Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays, everyone!  Today, after we read the story The Polar Express, we had a special visitor -- the Conductor!  What a surprise!

As we look forward to 2017,  I want to wish you all a healthy and happy holiday break!

Greetings from Sweden!

During this festive time of year, we are learning about literacy and math through the study of holidays around the world.  The children enjoyed dressing up for Sweden's Santa Lucia Day, and we had a traditional parade to visit other classrooms.  This past week, we also learned about the celebration of Diwali in India and Hanukkah in Israel.

I enjoyed meeting many of you at parent/teacher conferences.  You all have very special children, and I am lucky to be their teacher!

Conferences

Conferences begin this week on Thursday, December 8

The following children's families are scheduled for the following times:
1:00   Howie
1:20   Sasha
1:40   Giuseppe
2:00   Abigail
2:20   Tallulah
2:40   Teagan
3:00    Drew


Wednesday, December 14
1:00   Gevvy
1:20   Colin W.
2:00   Sophia
2:40   Jack
3:00   Shreya


Thursday, December 15
1:00   Bailee
2:00   Alennox
5:40   Rowan
6:00   Lincoln
6:20   Ian
6:40   Collin M.
7:00   Colby
7:20   Duncan

Scenes from Thanksgiving Week

What a short but busy week we had in kindergarten.  Students learned about the origin of our national holiday through a variety of methods.  We created a book, watched a video, learned about Plimouth Plantation through a virtual field trip, and we finished today with making placemats showing things we were thankful for.

I am thankful for each and everyone of your children!  Have a safe, relaxing, and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Spirit Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is spirit day!  Students can wear clothing that represents their favorite sports teams.  As always, participation is optional.

Halloween Fun

Halloween in Kindergarten is so much fun!  We enjoyed walking in the Shaker Lane parade and seeing so many parents and friends.  After the parade, we went into the gym with the whole school and had a Halloween sing-a-long.  The classroom party was great!  Thank you so much to those parents that donated items to make our party terrific!

Halloween Parade

Just a reminder that our Halloween parade will begin tomorrow at 1:50.  If you are planning on viewing the parade, please arrive early as parking can be tricky.  After the parade, the students will attend a whole school assembly, and we will follow it up with a class party.  Just a reminder that costumes should be in a labeled bag and should fit over clothing.  I'm looking forward to a fun afternoon!

Stuffie Day!

We've filled our HEART jar!  As a reward, students are allowed to bring a stuffed animal school to school this Friday, October 28.  The stuffed animal should be small enough to fit inside your child's backpack for ease of carrying.

Attentascopes

All kindergarten students have been going to weekly community meetings where we talk as a grade level about our school-wide HEART program.  HEART stands for Honesty, Effort, Acceptance, Respect, and Take Responsibility.  We've also been learning through the Second Step program how to pay attention using our "attentascopes."  The students have been doing a wonderful job using these tools and language in our classroom!

Magic Months

This week we spent some time talking about the calendar and the months of the year.  Students discovered whose birthday is next, which month contains the most birthdays and how many months are in the year.  We discovered that of our 21 students, 2 are 6 years old and 19 are 5 years old.  Math is especially fun when we are talking about birthdays!

Scenes From Our Week

We've had a terrific week in Room 102.  Many thanks to the families that came out for the Shaker Lane Book Fair.  I am very appreciative of the book donations for our classroom!!!  Here's a first look at some activities that happened in kindergarten.  We've been learning and reviewing shapes, learning more about each other and the world around us.  We discovered giant leaves from a plant located on school property, and we couldn't believe how big they were!  I introduced students to Go Noodle, a website that helps with movement and focus.  It was a huge hit.  

Temperatures are dropping and sweatshirts and jackets have become part of our wardrobe.  Please remember to LABEL (initials are fine) all sweatshirts and jackets.  We've already had quite a bit of confusion because the children aren't sure which jackets belong to them.

Have a great weekend!

Book Fair!

The Shaker Lane Scholastic Book Fair will take place this week.  Tuesday night is family night, and I'll be reading a story to the kids at 6 p.m.  There are several teachers who will be sharing their favorite stories during milk and cookies storytime.

Our First Full Week

We had a very busy first full week in kindergarten, and I had a lot of tired kids on Friday (and one tired teacher).

As soon as I receive  more permission forms for photos, I'll begin posting some great pictures -- hint, hint.  I've only received back 7 of 21 so far.....  If you need another form, please email me!

We had a wonderful week!  The students are really starting to get to know each other, and I'm seeing some nice new friendships being formed.  Everyone is getting used to routines and the students have met all of their new teachers at this point.

We have had some illnesses in class - lots of colds, sore throats, and runny noses.  The hand sanitizer and tissues are being used and are coming in handy!  Just a reminder, if your child has a fever, she/he needs to be fever-free for 24 hours before they can return to school.  We want to keep everyone as healthy as possible!  It's a long school year!

Ready for Kindergarten Information Night!

The classroom is ready for kindergarten information night!  Can't wait for everyone to arrive!

Welcome!

Welcome to the first week of Kindergarten!  I'm so excited to have your children in class this year.  They are a joy!

Kindergarten parent orientation will be taking place on Tuesday, September 13 at 7 p.m.  This is a parents only event.  I hope to see you there!