T.A.S.
Issue 1
Ms. Yamazaki’s
Kindergarten News
Welcome K Class of 2008-09
Corduroy
By Don
Freeman
September 12, 2008
Dear Parents,
We
have
been
in
kindergarten for 20 days,
including our first week of
half days! In this time, we
have learned many of the
routines that we will
continue throughout the
year. We begin the day by
signing in, graphing our
after-school
plan,
and
graphing our lunch choices.
At 8:00, our VIP and backline captain lead us in
doing our lunch math and
our
morning
calendar
activities. We count the days
in kindergarten and read the
morning message, We have
been to our Mandarin, art,
P.E., computer, and music
specials. We’ve checked
books out from the beautiful
lower school library, and
we’re learning lots of chants
and songs!
In math, we are learning about A-B
patterns, lunch equations, number
writing and number poems, counting
forwards and backward, sorting by
attributes, and exploring Pattern
Block shapes.
It has been a busy beginning to a
new school year. At present, we
have 16 eager kindergartners in our
class. I am pleased to have your
child in our classroom community
and look forward to our time
together.
I would like to take this opportunity
to say how happy I am with how you
parents are allowing your children to
gain responsibility for doing their
own morning jobs. I have witnessed
nothing but positive interactions
between parents and children.
I was so pleased to see many of you
at our Back-to-School Open House
last on the 3rd. I hope that you take
time to look over the Open House
packet, and that you will find it
useful over the next months.
Happy Moon Festival to you and
your family!
Ms. Yamazaki’s Kindergarten News
We are learning this song:
We are Zoo-Phonics kids;
From twenty-six animals we learn to
read.
We are Zoo-Phonics kids,
From twenty-six animals, yes,
indeed.
We are Zoo-Phonics kids;
Our animal friends all live at the
zoo.
We are Zoo-Phonics kids;
Now we’ll introduce them all to
you:
Allie, Bubba, Catina Cat,
Deedee Deer and Elephant;
Francie Fish and Gordo, too,
They all live at the zoo.
Honey Horse and Inny, too;
Jellyfish and Kangaroo,
Lizzie, Missy, Nigel, too,
They all live at the zoo.
Olive Octopus is sweet;
Peewee Penguin’s tux is neat.
Queenie Quail, her babies, too,
They all live at the zoo.
Robbie Rabbit’s in no stew.
Sammy Snake and Timmy, too.
Umber, Vincent, what a crew,
They all live at the zoo.
Willie Weasel, Xavier Fox,
Yancy Yak just talks and talks,
Zeke the Zebra welcomes you,
Come meet us at the zoo.
Zeke the Zebra welcomes you,
Page 2
We Are Zoo-Phonics Kids!
“We are Zoo-Phonics kids. From 26
animals we learn to read…” This is
the first line of our Zoo-Phonics
song. During the year, we will learn
about the twenty-six animals who
make
up
the
Zoo-Phonics
menagerie, from Allie Alligator to
Zeke the Zebra. Last week, we did
our second draw Catina Cat and this
week we drew Deedee Deer! During
our draw along lessons, the students
first watched, then listened, then
followed along as we drew the
shapes that made Bubba Bear,
Catina Cat and DeeDee Deer. We are
learning to follow visual and
auditory directions during draw
along sessions.
We will also use our draw along
books to do word work which helps
with spelling and reading.
Bubba Bear is a brown
bear. We read Brown
Bear, Brown Bear, What
Do You See? By Bill
Martin,
Jr.
and
Corduroy
by
Don
Freeman.
Catina Cat is a
calico cat. She is
white, black, and
orange. We read
Cookie’s Week.
Ms. Yamazaki’s Kindergarten News
Introducing our E-book:
Jelly on a Cracker
Page 3
Ms. Y’s
by Ms. Yamazaki’s Kindergarten Class
Our first class E-book is online. You
can access it from our Kindergarten
website, just as you did this
newsletter. E-books are meant to be
read again and again by your child.
Our class E-books will have simple,
predictable text that is usually
supported by the photos. Our first Ebook is a chant we learned during
our first week of school. Your child
brought home his own copy of Jelly
on a Cracker the first day. They say
a picture is worth a thousand words.
It is my hope that we can make your
child’s kindergarten experiences
visible to you through our monthly
online newsletters, photo galleries,
and E-books!
We also made a class book based on
Jelly on a Cracker but with different
things we like on crackers.
Book Corner
Bread and Jam for Frances
By Lillian and Russell Hoban
Frances is a little girl badger who
lives with her mother, father, and
baby sister, Gloria. In this
delightful book, Frances doesn’t
like to eat anything but her
favorites: bread and jam. She
refuses eggs for breakfast or meat
and vegetables for dinner. At lunch,
she trades her lunch with best
friend Albert for his bread and jam
sandwich. She makes up little
songs about foods, and continues to
eat bread and jam until her wise
mother figures out a way for
Frances to change her eating habits.
I read this book aloud to the class,
however, it is one that the children
really like. This book can be
checked out from our class and the
lower school library. It is an old
favorite that is enjoyed time and
time again.
Ms. Yamazaki’s Kindergarten News
You’ve all heard all about our
adventures with the Gingerbread
Man by now. We mixed and we
baked. He ran away, and we chased
him all over the school. He left clues
for us to different places: the
kindergarten kitchen, the lower
school office, the nurses’ office, the
library, lost and found, the
swimming pool, and finally at the
guard house gate. He even left
cookies and a note for us in the
classroom. What fun we had chasing
him around TAS. Those of you who
attended Open House were able to
meet him and pose for photos (see
this month’s photo gallery).
Activities like this are more than just
a lot of fun. They are highly
engaging, literacy events. First we
read the story of The Gingerbread
Man. We read the recipe, we
measured and counted when we
made him. We read and memorized
the chant, “Run, run, as fast as you
can. You can’t catch me, I’m the
Gingerbread Man!”
Page 4
In the days following the chase,
we read many other versions of
this well-known tale. Please check
our library catalogue for other
versions that you may checkout to
read at home.
Reading and re-reading a story
over and over is an excellent
strategy to use in learning to read.
Children learn to recognize some
words after reading a story,
especially a predictable pattern
story, over and over. So when your
child brings you a favorite book
that you’ve read what feels like a
million times, remember the value
in repeated readings of a familiar
book.
Reading on the Pocket Chart
Lucas and Nicky are reading an
interactive chant with the refrain
from the Gingerbread Man story.
Ms. Yamazaki’s Kindergarten News
Page 5
Writing Workshop
At Open House, Mr. Jacob
presented a bit of our writing
curriculum to parents. We view
even our youngest students as
writers, long before they can even
write recognizable letters or words.
When they are ready, we encourage
students to “have a go” and attempt
to write using phonetic or
temporary spelling that we call
“kidwriting.” As we teach our
students to put their stories and
experiences
on
paper,
we
conference with them, and we teach
them ‘what writers do.’
In our class, our writing workshop
is in the morning, right after our
morning circle routines and before
recess.
Please refer to your Open House
packet for developmental stages of
writing---from strings of letters to
standard spelling.
Q uickTim e™ and a
decom pr essor
ar e needed t o see t his pict ur e.
Writers Sharing Their Work
Integrated Studies
Marvelous Me - A Thematic Unit
All About ME
Over the course of six weeks,
students will come to understand that
people are alike and different, that
people have different families and
that while everyone has a body, we
all look different.
REQUEST***Family Photo
Please! Send in by Sept. 23rd
Please send in a photo of your
family. I will make a copy on the
photo copy machine and send
you back your original. Thanks!
Mark your PTA calendars:
Monday, September 15 is Day 3
Monday, September 22 is a
Professional Day for Teacher ~
no school for TAS students
Tuesday, September 23 is Day 8
Monday, September 29 is Day 2
Monday, October 6 is Day 7
(providing we do not have any
typhoon days)
Remember sport shoes for PE
on days 2, 4, 5, 8, 10!