. It is important for kids to understand that everyone gets upset but that we are all still responsible for our behaviors.

We discussed the concept of “flipping our lids” and how to calm down when our emotions take over our thinking.  We are sharing calming down strategies and practicing different ways to calm ourselves down when upset.  Please share with your children strategies that you use when you have a strong emotion.

This month’s Core Value is Creativity.  The elementary school defines creativity as ‘being inspired to imagine and explore’.  A lot of the time when we think of creativity we think of the arts.  However, creativity is more complex and fascinating.  In elementary, will be spending the month exploring the idea of creativity and have shared this article with the teachers. You can help support our efforts at home by investigating the concept with your child. 
How do you define creativity?  Is there anything that might block creativity? 
Attached is a thought-provoking article in the New York Times about developing creativity. 
How to Raise a Creative Child. Step One: Back Off


Learning This Week

Reading Workshop



This week our readers will learn to Read, Cover, Remember, and Retell what they have just read. Retelling is an essential component of comprehension and our super readers get to practice this skill with reading partners. They will also dive deeper into what it means to be a reading partner. What types of questions do partners ask each other? What is your job while your partner reads? What can you talk about when a book is finished?

Reading partners support each other’s learning. Partnerships allow students to practice independence, responsibility, respect, and communication!

Writing Workshop


Writers busy at work!

It’s publishing week, yay! This week, we have planned lessons on revising, editing and getting ready to publish opinion pieces. One of the strategies we’ll teach students is called “add a page, subtract a page” in which writers will reread their books and make decisions on pages that may need to be moved around or replaced. Organization in key for writers during the revision process, revisiting moves they will be doing as writers for years to come.

Before publishing, writers also look at the neatness of their writing and check for lowercase letters, spaces between words and periods at the end of sentences. Choosing covers and titles for their books is also part of the publishing awesomeness.

Stay tuned for the fun way in which we’ll be celebrating the end of this unit!

Math

This week, students will  continue working on topic C and they will begin Topic D which introduce the concept of subtraction. Here is what this new Topic covers:








Circles

This week, students will continue to explore the CAC core value of integrity, discussing what it is to have and display the behaviors that go with integrity. Students will be taking home the Core Value book The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Class by Justin Roberts, to read with their families and return the next day.
 
Science



Students will continue to have conversations about animals and their basic needs. Scientists will talk about characteristics they see in certain animals and discuss movement, covering, diet and and how this influences where animals live. We love studying animals and are eager to learn more!

The excitement continues to build up the closer we get to hatching day! Scientists continue to generate questions and predictions throughout the incubation process, journaling about the embryo’s growth, the candling process and comparing their predictions to information learned from books. We’re halfway there, 8 more days to go!

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletters,

Ms. Ana, Ms. Paola, and Mr. Balazs