Welcome to Kindergarten! Please find a folder with your child’s name on it.

By the end of this evening we hope to…  Give you lots of information without overloading you  Show a typical day  Discuss curriculum / materials  Review schedules  Ask for your help  Sign up for conferences  Share ways you can help

When children come in they are asked to:  Greet their friends and teacher  Hang up their coats and book bags  Take out their folders and place them in a basket  Sign up for the lunch on the graph  Sit at their table to get ready for the day or complete morning work.

Our classroom schedule  Miss Hisker’s Class Schedule  8:40 Arrival  9:00 Morning Meeting  9:30 L. Arts Whole Group  10:10 Specials or centers  10:40 Centers / Guided Reading  11:20 Lunch  11:50 Recess  12:15 DEAR / Rest time  12:40 Writer’s Workshop  1:00 Math Focus Lesson  1:30 Math Zones  2:00 ELM / Science / Social Studies  2:30 Snack  2:45 Closure  3:00 Dismissal

On some days we have a special…  Computer Lab Tuesday/ 12:30 – 1:10  Music / Tuesday 10:10 -10:40  Media/Monday 12:30 – 1:00  P.E / Thursday 10:10 – 10:40  Art /Friday 9:00-9:40

Ways you can help us with specials  Make sure your child is wearing sneakers or a closed in shoe with rubber soles that are comfortable (Daily but especially on PE and music days)  Make sure your child is wearing clothes he/she can really move in (Daily but especially on PE and music days)  Be sure your child has the book to return to the media center, so another one can be checked out  Ask your child to tell you about his/her day, and ask about specials too!

Our day  Morning Routine Students come in and follow the routine posted on the door, then complete their morning work  Morning Meeting Welcome Calendar and weather  Math curricular songs Tally mark graph Add a straw to the boxes to count the days we have been in school Color in the next number on the number line Count how many days we have been in school on the hundreds chart Morning Message  Shared Writing  High Frequency words

Reading  Shared Reading We read big books and charts together to learn about early concepts of print, fluency, how to discuss books and ask questions. Practice letter recognition/sounds, phonemic awareness skills  Guided Reading We have literacy centers and differentiated small group instruction. Lessons focus on phonemic awareness, concepts of print, phonics, sight words, decoding, listening, reading comprehension, grammar, articulation, fluency, and language concepts. Meets the individual needs of each child.

Centers (literacy and ELM)  Library  Big Books  Listening  Writing  Puzzles  ABC  Computer  Write around the room  Retelling  Browsing boxes  Puppet  Dramatic play  Art  Games  Doll house  Sand Table  Computer  Writing  Puppet

Writers Workshop  Students will write in response to stories and activities. The expectations will grow as your child does.  We will use rubrics to help children use the skills they learn more consistently. Spelling expectations grow as your child’s skills and abilities grow.  Students have opportunities to share their writing. This process helps the child see new ideas for writing and to offer praise and ask questions about other student’s work.  We will publish several pieces as a class and individually  Students keep a portfolio of their work to show growth.

Math  Focus lesson 30 minutes of whole group instruction Do a problem of the day We use manipulative / hands-on activities  Math Zones Differentiated activities to meet the needs of the students Independent exploratory centers to encourage concrete learning and inquiry skills

ELM  Stands for Extensions in Literacy and Mathematics  Serves as the instructional framework for the afternoon  Provides extended learning time to develop, reinforce and apply literacy and problem solving Direct instruction Guided practice Project work Centers  Fosters students’ social and emotional development  Student centered and generated ideas

Sometimes we…  Have fire drills  Have special assemblies  Have parties (Halloween, Valentine, End of the year)  Go on Field Trips (The first one will be on Sept. 28 th )

The folders have information about…  The curriculum in math, reading / language arts, science, and social studies  Ways you can help your child General ideas and writing  Book lists with suggestions of books they can check out of the library and read at home  Handwriting Packets

You can help us by:  Checking your child’s backpack for the daily folder  Reviewing the folder and returning it daily  Making sure you child gets plenty of rest  Checking the monthly homework calendar (which starts in October)  Doing the activities with your child  Helping your child remember the specials schedule and the things to wear on those days  Volunteering… We appreciate any extra hands. Let us know when you can come so we can make the best use of your support

Please be sure you:  Take a folder with information about kindergarten  Sign up for a conference time  Return all emergency, discipline policy, picture release, and early / emergent release plans  Sign up to volunteer (if you can)  Put any questions in the issue bin

Special thanks!  Mrs. Cardoni Scholastic book clubs  Mrs. Campuzano Computer lab  Mrs. Ronaldson Snacks  All of the field trip chaperones and volunteers!

Thank you and have a nice day!