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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

Week at a Glance April 7th to April 10th

Math Objectives: The students will be able to identify objects that are alike and objects that are different. The students will use logical reasoning to solve problems. The students will be able to sort objects into groups by size. 

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 consonant blends at the beginning of words. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to distinguish whether a word contains a short or long vowel sound. 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. Students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to identify Easter as the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. The students will understand that Jesus promised to be with us always. The students will learn that the Church has liturgical seasons and every season has a color. 

Writing Objectives: The students will write a five-sentence personal narrative paragraph about what they did over spring break. The paragraph will feature a clear beginning, middle, and end, using transitional words first, next, and last. The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating complete thoughts, using correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words.

Today was a very exciting day.  The Libertyville Fire Department came and talked to us about the difference between a tool and a toy. We learned that some things that look like toys (lighters and batteries) can be very dangerous and are really tools.  Father Jake also blessed our new playground, and we got to go play on it! It was amazing!!!
Today, every student will bring home a bag of Jelly Beans that we have been using for the past two days in math. If you look in their DOT Book, you will see how they sorted the Jelly Beans, tallied how many they had of each color, and then took that information to make a beautiful bar graph.  They can also show you how they used the Jelly Beans to solve addition problems and measure lines. 
Today, we did a very fun jelly bean science experiment. First, we predicted what we thought would happen when you put jelly beans in warm water. Some of us thought the jelly beans would completely dissolve in the warm water, while others thought the jelly beans would turn the water the color of the jelly bean. Then, we conducted the experiment and watched what happened. It was very cool, the water turned the color of the jelly beans, and the jelly beans turned white and got very slimy.  

Week at a Glance March 30th to April 3rd

Math Objectives: Students will demonstrate understanding of addition and subtraction using concrete strategies. Students will sort based on attributes, count sets up to 10, record data using tally marks, and create a bar graph.

Science Objectives: The students will conduct simple experiments to nurture curiosity and introduce the basics of scientific thinking. The students will learn that it is okay if their prediction is wrong; it is just another step towards discovering the right answer and fostering persistence. 

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 consonant blends at the beginning of words. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to accurately decode and read simple consonant-vowel-consonant words by identifying individual letter sounds and blending them together. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will work on distinguishing between fiction and non-fiction books. The students will practice using the reading strategies: Pointer Pup, Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Chunky Monkey, Flippy Dolohin, Skippy Frog, and Trying Lion. Students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading. 

Social Studies: The students will be able to identify the events of Holy Week. 

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 and understand that Holy Week is a special time marking Jesus' great love for us. 

Writing Objectives: The students will write a five-sentence personal narrative paragraph about what they did over spring break. The paragraph will feature a clear beginning, middle, and end, using transitional words first, next, and last. The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating complete thoughts, using correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words.

On Groundhog Day, we noticed that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted that we would have 6 more weeks of winter, but Woodstock Willie did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring. We decided we would keep track of the weather each day and see who was correct with their weather prediction. Since February 2, we have had 31 days that felt like winter and 14 days that felt like spring. Congratulations, Punxsutawney Phil, you made the correct prediction.
Mrs. Causey from the Church office asked us to help grow some vegetables that we will plant in the church garden later this spring. The vegetables will be harvested and given to the food pantry. This week, we planted 12 peppers and 12 marigolds. Mrs. Causey told us that the marigolds will attract the bees and keep the bunnies away.
Today we got to celebrate Dante's 6th Birthday a little early because Dante's real birthday is over spring break. Happy Birthday, Dante, hope you had a great day!

Week at a Glance March 16th - March 20th

Math Objectives: Students will use direct comparison to compare objects by weight. Students will be able to describe measurable attributes of a single object. Students will be able to compare the capacity of two objects to determine which holds more and which holds less. The students will demonstrate their understanding of all the objectives in Chapter 8: Measurement by successfully completing the Chapter 8 test.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to define, identify, and demonstrate, through hands-on investigation, that a push or a pull is a force that can cause an object to start, stop, change speed, or change direction. The students will continue to investigate and identify that rougher surfaces create more friction. The students will plan, test, and describe how changing the height of a ramp (steepness) affects the distance a toy car travels.

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 consonant blends at the beginning of words. To identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to accurately decode and read simple consonant-vowel-consonant words by identifying individual letter sounds and blending them. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice identifying and producing rhyming words. The students will practice using the reading strategies: Pointer Pup, Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Chunky Monkey, Flippy Dolohin, Skippy Frog, and Trying Lion. Students will be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading. 

Social Studies: The students will understand that Saint Patrick was a brave missionary who followed God’s call to bring love and faith to Ireland. The students will learn to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by honoring his story of faith, kindness, and sharing God’s love. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to identify St. Joseph as a loving and caring family member and understand his role as a protector and provider of Jesus. The students will continue to focus on Lent as a time for prayer, reflection, and helping others.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on expository writing. With prompt and support, the students will use drawing and writing to compose a 5-sentence paragraph containing an opening sentence, three step-by-step directions, and a closing statement about how to make the perfect sundae. The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating complete thoughts, using correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words.

Today science was so much fun! We learned all about friction. Each student got a straw and a marble, and we experimented with how much force it took to move the marble across different surfaces. We discovered that it took more force to move the marble across the rug and a towel than it did to move the marble across the smooth tile floor or our tables. I sent the straws home so they could experiment at home.
I want to make sure you all know about the Stay & Chat on the morning of Monday, March 16th. It is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn more about what's in store for our school with the new St. Joseph Parish Center. This new school space will impact every St. Joe's student, and I'm excited for what's in store for your children. 
 
We started Chapter 8, Measurement in math. Today, we worked on comparing the length of objects. We decided that Maggie and Grace are the same height. 

Week at a Glance March 9th - March 13th

Math Objectives: The students will use direct comparison to compare the lengths, heights, and weights of objects. The students will be able to accurately measure the length of objects using unconventional items, placing them without gaps or overlaps in a straight line, counting the total, and recording the number as a whole unit. The students will guess, check, and revise to solve problems.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to define, identify, and demonstrate, through hands-on investigation, that a push or a pull is a force that can cause an object to start, stop, change speed, or change direction. The students will discover that stronger forces result in faster or farther movement.

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters and the digraphs th, ch, sh, wh, and ph. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. To identify the vowel sounds in words. The students will practice being able to identify and produce words that rhyme. The students will work on learning the 22 new sight words for the 3rd trimester. 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 observe, wonder, and ask questions when reading.

Religion Objectives: The students will learn about the stations of the cross to help them understand Jesus’s love and sacrifice. The students will be able to describe Lent as a special time to grow closer to Jesus through prayer, kindness, and sharing. The students will participate in simple Lenten daily reflections to help them identify ways they can show kindness and make positive choices to grow in their faith.

Writing Objectives:  With a prompt and support, the students will use drawing and writing to compose a 5-sentence paragraph containing an opening sentence, three steps in order, and a closing statement about an awesome birthday party they had. The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating complete thoughts, using correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words.