Important Dates
Monday, April 30 ~ Earth Day *Wear play clothes as we will be working in our garden.
April 30-May 4 Book Fair, Teacher Appreciation Week
May 3 ~ Thursday 5:30-8:00pm Art Extravaganza, Spaghetti Dinner
May 8 Career Day
May 10 Play Day *Please dress your child in clothes that they can play in (Wear your blue Field Trip shirt, shorts, and sneakers!)
May 24 Talent Show 6:30 pm
June 1 Reading Celebration *Please dress your child in clothes that they can play in (Wear your blue Field Trip shirt, shorts, and sneakers!)
June 5 Kindergarten Performance *Your child may wear something nice as they will be on stage. More information to follow.
June 6 Kindergarten Party Cookout *Please dress your child in clothes she/he can play in (but no spaghetti straps or flip flops). More information to follow.
June 7 Last Day of School Dismissal is at noon. Have a wonderful summer!
Our Spring Garden
Several weeks ago we planted our Spring garden! We planted green bean seeds, corn, radishes, cucumber, carrots, and tomato plants. We have been checking on them several times a week and have really noticed a lot of changes! All of our green bean plants have already sprouted! We will continue to observe our garden, take care of it, and write about it in our Science Journals.
Making Connections
During Reader's Workshop, we have been talking about Making Connections.
Working Together to Improve Reading
Making Connections
Making connections: TT, TS, TW (Text-Text; Text-Self; Text-World)
Reading as thinking is a wonderful way to introduce making connections to a class of students. Often reading is considered passive but when students are thinking, it automatically becomes an active process. Of the three connections, it is best to model text-to-self first. All students can easily activate prior knowledge about their lives. Next teach text to text and, finally, text to world as this is the most difficult for students to comprehend.
Making connections occurs when students think about the text in relation to connections they can make to self, to texts, and to others (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997).
Text to Self
Students connect with the text via their own personal experiences or life. Students relate to the literature by a specific experience in their life. Students have been creating life experiences since birth; therefore, it is easy for them to activate prior knowledge.
"The text says...this reminds me of..." is a wonderful prompt for a text to self connection. Students simply fill in the blanks. It is best for a teacher to model this and to write this prompt with a sample answer for students to view anytime.
"If that happened to me...I would…." is another text to self prompt for students. This prompt makes a student think about whether he would do something similar or different than the character.
Text-to-self connections are made frequently without the student knowing she is making a connection. Readers naturally will begin a dialogue based on a story that relates to their family and experiences.
Text to Text
Students connect to the text in relation to another text. Students make connections from a previous book they have read.
"This book reminds me of (another book) because..." is a good text to text prompt. This prompt makes the student think of another book that has a similar element to the book she is reading. This connection requires more thinking as students have less prior knowledge.
Teachers should model this frequently and relate to books the class has read as a whole and/or incorporate guided reading books. Teachers may stop at a specific point and begin a talk aloud about how it reminds them of a text and mark it with a sticky note.
Text to World
Students connect to the text in relation to the world. They no longer connect with only personal information or experiences. Media such as television, Internet, or movies, is a great way to introduce text to world. Most students will have knowledge of similar media that will allow the teacher to connect with the real world.
"This reminds me of the real world because..." is a good prompt for helping students to make connections with the world. Students need a great deal of modeling because often they will make a text to self connection thinking it is a text to world connection. The key difference is text to self is only about the student while text to world is about everyone outside his small community.
Making connections is one strategy to improve reading comprehension. It is important for students to understand the concept of activating prior knowledge if they are to succeed in this strategy. Making connections is wonderful as it makes the reader active in the reading process.
Functional Writing!
This week we began Functional, or "How To" writing.
Students will produce writing that tells others "How To" do something. They will use time words (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Then, Next, Last, Finally, etc) in their writing when stating each step.
To help your child thoroughly enjoy this new genre of writing we will be eating our way through it. This week we made Lemonade, popcorn, and PBJ sandwiches! For our FUN FRIDAY activity, we taught Mrs. Newton's class how to make lemonade and they taught us how to make PBJ sandwiches! Both turned out delicious!
Holiday Activities!
It is hard to believe that the holidays are only a few weeks away! Over the next few weeks, we will be doing many holiday activities and art projects. If you are able to donate any of the materials below, please let me know. This list includes items needed for our Polar Express party on December 16th. More information regarding this event will be sent home at a later date. As always thank you so much for allowing me to work with your child, they put a smile on my face each and every day!
Glitter for glitter glue: red, green, silver, gold
gumdrops
2 gallons of chocolate milk
syrofoam cups
Gingerbread Man marshmallows
Holiday Marshmallows
Cotton Balls
Mini marshmallows
M&Ms
Skittles
Cardstock
sugar cones
Goldfish crackers
Persuasive Writing
We have begun Persuasive Writing. Persuasive writing is when you try to convince or talk someone into something. Today they had to PERSUADE me to let them have recess.
This is what they came up with:
Dear Ms. Faller,
We want to go to recess because it is fun. We get to play. It lets us exercise. It keeps us healthy.
Updates!
Thank you to Mrs. Oca for sending in a pumpkin and candy corn so that we could do some fun Halloween/Fall activities! We really enjoyed it!
Volunteers are still needed to work a 30-minute shift at our booth during the Fall Carnival on Friday! This is the biggest event of the year and everyone's help is needed! It is a lot of fun! Please contact our room parent to sign up!
Pictures from October have been posted. Click on the "Pictures" tab to check them out! There are also captions explaining the activities. Your child will LOVE telling you all about our October fun!
**If you chaperoned our Zoo field trip, please e-mail or burn me a CD/DVD of any pictures you took so that I can add them to our website and use them in our end of the year slideshow!
The November resource schedule is posted on the "Calendar" page of our website. It was also sent home in your child's planner today. Keep it in a safe place so that you can refer to it throughout the month!
What have we been up to?
In Skills block, we are talking about beginning sounds. Soon we will begin talking about ending sounds.
In Reader's Workshop, we are beginning to read non-fiction books. We are talking about the differences between fiction and non-fiction. We are working on new Reading Strategies (point to the words, use your picture clues, use Turtle Talk to sound out the words, etc). We practice them daily during Independent and Buddy Reading. When listening to your child read at home, remind them to use these strategies! We are also retelling stories to increase comprehension. We have been discussing the characters, setting, problem, and solution of a story. Many of these concepts are also used in Writer's Workshop!
We will be finishing up our Narrative Writing genre next week and moving on to Persuasive Writing. Please encourage your child to use their sight words and "Turtle Talk' when writing. Please do not spell the words for them or write it and have them copy it. In class, they are doing it independently and need to be doing so at home as well. Encourage your child to RE-READ their writing, making sure to point to each word as they say it. This helps them catch any mistakes/missing words and allows them to see if what they wrote makes sense. We will begin discussing the importance of putting spaces between words next week.
In Math, we are now counting to 100 by 1's and 10's. Ask your child to sing you their Counting to 100 by 10's song! We are also still working on one-to-one correspondence (pointing to/touching each object as you count it), re-counting to double check our answer, and number recognition.
In Science, we began a unit on Force and Motion. We kicked it off by making 'flying ghosts!' In Social Studies, we will be learning about upcoming holidays: Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving!
Thanks for your support at home and I look forward to the month ahead!
Thanks!
Thank you to everyone who chaperoned! We had a great time at the zoo. If you have any pictures, please e-mail them to me: fallera@duvalschools.org or burn them to a CD/DVD so that I can add them to our website and use them for our end of the year slideshow! Thanks!
Fall Activities
Next week and the following Monday (31), we will be doing many activities and projects to celebrate fall. If you are able to donate any of the following, please e-mail me or write a note in your child's planner. Thanks!
Needed on Oct 31:
1 medium-sized pumpkin
****Don't forget to send in a bag of candy for our Fall Carnival booth by November 1st! Contact our room parent if you would like to sign up to work a 30-minute shift at our booth during the carnival!*****
CTE Fall Carnival!
Our 5th Annual CTE Fall Carnival will be on Friday, November 4 from 5-9PM. Each classroom is in charge of running a booth. Our booth will be the "Duck Pond." We will need volunteers to sign up to help run our booth during the carnival. PTA is asking for students to please bring in individually wrapped bags of candy for our booth's consolation prizes. If you are interested in working a shift or helping decorate our booth, please let me know and I will put you in contact with our room parents. Thanks!
Congrats!
Our class was the top collector of Box Tops for August AND September! Please keep up the amazing work!!!
Congratulations to the students that have earned their Book It! free pizza coupon for October by turning in their Book Log:
Janessa
Maddie
Jeremiah
Kenzie
Colin
Madison
Michal
Scholastic Orders are due Oct. 14!
Field Trip
Our Field Trip to JCA to see "The 3 Little Pigs" will be on Tuesday! Field Trip shirts will go home on Monday. Please make sure that your child wears their shirt to school on Tuesday!
What have we been up to?
Check out the curriculum page to see what we have been working on!
Today we went to the computer lab for the first time. Students LOVED it. They can visit Destination Success, as well as other sites (check out our WEBSITES page) at home as well. Your child's login info is on the back cover of their planner. Students WILL be learning how to type their username and password in BY THEMSELVES. If you would like to start working on that at home, that would be great!
Other Info: I post pictures at the end of each month. Special events (holidays, etc) are usually up the next day.
I will also post our Resource schedule at the beginning of the month. Have a great weekend!
Resources this Month!
September
PE - 2, 14, 22, 30
Music - 9, 19, 28
Art - 15
Library - 26
Open House!
Open House will be Thursday, September 8 from 6-7pm. Hope to see you there!
First Week!
We had a great first week of Kindergarten at Chaffee Trail Elementary School! We started our days with our Good Morning song, the calendar, and learning a little about each other. We read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom each day and then went on a tour of the school and hunted for all of the letters of the alphabet! Then we came back to the classroom and stuck them on the coconut tree--just like in the book! On Friday, we had a special Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Alphabet Treat (Rice Krispie treats made out of Alphabits cereal)! We read books, explored with math manipulatives, counted, sang our ABCs, and many other activities. We also are practicing our rituals and routines and learning to be good listeners! We are excited about the fun year ahead! Check out all of the pictures from our exciting week! Click on the PICTURES tab!
Destination Success
Destination Success is now available for you to use at home! Duval County Public Schools offers all Elementary Students a FREE software suite called Destination Success. It includes dynamic Reading and Math software that can be used at home, school, library, or any location with internet access. To access this wonderful resource, please visit https://success.duvalschools.org (The link is also available on our class website: msfaller123.shutterfly.com Click on the WEBSITES tab). Your child’s login information is being sent home tomorrow in their agenda. Check it out!
First Day!
We had a GREAT first day of Kindergarten! We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and went on a hunt around the school looking for A B C. We will be looking for the rest of the letters throughout the week (part of touring the school). We are working on on Rituals and Routines (raising our hand, standing in line, following directions, etc). Check out the pictures from our first day of school! Click on the PICTURES tab. Enjoy :)
1st Day of Kindergarten!
I enjoyed meeting you today at orientation. I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday morning! School begins promptly at 8:30AM. The PTA will be having a "Boo-Hoo Breakfast" for parents of Kindergarten students.
Orientation 12:30-1:15
Welcome to Kindergarten!
I'm excited to meet you and your child on Friday, August 19th from 12:30-1:15 at Orientation. Please come meet me, and take a look around. Feel free to bring your students school supplies, if you already have them.
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Reminders for the week of August 22:
*Reminders*
- Please send in your child's school supplies if you have not done so already!
- Make sure that your child wears their transportation tag every day to/from school for the first few weeks to help make sure that they get home the correct way! If you will be picking up your child a different way, please write a note in their agenda.
- Check your child's agenda EVERY night. Their behavior grade will be written in their agenda.
Online Resources
At school, we have been going to the computer lab. Most students are now able to sign in by themselves. Their login information for Riverdeep (Success.duvalschools.org) is on a label on the inside back cover of their planner. The students really enjoy playing these games and do not realize how much they are learning at the same time!
If you have internet access at home, I encourage you to take advantage of this free resource provided by the district. Also, click on the WEBSITES tab to see a list of other great sites that your child has access too. You can also access these websites at the public library or anywhere that there is internet access!
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