Fall Party

Here are the highlights from our Fall Party after Literary Parade. The kids had a great day filled with fun Fall activities.

Fall Party on PhotoPeach

Math Centers

Last week we began our Math Centers. This is a time that students work on previous lessons that reinforce what they have already learned. Students work individually but complete the same game as their friends at their table. The best part about centers is that the kids don't even realize they are learning! Here are some highlights from our centers.

A Special Guest

Last week Mr. Dygan, our Speech Pathologist, brought a special guest to our room. Tiger, a Kenyan Sand Boa, was actually familiar to Mrs. Harbour. This Kenyan Sand Boa was actually her son Matt's snake for many years. As Matt became older he realized he would not be able to take care of Tiger and would be leaving for college so he asked Mr. Dygan, a well known snake lover, to adopt her. The kids were able to learn a little bit about this type of snake, come up to touch her, as well as how to be safe if they come across a snake. Thank you Mr. Dygan for a great teachable moment!

Reading Strategies

Although many kindergarteners are not ready to read at this point of the year, we are learning new reading strategies that support even our beginning readers. This last week we focused very hard at looking at the pictures as our first strategy. Students are learning that whenever they are reading a book, simple or hard, that the pictures are important. Pictures support our text. In early emergent books the pictures directly tie to the words on the page. As students grow as readers, the pictures don't tell what is on the page, they support what text is on the page. When they begin reading chapter books they will know how to create those mental images of what the illustration would look life if there was one since they have grown to associate the pictures with text over time. Students will learn to describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear. Make sure that when you are reading with your child you take a picture walk prior to reading. What a great way to engage in conversation about what will happen in the story.