Transitional Kindergarten News 

 

📚 Literacy & Phonemic Awareness

Syllable Detectives! We watched a video about syllables and then worked together to sort pictures onto plates according to the number of syllables in each word. During small groups, we played Syllable Scoot! Students searched for picture cards, brought them back to the table, and recorded how many syllables they heard in each word. We had lots of busy syllable detectives!

New Letters! We added Dd, Nn, and Oo to our growing collection of letters. Students have been practicing identifying each letter and producing its sound. Some are even putting their letter knowledge to work by reading CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Way to go, readers!

✏️ Handwriting

We explored “Magic C” letters this week! The letter C is a special starting point because it helps us form several other letters: a, d, Oo, Gg, and Qq. We practiced making a rainbow curve that touches the middle line on our paper before curving back to the starting point. This week, we worked on c, o, and a and will continue with d and q next week. Those curves are building some very important handwriting skills!

🎃 Pumpkin Science & Stories

We read Pumpkin Jack, a story about a boy who watches his Halloween jack-o'-lantern decompose in the garden. In the spring, a tiny sprout appears and eventually grows into a vine with a flower and a new green pumpkin!

We decided to try our own Pumpkin Jack experiment! We carved a little pumpkin and placed him in a container with soil. Now we get to watch what happens throughout the year. We'll keep our eyes open for changes as our pumpkin breaks down and nature does its thing!

We also got our hands dirty with some real pumpkin exploration! Students had the opportunity to dig into a pumpkin, feel the pulp, and discover the seeds inside. Some even took bags of seeds home to plant. Who knows? Maybe we'll have a few TK pumpkin patches popping up in backyards next year!

After opening another pumpkin, we put on our scientist hats and estimated how many seeds were inside. We love learning when we can touch, explore, predict, and investigate! Lowe was our closest estimator with a guess of 400 seeds. Our pumpkin had 389 total. Way to go Lowe!!!

🔢 Math

We practiced finding the number that comes before and after a given number using Unifix cubes. Students built a tower with a certain number of cubes, added one more to discover the next number, and took one away to figure out which number came before. Hands-on math helps us see how numbers work together!

🔬 Science: Candy Corn Investigation

Candy corn became our science material of choice! Students carefully observed its properties, investigated how many pieces would fit inside a triangle, and tested whether candy corn sinks or floats in water. We made predictions, tested our ideas, and observed the results.

And the best part of the investigation? We got to eat our delicious little science specimens when we were finished! 😋

🤖 STEM: Little Engineers at Work!

Our TK engineers put their STEM skills to work as they explored marble runs - testing how to build paths that would get the marbles rolling from start to finish. Students practiced problem-solving, predicting, testing their ideas, and making adjustments along the way. There was lots of thinking, experimenting, and learning through play!

🎨 Art & Creative Play

Our art and writing centers have been full of Halloween creativity!

  • Play-Doh Monsters: Students used Play-Doh and Halloween loose parts to create their own spooky, silly, and sometimes downright adorable monsters.
  • Halloween Cards: Our writing center has been a popular place for students to create cards for friends and family.

It's wonderful to see students using their imaginations, experimenting with materials, and finding new ways to express their ideas.

👻 Halloween Party Information

Our class Halloween party will be held on Friday, October 30, from 10:00–11:00 a.m. Our wonderful homeroom helpers have been busy coordinating activities and have sent out a sign-up for volunteers. Thank you for helping make this a fun day for our TK friends!

A few important reminders:

  • Costumes: Children may wear their costumes to school on Friday.
  • Halloween Parade: We will parade around the school from 8:30–9:00 a.m.
  • Costume Accessories: Please leave extra accessory pieces at home, as they tend to get lost or broken. All weapons must stay at home.
  • Recess: We will still go outside for recess. If your child would prefer to take off their costume to play, please have them wear regular clothes underneath.

We are looking forward to a spooktacular day!

🦃 November Family Project: Disguise a Turkey!

Your child should have brought home a turkey that needs your family's help! Please check your child's backpack or green folder to make sure it made it home.

Our turkey is in desperate need of a disguise so he doesn't become Thanksgiving dinner! Get creative and have fun working together as a family. We can't wait to see all the clever disguises our TK families come up with!

🍎 Snack & Sharing Schedule

Please send a snack for 16 students. Snack guidelines can be found in the snack bag and on the TK page of the school website.

  • Monday: Pax
  • Tuesday: Lowe
  • Wednesday: Rubani
  • Thursday: Hank
  • Friday: Halloween Party 🎃

Thank you for another wonderful week of learning, exploring, creating, and getting just a little messy. We hope you have a fun fall weekend! 🎃