Hello Fall 🍂

Ask Your Child About...

1. What landforms they learned about and if they have a favorite.

2. What they learned about jobs and how anyone can be anything they set their mind to!

3. What writers do when they have filled up a page.

4. To identify the word 'and' in various writings (this was our focus word this week)!

A little note left on our class board 😊

Fall has made itself known! 🍂 The kids are getting excited for the changing colors we will see around us! Many of our friends were a tad chilly at recess today, so be sure to send them in layers as the temperatures continue to drop. Gloves and hats are also welcome! With the weather change comes less daylight and sometimes sleepier kiddos. Although your child may be use to a later bed time during the summer, that may need to move up a little in order to ensure they are still getting plenty of rest. Remember: 10-12 hours of sleep is recommended for children this age, which may mean going to bed at 7:30. Kindergarten is tough work! 😴🙂

📚 This week in reading we learned about different kinds of jobs! Many of the kids already have ideas of what they want to be! This is great as you can help them understand how hard work and trying our best in everything we do is the way to get there! We also discussed the fact that anyone can become anything they put their mind to. There is no such thing as a girl's job or a boy's job! We want to encourage our kiddos to reach for the stars and boost their confidence by expressing our belief in their skills. 🌟

🔢 In math we worked on comparing numbers using the new vocabulary words: equal, same, different, less than, and greater than. You can create fun activities at home to compare the number of toys, leaves, crackers, and so on!

✏ Our writing time focused on how to create books! Yes, that's right, we really are becoming authors! We learned that once a page is full, if we still have more to share about that same topic we can get a new sheet of paper and continue writing! Once that page is full we can add it to our last one by using a stapler. Way to go Lion Factory Writers!

🌳 Science brought us into landforms and how trees might grow differently in each area. The children identified landforms close to us and far away! Next week will be an exciting time in science as we prepare to plant our very own tulip tree in the schoolyard! We will have some class discussions about what trees need to survive and how we can help our tree grow big, strong, and healthy. The tree planting will take place on Thursday morning.

A few things to take note of that are coming up...
🔥 Fire prevention week is October 7th-13th. This year Lincoln will have the local firefighters visit for a K-4 assembly in the multipurpose room on Thursday, October 4th. This assembly is open to all student guardians and will take place at 9:00 a.m. This year's slogan is "Look. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere." This slogan includes three main steps: 1. Look for places fire could start. 2. Listen for the sound of the smoke alarm. 3. Learn two ways out of every room and ensure that all doors and windows are clear and easily opened by all members of the family. I encourage you all to practice at home this weekend or through next week!

😎 Remember there will be no school on Friday due to an in-service.

📗 Scholastic books will arrive Monday and be sent home with your student! New order forms are coming home today in the kid's Lincoln Lion Friday folders. You may place orders from these new flyers anytime before the morning of October 19th. These can be done through  paper or online with the code RCYJT. I moved the due date up a little to ensure the books will arrive before the end of the month and any holiday/seasonal books purchased will be able to be read in time! Thank you!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and please reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns! 😊

It was great to see you! 🦁

Ask Your Child About...

1. The four seasons and what it may look like on a tree.

2. What they learned about caring for pets: responsibility and extra love.

3. How writing is like a rubber band and the Little Engine That Could.

4. To identify the word 'the' in various writings (this was our focus word this week)!
5. Their adopted tree!

A huge thank you for making it out for Back to School Night last night! The kids were all excited to show you around the room and the school! This is always a great opportunity for the kids to take ownership in their environment and be proud of what they do each day. Thank you again! 😊

This week we also celebrated Constitution Day with a read aloud titled We the Kids by David Catrow. This book highlights the preamble to the constitution in a more friendly manner with wonderful illustrations to match! After the read aloud we all signed a Classroom Constitution which now proudly hangs in our room. 🗽

You may have also been told of a special guest in our room this Tuesday as well as last Tuesday. A University of Iowa student, Mr. Farino, is currently studying Engineering but is considering changing majors to Education. He has been visiting various classrooms to get a feel for what teaching is all about and what different grade levels have to offer. Mr. Farino spent one full day with us and one half day. During this time he mostly observed, helped redirect students, and had small conversational interactions with the students. Mr. Farino said he enjoyed being in our classroom and is excited to see more! 🍎

Mr. Farino reading a story before school begins.

Friday marked the end of our first math topic of counting from 0-5 in written, verbal, and visual formats. We also went over some vocabulary words to help explain what we are talking about while discussing math: number, none, count, part, whole, and order. These are words that will continue to show up throughout their time in and out of school. A great time to ask your child about their math understanding is while cooking/baking or at the grocery store! Please keep working with your child to help them recognize these numbers in the world around them and write them with confidence. 🙂

I apologize if your child came home at any point during the week asking for a new pet! 😅 Our reading study this week focused on pets. We read lots of stories about different animals and all of the work that goes into caring for them. We talked about how we can show care and respect for not only our family and friends, but animals as well! These stories also worked hand-in-hand with our focus word: the. We discussed how the sound to make 'the' comes from our tongue pushing between the front of our teeth. We practiced different words that also make the 'th' sound. Feel free to ask your child what words make these sounds and to identify the word 'the' in text for you! 📖

Scholastic Books have been ordered and they will arrive within a week! I will send out the next order forms after that. There is an order form for each month and each time it will be due on the second to last Friday so that the books will arrive on the last Friday of the month. Each of your orders also allow for our class to earn points which allows me to pick out books for our classroom library free of charge! Thank you for helping our library grow! 🤗

Some of our friends creating their Seasons Book

This week in science we learned about the four seasons and what a tree might experience during these changing times. You should see a seasons book coming home with your child that shows how a tree changes for each one! We also went on an adventure to adopt our very own tree! The students drew our tree as scientifically accurate as they could in their journals and wrote 'summer' next to it. We will draw our tree during each of the four seasons so that we can see how it changes over time! We also collected some items from around our tree to help us study it. I encourage you to adopt a tree with your family at a local park or in your neighborhood. Let your child pick the tree and come back to it frequently to see what you can see! Are there things living in or around it? Is it young or old? How many people does it take to wrap around it? What shape is the tree and it's leaves? What does it smell like? Do some sketches and even etchings of the bark and leaves. Enjoy this simple activity outside with your family all year long! 🌳

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and are able to get out and enjoy this changing whether! It was great to see you all last night and the kid's absolutely loved being your teacher! Be sure to get plenty of rest - for the little ones and yourselves - you've earned it! 😊

We like to... 🙂

Ask Your Child About...

1. The different shapes of trees.

2. What they learned about friendship this week.

3. The steps to writing a word.

4. To identify the words 'we', 'like', and 'to' in various writings (they were our focus words this week)!

We had a strong full week of school! The kiddos are a bit tired, so be sure to get some extra sleep in this weekend in preparation for Monday. 😴😊 You will see Friday folders coming home today with school pictures and some information regarding coming to school sick. Please remember to send these folders back to school on Monday! We will have library check out on Tuesday again, so feel free to send those books back so your child may pick out new ones to bring home. Next Friday will be the last day to submit an online order or send an flyer order form with your preferred form of payment to school for this month's Scholastic. 📚

In math this week we focused on grouping 4 and 5 objects, as well as being able to identify 0. Everyone has been doing very well with these activities! Feel free to practice writing the numbers 0-5 at home and making sure we are starting from the top and not going backwards. 😊 Make it interactive by using sand, paint in a zip-lock baggy or shaving cream! 🎨 A helpful song is "I Can Write My Numbers" by Harry Kindergarten! 🎶

This week in reading we focused on the words 'we', 'like', and 'to'. You may be seeing a piece of paper with a sentence strip with these words on it and/or a book with these words in it coming home! If your student doesn't have these with them, don't worry! Some of our friends did not finish and wanted to keep them at school until they were done. Keep this book as an example of their AWESOME writing skills and to proudly show that you have an AUTHOR in your house! Yes, a real author! 😎

This leads us into writing. We have been working on how to stretch words to get them down on paper. We have three steps for getting words onto paper: 1. Say the word 2. Make the first sound. 3. Write down the letter of the sound. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have made it through the entire word. *Remember: at this point it is not about having our kids spell everything exactly right, but simply getting them to try.* We want happy, confident, willing to try learners! 😊

One friendly reminder that if after school transportation plans change please send me an email and/or call the office as we can better ensure I will know where to send the students at the end of the day! Often the kids know, but sometimes they forget, so it helps if I am able to keep a record of it as stated from a guardian as well. 🚗🚌 Thank you!

Enjoy this beautiful weather and have a wonderful weekend! 🔆

Second Week Down

Ask Your Child About...

1. The different parts of trees (roots, trunk, branches, leaves).

2. What observe means: we are observing trees in science, but we are learning that there are many things are person may observe!

3. What writer's say when they think they are done. 

4. What they learned about families this week.

5. To identify to word 'I' in various writings (it was our focus word this week)!

This week went quick! We are starting to get use to our daily routines and will only become stronger in them with time. Thank you for your helpful reminders to your children about lunches, Lincoln Lion folders, and transportation each day; it truly helps! Thank you for helping with our All About Me posters! Your pictures from home are sure to make the classroom more homey and comforting to the children. 😊

Friday Folders only have a few items in them this week. The CDs are yours to keep, so please use them as you see fit! The tree book is an activity we completed during science to help us learn the parts of trees. Due to the rain this week we were unable to get out and complete one of my favorite activities: leaf gazing! If you have time, I encourage you and your family to find a lovely large tree to lay under and look up into. We talk about how the leaves blow in the wind and look like they are dancing. 🍃The children always seem to enjoy this visual especially if you are able to do so under different trees and light. We also discussed how as scientists we can use our senses (touch, smell, sight, and hearing in this case) to observe the trees. Get out and enjoy a tree walk on this hopefully good weather weekend! 🌳🔆

In math we focused on identifying, grouping, and writing the numbers 1-4. You should have seen a math sheet come home each day as we complete a lesson. We do a whole group lesson at the rug with examples and practice, then we split to our tables to complete the sheet that you see from your student each day. Some days we also pair up for math games that relate to the topic of the day. 🔢

This week in reading we focused on the word 'I'. We practiced writing and identifying it. I chose various read aloud books that repeated the word multiple times so the students could be exposed to the word more frequently, and encouraged them to use it in their writing. Our topic for the week was family with the strategy of retelling. We discussed how all families are similar and different and did our best to retell each story after we had read them. I encourage your family to read stories about family this week and have some discussions about what it means to be a family (what it looks like, sounds like and feels like). 📗

We have begun our writing curriculum and are off to a great start! The students have decided to call themselves the Lion Factory Writers! 🦁 Writing is always a new experience for students no matter the age. Many have misconceptions on what is considered writing and what is not. Right now we want to encourage our learners to try, try, try! I keep telling the kiddos it does not matter if it is exactly right or not, what matters is if we try. We aren't looking for perfect drawing or spelling, we are simply looking for details and effort. Help encourage your student to try their best and help boost their confidence! We are all writers! 📝

For those of you that are interested, Scholastic Book orders will be due the 21st. They typically take a week to arrive, so that allows for them to arrive before the next month's flyer comes in. If you are interested in ordering, you can do this by filling out the flyer and attaching a check payable to Scholastic Book Club, filling out the flyer and sending cash, or going online to pay (you can search for our class by my name or our class code: RCYJT).  I have already received some orders, so thank you and please be patient as I wait for any others that may decide before the 21st!

Again, if you ever have questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact me by phone through the school anytime during the week or through email at grady.allison@iowacityschools.org

Thank you and I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 😊🔆