Because our letter of the day was I (our first vowel), we learned a song about the two sounds that vowels make. We played I Spy, using our math vocabulary words over, under, and on. Students also learned signs for each of those words. We started a Science unit of the five senses. Aliza was our Star of the Day. She has a younger sister and an older sister and no pets. Because it's been so loud during center time, I started using a music box to quiet the students. I wind up the music box at the beginning of each day, open it to play music to signal students that they are too loud. As they get quiet I close the box. If there is any music left at the end of the day, the class earns a point towards a popcorn party. We have a new student starting tomorrow. Welcome, Christian!

There were lots of comments this morning about the inflatable letter E hanging from the lights. It will be joined by the letter T tomorrow because I will add each letter as we learn it. We found that only 3 students have Ts in their names: Thomas, Natasha and Peyton. We learned a Teddy Bear poem and the signs to go with it. We started Star of the Day. Each day, a different student will have the opportunity to stand up and tell the class something about themselves. We will study that person's name and each student will write the "star student's" name and draw their picture. Today our star was Mia. We learned that she has a sister and a dog named Chili. Students had their first day of gym with Mr. Goudy. It sounded like they had a good time.

Parents, please return any of the forms that required your signature in the Monday envelope that should be sent with your child tomorrow morning. I reminded students that they will take the envelope out of their backpack and hand it to me on their way into the classroom tomorrow.

We had a very productive day! To get ready for handwriting and spelling work, I taught the procedures for passing out and returning mini dry erase boards and erasers. While they had their boards, we practiced writing the uppercase and lowercase E. (Yes, I'm a few days behind where I hoped I'd be on letter introductions. I was a little overly ambitious with my original schedule.) Students did such a nice job of following directions that they earned some "doodle time." Everyone got a turn to use highlighter tape to showcase a letter E in our ME poem. We practiced recognizing and writing some numbers and played a counting game (1-10). Today was our first day of Library. Students listened to a story, looked at books, and colored an information sheet about library procedures that will go home in their Monday envelope.

Today students learned the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language. I introduced the letter Ee. I called on a few students to write the letter on the board and some others pointed to E's on a chart. We learned a poem called "ME." We read the ABC phonics chart (see class web page for a link to it). We watched the movie Chrysanthemum and talked about the length of names. For math, students cut out the individual letters in their names, glued the letters to paper squares and put them onto a strip of paper that was inserted into a pocket chart so we could compare the lengths of our names. Mia and Joe tied for the shortest names and Salvador was the longest name. I read my favorite book to them after lunch, Bad Dog Marley. We learned some fun songs, too. The students had their first day of music with Mrs. Summers, which was interrupted by a fire drill. We had practiced earlier in the day and the comment I heard as we were coming back inside from the drill was, "That wasn't so bad." :)

Our Daily Schedule

Some of you noticed that I had written a partial list of our daily class schedule on the marker board Monday night. I wanted to let you know that the schedule is also posted on my class web page. Go to the "Links" section below and click on the first link "Class Web Page." On the far right you will find the schedule. Students have music with Mrs. Summers tomorrow afternoon, Library with Mrs. Waples on Friday afternoon, and P.E. with Mr. Goudy on Monday afternoon. Please send your child to school in running shoes on Mondays for P.E.

First Day of Kindergarten

I adore my new class! They are absolutely adorable children and they seemed to adapt well to so many new things! We started the day by reading Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. We talked about how they got ready for school (by buying supplies and getting shots) and how I got ready for school (by writing their names all over the place). After our tour of the office, library, lunchroom and bathrooms, we had recess. I gave a whistle signal (2 tweets) to line up to go back inside. Some of the students said they couldn't hear the whistle so I had to gather all my little ducklings before heading back inside. Next, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and watched the short movie that goes with it. We then made our own Chicka trees, which involved tracing, cutting, gluing, and attaching the letters in their names. The trees are so cute that I hung them in the hall, but will try to send them home on Friday. Lunch took longer than usual, as everyone had to learn the procedures. Afterward, we read How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Students decorated their journals and completed their first writing activity: showing me all the letters and numbers they can write.

Parents, you have lots of reading material that was sent home in your child's Monday envelope. Please sign the papers and return them in that same envelope tomorrow morning. They normally go out on Mondays and are returned on Tuesdays, but there was already so much paperwork to deal with that you needed a head start. See you in the morning!

Mini Open House

It was so fun to meet so many of you last night! I wish I could have spent more time talking with some of you who came in during the busiest time. Please know that you can talk to me after school and you can email me anytime. I will be sending home a student interest survey so that I can find out more about your child. I saw lots of adorable children and I can't wait to get to know them!

Subscribe to the Blog

During the 2010 - 2011 school year, I plan to use the blog as my main form of communication instead of sending home paper copies of calendars, newsletters, notices, reminders, etc. In September, I will have a THIS WEEK section on the right side of the blog where I will list: what we are focusing on, when the students have Library and Phys. Ed. that week, and special events. I will also have a DATES TO REMEMBER section where I will list dates of: special events and when book orders and permission forms are due. I will keep all posts, files and photos on the blog so that you can access them months after they are posted. You may also choose to print and/or save some of the files (e.g., calendars) that I post on the right side of the blog on your computer.

Starting in September, I am hoping that you will be able to check the blog weekly so that you will always be well informed. I have set-up a program that can e-mail you when I update the blog. On the right side of the blog under SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL, please enter your email address and click on subscribe. You will then receive an email from feedburner. In the email, click on the link to activate your subscription. Feedburner will then e-mail you every time I update the blog.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I'm so excited for school to start!! I've been working hard on getting the classroom ready, creating new learning materials, and researching the best teaching methods. I hope that you are able to come in on Monday night to take a look around, become familiar with the classroom and the school, and introduce yourselves. Monday night is a great time to drop off school supplies so your child doesn't have to carry all that stuff into school Wednesday morning. Stay tuned here because I post messages every night, letting you know what's happening in class. I can't wait to meet you all!

Parent Update August 2010

Parent Update August 2010