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

Week at a Glance May 11th to May 15th

Math Objectives: Students will be able to identify what three-dimensional shapes can roll, stack, and slide, and explain their reasoning based on whether the shape's face is flat or curved. Students will identify, name, and describe solid shapes in the physical world. Students will be tested on the objectives in Chapter 12, three-dimensional shapes. The students will be able to identify the hour hand as shorter and the minute hand as the longer hand on an analog clock. The students will understand that when the minute hand points to 12, it is the exact hour.

Science Objectives: The students will observe caterpillars transform into butterflies to help them understand the concept of metamorphosis and the life cycle of a butterfly. The students will be able to name the stages of the butterfly's life and understand how the needs of the butterflies change as they progress through these stages. 

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds. The students will be able to identify and produce the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, ck, and ph. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. The students will be able to identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice being able to identify and produce words that rhyme. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading, as well as being able to identify the main topic of a story.  The students will work on being able to observe, wonder, and ask questions when reading. The students will practice reading fluently with the expression. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain that all people have basic needs: food, water, shelter, clothing, and love. The students will understand that Jesus wants us to have what we need, so sometimes we should help the poor and make sure they have what they need.

Writing Objectives:  The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will learn about information writing.

We wrote letters to next year's kindergarteners telling them about all the wonderful things they will get to do next year. 
Today in math, we experimented with some 3-D shapes to see which ones would roll, which ones would slide, and which ones could stack. It was a lot of fun!
Jack has been saving his tickets for a long time to buy an extra recess, and today he finally had 50 tickets, so he bought the class an extra recess. Thanks Jack, it was the perfect day for an extra recess.

Week at a Glance May 4th - May 8th

Math Objectives: Students will identify, name, and describe cylinders and cones. Students will be able to identify what three-dimensional shapes can roll, stack, and slide, and explain their reasoning based on whether the shape's face is flat or curved. 

Science Objectives: The students will observe the growth of the seeds they planted. The students will be able to identify the four stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) and describe them in simple terms.

Reading Objectives: The students will be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds and the digraphs sh, ch, th, ph, and wh. The students will be able to identify and produce consonant blends. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will practice identifying and producing rhyming words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice using the reading strategies: Pointer Pup, Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Chunky Monkey, Flippy Dolohin, Skippy Frog, and Trying Lion. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading, as well as being able to identify the main topic of a story.  Students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify that early cars looked different from modern cars and identify that they replaced horses for transportation.

Religion Objectives: The students will understand that Mary is the Mother of Jesus and our loving heavenly mother, whom we honor in a special way during the month of May by crowning her statue with flowers.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will be able to write a five to six sentence friendly letter to share information about kindergarten.

Today, we did our last journal entry in our Observing the Growth of Plants booklet. We can not believe how big our plants have gotten in just two weeks. 
Today, we learned what symmetrical means and what a line of symmetry is. Then we painted watercolor symmetrical butterflies.
We can not believe how much our caterpillars have grown in just one week.  We predict they will make their chrysalis this week. We are very excited.

Week At A Glance April 27th to May1st

Math Objectives: Students will be assessed on the objectives taught in Chapter 10, Position.  The students will be able to identify, name, and describe spheres and cubes. The students will review addition and subtraction. The students will also learn about lines of symmetry and create a symmetrical butterfly.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to identify the major parts of a plant (roots, stems, leaves, flowers) and understand the basic function of each part. The students will observe the growth of the seeds they planted. The students will be able to identify the four stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) and describe them in simple terms.

Reading Objectives: The students will be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds and the digraphs sh, ch, th, and wh. The students will be able to identify and produce consonant blends. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will practice identifying and producing rhyming words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice using the reading strategies: Pointer Pup, Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Chunky Monkey, Flippy Dolohin, Skippy Frog, and Trying Lion. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading, as well as being able to identify the main topic of a story.  Students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify that early cars looked different from modern cars and identify that they replaced horses for transportation.

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain the concept of forgiveness. The students will learn that we need to forgive others just as God forgives us when we make bad choices. 


Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words.

Today, the school social workers, Ms. Hand and Mrs. Walsh came into the classroom to talk to us on the importance of giving a compliment and receiving a compliment graciously. We then got paired with a partner and had a chance to practice giving a compliment and receiving a compliment. 
We are very excited, 5 tiny capertillar arrived in the mail today. We are going to learn about life cycles as we watch them grow and change into beautiful butterflies.