Good Morning! Valley View teachers will be using the Seesaw (or ClassDojo) platforms for student/family communication moving forward. My class will be using Seesaw. I am in the process of learning the platform and will give you more information soon. Our main priority at this time is maintaining contact with families.
Do you have any questions about how much help to give your child with their work? It's tricky in kindergarten. We want to encourage independent thinking, but they still need a lot of adult support. If they are asking you how to do something, explain the directions. If they are asking you what the answer is, say: "What do you think?" Often I will give a child a few minutes of help to make sure they understand what is expected of them, then I say, "I believe in you. I know you can do it. I'll be back to check on you." and I walk away! When I return I make a big deal of them trying their best, even if it's not correct, and even if they only did one thing. I ask them to show me their work and will gush over it! In the classroom they understand that they have to share me with 18 other students, so they are used to having to struggle a bit on their own. It will be different at home, but I hope this is helpful.
Enjoy the day! If you snap a picture, send it to my email. I'd love to see everyone!
Do you have any questions about how much help to give your child with their work? It's tricky in kindergarten. We want to encourage independent thinking, but they still need a lot of adult support. If they are asking you how to do something, explain the directions. If they are asking you what the answer is, say: "What do you think?" Often I will give a child a few minutes of help to make sure they understand what is expected of them, then I say, "I believe in you. I know you can do it. I'll be back to check on you." and I walk away! When I return I make a big deal of them trying their best, even if it's not correct, and even if they only did one thing. I ask them to show me their work and will gush over it! In the classroom they understand that they have to share me with 18 other students, so they are used to having to struggle a bit on their own. It will be different at home, but I hope this is helpful.
Enjoy the day! If you snap a picture, send it to my email. I'd love to see everyone!
Please keep all of your child's work and return the whole packet of things, completed or not, when we return to school. I will be checking over everything to plan next steps once we are back together.
Hi all! If you go onto raz-plus.com and enter the Teacher's Username as jesteves3 then you can click on your child's name and then the rocket ship picture.
In school we click on Reading Room, then Leveled Books. The program will read the book they choose out loud to them once, then they have to read it themselves. They can go back to re-read as many times as they want, but the program will only read it aloud once.
Thank you for all your support.
In school we click on Reading Room, then Leveled Books. The program will read the book they choose out loud to them once, then they have to read it themselves. They can go back to re-read as many times as they want, but the program will only read it aloud once.
Thank you for all your support.
Dear Families,
I hope this letter finds you all well. As you know we will be participating in distance learning for the next couple of weeks. It is vitally important to me that we keep in contact during this time. It may be tempting to view this as an extra vacation, but please know that we are still actively working and have expectations for all students to participate in continuing education. All teachers have been working hard during the past week to develop meaningful learning activities that can be completed at home. The kindergarten team created packets that are located at Valley View and can be picked up on Monday from 9-12. If you are unable to come at that time, please send me an email or call the school. Teachers and administrators will be in contact with each other and will work together to assist you in any way. Remember, we are all part of the Valley View community and the partnerships we’ve formed will remain intact during our time apart.
After receiving your child’s packet, please look through it and contact me at any time with questions or concerns. We realize that most learning in kindergarten is not independent, and children will need your help with many activities. The packets contain a LOT! We know that you will still be working and do not want this to be a source of stress for you or your child, so please reach out at any time.
So, how do we stay in contact during this time? First, it’s very important that you check your email daily. I will be checking my email several times a day. Second, please contact me with any questions. Remember, there are NO BAD questions!! Third, I will be sending messages specifically to the students, so please relay these to your children.
You may hear from your child: “That’s not how my teacher does it!” If this happens, email me! Also, let me know how your child is doing. Are they frustrated with the work? Are they breezing through? Are they trying their best?
I want to thank you for your support of our school community and for the continued learning for your children. Please be safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Esteves
I hope this letter finds you all well. As you know we will be participating in distance learning for the next couple of weeks. It is vitally important to me that we keep in contact during this time. It may be tempting to view this as an extra vacation, but please know that we are still actively working and have expectations for all students to participate in continuing education. All teachers have been working hard during the past week to develop meaningful learning activities that can be completed at home. The kindergarten team created packets that are located at Valley View and can be picked up on Monday from 9-12. If you are unable to come at that time, please send me an email or call the school. Teachers and administrators will be in contact with each other and will work together to assist you in any way. Remember, we are all part of the Valley View community and the partnerships we’ve formed will remain intact during our time apart.
After receiving your child’s packet, please look through it and contact me at any time with questions or concerns. We realize that most learning in kindergarten is not independent, and children will need your help with many activities. The packets contain a LOT! We know that you will still be working and do not want this to be a source of stress for you or your child, so please reach out at any time.
So, how do we stay in contact during this time? First, it’s very important that you check your email daily. I will be checking my email several times a day. Second, please contact me with any questions. Remember, there are NO BAD questions!! Third, I will be sending messages specifically to the students, so please relay these to your children.
You may hear from your child: “That’s not how my teacher does it!” If this happens, email me! Also, let me know how your child is doing. Are they frustrated with the work? Are they breezing through? Are they trying their best?
I want to thank you for your support of our school community and for the continued learning for your children. Please be safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Esteves
Welcome to Room 24!
March Highlights:
Reading (this work will take us to the end of the school year!): We will focus on reading sight words and decoding CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. We will tell what happens in the beginning, middle and end of stories. Students will also answer questions about a story to tell about the characters' feelings using clues from the text. Students will make connections between stories and their lives.
Writing: We are writing opinions by sharing our favorite things and why we like them. Students are encouraged to write every sound they hear using an alphabet chart in their writing folders.
Math: We are learning math games that compare shapes. The students are learning the similarities and differences between circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, rhombuses, hexagons, and trapezoids.
We are continuing to work on writing numbers 1-20 and writing addition number sentences.
Science: Our pumpkin plants are growing onto the counter and this week we got some flowers that opened up!
We learned what plants and animals need to survive. We planted some radish seeds and gave one only sun, one only water, and one sun and water. The results were surprising!
Social Studies: We are learning how to get along with others by recognizing our own feelings and using our words to solve problems when we are upset. This is a year-long process!
We are writing about ourselves and sharing with others.
Letters we've learned so far: We learned all of the lower-case letters and their sounds. We will review these all year long. Next, we will learn how to write the upper-case letters.
t, b, f, m, n, i, u, o, c, a, g, s, d, r, e, j, p, l, k, h, v, w, x, y, q, z
Words we've learned so far:
the, is, here, see, I, a, have, big, to, go, we, and, can, she, he, will, my, this, it, is, be, in, no, yes, like, likes, look, looks, looked, looking, said, are, with, am, at, what, went, on, all, down, did, under, our, you, with, not, be, by, some, come
As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Jennifer
March Highlights:
Reading (this work will take us to the end of the school year!): We will focus on reading sight words and decoding CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. We will tell what happens in the beginning, middle and end of stories. Students will also answer questions about a story to tell about the characters' feelings using clues from the text. Students will make connections between stories and their lives.
Writing: We are writing opinions by sharing our favorite things and why we like them. Students are encouraged to write every sound they hear using an alphabet chart in their writing folders.
Math: We are learning math games that compare shapes. The students are learning the similarities and differences between circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, rhombuses, hexagons, and trapezoids.
We are continuing to work on writing numbers 1-20 and writing addition number sentences.
Science: Our pumpkin plants are growing onto the counter and this week we got some flowers that opened up!
We learned what plants and animals need to survive. We planted some radish seeds and gave one only sun, one only water, and one sun and water. The results were surprising!
Social Studies: We are learning how to get along with others by recognizing our own feelings and using our words to solve problems when we are upset. This is a year-long process!
We are writing about ourselves and sharing with others.
Letters we've learned so far: We learned all of the lower-case letters and their sounds. We will review these all year long. Next, we will learn how to write the upper-case letters.
t, b, f, m, n, i, u, o, c, a, g, s, d, r, e, j, p, l, k, h, v, w, x, y, q, z
Words we've learned so far:
the, is, here, see, I, a, have, big, to, go, we, and, can, she, he, will, my, this, it, is, be, in, no, yes, like, likes, look, looks, looked, looking, said, are, with, am, at, what, went, on, all, down, did, under, our, you, with, not, be, by, some, come
As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Jennifer
We had fun on Valentine's day, making crowns for our Q and U wedding, dancing, and playing games with friends in the afternoon. Thank you to the parents who were able to volunteer. We couldn't have had game day without you!
Here are the students during independent reading. They look so grown up!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0Z2FM7AGalliC7g187hdg8gczhmhqzi/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0Z2FM7AGalliC7g187hdg8gczhmhqzi/view?usp=sharing
We enjoyed pajama day, and even got our work done! Here are the kiddos busy reading their books.
Here is a link to us singing our whole body listening song (note: we had several students absent that day):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1naFE7zD9MNVC7voKwWQUBc-pFzV6q-ig/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1naFE7zD9MNVC7voKwWQUBc-pFzV6q-ig/view?usp=sharing
We practiced reading independently; reading one book after another in our book boxes for about 10 minutes. We also practiced partner reading; looking at our partner's book when he/she is reading, listening with our whole bodies, and taking turns.
I've included some pictures of our morning meeting. We start by greeting each other and reading our morning message. We then do sharing and an activity to start our day. Sometimes we also talk about problems within our classroom and give ideas (or role play) how to solve them.
I've included some pictures of our morning meeting. We start by greeting each other and reading our morning message. We then do sharing and an activity to start our day. Sometimes we also talk about problems within our classroom and give ideas (or role play) how to solve them.
We had a lesson from the social worker, Mrs. Bailey and learned more about filling our buckets. Doing acts of kindness fills our own buckets, as well as others' buckets. This means that we are filled with good feelings and spread those good feelings to others.
We also were busy playing math games during math workshop.
We also were busy playing math games during math workshop.
This week we made gingerbread men and put one in the oven. It escaped while we were at music! We looked everywhere for it and finally found it in our very own classroom!
The students are working hard during math work stations.
They also showed kindness by making cards that will be delivered to a nursing home next week.
They also showed kindness by making cards that will be delivered to a nursing home next week.
Enjoying our snack with all the kindergarteners.
Thank you Mrs. Periera for reading Thank You, Omu! to our class for our event, Read for the Record. We enjoyed listening to the story of generosity.
We began a new unit called Super Readers: The students activated pointer power and got special pointers to use to point to every word they read!
We had a blast at Hurst Farm! We had to work to earn our pumpkins. We pulled turnips and fed them to the cows. Then we picked corn for the cows to eat over the winter.
We had a visit from Firefighter Pete and his fire truck today!
We did a science experiment today. We put food coloring into milk and added some dish detergent. It made a rainbow!
We were shape hunters this week! We found squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles.
Enjoy pictures of your readers, our letter luau, and building a block tower together.
Working hard in kindergarten!
Getting to know our classroom, school, and friends.