Mr. Scruggs' Kindergarten: Talkin' 'Bout Freedom!

We had another fabulous week in kindergarten this week. We learned the sounds /i/, /n/, and /t/ and even began sounding out words! You could feel the classroom ripple with excitement as the class realized they had actually sounded out, blended, and read the words I put in front of them. It was magical! Next week we will continue to learn new letter sounds and blend words. Please encourage your child's excitement and love for reading by having them practice their concepts of print books they bring home from school. You have been doing a great job of having your child complete his or her homework! Readers who routinely practice are better readers! Thank you for your support with homework.

As we learn our sounds, the kids practice "snipping" short sounds like /d/ and /t/ with their finger scissors

As part of his internship, Mr. Briscoe is slowly taking over more and more components of our day. This week he began teaching the kids phonemic awareness through rhymes and chants. Watch the video below to see the class singing and dancing to one of our thematic rhymes, "I Like My Friends" that the very talented Mr. Briscoe put to music. It was such a creative and fun activity, I couldn't resist sharing with you!

Mr. Briscoe and the kindergartners playing "Freeze," one of our brain games.

In your child's Ware Bear folder you should have received a Scholastic Book Order and a Highlights magazine survey. If you choose to order Scholastic books, please return the order or order online by Thursday, September 24. Usually new orders will come home at the beginning of a new month. This is a great way to build your home library and encourage your child's love or reading. It is also a great way to get free books for our classroom as each parent order awards our class bonus points that I can redeem for class books. Please fill out the Highlights survey. Just check yes or no on the back and SIGN YOUR NAME. Each signed response I receive (yes or no) works toward getting us FREE stuff for the classroom! Thank you for supporting your child's kindergarten classroom AND their teacher! :)

The Freedom Walk was a great success! The kids had a great time celebrating our freedom. We spent a few moments discussing why September 11 means so much to the people of this great country and how you, their parents work hard to preserve the freedoms that we hold so dear. It was so inspirational to see all of our military children singing about our great country in the whole school assembly, and marching with smiles and cheers through the neighborhood. Thank you so much to the many of you who walked with us or cheered for us from the sidewalks! It was great to see you and it really motivated the kids to keep walking (it was a long way to walk for our small legs!).

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your time with your family! We will see you next week for another fantastic week of kindergarten!