It Is Almost Here....

Our hard work is about to pay off.  The Kindergarten Celebration is this Friday at 9:00.  Immediately after the Kindergarten Celebration will be a Celebration of Room 115.  As you can see by our tally chart, we are up to 67 people in our classroom (now 21 of those people are always in room Room 115!).  That number will still grow because we have not heard from every family yet.  If you are planning on staying for the Celebration of Room 115, please write a short note to the class so that we can be prepared for you.  We have several surprises for you and the child's drawing in the slide show is a teaser.  Our classroom celebration will be a very sweet time and I'm sure there will be a few tears that will fall from parents.

Please dress your child on Friday in the yellow field trip t-shirt with a khaki bottom:  shorts, skort,  or pants.  If your child does not have any sentimental attachment to the yellow t-shirt, I will be happy to take it off your hands next week for those days next year when an emergency yellow t-shirt is needed.

I can't tell you the perfect place to sit to get the best seat for the Celebration in the lunchroom but I can give you some details.  If you are facing the stage, our class will be standing on the far right. After the program, each child will walk across the stage to shake Mrs. Green's hand and receive a certificate.  The hand shake photo opportunity will take place on the right hand of the stage.  Our class is the first class to be presented to Mrs. Green.  The children will walk to the library and stay there until every class has received a certificate.  Then we will return to the stage for a class photo opportunity.  Our class will be the last class brought up on the stage for the photograph.  After our group  photo opportunity, we will return to Room 115 for a celebration of our classroom.

You will not be allowed in the library to take photos of your child or say hello.  Please stay seated in the lunchroom and be respectful watching the entire grade level get their certificates.  

If you are checking older students out for the program in the lunchroom,  you may want to check them back in to their regular classrooms for the Room 115 Celebration.   It looks like we will have a big crowd in Room 115 and space may become an issue.  A crowded classroom probably will mean a hot classroom so just be patient and enjoy the personalities of Room 115.  Do not send back packs on Friday because of the room setup, our cubbies will be blocked!

For those of you that want to get there early to get a good seat, there is a slideshow that will start at 8:30 for your entertainment.  The slide show is 15 minutes so it will repeat at 8:45 and the show begins at 9:00. 

I have only heard from one family about time constraints.  Let me know if you have a certain time you need to be back at work and I will work around your schedule.

If you are checking your child out after the celebrations, I will need a slip of paper from the office.  I cannot release a child without you going through the proper procedures.  Thanks for understanding.

Last week was a very busy week for birthdays.  We had three real birthdays and one pretend summer birthday. (Remember I will have a summer birthday slideshow in next week's blog posting.)  Check out the boys that had birthdays last week!  I am so lucky that I get to work with such happy young men!
 

This week, we will be finishing up secrets for the celebration, working on subtraction and continuing to read.  I sent out emails on Friday about your child's word wall word assessment. Even though our celebration is Friday. We will still be learning in Room 115 all the way up until June 8!  Contact me with any questions or concerns.

We Have A Secret!!!!

You see this very happy face.  This very happy face is working very hard on our project for Room 115's Celebration that will be Friday, June 1 immediately following the Kindergarten Program.  If you plan to attend the Room 115 Celebration, please write a short note this week to the class telling them how many people will be coming to the Room 115 Celebration.  The children will love to keep track of the number of people attending our celebration.  Your note will make sure  that we have plenty of food and chairs available for the celebration.  Our celebration in the classroom should be over by 11:00.  If you need to return to work earlier then please let me know and I will make sure your child goes first in our program.  Several parents have asked if they may check their child out after the program to spend a special afternoon with your almost first grader. The answer to that question is yes.

Please enter our classroom cautiously during the next few weeks.  The children are protective over our projects and do not want to ruin the surprises we have for you.

I will begin testing Word Wall Words on Friday.  I hope to finish on Friday but it may run over into next week.

Nancy's is tomorrow for $1.00.

The library is closed for the remainder of the year so please turn in all library books.  I have AR books in the classroom so your child can continue to take tests up until the end of the school year.

The children have their final DIBELS testing on Tuesday.  Our class is scheduled to go at 8:30 so  please be on time so that we can have a normal start of the day.  

There was reading homework this weekend.  Please make sure your child is able to read all reading homework in a manner that he/she talks.  We are really working hard to read like we talk.  If your child is reading in a choppy manner then practice, practice and practice those reading homework sheets.  Reading fluently comes with practice, practice and more practice.  We will have reading homework right up until the end of the school.  School doesn't end in Room 115 until Friday, June 8.

Please start saving empty food containers and sending them into school this week.  We are going to have a little store set up in our classroom for dramatic play purposes.   We already have a cash register and I'm bringing in a grocery cart this week.  If you have canned food, open from the bottom so that it looks like it has never been opened.  Anything you can purchase at a grocery store is perfect just please clean out any containers.

Forty-eight out of the fifty states have adopted the Common Core Standards.  Alabama will be implementing the standards beginning next year.  (States had the option of implementing this year or next.)  If you are curious about the standards click Common Core Standards.  Scroll to the middle of the page and you will see Read English Language Arts Standards or  Read Mathematics Standards.  Click to open and then click on the desired grade level.

 This month is full of birthdays!  Happy, happy birthday to this special six year old.  I am so lucky to work with this outstanding young man.  (We are celebrating the summer birthdays during the next three weeks.  I will have a special slide show for summer birthdays in my final blog post.)

No school on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

Our poetry journal this week will be about jiggly teeth which we have a lot of in Room 115.  The final poem will come home on June 1.

We are down to our final rolls of paper towels if somebody would like to donate a few rolls.  Thanks for always supporting  Room 115 and loving the members!  Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!!!

The big news from last week was the letter X was missing from our wall alphabet chart.  We looked in the room and theories floated around about what happened.  A problem solver in the class even drew a picture to act as substitute wall card until we found the original.  On Friday, we followed some clues and located a treasure chest.  Once opened....viola...we found our missing wall card and cookies shaped in the letter X.  We decorated the cookies as we celebrated our investigations of all twenty-six letters of the alphabet.  For the rest of the school year, we will be reviewing letters/sounds/word wall words.  This week we are investigating the short and long sounds of the vowels.


On Monday, I'm sending home a sheet of paper that needs to be turned in on Tuesday.  The information that needs to be filled out is needed to start on a very special project.  The letter is bright yellow and can be found in the return to school section of the binder.  This is for our end of the year secret that will be unveiled on June 1 during the Room 115 celebration.  If you have not done so, please send in $5.00 to offset the cost of materials for the end of the year secret.

Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00.

May 18 is the last day for library books.  Read them and return them and get a new book before this Friday.

Poetry Journals did NOT make it into book bags on Friday so look for them on the 18.

Did you check Friday's binder for your final Mother's Day surprise? The children have been busy for several weeks working on all of your secrets.  Please know how much they enjoyed making secrets for you.  Be sure to ask your child how the painted flowers were made on the vases.


Thank you so much for the lovely surprises, sweet treats and cards of appreciation for Teacher Appreciation Week.  I can't imagine there is a teacher in the United States that had more surprises than me.  When I was in college, a professor taught me to every day  ask myself "What did you do today as a teacher that was really great and worked?"  Then he told me to ask "What did you do today as a teacher that needs to be improved?"  Every single school day since my first day in the classroom, I've reflected on those questions.  Please know that I've had sleepless nights where I thought about each member of Room 115 and came up with a plan of action to further your child's Kindergarten learning.  Your children are part of my heart and I do not look forward to June 8.  I am very humbled by the outpouring of support you gave me last week and the entire school year. Please know that I appreciate your generosity.

Fiesta!!!

May has a lot to celebrate and we are prepared and ready.  We have five May birthdays and three July birthdays to celebrate in the upcoming days.  The June birthdays will be celebrated the last week of school. Throw in Mother's Day and the Big Show on June 1 and it makes for a great month to celebrate Room 115.

This week we will be investigating the letter Xx as in "X on the x-ray."  Word Wall words are say, came, up.  There is a little bit of concern because our alphabet card for the letter X has disappeared.  Stay tuned for the rest of this story!  This is the last of our introduced alphabet letters and word walls.  Beginning the week of May 14, we will be reviewing all sounds and word wall words.

Monday is Italian Ice for $1.00.  Library is also Monday so be sure to return library books.

To prepare for Friday's Crafternoon Cinco De Mayo theme, we made a paper quilt of a star pinata.  Don't forget this summer to keep a stash of  construction paper, scissors, glue, markers, crayons and a roll of tape available for creations.

We are practicing for the Kindergarten End of the Year Celebration on Friday, June 1 at 9:00.  Then stay for the Room 115 celebration immediately after the program.  We have a very special project (that will make you tear up and keep forever) that we are working on.  Please send in $5.00 by this Friday to offset the cost of the materials.

Be sure to look in book bags on Friday afternoon not only for our poetry journals but also for several items for Mother's Day.  We have had a fun time thinking of our moms as we work on our projects.

There will be no reading homework on Tuesday night due to the fact that reading groups on that day will be working on some very important writings for Mom.

What a fun time we had at our last Crafternoon!  It was certainly a wonderful time to celebrate the fun that comes with May.  Thanks to all the parents that assisted in the classroom and those that sent in money to provide for the supplies.  Our classroom was such a busy place!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving Room 115.

I will be out of the classroom on Monday.  Mrs. Owen is scheduled to substitute that day so I know the children will be well taken care of and working hard.

The school is participating in several events this week to benefit the community and our school.

We went to an assembly last Tuesday sponsored by the American Red Cross.  They talked about the different parts that make up blood.  They made Kool-Aid as a reference.  Here is the lesson if you want to use it the next time you make Kool-Aid. (I'm sure your child's middle school science teacher will be pleased that your child already knows the parts/responsibilities of the blood.)   The Kool-Aid was the red blood cells.  Red blood cells are the oxygen in the blood.  The sugar was the white blood cells.  They fight off being sick and kills germs.  The water was the plasma that helps the blood circulate.  The ice was the platelets.  Platelets help you to stop bleeding.  The Blount blood drive is this Monday from 1:30-6:30 at Grace Pointe Church (across the street from the school).

Join us Tuesday, 8 May at Marcos Pizza (Vaughn, Taylor Rd) from 5-9 for Blount's Spirit Night!! 

10% of all of the Blount student's/teacher's orders for the evening will go to Blount Elementary! 

Here's the GREAT part!!  You can earn an End of the Year pizza party for your class. 

This is what you need to do:

1. Order your pizza from Marcos (Vaughn/Taylor Rd) for pick-up, delivery or take-out

2.  Make sure you tell them your teacher's name (Don't worry if you have more than one Blount student

just tell them all your children's' teacher's names.

Marcos will keep track the orders and Mrs. Janet will announce the winning teacher it at the end of the week.

Contact with me with any questions or concerns.

Whew!!!! That Was A Very Busy Week....

Last week was so busy that we are going to have a redo this week on some of the things I didn't get to last week.  We will still be working on the letter Uu and last week's word walls words.  We will hold off on the letter Xx until next week.

The first four days of this week will be purposely quiet and calm as we get back into the routine of learning.  However, Friday afternoon is set aside for the final Room 115 Crafternoon.  Please contact the room mothers if you can assist.  They have a babysitter lined up for younger siblings so take advantage of an enjoyable time with your student.  The theme is Cinco De Mayo.  Thanks for going out of your way to make Room 115 a fun place to work and play.

Look for April's calendar pages to come home on Tuesday.  It is hard to believe that we say goodbye to April on Monday.

The library is having a book fair this week.  Children can bring money any day through Friday.  We will be going as a class on Monday afternoon to look and purchase if anyone has money.  Monday is the only day I will be with the children as they shop.  Remember from the fall book fair that there is items for sell not related to books that children find  glamorous and enticing.  Please discuss with your child if he/she is allowed to make purchases other than books.  You are welcome to take your child down to the book fair and shop together.

There will be no library this week but children can still take AR tests and check out new books. I will be discussing with the children this week that my expectations are changing and  that they should be taking at least two AR tests a week.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.

Blount Elementary is getting ready to have a blood drive for parents.  We will be attending a really cool science lesson on Tuesday about blood.  Don't worry the American Red Cross uses Kool-Aid as a demonstration.  Information will be coming home this week about the blood drive.  I hope your schedule will allow you to participate in this life saving event.

Field Day was so much fun.  I know my daughter was exhausted on Friday evening so I imagine your Kindergartener was too.  Thanks for all the volunteers from Room 115 that volunteered for a shift or came out to cheer for us.


There will be a sheet of paper in Monday's binder talking about a special year end project.  This is different than the Mother's Day Secret. Let me know if you have any questions about this project that is just as secretive as our Mother's Day project.

Remember to put Friday, June 1 on your calendar at 9:00.  We will be having a Kindergarten End of the Year Program in the lunchroom with the other Kindergarten classes.  You will not want to miss it.  Then please join us immediately after the program in Room 115 as we celebrate the year.  It will be crowded in Room 115 but as long as you know about it beforehand, it won't bother you.  You should be able to get back to work by 11:00.

Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. 

Quilts and Statues

To celebrate the letter Q, we painted with Q-tips and began making a paper quilt. We were very busy investigating the letter Q.

This week we will be working with Uu as in "upside down."  The word wall words are:  under, please, big, eat.  Can you believe that the week of April 30 is our final letter of the alphabet and the last of the word wall word?  We will spend the remainder of the year, reviewing and digger deeper into the alphabet. 

In math, we are reviewing shapes, investigating 3D shapes and working on writing numbers up to fifty.  A popular feature on our calendar board is creating "incredible equations" of ways to equal the date.  Now that April is in the twenties, we are really having to work on ways to equal that date.  This time of the year in Kindergarten is so much fun because the thinking is really taking off.

We've been practicing to make mental images in our heads (or movies in your head) as I read the chapter book The Chocolate Touch out loud to the students during snack time.  I don't share the pictures because I want the children to practice making mental images of what they hear.  This week, the main character turned his mother into a chocolate statue when he gave her a simple kiss.  Well, we had to take a turn at pretending to be a chocolate statue.  Check out the chocolate statues of Room 115. Some of them are trying so hard not to smile but you just can't help smiling when you are in Room 115.

It was very easy to make a  connection with last week's poem.  Everyone in the class could share how they've been told that they look like somebody in their family.  Lots of word wall words in last week's poem.  We have quite the collection of poems to read and enjoy.  Return poetry journals on Monday and look for a new one next Friday.

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

Tuesday is a PTA meeting at 6:00.  Word is out how successful Room 115 is with volunteers.  Please consider volunteering with the PTA.  They have some positions open for next year and would love your assistance, energy and ideas.  They have positions available for little bits of time and positions open if you have big chunks of time to give.  They are a very friendly and encouraging bunch of people with a common goal of supporting Blount.  Please consider volunteering with the PTA.  With the puzzling way Alabama funds education and the status of the economy, the PTA has certainly stepped up and made sure the school has what it needs. 

This week is very busy full of FUN! FUN! FUN!.  Please follow the requirements for the following days:
Wednesday:  Wear Yellow field trip t-shirts for our trip to the zoo.  No lunch is needed because Chick-Fil A is bringing lunch to us.  You may check your child out at the zoo and continue to enjoy the zoo once the buses leave at 1:00.  We will have snack time once we return to the school so send a snack for school.
Thursday:  Please try your best to be present and on time Thursday.  We will be spending all morning on a Mother's Day Secret.  We should be finished by lunch time in case you need to check out.
Friday:  Field Day starts at 8:20.  The children are so excited about the fun and games.  Thanks to the many, many volunteers from Room 115.  Please come before your shift or stay after your shift and encourage Room 115.  Wear Yellow field trip t-shirts on this day too so that I can keep track of everyone quickly.

I will be out of the classroom on Monday.  Mrs. Owen from last week is returning so I know the children will have a happy, smooth and positive day.  

Finally, a big discovery of the week was that Magna-tiles can be used as a marble track.  These children are called digital natives because they have only known life in a digital world.  You are I are called digital immigrants because we came into the digital world from a different kind of life. Technology is great and has a part in this world but it is so important to let your child work, play, discover, socialize and create without a "screen" being involved.  Check out the fun from the last several weeks that does not have to be plugged in, recharged or updated.  I encourage you to limit screen time.


Hope to see you around Room 115 this week!  Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Five Senses in Room 115

We've been learning how our five senses help us to understand the world around us.  We will continue our investigation into our five senses for the next couple of weeks.  Probably the favorite activity we did last week was pop popcorn with an air popper.   Using an air popper required us to use all five senses.  It was such a hit that we pulled it out on Friday too.  Quit buying microwave popcorn and purchase an air popper at Walmart and enjoy lots of cheering from your children.  Just be sure to melt some butter (that was the only complaint from Room 115 with that activity).

Our letter for the week is "Qq" as in quail on a quilt.  Remind your child that a lowercase q can be formed two ways: one with a tail and one without.  Word wall words are:  good, pretty, who, ride.

The children have fallen in love with the Biscuit books.  They are AR books  about a dog with a TON of word wall words.  I have over twenty copies of  a variety of  Biscuit stories.  If the children read a book at least three times and then read it out loud to me or another adult in the classroom then they can take an AR test.  I wanted to let you know in case you've noticed AR tests being taken without your knowledge. 

Spring picture money,  the Mother's Day Secret and money for the zoo field trip is due Friday.  Let me know if you need an extension.

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

In math, we are working on writing numbers up to fifty and investigating shapes, including 3D shapes.
 
Field day will be Friday, April 27.  We will be outside from 8:20-10:40 playing games and celebrating spring.  Sign up to work one of the shifts and then spend time with our class for the other shift.  You can bring younger siblings but they cannot participate in the activities.  I would appreciate if a parent could volunteer to send a cooler (with ice) on wheels and another parent volunteer to send 20 water bottles to keep us hydrated and cool.   Please dress your child in the  yellow field trip t-shirt to school for field day so that I can quickly keep track of the children.  (That means the yellow shirt will be worn on Wednesday to the zoo and then on Friday for field day!)

Don't ask any questions because you will ruin the surprise but it is very important for every member of Room 115 to be present  and on time on Thursday, April 26.  If you need to check out on this day, we will be finished by lunch.

I am finishing up my National Board renewal. My box has to be postmarked by April 30 so this is the crunch time.  I will be taking the next two Mondays (4.16 and 4.23) off to work on my National Board renewal.  I have excellent substitutes for each day so the children won't even notice I'm not there.  National Board is the best professional development I have done as an educator.  For more info:  http://www.nbpts.org/become_a_candidate/what_is_national_board_c  Thank you for supporting me.

Upcoming dates:
Wednesday, April 25:  field trip to the zoo
Friday, April 27:   field day for Kindergarten 8:20-10:40
Friday, June 1:  Kindergarten Year End Program at 9:00
Friday, June 1:  immediately following the Year End Program will be a Celebration of Room 115 in our classroom  (Heads up: it will be crowded in our classroom)

Contact me with any questions or concerns you  may have.