Reading: Shared reading focus book was Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink – sequencing details of story; analysis and observation of illustrations; character, setting, beginning/middle/end, role of author and illustrator. Other books read in class: Duck! Rabbit!, Strictly NO Elephants, Magic Treehouse – Twister on Tuesday (chapter book – counts as 2 books on Rocket Reader form!), Curious George

English/Language Arts: New groups this week.  Letter Rr- correct letter formation, words that start with Rr, roll a sight word (hopefully you found your student’s sight word half sheet in his/her folder – please continue to practice old and new sight words at home!), CVC words. Sight words emphasized in class: yes, no, did, what.

Math: Composing and decomposing numbers within 10; number recognition and writing (correctly!), greater than/less than/equal to, counting to 100 by tens and ones

Writing: Students have been writing opinion pieces [introduction/”hook” -> opinion (using “because”) -> ending/conclusion/”bow”]. Prompts included: Is it a duck or a rabbit? How do you feel about the groundhog seeing his shadow? Do you like to dance? What is your favorite morning center?

Theme: Living and non-living things (Gummy Worm vs. Earthworm!), Groundhog’s Day

The Cheatham Hill Counseling Department is sponsoring KINDNESS WEEK next week, February 10-14! It is our goal to spread kindness and emphasize to students that kindness matters.  There are themed dress up days and a kindness challenge each day. The flyer came home in your student’s blue folder on Friday and a copy is below.

Our Voyage character word is RESPONSIBILITY – Making good choices and owning your behavior.

Thank you for all the emergency snacks sent to class! Thanks to your generosity, we have a huge supply and don’t need any other donations at this time!

Please remember that changes in transportation can be sent to class in your student’s blue folder. Changes in dismissal must be in writing, for your student’s safety.

Reading: Shared reading focus book was Tacky the Penguin – sequencing details of story; analysis and observation of illustrations; character, setting, beginning/middle/end, role of author and illustrator. Other books read in class: Germs are Everywhere, Freckle Juice, Junie B. Firstgrader – Shipwrecked, Rapunzel’s Winter Adventure, Green Wilma

English/Language Arts: We finished up last week’s groups and started our new groups. Letter Ee – correct letter formation, words that start with Ee and contain e as the medial vowel sound, roll a sight word (hopefully you found your student’s sight word half sheet in his/her folder – please continue to practice old and new sight words at home!), CVC words. Sight words emphasized in class: you, have, are, was.

Math: Composing and decomposing numbers within 10; number recognition and writing (correctly!), greater than/less than/equal to, counting to 100 by tens and ones

Writing: Students have been writing opinion pieces (introduction/”hook” -> opinion  -> ending/conclusion/”bow”). Prompts included: What is your favorite color? What is your favorite subject in school? Will the groundhog see his shadow?

Theme: Living and non-living things, Groundhog’s Day

Our Voyage character word is RESPONSIBILITY – Making good choices and owning your behavior.

Please remember to send a snack to school with your student every day.

Please remember that changes in transportation can be sent to class in your student’s blue folder. Changes in dismissal must be in writing, for your student’s safety.

Reading: Shared reading focus book was The Mitten – sequencing details of story; analysis and observation of illustrations; character, setting, beginning/middle/end. Other books read in class: Not Quite a Narwhal, Hedgie the Hedgehog, The Giant Jam Sandwich

English/Language Arts: Letter Ss – letter sound, correct letter formation, words that begin with Ss, rhyming words: -ot, -op- og; listening centers book: The Giant Jam Sandwich (listen to story, draw picture of favorite part of story).

Math: Ways to make 10 (addition); number recognition and writing (correctly!), greater than/less than/equal to, counting to 100 by tens and ones

Writing: Students have been writing opinion pieces (introduction – opinion – ending/conclusion).  Prompts included: Which is stronger – the Hulk or a dinosaur? Which do you like better – McDonald’s or Chick-fil-A? Which special do you like better – Art or Music?

Theme: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Voyage character word is RESPONSIBILITY – Making good choices and owning your behavior.

After school clubs begin the week of January 27. If your student will be attending a club after school, please send  a note to class with the club name, day of the week it meets, how your student will be dismissed afterward (ASP or car rider).

Please remember that changes in transportation can be sent to class in your student’s blue folder.  Changes in dismissal must be in writing.

We are 100 days smarter! We enjoyed lots of fun learning centers with the 100 theme!  Here are some ways we got even smarter this week:

Reading: Our Shared Reading this week was Snowmen at Night – sequencing the story details, discussing characters, setting, beginning/middle/end, comparison to Snowmen at Christmas. In class we also read The Three Little Kittens, Pete the Cat and the New Guy.

English & Language Arts: Continuation of groups from last week.

Math: Counting to 100 by ones and tens, number recognition and writing (correctly!), ways to make 10 (adding numbers to make 10).

Writing: Our next writing lesson is on Opinion Writing. We are learning how to decide between 2 different choices and write about why we made our choice. Writing prompts were: Cats vs. Dogs and which is faster: Cheetah or Race Car.

Theme: We learned several facts about Martin Luther King, Jr. and completed our Georgia Studies weekly magazine. At our super fun field trip to the Tellus Museum we learned about insects and living/nonliving things.

Our Voyage character word of the month is KINDNESS: Caring about the well being of those around you.

After school  clubs will begin the week of January 27. If you have signed up your student for an after school club, please send a note to class with the days of the week they will be attending. This makes afternoon dismissal SO much less stressful! Thank you!

And finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MRS. KIGER! We love you and appreciate you and hope your birthday weekend is filled with lots of love and your favorite things! ! 🙂 <3

Happy New Year, families! It sounds like the kids had a great time over the holidays! Unbelievably, we are halfway through kindergarten, and we are continuing to learn our kindergarten standards while preparing them for first grade! It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were meeting these sweet faces for the first time!

Sentimentality aside, it’s time to keep learning…  here is what we learned this week in class:

Reading/English/Language Arts: Letter Dd – letter sound, correct letter formation, words that begin with Dd, letter Dd book, words that begin with letter D vs. letter F. In our Daily 5 groups we started listening centers. This week’s book is Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (listen, draw picture of favorite part of story). We were very busy with other learning activities and will be continuing these groups next week. Books we read in class this week: The Snowy Day, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, New Year’s Eve, The Gruffalo

Math: Ways to make 10 (addition); number recognition and writing (correctly!)

Writing: Things we can do and things we can’t do YET – growth mindset writing.

Theme: New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day,

The Voyage character word of the month is KINDNESS: caring about the wellbeing of those around you.

Reading: We studied 2 versions of the same story: The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Boy – characters/setting/problem/solution; sequencing story details; author/illustrator; key differences in story details. We also read in class: Frozen, Snowpeople, Snowmen at Night, Twas the Night Before Christmas

English and Language Arts: Beginning, middle and end letter sounds for CVC words; rhyming words, differentiating between different beginning word sounds.

Math: Number recognition and writing 1-20; comparison tall/short, long/short, light/heavy; counting to 100 by ones and tens; sorting different ways; push/pull

Writing: The students finished their writing assessments for report cards. Writing prompts in class focused on our elf, Rudolph.

Theme: December holidays – traits of each, where they are located on the calendar, how families celebrate different holidays and have different traditions.

The Voyage character word of the month: COURAGE – Doing the right thing, even when the task is hard.

We took our Math Inventory assessment this week, and many of the kids’ scores improved! Great job!

We have had several kids absent due to illness. Please review the info on the right about when it’s ok to send your student back to school. Students cannot return to school  until they are fever-free for 24 hours WITHOUT MEDICATION.  Please do not medicate a feverish child and send them to school!  Thank you for understanding, and for helping us keep everyone healthy!

A HUGE THANK YOU to our fantastic room moms, Amiyra King and Lisa Floyd, for organizing a super fun Holiday Party for us!  Thank you also to Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Hutto, Mrs. Falcetti, Mrs. Valencia, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Aspen’s grandma for helping run the centers and cleaning up! The kids LOVED the gifts everyone brought, and they are so excited to play with them at morning centers and Fun Friday centers! Thank you again and again for your generosity and support! ♥

We hope you have a great weekend! 5 more school days until our Winter Holidays!

Reading: We studied 2 versions of the same story: The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Boy – characters/setting/problem/solution; sequencing story details; author/illustrator; key differences in story details. We also read in class: Snowmen at Christmas, There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow, How Santa Got His Job, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Elf on the Shelf, The Biggest Best Snowman, Mooseltoe

English and Language Arts: Word Sort – Comparing Letters Rr and Ss; beginning sounds for Gg; Correct formation and sounds for the letter Gg (hard G sound, like “gate” and soft G sound, like “giraffe”); Letter Gg book; vowel fill-in-the-blank for CVC words.

Math: Number recognition and writing 1-20; comparison tall/short, long/short, light/heavy; counting to 100 by ones and tens

Writing: Continued How-To writing. Prompts included: How To Build a Snowman and How to Make Your Bed.  We are really trying to get everyone writing independently in preparation for the next writing assessment. A holiday elf showed up in the classroom, and the students named him Rudolph.  🙂 We write about where the elf is located and what he is doing. They are having great fun with it!

Theme: December holidays – traits of each, where they are located on the calendar, how families celebrate different holidays and have different traditions.

The Voyage character word of the month: COURAGE – Doing the right thing, even when the task is hard.

We took our Reading Inventory assessment this week, and the kids’ scores improved! Great job!  Our Math Inventory is next week.

We hope you have a great weekend!  Good luck to those of you in the Drama Club performance on Saturday!!! Break a leg!  🙂

Reading: We continued our study of Turkey Trouble – characters/setting/problem/solution; sequencing story details; author/illustrator. We also read in class: This Book Does Not Have Words, A Perfect Day, Count the Monkeys, Just So Thankful

English and Language Arts: Continued last week’s lessons and groups – Sight word coloring; Word Sort – beginning sounds for Aa; Correct formation and sounds for the letter Aa; Letter Aa book.

Math: Ways to make 9 (dice, ten frame, counting objects, tally marks, base ten blocks); Number recognition, comparison, counting to 100 by ones and tens

Writing: Continued How-To writing. Prompts included: How To Dance, How To Enjoy Thanksgiving, How students disguised their turkeys, How students get to school. We are really trying to get everyone writing independently in preparation for the next writing assessment.

Theme: Thanksgiving – Native Americans (Wampanoag) and Pilgrims, being thankful, how people celebrate Thanksgiving in different ways and with different traditions

The Voyage character word of the month: COURAGE – Doing the right thing, even when the task is hard.

In case you didn’t hear, Cheatham Hill students donated over 13,000 items to the Thanks-for-giving food drive!!! We are so proud of our school for being so generous to help families in need this holiday season!

And…. speaking of helping families in need, the Giving Tree is up and running! The informational paper came home last week. If you would like to purchase a gift for a Cheatham Hill student in need, send us a note with your permission and whether you want your student to get a star for a $5 or $10 gift. The counselors also love to get Target and Walmart gift cards so they can purchase gifts for students whose ornament wasn’t chosen.

We hope you had fun at the Scholastic Book Fair last week.  We heard lots of stories from the kids about their shopping trips, and it’s super awesome how excited they are to get NEW BOOKS!!! (Fun Fact: Mrs. Sexton LOVES the smell of books – old and new!).  Thank you to those of you who donated books to our class!  The kiddos have loved them! In case you didn’t make it to the Book Fair and you want to buy some reasonably priced books for holiday gifts, a Scholastic order form is coming home. PLEASE place orders online with the class code W267D. I will submit the order at 2:30pm on Thursday, December 5th so the books will make it back in time before the break. The books are shipped to the school and will be sent home in your student’s backpack. Let us know if it’s a gift so we can try to conceal it! 🙂

Next week is hopefully very relaxing for you all, filled with love and food and hugs! We are thankful for every single one of your babies, and we love them dearly! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  ♥

Hello and Happy FriYAY!

Reading: Books read in class this week – The Relatives Came; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; Turkey Trouble; Bear Says Thanks; There Was an Old Mermaid Who Swallowed a Shark

Writing: Continued our unit on How To writing.  We also wrote a little narrative about soldiers, in honor of Veterans Day. We practiced Informational Writing by writing facts about Bald Eagles.

English and Language Arts: Sight word coloring; Word Sort – beginning sounds for Aa; Correct formation and sounds for the letter Aa; Letter Aa book.

Math: Number recognition, comparison, counting

Theme: Veteran’s Day, bald eagles (U.S. symbol)

Music: In music this week the kids got a chance to play the glockenspiel! They are learning about high/low notes and fast/slow tempos, as well as singing lots and lots of songs!

The Voyage character word of the month is COURAGE – Doing the right thing, even when the task is hard.

We love that the kindergarten team hosts the Cheatham Hill Veteran’s Day parade each year! It was so awesome having Mr. Menhorn (U.S. Marines) and Mr. Dietzel (U.S. Army) visit our class and walk in the parade with their kiddos!

Thanks to those of you who were able to have Thanksgiving Lunch with us! The food was delicious  and the kids loved seeing their family members during the school day.  The kids are very thankful for their families, and we are thankful for you, too!!  🙂

We hope you all have a great weekend! Only 5 school days until Thanksgiving Break!

Here is a community event your family might be interested in:

Hello and Happy Friday!  We had another wacky week with no school on Election Day! We hope your kids had a fun day off! We continued our groups from last week, since we didn’t get finished because of Monster Mash.

Reading: Books read in class this week – Bear Snores On; By the Light of the Moon; In November; Thank You, Omu

Writing: Continuing our unit on How To writing. Writing prompts this week included How I Get to School, How I Pack Up to Go Home, One Time When I Got Hurt

English and Language Arts: Sight word coloring; differentiating between Qq, Ss and Oo; Correct formation and sounds for the letter Oo; Letter Oo book.

Math: Ways to make 8; counting, number recognition

Theme: Day and Night Sky; American Symbols – bald eagle; Veteran’s Day

The Voyage character word of the month is COURAGE – Doing the right thing, even when the task is hard.

This is the last week for the Thanks for Giving Food Drive!

Next Thursday, November 14 is kindergarten’s Thanksgiving Lunch in the cafeteria. You are invited to come and have lunch with your kiddo! Our lunch time is different from normal. We will eat from 11:50am – 12:20pm and we will be sitting at tables A7 and A8. Guest meals are $4.00.

We hope you have a great weekend!