Mrs. Bennett's Class

Happy Spring everyone!  I am sure that we are all excited to put the cold and snowy weather behind us and move forward to sunny, warm long days!

It is shocking that we are now in the fifth marking period, and that in just a few months school will be over!  In Kindergarten we have just a few more letters to learn until we complete the alphabet!  We have recently learned e, j, v, and y.  This week we will wne working on z.  Next will be u and q and we will know all 26 letters students are doing a lot of blending words and reading decodable books.  We are working very hard on becoming super readers!  Students recenty learned the high frequency words they, who, out, she, and good.  We will have 37 HFW by the end of the year!

In writing students are working on writing sentences independently.  They are given support as needed, but I expect students to try to spell and write using letter sounds and high frequency words!

In math, we have finished our shape unit and we are working on addition and subtraction strategies.  We are also working on counting sets of objects accurately and identifying numbers to 30. 

IEP updates and report cards came home last week.  Call with any questions or concers!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!  I can not believe that we are already half way through February!  With all the snow days in January time just flew by!

I wanted to post an update so parents are aware of all the letters and words we have learned in Kindergarten! We have the learned the letters a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, w, x.  We have learned the words I, a, my, the, go, to, like, he, come, here, this, me, for, where, do, you, look, see, one, what, two, up, down, and we are working on we and want this week.  Please work with your child on these letters and words.  They will need to practice so that they can become more fluent readers and writers!

In math we have recently started our shape unit.  Students are learning about circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds (rhombus), hexagons, ovals, and trapezoids!  They will also be learning about 3-D shapes such as cones and cubes.  We are working with many different things to help students learn about shapes, such as shape software, geoboards, and pattern blocks.  Students are loving this unit!  We will continue to work on counting and number identification as well.

As always, feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns!  And keep checking your child’s folder daily for more information

Well, December is flying by, and it is hard to believe that the holiday season is already here!  Don’t forget that our last day of school will be Friday, December 17th.  December 17th is also Polar Express Day where students and teachers can wear their pajamas to school!

Schools will be closed from December 18th through January 2nd.  We will return to school on January 3, 2011!  I will be sending home a “Holiday Packet” in your child’s folder.  This is not homework!  It is an activity packet you can work on with your child over the break to help them review skills.  Please use it as much as you can so that when we return to school your child is ready work hard! 

I would like to also announce that our student teacher, Ms. Acerno, will be completing her time here with us at Carrie Downie on Friday, December 17th.  We have enjoyed working with her, and will miss her very much when she is gone!  We wish her luck as she finishes her final semester at the University of Delaware in the spring!

I would like to welcome Ms. Jessica Acerno to our school and classroom!  She will be working with me in our classroom from October 18th until December 17th.  Jessica is a student teacher from the University of Delaware.  Ms. Acerno will be planning and implementing many exciting lessons during her 8 weeks here at Carrie Downie!  Welcome!  Any questions, feel free to contact Mrs. Bennett!

Parent Teacher conferences are this week.  I look forward to seeing everyone here to discuss your child’s progress!

Our Kindergarten students have learned the letters M, S, R, T, N, P, C, and A.  We are now working on building and blending to make words!  Next week we will work with the letter D.  We have learned the HFW ‘I’ ‘a’ ‘my’ ‘the’ ‘go’ and ‘to.’  Next week we will work on the word ‘like.’  We are learning about sentences, and are practicing writing using letter sounds.

In math we are still working on number recognition every day.  We are also continuing to practice counting sets of objects, and matching numbers to quantities.  We will start measurement next week and comparing amounts.  Soon we will be working on patterns!

Keep checking those folders for information from me!  And also look for some fun fall crafts that will be coming home soon

So far in Kindergarten, we have learned the letter names and sounds for M, S, R, and we are working on T this week.  We have learned the words ‘I’, ‘a’, and we are working on ‘my’ this week.  We are practicing writing our names with a capital letter in the beginning and lower case letters to follow.   In math, we are working on counting sets of objects and recording our results.  We have also worked on sorting and matching items such as buttons, shapes, and tiles.  There are many things you can do at home to support our in school activities

Here are some important dates to remember:

Wednesday, 9/1 – K Reads/Literacy Night, 6-7 pm

Friday, 9/3-Monday, 9/6 – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 9/7 – Open House Night, 6:30-7:30 pm

Hello everyone, and welcome to the 2010-2011 school year at Carrie Downie Elementary School!  I am thrilled to be back, and this year I am teaching Kindergarten Special Education in my resource room, 304, along with a few interventions. 

I got married in July, so my name has changed from Ms. Merritt to Mrs. Bennett! 

Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 18th!  See you then