The End of February Is a Very Busy Time

Check book bags for the hot pink handout that helps you to navigate through this week.  If you follow the handout, your child will be prepared for each day.

If Wednesday is not a good day for you to come and read to our class, you can come Monday morning or Friday afternoon.  Please contact me the time that is convenient for you so we will be prepared to listen to your story.

Tuesday:  Bring a blanket and a soft friend for DEAR time.  All items will be brought home on Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday:  Visitors to Room 115 to read to us! (Also Monday morning and Friday afternoon)

Thursday:  Wear a Silly Hat (or a regular hat will do) to school.

Friday:  The Character Book Parade at 9:30. 

The sign for the Character Book parade is simple.  Wear one around your neck or attach a ruler to a sign and carry it.  The sign must have the character and the name of the book.  After the parade is completed, you may come to the classroom for a group photo.  The parade starts promptly at 9:30 so be sure to allow time to sign in at the office.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.

Book orders are due on Friday.  Our online code is GL88R.

Class picture money is due this Friday also.  Checks made payable to Capitol Filmworks.

On Tuesday, I will send home a field trip permission slip for a quick one hour trip to the Art Museum on Friday, March 9.   There is no cost for this field trip.  Since it is such a quick field trip sponsored by the school system, parents do not need to attend. 

I will no longer be requiring a mandatory AR test on Wednesdays for the remainder of the year.  Test when your child is ready to test.  Be sure a ticket or a note is attached to the book so that I know when your child is ready to test.  The library was closed for the entire day on Friday so that is the reason your child does not have a new book.  However, tomorrow is our library day so everyone can get a new book.  

We have been discussing that good readers use their schema to make connections with the story they are reading.  Schema is everything in your head that you know to be true.  If you hear your child using the word schema, then you will understand what it means.

Last week, I read the children a story out loud to them without showing the pictures.  I asked them to listen to the words and make a movie in their head from the words that I hear.  I would stop at certain points and ask them to draw the movie pictures they see in their head.   This is an excellent comprehension activity.   Try this at home on chapter books that you read out loud to your child before bedtime or pick a picture book that your child is unfamiliar with and read it but do not show the pictures.  Stop periodically and have your child draw what he sees in his head.  It is very telling.   

This week is a special poem that demonstrates how the thinking of good readers' change as they read a story.  Be sure to check back pack's on Friday for the poetry journal.  We will resume with our money poems the week of March 5.

This is a review week for introduced alphabet letters.  Word wall words will be:  big, run, what, my, by. 

Thank you for joining us for Muffins for Moms.  If you enjoyed your a special treat and I did not get your picture, I apologize.  Donuts for Dads will be Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7.  More information is on the front of  February's Blount Newsletter.
   

On Friday, we were busy making a hall display for Read Across America week.  We had to suspend our project until first thing Monday morning but here is a taste of what you will see outside our door.

I will be out of the classroom on Thursday.  I will have a hard time sleeping Thursday night as imagining what Room 115 will be for the parade.  Thanks for making this week special for your child.  To quote School House Rock:  As your body grows bigger... Your mind grows flowered... It's great to learn... Cause knowledge is power!

Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Working Hard and a Party

We are now deep into instruction.  We understand the letters of the alphabet, letters together make words, words together make sentences and sentences together result in meaning.  It is so important that the children practice their reading skills at home.  Read and reread those homework sheets.  Work on words that need to be smooth blended until your child recognizes them immediately.  I tell the children all the time you listen to songs on the radio more than once, you watch movies more than one time, your soccer coach makes you practice kicking more than once so we are going to read and reread. 


AR books are an excellent way to practice reading, especially identifying sight words within context.  This will be the last week I have a volunteer available to assist in taking AR tests.  Starting next week, AR tests can be taken on any day of the week.  I am requiring that each child take at least one AR test a week.  More names will be announced over the intercom tomorrow as to reaching the five point club.  We have quite the growing collection of airplanes outside our classroom door.

In reading this week, we will be investigating the letter Bb as in "bee at the beach."  Word wall words are:  on, sit, at, that, yes. 

We are using dominoes to help with our beginning addition skills.  We are all into dominoes and there is even time allowed for early finishers to experiment and make domino trails that can be pushed down.
 

This is a short week so only send $2.00 per snack item for this week.

Muffins for Moms (A-L) is Tuesday, starting at 7:15
Muffins for Moms (M-Z) is Wednesday starting at 7:15

This week we will be working on learning our addresses.  This is a skill that really needs to be reinforced at home.  Be on the lookout in your mailbox this week for a red envelope.  We have made something very special for you.  You may want to wait until your child comes home from school and open it when he/she can watch you.  

Next week is Read Across America Week.  Every day will have something to celebrate.

On Wednesday, February 29, volunteers can come to the classroom and read to the class.  You can bring a book from home or we can share one with you.  Let me know what is a convenient time and I will work around your schedule.  Please let me know this week if you want to read so that I can plan instructional activities around the times we do not have a reader in the classroom.

Thursday, March 1 is Silly Hat Day to commemorate Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Pull out that Hilarious Hat from fall or create a new one as we celebrate the Cat in the Hat.

Friday, March 2 is my very favorite day of the school year.  Blount will have a Character Parade at 9:30 a.m.  Students will need to dress up as their favorite character from a book and carry a sign (small one with the name of the character and the book).  You will definitely want to rearrange your schedule to see this very precious school wide parade.  My editorial:  Unless your child truly adores a Disney Princess book or something of the sort, do not use this parade as a time to wear Halloween costumes.  Use your child's favorite book and create a costume that goes along with it. The focus is on literature and not mass produced characters that come from movies or television shows.   Editorial over.

I know the highlight for the children from last week was the Valentine's Day Party!  What a sweet time we had.  Thanks to all of you for providing and planning for a special afternoon.  The children of Room 115 have no idea how much they are loved!




Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

There's A Party In the Air

There is a lot of information in this entry so be prepared to take notes:

We are preparing for Tuesday's Valentine's Day Party.  Please join us from 1:30-2:15 to celebrate your special Kindergarten Valentine.  Contact the room parents if you are available to help assist with early preparations.

Please have all Valentines addressed to the members of Room 115 before Tuesday.  There is no time available on Tuesday for the children to address their Valentines.  Count and double count to make sure there is a Valentine for every member of our class. 

You will have the option of checking your child out as soon as the party ends.  We will use the same procedure from the Christmas party.  Sign the necessary paper work when you enter the office and be sure to give me the check out slip.  I cannot release your child without the check out slip.

Enjoy the slide show of how we are getting everything in order for all of that mail that will come our way on Tuesday.




In reading this week, we will learn the second sound of the letter Ee as in "Ed in the engine."  This is also a good springboard now that we know the names of the vowels to talk about the different sounds vowels can make.  The word wall words are:  a, too, but, can like.


In math we continue to work on beginning addition number sentences.  We will also be counting by 1s, 5s and 10s now that we have a dime poem for this week's poetry journal.  Check Friday's back pack for the latest poem.

AR tests are going so smoothly.  More names will be announced on Monday's intercom messages about joining the five point club. Thank you for reading and reading those books.  Practice makes for a better reader.

When your child is reading the homework sheets from his/her reading group.  He should be reading the homework story  like he talks:  smoothly, with inflection and accurately.  If that is not the case (meaning reading word by word, very choppy) then keep rereading that sheet.  All of the reading groups are now in units that have a timed component.  Even if your child gives you guff, require that homework sheet to be read and reread until the passage is read in a fluent manner.  Contact me if you have questions about reading homework.

February 27-March 2 is Read Across America Week.  Every day will have something to celebrate. 
On Wednesday, February 29, volunteers can come to the classroom and read to the class.  You can bring a book from home or we can share one with you.  Let me know what is a convenient time and I will work around your schedule.  Heads up to those competitive dads, several weeks ago we had  Mr. P do a cold reading of Super Hero ABC and it was pretty much on the mark so we would love to hear how other dads read.  Plus, it is so important for children to view their dads as reading role models.  I can promise you that the time you invest in reading to our class will mean so much to your child.

Thursday, March 1 is Silly Hat Day to commemorate Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Pull out that Hilarious Hat from fall or create a new one as we celebrate the Cat in the Hat.

Friday, March 2 is my very favorite day of the school year.  Blount will have a Character Parade at 9:30 a.m.  Students will need to dress up as their favorite character from a book and carry a sign (small one with the name of the character and the book).  You will definitely want to rearrange your schedule to see this very precious school wide parade.  My editorial:  Unless your child truly adores a Disney Princess book or something of the sort, do not use this parade as a time to wear Halloween costumes.  Use your child's favorite book and create a costume that goes along with it. The focus is on literature and not mass produced characters that come from movies or television shows.   Editorial over.

No school next Monday in honor of President's Day.

Muffins for Moms will be Tuesday (Feb. 21 for last names A-L) and Wedensday (Feb. 22 for last names M-Z).  Come join your child for a yummy way to start the day.  More information is found on the front page of the Blount Newsletter that went home last Friday.

To protect instructional time, money will only be collected from students who are in the classroom by 8:10.  If you are tardy, then I am unable to accept your child's money for snack or Nancy's Italian Ice.  Thank you for supporting the priority of  instruction.

We had terrific fun celebrating three birthdays last week.  Check out these special birthday girls. 


Sentimental Valentine Thought:  As I watched the birthday party celebration at the Double E party on Saturday morning,  I had three thoughts:
1.  I wish we had a trampoline in our classroom!
2.  How much growth (physical, academic and social) has taken place in the children since August!
3.  How glad I am that my name is associated with the children in Room 115.  Thank you for sharing one of your favorite Valentines with me.  I appreciate the support you give me. I hope you can make the party on Tuesday.  Scroll back to the previous entry.  I posted pictures from the 100th day of school last week. 

As always, contact me with any questions or concerns.

The 100th Day of Kindergarten

Everyone looked great today.  We had so  much fun doing things the 100 way that our activities will overflow into the rest of the week.  Enjoy.  (Go ahead and bookmark this page:  you will come back to it on days when you need a good laugh!)

It's almost here... We're 100 Days Smarter!

Tomorrow is the day that we have been counting towards and waiting for since the first day of school.  I hope I can recognize everyone as they enter the classroom.  Take a sneak peak of the self portraits at 100 years old.

Please make sure poetry journals are returned on Monday.  We have a very special one hundred day poem that we will be using on Monday.  Next week, we will pick up with our money poems.  This week, we will work on sorting pennies and nickels and remembering which one is worth 5 cents and which one is worth one.

We will be investigating Yy as in "yak in the yard."  Word wall words are:  is, his, an, into, and.  There will be no reading homework on Monday night.  Every group had reading homework last Friday so if you didn't get to it this weekend, you have an extra night.

The AR tests are going great!  Thanks for following the AR guidelines for Room 115.  If you need more tickets, please let me know.  Monday morning will be the first time to hear one of  Room 115's members be recognized for joining the five point club during morning announcements.  Let me know if you have questions about AR.

We are having fun learning to add and recognize the symbols used for addition.  Grab yourself  a set of double six domoinoes the next time you are at Target/Walmart and practice using the spots to count.  For extra supplemental work:  write a number sentence using each half of the domoinoes.  Or just for fun, play the game of dominoes.  Any time you play a game with your child, it builds taking turns, sportsmanship and one-on-one time with your child.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.

We have been investigating the vowels of the alphabet.  We know vowels are the glue that holds words together.  Without a vowel, a word falls apart.  Ask us to identify the vowels in a word.  We know that sometimes y is a vowel and sometimes it is a consonant.

PTA is this Tuesday at 6:00.  Come attend the "around the world" at  Blount.  Also on Tuesday at Churchill (down the street from Blount)  is a free workshop called Celebrate Calm from 7-9.  http://celebratecalm.com/free-workshops-jan2012/     I am planning on attending this workshop after the recommendations of several Room 115 parents who attended this workshop back in the fall.

In Friday's folder, went home a half  "red" sheet that was advertising the Blount Yearbook for sale.  After school, I found two fliers near the cubbies.  If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook and did not receive the flier, then please let me know.

This week is a very busy week but the most important thing  is three very special birthdays!

Thanks for supporting and celebrating our classroom.  I love your child and appreciate your affection for the students.  I hope you can join us for our  Valentine's Day party on Tuesday, February 14 at 1:30-2:15.  Our room parents are putting together a "lovely event!"

Happy 100 Days of School!!  Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.