This storm has really made a mess of the schedule for this week!  I do not know yet how the district is going to handle the cancellation of parent teacher conferences from yesterday.  Mr. Smith was going to attend a meeting that will hopefully resolve the issue and as soon as I know what will happen, I will pass that information on to you. 

Another thing I was planning to do yesterday was to have the children carve our extra pumpkins.  When I went to school this morning, I had all intentions of carving the pumpkins today, however, when I got to school, neither Mrs. Adams or I could locate our pumpkin carving tools!  We are still looking but we would really like to do the carving tomorrow so if you have any kid friendly pumpkin carving tools that we could use tomorrow, please send them in with your child in the morning.  Thank you so much. 

I am looking forward to the rest of the conferences this week.  Please remember to be prompt and if you have questions, write them down so we can address all issues as best we can in the 20 minutes we have together.  Again, if we need more time, we can always schedule more time next week.  Thank you.  Barbara Ann

This has been a crazy week.  I think the late start Wednesday was a bit confusing for all of us since it was something new.  There is one more day like that in March so we'll see what is decided for next year!

This week we began our Unit 2 work in Math which is all about counting and comparing.  Students will practice counting and connecting nyumber words, numerals and quantities in the first half.  In the second part of the unit, students will compare the length of objects and the quantities of different sets.  they will also practice ordering by length and quantity.  This week we were able to learn a game called Roll and Record that gave us much needed practice in writing numerals.  We also made pumpkin men and used eyes made of different shapes containing a number of dots in one eye and the corresponding word and numeral in the other eye.  These will be on display on the bulletin board outside our classroom during conference week.

Speaking of conference week, it is next week and hopefully you all have your time posted at home.  Mrs. Clark has a copy of my schedule so if you forget your time, please call the office.  It is so hard to fit all our news into just 20 minutes so please be prompt for your appointment and I will try to be sure to end conferences at the designated time so I do not have to keep anyone waiting.  If you (or I) feel we need to talk further we can always schedule another appointment for next week to continue our discussion.

Since next week is all half days with dismissal time at 12:20, we will have snack in the morning at about 11:00 which would normally be lunch time.  The children who are getting bag lunches will eat them at that time.  The rest of the class will have a their snack or lunch if you want to send a lunch in for them.  In the past I have found that most parents send in a substantial snack and then give their child lunch when they get home after 12:20.  Either way is fine with us. 

This weather has been perfect!  Will it continue?  Next week looks a little tricky at this point.  We will be sending home your child's change of clothing before Thanksgiving so you can exchange it for more weather appropriate clothing for the winter.  As the children start to wear more clothing for outside, please be sure to put names or initials inside all articles of clothing.  Thanks so much.

Enjoy the weekend.

Precious Moments:  This week we had bananas at lunch and there were a few that didn't get eaten so Mrs. Adams brought them back to the classroom in case we needed to use them at snack time.  Sure enough, there was one student who had forgotten to bring a snack.  Mrs. Adams said, "You are so lucky,  Here is a banana with your name on it."  The little boy looked it all over carefully, then looked at Mrs. Adams and said very seriously, "I can't find my name on it."

We 'wrote' our first stories today!  Well, actually, the children drew pictures of the story and Mrs. Admas and I scribed the words for the story.  This was part of our initial writing assessment.  It will be interesting to see the progress throughout the year and with the final assessment in May.

In Math today we started our Counting Books.  As you know we have been working on identifying numbers through 20 (more for some of the children), making one to one correspondence as we count and showing pictures to depict numbers.  The counting book is a culmination of all those skills as well as beginning to associate a word with each number.  These books usually take quite a few days to complete but hopefully by the end of the week, most of them should be finished.  Parents are usually quite surprised that their child does not know all the numbers they can count.  One of the major math goals is to get children identifying numbers out of sequence. 

Our carpet and floor were very dirty today.  The playground and grounds in general are quite wet in spots and the dirt sticks in the indentations of the childrens'shoes.  Then of course it gets tracked in the classroom and on the carpet which they have to sit on.  Several children have brought shoes specifically for indoor wear.  If you have not sent in extra shoes, please do so if at all possible.  Also, we have a number of children who do not have an extra set of clothing yet.

Precious Moments:  Last Friday when I was struggling to get the VCR to work, one little boy sitting close by commented, "Ï have a TV just like that at home, except it works!"

Enjoy this fabulous weather.  BA

Oops - I was really counting on seeing the video when I wrote the blog during my prep!  I should have known better.  We had some technical difficulties and could not get the TV/VCR setup to work - we are working with extrememly antiquated technology.  So, we had to postpone our video until next week.  I will try to get It's the Great Pumpkin on a DVD to show through the computer for next week.  The children were disappointed but real troupers about the situation.  Have a good weekend.  BA

Despite the rain, it was a sunny day in our classroom with lots of smiling faces!  We began the morning activites with finishing our little pumpkin books by measuring the height of our pumpkins in unifix cubes and weighing them.  We also named the pumkins and made pictures of what they will look like for Halloween. 

The children used their Handwriting Without Tears notebooks for the first time today as we reviewed the formation of the letter 'n'.  We also talked about the sound and make a chart of words that begin with the letter 'n'.  Please review this at home and reference the sound of 'n' as often as you can in relation to names and/or objects encountered in your environment. 

After lunch, we worked on the pictures of our families that will go into a class book.  Just about everyone finished during Math time.  You can look for this book to be on display when you come in for Parent-Teacher conferences at the end of the month.

Following Music this afternoon, we watched the video "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".  this was the reward the class chose for accumulating 10 compliments since September, from people outside our classroom.  We already have 3 stars on our new compliment chart!

Enjoy the weekend everyone.  Barbara Ann

What a beautiful day!  We started out reviewing syllables by sorting our names according to how many syllables each name had.  We discovered that there were more two syllable names than three syllable names and only one person had a one syllable name and one person had a four syllable name. 

For Math today, we had to figure out how to use unifix cubes to measure around the middle of our pumpkins.  Ask your child what strategy we used!  It was interesting to see how many different sized pumpkins had similar circumferences.  Tomorrow we will be finding the height of our pumpkins before we weight them.  Your child will be bringing home his/her pumpkin Friday afternoon.

After PE we took a walk along the bike path to gather some fall leaves for a project next week and to look for other signs of fall.  We found acorns, a wooly bear caterpillar, many plants with seeds ready to fall and some wild asters along with many great leaves.  The children were delighted to see the waterfall and learn about why the dam was broken.

Have a great evening.  BA

We had a fabulous trip to the pumpkin patch today!  Smith Voc provided two tractor drawn wagons to transport students back to the fields off Burts Pitt Road and under bright sunny skies, each child was able to chose their own pumpkin (the only condition was that they were responsible for carrying it - to the wagon, into the baskets and eventually home).  The pumpkins will remain at school so we can do some activities with them on Thursday and Friday when students will bring their pumpkins home.  We have a few extras that we will use next week and then carve in the classroom. 

Tomorrow afternoon we will be taking a walk on the bike path to collect some leaves and look for other signs of fall.  According to the weather report, it should be a carbon copy of today!  Since we will be in the shade for most of the walk, please have your child dress in layers again tomorrow and good shoes for walking will be necessary.  Thank you.  BA

As you probably know, I was absent yesterday because a tooth broke on Wednesday evening so I spent a while at the dentist yesterday.  As it turns out, I will be having the tooth extracted next week so I will also be away next Wednesday afternoon.  Ugh.

We finished the alphabet today!  And, celebrated with cupcakes!  Now that we have gone through all the names, sounds and formation of the letters, we will be focusing on one or two of them in more depth each week as we begin to apply our knowledge to the beginning, ending and medial sounds of words.  As the children write, we will be encouraging them to begin using lower case letters except where upper case letters are required (beginning of sentences, names of months and people, etc.)  I have also finished hearing the story of the Gingerbread Man retold by all students so everyone should have their booklet at home to retell the story to you.  I have found that all the children can recall the main events of the story, however, many require prompting to add details.  As your child retells stories at home, please ask questions that require details to reinforce this concept which will eventually carry over to their own story telling as we begin Writers Workshop. 

In your child's folder tonight is an appointment form for Parent-Teacher Conferences at the end of the week.  Please sign and return the bottom portion as soon as possible.  The top portion is a reminder for you to keep.  Mrs. Adams will be sending home a form for those who wish to order a bag lunch for their child for the week of conferences which will be half days for children.  The bag lunches consist of a sandwich, and usually raw vegetables, fruit and milk.  The lunches must be pre-ordered by all who need one.

It was pretty chilly outside this morning!   Please be sure your child is dressed in layers so they are warm in the morning and can shed clothing as the day warms up.  Many of us even had mittens on today!

Precious Moments:  One child today had to change clothing because she got wet at recess time.  Mrs. Adams asked if she could do it herself and she quickly replied, "Öf course, because I'm 6 and I'm in kindergarten!"

Enjoy the weekend - BA

We were unable to get outside at all today but tomorrow is looking more promising for our bear hunt.  We did put together picture books so we have another story to retell.  I apologize for not getting these stories home faster, however, I like to hear each child retell the story first so I have a good idea of how well they are beginning to understand beginning, middle and end.  This is an important concept as we prepare to begin writing our own stories!

Only three letters of the alphabet left!  We completed E /e/ elephant and D /d/ duck today.  I have promised the class a special treat for snack on Friday to celebrate the completion of the alphabet!

Please check to see if you have sent in the conference appointment form and the permission slip for the field trip to the pumpkin patch next week.  I am waiting on a few more people before these are complete.  Thank you.  

I am working on getting math assessments done this week and will begin literacy assessments next week.  this is in preparation for our parent teacher conferences coming up at the end of this month.  I love watching children learn and seeing how they figure things out!

Precious moment:  During snack time yesterday one child commented, Ï had kiwi for breakfast and more kiwi for snack,  I really need a break from kiwi!"   I'll trade places!!!

Welcome back!  We had a "Quick Share"this morning where each child has a chance to share one thing they did over the long weekend and it certainly sounds like we had some very busy families!  The children quickly settled into our classroom routines this morning as we learned the letter G /g/ goose.  I am hoping to finish the letters this week so we are "doubling up" so we also learned the letter F /f/ fish this afternoon!  Please be sure to practice the letters with your child - I am finding that very few children know the sounds of the letters.  

Your child has homework tonight!  Since this is National Fire Safety Week, we talked about fire safety this morning.  Your child's homework for tonight is to talk with you about a fire safety plan - what to do in case of fire at your house:  the fastest way out of the house during the day and at night; where will your meeting place be: and what to do in case of fire.  Along with fire safety, we will be talking about when and how to use 9-1-1 for emergencies. 

This afternoon we also practiced "We're Going On a Bear Hunt".  If you should happen by our playground one nice day this week, you just might see our class outside going on a bear hunt in the playground.  In preparation for our trip next week to the pumpkin patch, we learned a new poem today:

               

     Pumpkin, pumpkin, big and round

     I'm glad you grew upon the ground.

     I'm glad you don't grow in a tree,

     Because you might fall down on me!

Mrs. Adams was away today attending a funeral so we had assistance from Mrs. Punska who used to teach grade 2 at Leeds!  She is fabulous and things went very smoothly.  And....what a beautiful group of children I had today - everyone was decked out in their finest for picture day and I can't wait to see how those pics turned out!  The pictures took a good chunk of time out of our morning, however, we did manage to do the letter H /h/ horse, read a book about Columbus and completed an activity sheet which your child has in his/her folder.  Ask them about Columbus Day!  This afternoon we were able to go to the computer lab and worked on the website internet4classrooms.com with a phonics activity where children had to chose the correct letter to show the beginning sound of the object caught by Garfield!  At the end of the day, students played outside instead of centers inside to celebrate what might be the last summery day of this year!

I'm headed to the Cape for the long weekend.  Hope you all enjoy a happy healthy Columbus Day weekend with your family and friends.  See you back on Tuesday, October 9th.  BA

Our day started this morning with a fire drill and the kindergarteners filed out of the school and walked quietly to our safe spot beautifully!  When we returned to the classroom, we learned the name and sound of the letter I /i/ igloo and then retold the story The Napping House using cut out characters that your child will be bringing home next week.  During our indoor recess, we learned a new game called "Heads Up, Seven Up".  Our 5th Grade Buddies joined us this afternoon and taught us a new song which we will practice next week and then helped us make scarecrows to put on our sunset backgrounds - they are wonderful and on display on the bulletin board outside our classroom.  Please take time to take a look at them. 

Scholastic book orders will be sent out tomorrow and the books ordered should arrive within two weeks. 

PICTURE DAY IS TOMORROW!  Have a good evening everyone.  Barbara Ann

We had our first Community Meeting today and it was wonderful.  The kindergarteners were an excellent audience and enjoyed learning a new song that I hope our 5th grade buddies will reinforce with us tomorrow.  Speaking of 5th Grade Buddies, each student painted a sunset background today so when we meet with our buddies tomorrow, they can help to create a scarecrow out of scrap fabric and paper to complete the picture.  These will be posted on the bulletin board in the hall.  The letter today was J /j/ jump.  We continued working on Counting Jars in Math and students are doing quite well at making one to one correspondence when counting.  This is a skill that you could reinforce at home whenever a counting opportunity arises.  For example, you could put out some pennies to have your child count or count how many items are in the grocery bag, etc.  I forgot to mention that one of our students, Miles, noticed a praying mantis in the grass yesterday which I was able to catch in our butterfly house so we could examine it for the afternoon.  We also watched a short video on YouTube and learned how praying mantis capture prey three times their size with their front legs that are covered with little spikes.  We also learned they have big eyes, can turn their heads almost 180 degrees, and change colors to camouflage themselves on sticks or leaves.   

Good evening.  Today we learned the letter K /k/ kangaroo.  I am finding that many students can name the letters but have difficulty giving the sounds of the letters which is a crucial part of developing skills needed to become readers.  Again, please take time to review the letters as your child brings their worksheets home and help your child identify words in their environment that begin with each letter.   We also finished writing all the numbers 0 through 9.  The class was somewhat amazed to learn that as they get older they will be able to write any number at all using the digits 0 through 9!  We were able to take a look at counting jars today and began the practice of developing strategies to make one to one correspondence as we count.    Mrs. Adams was away this afternoon and Mrs. Punska very competently filled in for her.  Mrs. Adams will be back tomorrow.   Tomorrow, Wednesday, is our first community meeting of the year and we welcome family and friends.  It will be from 9:10 to 9:30 in the cafetorium.  Have a good evening. 

October 1st, 2012

This morning, we did the letter L /l/ lion.  Before we could line up for lunch, each child had to give me a word that started with the sound of L (lion, lady, lizard, light, etc) .  We also made a flip book of words that rhyme with the word ''an''.  Your child will have this flip book in his/her folder so please take a couple minutes to have them read it to you.  This afternoon we read "The Napping Book" by Audrey Wood and will be doing an activity tomorrow that will help us retell the story. 

We practiced writing the numbers 3 and 8 this afternoon and will finish up numbers tomorrow with the number 5.  Math will be so much easier when we are able to read and write numbers! 

Some of you already know that I have a voice disorder called Spasmodic Dysphonia for which I get botox injections in my vocal cords 2 or 3 times a year.    I try to delay treatments for as long as I can, however, my voice is telling me it is time to make another appointment.  For people with this condition, talking on the phone seems to trigger the spasms which is one major reason why I prefer email or talking in person.   If I do call you for whatever reason and you hear my voice shaking please understand that it is the dysphonia and not because there is a serious problem.  I often worry more about the person at the other end when my voice is bad, than whatever I am calling about! 

Precious Moment:  Each day, the student teacher aide gives a weather report following recess and puts pictures that depict the weather on a chart.  The eight choices are: sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, hot, cold, foggy and snowy.  Today the weather report was sunny, cloudy, hot and windy.  When the aide is finished we always ask for questions or comments about the chart.  One child raised a hand today and said, "Ms. Bennett, I noticed that it was really froggy this morning!"