Week of Nov. 16-20th

Has your child shared the Thanksgiving story with you yet?  They brought home a book and a retelling bracelet so they could share the story with you and I told them that Grandparents LOVE to hear stories, so they can share them at Thanksgiving with their families!

Thank you for all the wonderful clothes donations.  Mr. Flora is picking them up on Monday and the kids will help load up his car.  I have 6 boxes of brand new items and multiple bags of used clothing.  Their need is great and your help is hugely appreciated.  Again, thank you so much!

I will be sending book orders home on Monday of next week and they are due on Friday Dec. 4th.  That’s a quick turn around time, but I want to be sure to get them back before break.  Books make great gifts and they don’t get any cheaper than Scholastic with free shipping!  If you need suggestions for your child, let me know!

Next Tuesday, we will share a Thanksgiving snack.  Please bring a small baggie with a snack that we can mix all together and share a Thanksgiving snack.  Please make sure anything you send is nut free and not made in a factory with nuts.  If you’re unsure, feel free to ask or send in the label.  The kids will not need their own individual snack on Tues.  You can send those in Mon. or Tues.  Please send a dry item that we can mix all together (no fruit etc.), like Cheerios, Rold Gold pretzels, goldfish etc.

Everyone has had Bella or Daisy at least once now and they started going home again today.  Now they will bring an item for show and tell.  My rules are that it has to fit in the backpack with Bella or Daisy, it cannot be alive, and if it’s breakable, they are responsible for it and should not come in and throw the backpack on the floor.  They will write three clues on the paper in the backpack and please write under it what they said so they can read it.  They will read the three clues and the rest of the class will guess.  Then your child will share the item.  I told them that practicing at home would be a good idea because they need to tell us all about it.  The rest of the class will get to ask questions and we’ve talked about what a good question would be and what a bad question would be.  Speaking and listening is on the grade card and this is a great time to practice those skills!  I also told them to be sure and NOT tell anyone what they brought so it needs to stay a surprise!  A new journal is in the backpack as well.  You can add one picture or have them draw one and please encourage them to write a sentence.  You can write under it if it’s not readable.  I really want them to do the writing this time around.

I am sending home a packet of Thanksgiving homework.  This is just to reinforce skills we’ve learned so far.  I think it’s very important to enjoy time off and have time with family.  However, I also know that if kids do nothing for a week, they really truly fall behind.  The packet is optional and if you keep it and work on it for weeks, that’s okay too.  I won’t be collecting them.  If you choose not to do it, please remember to read daily as this skill needs to be practiced daily.

This week we learned the Thanksgiving story, did some interactive writing, and worked on our retelling skills.  We also read some fun turkey stories and worked on our predicting skills, seasons, and sequencing skills.  We made pilgrims and compared pilgrim lives to our own using the terms then/now, and we compared chores then/now.  We also added the sight words are and what.

In math, we started addition.  I skip right ahead to adding the plus sign and the equal sign.  Today we worked on different ways to make a number using different addition sentences.  I told the kids we were really doing first grade math since they were so smart! 🙂  We will work on addition all through Dec. and add subtraction right before break.  This is a fun skill to practice at home.  Keep working on the teen numbers as well and keep practicing counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s!

There won’t be a blog update next week.  Next week, we will work on sequencing with the Old Lady who Swallowed a Pie, do some writing about the Mayflower, keeping practicing addition, and we are doing a gingerbread man exchange with another kindergarten class in North Carolina.  We will be making those on Tues. to send off.  We will do reading folders on Tues. of next week, so please make sure to send those in to get new books.  I retested everyone so everyone should have books on their level now.

That’s it for now.  I’m off to find fleece lined tights for the KU game tomorrow.  I really don’t want to go since it’ll be freezing, but Hannah gets to photograph the game for the paper (which is kind of an honor as a freshman), so I’m headed up to watch her take pics.  I told my husband that I’d take a picture of her taking pictures and then head to the Union to warm up! 🙂  Hope you all have a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  Take care!

 

 

Week of November 9-13th

We survived Friday the 13th!  Actually, I didn’t even mention it to them, no reason to give them an excuse to be crazy! 🙂  We did have a long talk today about above the line behavior.  The talking during transition times has gotten pretty bad and I didn’t get a great note from the substitute yesterday.  It’s that time of year when everyone is feeling really comfortable, so we had to go back and revisit what our class should look/sound like.  This time of year it gets tricky when the weather is changing, we have days off, and they’re looking forward to holidays.  Thanks for helping reinforce the good behavior in school in discussions at home.

This week, we read several Turkey Stories, and disguised turkeys that you’ll see in a class book.  (I’ll just apologize now for those of you that get the Turkey book in Jan. 🙂  It takes awhile to get them to everyone!)  We also did some poetry with turkeys.  We talked about the importance of family and everyone got to share their family page.  That is also coming home in a class book.  We also made an awesome family tree which you can see in the hallway.  We finished up some Fall writing and sequencing activities and are continuing to work hard on syllables in words.

In math, we’re still working on counting to 20, recognizing teen numbers, working on 100’s boards, and working on counting by 10’s.  Midterms came home today.  If you don’t see a + by those skills, please continue to work on that at home and I’ll retest in a few weeks.  We are quickly moving to addition next week.

We finished up our PLTW Science module one this week. We heard the story of the 3 little pigs and we built a structure whose function was to keep out the big bad wolf.  Then we got to test the structures.  Ellie’s Dad was the Watchdog, so he got to be the big bad wolf and he couldn’t blow any down.  Then we got out the wolf hairdryer and it didn’t knock any down.  Then we tried the leaf blower and it blew a few of the stick houses down.  We learned that engineers need a good strong base, and that glue held the houses together the best.  Be sure to ask your child what material they used for their structure and what happened.  Today we finished up by designing a paintbrush that would paint thick lines, thin lines, and dots.  They had many materials to choose from.  After they designed and created the brushes, they tested them out.  After they dried, they had a chance to explain to the class how they made it and how it worked.  They weren’t too happy with me that I kept them.  Garmin contributed a lot of $ towards our Science lab and materials and we may be having a display or some type of of open house.  We want them to see what the kids actually created, so I told them when we’re done, they can bring them home.  I also told them they could build a new one at home…you’re welcome! 🙂  It’s been SO fun to watch them learn, explore, and create these last two weeks!  They should know the terms engineer, structure, and function well too!

Our clothing drive is going well and we’re getting so many nice items to help out the kindergarten classes at New Chelsea Elem.  They will take good used clothing in any sizes, so if you want to send items that an older child wore, that’s fine too.  I just ask that it be hole-free, washed, and ready to hand out.  We will continue collecting until Thanksgiving break.  Thank you so much for your generosity.

I do want to let you know that I do Elf on the Shelf in my room in Dec.  I use it mostly as a daily writing activity, with some behavior incentives thrown in.  Our class Elf is ALWAYS behaving.  I know I’ve seen a lot of misbehaving Elves on pinterest, but at this time of year, we don’t need any misbehaviors! 🙂 I know that I have a couple of Jewish families and other religions in my class as well, and I have had every year.  It’s never been a problem before, but I wanted to let you know ahead of time and if you do have an issue with it, please let me know so we can figure out an alternate plan.

I think that’s it for now.  I have a very uneventful weekend planned, which I have to say I’m looking forward to!  Hope you have a great weekend as well!  Take care!

Week of Nov. 2-6th

Go Royals!  What a fun surprise we had this week with a day off to celebrate the Royals!  We’ve been super busy in Kindergarten this week learning all kind of new things!  This week, we added the letters X and J and the sight word my.  We did a lot of fun Fall activities including class book pages, Fall writing, sequencing, and graphing and comparing our names to scarecrow.  In math, we hit the teen numbers hard and went through all of them.  We will keep practicing, but are also moving on to counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s.  Please keep practicing all this at home as not everyone has it down pat yet.

We started our PLTW (Project Lead the Way) Science projects this week.  This is part of the $10,000 grant that our school was awarded last year.  We are learning about engineering and have focused on the words structure and function.  Your child should be able to tell you the meaning of those vocab. words.  This week, we looked at the structure and function of the beanstalk from the story, Jack and the Beanstalk, and then they became engineers and created their own beanstalk using pipe cleaners.  After we saw what everyone had built, we tried the structure’s strength and tried to see if it would hold a cotton ball, a Dixie cup, and a plastic egg.  We learned that a structure has to have a solid base to hold it up.  Then they paired up and tried to create another beanstalk with more pipe cleaners.  Lastly, they were able to choose a base from a bunch of items and in groups, create yet another beanstalk.  The goal was to make it high, be able to stand on its own, and as a bonus, hold an object on top.  Today we heard The Three Little Pigs story and talked about the structure of each house and how the function was to keep the wolf out.  Through the story, they learned that the house that was the strongest structure was the only one able to keep the wolf out.  Next week, they will build their own houses and try to create strong structures that will stand up to the wolf (a blower).  They are loving our science time!

Next week, we will talk about turkeys and families and who is a turkey in their family. 🙂  Just kidding!  Thanks for sending in the family pages.  The kids will be sharing those next week.

All of the housekeeping items:

• Book orders are due next Friday, Nov. 13th.  I will do one more order before the holidays.  Please let me know if you want me to hold on to books for gifts.  It’s easiest for me if you order online, but if you want to send it in to me, please write out a check to Scholastic.  Please do not send in cash.  Thanks!
• A flyer went home today about Bentwood’s Mother/Son event.  This alternates every other year with the Daddy/Daughter dance.  Please turn in forms and $ by the 13th if you can attend.
• Our clothes collection is underway.  Someone sent in a large bag of clothing today.  Please let me know who sent it, so your child can share with the class what they brought.  Thanks for helping us help another kindergarten class!
• I do need volunteers for Dec. to help get all our Dec. items ready and Jan. items as well.  The volunteer calendar that Mrs. Brock made only goes through Nov.  Since Dec. can be kind of crazy, would you just please email me with a date that you can come and I’ll take whomever is available.  Then we’ll get out a calendar for Jan.-March before winter break.  Thanks in advance for a few hours of your time.  I REALLY appreciate it!
• Dear Bentwood Parents,

  On Thursday, November 12^th, Lifetouch Photography will return to Bentwood.  The goal for this photo shoot is to provide picture retakes for the original pictures taken in September, as well as to capture new students to our school for inclusion in our annual spring yearbook.

  To participate in picture retakes, parents should return the first picture packet provided by Lifetouch.  Students will hand these packets to the photographer to obtain the picture selection chosen by parents.  Students new to our school will have a photo taken during the morning.  Payment envelopes are available for cash -exact payment, check or money order <made out to Lifetouch> please as photographers cannot make change) are available in the office or from the child’s teacher.  Lifetouch also provides picture purchase online at www.mylifetouch.com and order your package online using the code  KM105301Q1.

  Thank you for allowing us to capture your child’s picture for our school yearbook.   Our Spring picture day is scheduled for Friday, March 4^th.

Thank you for all you’re doing to help your child with homework and reading at home.  I am really starting to see the practice paying off, I hope you are too.  I have to keep changing reading groups around because kids are taking off with their reading.  That’s a great problem to have!   Please make sure you are marking the books in their reading folders so our parent volunteer can tell what’s been read.  Also let us know the reading difficulty so we can send appropriate books home for practice.

I hope you have a great weekend.  Football is finally done for Jack, so that give us some extra time over the weekends!  Tomorrow I get to head up to KU and attend Hannah’s initiation into our sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.  Who would’ve thought when I had a baby girl 18 years ago that we’d be in the same house at the same university?!  I’m a little excited about it, can you tell! 🙂  Enjoy every moment with your little ones.  Before you know it, they’ll be 18 too!  Have a great Fall weekend!