I don’t have pictures of everything, but I thought I’d let you know what we are up to!

First of all, the kids are super excited. Their caterpillars have turned into a chrysalis and we are now in the process of waiting (patiently) for them to turn into a butterfly! It has been a super fun process to walk through the stages of metamorphosis (so far!).

In English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR), we are learning long vowel sounds (long a and i, and all about that magical E). We have 4 sight words this week: out, know, take, and same. We are also learning about Text Features in informational text along with vocabulary from the books that we are reading. These books are Plants Feed Me and Planting Seeds. I read various books all week (I LOVE reading aloud and it’s so important for their reading development). Today we read one of my favorites: Miss Rumphius.

Every day we have some specific routines. In the morning, the kids do a page of morning work then they come to the rug. At the rug we do a lot of important things. We have a morning message; we do calendar time; count to 100 by 1’s and 10’s (5’s soon); read our sight words; go through letter cards saying the letter, picture, and sound(s); then we do a program that teaches something called phonological awareness. This is important pre-reading skills such as rhyming, saying the beginning sounds and ending sounds, breaking words apart, putting words together, etc. If we have time (we do most mornings), I read a book.

Every day we also do literacy centers (with some art and Legos/blocks for fun) and math centers. During these centers, I work with individuals or small groups on specific skills that need extra instruction and practice. I’m currently in the middle of doing a little assessing so we will pick back up tomorrow. I just assessed what letters and sounds that they know. We have some more assessments coming up as we are entering the final few months of the year.

I wanted to explain the behavior chart that comes in their folders. We use a clip chart system for behavior. They begin on “ready to learn” every day. They can move up or down based on behavior. When they move up, they have the opportunity to get something from the treasure box. If they move down, then they have a warning (think about it), a consequence (teacher choice), or I contact you, their parent (parent contact). I watch for behavior above and beyond so that I can move them up! That’s always my goal.

Lastly, a book comes home with your kiddo on Mondays. It’s important to read and re-read this book through the week. It may seem boring to do that, but it’s so important for your child’s reading fluency. It’s important for you to read to them as well! The more reading, the better. All around.

I’m always here if you have any questions or concerns! I will do my best to update the blog, but it won’t be every week!