Kindergarten Spelling

Have you wondered why your Kindergartener comes home with writing that looks, well, unusual?  You might see writing that looks something like this, "I wt to vu str to sop". (I went to the store to shop). Or like this, "Toda I pd n tu segs"--(Today I played on the swings). 

Kindergartners typically cannot spell conventionally. At this stage of learning, we are teaching students that they are writers---whether or not they can spell conventionally.  They have stories to tell, information to share and books to write.

As adults, we've been writing for a long time! We've had lots and lots of writing practice and can spell most everything conventionally.  For many Kindergartners, real writing, the kind of writing we do in workshop, is brand new. We cannot expect grown-up spelling from novice writers. However, with that being said, students are taught that there is a difference between "kid spelling" and "grown-up spelling". There is no confusion about the kind of spellers that we expect all students will eventually develop into, as they learn and grow as readers and writers.  

Kindergartners are being empowered to write, and to write independently.  Creating independent readers and writers is our ultimate goal.  We help students build confidence in themselves as literacy learners by teaching them from our earliest writers workshop lessons that they can write and they can spell!  

Our first spelling lesson (and one we revisit frequently at this time of the year) was that writers say a word slowly and write the sounds they hear. This is called approximation of spelling, or invented spelling.  Students practice this skill repeatedly and over time, they hear more sounds and write words that look more and more conventional.   With this and other lessons, students are taught that the stories they are writing as a whole are very important, and they cannot get hung up on the conventional spelling of each and every word, or their stories won't get written.  In this way, students typically produce quite a bit of writing at workshop time each day, giving them lots of practice with independent and teacher-supported writing. If conventional spellings were expected, very few students, if any, would get any writing done at all. 


As students are exposed to more and more texts, learn phonics skills, participate in more writers (and readers!) workshop lessons, and have more independent writing time with teacher support, you will see gradual changes in the writing that comes home. Students will begin to write in sentences instead of writing labels or individual words, they will write stories that span several pages and the words they write will begin to be spelled conventionally, or very close to conventionally.  You may already be seeing that your child spells sight words correctly in their writing, some of the time. Words such as "can" "go" "at" and "like". This is a good sign!  Your child is realizing that words have conventional spellings, and they are working to make sure that the words they can spell conventionally, are written conventionally. These writers are on their way!

Give your child time to learn and grow as a writer (and a speller!), and you will see amazing things happen over the course of the year!  

Pizza Ranch Field Trip!

The kindergarten classes have been enjoying a field trip to the Pizza Ranch this month!  Highlights of the trip include seeing how chicken and potatoes are made, large mixers where dough is mixed, walking INTO the cooler and freezer, and getting to make our own pizza and eating it!  

The Pizza Ranch allows us to do this field trip every year year free of charge!  It is always a fun, tasty, and hands on experience!  Please thank the Pizza Ranch next time you are there and support them as they support us!

Making our pizzas and sticking them in the oven!

The tasty finished result!

Enjoying our pizza as a class!

Brrrrr . . . . . !

The weather has definitely taken a turn over the past few weeks.  It is cold out there! We want to remind our parents that all students go outside for recess 3 times per day.   Please make sure your child has what s/he needs to stay warm and comfortable outside each day. Thank you!

PALS Testing

PALS Testing

Next week, October 22nd and October 23rd, your child will be participating in a state mandated literacy assessment.

Developed by reading researchers at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, PALS is a research-based assessment for classroom teachers to use with students.

PALS provides teachers with information about how students perform in fundamental reading skill areas that are predictive of a child's achievement in reading.  Teachers use PALS to gather information about each student's strengths and needs in reading so instruction can be planned to best meet those needs and thus help each student make progress in his/her reading.  Teachers use PALS to prevent reading problems before they occur, and to plan appropriate instruction for both grade-level readers and struggling readers.

For more information, please visit http://www.palswisconsin.info/parents.shtml

Snappy Words!

Snappy Words

In the classroom, we have been practicing our snappy words!  Kindergarten students are expected to be secure in both reading and writing these words independently by the end of the year.  These words will be found in the leveled reading books and you will begin to see them in your child's writing.

 Please practice these snappy words with your child at home! :)  

I               a               see

to              said           are 

the            go              play

and            she            come

is               all              he

on              here           that 

for              am             have

be              my              went

like            will              get

yes            no               so

was           at                do

with           me

Publishing Party!

The Kindergarten students enjoyed their very first experience participating in a classroom Writers Workshop publishing party!  The purpose of the publishing party is to celebrate all the learning that has taken place during the previous unit(s) of study in writing.

Students spent the days before the party preparing their work.  First, they chose a writing piece from their folder, then they revised it by fixing up the words and pictures, and finally they practiced reading it aloud to a partner.  

For the party itself, each writer was given the opportunity to read their writing in front of their peers, take a bow, and listen to the applause!    We capped off the celebration with a light snack and juice.  The students are working hard to learn the very complex skill of writing, and we will celebrate all of our hard work again soon! 

One student wrote a teaching book about cats. "Cats need food. I bought a cat.. Cat food water."

"Cats need rest.  That is not mine"

Changes to our Dismissal Procedure at OES

OES implemented a small, but very important change to our dismissal procedures this week. Parents must call or email the office staff, Joan Swart or Faith Mentink, with any changes to dismissal plans, rather than calling the teacher.  The office staff will then document the change and alert the classroom teachers.  This way, the school has documentation of how each and every student will be going home each day.  With this new procedure, we hope to eliminate any end of the day confusion for teachers, staff and students.

If you have a change to your child's regular dismissal plan, please call the office at 564-2392 as soon as you know of the change.  

Vocabulary in Kindergarten--Asking and Answering Questions

One of the Common Core Standards focuses on teaching children new vocabulary through narrative and informational texts.   For Kindergartners, this standard is "students can ask and answer questions about unknown words in texts". Vocabulary learning is crucial to comprehension and the ability to read more complex, or difficult, texts.

As a team, we have introduced this standard through the study of Fairy Tales. Teachers have been highlighting difficult words in these stories, and studying them with students.  For example, after reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff, teachers reread the following words in context, wondering aloud with students about what they could mean:  rushing, trampled, valley, meadow.  Later, we used pictures to help illustrate the words, partner work to talk about and discuss these words, and finally an "alphabox" activity in which students  draw a picture of the word in order to represent it in a way that they will remember.  Doing these kinds of activities throughout the year with students, using a variety of genres, will support them as they read more complex texts.

You can do this work at home with your child as well; noting and wondering about words in the books you are reading together, talking about the words, and using those words in future conversations.

Writing and reading are at the heart of our Kindergarten curriculum.  Writers workshop is a research-based approach to teaching the process of writing to all students.  Kindergartners will learn techniques for writing narrative, informational, and opinion pieces this year. 

Writers in Kindergarten are learning that:   

   

• ·       Writers plan their writing pieces before sitting down to write.
• ·       Writers use both words and pictures to convey their ideas.
• ·       Writers are never finished writing; they revise or begin a new            piece.
• ·       Writers say words slowly and write down the sounds they hear.
• ·       Writers need partners to support their revision work.

Your child’s first batch of writing from our first writers workshop unit of study will be coming home soon.  Please take time to have your child read each story or teaching book to you.  Ask them about what they are learning in writers workshop and have them explain to you what each of the bullet points above means to them.