Close Room 114....Open Summer!

I wanted to share with you how we made the family portraits.  It started with a blank canvas, shapes and happy hearts.  Click here for photos from lthe making of a family project.

The children had fun making their self puppets.  Puppets are an excellent tool for story retelling.  Click here for more puppet fun.

My advice to you to keep your child from suffering from any sliding into "summer drain" is to read seven days a week. Be sure to continue to listen to your child read out loud. Utilize the public library system and participate in their summer reading programs. 

Since reading and writing go hand in hand and the better you read the better you write, then I encourage your child to do some sort of writing each day.  Just keep that home writing center stocked and inviting and see what your child creates.

Grab some flash cards, my favorite brand is located here.   This set is nice because it has ALL the facts unlike some sets that you purchase at Walmart or Target.  Start to see what facts your child already know and increase from there.  Don't start with the entire set.  I suggest starting with all the facts from 0+0 up to 5+5.  Then slowly add the facts that would come next in the order.  Build on what your child already knows.  If your child is struggling with certain facts then pull out manipulatives (pennies, matchbox cars, Legos) and have them make the number sentence.  Allow them to form their own knowledge.  Do not feel like your child needs to know all the facts up to 9+9 by August.  Rather this is just summer practice.  Also, practice counting backwards this will help with subtraction concepts later in the year. 

Working with children every day you see how children learn, think, share, cooperate and attack their curiosity.   You can't  but have high hope for the future of our nation when you hang out with personalities of Room 114.  Our nation's future is very bright.  Enjoy these photos of children with bright futures.

Thank you so much for supporting our classroom.  I wish you a summer full of sweet memories of quality time with your child.  If you ever need educational advice, I will be more than happy to help you. Stay in touch.  First grade looks like so much fun that I'm joining Room 114 as we all make that transition to First Grade.  Thank you for trusting me with your child.  At 3:10 this afternoon, a piece of my heart will walk out of the classroom as I watch your child leave.   

Close Room 114...Open Summer!

The Big Show is Tomorrow

This is a quick entry.  The final entry for the school year will be later in the week.  I have several photo albums I want to share with you but I have to wait until after the Big Show so nothing is revealed too early. We have several secrets that we are just waiting for you to see and hear.

Monday is the Kindergarten Celebration.  Dress you child in the yellow field trip t-shirt with khaki bottoms. 

The celebration begins in the lunchroom at 9:00.  Our class is smack dab in the middle of the stage so you should be able to sit anywhere in the lunchroom and have a great view of your child.

Immediately after the show the children will exit the stage.  Every child in Kindergarten will walk across the stage when his/her name is called and receive a certificate from Mrs. Green.

Please stay seated and quiet so that every child in Kindergarten gets the respect of walking across the stage with undivided attention.

Once every child has walked across the stage, each class will return the stage for a group picture.  Our class will be the third class to return to the stage for pictures.

Once our class has exited the stage after our class picture then please follow us back to our classroom.   We will have a short celebration for our classroom.

Heads up:  There will be lots of people in our classroom based on your RSVPs.  Just be patient and know that means that there is a lot of love bestowed on the children.  If it gets a little warm just be patient and focus on the happy faces of the children.

If you are checking your child out after the program, please follow the school's checkout policy and hand me the check out slip once we get back to the classroom.

What a wonderful time we had with our May celebration.  The Marshmallow poppers were proof that simple toys are just as engaging as expensive digital toys.   Plus nothing beats the challenge of getting 21 students to sign 21 beach balls.  Click here for more May Celebration photos.

The perfect way to end a Friday is with a little shaving cream sensory fun.  It is a tad bit messy but so much fun.  Click here for more shaving cream fun!

Tuesday morning is the fifth grade graduation.  I have a substitute to watch the class for the morning so I can attend the event as a mom.  I will return to the classroom at 11:30. 

Conctact me with any questions.  See you Monday morning!  You are going to be proud of your child and his/her classmates.

Denial

In our classroom, I do NOT do a countdown until summer.  But there is a student in our classroom that does, but not in an excited way rather this person is sad that summer is coming.  This person came up to me every day last week with the number and then proceed to tell me something sad about school ending.  Being the adult and wanting to ease any fears,  I would attempt to turn the sad comment into something positive.  As the child would happily skip away, my heart would drop at the honesty of the comment...school is ending.  It is hard to end something where there is so much happiness, curiosity, and learning.  So we will just have to make the best of the next ten days.

The most important thing for you to add to your calendar is the Kindergarten Celebration on MONDAY, May 18 at 9:00.  After the big show in the lunchroom, we will return to our classroom for a short celebration of Room 114. 

The dress code for the Kindergarten Celebration is our yellow Kindergarten field trip t-shirt and any khaki bottoms.  It can be a khaki skort, khaki shorts, or khaki pants.  Please no blue jeans.

The official invitation for our big show comes home on Monday.  There will be a small piece of paper regarding the Room 114 celebration that needs to be returned so that I have an idea of how many people are staying afterwards to celebrate Room 114. Please return the RSVP by Wednesday so that I have an accurate number count.

The other date to add to your calendar is this Thursday at 1:30 (or 1:10 if you can help setup.) is our May Crafternoon that has turned into a May Celebration of Room 114.  No need to donate anything but contact our room mother to let her know you can come, help and participate.

There should have been two Mother's Day surprises in Friday's book bag.  I hope they made them home safely.  I found a couple of wrapped packages Friday afternoon that didn't make it into the bookbags so we will retry on Monday.  The children enjoyed making them for you.  Mothers are dearly loved people. Click here for more photos from the Mother's Day Gifts album.

Poetry journals came home on Friday.  Camping was on our minds last week.  Return on Monday.  We have a special poem to write this week so poetry journals will come for a final time on Monday, May 18.

All library books should be in the library by now.  We got off task with AR last week but I will correct that on Monday.  I will also allow the children that want to take a book home from the classroom this week for AR testing.

I will be assessing for report cards this week.  We are also working on some projects for parents.  So if you pop in the classroom, don't look around at the surroundings.  Just look at the children!

We were  busy last week with our classroom camping theme.  Thank you to all the families that donated items from the wish list.  We had a yummy snack each day...one on the healthy side and one on the indulgent side.  Click here for more camping photos.  The tent was by far the favorite item but don't worry if you don't have a tent.  While the students waited for their turn in the tent several forts were made with sleeping bags.  Forts are just as cool as tents.

On Thursday a very important document went home about next year.  If you are returning to MPS (either at Blount, another public school in the system or attending a magnet school) you do NOT have to do anything.  If you are moving out of town, attending a private school or changing schools to Pike Road then you need to return the form.  If this form did not make it home on Thursday then let me know and I will resend it on Monday.  This is an important piece of paper so please follow the directions.  

Thanks to Coach Grant for planning a fun field day.  Room 114 did an excellent job of playing hard and being good sports.  Also, a big thanks to all the moms and dads who came and helped me run the games and cheer for all the children.  Click here for me field day photos.

Oh Man!  If there was ever evidence of the importance of dramatic play in early childhood education, the data was there last Friday.  It was fun to watch the children stay in character.  Our school had to have been the safest school in the world with all the super heroes at Blount.   Encourage dramatic play at home.   Click here for more super power fun! 

Thank you so much for the overwhelming love you showered me during teacher appreciation week.  I am humbled by the words you shared with me.  My goal is to get thank you notes written before the last day of school.  So in the meantime...thank you!  The greatest gift you have given me is to be your child's teacher.

Contact me with any questions or concerns.  

Upcoming dates:

5.18:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00

5.22  Last day of school.  Report cards will be issued at 3:10 

It Is A "Wear the Yellow Shirt Twice" Kind of Week

This will be a very busy week.  Your child will need to wear the yellow field trip t-shirt on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.  Tuesday the t-shirt will be worn as we go to the zoo.  The t-shirt will be worn on Thursday as we participate at field day.  That t-shirt is a safety measure for me to keep track of everyone quickly and safely.  Jeans or jean shorts can be worn with the field trip t-shirt.

We used last week's poem to work on the tone of our voices as we read.  I hope the poem was recited at your house this weekend.  The poem was also an opportunity to discuss the meaning of words.  There is a huge difference between the end result in pumpkin seeds and birdseed.   Return poetry journals on Monday and look for a new poem in this Friday's back pack.

Classroom need:  Please save and send to school empty toilet tissue rolls.  We need 60 by next Monday.   

We have begun to prepare for Tuesday's field trip to the zoo.  We learned  that baby zebras have brown stripes that turn black as they grow older.  We will learn many more animal facts this upcoming week.  Lunch is included in the field trip to the zoo.  Please apply sunscreen before coming to school.  Don't forget to send  a snack that can be eaten once we get back to school.  Your child does NOT need to bring spending money for the zoo.   Click here for more photos of our zebras.

I need a volunteer to send in a 16 oz water bottle for each child (total of 21) for field day.  Let me know if you can help to keep Room 114 hydrated.

If you volunteered to help me with field day, I will be sending you an email on Tuesday with details.

We will be investigating the letter Uu this week in reading.  Our high frequency words are:  next, yes. 

We are learning about biographies.  I am reading to the students the biography of Helen Keller.  I showed them a book written in braille.  It is safe to say that it was a very popular book last week.  Reading a biography will lead to Room 114 writing biographies of our friends.  Click here for more photos of our attempt to read braille.

In math, we continue to work with 3D shapes and count edges, faces, bases, and vertices.  The April calendar pages will come home on Thursday.

I will be absent on Wednesday.  I'm attending the fifth grade field trip.  I've secured an excellent sub.

We are practicing hard for the Kindergarten's Big Show on Monday,May 18 at 9:00.  I am excited for you to see the product of our hard work.  After the Kindergarten program, we will return to our classroom and continue to celebrate the learning of Room 114.  You should be able to return to work by 11:00.  Contact me with any questions or concerns.  

Upcoming Dates:

4.28  Kindergarten field trip to the zoo- wear yellow field trip t-shirt

4.30  Field Day  - weary yellow field trip t-shirt

5.18:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00

Our Days Are Filled With Fun and Learning

By the end of last week with all that rain, it was all that Room 114 could do but curl up with a good book and read.  I love this photo.  I hope each member of Room 114 leaves Kindergarten with a life long love of reading.

Testing will continue in the school for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Again the building will be on a frozen schedule to limit distractions in the building.  Please do not join us for lunch until THURSDAY.  The library is slated to be closed all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so that means new AR books probably will not come home until Thursday.  Thank for you supporting the school as it sets the tone for a successful testing environment.

Volunteers are not allowed in the building until Thursday.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.

In math, we have begun a study on 3D shapes.  We have been exploring to see which  shapes can stack, slide and roll.  We will be studying cones, cylinders, cubes, spheres, pyramids and rectangular prisms.  We will  be learning about faces, bases, and vertices.  Look for these shapes around your house and have conversations using the vocabulary listed above with your child.   Click here for more 3D shape exploration.  

The high frequency words for this week:  came, brown, please.  (I accidentally got off track last week and taught over, under, and pretty last week.)  We will be studying the letter Xx.

For the past month, the play microphones make frequent appearances to our learning.  There is something magical when the microphones come out.  Confidence and fun are the results.  We have many opportunities to burst into song so that the microphones are well loved and requested.  Next time you are in the toy department, pick a couple for your household.  Oral language development is excellent for beginning readers so let your children sing, talk, and interview one another.  Even let mom and dad have a turn with the microphones too.    Click here for more microphone fun photos. 

We added two poems last week that focused on rain.  Rain was certainly the theme in our weather. The upcoming poem for this week is perfect for acting out.  Your child will be able to read it with expression and facial expressions.  Look for it in Friday's bookbag.
  

We pulled out our watercolor paints and painted some beautiful birds.  I'm always amazed at the concentration and silence that emerges when a box of paints is used.  These paintings tie in with our poem this week.  Click here for more watercolor photos.

I've told you before that reading and writing go hand in hand.  The better the reader you are the better the writer you are.  We have been working so hard on our writing lately.  Friday we took the time to share our latest.  Look at the joy and confidence you see in these writers.  Some children did not want to share their stories and that is perfectly normal and acceptable. 

This nine weeks is flying by.  I need it to slow down because we are having too much fun to talk about it ending!  Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Thank you for loving our classroom.

Upcoming Events:

4.21  Spirit Night at Johnny Ryans (in Hampstead) from 5-9

4.28  Kindergarten field trip to the zoo

4.30  Field Day  - date changed  

5.18:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00

The Middle of April Is a Busy Place

Grades 3-5 will be taking standardized tests all week.  The school will be on a frozen schedule which means there will be no activity or movement in the hallway.  Visitors will not be allowed in the building until testing is over at 11:00.  Due to a frozen schedule, please do not join us for lunch this entire week. 

Volunteers will not be used this week due to the testing schedule.

Please help the office staff out this week and do not be tardy.  The office is a busy place during testing this week and we can help them out by not having to handle tardy students.

Monday is Italian Ice for $1.00.

We have a lot of loose teeth, new haircuts and added inches in height in our classroom.  I thought everyone looked older for some reason on Friday so I snapped a few photos.  Kindergarten results in a lot of physical changes.

In reading this week, we will be working with the letters Jj and Ww.  The high frequency words are:  came, brown, please. 

In math, we are working with three dimensional shapes.  Three dimensional shapes are defined as solid shapes that have length, width, and height.  We will be working with cones, cylinders, cubes, and spheres.

Book order forms were in binders last Friday. If you choose to order on-line then please use code GL88R.  You may send in check and order form by Wednesday, April 15.    Book orders are optional. There will  be one more book order sent home in early May.

Mr. Matt from the Pike Road library comes once a month and reads to our class.  He visited last Thursday and as always read books that made us laugh.  This week is National Public Library week.  If you have time visit the Pike Road library or any other branch and say thank you and utilize their services.

We are starting to practice for the Kindergarten Big Show on May 18.  I hope you have added that date to your calendar.

Information will be sent home this week regarding the upcoming zoo field trip.

I will also send home information this week regarding a Mother's Day Secret.  Some of you prepaid for this project in November so you will not get the information due to the fact that you have a zero balance.

 You had three new entries to enjoy last weekend in the poetry journal.  Please make sure the poetry journal is returned on Monday.  The poems this week will match the forecasted weather and reinforce the saying "April showers bring May flowers."  Look for the poetry journal in Friday's bookbag.

Let me know of any questions or concerns. Thanks for supporting our classroom!

Upcoming balance:
4.15:  book order due
4.28  Kindergarten field trip to the zoo

4.30  Field Day  - date changed  

5.18:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00

Funny Bunnies

That is one funny bunch of bunnies that I am fortunate to work with the past 142 days.  Thank to our families for providing what we needed for a successful egg hunt!  And a big thank you to the parents that came and helped us hunt.  Hanging out with this crew is lively and fun!  Click here for more photos from our egg hunt ! 

The library is having a book fair this week.  Please label all money in an envelope marked for the book fair.  Heads up:  Remember the book fair has a large table full of items that possibly might be cheap in quality but highly attractive to a Kindergarten student.  Please make sure your child is aware of your expectations of purchases at the book fair.  You can come at any time during the day and shop with your child.  Or your child will be allowed to go to the book fair with his/her money and shop alone. 

I hope you added May 18 to your calendar after reading last week's blog entry.  

We continue to work with the letter "e" this week.  We will be reviewing all high frequency words this week.  Look for decoding homework on Monday to help differentiating between words with "e" and words with"i."  Despite what it says on the homework....it does NOT need to be returned to school.  Keep it at home and work on decoding and differentiating between the sounds the letter i and the letter e makes. 

In math, we will finish up with 2D shapes and move into 3D shapes. I'll send home vocabulary words the week of April 13.  We continue to add and subtract daily.

Look for a letter from Coach Grant about volunteers for field day.  The letter will be in Monday's binder.  If you do volunteer, you will stay with our class and help me run the games as we rotate.

Poetry journals did not make it into book bags last Thursday.  Look for them next Friday.  At this point in the school year, our class needed a gentle reminder that we speak to one anther with kindness. This classic poem was perfect to reinforce that we have  Hug O'War behavior and not Tug O'War behavior.  Please remind your child as he/she heads to school that we treat everyone in our class with kind words and gentle hands.  I'll let you know if your child needs a little bit more help in remembering the expectations of Room 114. 

Join us for Tuesday's PTA meeting at 6:00.  Mugshots will be there with hamburger meals for sale to make dinner time easier on you.

Thanks for supporting our school!  Contact me with any questions or concerns!  

Upcoming Events:

4.7:  PTA meeting at 6:00

4.28  Kindergarten field trip to the zoo

4.30  Field Day  - date changed  

5.18:  Kindergarten End of the Year Program at 9:00