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Monday, August 26, 2013

Hello Again!

Welcome back!  We have been busy continuing learning about letters, shapes and numbers!  I hope you enjoy this blog and like getting a peek inside of our classroom through the information and pictures presented here. I am enjoying this class immensely! Working with your children every day makes me believe that I have the best job in the world.

I would like to thank you for continued support.  This includes reinforcing things we are learning in school (letters, name writing, shapes, sight words, etc.) and also reminding your child about what it means to make good choices in school.  Thank you!


Some things to know/remember:
  • If your child is signed up for the Trojan Triumph after school program I must send them every day unless I get a message from you.  
  • Please collect BOXTOPS for our classroom!  We can win a party if we bring in the most! :) Ask grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, etc. to help out too! :)
  • The Scholastic Book Fair will be here the week of September 9th.  If you send money with your child for the book fair please put it in an envelope labeled with what the money is for.  I will schedule a class time to go down to the book fair also and will send out an e-mail after I do that.
  • Grandparents Day is on Friday, Sept. 6th from 7:15 to 8:20 a.m. Grandparents may visit the book fair after breakfast! :)
  • I sent home September and October's Snack Schedule.  If, for some reason, you did not receive one please let me know.  
  • There is an early dismissal at 11:25 this Friday 8/30/13.  No Trojan Triumph on early dismissal days.
  • There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 2nd, in honor of Labor Day.
  • School PICTURE DAY is Wednesday, September 11th.  I am sending home the picture envelopes today! 
  • Help??  I am trying to update my file folder games.  File folder games are GREAT independent activities used to reinforce skills being taught.  Unfortunately, making them requires a great deal of time as there is a lot of cutting involved.  If you would be willing to help cut out file folder games it would be greatly appreciated.  Just send me a note/e-mail and I will send home some for you to work on.  Don't worry if you can't! :)
  • Our first class book is going home!  Please make sure you read the rest of this post to learn more about class books. :)


WHAT WE'VE BEEN LEARNING:

Language Arts
We've been busy learning letters Dd, Cc, and Ee.  Ask your child to give you the visual phonics sign for these letters.  We have begun our Phonemic Awareness program. We are continuing PREDICTING in our balanced literacy curriculum.  Our sight words are fast paced and must be practiced.  Please help your child with these sight words at home:
I, a, go, big, at, the, can, to, am


Math  
We have moved on to shapes!  We are learning about spheres, cubes, cylinders and cones.  We are working on mastering the triangle, square, circle, and rectangle.  We are learning how to discuss shapes using words such as "vertex," "3-Dimensional Shape," "2-Dimensional Shape," "Solid," and "Flat."

Some other things we've been doing:

The letters "b" and "d" are commonly confused.  I have taught the "bed" method where the "b" is at the beginning of the bed and the "d" is at the end of the bed.  Another good method is making them with your hands.  If you notice your child confusing "b" and "d" please remind them of "bed" or use your hands. :)




D is for "DOG!"



We have started listening centers!  Students will listen to a story, and then work on a listening center sheet where they will have to rate the book, draw a picture of an "important" part, and tell why they liked, or didn't like it.  :)




C is for "CAT!"  We made furry cats with puffy paint! :)


Writing, writing, writing!


I love teaching the letter "Ee" because I love, love, love ELMER THE ELEPHANT!

"Elmer" is a lovely story by David McKee about an elephant that just isn't like the rest of the elephants; he is patchwork!  We read this book, using our predicting skills, and discussed what made Elmer special and how we all have things about us that make us one of a kind!  Then we made this class book:
I send home class books.  When you get the class book read it as a family, and make sure it gets back to school the next day to go home with the next family.  We have 22 kids, so it takes awhile for everyone to have a turn taking it home.  At the end of the year I will take all of your children's class book pages and compile them into a nice kindergarten keepsake.  After we made our class book we made a patchwork elephant ourselves!  The kiddos did great with this!! :)





Happy Birthday, buddy! :)


Whoo-hooo!  Look at my new Shoe Tying Experts!  Please practice this skill at home with your child!



Stay cool!
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Sunday, August 18, 2013

A New Year!

I would like to welcome all of my new parents to my blog!  I will post on this blog as my primary mode of communication.... so tune in frequently.  :)  I am going to try something new this year by e-mailing you when I make a new post.

What a great couple of weeks we've had!!  The beginning of kindergarten is hard.  The students are getting used to all day school, the rules, a new teacher, new routines- it's all new!  I have finished preliminary assessments on your child.  I now have a good starting point on strengths/weaknesses of your child, areas I need to focus my instruction, and areas that are in need of support.  My goal is to individualize and differentiate the curriculum as much as I am able to make school a worthwhile and challenging place for your child.  I already adore these children!!  This year is going to be GREAT!!!

Some things to know/remember:


  • Please do not drop off your child before 7:30 a.m.  There is NO SUPERVISION before that time.  We do offer the YMCA Before/After School program for those who are in need of care before 7:30 a.m.

  • Please collect BOXTOPS for our classroom!  We can win a party if we bring in the most! :) Ask grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, etc. to help out too! :)

  • If your child comes home with a yellow star in their folder, it's okay.  That just means that they made some bad choices.... but tomorrow is a new day.  If I notice a repeated pattern of behavior that is concerning I will be in contact with you.  These children are just that, children, and I do not expect them to be perfect every day. :)  A red star means that their behavior was a little more severe.  Expect a note or phone call if your child gets on red.  

  • I do not send reminders for SNACK DAY.  Snack day corresponds with MYSTERY BOX.  So, if you see the MYSTERY BOX come home, know that snack is due as well.  Sometimes a child forgets to take MYSTERY BOX and I do not notice.  Sorry!  Just be aware of your snack day.  If you forget snack it is OK.  That is why I ask for two extras each time.  Also, if you are like me and like doing things in advance please send your snack with your child any time before their snack day.... I will label it and store it until their day. :)  We need 24 snacks for our classroom.  Please note that I will be sending a new snack schedule home next week.  It will have TWO months worth of snack scheduled... September and October. :)

  • There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 2nd, in honor of Labor Day.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN LEARNING:

Language Arts
We've been busy learning letters Ii, Tt, Aa, and Oo.  We are beginning to work on rhyming skills.  We have been discussing the parts of a book and have begun PREDICTING in our balanced literacy curriculum.  Please practice these sight words with your child:
I, a, go, big

Lastly, we have been working diligently on name writing.  Starting next week I am going to be sending home "homework" with those children who need extra practice with writing their name.  It is a tracer with extra room to write their name on their own.  

Math  
Sorting is the name of the game!  We have been working on sorting objects by their shape, size, and color.  We are also beginning to write numbers 1-5.

Now, for my favorite part.... pictures!!! :)))  Look at all of these BEAUTIFUL children!!! <3 <3


Sorting our letters! 

Name writing :) 

Look at that smile!!

Birthday girl! 

Kindergarten is FUN!!! :)


 Read to "Self" time...

 We made i-i inchworms :)


I LOVE my class!














 Our reading expositions: title, author, characters, setting, and action!




 Working on letters and numbers with FILE FOLDER GAMES! :)



Until next time,
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