Read Across America

Thanks to all the families who came to read with us! Thank you to the PTO for the yummy popcorn!

Green Eggs and Ham

Book Orders Due Tomorrow!

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: HFYK6

Dear Families,

Reminder!  Book orders are due tomorrow!  

You can shop and submit your order online or return the printed order form with payment directly to me. No matter how you order, every purchase you make earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom.

The arrival of the book box is always a highlight-thanks for making it happen!

Happy reading,
Mrs. Rocky

Ordering online is fast and easy:

•  VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
•  ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code (top of this letter)
•  SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
•  All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!

Newsletter-Our Week In Review

February 26, 2015

Dear Families,

In preparation for Read Across America, the kindergartners have been busy this week learning about Dr. Seuss.  A number of favorite Dr. Seuss stories have been read including The Cat in the Hat , Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish, Blue Fish.  We have been doing a number of writing activities that go along with these stories such as telling about our favorite Dr. Seuss book and writing what we would do if Thing One and Thing Two got loose in our house.  Be sure to check out the student writing outside of your child’s kindergarten classroom. 

This week we introduced the star words, yes, no, & love.  Be on the look out for these words in the small books and work your child brings home.  We continue to review all words and assess through the year! Please continue to work on these words with your child.  We would all like your child to know all 54 star words by the end of the year.  If you are not sure of the list of star words, ask your child’s teacher or visit Thorson’s Kindergarten website. 

A special occasion is coming up at Thorson! We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday tomorrow!   On Friday, we will be participating in Read Across America.   Family members may come to their child’s classroom and read a book with a small group of students.  To learn more about it please visit  https://www.smore.com/assdu to see the flyer.  If you wish to come in and read, be sure to sign up  at  http://goo.gl/forms/3ZyTWVO96n (Planning purposes)

REMINDER:

 If you haven’t done so already, please return the Parent/Teacher conference form.

 Students need to say on the playground until the bell rings and a teacher comes to pick them up.  We have been noticing that students have been coming into the building early.   

 Take the time to practice zipping, tying, putting on winter gear with your child.   We want all our kindergartners to be independent with these skills!  

Thank you for all your continued support!

The Kindergarten Teachers

Animals Have Body Parts

In Science we are learning about how animals are alike and how animals are different.  We learned that all animals have body parts but some animals have different types of body parts.  We talked about how animals may have wings, fur, tails, claws, and fins.  To help us remember, we all learned a little song about how animals have body parts.  The students were given a task to think of their own animal and tell us what body part it may have.  Enjoy the videos of the kiddos sharing their knowledge!

Conferences

Dear Families,

Last Thursday students brought home conference sheets.  We need all of these to be returned (if you want a conference or not)

Speaking of conferences, so far this is only one evening to have conferences.  Since many of you would like a conference, I do not have enough slots for that evening.  I would love to schedule your child's conference sooner.  I would be available before school or after school (until 4pm).  I would also be able to meet with families while the students are at specials.

Please let me know if this is something that you are interested in.

Thank you so much,
Mrs. Rocky

Exchanging pennies for nickels

In math today we learned that five pennies is the same as one nickel. We played the penny exchange game. We has to roll a dice and take that many pennies. When we had five pennies we could trade for a nickel.  It was a fun game!

Go Noodle-Zumba

We try to move a lot in Kindergarten!  One of our favorite websites to visit is Go Noodle.  At Go Noodle we are able to pick from a number of activities to get the wiggles out.

One of our favorites is doing Zumba!  Here is a clip of our class doing some Zumba.  Enjoy!

Winter Carnival!

The Winter Carnival is quickly approaching.  We are in need of some donations to the classroom theme baskets.  If you are able to donate the following items (or money!) by March 2nd that would be great!

Dry Sand Art

Princess Items

Theme Basket – mixed bag – anything goes (Barbie, trucks, Transformers, etc).

More information can be found in the Thursday folder. Thursday Folder- Theme Baskets

Newsletter-Our Week In Review

February 19, 2015

Dear Parents,

In Guided Reading, the children have been reviewing the letters, Hh, Dd and Rr.  Children have been practicing writing the letters as well as identifying the sounds that they make.  Also in Guided Reading, students have been reviewing the star words, “big” and “blue”  Be on the look out for these words in the small books and work your child brings home.  We continue to review all words and assess through the year! Please continue to work on these words with your child.

Another skill your child worked on during the Guided Reading block was retelling.  By doing this, your child is practicing the reading strategy of summarizing.  To practice this skill your child listened to the trade book Alicia’s Happy Day.   It was about a little girl’s birthday and all the wishes her parents made for her.  In the story there were a lot of people who had special jobs.  Ask your kindergartner who Alicia ran into on her special day.

In math this week, students have been busy creating graphs, looking at tools for measurement, and looking at number grids.  With the number grid, students played a game where they needed to identify what number was covered up.  Many students had the strategy of looking at the number that was before it or after it to help them.  Please continue to work on one to one counting and correct number formation with your child.

Reminder:
NO SCHOOL tomorrow!  Teacher Professional Development Day

Upcoming Event
Next week Friday, February 27th is Read Across America Day!  Please visit the Thorson Thursday Folder for more information.

Thank you all for your continued support!

The Kindergarten Teachers

Wonderopolis- Wonder Of The Day

Each week we try to visit one of our favorite websites, Wonderopolis.  At this website we can learn lots of cool new things!  So far we have learned about flamingos and giraffes.  Before we watch the video and read the article, we think of wonders we have about the topic and write them down in our writing journals.  Even if we think we are experts in the topic, there is ALWAYS something we might not know.  For example: Why do giraffes have long tongues?  Why do giraffes have long necks?

If you have time, go and visit Wonderopolis!  It is a fun place to visit!

Happy Valentine's Day!

love and Friendship in Kindergarten!

Graphing Hearts

In math today we had to graph candy hearts!  It was a lot of fun to find which color had the most and which color had the least.

Newsletter- Our Week In Review

February 12, 2015
Dear Parents,

In Guided Reading, the children have been working on the letters Dd and Rr.  Children have been practicing writing the letters as well as identifying the sounds that they make.  Also in Guided Reading, students have been introduced to the star words, “me” and “where”.  Be on the look out for these words in the small books and work your child brings home.  We continue to review all words and assess through the year! Please continue to work on these words with your child.

Another skill your child worked on during the Guided Reading block was identifying the main idea and details in a story.  By doing this, your child is practicing the reading strategy of summarizing.  To practice this skill your child listened to the big book Bus Stops.  Ask your child what their favorite part was!

On Monday the kindergarten students celebrated 100 day!  It was so fun to do special 100 day activities.  We read about 100, counted to 100, and made a special 100 day hat.  Ask your kindergartner what their favorite part of the celebration was!

Upcoming Event: Valentines Day!
All valentines should be at school ready for our classroom parties on Friday, February 13th, 2015.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let your child’s teacher know.
If you are donating an item for the classroom party, please be sure that it is here on Friday.  Thank you for your generous donation!

Reminders:
Please be sure that your child’s cold weather gear has their FIRST and LAST name on the tags.  There tends to be a mix-up at recess time.

Please continue to send healthy snacks that are easily opened for snack time.

Thank you for your continued support!

The Kindergarten Teachers

MAP test results

Yesterday, your child brought home their results from the MAPS tests that they took in January.  Here is some information that I pulled that might help you answer any questions you might have about the test itself.

What is NWEA?
Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is a not-for-profit organization committed to helping school districts throughout the nation improve learning for all students. NWEA partners with more than 2,200 school districts representing more than three million students. As a result of NWEA tests, educators can make informed decisions to promote your child’s academic growth.

Where can I learn more about NWEA?
Visit the website www.nwea.org


What is the MAP NWEA Assessment?
MAP— NWEA’s computerized adaptive tests are called Measure of Academic Progress, or MAP. When taking a MAP test, the difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers all the previous questions. As the student answers correctly, questions become more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier. In an optimal test, a student answers approximately half the items correctly and half incorrectly. The final score is an estimate of the student’s achievement level.

What is RIT?
Tests developed by NWEA use a scale called RIT to measure student achievement and growth. RIT stands for Rasch UnIT, which is a measurement scale developed to simplify the interpretation of test scores. The RIT score relates directly to the curriculum scale in each subject area. It is an equal-interval scale, like feet and inches, so scores can be added together to calculate accurate class or school averages.

What is the average score?
RIT scores range from about 140 to 300. Students typically start at the 140 to 190 level in the third grade and progress to the 240 to 300 level by high school. RIT scores make it possible to follow a student’s educational growth from year to year.

What subjects does MAP assess?
We are using the MAP tests in the area of  mathematics and  reading assessments.

How long does it take to complete a test?
Although the tests are not timed, it usually takes students about one hour to complete each test.

Making valentines!

We are made valentines for our high school friends. It was fun to make cards for the big kids! We will be getting valentines from the high schoolers too! We're so excited!

Math game

Playing domino concentration with some partners. It was a fun way to practice number recognition/identification. 

Using standard and nonstandard ways to measure

Friends worked together to measure different objects in our classrooms. Students compared their answers to their friends' answers.