Reading Super Powers!

You may be hearing your student say they are using their "Super Powers" while they are reading at home!  We are learning many different strategies during our Readers Workshop time that will equip your student to read and decipher new words and books when they are stuck.  Here is a quick look at the different strategies we are learning...

• Stretchy Snake- Stretch the word out slowly and put the sounds back together again.
• Lips the Fish- Get your lips ready with the first sounds of a word.
• Eagle Eye- Look at the pictures for clues to figure out a word.
• Peekin' Poodle- Look at the picture and words.  Does it look/sound right?  Does it make sense?
• Flippy Dolphin- Flip the vowel sound if the word doesn't make sense.
• Chunky Monkey- Look for a part of a word that you know.  (s+and = sand)
• Skippy Frog- Skip a word you don't know, and come back to it after reading the rest.
• Helpful Kangaroo- If all other strategies fail, ask for help!

Snappy Words

Snappy Words

 In the classroom, we have been practicing our snappy words!  Kindergarten students are expected to be secure in both reading and writing these words independently by the end of the year.  These words will be found in the leveled reading books and you will begin to see them in your child's writing.

 Please practice these snappy words with your child at home! :)  

I               a               see

to              said           are 

the            go              play

and            she            come

is               all              he

on              here           that 

for              am             have

be              my              went

like            will              get

yes            no               so

was           at                do

with           me

Kindergarten Spelling

Kindergarten Spelling

Have you wondered why your Kindergartener comes home with writing that looks, well, unusual?  You might see writing that looks something like this, "I wt to vu str to sop". (I went to the store to shop). Or like this, "Toda I pd n tu segs"--(Today I played on the swings). 

Kindergartners typically cannot spell conventionally. At this stage of learning, we are teaching students that they are writers---whether or not they can spell conventionally.  They have stories to tell, information to share and books to write.

As adults, we've been writing for a long time! We've had lots and lots of writing practice and can spell most everything conventionally.  For many Kindergartners, real writing, the kind of writing we do in workshop, is brand new. We cannot expect grown-up spelling from novice writers. However, with that being said, students are taught that there is a difference between "kid spelling" and "grown-up spelling". There is no confusion about the kind of spellers that we expect all students will eventually develop into, as they learn and grow as readers and writers.  

Kindergartners are being empowered to write, and to write independently.  Creating independent readers and writers is our ultimate goal.  We help students build confidence in themselves as literacy learners by teaching them from our earliest writers workshop lessons that they can write and they can spell!  

Our first spelling lesson (and one we revisit frequently at this time of the year) was that writers say a word slowly and write the sounds they hear. This is called approximation of spelling, or invented spelling.  Students practice this skill repeatedly and over time, they hear more sounds and write words that look more and more conventional.   With this and other lessons, students are taught that the stories they are writing as a whole are very important, and they cannot get hung up on the conventional spelling of each and every word, or their stories won't get written.  In this way, students typically produce quite a bit of writing at workshop time each day, giving them lots of practice with independent and teacher-supported writing. If conventional spellings were expected, very few students, if any, would get any writing done at all. 


As students are exposed to more and more texts, learn phonics skills, participate in more writers (and readers!) workshop lessons, and have more independent writing time with teacher support, you will see gradual changes in the writing that comes home. Students will begin to write in sentences instead of writing labels or individual words, they will write stories that span several pages and the words they write will begin to be spelled conventionally, or very close to conventionally.  You may already be seeing that your child spells sight words correctly in their writing, some of the time. Words such as "can" "go" "at" and "like". This is a good sign!  Your child is realizing that words have conventional spellings, and they are working to make sure that the words they can spell conventionally, are written conventionally. These writers are on their way!

Give your child time to learn and grow as a writer (and a speller!), and you will see amazing things happen over the course of the year!  

PALS Testing

PALS Testing

Next week on Tuesday, October 28th and Wednesday, October 29th, your child will be participating in a state mandated literacy assessment.  Please make sure your child receives plenty of sleep and eats a healthy breakfast for these days!

Developed by reading researchers at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, PALS is a research-based assessment for classroom teachers to use with students.

PALS provides teachers with information about how students perform in fundamental reading skill areas that are predictive of a child's achievement in reading.  Teachers use PALS to gather information about each student's strengths and needs in reading so instruction can be planned to best meet those needs and thus help each student make progress in his/her reading.  Teachers use PALS to prevent reading problems before they occur, and to plan appropriate instruction for both grade-level readers and struggling readers.

For more information, please visit http://www.palswisconsin.info/parents.shtml


 ~ The Kindergarten Team

Pizza Ranch ~ Glodosky Field Trip

Picture Re-take Day

PICTURE RE-TAKE DAY

Picture Re-takes are on Monday, October  20th.  If you have not had your photo taken yet, please plan on having your picture taken on Monday.  

THANK YOU!!! 

First Publishing Party

Publishing Party!

The Kindergarten students enjoyed their very first experience participating in a classroom Writers Workshop publishing party!  The purpose of the publishing party is to celebrate all the learning that has taken place during the previous unit(s) of study in writing.

Students spent the days before the party preparing their work.  First, they chose a writing piece from their folder, then they revised it by fixing up the words and pictures, and finally they practiced reading it aloud to a partner.  

For the party itself, each writer was given the opportunity to read their writing in front of their peers, take a bow, and listen to the applause!    We capped off the celebration with a light snack and juice.  The students are working hard to learn the very complex skill of writing, and we will celebrate all of our hard work again soon! 

Students from Mr. Michna's class read their stories to the class.

Cheers for our Awesome writing!

Comparing "Stories of Three"

Our First Publishing Party!

Our FIRST Publishing Party!!!

In Writers Workshop, we have been discussing how writers “fancy up” writing.  Next week, all kindergarten classes will be having an Author’s Celebration!  We have been writing lots of "true stories" and will create one special masterpiece to share.  During our party, children will first read into a circle of their classmates, and then share their entire piece with a smaller group.  After a toast of juice, they will spend some time snacking and talking over our writing so far in our room!  It is a celebration of the hard work and time that they have put into their writing.

We would like the students to dress up on the day of their Publishing Party.  Wear your favorite fancy attire!  

Glodosky - Thursday, October 9th

Michna - Thursday, October 9th

Ramaker - Friday, October 10th

This is a publishing party just like real authors have and we want the children to see how important their success in writing is.

Thank you for all of your support!

The Kindergarten Team

"Just Right" Books

Readers Workshop and "Just Right" Books!

Last week, the kindergarten teachers had the chance to meet with each student to complete a reading running record.  A running record is an assessment tool that helps teachers know what books will be "just right" for each student.  Many students  are already reading Level A books and beyond!  At Readers Workshop, your child has books that are "just right" for them.  The kindergarten team is excited to see each student progress throughout  the year in their reading!