Miss Clemens’Kindergarten Class

Welcome Parents!

Welcome to Kindergarten! This is an exciting time in you and your

child’s life! Together, we want to make the transition to kindergarten effortless.

The presentation today is meant to inform you on the present school year. Please keep this presentation (and folder) for future reference.

A Little About Miss Clemens

Professionally Graduated from Illinois State University Going through the process for National Board Certification Taught second grade at St. Mary’s (2 years) Currently teach at Congerville (4th year)

Personally Enjoy spending time with family and friends Active at church Play flute, like fitness classes at 5 Points, and crafts Love the outdoors

What Professionalism Means to Me

P repared for each school day R espectful to those I work with O ptimistic and positive attitude F ully accessible to parents and students E nthusiastic about my profession S ee teachable moments in all situations S ensitive to confidentiality I nstruction time is used to the fullest O pen to criticism and instruction N eatly dressed A lways remember to have fun L ifelong learner I nterseted in student’s as learners and people S ight on Common Core Standards M indful of the unique needs of each student

School-Wide Expectations PBIS Program (Positive Behavior

Interventions and Support) Students can “earn” a Star Student

slip by… S: Showing Kindness T: Taking Responsibility A: Acting appropriately R: Respecting others, self, and property.

Your student can use slips for classroom incentives, Star Student Store incentives, and be part of a monthly drawing!

Bee-Havior Management

Rainbow Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple All students start on green each day

Positive actions will allow a student to move up the rainbow Negative actions will allow a student to move down the

rainbow 1 warning, next time check

3 checks and a student will move down 1 color If a student changes their attitude, checkmarks will be

erased and a student can move back up the rainbow Your student will receive a happy face for red, orange, yellow,

and green (just indicated by color of smiley face). Your student will receive a straight face for blue and a sad face

for purple.

Red Folders Make sure your student brings these

back each day! Red folder is for daily communication Bee-Havior Chart/Comments Return to school Stay at home

Communication Website

www.congerville-k.info Weekly Newsletter

Miss Clemens’ Corner Red Folders School Phone (309) 467-6729

8:00am – 3:30pm School E-mail – clemensp@district140.org

Curriculum Overall, I would say the kindergarten

curriculum is challenging yet rewarding. Our instruction time focuses on reading readiness and math skills. Various methods will be used for optimal learning opportunities.

The mornings will be spent enthralled in our reading and math curriculum.

Reading New curriculum introduced in 2008 - 2009

Harcourt School Publishers

Phonemic Awareness & Reading Room (MWF) 30+ minutes designated to this each day Small groups with Mrs. Bachman, Mrs. Taylor, a volunteer, and Miss

Clemens Phonics

Zoo-Phonics Reading

Pre-decodable books, decodable books, & leveled readers Modeled reading, guided reading, buddy reading, reading room/support, and literacy

work stations

Literature Big books, current authors/stories Anthology of Tales (offered weekly)

Robust Vocabulary 3 words introduced per story

Reading for Meaning We will focus on 8 strategies to make our reading experiences more

meaningful One strategy will be introduced each week The 8 Strategies Include:

Strategy 1: Understanding “What’s Important?” Strategy 2: Retelling Strategy 3: Making Connections Strategy 4: Visualizing Strategy 5: Predicting Strategy 6: Inferring Strategy 7: Questioning: Before, During, and After Reading Strategy 8: Synthesizing

What’s Important

We compare what is important in fiction and nonfiction.

In nonfiction, the format leads us to important information.

In fiction, we discuss plots, characters, events, etc.

Start our classroom library with this strategy!

Retelling

Students will retell a story in their own words.

Focus our attention on story maps, story webs, and beginning, middle, and end charts.

Drama Work Station will give students great opportunities to retell stories with props, puppets, or pictures!

Making Connections

We make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections when reading.

Together, we will do several “think-alouds” with this strategy in addition to graphic organizers.

During modeled reading, we will use Post-It notes to make our connections.

Visualizing

Recipe for visualizing is 1 part personal knowledge/experiences with 1 part author’s words and ideas.

Drawing what we visualize, “movie making,” etc.

Predicting

Students will predict for what will come next in the story, but also to figure out the meaning of individual words or phrases.

Was your prediction confirmed or not confirmed?

Inferring

One answer is never enough…

Teacher modeled with think-alouds, but also with student-to-student discussion.

“I think…Because…”

Questioning: Before, During and After Reading

The goal is to ask questions that will motivate students to interpret, infer, and think critically.

Students can ask questions too!

Questions may come in the form of graphic organizers like a K-W-L Chart.

Synthesizing

This is where students will bring all other strategies together for “The Big Picture.”

Students can write or orally present a book and recommend it to the class (or if they did not like it…not recommend it).

Writing Daily Morning Message

Introduction to formal letter writing Identification of specific letter of study and sight words Writing date correctly

Journal Writing Monthly independent journal writing. Students will write about their favorite activity

for that month and illustrate it. This activity will be done with Mrs. Linboom during Phonemic Awareness time.

Daily Writing Experiences Each week your student will get a journal with a focused writing skill. As a class we will work through the various activities. The goal is to have one journal finished each week, but do not be surprised if it takes

longer. Students will get a chance to do “Author’s Chair” and share their daily writing.

Classmates can ask 2 interview questions. During this time students will learn how to spell words phonetically, memorize how to

spell sight words, and even use a dictionary!

Morning Message is a HUGE Hit

Traits of Good Writing Ideas

Interesting, clear, content supported by reasons and details Conventions

Correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling Word Choice

Interesting verbs, adjectives, and nouns Sentence Fluency

Different kinds of sentences Voice

Your own words and ideas Organization

Logical and clear order

Daily Writing ExperiencesWeek 1 - 12 Writing names Labels Writing Signs Captions Mechanics of a sentence News Sentences about me Caption sentence Lists Poster Poetry Plan on skipping

Daily Writing ExperiencesWeek 13 - 20 Questions Interview Questions Exclamations Commands Directions Story Response Descriptive writing of a person Descriptive writing of a thing

Week 21 - 30 Descriptive writing of

a place Dialogue Story Writing Friendly Letter Invitation Thank You Note Personal Narrative

Math enVisionMath by Scott Foresman*Addison Wesley

2012 Copyright Math skills that build over the course of the year

One to Five Comparing and Ordering 0 to 5 Six to Ten Comparing and Ordering Numbers 0 to 10 Numbers to 20 Numbers to 100 Understanding Addition Understanding Subtraction More Addition and Subtraction Composing Numbers 11 to 19 Decomposing Numbers 11 to 19 Measurement Sorting, Classifying, Counting, and Categorizing Data Identifying and and Describing Shapes Position and Location of Shapes Analyzing, Comparing, and Composing Shapes Step-Up to First Grade

Calendar/Circle Time 100th Day of School – HUGE CELEBRATION

Science – A Personal Favorite Curriculum gathered from K – 2 science conference I attended

Hands-on minds-on experiments

5 Senses Idea that all good scientists need to use their 5 senses when working Act out and explore function(s) of eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin

The Sky, Nighttime and Daytime Concepts of the sun, moon, and stars Introduction to space

Living and Non-Living Things When do we know something is living? When do we know something is non-living? Exploration with hands-on experiments

Earth Day & Plants The 3 Layers of Soil in the Midwest, parts of a plant, Sammy Soil, Garden in a Glove, germination, etc. Water (ocean, lakes, and rivers) Natural resources – How do we save them? Earth Day “Celebration”

Science Continued•Weather

•Properties of water – solid, liquid, and gas•The 4 seasons (relationship to seasons due to Earth’s rotation)•Measuring/understanding temperatures•Types of precipitation •Types of clouds

•Nocturnal & Diurnal Animals•Focus on the Barn Owl & bats•A closer look at pupils in the dark•Why are animals nocturnal? Why are animals diurnal?•Owl pellet dissection

•And always more to come!

Social Studies Incorporating former curriculum/Current reading curriculum

McGraw Hill Jobs people do

Connecting jobs to their services (i.e. doctors help sick people) What do you want to do when you grow up? Why?

Living in a community Buildings and services People who help keep us safe in the community Neighborhoods

Being an active citizen The Pledge of Allegiance Taking care of your community What would you like to see change? How can you make a difference?

Recognize calendar holidays Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr., President’s Day,

Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Christopher Columbus, Fourth of July, etc.

Literacy Work Stations Big Book Work Station ABC/Word Study Work Station Classroom Library Work Station Buddy Reading Work Station Writing Work Station Listening Work Station Drama Work Station

What are literacy work stations? The emphasis in literacy work stations is on teacher modeling

and students taking responsibility for their own learning. Start with a mini-lessons for the first six weeks. Slowly a play

center will be replaced with a literacy work station. It needs to be a gradual release from modeling to independent

practice.

How will my student work at the stations? “I can” statements guide students with controlled choices 2 students per station/depends on class size Your student will visit two work stations per day

How will my student be assessed during this time?

A tangible product will not be produced each day Work that is completed will be turned into “Finished Work” tray Students will keep their unfinished work in a folder.

What is the teacher doing during this time? I will have my work station where I work with students on

various skills.

What about students who are off task? Prior to starting literacy work stations, the entire class will get

a warning (I call this pre-correction). If a students is not on task they will be removed immediately

from their literacy station and will sit next to me.

Weekly Specials Art* (Most Fridays)

Computer* (Friday)

Library* (Tuesday/Thursday)

Physical Education* (Daily)

Music (Tuesday/Thursday)

Reading Room* (Monday, Wednesday, & Friday)

Second Step Program* (Thursday)

*Full day students only because activity takes place in afternoon

Homework Reinforcement activities

Handwriting practice D’Nealian Decodable books

Should be read three different times and returned to school Signatures required (by parent, older sibling, etc.)

Leveled Readers Book-in-a-bag (weekly) Should be read three different times and returned to school Signatures required (by parent/older sibling/etc.)

Attendance Attendance is extremely important

In the beginning we may see separation anxiety Communicate with student what it means to be sick Research shows attendance is vital to success in the

classroom Half day starts at 8:30 and ends at 11:30 Full day starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:10 Dismissal policies

I must see you before your child will be dismissed Bus students will be monitored Any changes in how your student gets home needs to be in

a written note

Bus Routes This was the number one concern of

parents last year at orientation. Please talk to Miss Audrey, Marvin, or

neighbors for details on your student’s bus route.

Extras that Make Kindergarten Great

Snack List Monthly snack list

Snack Milk Students are strongly encouraged to take snack milk

Birthdays Birthday treats are welcome We will celebrate summer birthdays on student’s half birthday if you would like

Show and Tell Student can share on their snack day

Mystery Reader Sign up sheet in packet

Food Experience Friday Details in packet

Rainbow Rewards Time Smiley Face full time Straight Face lose 5 minutes Sad Face lose 10 minutes

More Extras…•Special Days•Talent Show•Muffins with Mom•Donuts with Dad•Grandparent’s Day•Field Trip(s)

Things to Be Aware ofCommon Core Standards

Illinois Learning Standards will be replaced with Common Core Standards. Most of the 50 states in our country are moving to CCS.

Common Core Standards are… Are aligned with college and work expectations; Are clear, understandable and consistent; Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills; Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards; Are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to

succeed in our global economy and society; and Are evidence-based.

Gradual transition determined by state representatives and District. The idea will be that fewer concepts are taught in depth with a goal of mastery in mind. Common Core Standards will not change Kindergarten curriculum for this year.

Please Return These Papers to Me by Friday, August

24th

They can be found in the back of your

Kindergarten Orientation Packet

• Volunteer in the Classroom Sheet

• Volunteer for Reading Room Sheet

• Mystery Reader

• Student Information Sheet

Let’s Have a Great Year!