Skip to main content
Placeholder text, please change
Mrs. Jennifer MacRitchie » Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Mrs. MacRitchie's Kindergarten!


I am so excited to join the St. Joseph Catholic School community. After receiving my bachelor’s degree and doing the master’s program at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota my first teaching job was at St. Joseph Catholic School teaching kindergarten. I taught at St. Joseph for 7 years and then stepped away after my first child's birth. 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. This summer 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 17 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 April 22nd - April 25th

Math Objectives: The students will use the words next to and beside to describe or place an object with respect to another object. Review and test on all objectives in Chapter 10: Position.

Science Objectives: The students will observe and describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. The students will learn about Earth Day to develop an understanding of the Earth as a special place and recognize the importance of taking care of it.  

Reading Objectives: To recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all 5 long vowel sounds. The students will be able to identify and produce the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, and ck. 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 identifying how many syllables they hear in a word. 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.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify and recognize key American symbols and understand their basic representation of the United States of America. The students will learn about the history of the first Earth Day. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to identify Easter as the celebration of Jesus' rising from the dead. The students will understand that Jesus promised to be with us always. 

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

Josie used her behavior calendar reward tickets to buy bubbles at recess. The children had so much fun chasing the bubbles around the playground. 
At recess, we always have fun looking for signs of spring. We are amazed at how quickly the buds on the trees are opening into beautiful leaves. 

Week at a Glance April 14th - April 17th

Math Objectives: The students will use the words above, below, in front of, and behind to describe or place an object with respect to another object. The students will be introduced to lines of symmetry. The students will create symmetrical patterns on butterfly wings, demonstrating an understanding of lines of symmetry.

Science Objectives: The students will review the four seasons and be able to describe some of their typical characteristics and associated weather patterns for each season.

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, and ck. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. To 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 identifying how many syllables they hear in a word. 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.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify and recognize key American symbols like the Bald Eagle, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial and understand their basic representation of the United States of America.

 Religion Objectives: The students will continue to focus on Lent as a time for prayer, reflection, and helping others. Using a visual aid, the students will be able to retell the key events of Holy Week.

Writing Objectives: The students will 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 write an expository paragraph on a subject of their choosing. 

In Religion this week, we have been learning about the Stations of the Cross in preparation for attending Stations of the Cross tomorrow.
Today in math, we worked on sorting by the numbers in a group. We sorted the amount of kids sitting at different tables.  We had two tables with 3 students and one table with 5 students.
Tomorrow is the food pantry collection; the kindergarten has been asked to bring applesauce, but anything is appreciated.
Today, we wrote an expository paragraph on how to make a sundae. We also learned that the Statue of Liberty is in New York, that it is 305 feet tall, and that it is a symbol of freedom. We also worked on identifying how many syllables we hear in words. It was a great day!

Week at a Glance April 7th-11th

Math Objectives: Students will sort objects into groups by shape. Students will sort objects into groups by counting.  Students will be assessed on the objectives taught in Chapter 9, Classify Objects.  

Science Objectives: The students will review the four seasons and be able to describe some of their typical characteristics and associated weather patterns. 

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, and ck. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. To 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 identifying how many syllables they hear in a word. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading. The students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions when reading. 

Religion Objectives: The students will continue to focus on Lent as a time for prayer, reflection, and helping others. The students will be introduced to Jesus’ journey to the cross as a story of love and sacrifice.

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 continue to work on expository writing.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify and recognize key symbols like the flag, bald eagle, and Statue of Liberty, understanding their basic representation of the United States of America.

Happy belated Birthday Mikayla! It is so lovely to have you back and celebrate your birthday!
In your students' DOT Book, you should find a page they completed today called I Can READ Simple Sentences! I was super impressed with how well all the students did on reading the sentences, I highly suggest you have your student read it to you.
Today, we learned that we live on the continent of North America, in the United States of America, and that we live in the State of Illinois.