Friday, September 24, 2010

Week of September 27

Mrs. Borden & Mrs. Jones Nifty Newsletter (Week of September 27th)

Homework

Monday – Practice counting to 25 sheet & My name is Sheet

Tuesday – syllable sheet and H Show & Tell Sheet

Wednesday - Draw 2 objects for each color sheet & H handwriting

Thursday – lowercase letter typing sheet & Sight word flashcards

Anyone interested in helping with the Fall Festival is invited to a meeting on Monday, September 27 at 6:00 at the Dutch Kitchen in Frackville. The fall festival will be held Thursday, October 14 with a rain date of the 15th.

Our new phonics letter is Hh as in hat. We will celebrate learning the letter H with Hat Day on Friday October 1.

In Math we will sort by color, create graphs, compare sets of objects, act out story problems, and identify, describe and compare circles and rectangles. We will also test on how far the children can count. Please practice counting at home too.

In Reading we will read one of Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Borden’s favorite stories Plaidypus Lost. We will talk about how we live, work and play together. Our reading skill will be Sequence.

We will be attending the Olweus Anti-bullying Kickoff program on Friday, October 1.

Please continue to help your child practice their 4 digit computer number. This will help them log into their computer quickly and give them more time to work.

Look for the My Name Is book that our class created. We made this to get to know our fellow classmates. Each child will bring the book home for the night. Please read it with your child and send it back the next day.

If you would like a practice packet and did not send your form in yet please do so by October 8. Packets will be sent home in mid October.

We would like to thank our Reading Buddies for their help in making leaf rubbings for our bulletin board. They look great!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

week of September 20

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Nifty Newsletter (week of September 20)

Homework:
Monday night: ½ sheet practice and one apple
Tuesday night: ½ sheet practice and Gg Show and Tell
Wednesday night: ½ sheet practice and Gg Handwriting
Thursday night: ½ sheet practice

All About Me Tees are looking wonderful; thanks for your participation. We will take turns sharing them in class and have them on display in the room. We will return them at the end of the project.

Work completed in class might not always have a mark on it. The phonics (letter worksheets) and the math are completed together as a group. However, worksheets that are used for morning work are completed independently or with a buddy and are sent home. The reading packets that will come home on a Friday have been worked on by your child during transition times. We will review the packets and your child can work on it during the day or use it as review when it comes home. Show and tell is shared as a class but might not have a sticker or mark on it; however all written homework is checked for completion.

Academics this week include: Saxon Math, we will be working on numbers 1-5 and working with the manipulatives and materials that we will be using throughout the course of the year. Saxon Phonics, we will continue to work on the letter Gg so that we can write it, make its sound, identify it, and identify words that begin with the letter. Last week, we learned the letter Oo and placed a breve on top of the letter to code it. We use a breve to code a short vowel in words to remind us that it makes the short vowel sound when we are reading the word. The coding looks like this:
Our new reading story is called Fix-it Duck. A weekly overview of the reading story and important concepts will come home at the beginning of each week to keep you informed on what your child is learning in class.

Anyone interested in helping with the Kindergarten Fall Festival is invited to a meeting in the NSE cafeteria at 2:00 on Monday September 20th. The Fall Festival will be held on Thursday October 14th (rain date will be October 15th.) The meeting MAY run until the end of the school day. Helpers must have their clearances to participate.

This week we are celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day with books, activities, and crafts. We are asking that you please send in one apple with your child this week, as soon as possible. It can be any size and any color. We will use it at the end of the week for making applesauce, but we will use them all week to graph, compare and contrast, and discuss what apples are used for.

Please don’t forget to label coats and other accessories. Since the mornings are chillier and it is warm by recess, many children take off their coats outside but forget to take them inside. We do go room to room to see who will claim the coat, but it would be easier for your child if it is labeled.

If for some reason your child brings home dirty clothes and has to use their spare pair, please send the extras back in as soon as possible. Thank you!
Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones would like to send a big “Thank You” and “Great Job” to all of the parents and families of our students. Reason one being that all of the homework has come back completed and on time as well as all of the forms that were needed by the office. Also, all of the money for lunch, book order, etc. has been labeled correctly as well as their snacks! It makes things so much easier especially when there are several things going on at once. And last but not least, the class is doing such a wonderful job following the rules, walking in a nice line, completing their work, and being all around good students, they have earned extra treats including some extra recess time!

We thank you for your continued involvement and participation in your child’s Kindergarten year. Please write a note or send an email if you have any questions or need any additional information. Thank you!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Week of September 13

Mrs. Borden & Mrs. Jones' Nifty Newsletter
Homework
Monday -
Tuesday - Find "O" Show & Tell
Wednesday - O Handwriting Sheet, Aa-Dd capital/lowercase practice page
Thursday - Shapes Trace and Color practice page
-Our Phonics letter for this week is "Oo" as in octopus. This letter has 2 sounds. We will focus on the short sound but will talk about the long sound that "says its own name". The sight words the, is and my have been introduced so far. Please practice these at home and have your child point out these words in books.
-In Math we will continue to work with pattern blocks, counting bears, and linking cubes. We will practice counting to 5 using one to one correspondence, identifying most and fewest on a graph, AB color patterns and using the positional words and phrases over, under, behind, in back of, on top of, in front of, beside, inside and outside. Don't forget to practice singing the number writing songs while writing numbers 0-9. Students should be able to identify a circle, square, triangle and rectangle for our 1st assessment.
-We will begin our 1st Reading story this week, The Little School Bus. We will be working on the Amazing words, first, second third, fourth, fifth and sixth, letter recognition of the letters Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, and Ee, the story element "character", and the sight words I and am. Look for the Family Times newsletter with details about this new story.
-We started our Tree unit in Science. We adopted a class tree that we will watch throughout the seasons. We have been identifying the parts of trees, comparing different types of trees and observing trees.
-On Thursday, September 16th all students will attend a program in the gym about Tourette's syndrome.
-The school-wide Book Fair will take place in the Large Group Instruction Room next week, September 13-17. Information was in your child's folder on Friday. Parents will be able to shop with their child on Monday night from 4-6:30 p.m. Kindergarten will be shopping on Thursday the 16th.
Monday, September 13th is Day 2.
-Please continue to check the Quick Reference guide for any questions. As always, you can contact us at any time through e mail, phone call or note.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

week of September 7, 2010

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Nifty Newsletter (week of September 7)
Homework: Due on Wednesday, “Show and Tell” is every Wednesday unless otherwise noted. Please have your child find Ll words or pictures from magazines or newspapers, or draw or write Ll words or pictures on paper. No toys or objects please. Due on Thursday, “Handwriting” will be sent home every Wednesday night unless otherwise noted. Please have your child complete the front and back of the sheet to the best of their ability. Please also have them write their name on the top. These two assignments will be due every week to correspond with the Phonics letter.
All About Me Tees will start to come home. These are posters that need to be filled out and returned so that the children can share facts about themselves with the class so they can get to know each other better. You will have two days to complete the poster, so if your poster comes home on a Wednesday, it will be due on Friday. You and your child can be creative when completing this project, use pictures, stickers, crayons, etc.
We just completed the “Chester Chase” trying to find Chester the Raccoon from “The Kissing Hand” this past week. He lead us on a chase to find the important places in our school building, but had to return to his book after leaving us a cookie treat. We will continue to read theme books to welcome us to Kindergarten and to school.
Academics this week include: Saxon Math, we will be working on numbers 1-5 and working with the manipulatives and materials that we will be using throughout the course of the year. Saxon Phonics, we will continue to work on the letter Ll so that we can write it, make it’s sound, identify it, and identify words that begin with the letter. The Phonics newsletter that is coming home to explain the program is very important, please keep it as a reference for the entire year of Kindergarten. Sight words that we are working on include the and is. Please ask your child about these words and if they can find them at home or in the community.
Thursday is Picture Day. Please dress your child in dress code approved clothing and send in your picture forms and money. If you need a picture form, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can get one home.
Friday is the Luau for Kindergarten only. It is our very special activity for completing our first letter in Phonics. Please read the pink note that comes home for all of the information.
We thank you for your continued involvement and participation in your child’s Kindergarten year. Please write a note or send an email if you have any questions or need any additional information. Thank you!

Hello Spartan Family,                     I loved speaking with all of you on the phone! I sent an email with everything we talked about ...