Mrs. Fudge's Kindergarten Class

Coming Up

Dear Parents, 

 In science we will be studying motion which is what happens when something changes its position. Here are some ideas you can discuss with your child to help him increase his understanding.  Have Fun!

 

 

 

 All motion takes time to happen.  Some things change position in very little time.  When we throw balls to each other, it gets from one to another in only a few seconds.  Some things move so fast you can’t even see them move.  Other things move so slowly that they seem to be sitting still.

Motion can be observed and measured.  Pointing out objects and how they move can be an amazing chance to bring daily activities to life.  Clouds do not seem to move very fast, but they do move.  The wings of a hummingbird in flight move so fast that all you see is a blur. 

Even parts of Earth’s surface move very slowly.  You would have to measure very carefully to see how much they move in an entire year.  That is what scientists do to find out more about how Earth moves and changes. 

A train is a very large object.  Making it move or stopping its movement takes a lot of force.  You cannot move a train.  But, when you move an object, you use the same forces it would take to move the train.  You pull or push.  Sometimes this causes motion, sometimes it does not.  You could pull or push on a train that was not moving, but it still wouldn’t move.

Here are some activities you and your kindergartener can do together:

 

1)   Sort the toys in your house by how they move- roll, push pull, motionless, or if they go fast, slow, round & round, & zigzag

2)   Have your child create patterns of movement & repeat them while driving around running errands- such as clap, snap, clap, snap or touch head, wiggle toes, wiggle toes, touch head, wiggle toes, etc.

 

 

Visit these websites for excellent online activities.

Great online exploration of pushes & pulls

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/pushes_pulls.shtml

 

Great online activity for movement

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement.shtml

 

Go to this site to get a good explanation of force using toys.

http://www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/toy_forces/index.htm

 

November

We have completed 60 days of school.  We have many interesting discussions.  Your children are asking good questions about what they see around them.  (Fortunately they are also learning to be patient and considerate so that they don't demand an immediate response. It is good for them to have a chance to think things through awhile instead of getting an immediate answer.)

Here are some questions you can ask your children:

How many coins are in your pocket?  How many cents?

Shapes can be 2D or 3D.  What is a triangle? What is a sphere?  A cube?

What different ways can you sort your Halloween candy?

What 3D shapes do you find in your candy?  Spheres (gumballs), rectangular prisms (snickers), cones (chocolate kisses)

What number comes before (or after) 8?

What letter comes before N?

Happy November!

Mrs. Fudge

38 Days of School

Here are some questions you can ask your child.  They will help you understand what we have been learning at school.:

What is a penny?

What is a nickel?

What is a ten grid?

 In kindergarten we use pictures to help give meaning to our writing.  At this stage in kindergarten some children will be using pictures with a few letters scattered here or there.  Others draw and then write about their picture by:

1. Saying their sentence;
2. then counting the words in their sentence and drawing blanks for every word they hear. 
3. They can then fill in the blanks with sounds they know--usually the beginning sound of the word. 

It is a joy to watch their progress!

Coming up:

Saturday  Oct 3  Chalker Beautification Day.  Come help!

Picture Day--  Tuesday, October 6

Early Release-- Wednesday, October 21 at 12:20

Happy October!

Beginning Week 7

Dear Parents,

Just some questions to discuss with your kindergartner:

What did the fireman say you should do if your clothes catch fire?

What words in our home start with a, b, or c?

What are these words?   the,  I,  am,  can

How many pennies is a nickel worth?

Guided Reading books will be coming home this week.  We will need these books to come back the next day, so after reading them with your child put them back in your backpack.

Here are some suggestions for reading a new book together with your child:

 

 

1.     Before you begin to read, do a “book walk”.  Look through the pages together and discuss the pictures.  Try to predict what the book might be about.

2.     Read the book.  Do whatever feels most comfortable.  You may read to your child while you point to the words.  You may read together while you or your child points to the words, or your child may read to you.

3.     Read the book a second time.  See if you can notice something new, or use this reading time to see how many things you can remember from the book.  This time your child may attempt to read alone.

4.     When you read a new book with your child, choose one of these strategies to work on:

·        Ask questions:  What does this story remind you of? Who did that?  What was the problem?  How did they feel?

·        Look for special words or letters that repeat.

·        Identify the characters and setting of the story.

·        Discuss whether or not you liked the story.  What was your favorite part?

·        See how many details you can remember when you retell the story.

 

Coming up--Week 5

We hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day weekend.  I know I will!

It is always nice to meet with parents.  Our Open House on Tuesday was a great start to getting to know your child as a student, and I am looking forward to meeting with you next week at your scheduled parent-teacher conference. 

Our Kindergarten t-shirt orders have been collected, but the order won't go in until Tuesday afternoon, so if you still want a t-shirt you have a little more time.

Here are some questions to ask your child:

• What is tomorrow?
• Why do people work?
• What rhymes with snake?
• If I say /t/   /oy/, what is the word?  (this is segmentation--breaking words into chunks)
• What can you count in our car?  (or kitchen...)

Did your child sing our rhyming song, "Down By the Bay?" 

We're  becoming good rhymers!

Mrs. Fudge

Week 3

Dear Parents,

Our class is making progress.  The children are able to sit and listen for longer periods of time, most can walk the halls without being reminded not to touch the walls (or their neighbor). And this morning, they stayed so busy they didn't even notice that they had missed outside recess time (because of the rain)!

Here are some questions to ask your children:

• How many are in our family (that live with you)
• What rhymes with pat?  What rhymes with can?
• What day comes after Tuesday?  Friday? ...

Our Parent Open House is Tuesday, the first day of September.  We will meet at 6:30 in our classroom.  Here are a few things we will be discussing:

• Report Cards and G-KIDS
• How to stay on top of your child's academics
• How to help your child become a better student

Looking forward the seeing you!

Mrs. Fudge

Day 10!

 

Dear Parents,  Ten important days have passed.  Your child has learned a lot about our classroom routines.  Establishing rules and routines will help the rest of the year go more smoothly.  We will be able to spend more time focusing on academics. 

The students have helped us establish three rules for making our kindergarten a great place to be:

1. Be nice
2. Be safe
3. Learn

 To stimulate thinking, we often ask essential questions.  Try some of these with your child:

• Is today the first day of school?
• What number always comes after ____? 
• What does a square (or triangle,...) look like?

Also, we have read several versions of The Three Bears.  Ask you child to tell it to you.  Have fun!

Your child's rest towel is coming home today so that it can be washed.  Please have it ready to come back to school on Monday.

First Week of School

Hello, Parents

This first week is over.  We are adjusting quickly to one another and to our routines.  Kindergarten is such a fun place to be!

We are beginning to figure out what a kindergartner does.  There are so many things to remember:

·        small voices inside, tall voices outside

·        in the hallway, we walk on the second tile

·        how to unpack our backpacks...

From now on, these parent notes will be posted as needed on our school website in my BLOG.  If you don’t have internet access, let me know and I can make a copy to send home.

When school work comes home, ask your child to tell you about it.  We don’t use copied work as often as they do in the upper grades, so sometimes it is unclear what the objective of the work is.  Also, if I have “graded” it, you will see checkmarks, or smiley faces, or stickers or stamps. 

I check to see if the student has done the assignment correctly, carefully and has included his name.

·        3 checks means the student accomplished all three,

·        2 checks means the student only did two of the three goals,

·        1 check means the student only accomplished one, and

·        a Zero means no attempt was made

 

 

 

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Fudge and Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Nathan

P.S.  If your child has complained about being cold in the cafeteria, have them bring a jacket to school—with their name printed on it somewhere:)

First Day

Well, the first day of 180 is complete.  They were starting to act tired before lunch at noon.  The day was spent mostly getting familiar with each other and our routines.  The difference between a first day kindergartner and a 180th day kindergartner is a wonderful thing.  It will be fun to be part of the process.

If you didn't get an email from Walgreens with access to first-day photos, let me know.  I may have miss-read your email address.  (Josephine.Fudge@cobbk12.org)

It's Kindergarten Time!

Welcome to a wonderful time in your child's educational experience.  What's not to love about Kindergarten?  Playtime, recess, snack, friends, lunch, discovering books,...  I could go on and on.

Our Sneak a Peek is Thursday from 3 pm through 5 pm.  Come visit our classroom with your child.  You'll get to see where he or she will be sitting, putting their backpacks, and keeping their snacks.  Our walls are still pretty bare.  We call it being "under construction", because we're waiting for your child to help with our interior design.

A list was sent home for school supplies.  Bringing in your child's supplies to Sneak a Peek will save back pack space for the first day of school.  Here's the list:

 

1 “Primary” composition book

2 plain, solid colored pocket folders

2 boxes washable markers  (thin and wide markers)

2 boxes crayons* (16 or 24 count)

15 small glue sticks                    

1 small bottle of white glue

1 pair scissors for kids (not “safety” scissors)

2 large boxes kleenex

3 rolls of paper towels

1 box Crayola colored pencils

1 bottle liquid soap, 1 bottle sanitizer

1 box baby wipes

zip loc bags (quart size—boys; gallon size—girls)

1 rest towel

We won’t be using the white binder and sharpies so you may return them to the store or keep them for your use at home.

 

Thank you and we look forward to meeting you!