Welcome Kindergarten Families!  Please find the table labeled with your child’s teacher.  Take the folder with your child’s name on it.  Sign up to volunteer, if desired! 10/7/2015

Welcome Kindergarten Families! School Year Cobbles Elementary School Mrs. Brasacchio, Miss Pelusio, Miss Suchanek, Mrs. Usselman, and Mrs. West

Reading and Writing We use a balanced literacy approach to help students become independent readers and writers as well as make literacy an integral part of their lives by using a variety of reading materials, resources and instructional strategies. 10/7/2015

READING  Phonemic Awareness Skills  Recognize rhymes  Clap syllables in words  Recognize words that begin or end with same sound  Tap each sound in words  Blend sounds in words Sight Words (Snap Words!)  Dolch Sight Words (most common in books)  25+ to be mastered  Children should read in a SNAP!  Most need memorization – do not follow rules!. Phonics  Naming Letters  Practicing Letter Sounds, including vowels!  Learning sounds for various letter clusters (th, sh, ch, bl, sn) Vocabulary Learn, understand and use new words

10/7/2015 READING Comprehension  Making Predictions  Discussing Favorite part of the story  Answering questions  Identifying story elements (characters, setting, problem, solution)  Making connections with the book  Retelling the story (beginning, middle, end) Decoding Strategies We teach students these tools for solving unknown words independently!

10/7/2015 WHAT CAN PARENTS DO Why? Reading aloud models fluency and expression and introduces new vocabulary. Read a variety ~ Newspapers, magazines, fiction/non- fiction (whatever interests you and your child!) At least 15 minutes every night. Be positive! Encourage and praise, but stop if too frustrating. Let him/her catch you reading, too!

English for Speakers of Other Languages  Academic and social English for students from varied backgrounds  Individual and small group instruction  New York State standards for speaking, listening, reading, writing and culture  Content support

10/7/2015 WRITING WORKSHOP  Your child will learn the steps of the writing process and advance their writing skills at their own pace.  Orally tell stories sequentially, then add pictures, labels, strings of letters representing a complete thought, and finally…  Tell the beginning, middle and end of a story using pictures and complete sentences!  We hope you will do as Lucy Calkin’s (author of our writer’s workshop guidelines) asks all of us to do...  Three main genres of writing  Narrative (telling TRUE stories) *main focus  How-to (step by step)  Persuasive Be patient - Correct Spelling will come gradually – from random strings of letters to words you can decipher to some words spelled exactly right! “Admire whatever your child brings home, make your child feel like a famous author, enjoy the brave, smart work your child does when he or she is just learning to spell and doesn’t yet have it right but is willing to try anyhow and, above all, be interested in whatever your child writes.”

10/7/2015 HANDWRITING  Establishing good writing habits  Using a proper pencil grip  Correct, efficient formation of upper case letters, lower case letters and numbers  Correctly write first and last name using upper and lower case letters  Writing letters properly on the lines Handwriting Without Tears program focuses on... This program allows children to learn how to properly form letters and numbers in a fun, engaging and developmentally appropriate way.

10/7/2015 MATH Kindergarten Common Core Learning Standards through the use of Math Expressions Identify and describe shapes Analyze, compare, create and compose shapes Know number names and the count sequence Count to tell the number of objects Compare numbers Understand addition as putting together and adding to Understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from Work with #’s to gain foundations for place value Describe and compare measurable attributes Classify objects and count the number of objects in categories

10/7/2015 SCIENCE Sunshine, Shadows and Silhouettes  Investigate how shadows are created, change, and move Our Five Senses  Name the five senses and the purpose of each  Explore the many ways our senses help us in our everyday lives  Investigate what life would be like without one of our senses  Discover how other living things use their senses  Use our five senses to learn about topics of study throughout the school year Plants  Use our five senses to compare and contrast various properties of plants  Discover the difference between living and nonliving things.  Germinate and observe the growth of a variety of seeds.  Investigate the needs of plants.  Observe and discuss how plants change through the seasons of the year.  Identify parts of plants and their function. Additional science concepts are embedded throughout our curriculum as we learn about our environment, living things and life cycles. Students will have numerous opportunities to explore, investigate and discover answers to their questions as well as expand their vocabulary.

10/7/2015 SOCIAL STUDIES  Basic Human Needs and Wants  Individual and family needs and wants. Myself and Others Each person has talents, abilities, likes and dislikes. Each person is unique and important. People are alike and different in many ways. My Families and Other Families  Family roles and responsibilities.  My family and other families are alike and different.  Families are interdependent. My School and School Community and Communities My home, neighborhood, town, and school. Community helpers and their responsibilities. Use a globe and maps to locate places or landmarks. Citizenship  What makes a good citizen>  Become familiar with holidays and symbols of our nation.

10/7/2015 HEALTH  Safety  Fire Safety  Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Awareness  Germs  What are germs? What do they look like? What do they do? How do you get rid of them?  Personal Health  Fitness  Nutrition and the Five Food Groups  Basic Abuse Prevention Skills  Buddy System  Check First  Poison Safety  Identifying poisons in the home  Categorizing things that are safe and not safe to touch

10/7/2015 Concluding Thoughts Kindergarten is LOTS of fun for all of us involved! We are so thrilled to be working with you and your child this year! Thank you so much for coming! Your enthusiasm and support for learning will benefit your child immensely! You will find sign-up sheets on the back tables. We hope you will be able to volunteer for events and activities this year! Your child will make tremendous growth and do things that will amaze you! It is a year to treasure!