Monday, April 25, 2011

Look Who's Blooming in Kindergarten!

In language arts we are study the idea of perseverance or “sticking to it”. The students shared wonderful examples of times when they tried and tried again. We read and discussed the story, “Tillie and the Wall” by Leo Lionni. This week we will begin our “By the Sea” unit.

In math we started our “Time and Money”. The students have done an amazing job of telling time to the hour. This week we will discuss coin values.

In science we started our “From Seed to Plant” unit. In the first lesson, the students used their prior knowledge to sort seeds. They were surprised to find that all of their sorted objects were seeds. Thanks to Mrs. Hess, we now have a blooming classroom garden. Later this week we will observe what happens inside of a seed.

Looking Ahead:

May 11th-13th- Mrs. Childress will be absent: I will be at Camp Edward’s with my 5th grader.

May 17th- Brookfield Zoo: All Parents/Guardians are welcome to join us. However, if you plan to bring siblings, you will have to meet us at the zoo. Permission slips will be sent home soon.

May 25th- Kindergarten Three Piggy Opera: 6:00pm in the Auditorium. Students should meet in the Commons at 5:45pm. More information to come.

May 27th-Olympic Day: A day of fun and activities for all students.

June 1st- Kindergarten Block Party. More information to come.

Here's to another great week!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Dr. Seuss

Friday, March 11, 2011

Leaping Leprechauns

This week in Language Arts we continued our review of blending and segmenting. We focused on blends found at the end of words. We also practiced the skill of summarizing, using the books, “Three Wishes” and “Clever Tom and the Leprechaun”. Your kindergartner can practice this skill at home after reading with you.

In math we continued to work on adding single and double-digit numbers. The students are using our new sign-in system each morning to practice this skill.

Next week we will start “Mystery Bag” our version of show and tell. Please click on the link to the right for more information.

We have more than enough boxes for our leprechaun traps. Thanks to all of you that sent them to school with your child. We are still in need of Clorox “Green Works” disinfected wipes. If you have not done so already, please send a large container of wipes to school with your kindergartner next week.

Our class is going green. Please dress your child in a green shirt on Thursday, March 17th, for St. Patrick's Day.

Have a Great Weekend!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Oh' The Place We Will Go!

This week in kindergarten we celebrated Dr. Suess’ 83rd Birthday. We read many of his books and we even got a chance to see several of them come to life on film. We also reviewed rhyming words, cvc words, and the /gr/, /pl/, /cr/, /pr/, /sc/, /sk/, /st/, /gl/, and /sn/ blends. We continued practicing writing 2-3 sentences using developmental spelling. Please remind your kindergartner to always put a finger-space between words when they write in their journal at home.

In math, we have been adding single- digit numbers. Some of us have gotten so good at this we have challenged ourselves by adding double-digit numbers too. We learned a new game called, “Top-It Addition”. Ask your kindergartner to teach you how to play this game at home. We continued practicing counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. Next week we will review geometric shapes.

Ask your kindergartner about the little green leprechaun that is running around our classroom. We are planning to catch him soon. Each kindergartner will need to bring a cardboard shoebox (with a lid) to school with them by Friday, March 11th. If you have an extra box or two we will gladly take it off your hands.

e are in desperate need of more Green Works “Clorox” disinfected wipes. We use these once a week to wipe down our desk and chairs in hopes of keeping germs to a minimum. Please send a large container of wipes to school with your kindergartner as soon as possible . Thanks in advance.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Conferences

Hi Kindergarten Families,

Thank you for your patience as I try to reschedule our 24 conferences from Thursday afternoon. I am working on a schedule for in-person conferences. I am also offering phone-conferences if you would prefer to speak with me via telephone during my planning times or in the evening. In order to make sure I accomodate everyone's needs, please e-mail me back if you would like a phone conference. Otherwise I will assume that you would like a face-to-face conference with me and will plan accordingly.

As for the 100th Day Celebration, Mrs. Rapoport and I have moved our celebration to Tuesday morning from 8:30-10:30. Parents, please let Jocelyn Adkins know if you are able to join us and help out that day. This gives you more time to help your child assemble their 100 items for the class trail mix (remember no nuts) and their white t-shirt/sweater with 100 items attached.

We will exchange Valentine cards and treats on Monday, February 14th. Please make sure all cards are filled out and treats attached. I will send a student list home on Monday, February 7th.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Snowy Day!

Good Evening All,

Due to the our snow day tomorrow we will have to change our 100th day of School celebration to Friday at the same time. I hope everyone can still make it.

Sorry for the inconvenience.
Happy Snow Day!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hip, Hip, Horray, We're Close to the 100th Day!

On Thursday, February 3rd, we will celebrate the 100th Day of School. I am asking that you help your kindergartner create a 100-day t-shirt or sweater to wear to school that day. Don’t worry you don’t have to be a seamstress to do this. A hot glue gun or safety pins will go a long way. Some possible items that your child might want to glue/pin to their shirt are listed below. Feel free to be creative and remember to have fun!

-buttons
-foam letters
-feathers
-stars
-stickers
-iron-on
-beads
-numbers
-letters


We will also share a 100-Day snack that day. Please help your child count-out 100 small food items to add to our trail mix. Some possible foods are listed below (no nuts please).

-raisins
-goldfish
-fruit snacks
-Chex
-pretzels
-popcorn
-animal crackers
-Plain Cheerios
-mini marshmallows
-yogurt bites


Thursday, Feb. 3rd: Parent/Teacher/Student Conference Students are dismissed at 11am

Friday, Feb. 4th: Half Day Students dismissed at 11am.