Goodbye January...Hello February

Check out the fun we had bowling last Friday.  Thanks to all the parents who came out to encourage and help.



Information about our next field trip came home in last Friday's binder.  Money will be collected until February 3.  The cost is $8.00 per child and $5.00 per adult chaperones (our class is allowed nine).  Younger siblings cannot attend this field trip.

(scroll down to the next entry and see pictures from January's Crafternoon)

Please send in a shoe box for your child's valentine mailbox by Tuesday.  They need to be prepped before Room 115 starts decorating them.  Let me know if this is a problem and I will help you locate one.

This week our word wall words are:  jump, did, where, there, our
We will be investigating the letter Vv as in "violin in the van"

In math,we are beginning addition.  We will act out imaginary stories and use manipulatives before moving to worksheets.  You can help at home by using stuffed animals, matchbox cars, action figures, baby dolls, Legos... and make up stories and let your child solve them in a concrete manner.

Our poetry journal this week will focus on nickles.  Ask us some facts about the penny and see if we can answer them.  (Who is on the penny, what color is the penny, how much is  a penny worth...).  This week we will be practicing counting by fives.  Start reinforcing this around Wednesday.  Poetry journals will come home on Friday.

We are really beginning to focus on writing. Writing goes hand in hand with reading.  The better the reader you are, the better the writer you are.  Writing takes practice just like reading.  Refer to the writing handout I gave to you at small group back in September (ask if you need me to resend it).   Remember NOT to spell words for your child at this age.  Allow/celebrate invented spelling.  The focus is on content and not correct spelling.  Tell your child to spell the sounds your child hears.  I encourage you to have a writing station in your house.  At my house, the writing station is mobile and moves from room to room.  My children love to write at the kitchen table while I  am fixing dinner. When your child is able to write down thoughts on a paper, it demonstrates the thinking inside his/her head.  Writers are readers and thinkers!

In science, we are discussing the five senses and how scientists use them to discover how the world works.

The children are doing a fabulous job with Accelerated Reader.  I bet we will have some students enter the five point club this week.  I ask that everyone be ready to test on Wednesday because I have a volunteer available to help me.  Your child can test on any day of the week and get a new library book. though.  Don't let AR be stressful at your house.  Encourage your child and expect rereading of the book even if you are met with resistance.  Rereading a book is practice and practice makes for a better reader.

The 100th day of school is Monday, February 6.  A note is coming home in Monday's binder about dressing your child up as if he/she was 100 years old.  Don't panic...I put down some suggestions.  We will be doing things the 100 way all day long!  It is a very fun day.  We will not be doing anything special for lunch but you may want to join us if you would like to eat/visit with the geriatric crowd instead of the traditional five/six year olds. 

We are getting low on hand soap.  I would appreciate you  picking up a bottle the next time you are at Walmart or Target.

Our Valentine's Day party will be Tuesday, February 14 from 1:30-2:15.  Contact the room mothers to volunteer or send in party food.

Remind your friends with upcoming Kindergarten students that Blount's Kindergarten Open House is this Tuesday at 5:30.

Contact me with any questions or concerns.  Thank you for loving Room 115.  I appreciate your support!

Alabama Snow

When you live in Alabama, you have to create your own snow.  Luckily the parents of Room 115 know how create a blizzard of activities for our classroom.  Check out the photos from January's Crafternoon.

Preparing for Bowling

*Note:  I left my camera at school over the weekend so check back later in the week for photos from last week. 

Second semester begins tomorrow.  Big changes:  no more naps, more writing, more science and more math.  Remember patience if there is a little more drama around dinner time/ bed time for the next few weeks as the transition is made.

Our bowling field trip is this Friday.  Please dress your child in the yellow field trip t-shirt.  Jeans are to be worn and remember soft soled shoes in case the bowling alley doesn't have shoes for our entire group.

Short week and report card testing last week meant no poetry journal.  The poem this week will be added to during the next four weeks.  It involves money and learning the different coins.  The most important concept to be achieved is to learn to identify the name and value of the coin  accurately.  At this time, we are not actually counting the coins together.  Rather, we will be working on counting by 1s, then 5s, then 10s....  Look for poetry journal this Friday.

There is a new list of word wall words in Monday's binder for the third nine weeks.  Let me know if you need a copy of the first semester word wall words.  Remember these words are to be read INSTANTLY upon sight.  Your child should be picking out the word wall words in books.


This week it will be Tt as in turtle on a tightrope.  Word wall words are:  help, make, away, here, not.

Send library books to school with a ticket when ready to take an AR test.  As soon as they test they can get a new library book.  Every Wednesday, I have help to get the kids tested so I want everyone to take a test on Wednesday.  Send tickets to test even on Wednesday.

Nancy's Italian Ice is tomorrow. 

Tuesday, January 31 is Kindergarten Open House beginning at 5:30.  Please tell your neighbors, if they have a child who will be in Kindergarten next year to please attend.

Report cards will be issued on Thursday at 3:10.  You may keep one copy at home.  Return the copy with the MPS logo to school on Friday.

The children will have their second DIBELS testing on Tuesday.  Try to get a good night's rest on Monday and a good breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Send in a shoe box this week for our Valentine's Day mailbox.

Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.

The End of the First Semester

It is hard to believe that with all the fun we have every day that the first semester will be completed this Friday. Rest time in Kindergarten will stop this Friday.  Look for nap mats on Friday afternoon.  Warning:  The next few weeks are going to be LONG for anyone associated with a Kindergarten student.  Heads up to exhausted children around dinner time.  Remember patience as we make this transition.

This is a short week, remember to send only $2.00 per item if purchasing snack at school.

This week we will be studying the letter Pp as in Policeman in the Park.  Word wall words will be:  find, had, play, come.  A new list of word wall words for the third nine weeks will be sent home on Thursday.

Be sure to send in money, lunch order and permission slip for our trip to the bowling alley on Friday, January 27.  Money will be collected until this Friday. 

I'm going to be assessing for report cards this week so reading groups will be abbreviated.  Homework may not come home every night.  Keep checking binders.

Accelerated Reader in Room 115 starts on Wednesday.  In Tuesday's binder, you will find a letter where you can check the progress of your child's AR test and be notified of AR tests taken by your child.  You are not able to take AR tests at home.  Please have your child ready to test every Wednesday. I have a volunteer that is coming every Wednesday to help me get all twenty children tested.   If your child comes to school on other days ready to test, I will try my hardest to find time during the day to test your child.  Don't let AR be stressful in your house.  Enjoy the time helping your child learn to love books.

Last week was the perfect time to celebrate another member turning 6!  What great things will happen in year six to this terrific kid!

Heads up that we are approaching the 100th day of school in early February.   On the 100th day of school, we will be doing everything the 100 way all day long.  One of the things to do is come dressed as 100 year old women and gentlemen.  I wanted to give you plenty of notice to think about what is needed to age your child.

Our January crafternoon is this Friday from 2:00-3:00.  I know the children will be so excited!  Email the room parents if you are able to help.

Remember that every Tuesday is grade level t-shirt day and jeans if you purchased the orange Kindergarten t-shirt.  Friday is Blount spirit wear and jeans.

Check book bags on Friday for our poetry journal.  We are getting quite the collection of poems to share with others. Be sure your child returns the journal to school on every Monday.

I hope you enjoyed your three day weekend.  Happy Birthday MLK.  Looking at the faces of Room 115 shows the benefits of one leader's voice and his ability to change the world.  Room 115 is full of leaders too.  I have great hope for the future!

We may not have snow very often but we can make our version of a blizzard.  Check out the blizzard that we created in Room 115 on Friday.  Need a few minutes of peace and quiet, get out the coffee filters and a pair of scissors and you have at least of 15 minutes to accomplish a task.


Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

 Be sure to scroll down after this entry.  I've added three new slideshows.  Thanks for being patient.

The most important news from last week is that we have a new friend!!!  Room 115 grew by one and now we are a class family of 20!  Please drop by for lunch and welcome our new friend.

The second biggest news from last week is that we have an assistant in the classroom for the majority of the day.  Mrs. Fitzpatrick joined us on Thursday.  We know that her favorite color is pink, she likes to play golf, her favorite food is pasta, her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden and her favorite number is 18.  While you are meeting our new classmate at lunch, stop by and meet Mrs. Fitzpatrick and tell her how glad you are that she is a member of Room 115.

The third huge news from that short week is a new rewards system in our classroom.  Each child has a card with spaces available for twenty hole punches.  A punch is given out to the children that are making good choices, doing their best and following the rules.  Punches are given out throughout the day in small increments of time.  When a member of Room 115 gets all twenty punches, he/she gets to read our behavior notebook.  It is kind of like a menu full of extra special things to do in the classroom.  For example:  walk around in the classroom in your socks, trading seats with a friend  for one day,  bringing a stuffed animal to school, bringing something for show and tell, working on the computer, using Mrs. McDevitt's supplies, sitting at the round table in the lunchroom with a friend, and wearing a hat in the classroom  We should have people reaching the twenty hole mark this week.  Exciting times!

This week we will be studying the letter "Nn" as in nurse in the night.  With the following word wall words: is, him, out, then, have.

Earlier in the fall, grade level t-shirts were purchased.  It is planned for the t-shirts to be sent home on Monday and can be worn every Tuesday.  If you didn't purchase a grade level t-shirt then continue to wear regular uniform attire on Tuesdays.  I will send an email home on Monday going over the exact "rules" for the grade level t-shirts.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was very popular last week.  Remember when I told you at the small group meetings at the beginning of the year about the importance of oral language in a beginning reader... well, the poetry notebook is an excellent tool for oral language development.  Thank you for taking the time each weekend to go read and listen to our latest work.  Tongue twisters are really great ways for the children to hear sounds, rhythm and repetition.  Plus Fuzzy Wuzzy is perfect for learning the upcoming word wall word:  was.  Please do your best to make sure the poetry notebook is returned on Monday and look for it on Fridays.

Library day is  Monday as is Italian Ice Day.  I sent out emails to the families that still have credit for prepaying Italian Ice.  If you did not get an email on Friday then your child does not have money for Italian Ice.

The children did not like waiting until 2:00 for snack on Mondays so I'm going to go back to having a snack time and then a Nancy's Ice on Mondays. It was too long for some students to go without taking a brain break.  So scratch my idea of snack time and Nancy's at the same time.

We will continue to take a nap until January 20.  January 20 is the end of the semester and nap mats will be sent home.  TRUST ME...it is going to be a hard adjustment for everyone to drop the rest time.  Be very patient with your child as he adjusts to a very FULL day of learning.  (Meaning:  it is common for more emotional late afternoons and early evenings as the children come home from school exhausted!)

I will begin Accelerated Reader next week.  Look for a very important handout to come home on Thursday that will go over how I handle AR in the classroom.  I have arranged for a volunteer to help me every Wednesday in the classroom as the children begin to take comprehension tests on the classroom.  My handout will explain everything about Accelerated Reader, please be sure to read it.

Start sending in shoe boxes next Tuesday.  Adult sized shoeboxes work best to make a mailbox to hold all of our valentines. The really good kind is the ones with a separate lid but they are more and more difficult to find so the ones with a connected lid will work too.  No more toilet tissue rolls or egg cartons but still send in cool whip containers.

Information about our bowling  field trip will come home on Thursday.    You are invited to attend our field trip or pop in during our 9-12 stay at Brunswick Lanes on Friday, January 27.

I will begin report card testing this week.  I will be testing on sight words this Friday.  I will only be testing on the words from August through December.  January sight words will be tested next nine weeks.

Book orders are coming home on Monday.  Return money by Friday if interested.  If you order on-line our code is GL88R.

No school on Monday, January 16 in honor of the birthdays of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert E. Lee .  


This has been long and thanks for sticking with me.  Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.

On a totally personal note:  If you do not have a connection to a Girl Scout for GS cookies then let me help you.  My house is the cookie house for our GS troop.  If you need any GS cookies then let me grab a few boxes off my dining room table.  Cookies are $3.50 a box.   The cookies arrive Tuesday and will be in my dining room until March 11 so let me help you with any of your cookie needs. 

Happy New Year!!

To celebrate the arrival of 2012, we thought really hard about one thing we wanted to learn how to do in 2012!  Check out our desires! If you click on the slideshow, you should be able to see translations of their invented spellings along with the student's initials.  If you do not click on the slide show, the captions are hidden.   Happy New Year!

A Day With the Polar Express

With the party over, we still had one more day left before the holiday vacation began.  So, we celebrated the book the Polar Express.  Check last week's blog entry for photos of us watching the movie.  When we returned from the classroom, Santa had left a package with our own bells.  We spent the afternoon singing songs, playing with puppets and drinking hot chocolate all while wearing our pajamas.  A perfect way to end 2011.

Room 115 Knows How to Throw A Party

What a special treat to stop learning in the middle of the day and have a party.  As our classroom was being prepared, we went outside and used a few props to retell the story of the Gingerbread Man.  Acting out stories is a great way to build the comprehension skills of your child.  At our party we had cupcakes, Bingo, Gingerbread pops to decorate and lots of moms and dads available to smile, laugh and be members of Room 115.  Thank you to everyone for providing the party goods and more importantly loving Room 115.

A New Year and New Changes

Happy New Year! 
 
Check out all the fun we had watching the Polar Express.  We are going to have even more fun in 2012!


There will be no reading homework this week.


This week we will be investigating the letter "Jj" as in "jellybeans in a jar".  The word wall words will be then, with, for, some.  

Check for our poetry journal on Friday.  It is a tongue twister and beware Kindergarten children find tongue twisters very funny!

Our next field trip will be Friday, January 27 for a  mid morning game of bowling and lunch at the alley.  I will send more information home next week but I wanted to give you plenty of notice to rearrange your schedules if your are interested in watching/helping/cheering us bowl. 

We had two very special birthdays to celebrate in late December!   I'm so lucky that I get to work daily with such sweetness!

I ran out of photo storage on the blog.  I've added more storage but now I'm in a waiting game for it to be credited to my account.  I will update more slideshows later this week.  Thank you for your patience.

You will hear about some changes in our classroom over the next several days.  One thing is a new behavior management system.  I will explain it at a later time. 

I am very excited to see the children and hear all about their breaks from school. Thank you for sharing your greatest treasure with me.

Email me with any questions or concerns.