Today was a difficult day for some children because they are ready to go home at lunch time on Fridays, but we had a busy and fun day. Next week we will be on a normal schedule. Wednesday, February 1 is a Late Start Day. We will not have school on Friday, February 17, or Monday, February 20. These are no-student contact days.
We started our day with centers (Reading, building sentences, math journals, and coloring snowflakes which meant they had to match the color word with the cowboy hats above the white board). While we were at centers, we watched the Presidential Inauguration. I thought it was important for the children to see how we change Presidents. They will not have an opportunity to see this again for 4 years. I feel as though they need to understand this is an important transition for our country.
After recess, we finished centers and went to lunch. After lunch, we watched a video called The Snowy Day. We wrote in our Winter Journals about the weather we observed in the video.
We went to music class and had a lot of fun playing ukeleles! Mr. Sutton said our class was fantastic!
We finished the day with math. We are continuing to work on counting on from groups of 5 up to 10.
Next week is parent-teacher conferences. I sent home a notice with your conference time last week. If you need to reschedule, please contact me and let me know. I look forward to meeting with everyone! We will be discussing the results of the mid-year literacy assessment and our end of year goals for the children.
During centers next week, we will be talking about penguins and polar bears. We will also finish our Weather unit and start working on our Culture unit. In math, we will work on partners of number (2 and 3 are partners of 5, 4 and 1 are partners of 5). We will go to P.E. on Monday and go to the art room on Wednesday.
We will have a Valentine Party on Monday, February 13. Children are welcome to bring Valentine cards to share with classmates. We currently have 24 children in our class. Please do not worry about writing who the Valentine card is TO. Just have your child write their name on the back of the Valentines. I would like to have children decorate Valentine cookies during the party. We will need heart shaped sugar cookies and frosting, and maybe a bag of M&Ms. Let me know if you are willing to donate to the party.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, January 20, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
January News
We have had a very busy week because it is a short week. There is no school on Friday, January 13. It is a no-student contact day. We will not have school on Monday, January 16 because it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I will not see students again until Wednesday, January 18. Since we do not have school on Monday, we will be at school ALL DAY on Friday, January 20.
Looking ahead, February 1 is a Late Start Day. School will start at 11:30 and dismiss at 3:40. The children will go to lunch as soon as they arrive at school.
We will have a Valentine Party on Monday, February 13. Students are welcome to bring in Valentine cards to share with their classmates. Do not worry about writing the other students' names on the cards. Your child should just write their name on the back of the cards. I would like to have cookies for the students to decorate for the party. Would it be possible to find heart-shaped sugar cookies to decorate? Then we will need sprinkles and frosting.
Today, Mrs. Melaney's 4th Grade class came for a visit. They helped the kindergarteners think about and write about things they could do to make a positive change in the world with their own hands.
Monday, December 12, 2016
December News
Gingerbread Houses
-If you are finished with Halloween Candy and would like it to disappear before the Christmas candy arrives, please send it in. We will use it to decorate our gingerbread houses.
-We need more frosting, M&Ms, mini marshmallows, stick pretzels, and sprinkles for our gingerbread houses. I will purchase the rest of the graham crackers and Chinet plates we need so that we can start building them on Wednesday.
Winter Break
Winter break begins on Monday, Decebmer 19 and we will return to school on Monday, January 2.
Assessments
When we return from break, we will begin mid-year assessments. This will include rhyming, beginning sounds, Concept of Word, spelling, and letters/letter sounds. Students will also be given a book they are not familiar with and be asked to read it. Students should be reading a level A book by this time of year (this would be similar to a level B from our take-home books). They need to be able to tell you about the story as well. Please be sure to read the take-home books, and other picture books. When you are finished reading, ask your child to tell you everything they remember about the story. The events should be in order (Beginning, middle, and end).
Late Start
We will NOT have a Late Start day in January.
-If you are finished with Halloween Candy and would like it to disappear before the Christmas candy arrives, please send it in. We will use it to decorate our gingerbread houses.
-We need more frosting, M&Ms, mini marshmallows, stick pretzels, and sprinkles for our gingerbread houses. I will purchase the rest of the graham crackers and Chinet plates we need so that we can start building them on Wednesday.
Winter Break
Winter break begins on Monday, Decebmer 19 and we will return to school on Monday, January 2.
Assessments
When we return from break, we will begin mid-year assessments. This will include rhyming, beginning sounds, Concept of Word, spelling, and letters/letter sounds. Students will also be given a book they are not familiar with and be asked to read it. Students should be reading a level A book by this time of year (this would be similar to a level B from our take-home books). They need to be able to tell you about the story as well. Please be sure to read the take-home books, and other picture books. When you are finished reading, ask your child to tell you everything they remember about the story. The events should be in order (Beginning, middle, and end).
Late Start
We will NOT have a Late Start day in January.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Gingerbread Man Bridges
Today we read The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone. At the end of The Gingerbread Boy and one version of the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man rides on the back of a fox to get across the river to escape being eaten. Unfortunately, the fox eats the Gingerbread Man. What would happen if the Gingerbread Man had another way to get across the river? What if there had been a bridge that he could have crossed? That might change the story! So we used pipe cleaners, straws, index cards, and masking tape to build a bridge across the river. There were many different designs, and ways to use materials. After building, each bridge had to hold a Goofy figurine out of the water. If you have a chance, you are welcome to come in and see them. They are on a table across from the kindergarten rooms. Otherwise I have included some pictures. The kids did a great job with this project!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Gingerbread Man
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break. I was happy to see everyone back on Monday. Next Wednesday is a Late Start day and school will start at 11:30.
For the next 3 weeks, we will be working on our Gingerbread Man unit. On Monday we read one version of the story. After reading it, we created a Flow Map and talked about what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.
Today, we read a different version of The Gingerbread Man. After reading, we created a Double Bubble Map so we could compare and contrast the two versions of the story that we have read. This was difficult because it was hard to remember details about the story from two days ago.
Specials
Next week we will go to Art on Monday. There are no specials on Late Start Days.
Gingerbread Houses
Our gingerbread man unit will end with decorating gingerbread houses on Friday, December 16. If you have any left over Halloween candy that we could use for that, please send it in. Also, if anyone is available to come in and help construct the gingerbread houses the week of December 14, the help would be greatly appreciated. We needs several boxes of graham crackers, mini marshmallows, m&ms, pretzel sticks, and frosting (several colors) to decorate our houses. If you can contribute any of these, please let me know.
Canned Food Drive
Our school is continuing our annual canned food drive. We will be collecting food until December 15. We will also have our mitten tree up.
Report Cards
Report cards will be available on Friday, December 2 on Infinite Campus. We do not send hard copies of the report cards home. You will have to visit Infinite Campus ( https://ic.svvsd.org/campus/portal/stvrain.jsp ) to access them. If you do not know your log in information, please contact Lynette Frank in the office. I will be sending home Report Card Indicators on Friday. These are the skills I consider as I fill out the report cards. If you have any questions about the report cards and would like to talk about them, let me know.
For the next 3 weeks, we will be working on our Gingerbread Man unit. On Monday we read one version of the story. After reading it, we created a Flow Map and talked about what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.
Specials
Next week we will go to Art on Monday. There are no specials on Late Start Days.
Gingerbread Houses
Our gingerbread man unit will end with decorating gingerbread houses on Friday, December 16. If you have any left over Halloween candy that we could use for that, please send it in. Also, if anyone is available to come in and help construct the gingerbread houses the week of December 14, the help would be greatly appreciated. We needs several boxes of graham crackers, mini marshmallows, m&ms, pretzel sticks, and frosting (several colors) to decorate our houses. If you can contribute any of these, please let me know.
Canned Food Drive
Our school is continuing our annual canned food drive. We will be collecting food until December 15. We will also have our mitten tree up.
Report Cards
Report cards will be available on Friday, December 2 on Infinite Campus. We do not send hard copies of the report cards home. You will have to visit Infinite Campus ( https://ic.svvsd.org/campus/portal/stvrain.jsp ) to access them. If you do not know your log in information, please contact Lynette Frank in the office. I will be sending home Report Card Indicators on Friday. These are the skills I consider as I fill out the report cards. If you have any questions about the report cards and would like to talk about them, let me know.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving next week! We do not have school next week, so enjoy the time off! I look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday, November 28.
Halloween Candy
If you have any left over Halloween candy, please bring it to school. We will use it to decorate gingerbread houses on December 16.
Canned Food Drive
Our Student Council is hosting a canned food drive from now until December 15. The class that brings in the most non-perishable food will win a pizza party!
Today was a very busy day in kindergarten. We were making cute handprint turkeys (that were fun to make and adorable), working in our math journals, and doing floor puzzles. We also spent time looking through a treasure trunk from the Longmont Museum. One of our standards is helping children understand that we have different things than people did a long time ago. We looked at items from the period that Longmont settled and compared it to what we see in our houses now. The set included a bonnet and apron. Most of the children tried it on and then wanted their pictures taken. We had so much fun!
We also read A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. This is my favorite Thanksgiving story!
Since we were very busy having fun, the books and the games did not get exchanged. We will take care of that when we return from Thanksgiving Break.
Here are a few pictures from our time with the trunk today (I'm sorry I can't post all of them, but will find a way to get you the pictures).
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
The week before Thanksgiving
Reminder: We will not be in school next week. We are off to celebrate Thanksgiving!
Lost and Found
If you have lost anything this year, and it could be in Lost and Found, please take some time this week to check for it. Items in Lost and Found will be donated at the end of this week!
Halloween Candy
If you have Halloween candy that you will not eat, please send it to school. We will be using the Halloween candy to decorate our Gingerbread Houses on December 16. This is a fun activity! If you are interested in coming in to help with this project, please let me know. I am looking for volunteers that will come in before decorating day to build the gingerbread houses and volunteers to help with decorating. We will also need various colors of frosting, and perhaps other supplies to help us decorate the houses.
Pumpkin Pies
On Monday, we enjoyed our pumpkin pies! Thank you to everyone that provided our ingredients! The children put the ingredients in a bowl, helped stir, then put the mixture in the pie crusts. They were delicious! Let me know if you would like the recipe.
Book Orders
I will be sending book orders home on Friday. This will be the last book order before winter break. If you are interested in purchasing a book for a gift, please let me know and we will make special arrangements to get the book to you.
Today in Kindergarten
Today was a pretty normal day. We spent the morning at centers. After recess, we did fine motor activities. After lunch, we did a graphing activity with candy corns. I did not let the children eat the candy corns at school. We talked about how it is difficult to count a candy corn you have already eaten. Instead, I labeled everyone's bag of candies and said they could eat them at home if it is OK with the grown-ups.
We also read Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons. This book talks about the first Thanksgiving and how we still have some of these traditions. We created a Bridge Map afterwards. The Bridge Map allows us to compare our ideas. We wear baseball caps, the pilgrims wore pilgrim hats or bonnets. We use a stove to cook, while the pilgrims cooked over a fire. Here are some pictures:
Lost and Found
If you have lost anything this year, and it could be in Lost and Found, please take some time this week to check for it. Items in Lost and Found will be donated at the end of this week!
Halloween Candy
If you have Halloween candy that you will not eat, please send it to school. We will be using the Halloween candy to decorate our Gingerbread Houses on December 16. This is a fun activity! If you are interested in coming in to help with this project, please let me know. I am looking for volunteers that will come in before decorating day to build the gingerbread houses and volunteers to help with decorating. We will also need various colors of frosting, and perhaps other supplies to help us decorate the houses.
Pumpkin Pies
On Monday, we enjoyed our pumpkin pies! Thank you to everyone that provided our ingredients! The children put the ingredients in a bowl, helped stir, then put the mixture in the pie crusts. They were delicious! Let me know if you would like the recipe.
Book Orders
I will be sending book orders home on Friday. This will be the last book order before winter break. If you are interested in purchasing a book for a gift, please let me know and we will make special arrangements to get the book to you.
Today in Kindergarten
Today was a pretty normal day. We spent the morning at centers. After recess, we did fine motor activities. After lunch, we did a graphing activity with candy corns. I did not let the children eat the candy corns at school. We talked about how it is difficult to count a candy corn you have already eaten. Instead, I labeled everyone's bag of candies and said they could eat them at home if it is OK with the grown-ups.
We also read Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons. This book talks about the first Thanksgiving and how we still have some of these traditions. We created a Bridge Map afterwards. The Bridge Map allows us to compare our ideas. We wear baseball caps, the pilgrims wore pilgrim hats or bonnets. We use a stove to cook, while the pilgrims cooked over a fire. Here are some pictures:
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