Things to Know About Kindergarten
Our day is extremely full. Students may arrive at 7:30 a.m. to have breakfast in the cafeteria. Students who are not eating breakfast may go to the gym for planned activities. Students go to thier classes at 7:55 a.m. The first half of the year, they are escorted by their teacher. The second half of the year, they are allowed to walk quietly to thier classrooms.
Our morning in class begins with simple routines of getting out daily folders, putting up backpacks, lunch boxes, jackets, etc. I do my best to check all daily folders as they come in for notes from home and other important things parents need me to have. Your child's daily folder also contains his/her discipline calendar, page protectors for snack calendar and a pocket for take home readers and other homework. Yes, kindergarteners do have homework, but the majority of it is based on their Eagle Folder which is a seperate folder they keep in their backpack. Each month, a sheet of activities and parent led lessons is sent home to go along with the Eagle Folder.
After all our housekeeping chores are done, we start with Morning Message. This is were students are introduced to interactive writing and reading. The morning message has to do with things we are learning in class, the weather, the special events, etc. The students contribute with their ideas.
The main reading lesson follows Morning Message. This is were we get to the heart of reading with developing phonemic awareness, learning phonics, decoding skills, vocabulary development, etc. One skill I like to teach my students is "finger spelling". This is where they stretch out the individual sounds in words using their fingers beginning with their thumb on the opposite hand they write with to "spell" the word. This gives them a devise to help them with writing and it transfers to scanning and stretching words when decoding to read.
Now it is time for P.E. Our students go to the gym for a variety of activities with our Coaches. This time is my conference time where meetings with parents can be arranged.
Our lunch break is immediately after P.E. Our students are allowed to go to the restroom, wash their hands before going into the cafeteria. This year, our lunch break time is 10:55 to 11:25 a.m.
When we get back to our room from lunch we have centers. Center time is very important as students can practice independently and in small groups most of the skills learned in class. Centers involve Phonics, Writing, Handwriting, Poetry, Listening to Stories, Art, Math and Games. It is also the time students are on the computers using the Waterford Early Reading Program. This is an excellent program that teaches all the skills for reading that we do during class. Also, during this time, I conduct small group Guided Reading and Intervention lessons. This is were students get the most intensive training in learning to read.
After centers, we take a 20 minute break for recess. When we return, we do Calendar and Math Wall daily. We then get into the primary math lesson where students learn sorting, collecting data, counting, recognizing numbers, shapes, patterns, time, money and other math concepts.
Toward the end of the day, we have time for Integrated Extensions. This is were we have lessons in Science, Social Studies, Character Counts and Special Events. Sometimes we join Mrs. Jandt's class for these activities and do a team teach for both classes. The students enjoy the interaction with another class.
Our day ends with students who are picked up by parents in their cars at the back circle at 3:15 p.m. Bus students remain in their classroom with one of the teachers and then go to the cafeteria at 3:25 p.m. to await the buses.
As you can see, our day is exhaustive especially at the beginning of the year, but our students always show their Eagle Pride in doing a good job!
Here are some notes from the Kindergarten Handbook:
