Welcome to Kindergarten! Thanks for visiting our site!
Please feel free to contact me at any time using my school e-mail address, MHiggins@lansingburgh.org or by dialing the school directly at (518) 233-6823.
FRIDAY FOOTNOTES NEWSLETTER - May 11, 2012
THIS WEEK…
Kindergarten classes continued to learn more about folk and fairy tales with the addition of extra stories shared by teachers throughout the week. Students are now able to compare and contrast between the stories, some of which feature similar characters (such as a fox or a wolf). Also, students now have a recognition and appreciation for a large quantity of classic childrens’ tales! Please be sure to ask your child about his or her favorite folk/fairy tale and ask him/her to retell the story, which will help develop summarization and retell skills. During shared reading, all classes were introduced to two different poem/song combinations. The first, “I’m Gonna Miss You”, was a song about how, after having so much fun together, a child will miss a special person who was leaving. “A Honking Jam” featured a completely different theme and brightened our moods with a honk-filled song about a traffic jam! Each kindergarten student reinforced addition and subtraction skills this week through a variety of different math stations. Math stations provide opportunities for students to work on skills in many different ways alongside peers. Not only does this setup augment independent learning skills, but also provides each student with the chance to serve as a teacher to another student who may have difficulty comprehending the material. Social skills such sharing, negotiating, and communication are also heightened through each activity as many require students to share space or even materials. To support developing addition and subtraction skills, students rotated among several groups. Kindergartners used bingo dabbers for the purpose of completing addition and subtraction sentences, built towers of two-color Unifix cubes to write the addends in a math sentence, and rolled dice to practice either “adding one” or “subtracting one” to each number that appeared. Kindergarten teachers also guided groups of students through addition and subtraction story problems (word problems) to give students experience with these operations in the real world. Using the SmartBoard, students navigated each story problem and completed the corresponding addition/subtraction sentence (ex: “If I have 2 balloons and my friend gives me 2 more, how many balloons do I have in all?”). Once again, students used a number line to show movement either upward (addition) or downward (subtraction) and wrote down the addends and final sum/difference used in the story problem. Creating story problems at home is an easy and quick activity to use with your child, one which will force him/her to think about the many ways addition and subtraction are used at home. RPES Kindergarten teachers want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day this weekend to the many important women in our students’ lives. Thank you for everything you do to support your child’s education!
ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT…
Talking with your child about what happened at school this week is a great way to enhance their speaking and listening skills. It also helps maintain the connection between home and school! This week, ask him or her about:
- Folk and fairy tales
- His/her work at Math Stations
- “I’m Gonna Miss You” and “A Honking Jam”
PLEASE PRACTICE AT HOME….
- Addition and subtraction facts
- Sight words
- Printing first and last names correctly
- Blending individual sounds to create words (ex: m-a-d, d-o-t, z-i-p)
IMPORTANT NOTES…
- If you are participating in the Books-In-A-Bag program, please return last week’s books on Monday, May 14th, with your child. S/he cannot take home a new bag until the old set of books has been returned. Thank you for your cooperation!
- Please review the back of this page for “fun facts” in math to review at home. Feel free to use any manipulative item (crayons, straws, spoons, etc.) or even flashcards to teach these facts!
- Scholastic book orders for the month of May will be due on Thursday, May 17th.
- There will be no school for students on Friday, May 18th to observe a Superintendent’s Conference Day.
* To find out more information about the district, please visit www.lansingburgh.org
FRIDAY FOOTNOTES NEWSLETTER - May 11, 2012
THIS WEEK…
Kindergarten classes continued to learn more about folk and fairy tales with the addition of extra stories shared by teachers throughout the week. Students are now able to compare and contrast between the stories, some of which feature similar characters (such as a fox or a wolf). Also, students now have a recognition and appreciation for a large quantity of classic childrens’ tales! Please be sure to ask your child about his or her favorite folk/fairy tale and ask him/her to retell the story, which will help develop summarization and retell skills. During shared reading, all classes were introduced to two different poem/song combinations. The first, “I’m Gonna Miss You”, was a song about how, after having so much fun together, a child will miss a special person who was leaving. “A Honking Jam” featured a completely different theme and brightened our moods with a honk-filled song about a traffic jam! Each kindergarten student reinforced addition and subtraction skills this week through a variety of different math stations. Math stations provide opportunities for students to work on skills in many different ways alongside peers. Not only does this setup augment independent learning skills, but also provides each student with the chance to serve as a teacher to another student who may have difficulty comprehending the material. Social skills such sharing, negotiating, and communication are also heightened through each activity as many require students to share space or even materials. To support developing addition and subtraction skills, students rotated among several groups. Kindergartners used bingo dabbers for the purpose of completing addition and subtraction sentences, built towers of two-color Unifix cubes to write the addends in a math sentence, and rolled dice to practice either “adding one” or “subtracting one” to each number that appeared. Kindergarten teachers also guided groups of students through addition and subtraction story problems (word problems) to give students experience with these operations in the real world. Using the SmartBoard, students navigated each story problem and completed the corresponding addition/subtraction sentence (ex: “If I have 2 balloons and my friend gives me 2 more, how many balloons do I have in all?”). Once again, students used a number line to show movement either upward (addition) or downward (subtraction) and wrote down the addends and final sum/difference used in the story problem. Creating story problems at home is an easy and quick activity to use with your child, one which will force him/her to think about the many ways addition and subtraction are used at home. RPES Kindergarten teachers want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day this weekend to the many important women in our students’ lives. Thank you for everything you do to support your child’s education!
ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT…
Talking with your child about what happened at school this week is a great way to enhance their speaking and listening skills. It also helps maintain the connection between home and school! This week, ask him or her about:
- Folk and fairy tales
- His/her work at Math Stations
- “I’m Gonna Miss You” and “A Honking Jam”
PLEASE PRACTICE AT HOME….
- Addition and subtraction facts
- Sight words
- Printing first and last names correctly
- Blending individual sounds to create words (ex: m-a-d, d-o-t, z-i-p)
IMPORTANT NOTES…
- If you are participating in the Books-In-A-Bag program, please return last week’s books on Monday, May 14th, with your child. S/he cannot take home a new bag until the old set of books has been returned. Thank you for your cooperation!
- Please review the back of this page for “fun facts” in math to review at home. Feel free to use any manipulative item (crayons, straws, spoons, etc.) or even flashcards to teach these facts!
- Scholastic book orders for the month of May will be due on Thursday, May 17th.
- There will be no school for students on Friday, May 18th to observe a Superintendent’s Conference Day.
* To find out more information about the district, please visit www.lansingburgh.org
