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September 26, 2011

This week our featured letter is “I.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due by Thursday.  It is easier for your child if you send the pictures in a baggie labeled with his/her name.  The majority of you are helping your children find pictures and I really appreciate your participation.

Our Fall theme focuses on leaves this week.  We also will talk about the characteristics of seasons.

I will be sending home additional requests for permission and fees for our Performing Arts Field trip.  Please return these forms as soon as possible so that I can close out that account.  If you do not receive a 3rd request, you have already taken care of this detail.  Thank you. We have not yet been informed of the date of the field trip but it is usually at the Cobb Energy Centre.

Conference week is the week of October 24th.  We will begin scheduling conferences soon so please let me know NOW if there is a day or time that is particularly good or impossible for you.  I will make every effort to accommodate your schedule and constraints.  We will schedule with sibling teachers on October 3rd so please let me know your preferences by then.  Generally conferences are 20-minute blocks between 12:40 and 3:40.  I can come in before 7:00 or stay late if you let me know now.

We need empty toilet paper rolls, just the cardboard cylinders, for an art project this week.  Please, as you finish one off, send us the empty!!  It is such a cute little craft! 

 Thanks for checking the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is “insect.”

September 19, 2011

What a great “P – Picnic” we had!!  Thanks so much for all the generous donations.  We have leftovers for this week.  In fact, we are going to have a “Pudding Party” on Monday.   It is wonderful to have such supportive families.

Our Language Arts theme for the next few weeks will be variations of “Fall.”  Make an opportunity to notice the changing weather and foliage at this time of year. 

The letter for this week is “H.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due on Thursday.  Almost everyone is participating in collecting pictures; I only had to do homework for a couple of children.  

The children brought home their Phonics Notebooks on Friday.  These notebooks will stay at home in a safe but accessible place.  I am sure you will help your child practice blending the sounds to decode the words.  The words in this notebook are NOT sight words.  They are words that the children can sound out using the letters featured so far this school year.  Additional pages will come home on a semi-regular basis so be on the lookout for them and insert them into the notebooks.  Regular practice on this skill makes a huge difference in reading ability.

As is the routine, the children brought home their Poetry Notebooks on Friday also.  Read the poems together, practicing one-to-one, sight word recognition, and fluency.  These notebooks do need to be returned on Monday so that we can insert the new poems by the end of the week.

Your children are phenomenal pattern makers in math.  They recognize copy, extend, and transfer patterns.  We will finish up the patterning chapter this week.  There will be periodic reviews of this skill throughout the school year.

We go to the library every Wednesday.  Make sure your child brings back his/her book by Wednesday so that he/she can get a different one.   Our Media Specialist introduced the children to Pebble Go last Wednesday.  It is  a great site you can access from home.  Directions came home last Wednesday but basically go to the Cobb County website, then Virtual Library, Elementary, and it should be on that page.

Performing Arts permission forms and fees are overdue.  This is likely to be our only field trip of the year, so l hope everyone can come.  I will send reminders to those who haven't yet responded.  We generally go to the Cobb Energy Center for what has been, so far, a good performance of a children's book.

Tuesday is Baker Night at the new Jiles Road McDonalds.  Baker gets a percentage of all sales between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m.  What better excuse to have a fast food dinner.  I’m loving it.

Tuesday, September 27th, is Baker Skate Night at Sparkles.  Mark your calendar now and dust off your skates.  There will be a flier with times and prices. 

That’s all the news I can think of for this week.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word (phrase) is "Horrible Hair."

September 12, 2011

What a beautiful weekend.  I hope you are appreciating every second as we remember the tenth anniversary of September 11th.

Our letter of the week is "P."  Pictures for the alphabet dictionary are due by Thursday.  So far we have had about two-thirds of the class participate.  You earn your child a bonus B.U.G.S. ticket when you make sure the homework is done.

"P" is the third letter we have had as the center of our phonics lessons.  Now we can practice sounding out words using just those three letters.  On Friday I will send home the phonics notebooks.  You will keep these notebooks in a safe place at your home and you will have the option of adding new pages to the notebook virtually every week.  The pages in the notebook provide opportunities to practice blending sounds to decode words.  Taking advantage of theses practice sessions will significantly increase your child's ability to read.  I hope you will find the time to follow through and help your child succeed.

We are going to have a "p" picnic on Friday.  I would appreciate any donations of finger foods that start with "p."  These foods will be shared with our friends in small portions.  We need things like pretzels, peaches, pineapple, potato chips, popcorn, pickles, etc., but NO peanuts.  Let me know if you can help.  I will purchase whatever else we need on Thursday afternoon for the Friday event.  Thanks in advance for helping defray the costs.

In math we are continuing patterning practice.  We are also focusing on proper number formation.  The children have learned how to participate in independent manipulative math centers.  These centers provide tangible and hands-on experiences with math concepts.

We are fortunate to have had another friend join our class.  We now have 17 friends, and it is a good group of children.  We are so lucky.

I will complete the class communication list with the people who have requested to be included.  I will send it home to you one day this week.  I will be testing your e-mail addresses prior to completion so be on the lookout for a message from me.  Please respond to let me know that you received the message.

Remember, poetry notebooks need to be returned on Mondays.  The phonics notebooks stay home to be updated and reviewed weekly.  Communication folders should be returned daily.  Be sure to put notes and money into the folder.  It is where we look for information.  If you lose the poetry notebook or your communication folder, feel free to replace it.  I will replace the poems; I will laminate the new communication folder.  These items are important parts of our kindergarten world.

Thank you for checking the blog.  The secret word, which you can write on a piece of paper and send to school, is "picnic."  Your child will recieve a bonus B.U.G.S. ticket and you will be a hero.

September 6, 2011

I hope you are all having a restful and pleasant Labor Day weekend.

This week our phonics focus is the letter "O."  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due by Thursday.  Thanks to all of you who participated last week.  We even had one child bring in a booklet she created filled with "T" pictures.  I am very impressed with all the support from home.

We will continue working on sorting in math and we will begin our patterning unit this week.  Numeral writing is always a priority as well as 1:1 correspondence when counting objects.

Friday is our fall picture day.  I am sure there will be lots of information coming home regarding that event on Tuesday.  Copy and  paste http://baker.typepad.com/files/lifetouch-order-form-fall-11.pdf and you might be able to find an order form before Tuesday.  Also refer to the Baker website under Kaye Ellington and all the picture information you could possibly want is there.

We sent home Performing Arts permission forms and payment envelopes a couple of weeks ago.  I think our response has been limited so if you want your child to be able to participate in what will probably be our only field trip, please take the time to locate the envelope and form and return them asap.

The back-to-school luau dance is also on Friday.  I hope to see most of you there.

I have assembled the class communication list with the information I have received so far.  We are missing responses from three families so after I send another and final request,  I will publish the list for you.

 Thanks for checking the blog.  Write the word "luau" on a piece of paper and send it with your child to school.  I will give him/her a B.U.G.S. ticket because you read the blog!!