We reviewed the letter X, practiced writing the letter J and interactively wrote action words. Students each wrote an action word that they can do (I can __) for a class book. Riley brought a praying mantis to show the class. In sign language, we reviewed signs for the red song, the blue song, and ""I Can Read Colors."Evan was our Star of the Day. Evan has 2 brothers, likes the colors blue and green, the number 6, and Sunday is his favorite day of the week. Evan's favorite shirt says, "Go wrestle a gator." Students played Top-It with a partner for math centers. In music, they learned a different vowel song than the one we sing in class. Everyone got a prize at the end of the day for doing such a great job of cleaning our room! They ROCK!

Picture Day

Picture day is next Tuesday Oct. 5th. Picture order forms were sent home in your child's backpack yesterday. The easiest way to turn in your order form and payment is to return it on Tuesday morning inside the "Monday" envelope. If you're like me and you're afraid you'll forget about it by then, you can send it tomorrow or Monday, but please remind your child to tell me because I won't have time to search through all 24 backpacks.

Today we met Ms. Kembel, who spent the morning with us. A skill we practiced today was sequencing. We read the poem "Jack and Jill" and then students cut pictures to sequence the events. We learned some vocabulary words from Harry the Dirty Dog and also read a new book by the same author called No Roses for Harry. Aaron was our Star of the Day. We learned that Aaron has 2 brothers, 2 fish, likes macaroni and cheese, the color blue and the number 6. Students painted a backdrop for an airplane shape that they traced and cut out. They glued cotton clouds to their pictures. I taught students to play the card game "War" (we call it "Top-It" at school so it doesn't sound so violent). Thanks so much to all the parent volunteers who came in today. Everything went so smoothly thanks to all of you!

I just placed the Scholastic book order. We should have them by the end of the week! Thanks for your orders, which enabled me to order 4 new books and CDs for our listening center.

Thanks for sending all the fun foods for our Five Senses unit. The students had tons of fun tasting things, and many of them learned that they like plums (apparently something they hadn't tried before). What a cool way to discover new foods! I learned today that the kindergartners WILL NOT be attending the assembly on Friday so we WILL have library after all. Yay! Tomorrow we have someone new joining us. Her name is Ms. Kembel, who is a Junior Field (a college student studying to become a teacher). Ms. Kembel will be with us Monday mornings and most of the day on Wednesdays. We look forward to meeting her. Amari was our Star of the Day. We learned that Amari has a baby brother, her favorite letter is F, her favorite number is 11, and her favorite color is purple. Amari likes Hannah Montana and rides a bike. Today we learned about verbs (action words) and made up some actions for everyone to try. Later in the week, students will write/draw verbs of their own that will be compiled into a class book that I will send home one family at a time.

Today started with handwriting practice of the letter B. Next, I introduced the letter K. Our two new sight words for the week are am and can, which students recognized inside the book I read in the afternoon, Eric Carle's From Head to Toe. Students added another poem to their Poetry Binder called See You Later Alligator. It's the poem we sign and say at the end of each day. Carson was our Star of the Day. Carson has a dog, no siblings, likes the color blue, the number 5 and circles. His favorite foods are hamburgers and hot dogs. I wanted to pass along a message from Mr. Goudy, the PE teacher. He reminded students to wear sneakers on Mondays since they do so much running. Don't forget to send 24 pieces of something to taste for science tomorrow.

We reviewed the letter V today and I read the book Verdi, about a little snake who doesn't want to grow up to be boring, to the class. We worked on patterns and identifying the part that repeats. Students learned 3 more vocabulary words so this week they learned: crisp, gentle, noticed, soared, communicate, and eager. We talked about how our pets communicate with us through their actions since we don't speak the same language. Work with your child to identify the words is, like, and yes in print. We read the book Powwow's Coming after lunch. It gave us information about Native American culture and it had lots of rhyming words and beautiful pictures. In the afternoon, we played Bingo as a way to practice number recognition. Natasha was our Star of the Day. We learned that Natasha has no brothers or sisters, and no pets. She likes macaroni and cheese, the color blue, and the number 3. Have a great weekend and I hope you are able to go to Saturday Live.

Happy birthday, Sal! Thanks for bringing birthday treats! We reviewed the letter B, fed sound muncher things like a basketball, a bird, and a book. Students added a sunflower poem to their Poetry Binder and illustrated it. In sign language, we reviewed the Pledge of Allegiance, the "Red" song, and learned the "I Can Read Colors song." Students finished the "Cat's Colors" rt project that we started yesterday. The finished product is hanging in the hall. Thank you, parents, for being on time picking up your children today. Tomorrow is a normal day.

Today was super fun because we got to paint! Thanks so much to Mrs. Bykonen for helping with the project! We played a new game called "Bang" in which students pull sticks with letters written on them out of a can, say the letter, then pass the can to the next person. There are sticks with the word "Bang" on them, and if you get one, you have to return all the sticks you've collected to the can. The person with the most sticks at the end wins. We had 4 or 5 people tie, so all of them got to stand up and do a victory dance. We used my new technology tool, the Mimio interactive white board, to practice patterns in math. Albert was our Star of the Day. Albert has a brother and a sister, likes cats (but not dogs because a dog bit him one time), and he likes the color blue, macaroni and cheese, and Sponge Bob. Tomorrow is early out.

Busy day as usual! We practiced reading our new sight words. We learned to sign and sing The Red Song (I think I have a link to the words to the color songs). Students tried to match color words to the appropriate colors. We fed Sound Muncher things that begin with the letter G. In math, we determined what would come next in a pattern. We had a fire drill in the afternoon and the students were PERFECT!! Everyone got a poetry binder today and students put their first two poems in the binder--Popcorn and The Stop Light Poem. Reading from their poetry binder will be a new free time activity for those who finish their work early. Morgan was our Star of the Day. Morgan has 3 sisters, 3 brothers, 2 dogs, and 3 rabbits. She likes chicken nuggets, the number 10, and the color purple. I just got off the phone with the fire department, setting up our tour of the fire station. We will go to the fire station on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 10am. I will be calling those of you who expressed interest in helping with field trips. I'm so excited for our first field trip!

Sorry for the late post on yesterday's activities. We learned the letter Y and the sight words is, like, and yes. We are learning to spell and recognize color words this week, and will continue for quite a while. We will also learn the signs and finger spelling for the colors. Sal was our Star of the Day. He has a baby brother, a Play Station 3, a 4-wheeler, and a dog and a lizard. Sal's favorite number is 7 and he likes macaroni and cheese. For those of you who signed up to volunteer, I learned that we have to do background checks before you can help in the classroom. If you returned your form to me, I turned it in to the office. I inquired about them yesterday and was told that Human Resources has not returned the results yet. I'll keep checking because I'd like for you to be able to help!

Today was Constitution Day. We don't get into too much detail in kindergarten, but we did talk about the Constitution giving us the right to vote. Students listened to the story Duck for President then they used ballots to vote for their favorite animal to run the farm. Cow was the winner. We sequenced events from a story and made color patterns. Our Star of the Day was Bram. Bram has a dog and a puppy, likes to eat hot dogs and drink strawberry-kiwi juice boxes, likes the color red and his favorite superhero is Spiderman. Have a relaxing weekend.

The letter of the day was L. Several students have an L in their name. We had more sign language fun today with Mrs. Hanson's class. In math we worked on putting information into a graph. Students flipped a two-sided chip and graphed the results. Our Star of the Day was Neveah. She had a brother, a hamster, likes macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Her favorite superhero is Superman and she likes to watch Dora the Explorer. Star of the Day has been a great way for students to learn about their classmates and to recognize names. I realized this when 2 students were handing out the name tags before the music teacher arrived. They were able to correctly read their classmates'names! Don't forget to send your child's library book to school tomorrow so they can check out a new book. Have a great evening!

We had a FANTASTIC day!! We tried out a new song to learn letter sounds. It's to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out, but it's called Who Let the Letters Out? Very fun! We did a letter dance in which students used their bodies to form letters. Your little smarties now know the following vocabulary words: bickering, defiantly, harmony, recognized, desperately, and selfish. We enjoyed more Robert Munsch stories after lunch. Our Star of the Day was Christian. Christian has 1 sister, 2 dogs, rides a bike, and likes the color blue. His favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla and his favorite super hero is Batman. (I love that students are thinking of more creative questions to ask!) In math, we talked about the difference between columns and rows. In their math journals, students drew two rows of balls and drew lines to connect them. Our art project involved tracing and cutting 9 circles of different colors! Those who finished early were generous enough to help those who were a little slower. Way to go, guys! Believe it or not, students finished the project in 45 minutes, although we were a few minutes getting out at the end of the day because of the clean up. I've gotta say that your children are fantastic cleaners. Everyone chipped in to get the room back to normal. See you tomorrow!

Today we learned the letter C and fed Sound Muncher things like caterpillars, candles, cards, and cake. In math, we compared groups of items to determine which had more/fewer. The other kindergarten class came in after recess to learn sign language with us. We learned the Pledge of Allegiance and signs for many foods including pizza, celery, bread, ketchup, pineapple, and meat just to name a few. Our Star of the Day was Sofia. Sofia has a brother and a sister, a wiener dog, rides a bike, likes to watch Dora and loves macaroni and cheese. For science, students shared the sound bags that they brought. Some of them were really tough to guess, so they had to show us what it was. Morgan's sound was candy, which she shared with the class afterward. Tomorrow we have art in the afternoon, so I will be taking down the self portraits that are in the hall and sending them home. I get to see my son and his fiancee tonight so I'm very excited! Have a great evening!

Our letter of the day was Uu. We learned that Lauren is the only one in our class with a u in her name. Students highlighted Us in the poem "Little Umbrella." As a review of last Friday's letter Oo, students completed a worksheet in which they had to find pictures of things with the short o sound. In math we talked about patterns. Not everything we see is a pattern -- it's not a pattern unless it repeats. We created a movement pattern in which students made up a movement and we repeated it around the circle. For example, jump, wiggle, clap, jump, wiggle, clap... We read the book It's Mine and learned the vocabulary words bickering, defiantly, and harmony. Our Star of the Day was Joe R. We learned that Joe has 3 cats, 1 dog, rides a bike, likes lizards, and likes the colors blue and green. We played BINGO as a review of number recognition 1-10. Students had gym class and then they had a hearing screening. If your child seems to have any hearing problems, you will receive a follow-up letter in the next week or two. We read 3 Robert Munsch stories and thought they were really funny! Busy day, huh?! Thanks to Gwen and Jodi for helping during centers today!

Thanks for coming to Open House last night. It was nice to see many of you again. Seeing you on the day before school started and then again last night helped me to put names and faces together. I didn't post last night, so I'll just give you a quick update on yesterday. Elian was the Star of the Day. We learned that he has 1 older sister, has a cat, and likes the color black.

Today we had our popcorn party for good behavior! Students watched a video of some Eric Carle stories while they ate popcorn. It was also the day that we introduced the letter o and our poem of the day was called "Popcorn." How handy is that?! Today's Star of the Day was Milan. Milan has 1 older brother, 2 cats, 1 dog, likes the color green and the number 12.

Students who have stayed on a green card for 10 days got a prize out of the prize jar. If your child didn't get a prize today and was devastated, let them know that they are probably only a day or two away from getting their prize. When they have 10 days of being on a green card, they, too, will get a prize. EVERYONE will eventually get a prize, although some will get them more frequently because they never have to pull a card. Please call me if you have questions. I do keep a tally.

We had a fantastic day in kindergarten! We did all kinds of sorting activities in math, sang some songs, and started a self-portrait art project that we'll finish tomorrow, just in time for Open House! If you haven't sent an old adult-sized shirt for your child to use as a painting shirt, they will need it tomorrow morning. I have some spares, but probably not enough. Peyton was our Star of the Day. He rides motor cross bikes, has 3 dogs and a cat, has a baby brother, and likes rice. If your child came home today with their Monday envelope still inside their backpack, please remind them to hand it to me in the morning. It won't be long before it's a habit, but they might need a gentle reminder at this point. See you tomorrow evening!

Changes to VIP Schedule

I made some changes to the VIP schedule to accommodate our new students. Please check the list again and jot down the date of your child's VIP week as it may have changed.

A big, warm welcome to Albert who joined our class today. We worked on the letter and sound for R. In math, students sorted blocks by one attribute (all yellow, all circles, etc.). We read Sheila Rae the Brave about a mouse who becomes not-so-brave when she gets lost on her way home from school. Our Star of the Day was Joe P. Joe has one brother, some cats, loves beef Top Ramen, and likes the colors blue and pink. I forgot to mention it in the newsletter that went home today, but if you want to order any books from the Firefly order form and don't want to order online, please send the paper form and cash (no checks) to school. I want to hold onto the order for about a week to see if we can accumulate a $200 order.

Video Added!

Scroll to the very bottom of the screen for a video demonstration of how to sign the Pledge of Allegiance.

Christian was absent today. We hope you feel better, Christian! We will get another new student on Tuesday--Albert! Welcome, Albert! My husband had to use a saw to chop down the sunflower I promised to bring today. The flower was so tall that it wouldn't fit across my backseat. Funny story...It had bugs on it, so I didn't want it sitting in my car overnight so I laid it on the garage floor, behind my car. You guessed it - I backed over it this morning! I brought just the head of the sunflower and each student was able to take home a seed. We learned the letter N, checked to see who had a letter N in their name (11 students did), and fed Sound Muncher pictures of things that start with N. We talked about same and different in math. We looked at all the pictures on our ABC Phonics Chart and tried to find ways in which pictures were the same. For example, someone pointed out that the gorilla, alligator, and monkey are different animals, but they have four legs and a tail. Students drew story problems for fellow students to solve. Ellie was our Star of the Day. She has 5 people in her family, 1 cat, and 2 fish. She likes the color pink and loves to eat Hamburger Helper. Students checked out library books today, which made them very happy and proud. Please remember to return the book any time before next Friday so that your child can check out a book again next Friday. Have a wonderful 3-day weekend! See you on Tuesday!

I'm not sure why, but today was an extremely LOUD day! I had a difficult time quieting the class. We learned the letter S today, discovered who has an S in their name and learned the poem Sunflower Children. I told students that I would bring the sunflower from my yard tomorrow. It's taller than I am and it's stem is the diameter of the trunk of a baby tree! In math, we talked about left and right. I wrote an R on everyone's right hand and we played the Hokey Pokey. It was funny because Mrs. Summers wanted to do the Hokey Pokey during music and was trying to teach about left and right and one of the students asked, "Is the right the one with the R?" Jared was our Star of the Day. We learned that he has a sister and a dog, likes to eat shrimp, and rides a bicycle.

I felt like the class improved dramatically in their hall behavior today. Keeping the noise level to zero is very difficult, but they proved they are capable. The music box is also helping with the noise level in the classroom. Our letter of the day was A. There are lots of students with As in their names! Our math vocabulary words were top, bottom, and middle. We read the book Tops and Bottoms, about a rabbit that grows a vegetable garden and tricks a bear by always offering him the worst parts of the plants. Lauren was our Star of the Day. We learned that she has a dog, no brothers or sisters and likes chicken nuggets and French fries. We had a lesson on empathy and identifying people's feelings by their facial expressions and body language. I had a student request that I video tape the signs, in slow motion, to the Pledge of Allegiance so they can practice at home, so I will try to post that video soon.