A Few Notes For You....

Hello Families,
      Before I post a few photos from our Fall Hike last week, I wanted to share some brief notes for you.  With the cooler weather upon us, students are wearing extra layers to school.  Miss Bettee and I are urging students to do their own zipping, buttoning, snapping and all the other skills needed for getting dressed in the chilly fall and winter.  We allow for extra time once snow pants and boots are needed, too!  Thanks for your support with fostering independence in our Kindergartners.
      The MESA Parent Group would like to ask everyone to collect Box Tops off of products and send them in to school.  Our school gets 10 cents for each Box Top sent in!  When you have a good collection of them, send them in with your child.  Thanks!
    Our school holds a BIG fundraiser called the Readathon in November.  Information about the Readathon will be coming home.  Please read it carefully...there is A LOT of information to try and understand!  I will send reminders home about days to send in the reading logs and keep you informed.  Also, the Spirit Wear will be coming home! 

 

  

Lots of climbing, collecting and exploring!

Hike on Tuesday, 10/16

Hello Families,
     Thanks for everyone's response to the parent conference sign up - everyone has been scheduled.  If you find life happens and you need to reschedule, please let me know and we will find another time.  For those of you coming at an afterschool time, we will meet in our classroom.  If you are coming in during the school day, I try to schedule one of the conference rooms in the building. 
     I have a time on Wednesday afternoons that I am finding would be a good time for a parent volunteer.  If you are interested in making the commitment to come in on Wednesdays from 12:10-1:30 to work with a small group during a 3 group rotation, please let me know.  If you can commit to every other Wednesday, that would work as well. 
     Lastly, we are going on a Fall Hike on Tuesday!  Please be sure your child wears sturdy sneakers or hiking boots and an extra layer.  We will be walking through the Buttolph neighborhood behind school and hiking in Battell Woods.  As we have been learning about our school community, we have been discussing places in the Middlebury community and the woods is a place I want to the students to have access to. 
     Lastly, no school on Friday, Oct. 19th.  Now some pics.....


Observing places around town with a partner.


Walking the small trail behind Mary Hogan, looking for
signs of Fall.


Our October calendar has several patterns in it to discover.....


g is for goldfish! Graphing and eating goldfish on Fun Friday.

Into October....

Hello Families,
     I have lots of photos to share with you today.  Remember, it's a great opportunity to get a narrative from your Kindergartner about our day when you look at the photos together!  Sometimes at the end of the day, it can be hard for a Kindergartner to chat about or answer your questions about the school day.  The more specific the questions the better:  Who did you play with today?  Did you practice writing any letters today?  What book have you heard lately at school that you really liked?  What made you happy today?
     The t-shirts have been arriving at school so we will be tie-dying soon! Also, if you haven't returned the sign up sheet for your parent conference, please do so.  I noticed that many people signed up for the latest time slots, which I understand due to work.  If I plug you into a slot that definitely won't work, just let me know and we will come up with a new time that works for both of us.  Thank you!
    Here are a few descriptors for the following photos:  making shapes with our bodies, the Hello, Hello, Hello greeting,  matching the letter cards, our brand new poetry folders, great name practice, chopping apples for applesauce, making a Fall book with the Big Buddies, exploring and socializing in the sensory table, practicing working with a partner with letter matching on the rug, reading books together.

     

    

  

Feels Like Fall

Hello Families,
     I am loving this cool, crisp fall weather.....much better than the 95 degree classroom we started the year with!  I hope you found the classroom directory that was sent home in your child's red folder on Friday.  The directory can come in handy when planning birthday parties or play dates. 
     Our letters of focus last week were m and n.  We learned a monster chant, read several books with monsters as the main characters, practiced forming those letters with playdough and on our dry erase boards and identified words that started with those letters.  I realized on Friday that I forgot to send home the m and n letter practice paper....I will add that to the red folder the next time it comes home.  This week coming up the letter focus will be c and a...our first vowel.  Along with letter practice, we are learning to retell stories, identify character and setting in a story, putting words together to form a sentence and creating our first classroom book all about us. 
     During Number Corner, we will be finishing up our shape pattern on the September calendar as we move into October.  The children have been sorting shapes, identifying shapes by their attributes and making shape projects.  I introduced the 5 frame and the 10 frame as a way to show quantity and recognize a number quickly on a frame.  With the 5 frame right now, the children are noticing what numbers go together to make 5.  And we love to learn new games to practice our math skills, like Rondo, Count the Beans and Hi Ho Cherry-O.
     I would like each child to bring in a plain, white t-shirt for a class tie-dying project.  I enjoy having the students choose their design, help create it with rubberbands, then dunk it in the bucket to soak.  There are always a lot of ooooh's and aaaaah's when the bands come off and we do the big reveal!  I like having the shirts here at school for field trips and special school events.  Then your child will bring it home at the end of the school year.  When shopping for a t-shirt, go for a size that your child can grow into, as we wear them all year.  Also, if you buy a pack of shirts and would like to donate the extras to the class, they are always used and appreciated.  Thanks! 
     Lastly, our first Early Release Day is Tuesday, October 2nd.  Students who ride busses leave around 12:45 and walkers/pick ups head out around 12:55.  Please have plans ready for your child to leave early that day...if his or her plan is different than usual, please send in a note with the dismissal plan for that day.  And now for some pics.....


Identifying which pictures start with m or n


Working on correct number formation with Count the Beans


Our school counselor, Miss Cleary, shared a story and the kids made playdough faces to show feelings.


Writing our Key Words on the window!


Miss Tricia from the Ilsley Library visits Kindergarten.


Making personalized library card holders

Butterfly Mania!

Hello Families! 
     This week has been "butterfly crazy" as we returned on Monday and had 7 butterflies to release!  During the week we released 2 more and we have 1 chrysalis left, waiting for the big change to happen.  The students completed their butterfly life cycle projects and they are now hanging in the classroom.  I hope you are able to attend the Open House on Thursday, September 20th, any time between 5:30-7:00.
     As we build our classroom community, we are working on our first unit:  How We Organize Ourselves.  We are focussing on rules and routines and how they help build the structure of our classroom.  I shared the book "Is Your Buffalo Ready For Kindergarten" and we had a lively discussion about what the buffalo did right at school to be a learner.  This will help build our Essential Agreements, or classroom rules, to guide us through the year.
     I am sending home a letter formation sheet in the red folder today.  We have been working on the correct letter formations for t, b and f this week, as well as working on the sound of those letters.  There is a spot on the letter paper where your child can show you (they may need some guidance from you....look at the directions for each letter for how to guide your child) how we have learned to form the letter.  Some children will be working hard to get out of the habit of writing letters from the bottom up as we practice the letters starting from the top (at the sky line or plane line).  Those papers do not have to come back to school.  They can be helpful for reference at home when your child is practicing his or her writing.  Thanks for your "coaching" at home with letters!
     We are very lucky to receive a fruit or veggie snack from the kitchen every day.  We serve it at our 2:00 snack time when the kids are really hungry again!  Miss Bettee and I have introduced the "sample size" and serve it to everyone.  Several students have already found they like something that they didn't think they wanted!  We have a good group of healthy eaters this year....they have been polishing off the kitchen snacks everyday.  If anyone is willing to send in a bottle of Ranch dressing, it would be great to serve it with some of the veggies, like carrots and celery.  Thanks!


Lots and lots of butterflies!


Mr. Lindemann came and read his favorite story.


The listening center has been popular at choice time.


It's fun to practice letters in glitter sand.


The Snail Game at Math time


Partner work for letter practice


What pictures start with t or b?


Teaming up to work on a puzzle.

A Brand New Year In Kindergarten!

Hello Families! 
     Today was most exciting as we had our first butterfly hatch out!  When we released it on a flower outside, we were able to tell it was a male.  Everyone was very excited to wave goodbye to it and wish it a good, long flight!  I read a book to the children called "Gotta Go, Gotta Go" and in the book, it talks about the butterfly flying to Mexico.  So the children today shouted, "You gotta go to Mexico!" as we waved goodbye.
    Picture Day is Thursday the 13th.  We are scheduled to go right at 8:15 while the Kindergartners are looking fresh and ready!  Another date for your calendar is September 20th, which is our Mary Hogan Open House.  More info to come about that date later. 
     We have been busy with projects and stories and Number Corner and learning about each other!  I am including a few photos of the Kindergartners in action and a display hanging in our classroom related to caterpillar observation.  Showing the photos to your child can create great conversations about what he or she has been doing in Kindergarten.  Enjoy the weekend!


A butterfly life cycle project


Decorating the first letter of your name


Books at Quiet Time


Caterpillar observations