Dear Families,
We’ve been learning all about pumpkins this week! Our Big Book this week is called Pumpkin, Pumpkin and is a wonderful story about a boy named Jamie and the process of growing a pumpkin. Monday, we took a picture walk through the story and gave our thoughts as to what might happen on each page. Tuesday, we predicted how many times the word “pumpkin” would appear in the book (13). We highlighted it each time we found it and then went back and counted. Wednesday, played Guess The Covered Word. I covered some key words in the story and through reading the story, they children had to use the words and the letters in the covered word to guess what it was. Thursday, we talked about the life cycle of the pumpkin. We used sentence strips and wrote down step by step the growing process of a pumpkin. Friday, we choral read the book together and reviewed the different activities we could do with this book once it is in Big Book Work Station.
We also introduced two new Work Stations this week: Name Work Station and Work with the Teacher Station. At Name Work Station, I will be creating a box for each child to practice writing their names, tracing their names, and matching magnetic letters to outlines of their names. They all love to see their name in print at this age, and this lets them do that but also practice fine motor skills, their friends names, and one to one correspondence. Work with the Teacher Station is a station where the children will come work with either myself or Mrs. Groote. We will be doing different activities for different groups of children based upon their current ability levels. These may be as simple as identifying letters all the way up to reading simple books and having a discussion. These activities will change throughout the year and when a child’s ability level changes.
Our Predictable Chart this week was all about pumpkins. We started the week by beginning our chart, A pumpkin is...” The children then each took turns over two days completing their sentence. Wednesday, we touch read the sentences; the children each had a chance to come up to the chart and read it aloud. Thursday, I picked three sentences and wrote them on sentence strips. I cut them apart and the children came up to the front of our group and held them. We then talked about what students needed to switch with others so that the words would be in the correct order and match our Predictable Chart. Friday, I gave the students their sentences that I had typed into the computer and cut apart. We used them to illustrate a class book called “ A Pumpkin Is....”. You can see it in our classroom.
During our Math time this week, we completed a Pattern Block Pumpkin, much like the apple we made last week. After completing it, the children graphed the numbers of each pattern block shape that they used to make their pumpkin. We also had our first opportunity to sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin on paper. The children were given 6 pictures of the life cycle and asked to put them in order. We glued them on a sheet and they will be displayed in the hallway out side of our classroom. We also used our balance scales. We talked about how we could make each side balance with the other. The children had different math tools at each table and were given the opportunity to rotate from table to table and use various materials.
During our Writer’s Workshop time, our mini-lessons this week were about stretching out words and writing down the sounds that we heard. We placed special emphasis on writing down the first sounds in the words we want to write. I conference with 5-6 children a day and am charting their progress so we will be able to see the children’s growth throughout the school year. More on that at conference time! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter for the week of September 19th, 2008

Dear Families,
We have had so much learning going on this week during our Apple Week! Monday, we looked at all the apples and sorted them by color. We then graphed them by color. After making a "real graph" with the apples, we took that information and put it into a "picture graph". We talked about what makes a real graph different from a picture graph (real items vs. picture representations) and what a good title would be for our graph. We also discussed which kind of apples had the most and the least. We read a Big Book called "Apples" and first took a picture walk through it--looking at the pictures to gather information. I then read the story to the children. We also learned a apple poem called, "Apple Happy". Tuesday, we put an apple in one side of the double balance scales and each took turns estimating how many 1 inch cubes it would take to make the scales balance. We posted the list of our estimates outside of our door so you can have a look. While we were doing that, Mrs. Groote was slicing apples for us to taste. We tasted red and green apples and then chose our favorite. We wrote our choices on a graph and found out that more boys and girls liked the taste of red apples than green apples. During our Shared Reading time, we again read "Apples", but this time we looked for seasonal words. I asked the children to name the seasons and we wrote them on index cards. As we saw them in the book, we used highlighter tape and highlighted them. The Big Book and the cards will go into our Big Book Work Station so the children can practice finding these words as well. Wednesday, we looked back at our apple tasting graph and wrote about the results. The children also came up with the title of the graph, "What apple do you like best?". We echo read, "Apples". I read the sentence first and the children repeated it to me. Thursday, we made "Apple Happy" books. The children each read to either me or Mrs. Groote. We then used our hand eye coordination skills to glue on paper pattern blocks (one of our math tools) to an apple outline. Friday, we graphed how many of each shape we used to create our apples. We also predicted whether our apples would sink or float. Then, we tested our ideas in a large tub of water. You can see pictures of our week here: http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com
Your children did an amazing job this week! Our Literacy Stations are running better than ever and we are starting to add various activities to keep the stations interesting.
Next week, we will begin learning about Pumpkins and will continue to do so on and off through the middle of October. We will also take a quick look at farms before we take our trip to Stuckey Farm on October 6th. If you have not turned in your child's money for that trip, please do so soon so that we can make sure everyone is able to attend! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com

Homework Questions Answered/State Standards

Dear Parents,
Now that homework has gotten underway for the year and you have seen what it is like, I just wanted to send on a few reminders:
1) If at any time during the year, you feel that the homework is too hard or too easy for your child, please let me know so that I can adjust it.
2) If your child finishes their homework for the week early and you or them would love more, please let me know and I would be glad to send more along.
3) Don't worry if your child doesn't finish in an evening--we're doing this more for the process than the content. I want the children to get in the routine of homework, so if they are at their breaking point, let them have a rest! :)
4) Baggie books only need to come back on Friday for a new book on Monday--again, if it is too hard or too easy, let me know and I will adjust! :)

Thanks so much for a great start to the year!
I've had a few questions about our State Standards--what they are for Kindergarten and how to find them. The Standards as we (teachers) knew them underwent a revision this summer and are presented in a new format, with selected standards being identified as "Core" Standards--the standards that we as teachers should focus on. Not to say that the others are less important, but when we look at the 1st grade standards, these are the most important for us to focus on. The standards that are not identified at "Core" Standards, are included under their headings. Basically, they took the long list that we had and condensed it into a more manageable list for both students and teachers. In doing this, the state made the lists of standards more developmentally appropriate for the children who are intended to be learning them. For a look at them, you can visit this site and download them to your computer and refer back to them as the year goes on:
http://www.doe.in.gov/standards

I hope you visit and check them out--I log on almost daily! :)


Working hard for your children,

Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for September 8th-12th, 2008

Dear Families,
if you could step inside of our classroom during our day, I know you would be extremely proud of ALL the children in our class! They are doing an outstanding job (credit to you for being GREAT parents!!). After reading a book about LIteracy Stations this summer, I decided to put it into action, and I am AMAZED with how well the children are doing. You can see the kinds of things we are up to on my blog that I created for teachers and families. http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com. It is different from the classroom blog in that I have EVERYTHING we do and use daily on it for other teachers and families to use at home. I snapped some pictures last week and those are there so enjoy them! Please be sure to leave me a comment so I know if you’re visiting! :)
Our Literacy Station encompass much of what we do during the day, Big Books, searching for letters, words, and sentences, manipulating letters and sounds, and the awareness of print going from left to right and top to bottom.
We have been busy learning about Monarch Butterflies again this week and thanks so much for all your cute e-mails about what your Kinder. kids are teaching you each evening about Monarchs! We have made our symbolic butterflies-paper butterflies that will be mailed to Mexico to winter there and then be sent back in the Spring. We would like to collect some money to send with them to help the Journey North organization replant some trees for the Monarchs to roost in. If you are able to send in any money (ANYTHING!!) we would love to collect that and send it on. Our goal is to send $20.00 with our Monarchs. We will be keeping a chart next week to see how close we get. Just send it in with your child in an envelope marked, “Monarchs” and we will count it as part of our math!
Speaking (or typing, I guess!) of math, we have learned several new math games this week. Cube Grab and Record was a big hit--the children reached into a brown paper bag and pulled out a handful of cubes. They then recorded how many they grabbed on a graph. We also played Finger Count--each child listened as I played notes on the xylophone. For each note I played, they added one cube to the top of their fingers. We used different amounts of cubes each “round”. Another game we played was called Grow and Shrink. I gave each child a math mat (1/2 sheet with 10 black dots on it) and had them show me various quantities with cubes. We then used dice to roll and add or take away that number of cubs from their mat. I watched the children to see if they needed to count the cubes that were left on their mat each time or if they could just add or take some away with out counting. Very Interesting!
The information for our trip to Stuckey Farm will be coming home today, so be sure to watch for that. If you would like to go with us, be sure to include payment for yourself as well when you return your child’s money. I will post that form on the blog as well incase you lose it! :)
We fortunate to have a Junior Education Major from Marian College joining us in our classroom on Fridays from 8-11. Her name is Olivia Newhart and she loves being around children! :) Welcome Olivia!
We have started our classroom jobs this week and responsibility has stepped up a notch! :) The children are falling over each other with excitement to get their jobs done! Today was our first payday and the children got to go to store to celebrate their new jobs. Be sure to ask your child what their job is and what they like about it. We will be changing them in a few weeks, so encourage them to stick with them if they would like another job! :)
Take time to get outside and enjoy a nice walk with your child and ask them about their week! :)
www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Mrs. Poindexter's site for Teachers!

Hi Kindergarten families,
I just wanted to let you know that I have started a blog with ideas for teachers on it, but it also has copies of most things we do in Kindergarten. You can use this page to download things at home for your children to use, if they lose their homework, or if you would like things for your younger children to work on! :)
The address is: http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com
Enjoy it and let me know if you have any questions.
P.S. It's also a great way to check up on what we are doing, as I post photos (the back/side of their heads only) of the children using our centers and other activities we do throughout the day/year.
Mrs. Poindexter :)

Newsletter for September 1st-5th, 2008

We started off the month of September by learning all about Monarch Butterflies. We started our our theme by guessing what was in the Mystery Box. We played 20 questions and I was only able to give “yes” and “no” answers to the questions, which helped us be problem solvers by analyzing our answers and responses. Once we guessed that I had a Monarch Butterfly puppet, we read a Big Book called: A Butterfly is Born by Melvin Berger. It is the story of the life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly through pictures and simple text. It is available from the IMCPL libraries. Through a grant I wrote last year, we are fortunate to have a little copy of this book for each student to use while they are at school. We first read just the Big Book, pointing to the words as we read. Then, on Wednesday, I gave each of the children a smaller copy and we read them together, again pointing to the words. Thursday, we read the book again, but this time, we told the story in our own words. The children were great at this!
The children are VERY interested in what we can do to help the Monarch Butterflies, so we have talked about possibly collecting money to send to an organization in Mexico that would plant more trees for the Monarchs to winter in. We have also discussed planting more milkweed plants in the Spring, so that the Monarchs will have a place to lay their eggs. Stay tuned for our ideas!
We also started and completed another predictable chart. This one is called, “A Butterfly...”. The children each finished the sentence, and we will again made the sentences into a class book. Thursday, we practiced this by writing several of the sentences on sentence strips and cut them apart. We mixed them up and several students held the words for us. We then talked about what parts of the sentence went where. Through the process of switching the students around, we got them back in order.
Our Literacy Stations are going very well! The children have the process of rotating from station to station each day down very well. I have introduced several new items to the stations, including “Wikki Sticks” (sticky-ish candle wicks used for underlining words and letters), words to find cards to go with our Big Books, and highlighter tape (a Big Hit!). The children highlight important words in the story with this removable tape. I have also added several new games and puzzles to our ABC Work Station, and our Puzzles and Games Work Station. We also received new materials for our classroom--4 brand new Leap Pads with books! It is the new favorite center!
During our math time, we have been using our math mats to work on basic addition and subtraction--starting with 10 cubes and adding or taking them away, then counting how many we now have. We have also been using some new manipulatives to sort into categories (ie: color, wheels, no wheels, wings, no wings, floats, doesn’t float, etc.)
I am collecting e-mail addresses from parents. If you are not on my e-mail list and would like to be, please e-mail me at the address below so that you can be added to my list! :) I will be posting new information to our classroom blog as well: www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for August 29th, 2008

We’ve grown so much in the last 3 weeks! Can you believe we’ve been in school for 13 days already? The children have quickly picked up the routines and are following them without to much difficulty.
This week, we have been reading a big book titled “Cookies Week” by Cindy Ward. I like using this book because of the way the words repeat. It also helps us learn the Days of the Week. We did several activities with this book, including sequencing the activities, re-writing the ending to the story, and retelling the story with out pictures; using the sequencing chart we made.
To supplement this book, we wrote a Predictable Chart. I started each child off with the sentence starter: “A cat can...” and the children filled in several words that they thought fit. Friday, we made our first class book where each of the students used their sentence to create words on their page and drew illustrations to match. I type each child’s sentence and print it out and give it to them to glue it on to their paper. Eventually, the children will cut apart their sentence and glue the words back together and in order.
We have also begun to move away from free exploration time with our math materials and into more structured lessons. We have been working on developing our concept of numbers, and being able to recognize groups of numbers without counting them.
Writer’s Workshop is a big hit! The children groan every day when I tell them it is time to stop writing. I spend a few minutes with each of them everyday, commenting on their work, helping them to stretch out words and offering up suggestions for them to try. They have come a long way in 3 weeks! Many of the children are writing words they see around the classroom and making them into labels for their illustrations.
Thank you so much to the Washington Township Foundation for funding several grants in our classroom this year! Our magnet lab materials are slowly trickling in, as well as our composting materials, greenhouses, and our new Legos arrived on Thursday afternoon!
Thank you so much for taking time to attend our Back to School night on Wednesday. If you were unable to attend, I sent home packets with your child on Thursday detailing what we discussed.
I am collecting e-mail addresses from parents. If you are not on my e-mail list and would like to be, please e-mail me at the address below so that you can be added to my list! :) I will be posting new information to our classroom blog as well: www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter