Happy Monday!

In celebration of Emory's Star Student weeks, she shared a special snack with us today. The bright and sunny smiley face cookies were a big hit once we cleared up the initial confusion that the yellow part of the cookie was not cheese. LOL. I love my job! Thanks to Emory and her mom for these yummy treats! Also thanks to Mrs. Bridget, Jack's mom for coming in to assemble books that we'll use this week.

Mmmmmm......Traffic Lights!

Time finally came for our Friday afternoon Cooking Show. This week to go along with our unit on Transportation, we made Traffic Lights. Thanks again to everyone who sent in ingredients. As you can see by the pictures that follow, the lights were finger-licking good. :-)

Meet our Star Student, Emory!

Birthday: January 24

Favorite Color: Red

Future Occupation: a doctor
Loves: Miss Angela, her mommy, Mr. Marc, and her daddy.

Favorite Thing About Herself: She likes to help others.

Would Like to Travel to: Colorado or Texas

Is Special Because: She likes to help others.

Favorite Things To Do: Play basketball and dance.

Favorite Books: Funny Books

Senior K News Friday, August 28, 2009

A Peek at This Week
We've had lots of fun learning more about vehicles and transportation! The children had a great time exploring different surfaces for their cars and making edible stop lights! We painted cars and hot air balloons which will be displayed outside Ms. Sarah's classroom. In language we learned to write the letters Bb and Ss and listened for their sounds in words. In math we worked on sorting, classifying, patterning, and telling left from right.
Thanks so much to everyone who sent in items for our edible traffic lights. Next Friday the Cooking Show will be an apple product tasting. If you'd like to send in apple products like applesauce, apple butter, apple chips, etc, we would greatly appreciate it.

Looking Ahead
Our unit next week will be "Apples". We will discuss different kinds of apples and uses for them. We have lots of fun art projects planned.
Each child needs to bring an apple to school on Monday for some cool art and science activities. In language our focus letters are Jj and Pp. We will listen for their sounds in words. In math we will begin Chapter 3, "Matching and Counting".

Mark Your Calendars!
Our Grandparents are Grand program will be held Friday, September 11 at 9:00 in the gym. All Grandparents are invited to attend. If Grandparents are unable to attend, "Grand" Friends may fill in. Parents are also invited to attend. The gym is wheelchair and stroller accessible. It's important that each child have someone in the audience.
Our annual Pet Show will be Friday, September 25 at 9:00 am. Bring your pet(s) and meet us on the playground. Children who do not have pets may bring a special stuffed animal.

What a Fun Activity!

Today was the day of our "Surface Safari". Thanks to everyone for sending in cars. The children had a blast experimenting with different surfaces and recording their data in our Surface Safari booklets!

First, we tried grass:

Next we tried dry sand. Thank you, Ms. Frances for the use of your sandbox!

Next, we headed back to our room to try carpet:

After we came back from Spanish, we headed outside for a sidewalk trial:

Then we tried wet sand, which is actually moon sand we borrowed from Ms. Sarah:

Next we tried the tile outside in our hallway:

The last stop was the tree house!

Which led to recess at the tree house. :-)

I love the three sets of eyes in the background!

After lunch, we welcomed Mrs. Tricia, Emory's mom to read a story in celebration of Emory's Star Student weeks.

What a Beautiful Day!

When Lunch Bunch was delivered a few minutes late, we took the opportunity to soak up more of this glorious weather with a longer recess. It also made up for the super short recess we had yesterday when we didn't get our work done in time. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in items for our Cooking Show on Friday and for our Junk Boxes. Remember to send a small toy car tomorrow.

We Welcomed Jack to our Class Today!!

Jack is seen here in the center of the picture as we lined up for lunch.

Senior K News Friday, August 21, 2009

Get Ready!

Get Set!

Start Cracking!!

A Peek at This Week

We've had a terrific week learning all about Dinosaurs! We made triceratops and tyrannosaurs rex puppets, we made our own amber with bugs trapped inside, read lots of information books about dinosaurs and fossils, and created our own fossils. We even had the opportunity to be paleontologists by excavating chocolate chips out of cookies and digging baby dinosaurs out of prehistoric eggs.




In Language we worked on the letters Mm and Ff and talked about the sounds they make. We listened for words that had these letters for their beginning and ending sounds. In Math we finished Chapter 1,”Sorting and Classifying” and started Chapter 2, “Patterns and Movement.”


Next Week
Our Unit next week will be Transportation. We will focus on the letters Bb and Ss and their sounds. In Math we will finish Chapter 2, “Patterns and Movement.” Please send in one toy car on Wednesday in preparation for our “Surface Safari.” Also we would appreciate any of the following for our Cooking Show next week:

Graham Crackers

Canned Frosting (chocolate or vanilla)

Plastic Cutlery (forks, knives, and spoons)

M&M’s

Small Paper Plates


We also still need old keys and nuts & bolts for our Math Junk Boxes. We use these junk boxes for a variety of activities—counting, patterning, sorting, etc.


Signed Papers
Signed papers will go home each Monday. Attached to the front you will find a cover sheet. Please look through and review the papers with your child. Then sign the cover sheet and send it back to school on Tuesday—the papers are yours to keep.

Homework
There has been some confusion about our homework. We are sorry for this confusion and hope that the following note will clear up any remaining questions. According to the handbook, Senior Kindergarten is to have no more than 10 minutes of homework each night (Monday through Thursday). We will send this homework home on Mondays. It is to be done a little at a time, as the skills are presented throughout the week. The completed homework should be sent back on Friday morning. In addition to the weekly homework packet, the handbook recommends 20-30 minutes of reading per night. This reading can be you reading to your child, you reading with your child, or your child reading to you.


Book Orders!
If you would like to order from the book form I sent home on Friday, please return the form with payment (check made payable to Scholastic) by Friday, August 28, 2009. The books you order help us earn free books for our classroom.

Can you spot your little dinosaur?

The children make me smile even when they're not here. :-) I sat down yesterday afternoon to check my email and as I looked around the room I noticed how artfully the dinosaurs had been arranged and how the tallest dinosaur had a neat hat....lol....a pterodactyl. (I love my job!)

Dinosaurs!

This week we jumped right into our unit on Dinosaurs. These giant creatures are always fascinating to young children. On Monday we made amber and worked on writing capital letter M. Starting at the top line is a challenge. :-) Today is Tuesday and we will write lowercase letter m and paint dinosaurs. We will visit the computer lab for the first time today. It looks like it's going to be a great day in Senior K!

The school year is off to a GREAT start! We have enjoyed these last four days with your children--they are delightful! Parents, thank you so much for all the extra supplies and fruit you sent in! Please remember to send a raincoat that can remain at school. We would like to take this opportunity to let you know more about our class routines and procedures.

Folders: We will be sending home your child's folder daily with any notes. Please check these daily and send them back to school each day. Please use them to correspond with us also. Your child's classwork will be sent home on Mondays. We would like to encourage responsibility for the children and help them develop good habits for First grade. Each Friday we will email a "Sr. K News" letter explaining what we are planning for the upcoming week. This note will also include any reminders and/or announcements.

Travelling Bags: We will begin sending home our first travelling bag, "My Family" next week. The instructions will be inside the bag. Return the bag as soon as you have completed the activity so the next child can take it home.

Homework: Homework will be sent home on Mondays and should be returned on Fridays to accomodate everyone's busy schedule. It is important to start building habits for First Grade now. :-)

Behavior Management: The children have been learning "Our Class Pledge":

1. I promise to follow directions the first time I am asked.

2. I promise to be kind to others.

3. I promise to keep my hands, feet, and objects to myself.

We have spent a lot of time going over each rule and talking about what each one means. The children will learn that if the rules are not followed, they will have to "Pull a CARD". In our rooms, we have a behavior chart with five cards for each child. The cards are different colors. The children start out everyday on blue. If a child has difficulty following our rules, he/she will receive a verbal warning. If the verbal warning is not effective, we will start "pulling cards". The child would then be instructed to "pull his/her card", which means taking the blue card and placing it behind the others. Then his/her green card would be showing. Green is a strong warning and may also mean time out. Yellow follows green and means time out from recess. After yellow is orange, resulting in parent contact and time lost from recess. Red is the final, dreaded card which means all of the above plus talking to Mr. Frazier. If your child gets to yellow during a week, he/she will not be eligible to go to the Treasure Chest on Friday. If your child stays on blue all day, I will put a washable stamp on his/her hand at the end of the day. (I tried stickers but they fall off.)

Unit Study: Next week our unit will be "Dinosaurs". The letters we will work on will be Mm and Ff. In Math we will continue working on Chapter 1, Sorting and Classifying and then begin Chapter 2, Patterning.

Mark Your Calendars: Our Grandparents Are Grand Program will be Friday, September 11 at 9:00 in the gym and our annual Senior K Pet Show will be on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 on the playground. More information will be sent home soon.

Star Student- This is a special time of year for each student to share special things about him/herself. We have a bulletin board in each Sr. K classroom that your child can help decorate. Things to bring in when you're Star Student: Pictures (limit 10) of family, homes, pets, friends; a favorite book, special toy or trinket. Parents are welcome to visit our classroom during this time to read a special story, share a song, or activity. Each child will be Star Student for approximately 2 weeks. You may also send a special snack. We will send a reminder close to your date.

Our Star Student Schedule:
Emory - August 24 - September 4
Jackson - September 8-18
Mary Rice - September 21 - October 2
Jack - October 5-15
Saylie Parker - October 19-30
Chance - November 2-13
Lyla - January 19-29
Sharp - February 1-12
Anna - February 16-26
Will - March 1-12