Hello! Welcome to Mrs. Daliege's Kindergarten class (Room 102) at Humke Elementary School. I’m looking forward to working with you and your child this year. We will have a fun and exciting year!
I am a native to Nekoosa. I grew up here and graduated from Nekoosa High School in 1992. From Nekoosa I went to UW-Stevens Point and graduated with an Early Childhood Major in 1997. I student taught in Nekoosa, and was hired after I graduated. I then pursued my Master's Degree in Education from Silver Lake College in 2000. This is my 11th year teaching . I am married to Brian, and we have three small children, Noah (5), Kloey (4) and Owen ( 1).
I like to think of the classroom as "our" classroom. It's not mine, it's not theirs, it's ours! I want the children to be self motivated learners. To do this I have various learning center areas. Each learning center offers a specific skill for a child to explore and master. Using centers, each child moves around freely and learns by doing. As your child changes activities, he/she meets different groups of children and learns to work and talk with others. Children will use these centers during small group learning activities or during free choice play time. I encourage parents to volunteer their precious time as much as they can during center times.
I absolutely love teaching and I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. I am so excited to be your child’s teacher this year. It will be a wonderful experience for all of us! During the school year if you have any questions, please e-mail me kris_daliege@nekoosa.k12.wi.us or daliege@wctc.net , call me at school (715-886-8010) or home (325-5971), or write me a note in your student’s folder. I will get back to you as soon as I can. Let’s have a GREAT year!
My Classes: Click on icon for homework/assignments for that class.
Class
Description
Math
I use a hands-on approach to learning mathematics. I encourage curiosity, problem solving, exploration, asking questions and experimentation. I use the programs Everyday Math and Houghton Mifflin Expressions. These programs stress real life mathematical experiences. The children will learn primarily through manipulation of materials to facilitate their understanding of math concepts. We will also do math activities based on the theme for the week.
In the beginning of the year we spend a lot of time with free exploration and guided discovery of our materials. Children became familiar with the wide assortment of math manipulatives and I observe how they interact with the materials. We will be working on many other math skills this year, such as sorting and classifying, number sense, numeral recognition, basic number operations, estimation, measurement, graphing, and applying concepts in solving problems. Our math centers reinforce the concepts we are working on through active participation.
Reading and Language Arts
I will be implementing the Building Blocks program this year. Building Blocks are a set of goals that when developed in kindergarten will:
• Instill a desire to learn to read and write (creating an environment where all students see themselves becoming independent readers and writers.)
• Encourage letter and sound recognition (through activities with alphabet books, beginning and ending sounds, and shared writing of predictable charts.)
• Develop phonemic awareness (including the concept of rhyme, through activities with poetry, rhyming books, tongue twisters, and playing with language.)
• Teach essential language concepts (fostering the ability to read and write words through the use of morning messages, journal entries, sentence building activities, and environmental print.)
• Teach essential print concepts (modeling how to write and participating in shared reading and shared writing experiences.)
• Extend vocabulary/Interesting Words (extend the list of real-life words that students find personally relevant, such as favorite restaurant names, favorite cartoon characters, and family members.)
The strategies I will use to develop the previous concepts include Independent Reading, Shared Reading (Shared reading is when the students and teacher share the reading of a story. It does more than introduce your child to powerful literacy strategies – it helps create a community of enthusiastic learners. Shared reading opens up the world of literacy by inviting readers to interact with text in a positive, supportive environment. Your child will love hearing the delightful stories and poems over and over, exposing them to the research-based steps critical to literacy learning: phonological awareness, concepts of print, phonics, vocabulary, and sense of story.), Guided Reading (Guided Reading is critical to a comprehensive literacy program by bridging the gap between shared and independent reading. It "scaffolds" instruction by offering gradually decreasing teacher support as students' a confidence and abilities as a reader grow. ), Working with Words. We have a word wall in our classroom that contains sight words that we are learning how to read. Each week I will list the new word wall words in my newsletter. You may wish to write these words on index cards and practice reading them with your child at home.
Science
I use a variety of materials in science to encourage the children to investigate and observe. I offer materials for investigation such as magnifying glasses, plants and animals to study and care for, and we make use of our outdoor environment. We will gather information and draw conclusions. In Kindergarten we use the Foss Science Kits (Wood & Paper, Trees, Animals Two by Two, and Fabric) as well as the Scott Foresman series
Social Studies
I feel strongly that the social/emotional area is just as important as the academic/cognitive area. I work very hard throughout the year to help the children develop a sense of respect for one another and their environment. I want children to feel good about taking chances, trying new things, and learning from their mistakes.
I use the Responsive Classroom approach that has the following underlying principles:
• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.
• How children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand.
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
• To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
• Knowing the children we teach–individually, culturally, and developmentally–is as important as knowing the content we teach.
• Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to children's education.
• How the adults at school work together is as important as individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.
Writers Workshop
I use a systematic approach to writing called the Lucy Calkins Units of Primary Study. This program provides an integrated approach in which phonics instruction is an essential part of the program. I encourage phonics- based spelling, or kid writing, and I give each child tools to stretch out words, listening for the sounds in the words of her/his own story.
Children become more accomplished writers when adults help them sound out words at the early stages rather than having an adult just tell them how to write the words. I tell the children to "write it the best you can", or "just sound it out", or "write the letters you think you hear". This intensive personal attention of sounding out words is what ultimately enables and empowers most children to become excellent independent writers very quickly. You will be amazed at the progress your child makes. This is very exciting for them as well. You may want to encourage your child to write in a journal at home.
