Good afternoon JK parents!

This week we began our centers with zoo phonics journal writing, math counting and number writing, paper people, and sign in books.  

(Below are a couple of photos of show and tell from Friday.) 

Our Consulting Psychologist, Dr. Glader, came to visit and read a story to JK (The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes).  She will be assisting our school on Fridays and helping us with any challenges we experience in the classroom.  She is wonderful and we are so happy to have her!  The children loved her animated reading.  She will become a familiar face to the students so they will feel comfortable seeing her and sharing with her if needed.  It's just another win for the children at Roycemore, with so many people caring for them and consulting to provide the most positive experience.

Language Arts & Fine Motor:

The children copied zoo phonics letters and practiced writing them in their journals, and then illustrated an animal from one of the letters.  We are reading many books about families and differences including:  Thunder Boy Jr., Elmer's Special Day, All About Me, It's Okay to be Different, Iggy Peck Architect, Mattie's Hats, What I like About Me, All About Me, Hooray for Reading Day, Same, Same, but Different. We are assessing the children and assisting them as we begin working on the tripod hold when writing, and find which pencil and grip is most comfortable for reinforcing the proper hold.  Among the most important things your child will learn/develop in JK are fine motor skills.  The number one way to develop fine motor skills is working with dough-play dough, clay, etc.  Please click on this article for other ways to develop these skills.  All children will benefit from working on these.  These must be developed before writing and scissor skills may occur.  We will practice and exercise these muscles daily with multiple activities, but please be sure you are encouraging these at home.   

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/movement-coordination-issues/6-fine-motor-activities-for-young-kids

We clapped out the syllables in each child's name as they earned a ticket to line up.  Breaking up words into syllables helps them isolate letter sounds and have a better understanding of how letters combine to make words.  

I led a scissor skills workshop today, going over the proper "thumbs up" hold.  We will be working on scissor skills throughout the year.  The children practiced by cutting straight, curvy and zig zag lines, along with giving a girl on paper a paper hair cut.  We talked about how we only cut paper and nothing else, along with other scissor safety tips.  

Our reading groups met and began determining best fit for current developmental levels.  We are starting with Bob books and will add RAZ books as well as needed.  

The children pasted cut out people to represent their families, and then colored them to add faces and clothes.  They also wrote or traced all of the names of their family members (some of their words are on the back of their pictures to give them plenty of space to write).  

One of our centers today concentrated on tracing lower case letters with our pip squeak markers, which are great for little hands.  

French Class is just wonderful!

Math & Science:

Using white boards provides a fun way to practice our numbers while playing math games! We count each day and practice writing our numbers as we complete the calendar in our morning meeting.  We counted the letters in our name for our "ticket to go to your table for snack".  

We took a survey and charted our results on whether we love JK or not.  Of course it was unanimous in favor!  We will use Venn diagrams, pie charts, tally marks, and many ways to compare and contrast opinions/answers and information.  

We used tweezers and counted pom poms after drawing a card, placing each pom pom into our cupcake pans.  This is a wonderful skill for fine motor and eye-hand coordination.  

Social Emotional:

We work everyday to discuss kindness and caring in our classroom.  The children did an amazing job presenting their posters and taking turns asking and answering questions about their families and favorite things.  They were all confident and respectful when speaking and commenting.  It was an impressive set of skills they demonstrated-even for adults.  I am so proud of them.  

We will welcome a new little girl, Bailey, into our class on Monday.  I know the children will be very excited to meet a new friend!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Massey

Good afternoon JK parents!

Please bring in your family photo and complete the questionnaire if you have not already done so!  Also, please complete your "All About Me" poster.

Second week has been a success.  We are meshing together as a classroom and becoming a Roycemore family!

Language Arts/Literacy:
The students began writing their names in their sign in books.  We will write in these daily using "Handwriting Without Tears" program, encouraging children's correct tripod grip and letter formation.
We began our "All About Me" theme this week and have been talking about how different we all are, and celebrating those differences!  We have read many books in support of our theme as well as other favorites for the beginning of school including:
Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Splat the Cat Back to School Splat, How About a Hug, A Porcupine Named Fluffy, Elmer, Stephanie's Ponytail, Pirates Go To School, Elmer and Rose, Chrysanthemum.
We have passed around our class frog and talked about our siblings and families and what that means.  We talked about relatives and family that live in our house and in other places.  We also talked about our "school family" or "JK family".

 Meeting our Senior Buddies!

 I wonder if he can tell them apart!

 Illustrating a page in our journals

 Decorating her All About Me paper person

Playing "Don't Wake Daddy!"

Elmer taught us how lovely it is to stand out, and how everyone in his family and herd celebrated the beauty of being different and not afraid to be who you are.

Fine Motor:
The children decorated their Elmer the Elephants with fabric squares and colorful tiles, and added tails.  Gluing and placing these small pieces is excellent practice for their fine motor skills.  We started painting our "All About Me" paper people, choosing the colors of their clothes.  We will add their shoes, facial features, and hair next week!  They are always so proud of this multi-step project, and it provides time for me to chat with each student individually as I assist them with their paper doll.  The children also completed a journal page of their families, dictating which members were represented and what they were doing in the picture.  One of my favorites was one child explaining that their faces were yellow because they have on "sun scream" and are getting ready to go to the beach!  Love.

We began practicing our letter formation in different colored sand trays, using the zoo phonics letters as our guide.  Any letter practice is good, and providing a variety of ways to write makes it fun while learning.  We danced to "Who Let the Letters Out", and are learning the motions that pair with each letter.  Using motions while singing increases retention by 80% and makes learning more meaningful.

Brandon was the first student to present his "All About Me" poster, and share his favorites with the class.  I love learning about all of the students and their families!  Please bring your posters on Tuesday if you have not already completed.  Next week will be our last week of "All About Me" before we move onto another unit of study.

Math and Science:
I measured all of the students as we compared taller and shorter.  We discussed the seasons and have learned a song about Autumn and September.  We are making careful observations as we have our Weather Watcher give us a weather report each morning.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.  I am excited to begin a new week of school on Tuesday!

Ms. Massey