Getting Getting Ready for Ready for

KindergartenKindergarten2015-20162015-2016

Getting Getting Ready for Ready for

KindergartenKindergarten2015-20162015-2016

Mrs. Caperones & Mrs. Feustel

School Supplies• Label only the scissors

• Do not bring toys, money, make-up or anything that may be distracting

• Stress to your child that they will not be taking supplies home, they are to stay at school and to be shared with the class

Daily Schedule• Reading and Language Arts in the morning—small group

literacy centers (Literacy Lane)

• Math is divided between morning (calendar math) and afternoon math session

• Science and Social Studies are integrated into the reading curriculum and individual lessons daily (switch after completion of a unit)– Taught together at times

General Kindergarten Schedule• 9:00-9:15 Attendance, Lunch Count, Announcements, Morning Work

• 9:15-9:30 Calendar• 9:30-10:00 Science/Social Studies• 10:00-10:20 Story Read Aloud• 10:20-11:40 “Literacy Lane” (Small Groups for Reading)

– 10:20-10:40 Group 1– 10:40-11:00 Group 2– 11:00-11:20 Group 3– 11:20-11:40 Group 4

• 11:40-12:10 Lunch• 12:10-12:40 Recess• 12:40-1:05 Phonemic Awareness• 1:05-1:50 Specials • 1:50-2:20 Whole Group Math• 2:20-3:00 “Math Workshops”

– 2:20-2:30 Group 1– 2:30-2:40 Group 2– 2:40-2:50 Group 3– 2:50-3:00 Group 4

• 3:00-3:30 Free Choice Centers• 3:30-3:45 Dismissal

The Different Parts of Reading

• Kiddos learn to read and write by sounding out words.

• A huge part of year is dedicated to teaching the students how to sound out a word and then blend the sounds together to form a word. (Phonemic awareness)

• Phonemic Awareness-blending and breaking apart sounds in a word to read (/b/ /i/ /g/--big)– Recognizes and can say rhyming words– Recognizes and can say beginning sounds in words

The Different Parts of Reading Continued…

• Phonics—matching the sounds with their corresponding letter (/k/ can be a c, ck, or k)– Identifies the initial sounds of words

• Letter Knowledge

– Identifies letters by name

– Matches uppercase and lowercase letters

• Concepts of Print

– Identify the front cover, title, reading from left to right

Reading Small Groups

• “Literacy Lane”– Phonics—Fundations—with the Para Educator– Guided Reading—practice sight words, fluency and

comprehension—with the teacher– Seat Work—independent writing on a given topic or

responding to the story read during whole group instruction

– Independent Center—book nook, computers, listening, word work and write the room

Writing• Writing is VERY important in kindergarten. The students WILL BE writing

ALL DAY LONG!!!• The students will:

– Write letters– Write their own name—first and last– Draw and label pictures– Four things needed for a sentence:

• Upper case letter at the beginning• A sentence has to make sense• Punctuation marks• Spaces in-between words

– They will compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preferences about the topic or book (My favorite book is…)

Listening/Speaking• By the end of the year our kiddos should be able to:

– Listen to a story attentively

– Participate in story discussions

– Follow a set of directions with multiple steps

– Focus on a given activity or task

– Be persistent and keep trying or ask someone for help

Math• The students should be able to:

– Write 0 to 20– Count to 100 by ones, tens and fives– Identify and count numbers 0 to 100– Identify items that have more or less– Identify and expand on patterns– Analyze and compare 2-D and 3-D shapes and describe them– Sort objects into multiple groups– Describe attributes of different objects– Measure objects using different tools– Solve addition and subtraction word problems– Identify place value—ones, tens and hundreds – Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images,

drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions or equations

– Solve and describe how they solved different story problems

Math Workshops• Students will rotate between the following Math Workshops:

– Teacher’s Guided Math Group

– Para Educator’s Guided Math Group

– Partner Work

– Independent Centers—

• 123 Work

• Writing Numbers

• Games/Puzzles

• Computers

Testing• Dibels—fall, winter, spring (county wide)

– Timed test– Tests your child’s ability to sound out and blend words

together, name letters of the alphabet, identify beginning sounds

– Data is reported to the county• Rigby—fall, winter, spring (county wide)

– Identifies your child’s reading levels• Quarterly Tests for reading and math (Teacher Developed)

– Pre and post tests are given for each marking period• Counting Profile (county wide)

Special Area Class Times• Starting the beginning of the school year a

schedule of your child’s specials will be given out and posted in the classroom

• Tennis shoes must be worn on PE days. Dangly Earrings must be taken out on PE days.

• Make sure your child returns their library book each week.

Lunch/Birthdays• It is important to pack your child a healthy lunch.

• We will ask the students to eat their sandwiches firsts and then they may move on to their side items.

• School policy is that NO birthday snacks may be brought in.

• We recognize all birthdays during the morning announcements and the teacher and the office does something special for each child.

Folders—In Kindergarten• A folder will go home daily with your child

• There is a behavior chart inside the folder

• Student’s work and teacher’s notes go home in this folder

• If you have any comments please send in a note in your child’s folder

• On Wednesday:

– A different folder will go home that will contain important information, such as:

• Letters from the teacher, office, P.T.A., and cafeteria

• Check and remove items

Homework

• Your child will be assigned weekly homework assignments to complete, based on the theme and skills taught

• Homework needs to be completed each day. Homework helps to reinforce the skill that was taught.

• Their homework should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes to complete. If they are having trouble and struggling, make sure to contact us as soon as possible. This way we can help you and your child right away.

Field Trips & Volunteering• In order to be considered as a chaperone or a volunteer, you

MUST complete the online volunteer application and attend a volunteer training– Farm Trip in the Fall—We will be going to Greenstreet

Gardens. We will only be able to select four parents to chaperone—no siblings—parents will be responsible for other children.

– Elms Environmental Center in the Spring—limited to four chaperones.

• Chaperones will be chosen on first come basis• Starting in October we will be looking for volunteers to help

out in the writing center

• We like to try to have one volunteer for each day

After School Pick-Up

• Make sure to send in a note or call the school ahead of time

• Avoid telling the students—they become anxious at school

• Do tell the student if there will be a bus change

Absences• An automatic school messenger will call home when a

child is absent from school.

• This procedure is consistent now throughout the county for all schools, elementary – high school

• To report an absence you can access the link on our website, call our main office to report the absence, or send a note to school with your child upon his/her return.

• If your child is going to be out for a long period of time or a couple of days, please contact your teacher, so they can prepare work for your child.

Quick Good-Byes• On the first day of school, send your

child on the bus.

• Quick good-byes leave dry eyes.

Bus Procedures• After this presentation, please fill out your child’s bus information in their

classroom.

• The first week of school we will meet the students outside and have them line up according to their class.

• As soon as the students get off the bus in the morning they will be tagged.

• The student’s buses will be color coded and they will get their color bus pinned to their book bags. Please leave these pinned on their bags for at least a week or two.

• At the end of the day we will make sure your child gets on the correct bus.

Most Important Rule

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!

Communication with the School• White Marsh Elementary School’s Website

– http://schools.smcps.org/wmes/

– There is a lot of different information from the lunch menu, calendar, school supply list, etc.

– You can add money and check your child’s lunch account

– You can also become a fan of White Marsh Elementary School on Facebook or on Twitter

• Every Sunday Ms. Long will send out an all call to your house to inform the families of the upcoming events for the next school week. The same message will also go out in an email to the address you provided.

Questions?

• If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by calling us at school or sending an email

• We look forward to working with you and your child this year!