December 23, 2015

A Happy New Year to all of you!  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and stay nice and warm.

I want to take this time to thank all of you for all your support.  I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do with the children without it.   All your contributions, time and materials, are greatly appreciated.  It's wonderful for me to be part of a team that cares so much for their children.

After the holidays we will study about winter and hibernation.

We will do some experiments with snow...if it comes.

We will also continue Readers' Workshop.  This becomes one of the children's favorite parts of the day.

Again, thank you for all your generosity and help-I hope the season brings you and your family everything you wish for.

Donna

FRIENDLY REMINDER

TOMORROW we are gathering at 1:30 to decorate cookies. Parents, grandparents and younger siblings are invited.

Wednesday is Pajama Day , frogs hibernate! - No snack Wednesday, we're going to have hot chocolate and animal crackers.

December 1, 2015

This Friday is a school wide pajama day, so your children really can wear their pajamas to school. They may also bring a stuffed animal in.

We will have another pajama day on the 23rd because frogs hibernate and we will settle down for our long winter's nap.

We are starting our gingerbread unit. We will be doing all sorts of fun activities in math and literacy.

Our unit will end with a cookie decorating party. Parents are invited to help and join in the fun. It will be on December 22 at 1:30.

December Needs 

buttons

foam shapes

 stickers

 sequins 

ribbon...anything that would be fun to use to decorate a gingerbread man

Cookie Decorating Gathering

frosting and candies

It would be helpful if you sent in these things early. (no nuts or processed in a nut factory please)

 

Newsletter_November 20_2015

We learned the song, Albuquerque Turkey, and it ends with a suggestion to eat something else for Thanksgiving dinner. The children love the song, and are amused by the ending. They have painted some beautiful turkeys and gave each of them a sign with suggestions for alternative meals.

I hope that you are able to attend our program on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00. We will sing a few songs and do a fun dance. I schedule it for this time in case grandparents or other family members are visiting. The children will bake bread and we will enjoy that afterwards.

Literacy: During Writers' Workshop we have experimented using speech and thought bubbles. It helps bring the character to life. Our word work, in the morning is really helping the children with writing their stories.

We have been looking at familiar story books at school during Readers' Workshop. The children are using the pictures to retell the story. They are trying to use some of the exact language from the story and are speaking the way they think the character might. Try this at home, it is fun! 

Math: We have practiced representing numbers many different ways such as writing the numeral, using a ten frame, tally marks, dots, and pictures. They are also using their math vocabulary during math games...positional words and measurement words. You should see the unit 3 assessment coming home today.

Art: The children have made some Native American costumes complete with a turkey hat. We have also made some Native American homes. The children are learning how the weather might affect what type of home they might have. We decided longhouses were practical for winters in the North East.

***PROGRESS REPORTS ARE COMING HOME. THEY ARE FOR REPORTING ATTENDANCE ONLY. PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THE ENVELOPE. WE DO NOT NEED THE PROGRESS REPORT BACK. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Handwriting Letters: C,O,&Q

Phonics Sounds: l & r

Word of the Week: the

Book Fair: 11/30-12/4

Thanksgiving Break:11/25-11/27

Thanksgiving Program: 11/24@1:00 (frog classroom)

Gingerbread Decorating:12/22@1:45

Winter Vacation: 12/24-1/4

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. Wishing you happiness and good health.

Frog News October 25

Frog Class News

Safety Month

The children have been learning a lot about safety. We have practiced fire drills with the whole school and a lockdown with Mr. Goldsmith. They have been really attentive during these and have done a great job. The children also practiced a bus evacuation with the bus drivers and Mr. Fosher spoke to all of the kindergarten children about bus safety. Mrs. Griffith, our school guidance counselor spoke to the children and showed them a video about personal safety. Some key points made were:

You own your body.

If someone tries to touch you in a spot that would be covered by your bathing suit you should yell no, get away, and tell an adult right away.

Literacy:

 We read the book, Yuck Soup, by Joy Cowley and then made our own versions, Yuck Soup and Yum Soup. The children had a lot of fun doing that.We have been reading up a storm during Readers' Workshop. The children have been sharing with their partners and making thoughtful connections to themselves and other books. During Writers' Workshop they have been asking lots of questions to add more details to their writing. They have also been working on stretching out the words to write all the sounds they hear.

Math:
I am in the middle of assessing the children. We have completed Unit 2. They have been having fun playing lots of math games and practicing number stories.

Upcoming Events

• 10/29 - Picture Retakes
• Halloween Celebration - 10/30

• Early Releases - 11/5 & 11/18 for Parent Teacher Conferences
• No School - 11/6 Teacher Workshop
• No School - 11/11 Veterans' Day (Welcome home, Mr. Poteet!)
• Thanksgiving Break - 11/25-11/27
• Word of the Week - see
• Phonics - a
• Handwriting L & U

Enjoy the Foliage!

Newsletter October 3

Frog Class News

The children are doing a great job entering the building and they do not need their bus tags any more. 

Language Arts:

We have practiced the sight word, he, this week. The children found it in the book, Little Brother by Joy Cowley. They also did a search paper, stamped it in play dough, and did a "magic" painting to reveal the word. We have practiced the letters, D & P, in our handwriting books, on the iPads, and with wiki sticks.

Readers" Workshop has officially started and the children got their own book bins. They have been really enjoying Writers' Workshop and are keeping their wonderful stories in their own folders. 

Math:

We have enjoyed playing dice games. The children are learning how to recognize how many dots there are without counting. We have also tried some counting on. The class continues to explore shapes. 

Science:

Our temperature graph provides us with some good information about temperature changes as the season changes. The weather graph, in their calendar binders, kept track of sunny and cloudy days for our days in school during the month of September.

Upcoming Events:

Handwriting letters: B & R

Phonics: k & g

Sight word: no

Book: No David by David Shannon

Song: Apples & Bananas

Cider Hill Field Trip -10/7

No School - 10/12

Music Hall Field Trip - 10/14

October is Safety Month, please help your child practice your telephone number and address.

Frog Class News 9/25/15

Happy Fall!

What a wonderful beginning of the year! The children are starting to fall into the routines with ease.

Thank you for helping them determine what is snack. A lot of them have brought in a change of clothes which is very helpful in case of accidents. I see lots of sneakers in their cubbies which will be even more helpful once boot season begins.

Our Cider Hill Field Trip is a fun trip. The children are looking forward to it. There is no limit on chaperones and younger siblings are welcome. We will meet you there because only the students and teachers are allowed to ride the bus.

We have been talking about the life cycle of apples and how the weather affects them. We will be doing some fun art projects, reading stories, science projects and math with the apple theme.

We did a fun science project today. Ask your child if pea pods all have the same amount of peas...they know the answer. We explored and shared our findings.

We have practiced writing F&E in handwriting and have practiced the phonics sounds of p&b. Our word of the week was, a. We are learning about ten frames, tally marks and graphs in math. We are also working with our calendar binders.

We have been learning about school rules. We have talked about keeping everyone safe and using kind words. A copy of the frog class rules will come home in your child's folder. Please review them with your child. 

Please remember to put all notes and papers in your child's folder because otherwise they could drop an important note in the hall or outside. Mrs. Howland empties the folders every morning.

 Upcoming Events

Handwriting letters: D&P

Phonics: t&d

Sight word: he

Song: The Numeral Song by Dr. Jean

Cider Hill Field Trip-10/7

No School-10/12

Music Hall Field Trip-10/14

Field Day was a huge success!

The weather really cooperated, no rain, and the heat was tolerable. The fifth graders really made it a lot of fun! ****Look on Flikr for the pictures taken today.

Don't forget the Grandparent Luncheon is Monday. Kindergarten lunch is first, they will eat and then have recess right after lunch.

Grandparents are welcome to come back to the classroom and wait for them to return. The grandchild can show off and read a story to them.

We have adopted 5 little chicks from other classrooms. The children love them and will get a chance to hold them on Monday.

*** Don't forget our last day is 6/16. We will have an end of the year celebration, starting at 9:30, in our classroom. Dismissal will be by 11:30. If this poses a problem for your family please let me know ASAP so I can plan accordingly. 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Thank you to all our service people!

Thank you to all the parents who donated items and volunteered for our May Festival. The children had a wonderful time. Look at Flikr to see the great pictures.

This past week we have done a lot of assessment, especially in math, but our super readers have been showing off for each other.

 We had a problem with our incubator so we will not be hatching any chickens. We will adopt some from the other classrooms.

There have been a lot of stubbed toes and little cuts. Our playground has wood chips so I do not recommend sandals on the playground, sneakers are best.

Don't forget Kindergarten Field Day (5/29) and Grandparents' Luncheon(6/1)

Last day of kindergarten is June 16th. We will have an end of the year celebration. Dismissal will be by 11:30. If this poses a problem for your family please let me know ASAP so I can plan accordingly.

 

Thank you Veterans! 

Happy Mother's Day!

May you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend, enjoy your delightful children!

The chicks are coming! We have eggs in an incubator and are waiting for the arrival of the baby chicks. We did a science talk and did a lot of wonderings...the biggest wondering was when they will be born. We also made technical drawings of a raw egg. (looking very carefully at the details)

We are in need of some supplies for our May Festival. We could use some baskets for floral arrangements, bubbles and glycerin. I will be looking for two volunteers to work with the children making the floral arrangements. It's usually a lot of fun.

I will send out a request for sundae supplies before the actual day. We will have a puppet show and enjoy sundaes in the afternoon. Younger siblings may attend the puppet show. More information will follow.

Jump Rope for Heart was a huge success!

The children had lots of fun exercising their hearts and they raised a good amount of money for a worthy cause. Some of them were shocked when they realized they could jump the long rope with two people swinging. We used imaginary ropes, regular jump ropes , hula hoops, and rope lines (on the ground). Everyone was successful and smiling! The smiles were even bigger when they got their popsicles after all their hard work.

Look for pictures posted on Flikr.

Language Arts: We've done lots of reading and are exploring the world of nonfiction books. The children are becoming excellent readers. We've had some fun writing poetry too.

Math: We have been writing number stories and the that go along with them. We are learning to distinguish the difference between addition and subtraction.

Science & Social Studies: We have been talking about healthy food choices and have had a pizza restaurant running. The children will make English Muffin pizzas after vacation. 

We will hatch chicks and learn how they develop after vacation also.

Our hospital will be opening soon, we could use donations of band aids, face masks, or anything you think the children will enjoy.

Upcoming Events

We will review all handwriting letters, all phonic sounds, and all sight words.

Spring Vacation: 4/27-5/1

May Festival: 5/21

Early Release:5/13 @ 12:50

Kindergarten Field Day: 5/29

No School:5/25 Memorial Day

Grandparent Luncheon: 6/1 more info to follow

Tentative Last Day for K.: 6/16 We will have an end of the year celebration in our classroom.Dismissal will be by 11:30 am. If this poses a problem for your family please let me know ASAP so I can plan accordingly.

Have a wonderful vacation!

We are celebrating, Read Across America...I saw a lot of crazy socks today. Lots of fun things happening, they are listed on the note that was sent home on Friday. There is a day that they dress up as their favorite book character, but they do not have to. They could be the little boy or girl in any story, no costume required.

Language Arts:
We are starting to work on procedural writing "How To's". We are learning about the different characteristics of these books. Some words might be in bold, and they might contain a glossary. We are also working on sight words and blending CVC words so we will be able to read more fluently.

Math:
We are continuing to practice sums through 5. Every other week your child will bring home a set of math facts. Please practice these at home. We will also send homelinks weekly. We are going to explore the difference between 2D & 3D shapes.

Art:
We made lots of fun leprechaun things. Our favorite was the puppet. We sang to the people in the office, the music class and the preschool.
Sadly, we did not catch the leprechaun, but he left us a pot full of candy, wrapped in gold paper.

Upcoming Events:
Handwriting letters: f & q
Phonics Letters: review of all phonics letters
Word of the Week: my
Spring Conferences: 4/8 & 4/15 ( sign up sheet will be sent home soon)
Music Hall Field Trip: 4/2

Thank goodness the weather is warming up! It started just in time for our latest science unit. We are studying the sun. Some children thought the sun was a planet, but we investigated and found out it was a star. We are observing the effect it has on the pile of snow on the playground.

The snow level has gone from 32 inches to 30. We are recording the information in our science notebooks.

Language Arts: We have been practicing all our sight words. Automaticity helps them so much when they are reading their "just right" books. Thank you for helping them practice these.

Math: The children are practicing their math facts using dice games and unifix cubes. I hope the nightly math facts practice is going well. I will send additional math facts every two weeks.

Art: The children made beautiful rainbows with pipe cleaners and model magic. We will hide them around the room in hopes of catching a leprechaun. They have also been using other materials with this effort.

Upcoming Events:

Handwriting letters:r,m,&n

Phonics Letter:  c

Word of the week: we

No school Friday: 3/13 teacher workshop

Parent conferences in April.

Do you recognize this leprechaun, we couldn't catch him!!!!!!

February 13, 2015

The Frog Class

FROG NEWS: Happy Valentine's Day!   The students celebrated 100th day and Valentine's day this week.  We celebrated in a lot of different ways.  The students were able to glue 100 beads to a poster, write a book,  (My Mother Has Told Me 100 Times...), they played at the valentine factory and had a whole lot more fun!  After vacation, we will be adding to our math homework.  We will begin practicing our math facts through 5.  A letter and the materials will be sent home after vacation.  Be on the look out! I have added pictures to Flikr.  They are of the kids enjoying the 100th day of school and playing in the snow.     Language Arts:     We worked on proper formation of all letters introduced.  I am still finding  a lot of children starting from the bottom.  We also continued to work on our reading strategies.  We have learned good readers use a lot of different tools when they read.     Math:   The Frogs celebrated the 100th day of school.  We shared our collections of 100, did 100 exercises and kept silent for100 seconds.  It was an exciting day in the Frog  room.   Art:     We made mobiles and valentine crafts with paint and glitter.   Social Studies:  The students worked in the post office this week.     Book of the Week:  Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine Song of the Week:  Gummy Bears    Upcoming Events:   Handwriting Letters: review lowercase letters taught so far Phonics Letters: x & y Word of the Week: on February Vacation: 2/23-2/27 School District Meeting: 3/6 @7:00pm Field Trip:  4/2

February 6, 2015

FROG NEWS:

 

I hope we are all enjoying the snow.  It has been a crazy mixed up week. The hundredth day of school will now be on Tuesday (fingers crossed).  If you have not already, please sign and return the envelope , the copy of the progress report is yours to keep.  Also if you have not sent your child's valentines in please do so ASAP.  We have a post office set up in dramatic play where they are able to mail the valentines.

 

 

Language Arts:  

 

We continued to work on lowercase d and g.  We also continued to work on the word like. We have been practicing our reading; we have a lot of great readers!  They are also great writers.  We have been practicing our sight words in isolation and in the context of reading.  You may want to practice finding them in books with your children.

 

Math:

 

The Frogs  continued to review math games to build number sense.

 

Art:  

 

We made placemats with hearts.  Can you feel the love!

 

Social Studies:

 

The students will be learning about the US Postal System during the month of February.

 

Book of the Week:  The Hug Machine 

 

Upcoming Events :

 

Handwriting Letters: u, i & e

Phonics Letters: w & h

Word of the Week: up

100 project:  2/4

Valentine's due: 2/4

February Vacation: 2/23-2/27

School District Meeting: 3/6 @7:00pm babysitting will be provided by STA

 

 

No more snow!!!

Please send valentines and 100 day projects in if you haven't already...hopefully we'll have our 100th day before spring. Also, please don't forget our service project and send in a canned good with your child.

Frog News

January 23, 2015

Sorry for the delay in blogging. We have been very busy getting back in the routine. 

We have also been doing our midyear assessments. Progress reports will come home a week from Friday.

Language Arts:

We have been doing word sorts in the classroom. The children are getting good at them, you have probably seen some of the papers come home. I will be sending some of them home in a game format and the children may keep them at home.

We have worked on lowercase c, o, s, v, w, l, & a during the past few weeks.We also worked with the words it, to & can. We have practiced them many ways and reviewed the other sight words at the same time.

Math:

The children wrote their numerals 1-20 as part of a math assessment. Our calendar work is providing us with a lot of practice with our numerals. We are also practicing counting to 70. We have started with addition and subtraction.The children like it best when I tell a story to go along with the math problem.

Art:

We made valentines for our soldiers overseas. The children really enjoyed this.

Social Studies:

We talked about Martin Luther King Jr. and what made him important. We also made peace doves and talked about our dreams for a better world.

Upcoming Events:

• Handwriting Letters: d&g
• Phonics Letters: X & Y
• Word of the Week: like
• 100th day of school: 2/4
• Early Release: 2/4
• Progress Report: 1/30
• Valentine Celebration: 2/13

Donation Requests:

• valentine or letter stickers
• tissues 

A Happy New Year to all of you!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and stayed nice and warm.

I want to take this time to thank all of you for all your support.  I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do with the children without it.   All your contributions, time and materials, are greatly appreciated.  It's wonderful for me to be part of a team that cares so much for their children.

After the holidays we will study about winter and hibernation.

We will do some experiments with snow...if it comes.

We will also continue Readers' Workshop.  This becomes one of the children's favorite parts of the day.

Again, thank you for all your generosity and help-I hope the season brings you and your family everything you wish for.

Donna