The New Year is going SO fast!!

We've been quite busy since coming back in the new year.  Here are some highlights:

Math:
There have been LOTS of number combinations created - How can I decompose numbers less than or equal to 10?  You can help your child create number combinations by putting out two different objects (ie. spoons & forks, cars & trucks, 2 colors of M & Ms...).  Say a number.  Your child will use the objects to create different combinations (i.e. The number is 6.  Your child puts out 2 cars & 4 trucks, 3 cars & 3 trucks, 1 car and 5 trucks).

We have also been comparing items using measurement - How can we use measurement to describe and compare objects?  At home, use words like length (longer/shorter) & height (taller/shorter), weight (heavier/lighter), capacity (holds more/holds less).  Look around your house and ask your child, "How can I compare you, the table, and me?"  Your child should use words like "taller/shorter" - "I am taller than the table."  "I am shorter than you."

Language Arts:
Two big questions that we've been thinking about are:  How can asking and answering questions about important parts of the story help us understand the books we read?  How can we actively participate in reading activities with our teacher and classmates?  At home, you can continue to ask questions about the books you read to make sure that your child is actively listening to what you read.  One CAFE strategy that will help you is "Use Prior Knowledge to Connect with Text".  Asking your child "Does this remind you of anything you've read or heard before?" can be a great conversation starter when you share books together.

Social Studies: 
To integrate our Social Studies & Language Arts, we are studying important people.  We have encouraged the kids to always remember how they're important and especially why their learning in school is important.  Learning about why some important people even have National Holidays named after them has guided our study.  We have explored the important work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how he worked to make it possible for us to all go to school together.

We have also been learning about where in the world we live.  Thank you to those of you who have been helping your child practice his/her address as well as the city, county, state, country and continent in which we live.  That is huge information for 5 & 6 year olds to learn!!

WOW...and that is just the first month of 2013.  We have so many more important things to learn before the end of the year.  Thank you so much for participating in all of this learning with us!

A Time to Talk!

You wouldn't think that we would have to teach Kindergarteners HOW to talk...but we actually have standards that do just that!!

We can participate in conversations about kindergarten topics and texts with

peers and adults in small and larger groups.

We can follow rules for speaking and listening during conversations.

We can continue a conversation with multiple exchanges.

We can describe familiar people, places, things, and events and give details.

In Kindergarten, there is always talking, but teachers are given the task to stear the conversation so that the chatty friends are made to stop and listen...and the quiet friends are allowed opportunties to talk. In our classrooms, you'll see students pausing with their thinking faces on so that they'll have time to think about their answers to questions.  You'll then see friends sitting "eyes to eyes...knees to knees" with knees together, leaning in, engaged in conversation. 

During these talks, we should see one friend talking, then the other friend talking - both friends taking turns talking AND listening to the other.  We give 1-2 minutes for these exchanges during lessons.  There should be equal opportunities during these "talks".  We then allow time for students share their answers aloud.  We can always observe who is talking, but one way that we "check" to see that there is actually "listening" going on is to ask the friends to share their partner's thoughts to the question (i.e. My friend thought that...).  Using this strategy has really helped make good listeners in our classes.

You can help us with these important strategies by creating "A Time to Talk" in your own home.  Perfect opportunities for conversations are at the dinner table or when you're running errands in the car.  Ask your child questions about what is happening in class.  Encourange your child to answer in complete sentences (i.e. Parent: "What did you do in math today?"  Child:  common response:  "played" - more acceptable response: "I used cubes to make towers of 10"). 

Who could have imagined that Kindergarten standards would be specific about conversational rules.  We hope that these rules encourage fun visits at your house and that students take these rules with them for a lifetime of good friendships!

Singing Through the Standards

ABC & 123...singing through our standards is as fun as can be!

Here are some of our recent favorite phonics & math songs.  You can watch and sing along with your child (please monitor as you would with any You Tube clips).

Math Songs:

Counting to 20
Counting to 100
Numbers in the Teens
Numbers in the Twenties
Transition Numbers
2D Shapes
3D Shapes

Phonics Songs:
Do You Know Your Alphabet
Hip Hop Alphabet
ABC Rock
Who Let the Letters Out?
Rhyming
Rhyme Time
Vowel Bat

A Walk Through Kindergarten

If you walked into a Hayes Kindergarten classroom this week, here are some of the conversations you may hear:

"Hey. . .what are you going to be for Halloween?". . . . ."Wow...you should see all of the candy that I got!!"

. . . but more importantly, you'd hear:

"What did you learn about being a good reader today?"
     "I can stretch my words to sound them out."
     "I can back up and reread."
     "I use cross-checking to figure out words I don't know."
     "I practiced finding sight words in my book."
     "I read lots of books to be a voracious reader!"

"What did you do to write an informational piece today?"
     "I remembered facts from a book about pumpkins."
     "I wrote my facts in a circle map."
     "I used my resources around the room to spell words."
     "I left spaces between my words."
     "I wrote a complete thought about my topic."

"What important holiday did we learn about this week and why is it important?"
     "I learned about Veteran's Day."
     "I learned that there are people that serve in the military."
     "I remember that veterans work hard to make our country a safe place to live."
     "I know that we should celebrate the people that protect our country."
    
"How can you match a number to the quantity of objects?"
     "I can line them in rows of 10."
     "I can make towers of 10 with some ones left over."
     "I can put them on ten frames and then count how many."
     "I can lay them on a numberline to see how many numbers I cover up."

A Few Notes

Conference Week

We are excited to share the progress of our sweet Kindergarteners next week at conferences (Monday, October 22 - Friday, October 26).  School is dismissed 2 hours early. 

A reminder of the conference time will be sent home in the Friday folders.  Please be on time for your conference so that we can stay on schedule. 

School Vision & Mission

There is a brief survey on our school's website (www.cobbk12.org/hayes) that you can take to rank our school community values.  We will use these values to create our new Vision & Mission statesments.  We value and appreciate your input!!

Skate Night

Join your Hayes friends for Sparkle Skate Night on Tuesday, October 23 from 4:00 - 8:00pm.

International Day

We are looking forward to celebrating the cultural diversity of our Hayes friends.  Please join us at school on Saturday, November 3 from 1:00 - 4:00pm.  PTSA would love to showcase any displays, food or dances from your native country.  They would also love some volunteers.  If you are interested in helping or participating, please contact Beverly Pleinis (bevpleinis@aol.com).

I Am Christopher Columbus

I am Christopher Columbus.
I am an explorer (I explored my classroom when I first came to Kindergarten).
I hope to learn new things (reading, writing, math, social studies, science, art, music, computer, PE).
I am on a constant journey (to learn SO many new things this year).
I can use tools to help me on my journey (pencils, crayons, clip boards, flip books, dice, unifix cubes, books, 10 frames…).
I can find treasures (great books in the library, a neat rock outside, wonderful friendships).
I am Christopher Columbus!

This isn’t a true “I Am” poem in the “poetic world”, but it shares the importance of what the kids are learning. We have had a fun time learning all about Christopher Columbus this week. Though he wasn’t really the first person to discover America, he showed us the character trait of persistence - staying true to your goal. Learning that it is important to have a goal, to try your hardest to meet that goal, and to celebrate when you reach that goal is something that we hope the kids will always remember!


Coming Up:
The week of 10/18 - 10/22 is Hayes Spirit Week.
Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Hay Day
Wednesday: Sports Day
Thursday: Backwards – Inside Out Day
Friday: Hayes Spirit Day

Coming Up at Hayes

Please mark your calendars:

Our fall pictures are this Monday, October 8.  Even if your child isn't purchasing pictures, his/her picture will be taken, as this is the picture that will go into the Hayes yearbook.  If you are purchasing pictures, your child will need to bring his/her picture form to school on Monday (the pictures are prepaid).  If you pay online, please send your child with the printed receipt (that you either printed at the end of the online transaction or printed from our confirmation email).

In your child's Friday folder, there will be a note regarding your scheduled conference time during the week of October 22-26.  Please sign and return the bottom half of the form to confirm your conference time.  To make your visit more convenient if your child has siblings at Hayes, we worked with their teachers to schedule back-to-back conferences.  If you are unable to make the scheduled time, we cannot guarantee that your conferences will be back-to-back.  We look forward to sharing all of the wonderful things that our Kindergarteners have learned and how they've grown during the first quarter of school.