Mrs. Bernal's Kindergarten Classroom

Dear families, I am so proud of these scholars! Their first week with Spalding phonograms went well! They are so excited about doing the hand motions! Thank you for your support at home! For the next several months, we will be going through each of the seven continents of the world and many of the countries within them. We started with our own continent and our own country this past week. Next week we will move on to Mexico. I love the continents-study because we have an opportunity to learn about different cultures from around the world. Every year, I have several students in the Kindergarten class who have parents from different countries. It is wonderful to invite parents to come in and share a presentation about the countries they are from. If you are from a country other than the United States and are willing to give a short presentation (15 minutes) about your country, please email me, so we can set up a day for you to share with us. Parents have brought in pictures, costumes...

What we learn this week! Spalding Homework reminder: Monday, Spalding begins with the first 5 phonograms, working toward the cumulative test over 26 phonograms by the end of September (and 55 phonograms in mid-March/mid-May). Each Friday, students will test on the current phonograms for a grade. The teacher will say the sounds and the students will write the phonograms, going down the paper. Students will receive: one point for the correct phonogram,  one point for forming the phonogram correctly (handwriting matters in Spalding),  and in the case of qu , one point for remembering to underline double letter phonograms. This week's test will be worth 10 points. Students will also be quizzed each Friday on the previous week's phonograms. This review will not be graded but it will help students be ready for the cumulative tests.  The homework and agenda will go home on Monday, have your child write the phonograms, while saying the sounds , going down the paper three times....

  Notes:  Your child should bring a daily snack to school placed in the front pocket of the backpack. On Wednesdays, students can bring two snacks since it is half day and they will have their lunch later for that day. Remember, no juices/liquids, or food that will need utensils like forks or spoons. If you want your child to tell you more about school, this are some ideas on how to ask them about their days: o    “Tell me two things you learned today.”   o    “What was the best part of your day?”   o    “What was challenging today for you?”   o    “Tell me about what you did at recess today.”   What we learn this week! Spalding: This week, students were introduced to Spalding. We explained that spoken words are made of individual sounds called phonograms, and we will learn how to hear and write those sounds. Students learned how to sit down with head high, back straight, hips back, slant the paper, and the pencil gr...

  What we learn this week! Literature: Students read “The Kissing Hand”. We talked about Chester’s first day of school. Ask your child about him and something special about his hand. Math: We discussed the difference between a letter and a number, paying close attention to the letter “o” and number zero. History/Geography: We learned that our classroom is a community and we are part of it. Students identified their two teachers, Mrs. Bernal and Mrs. Thareja. We discussed how we can help our community. Students learned many rules, procedures, and routines in the classroom. We all still need to practice them! We were all exhausted at the end of the day! Looking forward to learning more next week!