Middle of October

The middle of October is a busy place.  This week the school is participating in Red Ribbon Week to celebrate a drug free lifestyle.  This week we will discuss keeping our bodies healthy.  A handout went home Thursday about the events for each day.  If you choose not to participate then please wear regular uniform attire.

Monday is our library day so please return library books.  In Monday's binder, you will find a special reading log that is to be completed and turned in by October 31.  The prize:  a chance to win tickets to the Auburn/Alabama game!  This contest is optional.

Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00.  Snack/juice can be purchased for $5.00.  If your child is tardy on Mondays, snack/money/Italian Ice cannot be purchased for the week.  I'm sorry for any sad hearts that result as of this school wide rule but instructional time must be protected.

I will place a new reading information sheet  in the plastic sleeve located behind the reading log.  Don't forget to keep the high frequency words from the first nine weeks in your evening practice rotation of reading those words quickly and accurately.

This week our sight words will be:  he, for, me, with, she.  We will focus on the initial and medial (middle) sound for the letter Aa.  We will learn the short and long sound for the letter Aa. 

 A couple of weeks ago in our poetry journal, we illustrated the steps from a pumpkin seed to a pumpkin.  Sequencing steps is an important skill for being a comprehending reader.  As you read story books with your child, ask your child what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.  This is a hard skill and one that takes practice over and over so don't become concerned if what your child shares is not necessarily the most important events at the beginning, middle and end.  It is hard for young children to identify the most important events so just keep practicing and talking with your child.

On Friday morning, I will tell the children that today will be a fun day to celebrate friendship.  A fantastic way to celebrate friendship is to have a Miss Spider's Tea Party Crafternoon.  Our room parent has been corresponding with you about helping out with the Crafternoon, either by sending items from home or helping out in the classroom.  Thank you for supporting this special event for Room 114.  There is still time to help...check binders from Friday and you will find a letter from our room parent.  If you are able to help set up, please join us at 1:15.  The Crafternoon with the children will begin at 1:45.  Note:  If you are coming for the Crafternoon, go ahead and park your car in the carpool lane.  We will finish shortly before 3:10 so you can scoot to your car and be one of the first to start your weekend.  If you choose to park in a parking space, you will probably have a difficult time joining the carpool line. 

Last week, we had a Fuzzy Wuzzy tongue twister in our poetry journal.  Being able to manipulate sounds is an important beginning reading skill. Be sure to return poetry journals on Monday and look for it to return in Friday's back pack.  

In math, we are working with numbers to nine.  The data we keep up with daily says that the Queen of Ten should be making an appearance this week.

You are invited to join us for lunch any day of the week.  Our lunch time is 10:45-11:10. You do not need to make reservations.   Just sign in at the office and wait for us to pass by and join our line.  It will probably be one of the more lively lunches you have all week.  Look below at upcoming events and make note of two very special lunches in November where the children will be dressed up as Pilgrims/Native Americans. Click here for more lunchroom photos. 

Thank you for your support of the Fall Festival.  It was a successful evening with outstanding weather.  The parents of Room 114 made a large presence of volunteering at the event.  Thank you for supporting our school!

Hope to see you at Friday's Crafternoon.  Thank you for loving all the children in Room 114!  Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Upcoming events:
10:24  Room 114's Miss Spider's Tea Party Crafternoon  @ 1:15 (set up)
10.30:  Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch (wear yellow field trip t-shirt)
11.11:  No school in observance of Veteran's Day  
11.14:  Room 114's Thanksgiving Crafternoon (date change)
11:19:  Pilgrim/ Native American lunch (10:45-11:10)
11.20  Pilgrim/ Native American lunch (10:45-11:10)
11.24 - 11:28:  Thanksgiving Break - no school

Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Lots to Celebrate!

There is a fresh box of crayons waiting for everyone on Tuesday.  A new box of crayons has endless possibilities.

Due to the short week, Nancy's Italian Ice will be Tuesday.  A short week means $4.00 for snack/juice.  Send library books on Thursday so that we can exchange for a new book.

Please make sure poetry journals return on Tuesday.  The poem this week is a tongue twister.  Be warned:  tongue twisters are very addictive to Kindergarten age children.  Just enjoy it and know the manipulation of sounds is a great way to become a reader.  Feel free to teach your child some tongue twisters from your childhood. Look for the poetry journal in Friday's book bag.

The first quarter of Kindergarten ended last Friday.  Forty-three days go by quickly when you work with such special people.  We keep track of the number of days in school.  We think in groups of ten.  We are noticing a pattern on our days in school display.  The numbers in the vertical columns contain some of the same numerals.  We are laying the foundation for place value.  In math this week, we are working on the numbers eight and nine. 

 Report cards will be issued at 3:10 on Thursday.  You will receive two copies of the report card.  Sign and return one copy and keep the other copy at home.  Please return the copy on Friday.  I will include an assessment sheet with notes on how your child performed with the report card. 

A change for the second nine weeks is the students will  be expected to write their names with a capital letter at the beginning and lowercase letters for the remaining letters.  Help us with this at home. 

We work on handwriting, number formation,and letter formation with many different tools. We use paper/pencil, playdoh, wipe erase boards and the favorite chalkboards.  Have a variety of writing tools at your house to keep things fresh and exciting.  Check  here for more chalboard photos.

The big news this week is the Fall Festival on Thursday night.  The weather report looks perfect.  The children that purchased a Fall  Festival t-shirt can wear it on Thursday with blue jeans.  Thank you for supporting our school.

Classroom needs:  empty toilet tissue rolls and empty baby food jars.

This is a review week in reading.  We will be working on rhyming words, high frequency words, blending sounds together to make words and learning sounds.  We are learning about the importance role vowels have in words.  Vowels are the glue that keeps the word together.  We can sort vowels and consonants.  We are also learning the sounds that vowels can make.  Look for a new reading log in Tuesday's binder.


We are getting closer to Room 114's first Crafternoon of the school year.   Refer to the room parent's email about signing up for items to send or ways to help out.  We invite parents to join us on Friday, October 24 at 1:15 to prepare the classroom.  The children will begin the Crafternoon at 1:45. We will be learning lots of spider facts in the next few weeks so listen to us as we share our new knowledge. 

Upcoming events:
10.16:  Report cards are issued at 3:10 pm
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival   4:30-7:30  (ball park across the school)
10:24  Room 114's Miss Spider's Tea Party Crafternoon  (set up begins at 1:15...the Crafternoon starts at 1:45)
10.30:  Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch (wear yellow field trip t-shirt)
11.11:  No school in observance of Veteran's Day  
11.14:  Room 114's Thanksgiving Crafternoon (date change)
11:19:  Pilgrim/ Native American lunch (10:45-11:10)
11.20  Pilgrim/ Native American lunch (10:45-11:10)
11.24 - 11:28:  Thanksgiving Break - no school

Contact me with any questions or concerns.

October Is a Busy Place for Room 114

Every week for the remainder of October, we have something big happening.  Make sure to keep track of upcoming events.

Thursday is picture day.  The children may dress out of uniform.  No tank tops, spaghetti straps, sandals...etc.   In the ideal world, we would take pictures as soon as school starts so that everyone is neat and tidy.  However, nothing is ever ideal, especially when we leave at 8:30 for  Coach Grant.  You may send a comb/hairbrush to school if you want me to straighten up hair.  Please label any brushes or combs sent to school. There will be no sharing of  hair grooming items. 

Friday is the final day to purchase Fall Festival tickets at the early bird price.  If your flyer about purchasing tickets at the early bird price did not make it home last week, please let me know and I will resend it.  Prices will be higher the night of the fall festival so save a little money and buy your tickets by Friday.

Friday is also the deadline for paying for the pumpkin patch field trip.  Let me know if you need an extension.

 Our poem last week consisted of only two words yet it taught all three punctuation marks. We learned that a period means stop for just a second to take a breath and then keep on reading. A question mark means your voice goes up at the end of the sentence. An exclamation mark means to use emotion in your voice (happy,scared, nervous, shy...) when reading aloud.    Make sure poetry journals are returned every Monday and look in backpacks for them on Friday afternoons. Check out photos of poetry notebook practice by clicking here.

Monday is library day and Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00. 

In reading we will working with the letter Tt.  We will be looking for initial, middle and ending Tt sounds.  Sight words are:  we, my , like, he, for, a, to, have, is the, little, I, am.  Our story this week is about big trucks so I know there will be a few students in our class very excited about the literature this week.

In math, we are working on numbers 6, 7, 8, 9.  This week we will begin to understand different combinations we can to make these numbers.  For examle:   4 and 2 make 6 but so does 3 and 3.  This is not a mastery concept at this point in Kindergarten, rather noticing how numbers can be created.

I will be assessing phone numbers and birth dates on Tuesday.  I will be assessing report cards all week so reading groups and math groups will be abbreviated.  Report cards are issued on Thursday, October 16.

Class need:  Please send in empty toilet tissue rolls.  Keep sending them until I say we have enough. 

Last week was full of learning to celebrate the letter Mm.  We use a lot of different math manipulatives  in math but the children would probably say the day we used M&Ms was the best math tool yet.   We began the lesson by sorting and recording the data.  Then we worked with ten frames to make sets.  Then the children had free exploration where anything was acceptable.  We worked so hard that we threw our handled M&Ms away and treated ourselves to M&Ms that were meant to be eaten.  Check out the M&M math time by clicking here.

Do you want to watch your child's creativity in action?  Grab a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks.  We did marshmallow exploration focusing on making letters of the alphabet.  That was morphed into making words.  Then the creation of three dimensional shapes made an appearance.   Then of course once everything was cleaned up and thrown away, it was time to eat a few marshmallows.  The children could have explored and created all morning.  Check out the marshmallow learning by clicking right here.

 

Mickey and Minnie Mouse items came to school on Friday.  We shared, sorted, graphed and had time to play with our items.  Check out the mouse learning fun by clicking here.

There is no school on October 13 due to a teacher in-service day. Have extra fun for me because I will be in meetings all day.   Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Upcoming Events:
10.9  Picture day
10.10  Last day to purchase Fall  Festival wristbands at an Early Bird price
10.10 Final day to pay for pumpkin patch field trip
10.13:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
10.16:  Report cards are issued at 3:10 pm
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival   4:30-7:30  (ball park across the school)
10:24  Room 114's Miss Spider's Tea Party Crafternoon 
10.30:  Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch (wear yellow field trip t-shirt)
11.11:  No school in observance of Veteran's Day  
11.24 - 11:28:  Thanksgiving Break - no school

Can It Really Be the Eighth Week of School?

We are starting the eighth week of school.  Time is moving quickly.  I will begin to assess for report cards this week.  I will be checking phone numbers and birthdays on Tuesday, October 7.

 In only four lines, our poem last week taught the names of the four seasons, practiced reading the word "is" and had rhyming words.  Can't beat that for instruction.  Our poem this week will help us learn the three different kinds of punctuation that readers/writers use.  Be sure to check book bags every Friday to see the new poem.  Poetry journals need to be returned on Mondays.

We also had a second poem last weekend that gave us a reminder of how the letters should be written.  That poetry journal has a lot of learning inside it.  Please don't let it sit in back packs during the weekend.

In reading this week we begin to really focus on the letter Mm.  We will be working on the initial, middle and ending sound of Mm. There is a blue half sheet of paper in Monday's binder that gives you some ideas on how to incorporate the letter Mm  with your family (optional...nothing to be returned to school.)   The high frequency words for the week are:  have, is, we, my, like.

To  celebrate the letter Mm,we will have a Mickey/Minnie Mouse day on Friday.  Your child can bring ONE Mickey/Minnie Mouse item to school on Friday.  Contact me if you do not have an item.  Please do not go out and purchase anything.  

In math, we are moving into the the numbers and quantities of 6-9.  You can help out at home by making sure we can read the words:  zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,  and nine.
Don't forget to be playing this computer game at home;  either the five frame game or the ten frame game. September calendar pages will be sent home this week.  As you look at the calendar pages, ask your child to tell you what we do with each page.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.  Please return the library book on Monday.

Blount is collecting money for the United Way this week.  Children may participate by purchasing paper footballs for $1.00 each.  We will culminate the  United Way week on Friday by wearing our favorite team jersey/t-shirt.

Last chance to purchase the Fall Festival t-shirt is Wednesday.The fall festival t-shirt is considered spirit wear and can be worn on any Friday.  The PTA does not order extra fall festival t-shirts so get one now.  The Fall Festival is Thursday, October 16 at the ball fields across the street from the school.  It is an evening of inflatables, pony rides, games, baked goods and concession food.  It is a favorite night for the children.  More information will be coming home soon about the fall festival.

Book order flyers were sent home on Thursday.  I will place the book order Wednesday night.  Book orders are optional and come home once a month.

Information was sent home on Thursday about the Pumpkin Patch field trip. Payment is due October 10 for the pumpkin patch.  Lunch is included.  Please mark on the permission slip form if you are able to chaperone.  We painted pumpkins last week.  Check out our preparations for welcoming October by clicking right here.
 
Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Thank you for supporting the learning style of Room 114.

Upcoming events:
10.1:  Book orders are due
10.1:  Fall Festival t-shirt order due
10.3:  Mickey/Minnie Mouse Day in Room 114 (bring one item)
10.13:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
10.16:  Report cards are issued at 3:10 pm
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival
10.30:  Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch (wear yellow field trip t-shirt)
11.11:  No school in observance of Veteran's Day  
11.24 - 11:28:  Thanksgiving Break - no school

Goodbye Summer....Hello Autumn!

The best part of last week was the field trip to the nature center.  When you look at the slide show by clicking here, you can see the curiosity and concentration in the faces of Room 114.  The outdoor classroom is quite powerful.  Thanks to all the parents that came and made sure the children were well taken care of.  The behavior of Room 114 was exemplary so that means we can go on more field trips!  Our next field trip is Thursday, October 30 to the pumpkin patch.  There is no limit on chaperones for that field trip.  Information will come home in October for the pumpkin patch.

Monday is library day so please return the library book for a new one.  Monday is also the day for Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00 and to purchase juice and snack. There is something special about a cool treat in the middle of a Monday.  Check out the big smiles when we take our Italian Ice outside by clicking here.

To celebrate the letter Mm on Friday, October 3 (not this Friday...but next Friday), we will have a Mickey/Minnie Mouse day.  The children can bring one item to school that has Mickey Mouse OR Minnie Mouse on it.  Don't send it in this week but next week.  I just wanted to give you plenty of notice. Please do not go out and purchase anything new for this.  If you need an item just let me know.

Last week in our language arts block, we introduced adjectives to describe nouns.  We are working to remember that a noun is a person, animal, place or thing.  We are also working hard on hearing the initial sounds (not be able to tell the alphabet letter but the SOUND at the beginning of a word.)  Emphasis is also spent on rhyming words.  Learning to read is hard work but they children are doing a fantastic job.  This week we will be recognizing the letters:  Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz.  The high frequency words are : a, to, have, is (and don't forget:  I, am, the, little.)  Since last week was a short week and a field trip, I did not do the best job of teaching a and to but I will make up for it this week!  There is something to be said for quiet, unexciting weeks. 

In math, we are working on the beginning stages of addition.  We are working hard at creating different ways to make the number five.  Soon we will be adding the numbers 6-10  into our daily workings and discovering all the different combinations to make 10.  Every day we build on the knowledge from the day before!   This week we will be playing games that help us learn one more and one fewer.  Heads up:  it is always easier for children to count upwards than backwards so don't be concerned if your child has a difficult time of telling a number that is one less than a certain number.   Be sure to use the vocabulary:  the same, greater than, less than, more, fewer.  

Our poetry journal included a song last week about our five senses.  We learned that good writers can label pictures.  So open up your child's poetry journal and check out his/her labeling skills.  We have fun going back and reading poems from earlier in the year.  There will be two poems this week so don't let the poetry journal sit in back packs next weekend!

On Thursday, I will  send home book orders for the month of October.  You can order online with the class code of GL88R or return payment and form to school.  The deadline for the book order is Wednesday, October 1.  Book orders are optional and come home once a month.

Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  It is hard to believe that according to our calendar knowledge that the Queen of Ten is scheduled to come this week.  Thank you for trusting me with your greatest treasure.

 Upcoming Events:
9.25:  Teacher Treat Day (K and 5th grades - host)
10.1:  Book orders are due
10.13:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival 
10.30  Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch

A Short Week and a Field Trip Means Busy, Busy Children

Last week ended with the 24th day of school.  It is hard to believe we completed the fifth week of school!  We are experts at Kindergarten.  Our day goes by quickly.  We are working so hard at understanding letters and how they fit together to make words.  We are learning words turn into sentences and sentences turn into stories.  Last week, we began identifying nouns.  We are learning that a noun is a person, animal, place or thing.  Look for nouns in your world.

We have become quite good at training our ears to hear rhymes.  We also challenge ourselves to make rhymes.  Some might say we like to rhyme all the time.  To make things trickier, we are also talking about the initial (beginning) sounds of words.  Some children get confused with rhymes and beginning sounds.  Rhymes have the same middle and ending sound.  When working with the children on initial sounds, I do use the word initial and then follow it by saying the words "the beginning sound."

 Obviously, I didn't make it to the reading table last week in a timely manner. So the children took it upon themselves to begin their high frequency word practice without me.  I told you the children were experts at the way Kindergarten works.  This week we will be investigating the letters:  Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss.  The high frequency words for the week are:  the, little, a, to.  


Since this is a short week, Nancy's Italian Ice will be sold on Tuesday.  Also, if you are buying snack/juice this week, send in $4.00 instead of the usual $5.00.

We will visit the library on Thursday of this week since we missed our library day on Monday.  Send your child's library book to school on Thursday.

 We continue to work with numbers up to five.  We play a lot of games to help lay a strong mathematical foundation to build on.  We will continue to work on comparing numbers and use the terms same as, greater than, and less than.

We need a LARGE package of  regular M&M's (Costco/Sams size package) and two packages of the Jet Puffed miniature FunMallows (the small fruit flavored marshmallows of orange,strawberry,lemon and lime) if anyone would like to volunteer to help out.  Please email me so that we don't have duplicates if you are able to provide these items by next Monday.

Information will be sent home on Tuesday about a directory for our classroom.  Please send it back by Thursday so that the information can be compiled.  Please return the form even if you choose not to participate.

The big, big news for the week is our first field trip on Friday.  If you volunteered to chaperone, I will send an email out on Wednesday giving you directions to the nature center.  The field trip t-shirts will be sent home this week.  Our t-shirt is yellow.  This t-shirt is to only be worn on field trips.  I will send out an email once the t-shirts are in backpacks so you know to look out for them.

 Poetry Journals came home last Thursday so families would have extra time to read and work on learning phone numbers.  I will assess phone numbers the first week of October for report cards so keep practicing at home.  Return poetry journals on Tuesday.  I will send home poetry journals on Thursday of this week because of Friday's field trip.

We had some extra time the other day so we got out Q-tips, old cardboard boxes and some yellow paint.  Who says you need expensive art supplies? We painted some beautiful suns so that we could add some Room 114 sunshine to the hallway.   Check out the artists hard at work right here!

The Queen of Ten came to visit on the 20th of day of school.  The children were quite impressed that her favorite number is 0. She even brought a favorite zero snack to share with Room 114. Thank you for supporting the learning style of Room 114!  Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Upcoming Events:
9.15:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
9.16:  Spirit Card fundraiser ends
9.19:  Kindergarten Field Trip to Lanark (Alabama Nature Center) in Millbrook
9:20  Spirit Day (all day long) at the Great American Cookie at Eastchase
9.25:  Teacher Treat Day (K and 5th grades - host)
10.13:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival 

Big, Big Learning is Full Speed Ahead

Thank you for your attendance at the Cluster Meeting on Thursday.  I appreciate your support.  Room 114 will have a great year.

Our math time is busy with understanding number sense.  We ended the week with games that needed a ten frame, taking turns and keeping your eyes closed until when told.  Click on this link for  photos for ten frame fun.  Here is the link for the game that I talked about in the cluster meeting for five frames: five frame game.  Once your child is strong and automatic with five frames then move to the ten frame version: ten frame game.  I will be introducing new math vocabulary to the students of:  compare, greater, less, same number, match, more, and fewer.

We will visit the library on Monday to get a new book.  Remind your child to place the library book in his/her bookbag Sunday evening.

Our poem from last week was full of rhyming words.  Encourage rhyming at home and it is perfectly fine if your child makes up a nonsense rhyming word.  The focus is if your child can hear/understand that rhyming words have the same middle and ending sound.  Find rhyming words in the books you are reading at home.  When you are sitting at a red light, give your child a word and ask for the rhyme.  Remember that oral language development is essential at this age.  Visit your public library and look for these titles that are full of rhyming words:  children's literature with rhyming words .  Send back the poetry journal on Monday and look for it on Friday.  Our entry this week will help us learn our phone numbers.

In reading,  we will focus on recognizing the letters:  Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn.   We continue to work on I, am and add the, and little to our mix of high frequency words.  High frequency words need to be read upon sight. If flash cards don't impress/bore your child then here is a link for several multi-sensory ways to make sight word practice successful based on the learning style of your child:  sight word practice.

The first PTA meeting is this Tuesday at six.  Mugshots will be there selling hamburgers to make dinner time less stressful on you.  The discount card fundraiser ends this Thursday.  Return money and/or unsold cards.  Thank you for supporting the PTA.

Information and permission slips were passed out last Thursday for our upcoming field trip  to Lanark.  Field trip money can be sent in any day of the week.  Be sure to mark if your child will need a sack lunch from the lunchroom and/or if you are chaperoning.  Deadline to turn these items in is Tuesday, September 16.

An author/illustrator was revealed in Room 114.   A student came to school with a book she had written at home about a unicorn.  We listened and celebrated her story.  The writing foundation is starting to take shape in Room 114.  Provide a space  with tools for the blossoming writer that lives at your house.

It might be a big week in Room114...it was observed that the ten frame board on our calendar will be filled on Monday.   The children know that a filled ten frame board means a visit from the Queen of Ten.  

Contact me with any questions or concerns you have.  Remember there is no school on Monday, September 15.  Teachers have meetings so have extra fun for me!

Upcoming events:
9.9  PTA General Membership meeting at 6:00
9.11  PTA discount cards fundraiser ends
9.12:  Box Top collection day
9.15:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
9.19:  Kindergarten Field Trip to Lanark (Alabama Nature Center) in Millbrook
9.25:  Teacher Treat Day (K and 5th grades - host)
10.13:  No school for students.  It is a teacher in-service day.
10.16:  Blount Fall Festival