25 | September | 2017 | Mrs. LePard's Kindergarten

I can NOT believe how busy the start of this school year has been for me! I am working hard to keep my boat afloat!

Last week we focused on lots of different skills we use during reader’s workshop. We learned how to read with “Reader Respect” and how to work with an “elbow partner”. Our skill focused on learning parts of a book. Please continue to have your child practice these skills at home with you when you read together. You can read with respect. Then lean and tell your partner the title of the story or name one of the characters. Then you can turn and talk about your favorite part of the story and explain why it is your favorite. You can also talk about book parts every time you start a new story. Your child could lean and tell the parts as you point to them.

We are still working on learning the names of the letters and the sounds they make. We focus on one letter/sound a day. We are putting LOTS of focus on the SOUNDS of letters as the sounds help us learn to read….not the letter name. It is still important to know the name of the letter for handwriting…but AGAIN make sure your child can also make the sound. So…..when I show him/her a letter, I always say…”What sound does it make?” (they make sound) “What sound does it make?” (they make sound) “What sound does it make?” (they make sound) “How do we write it?” (they name the letter).

Last week we practiced drawing scenes for 4 and 5. We also introduced the words “addition” and “subtraction”. “Addition” is when you take a number…and then you take another number…and you put the to numbers together to make a new number. “Subtraction” is when we take a number and break that number apart. We have motions that go with the words. Ask your child to show you!

Writing is simply learning how to form our “letters the school way” right now. Later we will work on telling stories and writing words to go with them…but you can’t write stories until you know how to print your letters correctly. Please make sure your child is starting letters at the TOP..TOP..TOP when he/she writes….especially on homework. Here a is letter formation chart to help!

Please encourage correct pinch grip…one finger/one thumb OR two fingers/one thumb…the rest of the fingers hide inside and go for a ride. Here is a link to a youtube video you may find helpful: