It’s hard to believe that we are already at the end of week number two of school! The children did a stupendous job with our first few days of full-day Kindergarten! As each day passes, they look more confident as they enter school, and they are becoming accustomed to our daily routines. Our time here has been jam packed with fun, engaging activities related to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Wheels on the Bus. Room #7 is also working on creating a community by learning each other’s names and making new friends. Here are just a few of the highlights from the week!
On Tuesday, we went through the school on a scavenger hunt to find the animals from Brown Bear! We put the animals in special places with specific adults so we could learn our way around and meet the grown-ups we will work with this year. We found…
Red Bird in the art room with Mrs. Bettencourt!
Purple Cat in the music room with Mrs. Jacques!
Yellow Duck in the main office with Mrs. Tripi!
Blue Horse in the principal’s office with Mrs. Lipsitz!
White Dog in the gym with Mr. Heinze!
Green Frog in the nurse’s office with Mrs. Salitsky!
And Black Sheep in the library with Mrs. Rich!
We took pictures of the adults we met and will create a board with these photographs so we can practice the adults’ names. We also had a fire drill! The entire school participated in this drill on Tuesday, and the kiddos knew just what to expect and did a great job!
On Wednesday, we read I Like Myself! This book is a fabulous portrayal of all the reasons to like oneself, no matter what! The pictures add humor that the Kindergarteners relished! After we finished reading, the boys and girls of Room #7 talked about how everyone is unique! Then, they colored their very first self-portraits of the year using multicultural crayons. The illustrations came out so well; everyone paid very close attention to all the details of their faces and really took their time! Way to go boys and girls!
We created our first class book! We used the familiar repetitive language from Brown Bear, Brown Bear to produce a book featuring each child in our class. This is sure to become a class favorite! The students also participated in their first survey! I asked each student what his/her favorite animal is from the book and then, as a class, we graphed the responses. Everyone was able to see which animal was the most popular by counting how many votes each one received! We chatted about which animal had the least number of votes too. It was fun to compare and contrast our results.
The students made their very own September calendars. This is an activity our class will do every month to practice writing our numerals. This month, the pictures the students created were bus collages using various shapes to go along with our reading The Wheels on the Bus! We had a whole class discussion about shapes, and everyone pointed out ones they noticed around the room as well as what we see in our everyday lives!
We also reviewed the locations we go to at the end of the day for dismissal and met all of the kindergarten teachers who help us at that time! Dismissal is a very busy time! Every day:
Walkers are going to Ms. Syed’s room
Car Riders are going to Ms. Hayward’s room
Bus Riders line up outside of Ms. Hayward’s classroom (by the lockers).
Lextended Day students go to Mrs. Quinn’s room and wait with me until a teacher picks them up
As you can see – it is a VERY hectic time of day. Please remember to send a note ANYTIME your child has a change in dismissal plans :) !
Our class is full of singers and dancers too! The Kindergarteners in Room #7 have really enjoyed singing the many songs they have learned throughout the day. Ask them about the songs we sing before dismissal! Additionally, one of our much-loved class times is Morning Meeting. Every day, the class participates in some sort of movement activity. The favorite of the week is A Tooty Ta. Ask your kiddos to perform the moves :) !
On Thursday, the class brainstormed a list of rules that we should follow for Room #7. After listening to the story of Ridley, a place without any rules, we agreed that rules are very important to communities because they keep people safe and happy. Next, we will make a huge poster of all the rules, and the students will sign their names to show that they agree to follow them!
Important Notes:
- Notices: Thank you for returning the many notices sent home over the first few days of school. Please keep them coming! I am collecting the following:
-Emergency Contact Forms
-Child Profile Forms
- Curriculum Night: Back to School Night is quickly approaching! It will take place on Thursday, September 22nd. Grades K-2 will meet from 6:15-7:00. There will be a welcome in the Gym from 7-7:25 when you will be introduced to Specialist Teachers and other staff members. Grades 3-5 will get together from 7:30-8:15. I look forward to seeing you there!
- School Picture Day: Friday, September 30th. Rain date is Thursday, October 13th.
- Dismissal: This can be a very confusing time. Please remember to send a note any time your child’s regular dismissal plans change.
- P.E.: Please remember to send your child with sneakers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Please also separate your child’s snack from his/her lunch to avoid any confusion as to what he/she should eat at which time. Additionally, if you can review with your child which bag is which (snack or lunch), this will help avoid any misunderstandings! Thank you!
- This year the kindergarten children eat lunch at 11:00 AM. Originally we had snack scheduled at 10:00 AM. Because lunch is early, we are going to move our snack time to the afternoon at 1:00 PM. We tried this out this week and it worked nicely – as the kids were hungry again after rest time and it provided a nice way to transition to the afternoon.
I think this will work well as long as the kids eat a good breakfast. I will keep you posted on how it is going!
- We survived the heat this week with lots of drinks of water and a couple of fans! If it continues to be hot, feel free to keep sending in water bottles!
- We do something called a “secret message” at the end of each day. Together we review the day and all we did and try to think of the 1 special thing that might be written on the “secret message”. This is a way to hopefully help the children (who I am sure are tired) remember at least one thing about our day to tell you! If you are not hearing much about the day, try asking your child, “what was the secret message today?” That might prompt a reply J
- Please continue to remember to check your child’s folder each day.
- Again… Please send a note whenever your child has a change in dismissal plans.
- PLEASE send in a picture of you family ASAP if you have not done so. Next week we will continue learning about each other and I would like each child to be able to share a picture of his/her family. If you do not have a recent picture, you can take one and email it to me and I will be happy to print it out!
- Last, but certainly not least, if you pick up your child(ren) at the car lane, it is most helpful to have car seats on the driver’s side. In this manner, the kiddos can get into the car and buckled up quickly! Thank you for considering this request!
Have a wonderful weekend!