ABCs of Kindergarten

The ABC’s of Ms. Morgan’s Kindergarten Class

Absences: It is school policy to notify the nurse any day your child will be absent from school. The nurse can be reached at 973-983-6545. Please send in a note if you know that your child is going to be absent from school ahead of that date.

Assessment: Ongoing assessments throughout the school year will help to measure each child’s progress and help provide data to meet your child’s individual needs. Our assessments focus on whole child.

Behavior: Appropriate behavior is essential so that all students are provided with a positive learning environment. Children learn best when they feel secure. I strive to create a classroom community, based the Responsive Classroom approach, where students work together and are surrounded with structure and creativity. We provide students with ongoing positive reinforcement for specific behaviors and actions.

Birthdays: Birthdays are an exciting celebration in Kindergarten! Students have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday by receiving a birthday crown, birthday pencil. and singing “Happy Birthday”! For safety reasons, we do not celebrate birthdays with food items.

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Class Wide Rewards: Students can earn a marble when they are collectively demonstrating good Riverview ROCKET choices. When their marble jar is filled they will earn extra recess time!

Communication: It is my goal to create an open line of communication between home and school. So much of what we do is integrated and requires that we support each other to meet the needs of your child. My priority as an educator is to ensure that your child is happy, challenged, and safe at school. Writing notes and placing them in your child’s folder, phone calls, and email are great ways to communicate with me. If at anytime during the school year you would like to schedule a phone conference or "virtual" meeting, please just let me know and it can be arranged.

Conferences: Parent/teacher conferences are held twice a year. Once in October and then again in March. Please make sure to sign up for your October conference on Genesis. A confirmation notice will be sent out to you prior to your scheduled time.
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Daily Folders: Your child’s daily folder will go back and forth from school every day. Please be sure to check your child’s folder daily for information or notes. Most importantly, have your child share any work that they may have completed at school.

Denville Township Schools Website: Please refer to the directions in your packet to sign up to receive Friday Folders and to access the Riverview Kindergarten website pages.

Email: The best way you can reach me is by email. I check our email frequently within a 24 hour period.

Ms. Morgan: [email protected]

Expectations: Throughout the school year, the children will begin to learn to recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters, read common high frequency words by sight, write their name, demonstrate basic letter sound correspondence, count to 100, count forward beginning from a given number, represent a number of objects with a written numeral, represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers and drawings, identify two and three dimensional shapes, demonstrate basic math fact fluency skills, develop POSITIVE relationships with their peers, and most importantly develop a LOVE FOR LEARNING!

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Friday Folders: Information about school and community events is posted on the website. Some important information may be sent home in your child’s folder as well. Please check it daily.
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Good Choices: In our classroom community, we emphasize the meaning of what it means to be a “Riverview R.O.C.K.E.T.” Riverview Rockets are RESPECTFUL, OPTIMISTIC, COMPASSIONATE, KIND, EMPATHETIC, and a TEAM PLAYERS. Students are always encouraged to make good choices! Students are rewarded for making good choices as a class and individually. The focus is always on the positive, ensuring that each student receives verbal praise and encouragement when they are making good choices. We have a set of classroom rules that will be reinforced daily throughout the school year.

Great Year!: It is my goal to make sure that your child has an unforgettable kindergarten experience. I am looking forward to a great year with your child!

Grit: Students will develop “grit” by being courageous and believing we can be the best we can be!

Handwriting: Students are encouraged to learn proper letter and numeral formation. We use approaches that are multi-sensory to allow students to master the technique. Please practice writing your child’s name at home.

Health: WE ARE A NUT FREE CLASSROOM. Thank you!

Invented Spelling: This is what much of the writing in kindergarten looks like. Kindergarten students will write the sounds that they hear. Example: journal- jrnl, book- buc. Invited spelling is expected at this developmental age. Most formal spelling will come later. In fact, phonetic spelling develops a strong link to developing the essential decoding skills for reading.

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Jumping: Movement breaks are scheduled throughout the day. Some breaks will include jumping!

Kindergarteners: Kindergarteners are special! The special ages of four, five, and six are a unique time of curiosity, energy, and rapid learning. At this age, children soak up information like little sponges and are eagerly learning new concepts and ideas. We use a lot of repetition and review to ensure that all basic skills are absorbed and understood for lifelong learning and application.

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Learning: Learning is fun! We love to learn more and more about ourselves and the world around us!

Math: Students will participate in small group, independent, and center based math activities daily. Activities are hands on, aligned to the Common Core Standards, and encourage exploration and problem solving. We will be using Pearson SuccessNet Math for daily math instruction. Students will also be developing basic math fact fluency skills and subitizing skills throughout the year.

Morning Meeting: Our morning meeting is one of the most important parts of our day. It truly sets the tone for a positive learning experience. Our focus during this time is on social/emotional learning. Morning meetings usually begin with a special greeting or song, a morning message, sharing, and a whole group activity that reinforces the sense of community in the classroom.

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News: Please refer to our Google Classroom for important information and reminders for that month.

Optimistic! Part of being a “Riverview Rocket” is to be optimistic! We are happy and excited about learning new things! We show “grit” when something is challenging. We know that our teacher is always available to help!

Pride: Students will develop a sense of pride by making good choices and contributing to our classroom community.

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Quiet - Students understand that they need to raise their hand if they have something to say and wait to be called on before speaking out. Kindergarten students are respectful RV Rockets!

Report Cards: Report cards in Kindergarten are issued twice a year. At the end of the second marking period and the end of the fourth marking period.

Restroom: We have a restroom inside of our classroom. Your child will be able to use the restroom when needed.

Rules: Our classroom rules utilize the Whole Brain Teaching methods. Students are using multi-modalities to assist them in mastering the rules and applying them to their daily lives in the classroom.

Small Group Instruction: Small group instruction is a very important part of the kindergarten experience. During this time, students will be placed in small groups to work with the teacher on specific instructional skills. Small groups help differentiate academic needs and target those areas. These will be held as needed during the virtual remote learning portion of our day.

Snack: We will have a designated snack time every day in the classroom. Please send your child daily with nutritious, nut free snacks that they can eat during this time.

Toys: Please keep all toys at home as they are a distraction from your child’s learning. We may have special activities that involve students bringing in something to share. I will let you know ahead of time when to send something in.

Units and Themes: During the school year we will cover various science and social studies units and themes. Students are excited to learn about themselves and the world around them!

Unique: Each child is unique and learns differently. Throughout the school year, we will use a variety of hands on activities that will reach all different types of learners.

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Victorious! We are victorious at every attempt at completing a task.

Whole Brain Teaching: Whole Brain Teaching (WBT), a grass roots, education reform movement, begun in 1999 by three Southern California teachers, has attracted an astonishing following among educators across the U.S. and in 30 foreign countries. Based on cutting edge scientific research, Whole Brain Teaching recognizes that students learn the most when they are engaged in lessons that involve seeing, hearing, doing, speaking and feeling. I use the WBT approach in my classroom to fully engage students and prepare them for the opportunity to learn a new concept or skill.

Workshop Model: We will be using a balanced literacy approach that includes phonics workshop, reading workshop, and writing workshop.

X-tra Special: The students in our class are X-tra special to us!

YOU—You are your child’s first and most important teacher! Please help reinforce classroom rules at home and help your child to get excited about learning!

ZZZZZs: Sleep is absolutely crucial for learning! Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest every night so that he/she is eager and ready to learn each day.