June 17th: HAPPY SUMMER!

Dear Families,

Happy last day of school! Thank you for entrusting me with your
children this year and for all of your support at home. We have
had a wonderful year!

I'd like to thank your children, as well. Thank you for a fun year.
We have made many great memories and have learned so much
together this year. I have really enjoyed watching you grow to be
such great readers, writers, thinkers and friends. I am so proud
of you all!
Wishing you all a safe, fun, and happy summer vacation!
Mrs. Lynch

A few highlights from the past few weeks in Kindergarten:

Four Winds

I'd like to extend a huge thank you to Betsy Brown and Karen Parker for being the Four Winds leaders for Kindergarten this year. We have all had so much fun learning and exploring with you. Our final Four Winds lesson was so much fun! We learned about the compass rose and how to use a compass. We even got to apply our compass skills to solve riddles around the school yard.

Button Bay

On Thursday, June 13th the whole school celebrated the end of the school
year with a field trip to Button Bay. We hiked to the nature center where
we saw different species of animals that live in Vermont and then walked
out to the point to see Lake Champlain. Afterwards, we participated in a
sing-along with Ms. Pirog, Ms. Lindsey and Mrs. Tatlock. After a brief
lunch and recess on the playground, we participated in field games
such as: tug-o-war, dress-up relay, sponge relay and hula huts. Then, we
spent some time swimming in the pool. The day was filled with adventure
and lots of fun.

Summer Reading Challenge

I have sent home a summer reading challenge for students. If they choose to participate, every time they read a book (or someone reads a book to them) this summer, they should color in a book on the record sheet. Students who return a signed reading challenge record sheet to me in the fall will receive a prize. 10-20 books will receive a small prize. 50-100 books will receive a larger prize. If students should read beyond 100 books, there will also be a larger prize. Happy reading!

May 10, 2019

It's a busy time of year in Kindergarten!  Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our fairy tale and folk tale plays before April vacation.  We appreciate your support and the delicious treats that you provided for our cast party afterwards.  The children did a wonderful job on the stage and enjoyed the afternoon.  I am in the process of editing video from the performances and will share a private link to families soon.  Until then, here are some pictures from the performances:

Also, thank you to all of you who took time out of your busy spring schedules to attend our Monkton music concert on Wednesday night.  I am very proud of the hard work your children put into learning their song for their performance.  I hope families were able to view student artwork in the Mt. Abraham gymnasium.  The artwork from our Kindergarten students was impressive!  We had a fun time walking through the gallery and participating in an African Dance and Drumming workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

Last month, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Brown visited our classroom to teach us a Four Winds lesson about clouds.  We learned about cumulus, cirrus and cumulonimbus clouds.  It was fun watching a puppet show, sorting pictures of clouds, and creating our own pictures of clouds.

On Wednesday, May 15th, our class will be hosting the All School Meeting at 8:05 AM in the school cafeteria.  Students will be leading the greeting, singing one of our favorite songs, and sharing some of our recent learning.  All are welcome to attend.

Curriculum Update

Math - Over the past few weeks, we have learned about two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes; explored teen numbers with a variety of activities that provided us opportunities to practice counting by tens and ones; and practiced making number combinations to 5, 6, and 7.  This week we will continue our work with combinations to 5 and teen numbers.

Literacy

• Fundations - Over the past few weeks we have been learning about the digraphs wh, ch, sh, th, and ck.  
• Reading - During reading time, students are actively participating in daily guided reading groups.  Each group works with either me or Ms. Carter to learn a variety of reading strategies and to discuss texts.  When attempting to read unfamiliar words, many students are working on looking closely at words to find parts that they know and blending or "crashing" letter sounds from left to right.  
• Writing - Students continue to write personal narratives while practicing saying words slowly and using details in their pictures and words.  In addition to personal narratives, students have also been writing opinion pieces about some of our read aloud texts. 
• Science - With the arrival of spring, we have been learning about what happens in springtime and life cycles of various animals and insects.  Soon, we will begin to explore food webs, food chains and the transfer of energy throughout the food chain.

Additional Information

Extra Clothing and Shoes - Please consider sending in spare clothes and indoor shoes for students to change into.  Our playground can be very wet and muddy throughout the spring.  Students should continue to bring boots to wear at recess time until the school grounds dry up.

Sneakers - Recently, children have been excited to wear shoes with laces to school.  If families wouldn't mind spending time at home practicing tying shoes with your children, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here are a few online videos that may assist with their practice.

Tying Shoe Laces Song
Easy Shoe Tie Method
Two Overhand Knot Method

Book Orders - If anyone is interested in placing an order for books through Scholastic, please visit our classroom page online by clicking this link and use our class code HDK8K by Friday, May 24th.

Parent/Caregiver Survey - I hope you will consider participating in our 2019 School Climate Survey which went home in the school newsletter on Friday.  Results of this survey will be used to assist us in setting goals towards improving the educational experiences of our students.  Your participation in this survey is greatly appreciated and will be kept confidential.  If you haven't already filled out the survey, here is the link.  Thank you in advance for your participation. 

March 15, 2019

Last week in Kindergarten, we began an integrated literacy unit on fairy tales and folktales.  During read aloud each day, we have been sharing different versions of fairy tales and folktales and discussing character traits and story elements (setting, characters, problem and solution).  Over the next few weeks, we will be re-telling stories and participating in a variety of literacy, math, and STEM challenges connected to the different titles we read together. 

At the conclusion of our unit, students will be performing a few fairy tales and folktales for families and friends on the stage in the gym.  Please mark your calendars for 1:15 on Thursday, April 18th.  All are invited to attend and there will be a small cast party after the performance for Kindergarten students and their families.

The MCS Read-A-Thon continues throughout the rest of March.  Please have your child bring their yellow reading log to school each Monday so that minutes can be calculated and used to move our cat game piece along the read-a-thon game board.  If your child needs a sponsor, please let me know.  We have a few volunteers who would like to sponsor students with their reading.  Our goal is to have 100% participation from students each week.  This week we had 80%.  Thank you to all who have participated so far.

Please note: Kindergarten minutes can be times that they spend reading their red books (or other books) to you, as well as minutes you read aloud to them.

Curriculum Update

Math - This week, we will begin a new math unit on two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.  During this unit, students will examine, identify, compare, and sort two and three-dimensional shapes.  The names of the shapes we will be working with are: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus, sphere, cylinder, cube, cone and pyramid.

Literacy

• Fundations - Over the past few weeks we have been practicing placing letters in alphabetical order, and segmenting and writing CVC words.  
• Reading - During reading time, students are actively participating in daily guided reading groups.  Each group works with either me or Ms. Carter to learn a variety of reading strategies and to discuss texts.  I sent home the last of our red sight word books this week.  All students would benefit from practicing their reading at home each night.
• Writing - Students continue to write personal narratives while practicing saying words slowly and using details in their pictures and words.  In addition to personal narratives, students have also been writing opinion pieces about some of the fairy tales and folktales we have been reading. 
• Sight Words - During literacy time, students have been practicing reading and writing sight words.  Please click here for a list of words to practice at home.  
• Science - We recently began a new science unit on force and motion that focuses on pushes and pulls.  We have learned how machines do work for us, have explored how changing the strength and direction of a wrecking ball's push could knock down a wall without damaging houses nearby, and tested different ways to knock down cups while bowling in the classroom.  These activities have been of great interest to the students.

Additional Information

Extra Clothing and Shoes - Please consider sending in spare clothes and indoor shoes for students to change into.  Also, our playground can be very wet and muddy throughout the spring.  Students should continue to bring snow pants and boots to wear at recess time until the school grounds dry up.

Sneakers - Recently, children have been excited to wear shoes with laces to school.  If families wouldn't mind spending time at home practicing tying shoes with your children, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here are a few online videos that may assist with their practice.

Tying Shoe Laces Song
Easy Shoe Tie Method 
Two Overhand Knot Method

Recyclables Needed - We are looking for some clean recyclables to use in the classroom for a variety of upcoming projects.  If you have any clean cardboard, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, we will gladly take them off your hands.

Book Orders - If anyone is interested in placing an order for books through Scholastic, please visit our classroom page online by clicking this link and use our class code HDK8K or send in paper orders to school with checks made payable to Scholastic by Friday, April 5th. 

Friendship February

February, is a time when we make a special focus on friendship in Kindergarten. Throughout this month we will be reading books about friendship, using our Kelso's choices to solve small problems with our classmates, and making extra efforts to show respect and kindness towards others. One way we will be showing kindness towards each other is by making special friendship cards for each of our classmates explaining how they are good friends.  At the end of the month, each child will have an envelope filled with special messages from their classmates

Next week, we will be celebrating the 100th day of school with a variety of activities.  Students are invited to dress like they are 100 years old, should they choose to participate.  I will send a reminder home as soon as the date of our 100th day is confirmed school-wide.

Thursday, February 14th is Valentine's Day.  We will not be celebrating "Valentine's Day" with an exchange of Valentines and a party but will instead be spending time doing activities that focus on friendship and cooperation.  We will also share a special "friendship snack" in the afternoon.  I understand how much many children enjoy this holiday, so, if your child would like to make or bring in a Valentine for their classmates, I will give them an opportunity to share them with their friends.  I do ask that anyone who chooses to bring Valentine's for their classmates please be sure to bring one for all of their classmates.  Students in our class are: Samantha, Carsyn, Hadley, Ian, Ezra, Braun, Emmett, Ava, Colton and Camille.

Thank you to Betsy Brown and Karen Parker for coming to visit the Kindergarten last week to teach us about air during our recent Four Winds lesson.  During this visit, students participated in a variety of activities that helped them explore air and were given the opportunity to design and test parachutes.

Curriculum Update

Math - We have recently begun a new unit in math which focuses on solving addition and subtraction problems, computing with pennies and nickels, and measuring length using non-standard units.  We will also continue to practice counting forward and backward between 0 and 50, starting with any number in that range.  This week, we built a number line 0 to 10 which we have used to: determine missing numerals in a sequence, practice putting numerals in correct order and practice using positional language (before and after) to describe the relationships among numbers.

Literacy

• Fundations - This week we have been practicing uppercase and lowercase letter formation of the alphabet and writing and reading CVC words such as: cat, mop, red, win, mud, etc.
• Reading - During reading time, students continue to practice reading sight word books using early reading strategies.  We practice tracking print with our index finger, look for words we know, and use pictures and initial letter sounds to solve unknown words.  Students bring home red sight word books each week to keep.  All students would benefit from practicing their reading at home each night.
• Writing - Students continue to write personal narratives while practicing saying words slowly and using details in their pictures and words.  Last week, students wrote their first informational text about penguins.
• Sight Words - During literacy time, students have been practicing reading and writing the words: a, and, an, at, am, can, I, is, like, my, on, the, see, to, look, he, she, it, we, be, do, are, go, and this.
• Science - We are wrapping up our unit on hibernation, migration and adaptation this week.  We have read several books about how animals prepare for winter and watched a few science videos to support learning on this topic.  Next week we will begin a new unit on pushes and pulls.

Additional Information

Parent Conferences - Spring conferences will be scheduled in early March, prior to March 8th.  I will be sending home a letter soon offering a variety of dates and times for you to choose from to meet with me.  I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's academic and behavioral progress this year. 

Extra Clothing and Shoes - Please consider sending in new spare clothes and indoor shoes for students to change into.

Recyclables Needed - We are looking for some clean recyclables to use in the classroom for a variety of upcoming projects.  If you have any cardboard, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, we would gladly take them.

Book Orders - If anyone is interested in placing an order for books through Scholastic, please visit our classroom page online by clicking this link and use our class code HDK8K or send in paper orders to school with checks made payable to Scholastic by Friday, March 1st.