Sunday, March 25, 2018

Week 30. March 25-29

Welcome to a new week!

Having fun with the leaves outside!

Calendar updates


  • KGC will have their assembly this Tuesday, March 27th. We look forward to seeing you all there! Assemblies start at 7:55, make sure you don’t miss a bit!
  • On April 10th, please join the ES Library Council in dressing up as characters from favorite books and parading to show the CAC reading spirit. The theme will be Graphic Novels! Store bought costumes are fine, but it's quite fun to make your own. The parade will take place during our regular Tuesday assembly time: 7:55 - 8:20


From The Counseling Corner

Dear CAC Parents,

In guidance we have finished our until on emotional management and are now working on ways to be better problem solvers.  Being able to effectively problem solve helps people in every aspect of life. Students who can solve interpersonal conflicts with peers are less likely to engage in impulsive or aggressive behaviors.  We will use the Second Step curriculum and the problem solving steps, after calming down, to develop these skills. Here are the  STEP’s that we use to teach problem solving. Creating a neutral problem statement, generating safe and respectful solutions, and evaluating the consequences of these solutions will help steer students toward selecting the best solution.



As you know, our Core Value for March is Perseverance.  The ES CAC definition of perseverance is, “never give up and work toward a goal”. One way that you can expand your child's understanding of perseverance is to share with them a time that you persevered in order to succeed or to share a figure from history who persevered.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Best wishes,
Dana


Learning This Week

Reading Workshop


Readers continue to apply all decoding strategies they have learned as they read independently. We continue to work on increasing the classroom’s stamina every day. Readers also continue to meet with teachers for small group and one-on-one instruction  to further improve their fluency. This week, partners will continue to work together talking about their books. They will discuss the problem and solution in their storybooks, and try hard to share the conversation by practicing active listening skills. Readers will also discuss how their characters feel throughout a story and if the feelings change. 


Writing Workshop




We’re starting the week with a wonderful writing celebration! Authors will be sharing their published pieces at a KG Writers Cafe. All three classes will get together for this celebration to honor the work done in this nonfiction unit, in which writers wrote as experts on a topic.

As one unit ends, another begins! On Monday we will go back to the narrative genre and write true stories again. Going back to this genre offers all writers an opportunity to show growth and elaborate on a small moment. Writers have gone through an important journey becoming more independent within the writing process, and we can’t wait the amazing stories they will start writing about!


Math

We are starting a new Module called “Number 10 - 20. Count to 100 by tens and ones”. Here is a preview of what this module includes:

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This week mathematicians will begin counting teen numbers by separating each number into 10 ones and some ones. We will build on the work of counting the Say Ten way by applying the concept to objects and images. Students begin by counting out piles of 10 objects and then move into counting objects as 10 ones and some ones. By counting objects as groups of 10 and some more, students’ understanding of the unit of ten is solidified. For example, students might say, “I circled 10 stars, and there are 3 more stars. That makes 13 stars.”

Throughout the lessons, students will be doing the following:

▪ Draw more objects to show a given number.
▪ Circle 10 objects in a group of objects and tell how many there are as 10 ones and some more
ones.
▪ Match a picture of a group of objects with the correct number written the Say Ten way.
▪ Count the Say Ten way to write numbers that are one more and one less than a given number. 










An addition to our Math lessons will be the exit ticket. After we go through the concept development part of our lesson, students show their understanding on a problem set that we have been sending home. The last part of our lesson is called student debrief, in it students have a chance to look at their answers on their problem set and talk about how they solved the problems and what they would do differently. 

Starting this week, they will have a second chance to show their understanding of the lesson’s objective by completing an exit ticket similar to the problem set during the student debrief. We will keep and use these as formative assessments. Please remember that any unfinished problem sets sent home with your child are not meant to be completed for homework, as we do not assign math homework in Kindergarten.

Circles


This week, kindergarten students will continue exploring the ways in which they can develop the Core value of perseverance at school and in their daily lives. During circles, as they work towards building their classroom community, they will be asking what it looks like to be faced with a challenge and not give up. 


Science


This week we will start our new science unit “What’s the matter?” Students will be exploring different materials and learning about their properties. We will ask questions like, “Which materials are flexible? Which are smooth? Which are rigid? 

We ask that you please send us pieces of recycled material (styrofoam, cardboard, rubber, wood, fabric, etc) you may have around the house. The more materials our students get to get their hands on and explore, the more meaningful the learning experience will be! Thank you for supporting our efforts in science!


Thank you for taking the time to read our weekly newsletter. Please email us if you have any questions!

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

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Week 29. March 18 - 22



A busy day walking around the park!

With a great photo we welcome you to a new week! We would like to thank all chaperones for their support at our last field trip, please make sure you fill out the online feedback form! Would you like to see more photos from that day? Click here!


Music Informances: You're Invited!

This week, all kindergarten students will have Music informances in the Music classroom. Children are looking forward to seeing you there if you can make it!
Here are the dates and times for each class:

KGS - Tuesday, March 20 (8:30 - 9:00 am)
KGC - Wednesday, March 21 (1:00 - 1:30 pm)
KGB - Wednesday, March 21 (2:20 - 2:50 pm)

We continue to add important dates and events to our grade level calendar, please make sure you check it regularly. KGC’s assembly is next week! We look forward to seeing all on March 27th


From the Library:

Mark your calendars! The annual ES Book Parade Assembly is on April 10th, the day we get back from the April break. This year, the ES Library Council has declared the theme to be GRAPHIC NOVELS! Stay tuned for more details.



Learning This Week


Writing Workshop


This will be the last week for our informational writing unit, it’s time to publish again! Writers will be working with partners for a final revision of their pieces, offering compliments and feedback to each other. Before publishing, writers will check their writing to make sure readers can read their books, editing along the way. We look forward to celebrating another successful unit as a grade level!

Reading Workshop


It’s going to be a big week of reading! Kindergarten readers will be building on their ability to make connections by discussing how parts of books are similar and different. They will also learn how to retell familiar books by making sure to include the setting and characters along with the beginning, middle, and end. This is big work! Finally, students will have a day to practice “snap words” and review how knowing these high-frequency words can help readers read smoothly.

Math

This week mathematicians will work in centers as we do one on one assessments. This will be the last week of Module 4. The activities we have planned for the centers will reinforce the addition and subtraction strategies taught throughout the module.


Science
   


This is the last week of our animals unit! Students will imagine they are explorers who encounter a brand new animal! Knowing what they know about habitats and animal needs, they will represent their animal and describe where it lives, what it eats, and what eats it (if anything). This is a fun and creative way to assess what students have learned about animals in this unit.

We will soon start our second and last Science unit about matter. In this unit, students will explore different materials such as plastic, metal, wood, paper, cardboard and glass to learn about their properties and how these are used to make things we use in our lives. We would like to ask parents to send recycled materials that can be used for this unit. As a final project, students will need to use materials to build a toy or something else they come up with. Eventually we’ll ask for you to help us gather a variety of materials!


Circles


This week the kindergarten classes will continue focusing on the core value of perseverance and the ways students can show this value at school and at home. However, circle time is a time of community building and individual classes will be revisiting other core values as the need arises.


Thank you!
Ms. Ana, Ms. Paola, and Mr. Balazs

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Week 28. March 11 - 15

Week 28, here we go! Trimester 3 will be a busy one, please take some time to read the following information:

A Note From the Music Department for all Parents/Guardians of KG Students...

This month you are invited to come to your child’s musical “Informance.” In this classroom setting, you will observe and learn about your child’s music making. We will be in ES 18, the far southeast corner of the ground floor.

KGS – Tuesday, March 20; 8:30-9:00
KGC – Wednesday, March 21; 1:00-1:30
KGB – Wednesday, March 21; 2:20-2:50

Hope to see you then!

Rebecca Nerenhausen
Elementary Music Specialist

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Please click on the following links for upcoming events:

House Event/Walkathon (Fundraising  announcement)

Elementary Talent Show


KG Field Trip!

You have all received information about our upcoming field trip. This is what students will need that day to learn and have fun:

  • Students must wear comfortable clothes and shoes. They may choose to wear their PE uniform. A hat is recommended to protect them from the sun.
  • Make sure your child brings a water bottle with his/her name on. We can refill them is needed.
  • A packed snack and a packed lunch. Please make sure you send enough food, the more the better!
  • Send small and comfy backpacks to carry their water and food. They can leave their folders in the classrooms. Big/heavy backpacks can get in the way of moving around and exploring!


Learning This Week

Writing Workshop



We’re getting close to the end of this unit, which means that writers will be busy revising and editing their “All about” books! This week we will teach students about the power of “twin sentences” to elaborate about a topic by using the last word of the first sentence to begin the next sentence.

“Dogs like biscuits.”
“Biscuits are like cookies.”

Something writers continue to work on is supporting their partners and learning from them! This week they will continue to meet with their writing partner to see what features they notice in their partner’s work and deciding if it’s something he/she could try as well! This offers another wonderful opportunity for kindergarteners to see how sharing what we know helps us all grow.

We will end the week with lessons on powerful endings for informational pieces. Writers must make sure they teach as much as they can, even on that last page!

Reading Workshop


We are learning so much about story elements and how to bring books to life! This week, our readers will learn to think of familiar characters when they meet a new character. Making text-to-text connections is a valuable comprehension skill that many of our kindergarteners are already doing! Students will also learn to pay attention to the words on the page and use what they know about the sounds the letters make and what they know about the story. We can’t wait to build our skills even further!

Math


This week students continue to review strategies to compose and decompose numbers to 10. They will focus on reviewing the 5-group strategy and how it can be used to solve number stories as representing what happens in it. We will also start topic H of our current module.In this topic, students begin to see patterns when adding 0 and 1. They also find the number that makes 10 when added to a given number.








Science


This week in our study of animals, students will be learning about what animals eat and what eats them, while learning to make connections and notice patterns. They will examine food chains and work collaboratively to place plants and animals in the correct locations. Later, students will work together to create a new model (the food web!) that incorporates more the things that animals eat… and what eats them!

Circles

This week, students will continue examining the core value of perseverance and what it means to them in different contexts. They will think about different situations that have may have been challenging, and how being persistent and determined can help to overcome these challenges and attain their goals.

Thank you all!
Ms. Ana, Ms. Paola, and Mr. Balazs

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Week 27. March 4 - 7

Welcome to a short week of school! Wednesday, March 7th will he a half day, students will be dismissed at 11:30 am. Thursday, March 8th is a CAC Holiday so there will be no school. We hope you enjoy the long weekend!

Here is some information from our Elementary Office:

We will be having a drill on March 12 to practice shelter procedures. Teachers will discuss this as “shelter practice” with students in age-appropriate ways, but you may also want to also talk to your child about the subject. Last year, we shared this article with helpful suggestions for talking to children about safety procedures and practices. One of the things addressed is the impact of the terminology we use. Staff members will be going over this in advance, as we work together to ensure that students feel safe, protected, and aware of what to do in different situations.

- The drill will be held at 12:00 pm, so if you are on campus, we ask that
you follow instructions when asked to go to a safe place.

- Everyone who is outside will be moved to the ES Hall.

Learning This Week

Reading Workshop


We are looking forward to another week of exploring storybooks and learning how to think deeply about them! Students will learn how readers use pictures and words to understand the problem in a story and the solution to that problem. They will also learn about how readers use their voices to sound like the characters in the stories. With repeated readings of the same book, reading with expression gets easier and easier! We will use familiar storybooks and class favorites to learn about these new concepts. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Writing Workshop


Writers continue to revise their “All about” books by thinking of the different things authors do in other nonfiction texts. Last week, we reminded writers of the importance on adding different “tiny-topics” to each page to make sure they teach as much as they can about their main topic. These “tiny-topics” are called headings and can be listed in a table of contents. We will use read aloud mentor texts to show writers the purpose of a table of content and how, if they want to, they could create one for their own books.

Another great nonfiction feature writers will be encouraged to try is fact boxes, or “fun facts”. These offer another place to add even more information about a topic. Writers may choose to say more about a picture by adding a “fun fact” and saying what that picture is!

Math


This week mathematicians will have additional practice with formal subtraction concepts, including writing and solving number sentences with totals of 9 or 10. The lessons will move quickly through concrete and pictorial representations of subtraction with students representing take from equations (C - B = A) with no unknown (meaning we will provide the answer) for totals to 10. The students will solve subtraction story problems by breaking off, crossing out, and hiding a part and showing their strategies with drawings and number sentences. They will also be focusing on decompositions of 9 and 10 using 5-groups, which are recorded as number sentences.





Math Problem Sets

So far, students have been taking home daily problem sets to show parents the concept they learned that day. Parents may use it as a tool to support conversations at home asking their children:

“What did you learn today?”
“How did you solve this?”
“How did you know what numbers to write here?”
“Is there another way to solve this problem?”

Sometimes these problem sets may not be finished due to time constraints or need for further practice, and that is perfectly OK. The KG team would like to gently remind you that these sheets are not meant to be finished as a way of homework, as we do not assign Math homework in Kindergarten.

Teachers use these problems sets as a quick way to assess all students’ understanding and plan for further practice. If you have specific questions about how we use problem sets, please email us!

Circles


Kindergarteners are enjoying the conversations around creativity! KGB and KGS will have one last Circle on that core value this week. KGC will have a Circle on self-esteem and personal bests to introduce the value of perseverance which is this month’s core value.

In the following weeks, all KG students will be exploring the different ways they can be persistent to get better at something. The book for this core value is Emmanuel’s Dream: The true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls.

Science


What a fun day! Click here to see even more photos.

Our study of animals and their needs continues! After an exciting week of visiting CAC tortoises, we are going to spend this short week visiting the chicks for what may be the last time. They are outgrowing their cage! Our young scientists are making keen observations about their growth and changes. Some are growing combs! Their feet are getting so big! They sometimes take naps!

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read our weekly newsletters!

Ms. Ana, Mr. Balazs & Ms. Paola