It's All Good

We had a great week becoming a community of learners.  We are learning the expectations of the classroom and learning to share and take turns.  We read a lot of books and reread several of our favorites. We are learning to keep track of our crayons and carrying our scissors the proper way.

We are learning that we will make mistakes but as long as we are trying our very best "It's all good!"  We repeat the phrase "It's all good" because one of our favorite literary characters from the  week is Pete the Cat.  Pete doesn't get angry or frustrated when things don't go his way; he just keeps going. Check out the book on the book shelf to the right.  You can find the White Shoes song and activities for Pete the Cat at  http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/.  After immediately falling in love with Pete the Cat, the students eagerly awaited all week until Friday when I read the new Pete the Cat book.  Room 115 is definitely full of students who love books.

As soon as I receive a Media Release form for every child, I will post pictures of the learning taking place daily in Room 115.  Please turn in all paperwork as soon as possible from the first day of school packet. Money for Scholastic News and Kindergarten field trip t-shirts needs to be turned in by Friday, September 2. 

Monday begins the first week of our introduced letter sounds and word wall words.  Please refer to the yellow handout that went home on Tuesday for more information.  This week we will be saying Aa says a (insert short vowel sound here) then we will say the following line "ant on the apple"  then we will repeat the short vowel sound three times. 

The word wall words for this week are:  red, yellow, blue, one .  Your child needs to be able to recognize word wall words immediately and accurately.  We will have a discussion at the small group meetings on Tuesday,September 13 about the importance of word wall words.  Until then just take my word and stay on top of word wall word practice.  Do not wait until October to begin practicing the word wall words.

In math, we will be investigating shapes and their attributes.  We spend part of math time becoming experts on the math tools that we will be using throughout the year.

Last week we did a lot of rhyming.  Rhyming words are a foundation to early literacy.  Encourage your child to rhyme and play silly rhyming games while in the car, shopping or eating.  It is perfectly acceptable if your child makes up a nonsense word for rhyming. You want your child to be able to hear the pattern and sounds of rhyming so it is of little importance if the word is a traditional word or not. 

Check your child's book bag for his/her poetry journal.  Read the inside cover and then help your child read this week's poem.  Return the poetry journal on Monday for a new poem and look for it again every Friday.

Book orders are due this Friday.  You may send payment to school (check made payable to Scholastic) or order on line with the link to the right.  Our on-line class activation code is GL88R. I  will place the order Friday night with a turn around time of 7 to 10 days.

You will need to send or purchase a snack starting on Monday.  To protect instructional time, I only  take up snack/juice money on Mondays unless your child is absent.  Then I will collect your money on the day your child returns to school.  Snacks available to purchase are:  popcorn, Baked Doritos,  Baked Lays, peanut butter crackers,   and cheddar Sunchips.  You may pay for snack/juice by the week or any amount you desire.  Snacks for the week are $2.50 and juice is also $2.50.  If you sent snack money last week, I credited it to begin this week.

Please label all money! It is difficult for me to figure out where your money is intended unless it is labeled.

Transportation hats do NOT need to be returned. 

Give us one more week before joining us for lunch.  You do not need to give prior notice to eat lunch with your child.  Just sign in at the office and wait for us to walk by and then join our line.  Our lunch time is 10:40-11:05. 

You may send a water bottle to school for your child.  Make sure the water bottle is labeled with your child's name and that it has a spout.  I allow water bottles to stay at their seats.  If  a water bottle becomes a distraction to learning then it will be kept in the cubby.

Send in Box Tops or Labels for Education by Wednesday. Collecting Box Tops is a very easy way for our school to receive much needed funds.

Read the following is information from the  PTA.   Please email me with any questions or concerns you may have. 

Spirit Nights

This year we have scheduled Spirit Nights at four area restaurants. Each spirit night will occur on the same night each month. PTA receives 10 to 15 percent of all sales. The schedule is as follows: Applebee's (1st Weds), Jason's Deli (2nd Tues), Burger King - Chantilly Pkwy (3rd Tues) and Nancy's Italian Ice (4th Weds) of every month throughout the school year.

Just Give
If it's successful we will not have any fundraisers for the rest of the year. We've asked for $65/student...which is a small price to pay for the great education the students are receiving at Blount Elementary. Detailed information may be found on the PTA web site at www.blountpta.org.

Back to School Bash, Open House and PTA Budget Approval

We have had a lot of feedback from parents about consolidating the number of nights we ask them to come up to school during the first month of school. So we have combined our usual Volunteer Round Up with Open House Night to achieve this goal. We are also going to host a Back to School Bash as a way to publicize the Fall Festival and get our parents excited. Here are some details:

-from 5-7 p.m. we will have two inflatables for the kids to enjoy

-from 5-8 p.m. we will have food vendors on hand where parents, teachers and staff can buy treats and dinner. So far we have Jim & Nicks, the Great American Cookie Co. and Nancy’s Italian Ice scheduled to come.

-at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria we will have a QUICK PTA Budget Approval Vote. It WILL NOT be an all-out PTA meeting, it will JUST be a budget vote. We are not going to do the attendance contest at this gathering like we did at last year’s PTA meetings because it is NOT a full meeting.

Fall Festival

October 20 (rain date October 27) at Thompson Park (adjacent from Blount Elementary) from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wristbands are being pre-sold for $10 for students and $1 for parents. The price at the gate will be $15 for students and $2 for adults. Also available is the Fall Festival T-Shirt - youth sizes in fall orange are $10 and adult sizes (S-XL) in chocolate brown are also $10. T-shirt orders MUST be turned into the office by close of business on Oct.1. We will not be able to accept an order after that time. If you have any questions about Fall Festival, Back to School Bash and/or Just Give please feel free to contact Jeannine at fundraising@blountpta.org (Visit our Facebook page - Blount Fall Festival)

Upcoming Events:
August 22-October 7:  PTA membership drive
August 31:  Box Tops collection
September 2:  Book orders due (optional)
September 5:  Labor Day (No school)
September 6:  Back to School Bash (grades 2-5) and Open House (grades 2-5)
September 7:  Spirit Night at Applebees on Taylor Road
September 13:  Room 115's Small Group  Meetings at 4:30, 5:45 or 7:00 (pick one to attend)
September 13:  Spirit Night at Jason's Deli
September 20:  Spirit Night at Burger King on Chantilly
September 28:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

The Beginning of Something Great

The room is ready...the books are out...everyone has a pencil pouch full of crayons, scissors, glue and a brand new pencil...and I have lots of things planned for our first week!  This is going to be a great year full of learning, friendship and laughter.

This post will be long so go ahead and get comfortable.

For the first day you may walk your child down to our classroom.  Feel free to come into the classroom and take the pictures you need for your scrapbook.  Then please leave quickly and quietly. The PTA invites you to Kleenex and Coffee at 8:10 in the library.

Starting the second day of school, you will drop your child off at the front of the school.  There will be plenty of staff members available to make sure our classmates find Room 115.  Children may enter the classroom between 7:50-8:10.  Teachers are on duty in the lunchroom for children who are dropped off early between 7:30-7:50.  Children are not allowed in the building before 7:30 a.m. .

There is a packet of information for each parent on the rice table (on your right as you immediately enter the classroom).  Grab one on the way out as you leave Monday.  There is a lot of information that is necessary and you may find it easier to fill out with peace and quiet.  If you do not pick up your packet then I will send it home in your child's book bag on Monday afternoon.  Please return the signed information in a prompt manner.   I know there is a LOT of paperwork but each page is necessary.  There is a handy "cheat sheet" inside the packet to make sure you have returned everything that is needed.  

For this week only, you do not need to send a snack to school or money to purchase a snack.  Volunteers have signed up to provide snacks for the entire class.   I will send home a reminder if you volunteered to send snacks/juice.

You will get a lunch menu (it is found on the back of the PTA newsletter) on Monday.  Monday for lunch the school is serving:  Pizza or a Chicken Salad Wrap with roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, a salad and milk.  Lunch is $1.60.  You can pay by the week or write a check for any amount.  The lunchroom will send home a note when your child's account is getting low.   You can also purchase a carton of milk by itself to accompany a lunch brought from home.  Last year, the price of  a carton of milk was $.35.  I'm unsure if there is an increase in price.

Be sure to send your child's white notebook to school everyday and check it every evening.  You will find a reading chart inside the notebook on Monday.  MPS requires that each child read or be read to for 20 minutes; five days a week.  Sign the reading chart nightly.  You will learn that I am passionate about helping children learn to love reading.  Reading to your child for 20 minutes a day is the single most important thing you can do to help your child succeed.  Please DO NOT skip reading out loud to your child!  Contact me if you have any questions about this.

On Tuesday, I will send home a reading information sheet for the first nine weeks of instruction.  This sheet will have the order of introduced alphabet letters and the weekly sight words.  Keep this sheet in a safe place so that you are able to refer to it often.

The MPS email system sends almost every personal email to my SPAM folder.  I will check my SPAM summary daily to allow your emails.  If you have not received a response from me within twelve hours, please resend your email.  I try to be very prompt at responding.  I am unable to check my personal email address at school.

Our classroom can get chilly at times.  You may send a sweater or a Blount sweatshirt/fleece to school.  Please label everything that comes to school.  Make sure you understand the dress code.  The Blount t-shirts can be worn on Fridays with jeans or regular uniform bottoms.  Belts are not required in Kindergarten.

Every Friday your child will be bringing home a poetry notebook.  There is a letter on the inside cover about the poetry journal.  Return the poetry notebook on Monday so that your child can get a new poem.  Poetry notebooks come home every Friday.

We will be eating lunch from 10:40-11:05.  Please give us TWO weeks before joining us for lunch.  I use the first two weeks of school for the children to learn the expectations of the lunchroom without any distractions.   You may join us for lunch any day starting Tuesday, September 6.

The Shelfari (found on the right side of the blog) will highlight several of the books I'll be using in the classroom each week.  This tool will be helpful to you if your child comes home and talks about a certain book. I will be reading a variety of books to your child this year.  Our classroom is a very joyful environment because of the all places we go and the things we learn about in books.

I will send home book orders on Friday.  Book orders are optional.  They are an inexpensive way to build up your child's home library.  If you choose to order from more than one form, you may write one check payable to Scholastic.  Book orders and payment are due on Friday, September 2.  The turnaround time for book orders is seven to ten days.

We will have a fire drill and tornado drill in the next two weeks.  For tornado drills, we get into position in the hallway outside our classroom door.  For fire drills, we exit the building near where the buses arrive and depart.

Our specialist time is 1:25-2:00.  We use a three week rotation between PE, Art/Music, and Computers.  Our first rotation is PE.  You will find a small pink sheet of paper in Monday's information for you to notify the coach of any health information about your child. 

What a tremendous turnout for Meet and Greet last Wednesday.  Thank you so much for visiting our classroom and seeing where your child will spend his/her weekdays.  We had an overwhelming amount of parents that want to help out with being a room parent.   I need two parents who love to plan, organize and delegate to others how to make special events in our classroom successful.  If you  volunteer to be the room parent, you will not have to do it alone.  There are lots of parents willing to help.  Email me if you are interested in being in charge. Thank you so much for supporting the learning in Room 115!

There is information about the PTA found in Monday's packet.  I encourage you to join the PTA.  The State of Alabama has not given teachers money for supplies or curriculum for the past three years.  The Blount PTA is supporting our school during these economic decisions.  They do an excellent job of making sure the classrooms have what is needed.  Thank you for supporting our school.  Be sure to check out their "Just Give" campaign which will result in ZERO fundraisers if our goal is met.

I do not send home a daily conduct report.  In the next several weeks, our class will be learning the expectations of the school  and our classroom.  We will have time to practice and practice the expectations.  I will contact you with any problems or concerns.  In other words...no news is good news.

The key to surviving carpool is PATIENCE.  The first two weeks are rough for all involved but the system does work.  Just keep repeating:  this will get better OR this too shall pass.  To help make things quicker, place a sign in your car on the driver's side with your child's first and last name.

If your child is riding a bus, then place a card in your child's back pack with his/her address and neighborhood.   We have volunteers who assist in making sure our "kinders" get on the correct bus.

When you return the blue transportation sheet that I gave you at Meet and Greet that is how your child will go home in the afternoons unless you put it in writing.  I CANNOT accept the word of your child in changing modes of transportation.

Get in the habit of checking this blog every weekend.  I will update the blog only on weekends.  Any information that becomes available in the middle of the week will be conveyed through emails to the parents of Room 115.

There seems to have been three different supply lists floating around. I'm sorry for any confusion.  It appears that Walmart had lists from last year. Please make sure you purchased:
a box of water color paints
a set of headphones for your child to use at computers 
Please send these items by the week of September 6.

To help make sure all money gets to the appropriate accounts, always label all money in separate envelopes. 

Thank you so much for trusting me with your greatest treasure.  As a parent, I know the importance of a teacher in a child's world.  Please know that my desire and goal is for your child to love school.  I appreciate the emails, encouraging words and information you have already provided me about your child. This is going to be a fantastic school year.  Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  I will have a hard time sleeping on Sunday evening because of the excitement of working with the children who make up Room 115!  I'll be looking for you on Monday!

Upcoming Events:
August 22:  Coffee and Kleenex at 8:10 in the library
August 22-October 7:  PTA membership drive
August 31:  Box Tops collection
September 2:  Book orders due (optional)
September 5:  Labor Day (No school)
September 6:  Back to School Bash (grades 2-5) and Open House (grades 2-5)
September 7:  Spirit Night at Applebees on Taylor Road
September 13:  Room 115's Small Group  Meetings at 4:30, 5:45 or 7:00 (pick one to attend)
September 13:  Spirit Night at Jason's Deli
September 20:  Spirit Night at Burger King on Chantilly
September 28:  Nancy's Italian Ice

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher Night

The Kindergarten Meet the Teacher Night will be Wednesday, August 17 at 6:00.  You may come to our classroom, drop off supplies, check out the classroom and meet me!  Then we will meet with all the other Kindergarten families and go over procedures!  Note:  This is a change from what was posted originally on the school web site.  I can't wait to meet the new members of Room 115!

Close the School...Open Summer!!

Check out what 180 days of Kindergarten can do!  Here are pictures from the first day of school with pictures from this week!  It is amazing the physical growth that has happened!  What is even more amazing is the social and academic growth that cannot be measured by a photograph!  What a fantastic year it has been!


What a celebration of Room 115 we had last Thursday.  At one point I tried counting the people celebrating our class and got to the number 59 before being distracted.  Thank you so much for making our celebration a priority in your day.  If you listened to the words the children wrote in the Important activity, the reoccurring theme was the time spent with you.  Phone calls, household duties, lawn care... all can wait!  Embrace your child and let all those other things slide for the moment!  Parenting is a brief period in time!  The second part of the Important activity will come home on Thursday.




Report cards will be issued at 3:10 on Thursday.  Look for a letter from me in the envelope about things to continue with your child over the summer.

If you need an idea to freshen up things up this summer, give your child an empty box and tell them it is not a box!  Your child will know what to do next...encourage that imagination!

It has been a tremendous honor to be your child's Kindergarten teacher.  Everyday was different and flew by quickly.  If you have any questions about your child's education in the years to come, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you so much for trusting me with your child's education.  It is an honor that I do not take lightly.  Have a wonderful summer!  Be sure to play outside, do puzzles, turn off that television/computer/video games and read lots of books!  Let me know what first grade is like.  It sure looks like fun to me!

Happy Reading and lots of love!

Ending the Year with a Fun Run

Friday had to be one of the best ways to end school.  What a sight to see so many children running for two miles.  The Mighty McDevitt Moonwalkers did a terrific job.  They certainly had a lot of endurance.  Start collecting your pledges.  Checks are made payable to Blount PTA and are 100% tax deductible.  If we collect 100% of the pledges, our school will make over $22,000.  Pledge money is due on Friday, May 20th.  Thank you so much for supporting our school.

Remember that we earned a no uniform day with our number of pledges.  Uniforms do not have to be worn on Monday, May 16.

Our last poem for our poetry journal will come home this week.  Poetry journals will come on Friday and do not need to be returned to school.

Thursday is the day of the big show!  The Kindergarten program will begin at 9:00.  There is a slide show that will start around 8:30.  I've watched the slide show several times and I tear up so I'm just giving you a warning!  After the program, please join us in Room 115 for a small reception and some special surprises.  It is going to be crowded in our classroom so just enjoy the fact that so many people love and support Room 115 and ignore the cramped quarters!   Remember to dress your child in our yellow field trip t-shirt (the one WITHOUT the cloud on the back) and khaki shorts, pants or skorts.  If you are checking your child out on Thursday, do so like on party days.  Hold onto that slip of paper and give to me once back in the classroom for our reception. 

I'm assessing word wall words on Tuesday. 

I wish these next nine school days would slow down. Email me with any questions or concerns.

A New Week

We had so much fun completing our Mother's Day books for our moms.  We had even more fun wrapping those books up for you.  Give your child empty boxes, a roll of tape, a roll of wrapping paper and you have at least 15 minutes of peace to accomplish a task.  Not to mention, wrapping presents is an excellent fine motor activity for young children.  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend full of sweet memories with your children.


Even though the end is noticeable on our class calendar, the learning doesn't stop.  We will be working straight up to the last day of school.  Be sure to check folders nightly and continue to read for 20 minutes a night.

There will be no poetry notebooks this week.  Look for our last poem next Friday.  I hope you enjoyed the mental image activity from last week.

Spirit Night at Jason's Deli is this Tuesday.  A flier went home in Friday's folder.

Library books are due this Friday.  Let's take a lot of AR tests this week.

The official invitation for the Kindergarten program will go home on Wednesday.  Be sure to read the attached note about a special reception in our classroom immediately following the awards program.  The K end of the year program is Thursday, May 19 at 9:00. 

The DIBELS scores for Room 115 were outstanding.  I will be sending your child's scores home either Monday or Tuesday.  Look for them in the folder.

The Booster-thon Fun Run is this Friday at 8:30 for Kindergarten.  Please join us and cheer on the "Mighty McDevitt Moonwalkers."   With the puzzling way Alabama funds education, the poor economy and the population of our school has resulted in the PTA to support Blount financially.  The state of Alabama has not given out teacher allocations for supplies/materials/curriculum for the past two years.  The Blount PTA is supporting the teachers.  Your support of the fun run  supports the PTA.  The pep rally last Wednesday was top notch, I can only imagine how impressive the actual fun run will be.  I hope to see you there!  Thank you for supporting the PTA!

Thank you so much for all the notes/sweet treats/gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Official thank you notes will be coming but please know I felt extremely appreciated.  You are too kind!  I put all the letters together from the homework assignment and came up with the answer of "Mrs. McDevitt cares".  I do care very much for your child.  Thank you for your trust!

Email me with any questions or concerns.
 

The Beginning of May

This week in reading we will be reviewing the vowels and consonant letters of the alphabet.  We will also be working with word wall words.  In math, we will be acting out subtraction stories.  Even though the calendar says May the learning continues all the way up until the last day of school.  Please encourage best behavior and hard working attitudes in your child.

Monday is the final day for placing an order for our classroom scrapbook.  Please let me know if you need extra time to make the payment.

We will have a pep rally on Wednesday to kick off the Boosterthon.  Please read the letter from the PTA president that can be found in last week's blog entry for more information about the Boosterthon.

Our class will have our final DIBELS assessment on Tuesday.

Last week was a very busy week full of excitement and fun.  The zoo field trip was perfect as we had the zoo basically to ourselves, the temperature was cool, the animals were active and the children were excited and well behaved.  Thanks to the many parents that went and helped me.  I appreciate your support of our classroom.


Field day was busy and fun.  There were several comments about it being the best day of school.  By far the favorites from field day were:  Tug of War, cotton candy and the popsicles!  Our class had a fantastic turnout of parents working the games.  Thank you so much for supporting the school.



I'm updating the blog a little bit later than usual but I've been watching the news. Exciting news is breaking as I type.  What a wave of emotions this week has brought with the destruction in North Alabama to the news of Bin Laden's death.  The older I get the tighter I want to hold my children and the more I want to be surrounded by family and friends.  A wave of emotions will hit me tomorrow as we update our calendar to the month of May.  The children know they can talk about summer amongst each other but in front of me we pretend it is October and school is just getting started!  Hang on tight because I know May is going to speed quickly by.  Email me with any questions or concerns.