Week of September 26-30

Fridays--Pizza Hut collects the Coins for Kids

October 11  Title I family night

October 17  Delayed Start

October 31  Halloween

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:  Easton

Easton is 5 and likes to ride his bike (with no training wheels!) and he runs very fast. He loves snow!   He likes Chicken nuggets and vegetables.  Easton has two favorite movies--The Lego movie and Scooby Doo Movie.  He would like to some day be a firefighter or a police man.  His favorite book is The Runaway Tomato.

COINS FOR KIDS: 

WOW!  Thank you to all who have donated to COINS FOR KIDS this week!  Our bucket was full!  She had all she could do to lift it to the cart!!!  Keep sending it in!  We have a few more Fridays to go!

BOOK IT:

October -March is our BOOK IT time!  Each month the children will receive a calendar.  When they read to you or you (or anyone) reads to them, have them color in that day on the calendar!  The goal is to read a little every day!  Then after the month is done (Keep it if it falls on a weekend and bring it the next school day) and I will fill out a Pizza Hut coupon for your child!  We also have a poster and anyone that returns a calendar gets to fill in a spot on the poster and who ever brings in a calendar every month gets a surprise the first of April!  The children are excited to be beginning reading!  they get little paper books every week!  Have them read those to you every night they get home and color in a spot on the calendar! Or read the alphabet or sight words.   Even if you don't go to Pizza Hut, I hope you will do it and still send in the calendar so all the kids can get a surprise in April!  They like filling in the poster!!

We are beginning to do assessments to have report cards ready for our November conferences.  So far we have had our AIMS (math) and DIBELS (phonics) and NWEA (computer test that assesses reading and math).  Once I get the results I will be sharing the scores with you.  

READING:

This week we are learning about the letter Mm.

Sight word:  the

BOOK:  What about Bear?  We are practicing listening to stories and comprehension.

Our Beanies this week are Questioning Owl (he tells us to stop and ask questions about the what we read) and Spinner Spider who reminds us to make connections while we read.

WRITING:

We are writing/drawing in our journals every day.  I will share September journals at our November conference.  We will be talking also about small moment writing.

MATH:

This week we are looking at the triangle and practicing how to describe it and other shapes.  We practice counting to 25.  We are learning  look and match numbers with dots to determine quantity and more/less.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we released out butterfly that Bailee brought in as a caterpillar!  It has a tag and is on it's journey south!

We will wrap up  living and non-living.  For a few weeks yet we will continue talking and reading about fall and apples. The children have enjoyed reading and watching little movie clips about Johnny Appleseed (his real name is John Chapman!)  Ask them about him!

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 19-23

DATES:

Friday September 23--Mobile Dentist

Friday September 30--Progress reports home

READING:

This week we are finishing up our 2 letters a day adventure through the alphabet with the letters Qq-Zz.  Our ABC sound books will be finished and in their book boxes to read during silent reading or free time.

SIGHT WORDS:  I, can

What excitement we have had this week reading in our big ABC animal book!  The children are recognizing these sight words as we read!!!  Hope they are reading their little books to you at home!!  There are 51 sight words introduced in Kindergarten.  It starts out with one a week then moves to 2 soon!  Practice really helps!   

BEANIE BABIES:  We have learned that Eagle eye tells us to look at the picture to figure out the words.  Now we are learning about Lips the fish reminding us to look at the first letter in the word to sound out.  Jabber (Parrot) is the re-teller.  Jabber helps us to remember key parts of a story to be able to retell the story.

WRITING:  We practice writing our names and other letters every day.  We write in our journal daily.  Right now they are drawing a picture and trying to write the beginning sound of the word they are trying to draw.  (If they draw a tree, then they try to figure out the 't' and write it.

The writing curriculum we are using has us learning about speaker and listener.  When we write we are the 'speaker' and our audience or reader is the 'listener'.  We are practicing this in group by telling each other a story about something we know or something we can do. 

We drew a picture of something we saw on our trip to the butterfly garden.  When we go back later this fall, winter and spring we will again draw and write about what we have seen.

The children were introduced to ipads this week!  We have been introduced to "Write My Name" and "Letter School" aps.

MATH:

This week we are looking at the numbers 6-9 as well as shapes and patterning.  The Letter School ap also has numbers to practice writing.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:

Bailee brought in a Monarch caterpillar.  It formed a chrysalis last week so this week if not the first of next week we will have a butterfly.  Laura Quist, who helped us with the butterfly garden walking trip, will be bringing in a tag for us to tag it!

 

WEEK of September 12-16

DATES to remember:

Tuesday, September 13 is Picture day--All students will be photographed for their school library card.  Please send in picture money if you are choosing to purchase school pictures.

Monday September 19 --Delayed start

Friday, September 23 --Mobile Dentist

Please turn in all missing paper work, remember extra clothes for your child's locker and their ME poster!  If you need one, please let me know!

Please let the office know if you do not want your child photographed for the media (newspaper, Facebook, etc).

Remember GYM days are Tuesday and Thursday.  Please send gym shoes!

Looks like cooler weather is on its way!  The children can leave a jacket or sweatshirt in their locker or backpack.

READING:

This week we continue our investigation of the letters Ii-Rr.  We are learning to recognize and write 2 letters a day.  Each day the children are getting on the computer on www.starfall.com and doing each of the 2 letters we are focusing on.

Our sight word for this week is can

We are introducing our beanie EAGLE EYE.  The Eagle reminds us to use our eyes and look at the picture to figure out a word we are trying to read.

MATH

Identifying and writing 3,4,5.  We will be working on making and interpreting a graph by graphing our birthdays.  We have been practicing counting and counting objects.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We are waiting for the Swallowtail to emerge!  Should be any day!  I'm still on a search for Monarch caterpillars!  Keep an eye on the milkweed!  

Bailee brought in a Praying Mantis for us to watch!  They are amazing creatures!

Welcome to Kindergarten!
We have had a smooth start to the school year!!  We  have had no tears, everyone has gotten along great and they are hard workers!!!

Gingerbread day last Thursday was a bunch of fun!  Everyone took a turn stirring and decorating the gingerbread man!  We all walked him to the oven.  He was gone when we went to get him, so we raced around the school checking out in the cafeteria, gym, library, Mr. Brimmer's office, computer lab, music room, and the elementary office ---he was so tired of running he went back to our classroom and was waiting for us!  We enjoyed him after lunch!

Now we are beginning a routine.  This week begins our 3 week adventure in to the ABC's!  We have one or 2 alphabet letters a day until we have made it through all 26.  We have established a routine and discussed room rules and consequences.  Our first sight word is I.  This week we will talk about 3 ways to read a book--look at pictures, retelling a story we already know or actually reading the words.  If your child hasn't brought in 3-4 of their own books from home, please do so by Thursday!  We will be starting the book box by Friday.

Our gym is Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon.  Music is Thursday morning.  Every other Wednesday we will visit the library (beginning September 7!)  The children will not be checking out books for a few weeks.

Every day we will write in a journal.  The first few weeks, they will be drawing pictures, writing their names and the date.  If they draw something that they can write the beginning sound, I am encouraging them to do it.  (like write an a for apple.)  In our table rotations the children will practice writing their names and the letters we are working on that day.  If your child writes at home, please encourage proper finger grip, letter formation from top to bottom, left to right and they write their names with a capital letter first then lower case.  I included a paper in your folder that had proper finger grip and letter formations.

Science/Social Studies--We are learning the Pledge of Allegiance, how to be a good friend and school rules.  We were given Black Swallowtail caterpillars and chrysalis.  We should be getting butterflies by the end of the week.  I am having no luck finding Monarch caterpillars!  I had a female butterfly hovering over me in my back yard this weekend for over an hour!  I'm hoping she will lay eggs on the milkweed in my yard!  I'm not giving up hope!!  I'm still on a hunt!

In Math, we are starting with 0 & 1, We will learn to 'read' the number, write the number and count. The children are learning the number poems that are also in your folders.

Remember to send in notes if your child is ill or has a dr. appointment that has them missing school.  Also write a note or call before 2 if there is a bus change.  Remember school starts at 8, but not to enter the building before 7:45 as there may not be an adult in the room.  The children go outside until about 7:50.  Looks like cool weather ahead next week!  What a relief!  A jacket may be needed!

Please turn in any papers that were in the right side of your folders.  I still have a few children that don't have extra clothes in their locker.  I will go through every thing and send home a note the end of the week!

Periodically the office may take pictures of classroom activities.  If you do not want your child's picture publishes (news media or Facebook), please contact the office.

Thank you for ALL you do!  This has been a very smooth start to the school year!!!  I appreciate all you do!