Celebrating Fall

We had so much fun celebrating friendship and spiders last Friday as we had our own version of Miss Spider's Tea Party.  Thanks to the families that helped to make it come together - either from home or assisting in the classroom.  The children thought it was a fabulous way to end the week.  Check out the smiles from our first Crafternoon.  More information will be coming soon about November's Crafternoon. 

Our field trip is Tuesday to the pumpkin patch.  Please dress your child in the yellow field trip t-shirt.  The pumpkin patch is going to be crowded and it will be easy to quickly spot Room 115 with those yellow shirts.  Check the weather because it looks like a turtle neck or a sweatshirt might be needed under the yellow shirt. Lunch was included in the price of the field trip.  We will return to the school to have snack so please don't forget to send your child's snack.

We will be investigating the letter Zz this week as in "zebra in the zoo."  Word wall words will be:  see, nine, of, he.  There will be no reading homework sheets on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.  Enjoy the fun this week brings to a child.

Towards the end of the week we will begin addition.  You  will begin to hear your child use the following vocabulary words:  add, is equal to, plus,  and pair.  The goal is for your child to understand that addition is taking two groups and putting them together to make a bigger group.  Our October calendar pages will come home on Wednesday.

Since we are experts on knowing the letters of the alphabet, we are trying to figure out the order they come in.  Try giving your child three different letters and tell him/her to put them in ABC order (the order they come in the alphabet.)  Your child may need a visual of the alphabet to do this or may be advanced in their thinking to do it by reciting the song and nothing visual.  Either way is perfectly normal.  Try it at home.  They like the challenge. 

The book fair continues until Thursday. You are invited to pop into the school and shop with your child or you can send money.  Remember to establish with your child the boundaries of items that can be purchased at a book fair because there are several novelties/toys that tend to catch a five year old's eyes. 

The poem this week will assist me in helping your child learn his/her phone number.  I imagine you will hear the song before the poetry journal comes home on Friday.  If you did not send in a phone number that you wanted your child to learn, I need that Monday morning or I will select a number from the registration card.  Please make sure the office has your current phone number in case of emergencies.  I will do my first assessment of who knows their phone number on Wednesday, November 14.

We celebrated all week of making the healthy choice to be Drug Free. We had fun with our socks, hats, shades and team jerseys.  We made a class chain of promising to be Drug Free and added it to the school chain.


Return library books, poetry journals and money if needed for Italian Ice on Monday.

With the holidays coming up and the new attendance policy this year, please make sure you contact the office in regards of pre-approving any absences.  Family trips cannot be approved after the fact.  I do not approve absences, that is handled through the office. 

Halloween is very much  on the minds of the children.  I turned the focus into a much loved class written and illustrated book.  View our costume desires.  Please help me out and check backpacks and pockets on Thursday morning to make sure candy is not being brought to school.


Don't forget to make arrangements for the early dismissal at 1:10 pm on Friday, November 9.  Also, the Just Give campaign ends this Thursday!  Thank you for supporting our school.  

Upcoming events:
10.29  Chappy's Spirit Night
10.30  Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch
11.1  Just Give campaign ends
11.9  Blount dismisses at 1:10 pm for teacher professional development
11.12  No school in observance of Veteran's Day
11.21-23  Thanksgiving Holidays (no school on Wed., Thurs., Fri.)

Contact me with any questions or concerns.  Have a great week of saying goodbye to October and Hello November!  November will be exciting in Room 115 because our SMART board is scheduled to be installed after the Thanksgiving break!

So Begins a New Nine Weeks

To celebrate the end of the first nine weeks, Room 115 got a new seating arrangement and a new box  of crayons.  The students went from eight crayons to twenty-four.  Something about a new box of crayons makes the day brighter.  Can you believe your child's Kindergarten year is twenty-five percent over?   Time needs to slow down!

Let's clear up some attendance issues:
There will be an early release date on Friday, November 9.  All MPS schools are releasing 2 hours early for professional development. Blount will dismiss at 1:10 pm on Friday, November 9.  Contact me if you have any questions about this.

There is no school on Monday, November 12 in observance of Veteran's Day.

The Thanksgiving holiday is only three days this year.  There will be school on Monday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 20.  Thanksgiving holidays from school will  be Wednesday, November 21 - Friday, November 23.  NOTE:  The new reading log that will be in binders this week shows the Thanksgiving holiday as the entire week.  Don't use the reading log for attendance. Just remember that Thanksgiving holidays don't start until Wednesday, November 21.

This is Red Ribbon Week to celebrate being Drug Free.  The conversations in Room 115 during Red Ribbon Week will focus on keeping our bodies healthy and making healthy choices.  The school has a different theme each day this week to celebrate Red Ribbon.
 Monday:  the class will make red chains to celebrate that we are drug free.
Tuesday:  wear crazy socks and slippers to "sock it to drugs and slip into good character."
Wednesday:  wear your favorite hat to say "hats off to not using drugs."
Thursday:  wear sunglasses to demonstrate "we are too cool to do drugs."
Friday:  wear your favorite team's t-shirt/jersey to show that we "team up against drugs."

We begin a new nine weeks on Monday.  We rotate to Coach Grant so I will not be taking the children to the playground for the next three weeks.  We will continue with our 10 minute running before lunch.

This week we will be investigating the letter Ww as in "worm in a wagon."  The word wall words will be:  eight, to, do, am.  For something fun this week, try having conversations with your child as if every word begins with the letter w.  For example:  Wappy Wirthday wo wou.  Your child will laugh plus it is excellent oral language development for your child to manipulate sounds.

We've been working a lot with the number ten.  Since ten is the foundation of our number system, ten is a very important number.  Last week, we practiced and practiced making different number combinations that equal ten.  We will be revisiting this over and over again this nine weeks.


Thank you for supporting the Just Give campaign.  Please turn in all money by Thursday, November 1.  If the PTA meets their goal there will not be any fundraisers for the remainder of the year.

On Tuesday, I will send home a sheet for you to write down the phone number you want your child to learn.  I do not make the child learn the area code for local numbers but will require it for long distance numbers. Please return on Wednesday.

Monday is library day and Italian Ice for$1.00.  Please return poetry journals so that we can learn a new poem.

Last week, a spider named "Pepper" came to visit our classroom. We've been learning spider facts all month.  We would love for you to help us surprise the children with our first Crafternoon of the year this Friday, October 26.  We are celebrating the book Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk.   We have everything planned and organized.  All we need you to do is come and spend the afternoon with us from 1:45-3:00 (1:10 if you want to help us decorate.)  We ask that you smile, laugh and encourage us.  Contact me or the room parents for more information.

Report cards will be issued on Thursday at 3:10 pm.  I cannot release report cards until 3:10.

Continue to work on the reading homework sheets.  Last Wednesday I sent home a sheet on smooth blending words (not saying sound by sound but sounding out without taking a breath/pause.)  Revisit that sheet several times over the next few days.  Reading sheets should be coming home every day. Let me know if they are not making it home.  Thank you for reinforcing the learning of your beginning reader.

I snapped this photo last week from  my reading chair as I was helping a small group of beginning readers. I love that an impromptu story time was taking place - complete with an audience.   My desire is that your child leaves Kindergarten with a passion for reading. I would say that we are on our way to that goal.

Thank you for loving our classroom.  I appreciate your support. Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. 


Upcoming events:
10.25  Report cards are issued at 3:10
10.26  Rooom 115's Crafternoon  1:45-3:00
10.29  Chappy's Spirit Night
10.30  Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch
11.1  Just Give campaign ends
11.9  Blount dismisses at 1:10 pm for teacher professional development
11.12  No school in observance of Veteran's Day
11.21-23  Thanksgiving Holidays (no school on Wed., Thurs., Fri.)

Fuzzy Wuzzy and Other Fun Times

Has the tongue twister Fuzzy Wuzzy been repeated at your house this past week?  The students of Room 115 certainly practiced this rhyme.  I heard it at lunch, on the playground, during centers and even in the bathroom.  I know some of you have been talking about tongue twisters at home because Peter Piper was shared from several students.  Tongue twisters are a fun way for beginning readers to understand language.  Enjoy this week's poetry journal and be sure to return it on Monday for next week's selection.

This week we will be discussing the letter Ss as in "spider in the soup." The word wall words are:  little,down, me, seven.  I sent out emails Friday afternoon with the results of your child's word wall word assessments from last week.  Look for the word wall list for the second nine weeks in Monday's binder.

In math, we are discussing the number 10.  Ten is an important number in our mathematical system so we will be working with the number ten and comparing it to other numbers for the next several weeks. Want to help at home...use the words greater and less than at home.  For example:  If you are playing trains, ask who has the greater number of train cars? 

Now that the weather is beginning to cool off, the sweaters have emerged.  Please label all clothing.  We have a lot of  navy blue sweaters and they tend to look the same.  Names inside the sweaters  help to locate the owner quickly.

A favorite book in our classroom is King Bidgood's in the Bathtub  written by Audrey Wood.  This week we used our schema (everything in our head that we know to be true) to make a text to self connection.  Good readers make connections with the book they are reading with their own lives.  We have a very happy display in our classroom highlighting King Bidgood and text-to-self connections.


Next week reading groups will be abbreviated as I do report card assessments.  Homework may or may not come home daily.  Keep checking binders nightly.  Thanks for supporting the learning of Room 115.  It is hard for me to believe that we are entering the ninth week of school.  It is going by so quickly. 

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.  Monday is also our library day so please remind your child to pack the library book.

Starting next week, I am going to tighten up on writing our names the traditional way.  The children know that beginning Monday, I expect to only see a capital letter at the beginning.  When your child writes his/her name at home, please have the same expectations.

Field trip money is due Tuesday.  Lunch is included in the price.  It will be an enjoyable time.  There is NO limit on chaperones for this trip.  Chaperones will pay their $5.00 entrance fee at the gate.  I hope you can make it.  Please let me know if you plan to attend.

Thanks for your support of the Fall Festival.  Our class has contributed candy,  parents have volunteered for shifts and wristbands have been purchased.  I can't wait to see all of you Thursday night.  Thank you so much for supporting our school!  If you did not purchase early bird wristbands, wristbands will be available at the gate.  Don't worry about  fixing dinner, grab it at the concession stand.

As an educator I love uniforms but it is fun to watch the personalities of the children when they can dress out of uniform.  I might be biased but I think Room 115 is the best class in the school. I dearly love these children and think I'm pretty lucky that I get to spend my day with them.


Want to celebrate October with our class?  We are putting together our first "Crafternoon" of the year for Room 115.  It will be on Friday, October 26 from 1:45-3:00.  We will be doing everything the spider way.  The room parents sent out information the week before last.  Please contact me or the room parents if you are interested in helping out.

We are in the final weeks of the PTA's Just Give campaign.  I can attest that the PTA is very good stewards of the money they raise.  Their primary interest is to make sure the classrooms have what is needed for effective instruction.  The nice thing about the Just Give campaign is that every penny stays at our school. The Just Give campaign runs until November 1. Thank you supporting our school!

Upcoming events:
10.18  Blount Fall Festival 4:30 pm-7:30 pm (rain date is October 25)
10.19  The first nine weeks of Kindergarten ends
10.25  Report cards are issued at 3:10
10.26  Rooom 115's Crafternoon  1:45-3:00
10.29  Chappy's Spirit Night
10.30  Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch
11.1  Just Give campaign ends
11.12  No school in observance of Veteran's Day


Contact me with any questions or concerns.  Hope to see you at the Fall Festival on Thursday!

Happy Learners

We had a perfect time at Lanark / the Alabama Nature Center.  The weather was amazing and the children had so much fun being outside.  The Alabama Nature Center is open to the public on the third weekend of every month.  I encourage you to take your family and enjoy this Alabama treasure.  Thanks to the parents that came to help out.  Check out the center's website:  Alabama Nature Center


Information for the next field trip will come home in Monday's binder.  There is NO limit on the number of parents that can  chaperone on our Tuesday, October 30 field trip to Dream Field's Pumpkin Patch.   If you did not turn in a background check form earlier then please ask for one and I will send it home.  Background checks have to be completed and approved before a parent can attend a field trip.   The field trip price includes the bus ride, a pumpkin, a picnic lunch and all the activities at Dream Field's.  Contact me if you have any questions about our next field trip once you  get the paper work.

Thursday is individual school picture day.  The children DO NOT have to dress in uniform but they most adhere to dress code standards  (no spaghetti straps, no sandals).

We participated in Walk to School Day.  With the location of our school it is almost impossible to walk to school but that didn't keep us from celebrating.  Movement is great stimulation for the brain so we participated with great excitement.


This is fire prevention week.  We will be discussing fire safety and doing a few related activities.  Use this opportunity to discuss fire safety in the home.

This is a review week for letter sounds and word wall words.  Practice your child's weak areas.  I will begin assessing word wall words on Wednesday.  To get full credit, the word wall words need to be read instantly and accurately,  I will email you by Friday night with the results of your child's word wall word assessment.

I'm going to use this review week to introduce some new thinking strategies for good readers.  You might hear your child start to use the word schema.  Schema is everything you know in your head to be true (your background / previous knowledge).  Schema helps you to understand what you read/hear.  I'm sure you will hear the word schema by the end of the week so I wanted you to be prepared to carry on the conversation with your child once the word becomes part of the vocabulary.

In math, we are representing and comparing numbers up to ten.  In the next few weeks, we will be using the words:  pair (set of two), greater, less, match (one to one correspondence) and the number 10.  Since 10 is the foundation of our number system, we are going to be spending a lot of time on activities that allows the children to be able to picture 10 and relate it to other numbers to 10.

Nancy's Ice is Monday for $1.00.  If you are having a difficult time remembering Monday is Italian Ice, you can prepay for several weeks at a time.  I will let you know when you  are running low on Italian Ice money.  Return library books and poetry journals on Monday too.


Our poem last week was a perfect way to introduce fall and the leaves falling off trees one by one.  We made our own fall leaves with the trick of  no scissors being allowed.  The only way to make our trees were to tear with our fingers.  Tearing little pieces of paper is great for strengthening fingers and improving fine motor skills.

Our poem this week is a tongue twister.  Tongue twisters, poems and songs are wonderful ways to help your beginning reader.  In the teacher world, we call these activities oral language development.  At this age, you want your child to be talking!  Talking allows your child to manipulate our English language.  Talking allows them to make sense of how words are put together, learn about correct verb tenses and improves vocabulary.  So encourage talking, rhyming, singing, silly words and reading out loud to your child.  Look at the silliness we had last week, acting out the Itsy Bitsy Spider with a simple puppet.  Enjoy this time of incredible learning opportunities with your child.

Information came out last week  from the room parents about Room 115's first "Crafternoon" of the year on Friday, October 26.  Our theme is centered around the book  "Miss Spider's Tea Party" by David Kirk.  I hope you can assist the room mothers as we put together a fun way to spend the last hour of the day on Friday, October 26.  If you did not get the email or a flyer then please contact  the room parents.  We want to make sure our system of communication is reaching you.

Upcoming Events
10.10  Room 115 Word Wall Words assessment
10.11 Fall Picture Day
10:11  Early Bird wristband sales end for the Blount Fall Festival
10.11  Spirit Night at Flip's
10.18  Blount Fall Festival 4:30 pm-7:30 pm (rain date is October 25)
10.26  Rooom 115's Crafternoon  1:45-3:00
10.29  Chappy's Spirit Night
10.30  Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch
11.1  Just Give campaign ends

The Just Give campaign is in full force!  You can continue to send in money until November 1.  Thank you for supporting our school!

Contact me with any questions or concerns.  Thanks for sharing your treasure with me so that Room 115 can be one of the happiest places I know!