Kindergarten: Room 215: 2016

What we're learning...
Math

I can compare quantities using plus que, moins que et égal à (more than, less than and equal to)

I can rote count to 50

I can recognize, write, represent in drawing or with concrete objects the quantity represented by numbers 0-20

I can work with quantities 0-20 represented through counting, reading and writing.

I can use words representing spacial relationships

sur (on)

sous (under)

devant (in front of)

derriere (behind)

à coté (next to)

entre (between)

dans (in)

Science

I can differentiate between night and day through difference in

moon

stars

planets...

Social Studies

I can identify historical and current American Presidents and Leaders

President Obama

I can identify common American symbols

American flag

French Communication Arts
Reading/pre-reading skills

I can recognize story elements

main characters

recall order of events in story

make predictions based in visual cues and prior knowledge

begin to recognize high frequency words in written text

recognize name and sound of letters taught to date

I can recognize the learned letter sounds at the beginning of a word

Feb 1st: letter Tt

Feb 8th: letter Pp

February: letter Dd

Introduction: I can recognize common letter blends in French

OU, like in the word: poule

OI, like in the word: etoile

ON, like in the word: bon bon

CH, like in the word: chat

Introduction: using skills and letter sounds learned I can recognize and begin to reproduce rhyming words

Introduction: I can write and illustrate a complete sentence with help of phonetic spelling and high frequency words

I can respond orally to questions about story elements

setting

main characters

major events

Upcoming Dates

Monday, February 8th - 100th day of school - in class, student activities

Thursday, February 11th - Kauffman Center Concert: Remarkable Farkle McBride

Friday, February 12th - Valentine's Day Party

Monday, February 15th - NO SCHOOL, President's Day

Wednesday, February 17th - EiP Class Art Project

Friday, February 19th - Class Birthdays: Emma Jones!

Wednesday, February 24th - Early Release Day

Thursday & Friday, February 25th-26th - Parent-Teacher Conferences

Monday, February 1st - February 21st - Second Trimester Comprehensive and Common Assessments. We have completed a little more than half of the assessments to date

Click for Académie Lafayette School Calendar
Integrity
Definition of integrity for our purposes, similar to definition that Mme Beth uses: doing the right thing when nobody is watching.

Weeks of February 8th and 14th

Writing/pre-writing skills
Listening/oral communication skills

Weeks of February 8th and 14th

Congratulations Ana and Miles for demonstrating integrity this month!!

Class Meeting

As you may or may not have heard already from your student, this week there were some behaviors on the playground and in the girl's bathroom that do not reflect our class commitment to: responsibility, respect, empathy, integrity or kindness - The Golden Rule: treat others as you want to be treated. While certainly disappointed by these incidents, I'm not discouraged, nor do I want any student to feel discouraged - I see this as an opportunity to learn, relearn, and refocus on modeling myself. That said, not feeling discouraged is different from not having natural consequences (or consequences that are related to the incident) for those who intentionally hurt others through words or physicalactions. Hurtful behavior from any member of our community to another will not be tolerated.

Consequences are not the same as punishment. More often than not, punishment without the opportunity to learn is counterproductive to the global goal of promoting a safe learning environment and the more specific goal of teaching how to use specific skills to better manage a situation in the future.

As I'm sure most students will be able to tell you if prompted, my very first priority is to keep your children safe. I make this clear from the beginning. We talk about being safe before safety drills, in daily meetings to reteach and find new ways to apply what we've learned with Mme Beth; through establishment of predictable routines; through modeling kindness, respect, flexibility, openness to ideas, cultures and differences among; through showing personal vulnerability.

A safe learning community means a community free from hurtful words, actions, while fostering a sense of belonging in their class and school community where their ideas can be heard. CASEL.org (Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning) provides a nice concise list of goals for kindergarten and elementary school. I share these goals for myself and our classroom community:

Self-awareness—accurately assessing one’s feelings, interests, values, and strengths/ abilities, and maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-con dence
Self-management—regulating one’s emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and persevere in overcoming obstacles; setting personal and academic goals and then monitoring one’s progress toward achieving them; and expressing emotions constructively
Social awareness—taking the perspective of and empathizing with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and di erences; identifying and following societal standards of conduct; and recognizing and using family, school, and community resources
Relationship skills—establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation; resisting inappropriate social pressure; preventing, managing, and resolving interpersonal con ict; and seeking help when needed
Responsible decision-making—making decisions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, appropriate standards of conduct, respect for others, and likely consequences of various actions; applying decision-making skills to academic and social situations; and contributing to the well-being of one’s school and community
These skills allow children to calm themselves when angry, initiate friendships, resolve relationship conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices. To develop these capacities, children need to experience safe, nurturing, and well-managed environ- ments where they feel valued and respected; to have meaningful interactions with others who are socially and emotionally competent; and to receive positive and specific guidance.

While my absence provides great opportunities for lessons in adaptability, I understand that some of these behaviors can be a result of the natural and expected reactions of some students to change in expectations from one teacher to another. This can be confusing time and want you to know that I am aware the part this plays. This will challenge will present itself again next year in first grade as no one teacher does things exactly like the another.

We will continue to learn from these challenging opportunities with prevention as the first measure in promoting a safe, kind, inclusive and respectful environment.

Please don't hesitate with further questions: rthomas@academielafayette.org