September News

 September 23, 2024

Dear Families,

 

To coordinate with our All About Me Books, we are asking families to do a project at home. You will find a piece of construction paper and a glue stick in your child’s bag. Please make a collage about your child. You may include photos of your child and family members, and or pictures of your child’s favorite things. Images can be photographs, drawings, or cut out from magazines and glued onto the paper. We will laminate them and hang them up at school. Feel free to email me a few pictures that you’d like to put in the collage if you do not have a printer. 

We have begun lessons from the Bridges PreK Math Program. Bridges is the same math program that is used by the other grades in our school. In the first unit during September, students have been focusing on sorting, counting, patterning, graphing, and comparing. We have made calendar markers, participated in counting games, and started exploring the math manipulatives we’ll be using this year. 

This month we have been learning about the lifecycle of an apple. We have been reading many books including fiction and nonfiction titles, including: Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins, Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss, and My Apple by Kaye Davies and Wendy Oldfield. We made a graph comparing our favorite color apples and we have been  playing counting and sorting games about apples. At the end of this week we will be comparing apples in math and doing a class cooking project and making a book about it. Please send in an apple by Friday, 9/27 for your child to contribute. 

This year, our class is reading with Scholastic Book Clubs! You’ll have access to expertly curated, affordable books that help boost your child’s reading skills, build your home library, and maybe even create moments of quality time you can share together. The first order is due Sep 27, 2024.

 

Plus place an order of $25 or more and you can pick a FREE $5 book (use code READS at checkout).

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/K3677

Shop Flyers: https://clubs.scholastic.com/all-flyers

 

Invite relatives and friends to help your child discover the joy of reading when you share our class page link. Every order benefits our classroom, helping us earn FREE books and resources that every child can enjoy.

 

Thanks so much for your support!

Thank you, 

Ms. Zayas

IMPORTANT DATES

10/11 NO SCHOOL - HSD In-Service

10/14 NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples’ Day 

10/15 NO PreK - ECP In-Service

10/16 School Picture Day

10/18 Farm Day

11/4 Early Release @12:30 PTC

11/5 NO SCHOOL - PTC

11/11 NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day 

September News

 September 4, 2024

Hello PreK Families, 

We are settling into our school routines and making new friends in PreK. All of the students have already made great strides and are happy at school. Next week, we are starting our classroom jobs as well. Students love having a task to do in the classroom. Each week on Monday we change jobs. 

The students are really enjoying their related arts classes each day. The schedule is as follows: 

Monday- PE with Mr. Ballou

Tuesday - Library with Ms. Grady 

Wednesday - PE and Art of Life with Ms. Blair 

Thursday - Performing Arts with Ms. Frost 

Friday - Art of Life with Ms. Blair. 

The students are getting to know these new teachers and trying out new activities.

Each month we usually cover two units of study that are related to the season or holidays in that month. Sometimes we also study topics because we have a high interest in a topic. In September, we will be making All ABout Me books and learning about the lifecycle of an apple.  During each unit we read many books, do projects, have discussions, sing songs, and participate in other learning activities to build connections on a topic.

In our class, we use direct instruction to teach students to make good choices about their behavior. Social development is an integral part of PreK and school and affects all areas of learning. One of our main goals for students is to be happy, confident learners who can solve problems and work collaboratively with others. Being able to make good choices when they are alone and interacting with others is a BIG part of that.  In our classroom we have started learning about good choices to support their social-emotional behavior. We review the expected behaviors in all settings (school, home, community) and across the day. Clear, consistent expectations are paired with visual supports, and expectations are almost always stated positively. We also teach lessons from Second Step. This is a social emotional learning program that teaches concepts with puppets, story cards, songs, and role playing activities. Each week, we cover a new idea. 

Once a month on the third Tuesday of the month, the district elementary schools have an early release day. PreK students DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL on those days. The Early Childhood Program has In-Service for the PreK teams on those days. 

PreK Will not be participating in the WRS Open House on Thursday 9/5. We will have some artwork in the hallway, but the classrooms will not be open if you are visiting with your older children. 

Our school picture day is Wednesday, October 16th. You should receive an order form from Lifetouch. You can read the order form and pay by check or order the pictures online from their website. 

Thank you, 

Ms. Zayas

IMPORTANT DATES

9/17 NO PreK  - ECP In Service

10/11 NO SCHOOL - HSD In-Service

10/14 NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples’ Day 

10/15 NO PreK - ECP In-Service

10/18 Farm Day