Week of 11/30

Dear Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I'd like to thank all of you for making the Feast such a success! We had a wonderful spread of food, and the children all looked darling! Thanks to the MANY parents who helped with that event.

Now...onto a very busy but exciting time in kindergarten as we prepare for our Nutcracker presentation on the 19th, as well as continue with all the academics & seasonal artwork!

Academics
We will have a new letter this week, Vv, and the Alphafriend is Vinnie Volcano. We will also have a new high frequency word, to. We will begin a math topic on addition this week. We will do a lot of manipulative-based activities to build a visual understanding of math facts. Any reinforcement you can provide at home on this would be great, as this is obviously a core concept.

At the side of this webpage, there is a link for kindergarten websites.  There is one website, http://www.spellingcity.com/k2grist that I'd like you all to check out with your children. This is a fun way to reinforce both the sight words and short-vowel words that they will be expected to recognize and spell in kindergarten. I have pre-loaded the list of sight words onto Spelling City, but if you want to make your own list of short-vowel words, you can do that, too. In addition to Spelling City, you may also want to check out: www.raz-kids.com  Information on how to log onto this site was sent out previously.  Please email me if you need help with this.

We will return to centers for the next two weeks, then we take a break from centers again the week of December 14th. Please check the helper schedule.

This week's sharing is Toy in a Bag.  Please have your child bring in any toy hidden in a bag, with three clues written about it to help the rest of the class guess what's inside.  If children would like to start attempting writing their own clues with single words as prompts (e.g.: furry, brown, cuddly for "bear") that would be great!

Upcoming
Thank you for returning your blue bags last week. If you still have a white envelope, please send it in on Monday.  Blue Bags will go home for the next two weeks. They will not go home on December 17th.

On December 17th, we will be having our annual "Nutcracker Hat Party."  We need parents to come in straight after the p.m. class's Wacky Wednesday (1:20) to help make all the paper parts of the Nutcracker costumes.  Children are invited to play in the classroom while parents create from provided patterns.  If all goes well, this will last about an hour: 1:20 to 2:20 or so.  Please let us know if you can join!

Looking forward to seeing everyone Monday!

Upcoming Events:
12/17: December's Wacky Wednesday/Nutcracker "Hat Party" (parents come in to help make costume pieces)
12/19: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)  
12/22-1/4/15: Winter Break
1/15: Incoming Kindergarten Parent Info Night @ 6:00 pm
1/19: Martin Luther King Holiday: No School
1/28: January's Wacky Wednesday

Week of 11/16

Dear Parents,

I have enjoyed meeting with many of you so far during parent-teacher conferences, and have gained some great insights on your children from you. Thank you for meeting with me and being such active participants in your children's educations. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you this week.  If you need to confirm your conference time, please contact me.

We will still be taking a break from centers this week while we continue with parent-teacher conferences, and they won't resume until after Thanksgiving. Then we will start back up with centers for two weeks before winter break (there are no centers again the week before the holidays).

The p.m. class has a Wacky Wednesday this week on the 19th.  Class runs from 10:00 to 1:20.

Curriculum
Our letter this week continues to be Hh. The Alphafriend is Hattie Horse. We will also be introducing our first vowel, Aa, Andy Apple! This means that we will begin blending and spelling short-vowel words now. Our new sight word is a. We continue reviewing numbers to 10 in math.

This week's sharing is Song, Poem, or Nursery Rhyme.  If your child is stuck for an idea, s/he is always welcome to choose an Alphafriend song or a color song or any other song we enjoy singing at school.  As always, songs, poems, and rhymes in another language are always welcome and appreciated!

This week, we will also continue taking a closer look at the Pilgrims & Native Americans as we talk about the first Thanksgiving & prepare for our reenactment of this event, our Friendship Feast on the 21st. We have a great simple book that we will be putting together about the first Thanksgiving, and we have some interesting books that we will be reading to the children. It would be wonderful if you can all join us for the Feast on Friday, even if you can only come briefly. The children look so cute in their costumes & love sharing the meal with family members. Younger siblings are welcome if there is a child care issue. Thank you to everyone for sending in food for the event!

Upcoming Events
Looking ahead on your calendars at this busy time of year, I wanted to make sure that you are all marking your calendars for Friday, December 19th-- our annual performance of The Nutcracker. This is something that you will not want to miss. To help you clear your calendar, the kindergarten teachers have decided that we will do our class holiday party and the Nutcracker performance all on the same day. We will have a big "cast party" after the performance so that we can send the kids off on a great holiday break!

Please remember your child's blue bag tomorrow. We will have no homework this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday next week, but we will send home a white envelope. Please try & return it on Thursday so that it doesn't get lost over the week-long break.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Upcoming Events:
11/13-11/21: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/19: November's Wacky Wednesday
11/21: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class)  
11/24-11/28: Thanksgiving Week Vacation
12/17: December's Wacky Wednesday/Nutcracker "Hat Party" (parents come in to help make costume pieces)
12/19: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)  

Week of 11/9

Dear Parents,

We hope you are enjoying a nice long weekend as we head into a busy week & a half before Thanksgiving!  We will see your children on Wednesday the 12th.

We look forward to meeting with many of you this week in the office conference room (Mrs. Grist) or the library (Mrs. Sheikh). Before school conferences for Mrs. Sheikh and after school conferences for Mrs. Grist will be held in the classroom.  If you need to confirm your time, please email your child's teacher.

We will  be taking a break from centers for the next two weeks while we continue with parent-teacher conferences, and they won't resume until after Thanksgiving. Then we will start back up with centers for two weeks and take another break the week before winter break.

Curriculum
Our new letter this week is Hh. The Alphafriend is Hattie Horse. We will also be introducing our first vowel, Aa, Andy Apple! This means that we will begin blending and spelling short-vowel words now. Our new sight words are a and with.

Our math topic on reviewing numbers to 10 continues this week.  Common Core really focuses on delving deeper into number sense.  We are understanding that each number can be made up of two other numbers, and visualizing how numbers appear using 10 frames, dot cards, and dice, as well as writing and practicing number formation.  There is a great free app for iPads and iPhones called Ten Frame Fill that focuses on Kindergarten Common Core concepts of understanding numbers to 10.  Check it out if you have these devices.

We are also enjoying a subscription to Time for Kids this year, provided by the district to support Common Core learning in Social Studies/non-fiction reading.  The kids are enjoying reading topical articles on current events.

There is no sharing this week due to the shortened week.  Sharing with return next week.

The Blue Bags will go home again this Wednesday, and then the following week, there will be no homework due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Upcoming
This week, we will also be taking a closer look at the Pilgrims & Native Americans as we talk about the first Thanksgiving. We will be preparing for our upcoming feast on Friday the 21st. If you haven't had a chance to sign up for the feast (how you can help/what dish you can send) please do so ASAP.  It would be great if each child has a parent in attendance. This is a fun time for the kids, as they love to show off their costumes and enjoy the meal with their families. Even if you are unable to attend, please send a food item with your child-- no need for anything complicated! Thanks to those who have already signed up.

Upcoming Events:
11/10-11/11: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/13-11/21: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/19: November's Wacky Wednesday
11/21: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class)  
11/24-11/28: Thanksgiving Week Vacation
12/17: December's Wacky Wednesday/Nutcracker "Hat Party" (parents come in to help make costume pieces)
12/19: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)  

Week of 11/2

Dear Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed a fun Halloween with your children.  What a great party we had in class!  A huge thanks to the room parents and parent helpers who organized such wonderful Halloween centers & treats.  The kids all enjoyed themselves very much.

Remember that Daylight Savings Time ends.  Hopefully, you got to enjoy an extra hour of sleep on Sunday!

Curriculum
Our letter this week is Nn, and our Alphafriend is Nyle Noodle. Our sight words this week will be can (we didn't have enough time to properly cover it last week).  In math, we have a few upcoming review weeks.  We will continue working on 3D & 2D shapes, while also looping back to numbers 0-10, especially focusing on the handwriting of these numbers.

Sharing this week will be Letter of the Week share for Nn.  Children should bring in an item that starts with Nn, hide it in a bag, and write three clues for that item.

Upcoming

We have another school-wide spirit day this week-- Color Day-- on Wednesday the 5th.  Each grade level will dress as a color of the rainbow.  Kindergarten has been assigned the color red.  Wear red clothes on Wednesday if you'd like to participate.

We begin Parent-Teacher conferences next Thursday the 13th through Friday the 21st.  Although grades 1-5 have an altered schedule during conferences, the kindergarten schedule remains the same.  The p.m. class will still dismiss at 2:50 during the duration of conferences, with the exception of Wednesday the 19th, which is a Wacky Wednesday.

We will have no centers for two weeks due to Parent-Teacher Conferences. However, I will still need help on Wednesdays with Computer Lab, and we will also continue with SPARK P.E., weather permitting. Centers will resume the week after Thanksgiving. There are a few projects that I may need some help on in class in the upcoming weeks. I will try to send out an e-mail for those projects to see if anyone may be available.

Please remember to send in your child's Wednesday envelope, if you have not done so already, by tomorrow. With Halloween celebrations last Thursday, I know that many of you didn't send it in last week.  We will send home the envelopes this week, but not the homework bags, due to the long 4-day weekend ahead.  In this week's Wednesday envelope, you will find a sign-up form for the food and help at the Friendship Feast on the 21st.   Please fill that out and turn it in as soon as you can. We need many helpers and plenty of food to make this a success. We are looking forward to a fun event!

Soon, I am going to start putting together the helper schedule on the website for 2015.  Please e-mail me if any changes need to be made/you need to switch days/etc. If anyone new would like to be added to the schedule, even only occasionally, please let me know. Thanks so much to everyone for your generosity with your time-- centers  and all enrichment activities have run SO smoothly so far!

Upcoming Events:
11/10-11/11: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/13-11/21: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/19: November's Wacky Wednesday
11/21: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class)  
11/24-11/28: Thanksgiving Week Vacation
12/17: December's Wacky Wednesday/Nutcracker "Hat Party" (parents come in to help make costume pieces)
12/19: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)