Week of 5/28

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all enjoying this long weekend. With only 9 days to go in kindergarten, this post will mostly just remind you of upcoming special events!

There is no sharing this week and in class, we will wrap up our science unit on animals. The children have really enjoyed observing fish, guppies, land snails and pond snails, red worms, and night crawlers. Our butterflies all hatched last weekend, and we let them go on Wednesday. This week, we will also wrap up our social studies units.

Our last Wednesday envelope will go home this week. Please review the papers, and then keep the envelope-- no need to send it back again :)

This Thursday, we have lunch in the cafeteria to practice for next year. The children do not need to pack a snack that day, as we will have a full hot lunch tray. The food choices for that day are:

• Baked Chicken Nuggets
• Whole Wheat Corn Dog
• Tony's Whole Grain Smart Cheese Pizza
• Ham & Cheese Sub on a Wheat Roll w/ Snack Mix

Please go over the choices with your child so that s/he knows what to select in advance. No note or pre-order required-- the children just state what they want when they get to the front of the line. Also, you already paid for this lunch with your CCP payment at the beginning of the year, so no additional funds are required. Thank you!  I could use about 2 helpers to help serve the lunch. Please e-mail me if you are available. Thank you.

On Monday the 4th, we have Doughnuts with Dad. Dads, we will start up the activities at around 8:30 (a.m. class) or 11:30 (p.m. class) with some doughnuts and water, and then we will have a paper airplane folding activity. Things should wrap up in about 45 minutes to an hour. Again, if dads are unavailable, feel free to send a grandpa, mom, uncle, neighbor, etc.

We have our water play day/class party coming up on Tuesday the 5th. Please send your children with a towel, a swimsuit under their clothes (or boys just wear their swimsuits as shorts) water shoes or flip flops or old shoes you don't mind having them get wet. We don't like them to go barefoot on the blacktop, so we need them to be wearing shoes that will work with the water. Please coat them in sunblock before their arrival, as sun block is most effective if applied about a half hour before the activity. Children who are going to daycare after class should have a change of clothes.

Wednesday the 6th, we do have a school-wide Olympic Day. So that the children can participate, the afternoon class will have a Wacky Wednesday that day. Please let daycares know as soon as possible, as this was not originally planned. I could use a few parent helpers to walk around with us. Also, I know they are in need of parent helpers to run the various stations. Please let me know if you can help.

The afternoon class also has a Wacky Wednesday this week. Class runs from 10:00 to 1:20. Thank you.

Our last big event together is next Thursday the 7th for our Promotion Day celebration. This should wrap up before class is out, and then the kids can stay and sign yearbooks, etc. If you want them to leave early that day, please sign them out in the office. Please plan on joining us as we have a small presentation and will look back on our wonderful year together!

There are no events on Friday the 8th, but all kindergarten classes attend from 8:05 to 11:25. Both the morning class and the afternoon class will be in the room together, cleaning up, signing yearbooks, and wrapping up our year together.

In our final weeks, there will be a few opportunities to watch movies (class party, after Olympic Day, etc.) If your child has any Rated G movies that s/he would like to bring in to share, I'd appreciate it. We do not have a Blue-Ray player, just a DVD and VHS. Please clearly mark the movies with your child's name.

Upcoming Events:
5/28: No School: Memorial Day
5/30: May's Wacky Wednesday & Volunteer Social
5/31: Try out lunch in the cafeteria-- no snacks needed
6/4: Doughnuts with Dad
6/5: End-of-Year Class Party/Water Play Day
6/6: Olympic Day-- Wacky Weds. Schedule for p.m. class
6/7: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/8:  Last Day:  All K classes attend from 8:05 to 11:25

Week of 5/20

Dear Parents,

It was great to see so many of you at Open House on Wednesday night and Fantasy Faire on Friday night.  Thanks for coming out to support your children and our school! A special thanks goes to Kelly Williams, Sara Callow, and Jacque Page, along with Traci White from the morning class, for coordinating our Fantasy Fair classroom booth.  A lot of fun was definitely had by all!

This is a week of many "lasts."  It is our last week of centers, sharing, SPARK P.E., and our last homework bag is due tomorrow.  I'd like to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to coming in weekly to help us in the classroom.  This was an amazing year for classroom help-- whenever somebody was unable to come in, someone else stepped right up as a sub.  That small-group instruction time is so important, and without all of the helpers, it would not have been possible.  Thank you so much!

The upcoming final 14 days (can you believe it??) will be devoted to reviewing concepts that we have learned in kindergarten.  We will introduce our final two sight words, by and his.  I will also be administering the final round of assessments to evaluate your children for the 3rd trimester report cards. Those report cards will come home with your children on the last day of school.

We will continue our last math unit on graphing this week, and will also be working on our final science unit on living things. The kids are really enjoying the snails and worms and caterpillars that we've had in class!  It was amazing to see how many of your children did not even hesitate to handle the worms last week and let them crawl along their arms :)  Still to come are sow bugs and pill bugs, along with goldfish & guppies.

This week's sharing is personal choice. It is our last week of sharing, so your child can bring a share item from any of the themes we've used-- book, homemade item, toy in a bag, song, poem or nursery rhyme.

Another reminder again to please plan on attending our kindergarten promotion ceremony on the 7th. Please plan on joining us for a DVD presentation, followed by a short program performed by the children, along with refreshments.

Dads, we hope you are planning on joining us on Monday the 4th for Doughnuts with Dad. We will have some doughnuts (of course!) and dads will do a little project with their kids. It should be a fun hour or so.

Please send in your child's homework folder & blue bag tomorrow for the last time!

Please continue checking the upcoming events below, as this is a VERY busy time of year, and new events keep getting added!

Upcoming Events:
5/23: YSI's "Life in the Pond" Presentation  
5/28: No School: Memorial Day
5/30: May's Wacky Wednesday & Volunteer Social
5/31: Try out lunch in the cafeteria-- no snacks needed 
6/4: Doughnuts with Dad  
6/5: End-of-Year Class Party/Water Play Day 
6/7: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/8: Last day of School: All K classes attend 8:05-11:35

Week of 5/13

Dear Parents,

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week.  From the flowers on Monday to the lovely notes on Friday and everything in between, I was so touched!  Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for entrusting me with your wonderful children.  Thank you also to all the moms, grandmas, and dad for coming on Friday.  The children were so excited to have you there for our Mother's Day event, and it was wonderful that each child had someone to honor.

We have another review week covering several consonants this week (Dd, Jj, Nn, Ww). All letters have now been introduced, so please work on practicing both writing and reading consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Your children should be able to read all of those types of words using their letter sounds and blending skills-- cut, bus, rat, sip, hot, etc. This is a really important skill to work on now and through the summer, as that is something your children will be expected to do proficiently in first grade. Books such as the leveled Scholastic Readers, Bob Books, I Can Read Books, and Ready to Read Books are great for reinforcing blending skills and practicing fluency. Please keep your children reading 20-30 minutes daily now and through the summer. Also, continue working on the sight words.  They need to know all 40, and in first grade, the list increases to 100 words.  That list can be found on the first grade home page: http://www3.unionsd.org/23042054153032310/site/default.asp  I can't emphasize enough that the best way to help your child become a successful reader is to offer plenty of opportunity for practice.

We will also be finishing our math topic on days of the week this week, and starting our final math topic on graphing next week. Things are wrapping up quickly! Our final science unit on animals/living things continues for the next few weeks. Our caterpillars in the classroom have all gone into chrysalids, so we are eagerly awaiting the butterfly stage!

In art, we are busily preparing for Open House this Wednesday the 16th. There is a Home & School Club meeting from 6:30 to 7:00, and then classrooms are open from 7:00 to 8:00.  Please plan on coming into the room and checking out all the work that will be on display! The children have worked hard and are so excited to show off all their wonderful projects. Open House is also a great opportunity to check out the 1st grade classrooms to see what you can look forward to there.

We have author Mac Barnett coming into our classroom on Monday.  He will do a half-hour session with both kindergarten classes.  We are excited to meet a real author! 

Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow.  A homework packet will go home this Wednesday, and then that is also our final week of homework! Please use the extra time for additional reading practice, and of course, outdoor time is always important.

The sharing this week is Book Share.  Please send your child prepared to tell us the title of the book, a bit about its plot, and with a favorite page bookmarked.

Fantasy Faire is this Friday!! I hope you are all planning to come. This is a really fun event for the whole family. It is a carnival with classroom booths, bounce houses, a cake walk-- definitely a night to remember for the kids. I also want to mention that the cake contest is totally fun & exciting to participate in! Even if you don't participate, you must go into the cafeteria on Friday morning and check out all the amazing cake entries!

Our final days that we'd like you all to join us for are coming up. Dads-- we'd like you to come in on the morning of June 4th for some doughnuts & fun. This event should only be about an hour or so for those heading back to work. Everyone-- our Promotion Ceremony is Thursday, June 7th.  This is a fun ceremony where we look back on our year together-- you won't want to miss it!

Hard to believe that we have just 19 class days left together!!

Upcoming Events:
5/14: Author Mac Barnett visits the classroom  
5/16: Open House 7:00 pm
5/18: Fantasy Fair 5:00-8:30 pm
5/23: YSI's "Life in the Pond" Presentation  
5/28: No School: Memorial Day
5/30: May's Wacky Wednesday
5/31: Try out lunch in the cafeteria-- no snacks needed 
6/4: Doughnuts with Dad  
6/5: End-of-Year Class Party/Water Play Day 
6/7: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/8: Last day of School: All K classes attend 8:05-11:35

Week of 5/6

Dear Parents,

I am looking forward to celebrating with all the moms or other "representatives" on Friday. We have a short presentation of a mini-play and a few songs, and then you can enjoy some treats with your child. This is an event the kindergartners always look forward to sharing with their moms/someone special, so please try to have someone come. Thank you!

We have now introduced all of the consonants & vowels. This week (and all the rest of the weeks this school year) will be a review week. We will be reviewing the letters Bb, Cc, Ll, but we do have two new sight words-- he & as. In math, we will begin our unit on the calendar. Children will learn things such as there are seven days in the week, twelve months in the year, the order of the days of the week & the months of the year, etc.

In science, we are beginning our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. We had some real caterpillars arrive in class last week, and we will watch the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. This is a very exciting unit for the children. We also began our unit on Animals. Last week, we observed snails and got to cheer for our snails in a snail race! Other "creatures" that we will be observing include worms, sow bugs & pill bugs, and fish.

We are busily preparing for Open House, on the night of May 16th. We will have much on display in our room that night, and the kids are very excited to show off their work. Please plan on attending with your child!

Our sharing this week is Letter of the Week: Bb, Cc, or Ll. Have your child bring in something that starts with Bb, Cc, or Ll. They can hide it in a bag and write clues. Great job last week to the kids for writing their own clues!

Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow-- there are only two weeks left of homework!-- along with the April "Reading is Cool" logs if you haven't done so already. Tomorrow is the final day they will be accepted, and it is also the final log you will submit. Thank you to everyone who turned in their logs last week.

For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Muffins with Mom (this Friday), Open House (May 16th), Doughnuts with Dad (June 4th), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 7th). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 8th, all K classes are on a MORNING schedule (8:05 to 11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 47 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies! 

Upcoming Events:
5/10: Art Vista Art Show 5:30-8:00 
5/11: Muffins with Mom
5/14: Author Mac Barnett visits the classroom  
5/16: Open House 7:00 pm
5/18: Fantasy Fair 5:00-8:30 pm
5/23: YSI's "Life in the Pond" Presentation  
5/28: No School: Memorial Day
5/30: May's Wacky Wednesday
5/31: Try out lunch in the cafeteria-- no snacks needed 
6/4: Doughnuts with Dad  
6/5: End-of-Year Class Party/Water Play Day 
6/7: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/8: Last day of School: All K classes attend 8:05-11:35