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:
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
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