Welcome!

1. Welcome! Kindergarten Academic Night 2012

2. Things you should practice with your child at home…1. Tying his/her shoes and dressing self.2. Unzipping and zipping his/her backpack.3. Opening snack packages independently.4. Buttoning and unzipping his/her pants. 5. Cleaning up his/her toys in less than 5 minutes. 6. Complying with a request the first time asked.7. Taking care of their own toileting needs.

3. EOY Reading Expectations • Student recognizes at least 25 sight words in a variety of contexts. • Students use basic decoding skills to read unknown words. • Students can blend and segment 3 and 4 letter words. • Students can recognize and produce rhyming words. • Students can recognize all 26 letters in both uppercase and lowercase and in a variety of fonts and texts. • Students can produce and recognize all phonemes (letter sounds). • Students need to comprehend text read to them and text they read independently.

4. Your child should be independently reading at a DRA level 3 by the end of kindergarten. • Many high frequency words repeated throughout the book. • Repetitive text with a pattern. • Pictures that help tell the story. Level 4 text includes: • Simple three- and four-word sentences. • Many familiar words repeated throughout the book. • Some words with inflectional endings (-s, -ed, -ing).

5. Many kindergartners come into Kindergarten already reading! Each child will be assessed thoroughly and taught at their own level.

6. Reading levels are not determined by decoding skills alone. Children must be able to: • Read with fluency and intonation. • Determine a purpose for reading. • Read and enjoy a wide variety of genres. • Independently retell the beginning, middle and end of a story, including details. • Answer questions about a story that include higher-level thinking skills. • Make personal connections and connections between texts. • Make predictions, inferences and draw conclusions.

7. Ways to Practice Reading at home • Listen to your child read simple, predictable books…over and over to build fluency. • Make sure they point to the words as they read…this promotes good 1:1 correspondence. • Choral read (together)…partner read (take turns). 3 Ways to read Read the pictures Read the words Retell the story

8. Before Reading • Discuss title and cover…make predictions about the story. • Picture walk prior to reading story. • What do the pictures tell us? • Use pictures to decode or comprehend unfamiliar words. During Reading … Encourage… • Reading with inflection • Noting punctuation • Connect text to self • Connect text to text • Connect text to world Ask questions during and after reading…

9. Your kindergartner will be writing in all subject areas by the end of Kindergarten!

10. End of the year writing should show: • Phonetic spelling with at least approximate beginning and ending sounds. • Many high frequency words used and spelled correctly. • Clear organization—stories should have a beginning, middle and end. However, phonetic spelling is still perfectly acceptable—especially with more complex or irregular spelling patterns.

11. Handwriting Without Tears • Developmentally Based Curriculum for Writing Readiness and Printing • Multisensory Lessons • Learn Correct Letter Formation • Daily Letter Lesson or Activity • www.hwtears.com

12. EOY Math Expectations • Students are able to count to 100 by 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s • Students are able to match numbers to a set. • Students demonstrate 1 to 1 correspondence. • Students are able to join and separate objects up to 10. • Students use a variety of methods to represent objects. • Students will problem solve oral and written word problems using a variety of strategies. • Students recognize and use calendar concepts daily. • Students are able to sort objects by size, shape, and color. • Students are able to predict, identify, and extend patterns. • Students are able to compare 2 and 3D shapes. • Students are able to recognize coins.

13. We will take a problem solving approach to math this year. Children will be encouraged to work together to find their own solutions to problems and then share out their strategies. • Problem solving… • Is a task for which the solution is not explicit. • Challenges students to discover and explore their own strategies to arrive at a solution. • Includes a reflection and communication of their thinking and reasoning. • Includes real world situations in a variety of ways. • When children solve problems in ways that make sense to them, they acquire new knowledge and make new connections with what they already know!

14. What we will be doing in math this 9 weeks: • Sorting by attributes—try to sort objects that can be sorted in more than one way (buttons, colored pasta, shoes, small toys). If that’s too easy—create a Venn Diagram. • Patterns—make patterns out of anything you can find! • Counting—to 100 eventually, so count every chance you get. (Count windows in your house, blue cars in a parking lot, houses on your street). • 2-Dimensional Geometric Figures (that’s shapes to you and me). Look for shapes in your house. Compare and contrast shapes.

15. Upcoming Science and Social Studies • Our Five Senses • Seasonal Changes • Community Helpers • Holidays and Traditions

16. Kindergarten Curriculum • Can be found on the RRISD website: • Kindergarten Curriculum • Report card Rubric

17. Technology • Check Teacher Web (birthdays, wish list, star student schedule…) • Computer Lab visits twice a month • Kindergarten Wiki • Library Research Resources • Passwords are found in student directory

18. Snack • Since we eat lunch early, please provide your child with a snack for the afternoon. • Healthy snack preferred (no candy) • Water only, no juice boxes

19. A few more reminders… • All parent volunteers must fill out the district’s online • volunteer application • When your child is sick, they must be fever free for • 24 hours before returning to school. Report all Absences online • Students need to be at school by 7:45. Students that arrive after 7:50 will be counted tardy. • Please remember to pack an extra set of clothes in your child’s backpack. • Please place all money in a ziploc bag with the appropriate form or a note. • Please return child’s daily folder on designated days. • Parents are not permitted in academic hallways unless they have checked in with the office. • Each class will go to the library once a week. • Kindergarten will be taking a Field Trip to Crowe’s Nest Farm in the Spring. • Class T-shirts will be worn on Special Days (Field Day, Field Trips, Spirit Days)

20. Thank-you for coming.We’re looking forward to a wonderful year!