September 26, 2008
Dear Families,
We began learning about the alphabet and enjoyed reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. We made a chart using the first letter of our names, to see what letters had the most first names and which letters had the fewest. We read a lot of alphabet books, too. We played an alphabet freeze game. The kindergartners danced and moved around around until the music stopped. Then they found a letter on the floor close to where they were frozen, picked it up, and told everyone the name of the letter. We learned about the letter Tt. Teeth and dental care was discussed. We know that adults are supposed to have 32 teeth and that brushing gets the “sugar bugs” off of the teeth. Healthy food is better for your teeth than sugary foods. Visiting the dentist is important for good dental health. Attached to the newsletter are 2 extra homework papers. One is a tooth brushing chart. Every child that brushes his/her teeth 2 times a day, fills out the chart with a check mark or smiley face or parent’s signature in each box, and returns it gets a special certificate from the Tooth Fairy. The other paper will need some parental guidance to help fill in the blanks.
This week we worked with counting coconuts. Each child was given a bag with one coconut tree and ten coconuts. The students learned to add more coconuts when they needed a larger number and take a way coconuts when they needed a smaller number. They can use these to practice counting at home.
This week we also began practicing writing names the kindergarten way. Next week we will continue practicing. We will expect them to write their name the kindergarten way on all their papers. Reinforcement at home is greatly appreciated. Remember, if your kindergartner practices writing at home, and they bring the paperwork in, they can earn a sticker.
Next week we will be studying the letter Pp. Sharing next week should be one item that begins with the letter Pp.
Halloween is fast approaching, and many families are beginning to think about their child’s costume. The elementary has a policy about costumes. We do not allow any blood or weapons with the costumes. Right now the Halloween parties are scheduled for October 31st.
Don’t forget about October 14th! We will be having our pictures taken on this day. You will receive the order forms soon. Please try to have these forms returned before picture day. On Tuesday, October 14th, the kindergartners need to be here by 8:20. We are usually the first class to have pictures taken, and they come for us at 8:20. If you want your child to change out of the picture clothing, please send another outfit. If you have special instructions concerning hair, jewelry, or outfits, please write us a note with the directions.
On Monday, October 6th the kindergartners will be attending a play in Waterloo. We leave the school at about 8:45 and return later in the morning. We will NOT return in time for lunch so each child will need to bring their own lunches. Families may not send any pop to drink. Other than that, families make the rules about what is put in the lunch box.
There is no school on Monday, September 29th. The teachers get to spend the day attending important meetings!
One last important date to note is the Christmas program. It will be on December 17th at 1:30 p.m.
Have a great fall weekend!
Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Herink, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Degner, Mr. Zabel
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
September 19, 2008
September 19, 2008
Dear Families,
Seasons and weather were discussed this week. We made lists of summer words, fall words, winter words, and spring words. These lists were written on seasonal symbols and hung in the hallway. We took an “end of summer” walk to look at the trees, flowers, grass, etc. (If the weather didn’t cooperate, we didn’t go on the walk.) We talked about how the trees are still full of green leaves. We noticed that some of the leaves are already turning colors, and some have even fallen off the trees. The kindergartners talked about how the trees change for each season. They made trees to show the four different seasons. The kindergartners enjoyed painting the trunks brown. Have them tell you about how the trees change for each season.
Last week the kindergarten students participated in the DIBELS Benchmark Assessment. We had several different people working with our students on this evaluation. We will share these evaluations with you at your fall conference.
If your child practices writing numbers, their name, or the letters as we learn them at home, send that paper to school. We will give them a sticker for their work.
Next week we will be doing several alphabet activities. We will begin learning to write our first name the “kindergarten way.” We will also be reading and doing activities with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We will read other alphabet books and learn some alphabet songs. Next week’s sharing needs to be something that starts with the letter Tt.
An important date coming up is Tuesday, October 14th. We believe that this is school picture day. Watch for more information to be sent home soon!
Please remember that each Monday the kindergartners get a new library book. If your child forgets to return the book that day, the teachers will try to get them to the library for a new book as soon as they can. It may NOT be the very day theirs is returned due to our busy schedule.
We hope your child is enjoying kindergarten. Things are slowly improving! Have a great weekend!
Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Zabel, Mr. Degner, and Mrs. Herink
Dear Families,
Seasons and weather were discussed this week. We made lists of summer words, fall words, winter words, and spring words. These lists were written on seasonal symbols and hung in the hallway. We took an “end of summer” walk to look at the trees, flowers, grass, etc. (If the weather didn’t cooperate, we didn’t go on the walk.) We talked about how the trees are still full of green leaves. We noticed that some of the leaves are already turning colors, and some have even fallen off the trees. The kindergartners talked about how the trees change for each season. They made trees to show the four different seasons. The kindergartners enjoyed painting the trunks brown. Have them tell you about how the trees change for each season.
Last week the kindergarten students participated in the DIBELS Benchmark Assessment. We had several different people working with our students on this evaluation. We will share these evaluations with you at your fall conference.
If your child practices writing numbers, their name, or the letters as we learn them at home, send that paper to school. We will give them a sticker for their work.
Next week we will be doing several alphabet activities. We will begin learning to write our first name the “kindergarten way.” We will also be reading and doing activities with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We will read other alphabet books and learn some alphabet songs. Next week’s sharing needs to be something that starts with the letter Tt.
An important date coming up is Tuesday, October 14th. We believe that this is school picture day. Watch for more information to be sent home soon!
Please remember that each Monday the kindergartners get a new library book. If your child forgets to return the book that day, the teachers will try to get them to the library for a new book as soon as they can. It may NOT be the very day theirs is returned due to our busy schedule.
We hope your child is enjoying kindergarten. Things are slowly improving! Have a great weekend!
Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Zabel, Mr. Degner, and Mrs. Herink
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 12, 2008
September 12, 2008
Dear Families,
Senses were discussed this week. Monday the five senses were introduced, and the students listened to a tape of different sounds and had to guess what each sound was. On Tuesday the sense of touch was discussed, and each child was able feel a mystery object in a special box and guess what the object was. On Wednesday the students learned about the sense of sight. They played a game that required them to look at a group of objects, remember what the objects are, and guess the object the teacher took away when their eyes were closed. Thursday was a “smelly” day, and the boys and girls guessed mystery smells. On Friday, the students finished the week, by learning about the sense of taste. They tasted something sweet (m and m’s), sour (dill pickles), salty (pretzels), and bitter (unsweetened baking chocolate). Also this week the kindergartners worked on sequencing, remembering the details of a story, the letter Gg. Lowercase g is harder to make so we made a practice homework paper and attached it to the newsletter. The kindergartners talked about ways to be safe at school, at home, on the farm, and in our community.
This week we began reading books about Curious George. The children really enjoy these books. We have discussed the meaning of the word curious, and the children have thought of a few things they are each curious about. You can read your child’s ideas on the windows outside our room.
Next week we will be learning about the 4 seasons. On Friday morning we hope to take an end of summer walk. Please dress your child appropriately.
Sharing for next week is an item in a “secret sack” from your child’s favorite season. Your kindergartner needs to be able to give clues about the mystery item. You are welcome to help your child with the clues. Families may also write the clues down on a piece of paper so that if your student forgets them, we can help him/her. For example, if your child’s favorite season is summer, the sharing item could be a swimming suit. The child puts the swimming suit into a sack (or the backpack). Clues could include: I wear this when it is hot. I like to get it wet. It is purple and green. The other students will then get to try and guess what is in the sack.
Again this year we are collecting Box Tops for Education box tops. Send in the box top that has that special logo on it. Each box top is worth 10¢. The school is also collecting Campbell's soup labels. Send any that you have to school with your child. The elementary school is also collecting Hy Vee slips. If you know anyone that shops at Hy Vee, ask them for their receipts. We think that the school gets $1 for every $200 turned in.
The weather has been cooler . We recommend that families send jackets or sweatshirts. It would be very helpful if the coats had names written in them. Many times they fall on the floor, and the teachers do not know who they belong to, and occasionally 2 children have identical coats. Having names written on the coats helps the children identify theirs.
Have a great weekend!
Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Pokorny, Mrs. Herink, Mr. Degner, and Mr. Zabel
Dear Families,
Senses were discussed this week. Monday the five senses were introduced, and the students listened to a tape of different sounds and had to guess what each sound was. On Tuesday the sense of touch was discussed, and each child was able feel a mystery object in a special box and guess what the object was. On Wednesday the students learned about the sense of sight. They played a game that required them to look at a group of objects, remember what the objects are, and guess the object the teacher took away when their eyes were closed. Thursday was a “smelly” day, and the boys and girls guessed mystery smells. On Friday, the students finished the week, by learning about the sense of taste. They tasted something sweet (m and m’s), sour (dill pickles), salty (pretzels), and bitter (unsweetened baking chocolate). Also this week the kindergartners worked on sequencing, remembering the details of a story, the letter Gg. Lowercase g is harder to make so we made a practice homework paper and attached it to the newsletter. The kindergartners talked about ways to be safe at school, at home, on the farm, and in our community.
This week we began reading books about Curious George. The children really enjoy these books. We have discussed the meaning of the word curious, and the children have thought of a few things they are each curious about. You can read your child’s ideas on the windows outside our room.
Next week we will be learning about the 4 seasons. On Friday morning we hope to take an end of summer walk. Please dress your child appropriately.
Sharing for next week is an item in a “secret sack” from your child’s favorite season. Your kindergartner needs to be able to give clues about the mystery item. You are welcome to help your child with the clues. Families may also write the clues down on a piece of paper so that if your student forgets them, we can help him/her. For example, if your child’s favorite season is summer, the sharing item could be a swimming suit. The child puts the swimming suit into a sack (or the backpack). Clues could include: I wear this when it is hot. I like to get it wet. It is purple and green. The other students will then get to try and guess what is in the sack.
Again this year we are collecting Box Tops for Education box tops. Send in the box top that has that special logo on it. Each box top is worth 10¢. The school is also collecting Campbell's soup labels. Send any that you have to school with your child. The elementary school is also collecting Hy Vee slips. If you know anyone that shops at Hy Vee, ask them for their receipts. We think that the school gets $1 for every $200 turned in.
The weather has been cooler . We recommend that families send jackets or sweatshirts. It would be very helpful if the coats had names written in them. Many times they fall on the floor, and the teachers do not know who they belong to, and occasionally 2 children have identical coats. Having names written on the coats helps the children identify theirs.
Have a great weekend!
Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Pokorny, Mrs. Herink, Mr. Degner, and Mr. Zabel
Thursday, September 4, 2008
September 5, 2008
September 5, 2008
Dear Families,
This week we continued to review the school and classroom rules and procedures. We also continued to read books about the beginning of school. We worked on colors with the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear. We hope your child will share their similar book with you. We read a big book called All About You, and we learned more about each other. We talked about families and body graphed how many people were in our families. Patterning with our bodies was a fun activity we tried this week. An example was standing, sitting, standing, sitting. The students were getting really good at figuring out the patterns. In reading we worked with the letter Oo.
It was nice seeing so many families at the Open House on Thursday. We now have faces to put with names as children tell us about their families. The pictures that were hanging in the hallway will be coming home in the near future.
Breakfast begins at 8:00. Children eating breakfast should not come into the school until 8:00. Other students may come in at 8:10. If your child arrives too early, we will send him/her out to the playground.
We will begin sharing next week with the topic “My favorite _____________.” This item can be a book, food, animal, toy, etc. Each week we will have a specific topic. A list of September topics will be at the end of the newsletter. (Please keep the sharing portion of the newsletter so that you can refer to the sharing list each week.) Your child needs to be able to tell about the sharing item in front of the class. Your child is assigned a sharing day. The kindergartners need to remember to bring their sharing on their assigned day. If a child forgets the sharing item, he/she may not bring it another day. If your kindergartner is gone on their sharing day, then he/she needs to bring their sharing item on the day they come back to school.
During the month of September the entire elementary is working on the characteristics self control and service. We will be demonstrating self control in different situations and praising those that show self control during the day. Perhaps you would like to work on self control at home!
We hope that your child is enjoying school! Have a super weekend!! Mrs. Owens, Ms. Howard, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Zabel, Mr. Degner, and Mrs. Herink
__________________________’s sharing day is __________________.
September Sharing
September 8 - 12: “My favorite _____________.” This could be a favorite book, food, animal, toy, etc.
September 15 - 19: Something in a “secret sack” from your favorite season that we have to guess using the child’s clues.
September 22 - 26: An item that begins with the letter Tt
September 29 - October 3: An item that begins with the letter Pp
Dear Families,
This week we continued to review the school and classroom rules and procedures. We also continued to read books about the beginning of school. We worked on colors with the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear. We hope your child will share their similar book with you. We read a big book called All About You, and we learned more about each other. We talked about families and body graphed how many people were in our families. Patterning with our bodies was a fun activity we tried this week. An example was standing, sitting, standing, sitting. The students were getting really good at figuring out the patterns. In reading we worked with the letter Oo.
It was nice seeing so many families at the Open House on Thursday. We now have faces to put with names as children tell us about their families. The pictures that were hanging in the hallway will be coming home in the near future.
Breakfast begins at 8:00. Children eating breakfast should not come into the school until 8:00. Other students may come in at 8:10. If your child arrives too early, we will send him/her out to the playground.
We will begin sharing next week with the topic “My favorite _____________.” This item can be a book, food, animal, toy, etc. Each week we will have a specific topic. A list of September topics will be at the end of the newsletter. (Please keep the sharing portion of the newsletter so that you can refer to the sharing list each week.) Your child needs to be able to tell about the sharing item in front of the class. Your child is assigned a sharing day. The kindergartners need to remember to bring their sharing on their assigned day. If a child forgets the sharing item, he/she may not bring it another day. If your kindergartner is gone on their sharing day, then he/she needs to bring their sharing item on the day they come back to school.
During the month of September the entire elementary is working on the characteristics self control and service. We will be demonstrating self control in different situations and praising those that show self control during the day. Perhaps you would like to work on self control at home!
We hope that your child is enjoying school! Have a super weekend!! Mrs. Owens, Ms. Howard, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Zabel, Mr. Degner, and Mrs. Herink
__________________________’s sharing day is __________________.
September Sharing
September 8 - 12: “My favorite _____________.” This could be a favorite book, food, animal, toy, etc.
September 15 - 19: Something in a “secret sack” from your favorite season that we have to guess using the child’s clues.
September 22 - 26: An item that begins with the letter Tt
September 29 - October 3: An item that begins with the letter Pp
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)