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St. Agnes Kindergarten
A large part of Kindergarten is spent growing together in what it means to be in school, especially now that we are so "grown up"! This includes, but is not limited to, learning our class routines and schedules, meeting and greeting our "Specials Teachers" (Spanish, P.E., Music, Art) and other important St. Agnes School faces, and learning how we can be "Kind and Caring Kids" by following three rules to build a healthy classroom community:
1. Kind and Caring Kids always tell the truth.
2. Kind and Caring Kids let the teacher teach.
3. Kind and Caring Kids let the students learn.
The "ABC's of Our Day" that help determine how successful we are at respecting these rules include our
ATTITUDE, our BEHAVIOR and our sense of COMMUNITY.
Beginning the first full week of December, Kindergarten children will take an active role in assessing their progress in these three areas of their development (attitude, behavior, and community) via a self-evaluation form. It will be filled out daily by each child and sent home for your review in the center slash pocket of their B.E.E. folder. This form needs to stay in the B.E.E. folder. Please sign it at the end of each week and return it to the B.E.E. folder. If I have additional comments for a particular day, you will find them on the back of the form, by date.
Religion:
The Character Education word for November is CARING: "To be interested and concerned about others, and to treat them with understanding and compassion." Caring is...Giving thanks when it is deserved. Helping to solve a problem, rather than just ignoring it. Being aware of others' achievements and celebrating their success." Excerpts from the Character Ed link on the Springfield Public Schools' website
A New Liturgical Year begins with the First Sunday of Advent on November 30th!
Advent is a waiting time...
The story of Noah and the Ark; God's promise in the rainbow
Coming soon: St. Nicholas Feast Day (Dec. 6); St. Lucy Feast Day (Dec. 13); Las Posadas; Happy Birthday Baby Jesus
Language/Reading:
Phonemic awareness activities
"Author of the Day" continues--we note popcorn words and other sight words, family words, punctuation and capitalization, word spacing, L to R directionality, paragraph structure, etc.
AlphaFriend for November: Nyle Noodle Nn /n/ --We made oodles of Nyle Noodle's Noodle Doodles!
Writers' Workshop: Re-writing Mother Goose--our own take on Nursery Rhymes!
The next AlphaFriend, Hattie Horse (Hh) will be introduced December 1st
Practice reading AND writing sentences using popcorn words "I", "see", "my", "like", "to", "can" along with color words and family words. Use Self-Help spelling to encourage the connection between the spoken and written word.
Writing Bb and Nn; writing our names and other words on lined paper--perceptual skill development
Math:
Geometry/Symmetry/Fractions:
*Plane figures: hexagon, parallelogram, trapezoid, rhombus, square, circle, triangle, rectangle
*Solid figures: cone, cylinder, sphere, rectangular prism, pyramid, cube
*Whole, half, thirds, fourths, etc.
Science:
The Quirkles: Nosey Nina--The connection between our sense of taste and the sense of smell. Can you tell the flavor of a juice or other food when you are blindfolded and your nose is plugged?
Social Studies:
Veteran's Day--November 11th:
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL VETERANS for their sacrifice and service to our country!
You are the "great defenders of the USA, the champions of freedom!"
Major Andy Love visited Kindergarten, sharing information about his service to our country and his family's support of that service, the American Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, and the Star Spangled Banner. We saluted all veteran's, especially those from each Kindergarten family and enjoyed a short parade outside with Major Love leading our march with a cadence written just for us!
A cross-curricular exploration of The story of the First Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims, their voyage on the Mayflower, the Pilgrims' first year at Plymouth, the First Americans--Native American Indians; Kindergarten's Thanksgiving Feast
Coming soon: Christmas in HAWAII!
Practice shoe-tying, and jacket zipping at home. Remember to send a sweatshirt or jacket...the weather is getting cooler!
Learning to recite our name, address and phone number for SAFETY's SAKE!
Art/Spanish/Music/PE/Computer Lab
Art: Teepees in Perspective: The size of objects in a picture appear smaller as they move farther away from the viewer.
Computer Lab: Our 7th Grade Buddies are doing an excellent job assisting our class, exploring new websites in the Kindergarten Programs Folder
Reminders
No school Monday, December 8--Remember to attend Mass to celebrate The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
COMING SOON! KINDERGARTEN DECEMBER SERVICE PROJECT: We will begin collecting new and GENTLY used newborn and infant clothing (size newborn to 6 or 9 months), cans of powdered baby formula, diapers, diaper wipes, or blankets in honor of Baby Jesus. These will be donated to BirthRight of Springfield through St. Agnes Cathedral Parish and Sister Barbara.
If you have Christmas wrap from years past and are looking for a good use for it, or would like to contribute tape for our wrapping center, please send it in sometime during the first week of December. Thank you!
I realize that economic times are really difficult right now, but if you can and are able to contribute any of these baby items to our service project, the items can be sent to school with your child beginning December 1st.
Thank you, in advance for your generosity. I know the little babies and their mommies will appreciate it, especially!
Useful websites for young children:
www.funbrain.com; www.starfall.com;
www.wacona.com (click on "Kindergarten Games" in the tree); www.pbskids.com; www.faithfirst.com