Kindergarten’s End of January News
Literacy
This month, we have spent time reading non-fiction books about bears. We learned about the polar bear,
brown bear, and black bear. Each child created an informational book with new facts learned about these
bears! We also have read informational books about the life cycles of different animals. Children learn to
understand what they read by asking questions before, during and after reading a book. We continue to look
at literary text to identify the setting, characters and their actions, and the problem and solution to help retell
and comprehend the story. We have continued our word wall instruction and children have been sounding
out words using what they know about beginning, middle and ending sounds while reading and writing.
Continue to practice writing with your child at home focusing on sounding out words, using spaces, using
endmarks (periods, question marks, exclamation points) and proofreading what they have written.
Math
We are becoming number experts in Kindergarten! During the month of January, we explored
numbers to 100 and learned about composing and decomposing numbers up to 10. We are
beginning to explore 2D and 3D shapes and use vocabulary to describe each shape.
Science
We have been talking about living things
and what a living thing needs in order to
survive. We have been observing the life
cycle of a mealworm as it changes into a
Darkling beetle. We will be extending this
topic by discussing how the external
features of plants and animals are used for
survival in Maryland.
Social Studies
The children have been learning about
maps and the symbols we use to read
maps. We have been exploring
choices people make regarding
changes in their environment and
community. The children will learn to
communicate the difference between
what they need and what they want
as well as learn about different jobs in
the community.
A Note about Behavior
We have been in school for almost 100
days…WOW! This is the time of the year
when we expect the students to demonstrate
respect, responsibility and safety at all times.
If your child is not demonstrating one of these
expectations, you will see it reflected on their
calendar in their Take-Home Folder. Please
discuss this at home with your child. Thank
you for your supporting positive school
behavior.
Report Cards
The Kindergarten report card assigns the
following grades:
P – Proficient
I – In progress
N – Not yet making progress
If a section had no code, it meant we have
not yet introduced that skill. The report card
reflects your child’s progress on developing
learning skills, performance in the classroom
as well as on the assessments throughout the
year,
Dates to Remember
February 14
Class Valentine’s
Day Parties
February 15
No School:
Presidents Day
February 26
Early Release Day
Valentine’s Day
Our Valentine’s Day parties will be held on Friday, February 14th at 3:00 in our classrooms. If your child plans to
participate in the party he/she will need to bring a valentine card for EACH student in their class. Your child’s teacher
will send a class list for you to use when preparing valentine cards. Please contact your child’s teacher if you
volunteered to help with the classroom party.