Close Room 115's Door...Open Summer!

The children were so proud of their family portraits.  They talked about you as they painted.  They carefully selected paint for all family members.  They were so proud!  I knew you would be curious as to how we made them for you.  It all started with a blank canvas, some shapes and some very happy and deeply loved hearts!


They were also proud of the puppets they made that resembled themselves.  Puppets are excellent ways to encourage story telling.  Story telling leads to writing.  Writing leads to better readers.  Learning can be such a fun, fun cycle. Find time this summer to have puppet shows.


Our poetry journals are finished for the year.  We will not be using them this week.  Keep them at home and enjoy reading them this summer.

I will send home all supplies on Wednesday.  No need for back packs on Thursday.  I will provide all supplies for Thursday.  Look for the report card on Thursday at 3:10.

Nancy's Italian Ice will be on Monday for $1.00.

Please return library books as soon as possible. 

Thank you for your attendance last Thursday.  It was such a special day!  What a great future for our country when you look at the character of Room 115!  I didn't take many pictures from last Thursday but mental pictures and memories are always better.

Thank you for the many, many teacher appreciation surprises.  You are very kind and generous. I'm trying to write thank you notes so look for them in the mail in the next week.  The scrapbook is a treasured book.  Thank you so much for spending time out of your busy day to help your child complete a page for me.  The children have enjoyed looking at the book that has been nicknamed "The Book of the Year!"

Now comes the hardest part to write.  Thank you so much for trusting me with your child. Your child makes up a piece of my heart.  Thursday afternoon will be very difficult as I watch pieces of my heart walk out the door.  180 days goes by quickly.  I appreciate your support and sharing your greatest treasure with me.  First grade looks like  lots of fun so keep in touch.  I will be more than happy to answer any educational questions you may have in the future.  I will even be happy to help you look for your lost dog in the middle of the night. My greatest advice is to read every day with your child. Fancy toys, electronics, new clothes and big vacations are nice.  But the most important thing to your child is just spending time with him/her.  Have a wonderful summer and thank you for helping to make Room 115 "the happiest place on earth!" 

To quote Room 115's poem from last week (in the style of Prince Redcloud"

Close Room 115's door.
Open Summer!

A Big Week

As May 23 nears, it gets more difficult to update the blog. The next nine days are so hard for me.  I wish time could roll back and we begin again. Kindergarten is such a special year. Big changes come academically, socially and physically.  I've watched this slide show several times and stand amazed at the changes in physical features from the first week of school  until now.  Thank you so much for sharing your child with me and trusting me with this very special year. 

This is a very big week.  Maybe one full of cheers and a few tears for moms and dads (and teacher too.) The Kindergarten End of the Year Program is Thursday at 9 AM.  All of the Kindergarten classes will be performing on the stage in the lunchroom.  Immediately following the "Big Show", we will return to Room 115 for a small celebration of our classroom.  The children have a very treasured secret for you and a special presentation.  There will be some food too.  At the moment, we are planning on having 46 people in our classroom on Thursday morning (23 of those people are always in Room 115.)  If you have not sent a note/email to us letting know the number of people celebrating Room 115, please do so as soon as possible. 

Thursday's dress code is yellow field trip t-shirt and khaki bottoms.  Please NO jeans. 

If you are looking for the best place to sit in the lunchroom for viewing/photo purposes, our class will be standing in the middle of the stage so pick your seat with that knowledge in mind.  Get there early because it is a crowded event.

The Big Show and the celebration of Room 115 will end by 10:45.  Please let me know if you need to leave before then and I can arrange it for your child to present first.  At the moment I have had two families tell me they need to leave early. Please let me know before the day of the show.

The cubbies will be blocked on Thursday to make room for all of our visitors.  Please do not send backpacks on Thursday.




Did you find two Mother's Day gifts in back packs on Friday?  The children were so excited to present them to their mothers.  If you ever need a few minutes of peace and quiet, hand your child some empty boxes, a roll of wrapping paper and some tape.  Peace and quiet for you and excellent problem solving skills for your child.

You might can smell summer coming but Room 115 is still working hard. I love these photos I snapped the other day of partner reading.  Our class is such a wonderful place to work and play.


Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00.

Return poetry journals for our very last poem.

Library books need to be returned to the library for end of year inventory.

Monday night is Spirit Night at Mugshots!  Please be sure to tell your waiter you are with Blount.  Thanks for supporting our school.

Thank you for the lovely birthday surprises.  It is fun to celebrate your birthday at an elementary school. I wish everyone could have been in the classroom when each child presented me with a yellow rose. My heart was full  of joy. Thank you, thank you for making my day extra special. 

Upcoming events:
Monday, May13: Spirit night at Mug Shots
Thursday, May 16: Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00 AM
Thursday, May 23:  Last day of school

Contact me with any questions or concerns. See you Thursday! Don't forget yellow field trip t-shirts and khaki bottoms. 

We've Got A Secret

See this smile.  Behind this smile is a secret we have for our families.  We will give you this secret on Thursday, May 16 at our Room 115 Celebration.  The Room 115 Celebration will take place immediately after the Kindergarten Celebration.  Please write a short note to Room 115 letting us know how many people will be staying for the Room 115 Celebration by Friday, May 10.  We are going to have refreshments and we certainly want to have enough. Remember to dress your child in the yellow field trip t-shirt and khaki bottoms for the Big Show on Thursday, May 16.

This week is an important week for the school as Blount administers standardized tests in grades 3-5.  We will not be testing but we will be supporting the older grades.  Our job is to be very quiet in the school.  Our schedule will be frozen, which means we cannot leave our classroom and things will happen at different times during the day.  Please DO NOT join us for lunch on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of this week.    There will be no parent volunteers in Room 115 this week.  Please try your best for on time arrivals on those days so that the office staff can tend to other items.  Thank you for supporting our school in having a smooth testing week.

Due to several projects going on in our classroom for the next week and a half, enter our classroom cautiously so as not to ruin any surprises we have for you.

We will celebrate May birthdays this month and the summer birthdays too.  We have some very important people to celebrate.

Our final Crafternoon  last Thursday was busy and festive!  Thank you to the families that sent in supplies/food and the moms that came to the classroom to assist.  We had so much to celebrate that we finished with our fiesta on Friday!  Room 115 is very much loved and it is appreciated!  This slideshow will make you smile and want to say Ole`.


Look for two very special surprises in Friday's back pack that celebrate Mother's Day!

In reading,we are finishing up the letter Xx and reviewing the consonants and vowels of the alphabet.  I will begin Word Wall Word testing on Friday, May 10.  I will try to get to every student on Friday but don't be frustrated if your child is not tested on the first day.  Reading groups will be held all the way up  to the last day of school.  We are going to squeeze every moment out of Room 115 until that bell rings at 3:10 on May 24.

In math, we are working on positional words (on, below, next to...)  and measurement.  

We have two more poems to add to our poetry notebook before the end of the year.  Please return the poetry notebook on Monday and look for it on Friday.

Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00.

Friday is the last day the library will be open.  I have books in the classroom for AR testing so the children may continue to take tests until the very end.

I forgot my camera on the zoo field trip. But I'm collecting photos from the parents that did attend.  Look for the zoo field trip slide show in next week's blog entry.

Upcoming events:
 Wednesday, May 8-Friday, May 10:  Standardized Testing for grades 3-5.  Schedules are frozen schoolwide.  Please no visitors during testing hours, including lunch.
Friday, May 10:  Please write a short note to Room 115 letting the students know the number of people in your family that will attend the Room 115 Celebration on Thursday, May 16.  
Thursday, May 16:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00.  Dress in yellow field trip t-shirt and khaki bottoms.
Thursday, May 16:  Room 115 Celebration immediately following the End of the Year Program
Thursday, May 23:  Last day of school. Report cards will be issued at 3:10. 

 Contact me with any questions or concerns.