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Mrs. Jennifer MacRitchie » Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Mrs. MacRitchie's Kindergarten!


I am so excited to be a part of the St. Joseph Catholic School community. After receiving my bachelor’s degree and completing the master’s program at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, my first teaching job was here at St. Joseph Catholic School, where I taught kindergarten. I taught at St. Joseph for seven years and then stepped away from teaching after the birth of my first child. When my children were in school, I returned to teaching at a public school in Geneva, working with children with special needs. After 6 years in the public school system, I decided to return to the Catholic School Community and started teaching kindergarten at St. Mary School in Elgin. In 2024, I moved back to the northern suburbs and feel so blessed to be back at St. Joseph Catholic School.

We are fortunate to have a full-time instructional kindergarten aide, Mrs. Graziella Bosco, working in our classroom this year. Mrs. Bosco has been a kindergarten aide at St. Joseph School for 18 years!

Together, we will develop a caring classroom community that will foster growth and develop a love for learning. We are both very excited to work closely with each student to ensure a successful Kindergarten year!

 




 

Posts

Charlie's birthday is in June, when we are not in school, so today we celebrated Charlie's 1/2 birthday. Happy 1/2 Birthday, Charlie!

Week at a Glance January 5th to January 9th

Math Objectives: The students will be able to show ways to decompose or take apart numbers 4-10 using concrete objects, pictures, and numbers. The students will show understanding of all the objectives in Chapter 4: Compose and decompose Numbers to 10. 

Science Objectives: Students will learn what different animals do to adapt and survive in the cold winter months. Students will develop a basic understanding of hibernation as a means for animals to survive the cold winter months. Students will develop a basic understanding of the concept of migration and why animals do it. Students will be able to identify a few common animals that hibernate and a few common animals that migrate.

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to make words. To identify the correct initial, middle, and ending sounds in words. To be able to read the 22 sight words. 

Social Studies: Students will be able to identify New Year’s Day as the start of a new year, a special day to celebrate a fresh start.

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to identify and verbally explain the key elements of the Epiphany story, including the three wise men, the star, and their gifts to baby Jesus. The students will be encouraged to reflect on their journey to find Jesus. The students will learn that the guidance of the Holy Spirit helps us grow closer to God and share Jesus’ Good News.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing sentence writing skills: starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will work on using a combination of drawing and writing to tell a simple story.  The students will be able to write at least two or three complete sentences.

                    There is no school December 19-January 4.

                         Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

We have been learning about the symbolism of the Christmas tree and the lights, so today we made these fun Christmas trees. 
Since the Christmas Concert has been postponed, we will NOT be having a dress rehearsal tomorrow, and all kindergarten students should wear their gym uniforms to school. 

Week at a Glance December 15th to December 19th

Math Objectives: Students will show ways to compose or take make 8, 9, and 10 using concrete objects, drawings,  and numbers. 

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to make words. The students will be able to identify the correct initial, middle, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to read the 22 sight words. The students will work on being able to observe details, wonder, and ask questions about what they are reading. 

Religion Objectives: The students will think about ways to prepare their hearts during Advent.  The students will continue to learn the story of Christmas. The students will continue to learn about the Advent wreath. The students will be able to recognize the circle as a symbol of God’s unending love, identify the four candles representing the four weeks of Advent, and associate each week with its theme: hope, peace, joy, and love.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing sentence writing skills: starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will work on adding details with adjectives. The students will be able to write at least two complete sentences.

 

Today in STEAM, Mrs. Delaney challenged the kindergartners to create a shelf for their Elf on the Shelf.  Payton used popsicle sticks and Play-Doh to create a shelf for her Elf. 
Mrs. Hein announced that because the school did such an amazing job with the food collection this week, everyone may enjoy a dress-down day tomorrow. 
Today, we worked on using our letter boards to make words that end in -ing. We came up with wing, bling, sing, ding, king, bing, and ring.
Each day in Advent, not only do we take a star off our Advent calendar to learn more about the story of Christmas, we also have been adding one decoration to our tree each day. Filling our hearts with joy. 
We got to take three stars off our Advent calendar today. Each day, we get to learn a little more about the story of Christmas. 

Week at a Glance December 8th to December 12th

Math Objectives: The students will show ways to compose or make 4, 5, 6, and 7 using concrete objects, drawings, and numbers, and then be able to explain or write the relationship between the parts and the whole.

Science Objectives: Students will be able to identify that nocturnal animals are active at night and describe at least one characteristic of a nocturnal animal.

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to make words. To identify the correct initial sound in words. To be able to read the 22 sight words. To be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions about them when reading. The students will practice developing their reading skills. The students will work on demonstrating comprehension by recounting the beginning, middle, and end of a story in their own words and by identifying the main topic of a story orally.

Religion Objectives: The students will learn that Advent is a time to get ready to celebrate Jesus’ Birth.  The students will continue to learn the story of Christmas. The students will be introduced to the Advent wreath. The students will be able to recognize the circle as a symbol of God’s unending love, identify the four candles representing the four weeks of Advent, and associate each week with its theme: hope, peace, joy, and love. The students will understand that a disciple loves and follows Jesus.

Writing Objectives: Students will continue to develop sentence writing skills, focusing on starting sentences with capital letters, expressing complete thoughts, using correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will work on adding details with adjectives (size words).

Reminder: If the feels-like temperature is above 20 degrees, the students will be going outside for recess. Please make sure your students have the correct clothes for the weather.  If you would like to store an extra set of snowpants or boots in their locker, just let me know so I don’t send them home.