3 Reasons to LOVE Reading in Kindergarten

REASON # 1 ~ Books on CD

This week, I added a listening center to our classroom library for the children to access during Center Time.  Children enjoy being read to and listening to recordings of stories is a great way to demonstrate fluency, reinforce following along in the text and foster a love of books!  I currently have only one working portable CD player to use in this station, so only one child can listen at a time.  I would LOVE to get more up and running.  

***  If you have an old discman/portable CD player at home that you no longer use we would love to add it to our listening center! ***


Below is Kindale listening to a book on CD

Our collection of books on CD is also rather limited.  Ms.G. and I are pooling our resources and sharing the few books we do have.  We are also fortunate enough to have some eager high school students that will be recording themselves reading some of our favorite children's books to add to our collection.  A big thanks to their teachers, Ms. Fischer and Mr. Anderson for agreeing to take on this great collaborative project.  It will provide the older students with a neat opportunity to familiarize themselves with some of the technology available and it will be fun for our students to be able to listen to students they may already know reading to them on recorded CDs!  

REASON # 2 ~ Our NOOK!

Another WONDERFUL addition to our classroom library is a Nook!  A Nook is an electronic book reader that can store electronic versions of any type of book or magazine.  The school library purchased 6 Nook Colors to use in our Elementary Classrooms this year!  We received ours today.  It has 19 children's books on it already and can store many more!  The Nook can read the stories to the children, just like in our listening center or children can select the "Read by Myself" option.  It can read aloud to a small group of children or be used with headphones if the classroom is too noisy.

Below is Edgar listening to a book on our Nook Color!

REASON # 3 ~ Scholastic Book Clubs

Scholastic Book Clubs provide an excellent opportunity to build your home library AND our classroom library AT THE SAME TIME! Any time a parent places an order online, I receive a coupon for a FREE book for our classroom.  Also, with each monthly flyer that comes home, our class earns Bonus Points for each $1 spent by families to put towards free classroom books!  

*** Our September Scholastic Book Order is due on Friday, September 30th ***


You can also earn FREE books for your home library by collecting "Kellogg's Codes".  Click here to learn what products contain the codes and how to redeem them for FREE books!

Vernon County Fair & La Farge Elementary

PROMISE CENTER FAIR BOOTH

Ms. Gustafson, Ms. Kundert, & I spent Tuesday afternoon decorating a booth at the Vernon County Fair to showcase the wonderful & unique things going on in our small school.  You should stop by the Education Building at the fair to see pictures and artwork done by students in the Promsie Center both this year and last year!

Here is a sneak-peak :)

NICK'S KID SHOW

Each year, the Vernon County Fair pays for "Nick's Kid Show" to visit area schools.  This year it was our turn.  Nick and his friend, Harry, visited La Farge Elementary Thursday morning!  Nick & Harry put on a VERY energetic and entertaining show that had both children and staff moving, laughing and singing along.  Below are a few photos from the performance.  You and your family can check out more of Nick's performances at the Vernon County Fair! Visit http://www.vernoncountyfair.com to see what times Nick will be performing each day.  

 Ashlee Miller (below) was the lucky Kindergarten volunteer!

* Fall Field Trip Fun *

October 10th - 14th is Fire Prevention Week.  

Every year, the LaFarge Fire Department invites students in Pre-K - 2nd Grade to the Fire Station!  Firefighters provide children with the unique opportunity to get an up close and personal look at their gear, trucks and equipment through several stations designed to both teach children safety skills and familiarize them with the sights and sounds they might encounter in a rescue situation.   

OCTOBER 13th is our annual Fire Station Trip.  

Weather permitting, we will walk to the Fire Station.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately and wears comfortable shoes.  Parent volunteers are always appreciated on field trip days!  If you'd like to join us, meet us in the classroom at 1:00 or at the fire station at 1:30. 

Each school year, we try to take many of our field trips together, as a Promise Center.  Our Fall Promise Center trip this year will be to the Children's Museum of LaCrosse. 

We will visit the museum on Wednesday, October 19th.  

As always, parents are encouraged to attend.  Please fill out the permission slip that was sent home last week and return to school ASAP so we can prepare for a wonderful trip!  

If you'd like to learn more about the Children's Museum of LaCrosse, click the logo above to visit their website!

ABC's & 123's

READING 

In Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, LaFarge uses the Superkids Reading Program designed by the Rowland Reading Foundation to teach Reading, Writing, and Spelling.  This program features an excellent online component for both teachers and families.

Visit http://www.superkidsreading.org/   or click on the Superkids link in the "Links for Parents" section to the right to learn more about this amazing program.  

The "Parent Portal" contains many tips and resources for you to use at home and will eventually allow your child to access the Superkids Online Games from home!  

Click here for a letter explaining the "Parent Portal" on the Superkids Website.  Before you can access the "Parent Portal" on the site, I will have to add you to our class roster using your e-mail address.  I will be sending this letter home soon.  But, if you would like to get started exploring the Superkids website now, print the letter, fill out the bottom and return to school in your child's FISH Folder.  

MATH

Kindergarten will be using Saxon Math from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers this year.  There is also a website for this program.  There are online activities students can access at home on this site, as well!  

Visit http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com/en/sxnm_primary.htm or click the "Saxon Math" link in the "Links for Parents" section to the right.