<![CDATA[Kindergarten - Aithal Blog]]>Tue, 23 Jun 2026 07:55:04 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Growing Fun]]>Thu, 05 Mar 2020 20:04:12 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/growing-funA huge thank you to the Hamama company!!!! They sell micro green kits. I saw an ad for them and wrote a letter to their company. I asked them for a simple starter kit to use with my students. Last week, we grew broccoli micro greens. Today they were big enough to eat! The class loved them! The process was super fun too!!!
]]><![CDATA[Feb. 21 News]]>Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:19:37 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/feb-21-newsBurr District Elementary                    Feb 21, 2020
                Mrs. Aithal’s Room 15 News

Reading Workshop 
This week, students continued reading nonfiction text.  Students have learned to think about the text and ask questions as they read.  At the end of reading, it is important to think about how all the pages fit together with the title and think about what the book is really teaching.  Students also worked to collect expert words to help them teach and explain their book topics to others.
 Students have learned to use the following superpowers to help them read:
  • Pointer power        Reread power        Partner power
  • Picture power        Snap word power        Sound power
  • Persistence power        Pattern power        Book talk power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  Retell stories from the beginning to the end.
Sight Words
All kindergarten words have been added to sight word rings.  You can review and teach new words as you please. To be a sight word, your child must be able to read the word within 2 seconds.  

Suggested things to do with sight words:
  • Read the words        Find them in books        Write them
Writing Workshop 
Students continue to write How -To books.   We will be finishing up our how to books next week and moving into All About Books.  This week, we looked at mentor texts to copy some of the features that they have. We worked on adding a page that lists all the things you need to complete the project as well as learning about bolding and capitalizing important words.  Please help your student think about the things they can do on their own and what steps they complete to do the task. For example: make cereal, get dressed, make cocoa etc.
Things to do at home:
Drawing objects        Labeling the parts        Add a sentence or two to tell


Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills
This week students learned when to use the letter c or k when spelling words that have the /c/ sound.  If the /c/ sound is followed by the letters a, o, or u, then the first letter must be a c. For example cat, cap, cot, cob, or cup, cub.  If the /c/ sound is followed by the letters i or e, then the first letter must be a K. For example kit, kid, kelp.  
Students have been taught how to correctly form each upper and lowercase letters.  Please remember that NO letters start from the bottom and go up. Students continue to learn to blend sounds together to make words.
Examples: Any CVC word
Lip, sip, nip, lap, sap, map, sat, mat, rat, 
Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Match ending sounds in words (kit and nut = /t/)
Segment the final sound (fill = /l/)
Blend onset and rime (s . . .  at = sat)
Blend sounds (/b/ /a/ /t/ = bat
Phoneme segmentation ( cat = /c/ /a/ /t/
Math Workshop
Students have finished up the math unit on 2D and 3D shapes.  We will be moving on to our fourth unit on place value of numbers 10-20.  We already been working on learing how to write teen numbers.
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-10        You can rote count to 100     Count a group of objects to 30
Count backward from 30
Science and Social Studies
Students talked about and read about why we celebrate President’s Day.
Students began an experiment with plants to see what needs they have to live.  
 Important Dates
2/24- PTO Fun Run Pep Rally- 2:30pm
2/28- Town Meeting- 2:30pm

​]]><![CDATA[February 11th, 2020]]>Tue, 11 Feb 2020 21:33:06 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/february-11th-2020
What do 2 cookies and a pretzel give you? A great 100 day treat!
Working to find 100 words that rhyme!
Counting out 100 fruit loops to make a necklace.
Look what we can make out of 100 popsicle sticks, 100 pattern blocks, 100 cups, and 100 blocks!
100 day snack made with 100 pieces of food!
Picture
What a fun and fabulous day we had!!!!! Thank you to all the families who sent in items to make our day great!!!!
]]><![CDATA[Feb. 7]]>Fri, 07 Feb 2020 21:00:19 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/feb-7Reading Workshop 
Students have begun books shopping for books.  Students will shop for 10 new books once a week.  They will keep their books in a special bucket in the room.  During reading workshop, students will get their buckets and set up for reading. This week, students learned to make a plan for their reading.  Choosing which books to read first and knowing to reread books makes workshop run smoothly. During private and partner reading, I am pulling students to read books in a group.  Mrs, King will pull kids to preview new books and pull students to reinforce skills.
Students have learned they have:
  • Pointer power
  • Reread power
  • Partner power
  • Picture power
  • Snap word power
  • Sound power
  • Persistence power
  • Pattern power
  • Book talk power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  
Writing Workshop 

Things to do at home:
Drawing objects
Labeling the parts
Add a sentence to tell
Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills


Snap words: I, a, see, the, at, like, look, like, it, in, is, my
Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Rhyme - identify and generate
Listen for first sounds in words and identify multiple words that start with the same sound
Syllables in words
Math Workshop
Students have completed the second math unit.  Students were assessed this week and will begin next week with numbers 6-10.
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-5 
Introduce 6-10
You can rote count to 30
Count a group of objects to ten
Social Studies
We will celebrate Thanksgiving just as a class on Wednesday, Nov. 27.  A Sign UP Genius will be coming around for a few things we need.  

Please help students to learn how to zip coats as the weather gets colder and practice tying shoes!
Important Dates
11/20- PTO Meeting- 5:30pm
11/27- Early Dismissal- Thanksgiving Break
11/28- Thanksgiving Holiday- no school
11/29- Thanksgiving Break- no school

​]]><![CDATA[December 20 News]]>Thu, 09 Jan 2020 14:51:14 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/december-20-newsI hope you all have a wonderful restful break.  Your kindergarteners have worked hard for the last few months.  During the break, you can review letter sounds, sight words, and counting forward and backward.  I hope you get to read lots of great books and maybe even write a story. Enjoy the holiday and Happy New Year!
Reading Workshop 
This week, students learned to strengthen their sound power.  When looking at a new word, students need to get their mouths ready to make the first sound and look at the picture.  They may need to move their eyes through the whole word to read it.  
 Students have learned to use the following superpowers to help them read:
  • Pointer power
  • Reread power
  • Partner power
  • Picture power
  • Snap word power
  • Sound power
  • Persistence power
  • Pattern power
  • Book talk power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  
Sight Words
Sight word rings will soon be found in student book folders.  Only the words that have been introduced will be on the cards.  As new words are learned, they will be added. Please read each word before you begin reading books.  
To be a sight word, your child must be able to read the word within 2 seconds.  

Suggested things to do with sight words:
  • Read the words
  • Find them in books
  • Write them
Snap words: a, at, an,as, and, can, come, here, I, it, in, is, like, look, me, my, see, the, to, we went you

Writing Workshop 
Students are working to add a sentence to tell about what they did first, next, and last.  Students are encouraged to move away from pattern sentences to tell about what they did.  
Things to do at home:
Drawing objects
Labeling the parts
Add a sentence to tell
Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills
All lowercase letters have been taught.  You can continue to work on sounds and letter formation.  This week, students learned how to use their fingers to tap sounds found in words.  One tap for one sound.
Examples: Any CVC word
Lip, sip, nip, lap, sap, map, sat, mat, rat, 
Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Rhyme - identify and generate
Listen for first sounds in words and identify multiple words that start with the same sound
Syllables in words
Math Workshop
This week students worked on counting groups of objects to find out which group had more.  Students lined up the objects making sure each object had a partner. Then they could easily see which had more and count easily.
Example

X    x    x    x    x                vs.        x    x    x
0    o    o                                 0        0
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-10
You can rote count to 30 or higher
Count a group of objects to ten

Important Dates
12/23-1/1- Holiday Break

​]]><![CDATA[December 6 News]]>Tue, 10 Dec 2019 18:42:00 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/december-6-newsReading Workshop 
In our latest unit, Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles, students will be learning how to tackle the tricky parts in their books.  Students learned that their books will be getting harder, more words, more lines, new words, longer words, and surprise endings. By knowing how books get harder, students will be able to choose the correct superpower to help them read the tricky parts.Students have learned they have:
  • Pointer power
  • Reread power
  • Partner power
  • Picture power
  • Snap word power
  • Sound power
  • Persistence power
  • Pattern power
  • Book talk power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  
Sight Words
Sight word rings will soon be found in student book folders.  Only the words that have been introduced will be on the cards.  As new words are learned, they will be added. Please read each word before you begin reading books.  
To be a sight word, your child must be able to read the word within 2 seconds.  

Suggested things to do with sight words:
  • Read the words
  • Find them in books
  • Write them
Snap words: I, a, see, the, at, like, look, like, it, in, is, my

Writing Workshop 
Students are back to writing narrative stories about the things they did or things that happened to them.  We are working to add sentences to tell more of the story. In this unit, students will learn how to write words with more sounds and make their writing easy to read by being near, forming letters correctly, writing in the correct places, spaces between words etc.
Things to do at home:
Drawing objects
Labeling the parts
Add a sentence to tell
Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills
All lowercase letters have been taught.  You can continue to work on sounds and letter formation.  This week, students learned how to use their fingers to tap sounds found in words.  One tap for one sound.


Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Rhyme - identify and generate
Listen for first sounds in words and identify multiple words that start with the same sound
Syllables in words
Math Workshop
Students have been working on using ten frames to show numbers 6-10.  We have been working on number formation and counting with one to one correspondence knowing that the last number I said tells how many are in that group.
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-10
You can rote count to 30 or higher
Count a group of objects to ten
Social Studies
We have studied the difference between needs and wants.
Important Dates
12/13- Report cards go home
12/20- BES Sing-Along- 2:00/2:15pm
12/20 - 2:15 - 3:00 - class celebration
12/23-1/1- Holiday Break

​]]><![CDATA[November 15 News]]>Fri, 15 Nov 2019 20:04:31 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/november-15-newsReading Workshop 
Students have begun books shopping for books.  Students will shop for 10 new books once a week.  They will keep their books in a special bucket in the room.  During reading workshop, students will get their buckets and set up for reading. This week, students learned to make a plan for their reading.  Choosing which books to read first and knowing to reread books makes workshop run smoothly. During private and partner reading, I am pulling students to read books in a group.  Mrs, King will pull kids to preview new books and pull students to reinforce skills.
Students have learned they have:
  • Pointer power
  • Reread power
  • Partner power
  • Picture power
  • Snap word power
  • Sound power
  • Persistence power
  • Pattern power
  • Book talk power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  
Writing Workshop 
Students are working on showing and telling things that cannot fit into ziploc bags like places they have gone.  Students are working on adding more labels. Labels can help tell how something feels, smells, tastes, looks like, or sounds like.
Things to do at home:
Drawing objects
Labeling the parts
Add a sentence to tell
Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills
This week, students learned 2 new letters.  
       
V - van /v/     w - wind /w/
Taught letters: t, b, f, n, m, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j, l, h, k, v ,w 
Snap words: I, a, see, the, at, like, look, like, it, in, is, my
Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Rhyme - identify and generate
Listen for first sounds in words and identify multiple words that start with the same sound
Syllables in words
Math Workshop
Students have completed the second math unit.  Students were assessed this week and will begin next week with numbers 6-10.
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-5 
Introduce 6-10
You can rote count to 30
Count a group of objects to ten
Social Studies
We will celebrate Thanksgiving just as a class on Wednesday, Nov. 27.  A Sign UP Genius will be coming around for a few things we need.  

Please help students to learn how to zip coats as the weather gets colder and practice tying shoes!
Important Dates
11/20- PTO Meeting- 5:30pm
11/27- Early Dismissal- Thanksgiving Break
11/28- Thanksgiving Holiday- no school
11/29- Thanksgiving Break- no school
 

​]]><![CDATA[November 1 News]]>Mon, 04 Nov 2019 13:11:13 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/november-1-newsReading Workshop 
Students continue to use their newfound superpowers to read books.  This week students focused on the pattern of their books. They noticed the words that were the same on every page and then used picture and sound power to figure out the new word on the page.
Students have learned they have:
  • Pointer power
  • Reread power
  • Partner power
  • Picture power
  • Snap word power
  • Sound power
  • Persistence power
  • Pattern power
If your child is having trouble, read the first two pages and see if your child can pick up and continue reading.  
Things to do at home: 
Read books coming home in folders and return folders and books daily!  
Writing Workshop 
Students began a new writing unit called Show and Tell.  They used their show and tell to think carefully about how to draw and what to write to describe what they brought in.  If things come home over the weekend, please be sure new things come back on Monday.
Things to do at home:
Drawing objects
Labeling the parts
Word Work and Phonemic Awareness Skills
This week, students learned 2 new letters.  
                    
P - pan /p/               j - jug /j/
Taught letters: t, b, f, n, m, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j
Snap words: I, a, see, the, at, like, look, like, it, in,
Things to do at home:
Practice letter recognition, sound, and handwriting formation
Rhyme - identify and generate
Listen for first sounds in words and identify multiple words that start with the same sound
Syllables in words
Math Workshop
Students worked on drawing a picture to solve a number story.  In addition number stories it is important to show the separation between the two parts with a space, or line, or circling groups.  In subtraction, it is important to cross things out to make them go away.
Addition - X x x x x           x x 
Subtraction -  * * * * * *
Things to do at home:
Write numbers 1-5 
You can rote count to ten or beyond
Count a group of objects to ten

Social Studies
Students made Halloween and Veteran’s Day cards for soldiers who are deployed around the world.  The character Trait chosen for the month of November is effort. We will set a class goal centered around effort and work towards achieving that goal.

Important Dates
11/1- Town Meeting 2:30pm 
11/5- No School – Teachers PD
11/6- PTO Cultural Arts: Rachna Agarwal- 9:00-10:00am
11/7- PBIS EFFORT earning week starts
11/8- Veterans Day Assembly- 2:00-3:00pm
11/11- Veterans Day Holiday- no school

11/20- PTO Meeting- 5:30pm
11/27- Early Dismissal- Thanksgiving Break
11/28- Thanksgiving Holiday- no school
11/29- Thanksgiving Break- no school

]]><![CDATA[Show and Tell]]>Wed, 30 Oct 2019 00:39:51 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/show-and-tell
Students brought in collections of items from home to write about.
]]><![CDATA[Apple Fun at the Orchard]]>Tue, 22 Oct 2019 20:39:51 GMThttp://besgradek.rsd17.org/aithal-blog/apple-fun-at-the-orchard
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