Dear Parents,
The main "business" of this week is all things Nutcracker! We will be practicing daily this week, so I am canceling centers. We do not have a new letter or any new sight words. Therefore, there will also be no homework/red bags this Wednesday. Enjoy a stress-free week to focus on your holiday preparations!
We will continue our topic on addition this week and on into the first week of 2015. This is definitely a concept that needs additional reinforcement at home as well. Get out those iPads over the break, or go to a math reinforcement website to work on both addition and subtraction (coming in January) facts.
This week's share is book share. Please have your child bring a book they enjoy. They should be prepared to tell the title of the book, a bit about what it's about, and then show a favorite page.
We have a Wacky Wednesday this week for the p.m. class. At the end of class that day, at 1:25, we will be having a costume-making party in K2. We are asking a few parents from each class to come in and help us make the paper costume pieces for the Nutcracker. We have patterns for everything, and it shouldn't take too long. Kids are welcome to play in the room while we work. Thanks to those who have volunteered to come in!
We have a photographer, (another one would be perfect), but we will also need just a few parents to help us with the theater make-up and costuming on the day of the performance. Please let us know if you can help with this.
A reminder about clothing for the Nutcracker: please remember to dress your children in the clothes suggested in the letter sent home last Wednesday. Children should come to school dressed in these items on Friday. Girls can wear something over the top of their leotards when they arrive and change into their ballet shoes for the performance. As a reminder, here is the list:
MARIE: Bathrobe/pajamas & slippers
SOLDIERS/RUSSIAN DANCERS: White Shirt & Dark Pants w/ dark shoes
MOUSE KING/MICE: Dark Shirt & Dark Pants & dark shoes
SUGAR PLUM, RIBBON CANDY, FLOWERS: Light colored leotard/light colored tights/ballet slippers or light colored shoes-- leotards with tutus attached are fine & encouraged for Sugar Plum Fairies & Flowers, especially. Ribbon tutu provided for Ribbon Candies.
ARABIAN: Light colored fitted shirt w/ leggings OR leotard (we provide the Harem pants)
CHINESE DANCERS: Shirt doesn't matter so much (will be wearing jacket we provide) dark pants.
Please borrow whatever you need to borrow-- we don't intend for anyone to have to buy anything. I have 2-3 leotards and a few pairs of ballet slippers in the classroom that used to belong to my daughter that are also available-- let me know if you need to borrow.
Please arrive promptly in the cafeteria for the Nutcracker, as we intend to start the show right on time. Also, please do not try to come early and save seats. We will be keeping the doors locked until about 15 minutes before the performance.We want everyone to enjoy the performance, so please refrain from standing and blocking the aisles as much as possible. Also remember that school-aged siblings are not to be pulled out of class to watch the performance. Thank you!
Remember to bring your blue bags tomorrow. Starting in January, a journal will be added to the homework packet so that your children can write a response to the book in the bag each week. No blue bags this Wednesday, but there will be Wednesday envelopes. Please return those on Thursday so that they don't get lost over the long holiday.
Happy Holidays!
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
2/16-2/20: President's Week
2/25: February's Wacky Wednesday
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Week of 12/7
Dear Parents,
I will be letting your children know about their Nutcracker parts this week! You will be receiving a notice regarding your child's part, and what s/he should wear on the 19th in this week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems with gathering up the various clothes needed-- most girls will be wearing leotards, and most boys will be wearing dark pants and either a light or dark shirt. Hopefully, if there is a clothing item you do not have, you can borrow it, as I do not intend for you to have to buy anything. Girls-- I have several leotards of my daughter's that can be borrowed. Again, the performance of the Nutcracker will be at 10:00 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) on the 19th. Get there a little early (the invitation we are sending home tomorrow has a time 10 minutes before the start) so that you can be seated when the performance begins. You won't want to miss it!
On Wednesday the 17th at 1:20, we will have the "Paper Party" for the Nutcracker costume pieces. I would love to have parent helpers from our class join helpers from all the other kindergarten classes to cut and prepare the paper costume pieces for the Nutcracker performance, using patterns, samples, and materials that we will have ready to go. We will be meeting in K2 to work for no more than an hour on all the bits and pieces. Kids are welcome to play in the room while you work. We already have a few volunteers, but could use a couple more. Thank you!
On another Nutcracker note, I am in need of two photographers with decent cameras for the event. They will be responsible for taking constant pictures throughout the performance, and then insuring that I get a high-resolution copy of the pictures afterward as soon as possible. We will offer priority seating to the photographers. Please let me know if you can help.
Curriculum
This week's letter is Cc, and the Alphafriend is Callie Cat. We have two new sight words this week: that and at. We will be continuing with our math unit on addition. Again, I want to remind you that any reinforcement you can provide with addition is very helpful. If your child has access to an iPad, "Hungry Fish" and "Math Bingo" and I'm sure many other great math apps are out there. I would suggest continuing to work on addition throughout the holidays as well.
This week's sharing is Letter of the Week share. Please have your child bring in something that starts with Cc. Please write clues and hide it in a bag.
This is our final week of centers before the holidays, as next week we will be focusing on Nutcracker rehearsals. Thank you so much to our classroom helpers in 2014, and thank you for your continued support in 2015! Mrs. Grist's class-- please check this website for the updated 2015 schedule.
Blue Bags are due tomorrow, and will go home again on Wednesday for the last time before the holidays. When we return from Winter Break, the journal component will be added to the Blue Bags. Your children will be asked to write a response to the story they read. We would like them to write a sentence about what they liked about the book, and draw a nice picture to go along with it. More details will follow in the Blue Bag on the week of the January 4th.
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
2/16-2/20: President's Week
2/25: February's Wacky Wednesday
I will be letting your children know about their Nutcracker parts this week! You will be receiving a notice regarding your child's part, and what s/he should wear on the 19th in this week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems with gathering up the various clothes needed-- most girls will be wearing leotards, and most boys will be wearing dark pants and either a light or dark shirt. Hopefully, if there is a clothing item you do not have, you can borrow it, as I do not intend for you to have to buy anything. Girls-- I have several leotards of my daughter's that can be borrowed. Again, the performance of the Nutcracker will be at 10:00 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) on the 19th. Get there a little early (the invitation we are sending home tomorrow has a time 10 minutes before the start) so that you can be seated when the performance begins. You won't want to miss it!
On Wednesday the 17th at 1:20, we will have the "Paper Party" for the Nutcracker costume pieces. I would love to have parent helpers from our class join helpers from all the other kindergarten classes to cut and prepare the paper costume pieces for the Nutcracker performance, using patterns, samples, and materials that we will have ready to go. We will be meeting in K2 to work for no more than an hour on all the bits and pieces. Kids are welcome to play in the room while you work. We already have a few volunteers, but could use a couple more. Thank you!
On another Nutcracker note, I am in need of two photographers with decent cameras for the event. They will be responsible for taking constant pictures throughout the performance, and then insuring that I get a high-resolution copy of the pictures afterward as soon as possible. We will offer priority seating to the photographers. Please let me know if you can help.
Curriculum
This week's letter is Cc, and the Alphafriend is Callie Cat. We have two new sight words this week: that and at. We will be continuing with our math unit on addition. Again, I want to remind you that any reinforcement you can provide with addition is very helpful. If your child has access to an iPad, "Hungry Fish" and "Math Bingo" and I'm sure many other great math apps are out there. I would suggest continuing to work on addition throughout the holidays as well.
This week's sharing is Letter of the Week share. Please have your child bring in something that starts with Cc. Please write clues and hide it in a bag.
This is our final week of centers before the holidays, as next week we will be focusing on Nutcracker rehearsals. Thank you so much to our classroom helpers in 2014, and thank you for your continued support in 2015! Mrs. Grist's class-- please check this website for the updated 2015 schedule.
Blue Bags are due tomorrow, and will go home again on Wednesday for the last time before the holidays. When we return from Winter Break, the journal component will be added to the Blue Bags. Your children will be asked to write a response to the story they read. We would like them to write a sentence about what they liked about the book, and draw a nice picture to go along with it. More details will follow in the Blue Bag on the week of the January 4th.
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
2/16-2/20: President's Week
2/25: February's Wacky Wednesday
