Johnson Elementary School
Kindergarten
Ms. Purdin's page
October 2009
Dear Families, We are already a month into our Kindergarten year! These first weeks have been a time of learning classroom routines and expectations, as well as getting to know each other more deeply.
Our "Person of the Day" project finished up this week, and the children did a great job presenting and asking questions of one another. I have enjoyed getting know a little bit more about your children and their wide range of interests. After Person of the Day, for the rest of the year we have a "Lucky Duck" each day. Ask your child what the duties of the Lucky Duck are!
We have been savoring the good weather - while it lasts - at recess and when playing our class games in the "backyard." Favorites include: Stuck in the Mud, "What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf," "Farmer Brown" and of course, Red Light, Green Light. (Some just never go out of style!)
During the month of September in math, we worked on shapes, colors, left and right, and lots of different ways of sorting. We have been sorting many things - people, teddy bear counters, attribute blocks, buttons, marker caps. The children have been getting lots of hands on practice!
In literacy, we are working on phonemic awareness and doing many rhyming activities. During lesson time, we have been performing shared reading of our poems and songs. Many of these selections are ones I have found in my travels or old favorites. They have simple rhymes or tunes that are pleasurable and fun to learn. I recently sent home your child's "Orange Is A Carrot" book. I hope they read it to you! Soon a collection of songs and poems from the first part of the year will be coming home. The children have practiced reading them at school. I encourage you to have them "teach" you their favorites!
We have begun our Fundations program. This is how we introduce letters and sounds. Fundations begins with teaching the lowercase letters. The Home Connection packets have information on the specific way we will be teaching how to write each letter.
Also, in September, we began our apple unit. Thank you for the wonderful assortment of apples. We will soon be making our applesauce!
October Themes:
In closing, thank you for all the donations that are coming in! I appreciate all your generosity!
Happy Fall,
Ms. Purdin :)
September 2009
Dear Families,
Welcome to Kindergarten and the Johnson School. Again this year I’ve decided to utilize this page as a resource for you to know what’s happening in our classroom each month. This will be in lieu of our past “Kindergarten Connections” monthly newsletter, to make it more accessible for you and in an effort to “go green.”
As I mentioned in my introductory letter, September is a time to build relationships, learn routines and understand expectations. I am implementing the “Responsive Classroom” approach this year and even though it’s been a short time, I am loving it already. It makes you stop and take things slow, break directions down and give children ample time to process and show what they know. It also adds lots of fun with our Morning Meetings and closing circles.
Morning meeting consists of a greeting, a share, a game/activity, and a Morning Message. It takes between 15-20 minutes, and it sets the tone for the rest of the day. No matter what happened on the way to school, everyone can come to Morning Meeting with a clean slate, which is a great thing. We are working on our “meeting manners” and how our bodies should look when we are actively listening.
This past week we have been working on our class rules. This is a multi-step process that goes over several days. Your children came up with wonderful hopes and dreams for their Kindergarten year, and brainstormed their ideas for rules. Afterwards, with some guidance from me, we categorized the rules and then created a few “global” rules we can all follow.
We are slowly opening up centers, working on learning how to take care of materials, while working with our friends in a cooperative and kind manner. Each day when a new center is opened, the children are excited and waiting with anticipation.
I want to mention homework. In my class there is no nightly “formal” homework. Each week you will receive a packet from our phonics program, Fundations, with suggestions for activities to enrich your child’s experience (This will begin at the end of September). I would recommend doing these activities, they are fun and most likely, things you already do at home. At the beginning of each chapter in math a family letter will come home to let you know what is being studied and some suggestions for home activities. I will also at different points during the school year have “family projects” for you and your child to do at home. They are a lot fun! Beyond that, I encourage you to read, read, read to your children, have enriching family experiences and enjoy this special time. They are only five once.
In closing, I want to mention our amazing teacher’s aide, Robyn Howard, who I have the pleasure of working again with this year. Robyn has tons of early childhood education experience. It is her fourth year at the Johnson School and she’s looking forward to a great year!
Thank you for all that you do for our classroom and your children! Thank you also for making sure that home/school folder gets in the backpack each day. If you need anything don’t hesitate to email me at bpurdin@johnsonschool.org. It is great to work in a community so dedicated to education.
See you in October!
Ms. Purdin :)