October 29th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed. Oct 31st—Halloween Parade & Party

-Thurs. Nov. 1st—Pajamas & Popcorn

-Fri. Nov. 2nd—No School—PD

HALLOWEEN:

*Please send your child’s costume to school in a bag (labeled with their name). Students will change into their costumes after lunch.

**Please do NOT send make up or toy weapons (guns, knives, swords, etc.) to school.

***Parent volunteers, please plan to arrive by 12:15 to help get students into their costumes.

****The parade starts at 1:00 and families are welcome to watch us parade downtown—we would love an audience to cheer us on. Clifford will be joining us for our parade.

*****K will NOT be visiting the 4th grade wax museum; we will party in our classroom after the parade.

COINS FOR KIDS: 

I just got word last week that our class has brought in $104 and we are fluctuating at the top for most $ brought in so far.  They will be making one last collection and count this Tuesday to determine the top 3 classes.  Stay tuned, it’s a tight competition!

PAJAMAS & POPCORN: 

Thursday we will have a mellow day of school in our pajamas and in the afternoon we will have a movie with popcorn. :)  Students may also wear slippers in the classroom, but please send in shoes for gym and proper clothing for recess.

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on the shapes we see in nature and in our neighborhoods as we read about the shapes we see around us. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—materials & nature—invite your child to hunt for shapes in nature or around the house and draw pictures of them.

· Sightword—like—The handout from conferences has lots of great activities to do while learning sightwords:)

· Category Words—shapes—Play ‘I spy’ using shapes you see around you.

· Phonics—Letter Tt—Play ‘I spy’ looking for objects around your home that begin or end with the letter t.

· Beanie Baby Strategy—Picturing Penguin—He helps us visualize or picture the story in our minds while we are reading—a hard skill for Kindergartners who are surrounded by lots of visual stimuli:)

WRITING:  

We will finish up our October journals by writing about what we are going to be for Halloween. We will also begin a new informational unit on List, Observe, & Label.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

For Science, we will continue to learn about Motion in the world around us.  For Social Studies, we’ve been focusing on showing kindness, and using our words to problem solve when we have an issue with our peers.  We’ve been discussing when we should ‘tell’ and get help vs. when we need to try to work it out on our own. We will also be talking about Halloween & Trick or Treat Safety.

 *I will be sending blankets home to be washed on Thursday:)

*Please be sure to return your October Book-It Calendars:)

What a great turnout for conferences! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to come in and meet!  I am excited to partner with you as we build a solid foundation for your child in Kindergarten!!

Conference Schedule

Good Morning - Just posting conference times as a reminder:)  I have a lot of things to share with you and our 15 minutes will go very quickly, but I'll try to be as timely as possible:)  Please come ready to share as well:)

1:00	Johnny
1:15	Joey
1:30	Rolan
1:45
2:00	Nevaeh
2:15	Emmerson
2:30	Eli
2:45
3:00	Sylas
3:15	Adrian
3:30	Bella
3:45	Tessa
4:00	***
4:15	***
4:30	***
4:45	Ramara
5:00	Brahm
5:15	Max
5:30	Braelyn
5:45	Tenley
6:00	Kimberly
6:15	Jose’
6:30	Dayana
6:45	Citlaly
7:00	Pearl
7:15	Charlie

October 22 - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed., Oct. 24th—Visit the Book Fair to Shop

-Thurs. Oct. 25th—Half Day & PT Conferences

-Fri. Oct. 26th—Half Day (Dismissal @ 11:35)

-Fri. Oct. 26th—Visit the Book Fair to Purchase

-Wed. Oct 31st—Halloween Parade & Party

-Thurs. Nov. 1st—Pajamas & Popcorn

-Fri. Nov. 2nd—No School—PD

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES:

I am looking forward to meeting with each of you this Thursday to discuss your child’s progress in Kindergarten.  I will also have party sign ups available for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, & Jump Rope for Heart!

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on the tools people use every day to help them work, play, cook, and do their chores. We will be reading about tools such as utensils to eat, a calculator to add, and a shovel to dig with. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—tools & discover—invite your child to hunt for different kinds of tools and tell what each one is used for. Make a list of the tools and read it together when you are done.

· Sightword—a—Write simple sentences and leave a blank in each sentence to represent the word a. Have your child write the word in the blanks.

· Category Words—colors

· Phonics—Letter Pp—Invite your child to hunt for household objects that begin or end with the letter p. Write the words on sticky notes and have your child circle the letter p.

WRITING:  

We will complete a journal about a fire truck, as well as a Type 3 about a Jack-o-lantern, which we will practice self assessment using a rubric. We will create a sequencing book about how a pumpkin grows, which will reinforce several of our sightwords. We will also build a 'sentence buddy' to keep in our writing folders to use as a tool while writing. In addition, we will be learning about verbs and practice incorporating 'action words' into our writing. 

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

For Science, we will read several narrative and informational stories related to pumpkins, as we learn the lifecycle of a pumpkin and how it grows. We will also begin our Motion unit as we explore how different things move on the playground.  In Social Studies, we will wrap up our unit on Fire Safety.

MATH: 

We will create a graph using pattern blocks and practice interpreting the data. We will also play a ‘spill the beans’ game where students will determine different combinations for making 10.

COINS FOR KIDS: 

Thanks for the great participation and support for “The Literacy Project.” We will be collecting spare change through the month of October.

*Remember to color in your Book-It calendar, each day that you read at home.

Brrr!

Brrr - It's officially COLD!
Please be sure to send your child with a hat, mittens/gloves, and a warm coat.  We do go outside for recess 3 times each day and if they are warm and bundled, then they can ENJOY their recess time outside:) . I check the temperature before they go outside and let them know what they need to put on.  I'm sure we will still get a few warmer days, but if their hats and mittens are in their backpacks they are easy to find when we DO need them:)

Thanks!

October 15th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs. Oct. 25th—Half Day & PT Conferences

-Fri. Oct. 26th—Half Day (Dismissal @ 11:35)

-Wed. Oct 31st—Halloween Parade & Party

-Thurs. Nov. 1st—Pajamas & Popcorn

-Fri. Nov. 2nd—No School—PD

STUDENT OF THE MONTH:

Our October student of the month is Bella Chamberlain.  Bella has 3 dogs, her favorite color is purple, and her favorite food is pizza.  She enjoys playing games and reading Paw Patrol books.  At school Bella is a hard worker and a kind friend to others.  She says she wants to “be a big kid” and learn about dogs when she grows up. Congratulations to Bella on being our Student of the Month.

READING:  

This week our reading lessons will focus on the letter Ss and we will introduce the sightword—see. Our focus stories are Senses at the Seashore and A Feast of Senses which we will use to practice building our listening and comprehension skills. We will also introduce Poetry, as we read and listen to some poems related to our senses. Our new Beanie Baby for this week is Stretchy Snake—who helps us read new words by stretching out/saying the sounds to figure out the word; we will put this strategy to good use throughout the year while reading and writing.

WRITING:  

We will continue to practice stretching and labeling small moment stories as we learn several strategies for spelling words. We will create an Itsy Bitsy Spider class book together, as well as a fun rhyming spider activity with partners.

MATH:  

We will continue to work on identifying and writing numbers, as well as oral counting.  We will also introduce number stories and learn some different strategies for solving number stories.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

For Social Studies this week we will focus on Fire Safety and Prevention. We will read several informational texts related to fire safety and watch several video segments to spark our discussions. October is Fire Prevention Month; please be sure to check the batteries in your smoke detectors at home, as well as discuss and practice an escape plan with your family. In Science, we will review our Senses and how important they are in exploring our world around us. We will also read several informational texts about Spiders and learn some interesting facts.

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES:

You should have received your child’s progress report last week, as well as your note regarding parent teacher conferences.  I am looking forward to meeting with you and sharing some of your child’s Fall screening results, talk about their progress in Kindergarten, as well discuss their next steps in learning. Just a reminder that K report cards are on a different schedule and will go home November 21st.

COINS FOR KIDS: 

Thanks for the great participation and support for “The Literacy Project.” We will be collecting spare change through the month of October.