1. Mrs. Van Gorder’s Weekly News September 28-October 2 JVanGord@uek12.org JVanGord@uek12.org Check out our class website! www.uek12.org 757-2143 Math- This week we made number bonds and and turn around facts for the numbers 6, 7, 8,9 and 10. We practiced counting by 1, 5, 2, and 10 as we did different stretches. We played a dice game rolling a number and seeing how many more we needed to reach the number 3 + ____ = 6. We made bracelets with 10 beads to help us as we made facts to 10. We began practicing how to solve math stories by finding missing numbers to make a whole. Going home today is a letter about how to use a fantastic website called xtramath. It’s a great way for your child to practice their math facts and have them become fluent. It is free to access the website. To download the app it’s $5. We will be using it in class daily throughout the year. Our goal is to master addition and subtraction facts up to 10 and solve facts to 20. Reading- In reading we focused on transitioning from station to station, putting materials where they belong, and following procedures at each station. We discussed with it means to be accountable for your work and focus without distraction. We reviewed the alphabet linking chart to make connections to letters and the initial sound it makes at the beginning of a word. We are continuing to work on reviewing Kindergarten site words each week. So far we’ve covered: at, the, he, me, we, us, an, and, can, go, is. Your child will be taking home station work they complete throughout the week on Fridays. Not all of their work will come back with marks on it. We don’t want it to be discouraging. Writing- In writing this week we focused on choosing a small moment (something we do or something that happened to you) from our lives to write about. We like to call them watermelon seeds. We learned a method for writing to touch and tell where the words would go in our booklet to plan then write and sketch about it. We discussed going back and adding more details by asking question words like who, what, where, when and why. Word Study- This week we focused on letter formation for letters: o, c, d. We began our first author study on Kevin Henkes reading Chrysanthemum and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. We did a writing piece about Chrysanthemum, in the story Henkes makes an analogy of what makes her wilt and bloom. We made connections in our own lives and wrote and drew about it. Science- This week we studied current events, learning what a lunar eclipse is, and why this one was so special. We watched a great video on brainpopjr about the rotation of the earth. We made our next observation on our caterpillar friend and made a hypothesis as to what type it may be. Social Studies- We celebrated Ryan’s 7 th birthday today! We reviewed some expected behaviors in the classroom like what we should look and sound like at the carpet during learning time. We listed the following items: sit criss cross apple sauce spoons in the bowl, eyes and ears on the teacher, raise your hand to talk and no going to the bathroom (unless its an emergency) or getting a drink. Class Meeting -We dove further into what a bucket filler does, says and looks like in the classroom. Additional Notes - I can’t wait to meet all of you at curriculum night on Monday at 6:00 to share all the marvelous things we will be doing in first grade. Don’t forget to turn in your Race for Education and Save Around forms. PTA is still accepting them Please read the reverse side for a note from our counselor.

2. Student Safety at School During October, Sharon Moss, our Home School Counselor, will be presenting a program regarding student safety here at school to the kindergarten and first grade classes. This is a 3-session push in program, which is approximately 15 minutes each in length. The purpose of the three sessions is to: *Help students become aware and respect personal boundaries *Strengthen student’s abilities to assertively protect her/himself *Learn how to report when another’s touching or words have caused uneasiness, discomfort or pain. The children will learn 3 strategies in dealing with unwanted touching or hurtful words: Tell the person to stop Get away from that person Tell an adult