Ms. Madorsky’s Classroom Newsletter

To my kindergarten students WELCOME TO

SCHOOL! To my first grade students WELCOME

BACK TO SCHOOL! That’s right, kindergarten and

first grade students.

This year, the school is departmentalized all the

way down to kindergarten. This means, that your

student will be seeing two different during the day;

one for math and one for English language arts

(ELA). I will be your students’ ELA teacher this

year. This means, I will be teaching them

everything they need to know in order to be

successful readers and writers!

I will send home a newsletter every Monday. This

way, you will know what your student will be

learning in my class during the week. Also, I will

give suggestions of what to practice at home. It is

my hope that you practice at home with your

student, and I will do everything I can to support

you with that.

In addition to the newsletter, I also have a

classroom website. On the website you will find the

stories we are reading the in the class, questions to

ask that go along with the stories, sight words

homework resources, information about the rules,

rewards, and consequences in the my classroom,

school information, and copies of the newsletter.

This will be a great way for me to keep you all

updated and for you to stay informed.

I am looking forward to a GREAT year. If you ever

have any questions, comments, or concerns please

do not hesitate to contact me. This year, Bradwell’s

theme is “Education is a team sport”

and that’s really true. Without all of

you and your support, the things

that are taught in the classroom

would not be as meaningful. I

really hope we can all work

together to make this school

year wonderful.

Classroom News

Bradwell School of Excellence

Chicago, IL

September 8 , 2014

Volume 3, Issue 1

BACK TO SCHOOL !

This week, although it is the first week of school,

we are hitting the ground running. We are

jumping right into Literacy content. We will be

reading four different nursery rhymes this week.

Students will be finding words that rhyme,

identifying characters in a nursery rhyme,

identifying things that are similar and different,

and also analyzing phrases such as “it’s raining

cats and dogs.”

Students will also learn about independent

reading. They will practice sitting quietly and

focusing on reading a book every day. Although

some students may not know not how to read

yet, this practice is for when we start small

groups and some students are working

independently. After the first 20 days of school,

students will independently read at least twice a week if not more. Practice, practice, practice!

Just like kindergarten, first grade students will also

be jumping right into literacy content. This week,

students will be reading the fables The Boy Who

Cried Wolf and The Maid and the Milk Pail. For both

fables, students will be retelling the plot

(beginning, middle, and end) of the fable. Students

will also have to identify the characters and

settings in both fables. Characters are the people,

animals, or creatures in a story. The setting is

where and when a story takes place. A

setting could be a park, a house,

at night, 12:00, dinnertime,

September, summer, etc…It is

very important that when you

read any story with your

student you have them identify

the character(s), setting(s),

and plot. These skills will

come up repeatedly throughout

the year, so the more practice

students get at home the better!

Kindergarten ELA News

First Grade ELA News

SIGHT WORDS Every week students will learn five sight

words. Sight words are the most common words in books, and the ability to recognize,

spell, and write them quickly will make your student a better reader and writer. We will

practice these words in the classroom, but practice at home is important too. In your

student’s folder is a list a list of all the sight words your student will be learning this

year. I cannot stress the importance of practicing sight words at home enough.

Have students read them, write them and spell them. The more practice the better!

Kindergarten sight words this week are: the, of, and, a, and to. First grade sight words this week are: over, new, sound, take, and only.

Ms. Madorsky’s Classroom Newsletter Page 2

Supplies If you can send any school supplies (Kleenex, hand sanitizer, pencils, dry erase

markers, crayons, glue sticks, folders etc…) that would be

greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help!

Reminders! School starts at 8:45. We leave the

cafeteria at 8:45, so if that is when your student is arriving they are NOT eating breakfast. Please get them to school by

8:30 so that they have time to eat.

Please make sure that your child is

wearing the appropriate uniform every day when they come to school.

Homework will be sent home every Monday and the packet is due the

following Monday. Homework counts for a grade so if they do not return it they will

receive a 0 until it is turned in.

Contact information:

lnmadorsky@cps.edu or 224-406-0488

The rules in Room 123 are:

Follow directions the first time they are given.

Level 0 Voice (no talking) when the teacher is talking.

Raise your hand to speak and wait to be called on.

Stay in your area (do not get out of

seat, up from the carpet, move from the line, etc…)

Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.

Please make sure that you review these rules with your student so that they

understand the expectations. Students that do not follow the rules will be

given a consequence. Students that follow directions will receive rewards.

A behavior chart will be located in your student’s folder. Every day I will mark

your child’s behavior. Please ensure that you check it every night. Students

that end the day on green (good day)

will receive a sticker for their sticker chart. Once they get to numbers 13

and 26 on the sticker chart they will get to go to the prize box. Students on

yellow, orange, or red will not get a sticker. If your child ends the day on

one of those colors please make sure that you talk to them about their

behavior so that it can be corrected for the next school day.

Classroom Rules