Despite the short week I feel like we accomplished a lot in the last three days. We have covered uppercase letters up to K and practiced their formation. We also began practicing writing our names and the date in preparation for signing in each day after the vacation. As part of our calendar routine someone already has the job of graphing the weather while another person records the temperature. This week we added a job of showing the temperature on a large paper thermometer by moving a paper clip to the corresponding number. This will help develop awareness of number sequence and their location on a number line. We also began working on compliments to 10. Recognizing compliments to 10 is a critical component in students facility with numbers. If students can break up any number to ten and put the parts together again with ease, they will be able to work with larger numbers in flexible and powerful ways. We will continue this important work after the vacation.

This morning we read the book Snowballs by Lois Ehlert and worked in small groups to create our own snow people, modeled after those in the book.

Thank you for the gift certificate to Ocha, which is our favorite restaurant in Waterbury. We will enjoy it. Have a joyous and peaceful holiday.

As part of our phonemic awareness instruction we have been working on segmenting the sounds in words. We have been working on this skill in several ways. One way has involved physically spelling words in the whole group. Each child has been given a letter. I say a word and the students who have the sounds in the word stand up and arrange themselves to spell the word. They then hop forward one at a time as they say their sound, making the word. We have also been playing hangman using one- syllable words with short vowel sounds. They love this game, which is a great way to develop their awareness of the letters and sounds.

Instead of regular work stations this week we have game stations. Some of the games the children will play are Race to Ten, a math game that helps familiarize them with adding and subtracting and compliments to ten, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a game that involves comparing shapes and finding different ways to build hexagons, Hangman, Shut the Box, and Compare (otherwise known as war).

It has been a bit of a crazy week. My family was struck by the stomach bug- may you be spared. Pajama and popcorn day was today. And everyone is counting down the days until vacation! Amidst the craziness we are trying to proceed with some of our usual routines. We have started unit 4 in math, Measuring and Counting. This unit develops ideas about counting and quantity, comparison, linear measurement, the composition of numbers, and addition and subtraction. Counting correctly and telling how many is just the first step toward understanding of numbers. Children also need to develop a sense of different quantities and the relationship between them. Children need many varied experiences with numbers in order to see the relationships between them, visualize their quantities, and understand the concepts of more and less. There is a lot going on in this unit as we work on creating a strong foundation for future work with numbers.

This morning we had a great discussion about friendship. This began with a discussion of differences and a game that highlighted the many ways in which we are all different from each other, along with the things we have in common. We discussed what it means to be a good friend and things we can do if we are hoping to make more friends. We talked about two misconceptions: if a classmate is friends with one person he or she can't be friends with another person and if a friend chooses to play with someone new at some point they are no longer your friend. I shared several stories that hopefully conveyed the idea that there is always room for more friends. While it is wonderful to have a few great friends who we play with often, we also talked about how much fun it can be to play with someone new sometimes. I encouraged students to take these ideas outside of school as well, at their various after school sites or through play dates.

Already I am seeing more independence and efficiency with all of the winter gear. I have also noticed children helping each other with this. While I am happy to zip jackets and help with snow pants over boots, the more each person can do independently the smoother our end or day transition will be.

Ahh winter!! In anticipation of cold later in the week and because the whole class was having such a great time in the new snow we had a longer than usual recess today. The snow added a new dimension to the play ground and the children all played really nicely together driving trucks in the snow, going on the slide, keeping the base of the slide soft with fresh snow- there were many examples of cooperation and team work. We are definitely still working out a system for getting on the new layers that come with snow and keeping track of all of these things when we're not wearing them. I am confident that with a bit of practice we will become more efficient and get better at making sure we only grab our own gear at the end of the day! We have lots of black snow pants in the class and we had to take a few minutes to work out a three way mix up before boarding the bus. Fortunately everyone's clothing seems to be labeled-this helps tremendously.

This morning we welcomed Willow to our class. This was a great opportunity for us to revisit our class rules as well as some of the routines we established at the start of the year. Willow already knows 12 of the students in our class so she fits right in!

I introduced the letters x and y today, which completes the alphabet. We will begin learning formation for uppercase letters next week, covering these much faster than we did lowercase letters. We will review lowercase letter formations at the same time.

This week looks to be rather cold. Please make sure your child has appropriate apparel for recess. The playground is especially susceptible to wind.

In honor of Damon's first lost tooth earlier in the week (and all of those that preceded it) we sang the song So Long Old Tooth and read a book about tooth traditions around the world. Ask your child some of the things children in other parts of the world do when they lose a tooth.

In math this week we continued looking at patterns. In addition we played several games that involve counting, comparing, and algebraic reasoning. Shut the Box is usually played with a box with numbered tiles and a die, but it could easily be played with playing cards or boxes drawn on paper, 1-9, and a die. With children finding different ways to reach the same sum (2+5 = 3+4), this game develops algebraic reasoning. We also played a game called Build a City using Unifix cubes, a die, and a chip labeled ‘more’ on one side and ‘less’ on the other. This could also be adapted using legos or another kind of connecting blocks. I have sent home directions for both of these if your child is interested in playing at home. This game helps children develop a sense of quantity for both smaller and larger numbers, as well as number relationships. I particularly like the twist at the end, when players flip the more/less chip to see who wins. While we played these games we talked about being a good sport, playing fair, and being a good winner or loser. Several students modeled this by shaking hands and saying good game when they were done. I sent home directions for both of these games today if your child is interested in playing at home.

Today we also worked with our third grade partners. We began a project on the five senses.

Have a great weekend!

We have read several books about Hanukkah this week as we begin our exploration of some of the different holidays observed at this time of year. I am beginning to teach the class the dreidel game, which involves some great math skills.

A new student will be joining our class next week. We have started talking about ways we can welcome her into the class and make her feel comfortable. Many of the students already know her from Spring Hill, which will help make the transition easier, but we have discussed the importance of giving her a fresh start in this class and allowing her the space to get to know all of the children in the class. Today we brainstormed parts of the day that may feel particularly overwhelming to a new student and assigned volunteers to help her through those specific parts of the day for the first several days she is here. We also talked about how fifteen versus sixteen and how much nicer it can be to work with an even number of students when forming groups! We are excited to have her join us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. My family traveled to New Hampshire to visit my parents.

I would like to thank everyone for coming to conferences last week. This marks the first time I have not had any cancellations and I appreciate your efforts to be there.

Today I introduced q and z, bringing us to twenty four letters so far. As we are learning all of the lower case letters we are spending greater chunks of time on creating and manipulating words and sentences, which is very exciting.

In the next few weeks we will be talking about different holiday traditions and begin a study of the five senses.

This week I introduced the letters p and j. We have been working on the formation of these two letters as well as letters that have previously been introduced. In addition we have been talking about sentence structure- groups of words, always beginning with a capital letter, some kind of end punctuation. Today as part of handwriting students were writing very simple sentences such as The sun is big.

We are continuing our work with patterns during math. This week we have used the Smart Board to predict what comes next in patterns or to create our own patterns. The children are getting very good at identifying and naming patterns-- AB, AAB etc.

We have started writing our own story called If You Give a Cheetah Chocolate. This is based on If You Give A Mouse a Cookie and other books by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Ask your child what happens if you give a cheetah chocolate.

With a snow day, early release for the whole school on Wednesday, and ski and skate sale there was a lot of energy in the air this week! This was particularly evident with kindergartners at recess. They tend to burst out the door and run, run, run, which is great, but eventually this tends to turn into tagging, which then turns into roughness. We had many conversations about what is and is not appropriate on the playground. Hands need to be kept to ourselves unless we are playing a tag game in which case gentle tags are appropriate. Today we brainstormed good things to do at recess, including several tag games.

Report cards will be going home next Friday. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you at conferences. Please be sure to let me know if you can't make your scheduled time and we can reschedule for another time.

Have a great weekend!

This week I introduced the letters l, k, and h, which are all sky line letters. We practiced correct formation for these letters and used them to make some words as well.

There has been a lot of excitement during Writer's Workshop the last two weeks. Several students have published books and many more are very close. The criteria for a first published book was pages with pictures and some words. For the second published book students need to make sure the pages are connected and include some sentences. These may have full words or just the beginning sounds of words.

We will be wrapping up our study of rocks by talking about the different uses of rocks, past and present. Ask your child some of the important ways that rocks are used.

Today I read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Ask your child what it means to fill a bucket and how this can be done.

Today I sent home a letter from Cat Fair, our guidance counselor, introducing herself and the guidance program at the school. Because she doesn't formally meet with the kindergarten class until the last trimester, she will be meeting with small groups of students from the class on Fridays to play a game. This will serve the dual purpose of helping her get to know the kindergarten students and giving students in the class a chance to spend time with each other in a smaller group setting. When invited, the children may choose whether or not they would like to go with her, but I am encouraging everyone to go at least once. Those who have been thus far have really enjoyed it.

The children have also really enjoyed lunch meetings with me in the library. If your child hasn't been yet they will definitely be invited next week. Again this is optional, but so far most students are eager for the opportunity.

We have also had several discussions in the class about being ourselves and making decisions based on what we want rather than what someone else is doing. There has been a trend among the boys of crowding a particular student, wanting to sit only where he sits, and do only what he does. We have talked about the importance of giving people personal space. While this particular student has many admirable qualities worth emulating, I am trying to help the children recognize that they each have wonderful qualities too and their classmates will be more apt to see this if they are authentic. Please reinforce this idea with your child.

Please let me know as soon as possible if your conference time does not work for you so we. Have a great weekend.

A letter about parent conferences with your child's scheduled time was sent home today. All kindergarten conferences have been scheduled for Monday, November 22nd. If for some reason that day or your scheduled time won't work I am happy to reschedule on a different day at 9:00 or 11:30. If you are a morning person I would also be happy to meet with you before school any day. Please look for the letter in your child's bag and let me know if you need to make a change.

Today we looked at sandstone and limestone, both examples of sedimentary rocks. The limestone sample that Emma shared with us has lots of little fossils in it. We talked about how these rocks were made when layers of mud, clay, sand, rocks, shells and other things were pressed together over a long period of time. We then used different colors of clay to make our own sedimentary rocks.

This week I introduced the letters u and e. I put a sheet showing the formations for s, d, u, and e in your child's red folder. We have now been introduced to all of the vowels and nine consonants. We are able to make quite a few words! In math we have begun a unit on patterns. I also included a note about this in your child's folder.

Emma brought in a box of labeled rocks, lent to her by a co-worker of her mother's. We examined two of the igneous rocks this morning, pumice and granite. Students noticed a big difference in the way the two rocks felt when we passed them around. The pumice was very light. We talked about why that might be and came to the conclusion that it had a lot of air pockets. Amy commented that it was like a sponge. We ended the day by erupting a volcano (baking soda and vinegar) and observing all of the air bubbles. We then imagined what it would be like if this concoction was really lava and quickly hardened. We will continue exploring rocks this through the week.

This week we began problem solving during math. The children were given problems that involved counting and asked to solve them. Most children could find the correct answer, but the hardest part for students is always documenting their thinking. We went over several strategies for doing this, including drawing a picture (diagram) and labeling it, something all of the children can do. Mrs. Hale's class visited us again today and partners worked together solving a pumpkin problem.

We have now talked about the three different kinds of rocks, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. This morning three students happened to bring in three very different rocks. This led to a great discussion and comparison during morning meeting. One was rough and gray with some sparkles if you looked closely. One was small, crystal shaped, and greenish. The third was tannish, smooth and egg shaped, with lots of little holes. We will do some more work around rocks next week.

I have had lunch with two small groups thus far. The children are all pretty excited about the opportunity to eat in the library, and we will continue this over the next several weeks, and through the year as long as it remains successful.

Happy Halloween! Have a great weekend.

Today we started our exploration of rocks. We learned that rocks are the oldest things we could collect, some rocks are millions of years old. Ask your child how some rocks are made. We also discussed the fact that rocks are non-living things and contrasted this to living things. Ask you child five things all living things need. We decided rocks don't need any of these. We have a fairly extensive collection of rocks already, but if children have rocks they would like to bring in that would be great.

In math we have been doing lots of comparisons. Today the children began comparing the length of their names to those of their classmates by making name trains with linking cubes. We are also working on counting and sequencing numbers.

Several students are on the verge of "publishing" work from writer's workshop. They have created books filled with illustrations and words. We will publish these by adding laminated covers with titles.

After nine weeks of school I feel like I know the class as a whole pretty well, but would love to really get to know each child a little better as individuals. This is challenging in a setting with fifteen children so I am planning to start having lunch with small groups once or twice a week. We will eat together in the library with the intended purpose of getting to know each other better. I will invite 3 children to come each time. I would like everyone to participate at least once. My experience has been that children really enjoy this and I would love to continue it long enough to give each child a chance to be part of a few different groups. I will begin this next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

We had a great trip to the fire station today. Students had a chance to get inside two trucks, try on a mask, and ask lots of questions of Chief Palmer. The children were very respectful.

This morning while we were brain storming questions for our trip someone noticed three words in a row that started with h-- how, and someone else noticed the word you three times on the paper. I told the class that this makes me so happy because it shows me they are paying attention to the print and really starting to be readers. We also had a fantastic session of writer's workshop with lots of good writing, and almost everyone wanting to share what they were writing about, which is so important for internalizing their own writing, and also for spreading ideas. When we first began only two or three children were interested in sharing, so this was very exciting!

I introduced the letters g and o today and sent home letter formation information in your child's red folder.

While trying to unlock the schedule posted on this blog I accidentally emailed it to everyone on my contact list. If you received it, it was not for any reason.

This week during work station time I worked with small reading groups. We used a short, predictable book with one sentence per page. Some students are still definitely dependent on pictures and predictability to "read" the books while some are using sounds they know to decode the words. I am trying to be very conscious of meeting your child where ever he or she is at. I don't want to hold back those who are ready for more of a challenge and I know it is important not to overwhelm those who are still in the emergent stages. Keeping this in mind, the groups will be very fluid, changing with the needs of the children. The most important thing is for all children to feel good about whatever reading they are doing and to continue to enjoy reading. Right now it seems that every one in the class loves books.

Today our class did a leaf exploration with Mrs. Hale's class. Each pair had two leaves to describe. Then they used linking cubes to find the length of the leaves, tiles to find the area, and finally they found how many pennies it took to sink their leaves. Some bar graphs showing the data we collected from this are on the bulletin board near the gym. Take a look as you are walking down to the room.

We will be visiting the fire station on Monday at 10:00 to hear about fire safety.

This morning we talked about things we learned and saw on our field trip. We didn't have a chance to process the trip on Friday and I was a little worried about what the kids would retain after the long weekend. They retained a lot and seemed to have a great trip!

This morning during Fundations I introduced the letters i and r. With two vowels and 7 consonants now we spent a lot of time writing words and changing them into new words. It is great to hear students using the sounds to read the words we make. The letters we have done so far are t, b, f, m, n, a, c, i, and r. I had to leave at 9:00 because my daughter is sick so I will include the letter formation sheets for r and i in red folders tomorrow.

Many children in the class have been choosing to work on puzzles during their choice time in work stations. I am thrilled to see this interest in puzzles as they have many benefits including the development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and spatial reasoning. This has also generally been a group effort, encouraging team work and cooperation. We have six floor puzzles in the room and two smaller puzzles. If this interest continues I will try to track down some more. If anyone has any at home that they would like to lend for a week or two we definitely have eager puzzle doers right now!

We had a great field trip to the Green Mountain Club. Ask your child about the trip, signs of autumn we saw, creatures we found on the trail, if they caught that the guy taking pictures in the beginning was my husband (who works at the Green Mountain Club)! Thank you, thank you to all of our parent chaperones. The trip would not have been nearly as successful without your help.

I am working out a schedule for volunteers based on the feedback I received from interested parents and times that work best. If you expressed interest I will contact you soon.

Have a great long weekend!

We are continuing to work on counting during math. Along with lots of counting during morning meeting, students have been rolling dice with 6-30 sides and drawing sets to match their number. We also began measuring today, comparing objects to a stack of 10 cubes and deciding whether each object was shorter or longer.

During work stations children have been working on letter formation for the letters we have covered so far as well as writing numbers correctly. It is very important that they learn the correct formation for all of these. I have also been working with small groups on concepts of print. We have talked about sounds making words, the concept of rhyming, and what makes a sentence.

We have been working on sorting and classifying during morning meeting, and this week there is a sorting and classifying work station. So far we have been looking at the different ways we can organize a set of objects into two groups. The children really enjoy doing this and I am always surprised by the categories that I didn't think of. Soon we will apply this to rocks. (Time sensitive subjects like caterpillars, leaves, and autumn have pushed this back!) If your child happened to collect rocks this summer send them in any time. If not I have a large collection so we will have plenty to sort.

Today during Fundations I introduced the letters c and a. Finally we have a vowel which allowed us to start creating words. I sent home the letter formation directions and also a blank Fundations writing page in your child's red folder. I know some students have enjoyed practicing writing at home.

We have also spent some time talking about sentences and how they are made up of groups of words with some kind of end punctuation. Some children have begun to try sentences during writer's workshop, using the beginning sound for each word.

As of now the weather looks good for our field trip on Friday. We will be leaving at 8:30 and taking a bus to the Green Mountain Club. We will be back for lunch.

It was a bit of a crazy day with all the rain and the distraction of the rapidly rising river out our windows!

I sent home a copy of our class book Who Do You See? with each child today. This can stay at home as we have copies in the room also. Children had a chance to share these with their third grade partners today.

We have completed six weeks of school (hard to believe) and I feel like we are settling into our schedule and students are becoming comfortable with the routines of the day. I will be sending home a form next week for those of you who may be interested in volunteering in the classroom. I am looking for volunteers during my work stations time which is Monday -Thursday from 10:00-10:45ish. I am open to having people come once a week, every other week, or even once a month depending on what works. If you are interested watch for the form next week, or just let me know.

Have a great weekend.

Yesterday we went to the computer lab again. Students have started a calendar project. Each child used Kidpix to create a picture for autumn. We will be working on all of the seasons in the coming weeks.

We have changed our spots in the line and on the rug. Every child has been assigned a letter. Ask your child what his or her letter is!

Remember picture day is next Tuesday, October 5th.

Our field trip to the Green Mountain Club is next Friday, October 8th.

This morning I introduced students to a new book, Who Do You See: Children in Mrs. Beattie's Class. This follows the pattern of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? using photos of the students in the class. They seemed pretty excited about this. I am hoping to begin more formalized literacy instruction soon (once I finally finish the math assessments!) and I am planning to use repetitive, predictable, high interest books as a starting point. Interest level seems to be higher if students are more involved in the book, either as the subject of the book, or as authors. They will be working on a predictable book about their families this week and I also hope we will write a similar book about autumn. They will each get a copy of these books to keep at school for now, and eventually to bring home.

Hopefully you found some information about Fundations in your child's red folder today. This explains a bit about the program and also includes information about the letter formation for t, f, b, n, and m, which are the letters we have learned so far. THIS IS NOT HOMEWORK! It is meant as a guide for you if your child is interested in practicing writing at home, or just so you know what we are doing in school. As I mentioned in the spring, I am not planning to assign homework. Students who are interested in practicing what they've learned will do so on their own, and those who aren't interested most likely need a rest and some time to absorb all that they are taking in.

We had a lengthy conversation this morning about appropriate bus behavior, staying in seats, facing forward, talking quietly, so the bus driver can focus on driving. I also gave students assigned bus seats, which the driver may adjust. It would be great if you could have a conversation with your child about bus behavior, and the importance of being safe on the bus.

Today was our first assembly. Kindergarteners received many compliments on their excellent behavior throughout the assembly. They sat quietly and were an attentive audience. Assemblies will take place on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.

Today we worked with Mrs. Hale's class on a bit of butterfly math. Students worked with their partners to create a table of butterflies and antennae. They then made a diagram to go with this. This gave kindergarteners a good opportunity to practice counting and provided the third graders with a chance to help create some mathematical representations.

We had our first butterfly today! We saw it emerge from the chrysalis and kept our eye on it as it went from small and crumpled to dry and ready to fly.

Tomorrow morning there is an assembly. We spent a lot of time today talking about appropriate assembly behavior: sitting up, facing forward, hands to ourselves, listening quietly, still bodies. Please reinforce this message with your child. If for some reason you arrive and we are not in the room, we will be in the gym. Your child can quietly join us.

It was great to see everyone last night at Open House. It is a wonderful chance for your children to show you what they've been doing and talk to you about their kindergarten experience.

Yesterday we had our first visit to the computer lab. Students had an opportunity to explore Kidpix. We will be starting a project in the lab next week.

We have formally started Fundations. So far we have learned the sounds and proper letter formation for t, b, and f.

Today everyone has a new red home folder. The green ones were getting a bit tattered.

There is a picture form along with an explanation of our second math unit in each child's folder. Picture day is Tuesday, October 5th.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD HAS SNEAKERS FOR GYM ON MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS. Mr. Drake said crocs and other sandals aren't really working out. Students are welcome to leave a pair of shoes at school for gym if that helps.

We had a very busy day. A large chunk of our time was spent with Mrs. Hale's class finishing up the butterfly mobiles. These will be hanging up in the room by tomorrow evening for open house.

We also learned a new math game called roll and record. This involves rolling dice and recording the number. This provides practice recognizing groups up to six, without actually counting them, as well as practice writing numbers. We also started creating our own counting books based on Anno's Counting Book.

I look forward to seeing all of you for open house tomorrow night.

This morning we worked with Mrs. Hale's class again. We began creating a mobile depicting the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. Students worked with their partners to show the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly stages. They did a great job and will finish on

Monday. WE ARE PLANNING TO USE STICKS ABOUT 18 INCHES LONG TO HANG THEM. IF YOU COULD SEND A STICK ON MONDAY, GREAT. Mrs. Hale and I will collect some ourselves so we will have enough.

Thanks for sending in Flynn money. We almost have it all. It is $3.50 for those who haven't sent it yet.

Have a great weekend!

PLEASE BRING FLYNN MONEY BY TOMORROW! Connie really needs this to reserve our seats.

The class was with a substitute today while I worked my way through the Primary Numbers Observation Assessment. This is a district wide test that needs to be done in the next couple of weeks and takes about 20 minutes per child. From what I could tell and the feed back I got from Mrs. Hughes, they had a fantastic day.

We have been reading and comparing different versions of The Little Red Hen this week. This provided an opportunity for shared reading. In addition students have had a chance to identify repeated words such as hen, cat, dog, and mouse. We will also be talking about the various action words used throughout the stories. In conjunction with this, tomorrow we will be making our own corn bread.

We will be taking a field trip with Mrs. Belknap's first grade to the Green Mountain Club in Waterbury Center on Friday, October 8th. Educators from the Audbon Center will meet us there to lead the trip, which will be focused on the broad question "What signs of autumn can we find?". The bulk of our time will be spent outside on the Short Trail, a half mile hiking trail behind the club. We will be taking a bus, leaving around 8:30 and back in time for lunch. We will need a few chaperones. Please let me know if you would like to join us.

This morning I introduced the Smart Board, which was very exciting. Students used the board to create butterflies and caterpillars. We then counted them and organized them. We made rows of caterpillars and columns of two different kinds of butterflies. I got this idea from another teacher's web page and thought it was a great way to introduce the Smart Board and teach the concept of rows and columns.

During work stations I introduced our sand table, which has new Jurassic Sand. This is dust free very kid friendly sand.

I have revised our schedule and now realize that you may not be able to access the link to it without my permission. For now I am sending a hard copy of it in students' green folders. Please know that it may change throughout the year as new things crop up.

I will not be in the classroom on Wednesday. I will be in the building working with students one on one to begin the Primary Numbers Observation Assessment. This is a time consuming assessment that needs to be done in the next few weeks. Sarah Hughes who spends a lot of time in the building will be my substitute and I will be in and out of the room as I take individual students.

It's hard to believe we have completed three weeks of school. Math is well underway, work stations are established, and we have done two days of writer's workshop. This is a program that focuses on phonemic awareness and hand writing. Next week I will be introducing Fundations to the class. This is a program that focuses on phonemic awareness and letter formation/hand writing.

It has become very apparent that I will need to change the schedule that I made prior to the start of school. I am trying to balance our time before specials/ snack / recess with the time that follows this break. Trying to do both work stations and math at the end of the day will not work, it just isn't a big enough chunk of time. I have been experimenting with various sequences the last few days and I will revise the schedule some time next week.

I created a sharing schedule today. Your child may bring something to share on his or her sharing day. This is not required, but it is a good opportunity to practice speaking to the whole class. I have told the children to please not share toys. Special objects, books, pictures, or stories about something they have done are great things to share. Below is the schedule:

Monday: Emma, Kai, Rachel

Tuesday: Tyler, Ciera, Nate

Wednesday: Amalia, Cody, Amy

Thursday: Molly, Brooke, Gabe

Friday: Damon, Zeb, Beckett

Have a wonderful weekend!

We officially have three rules for our class: be nice, be safe, be responsible. Not everyone knew what responsible meant at first, but we have discussed the meaning a lot and will continue to do so. This seems like a list that everyone can remember and most every behavior can fall under at least one of these rules.

During snack today one of our caterpillars shed its skin. I forgot what an amazing thing this is to watch. I think most everyone caught a glimpse of the transformation from wiggling caterpillar to still chrysalis. I think we will have at least one butterfly by next week.

We started Writer's Workshop yesterday. I introduced it by telling students they will be writing books throughout the year, then modeling how to think of something to write about, and the process of getting these thoughts on paper. I told them if they can talk (can they ever!) then they can write. They are encouraged to start with a picture to represent their stories. Then they can add writing. This can be words for the pictures, letters to represent sounds, or "driting"- drawing that looks like writing. At this point anything is fine as long as they are working hard on their stories. I read several books about Writer's Workshop in the spring and the one thing they all said was don't wait to start.

We have also spent some time role playing how to resolve problems nicely, so maybe they don't even become problems. Some examples included if someone is in your way when you are packing up, if someone is using something you would like to use, if someone is doing something that is bothering you (eg. shaking a table). We had some wonderful actors and actresses showing very appropriate ways of addressing these situations and then responding. We still need a little work when these things actually occur, but we will keep working on it.

Several students have brought in items to share, which is great. We have seen several bee hives and a snake skin so far. Because 15 students can not all share in one day I am planning to make a sharing schedule by the end of the week so students will have an assigned day to share something if they choose. I have told them I do not want them to share toys. Some great sharing ideas are favorite books, special objects or things they've found (like a snake skin), pictures, or even just a story about something they've done.

Please remember to send in $3.50 for the Flynn by September 17. I have about half of the money so far.

Happy Friday! Wow, the week flew by. I am so enjoying this group of children and the rhythms of each day. We have had many great successes and still some areas where we need a lot of practice (of course). Some things that the entire class has gotten really good at in just eight days are: bathroom procedure, transitioning to lunch and the lunchroom procedure, transitioning from lunch to the bus, listening quietly to books, the calendar routine, and work stations. I am particularly thrilled about how well work stations have gone in just three days as this will be a very important part of our day and I will eventually need to use the time to work with small groups. They have been fabulous during this time.

Some things we still need to work on are: sitting quietly during whole group discussions/ meetings and raising our hands before we speak, transitioning quickly to the carpet or the line, keeping our hands to ourselves in circles or in line, and using words to solve conflicts. We will be working on this last one a lot in the coming weeks

As the week has passed I have noticed that my husband, my own kids at home, and the children in the class have all steadily grown more tired, a little crankier, and quicker to melt when things aren't as they should be! I think a three day weekend and a break in the heat will do us all some good! Have a fabulous weekend and thank you for all of your support.

This morning when I arrived I found that our caterpillar had been squished sometime after I left yesterday. Since we are in the midst of observing the caterpillars and drawing what we see, we went out to the milkweed by the school early this morning and promptly found two new caterpillars. While I know that whatever happened to our last caterpillar was after 12:30 and not done by anyone in the class, we talked about the importance of being very careful when we are around their house as they are quite delicate. We also talked about leaving the rest of the caterpillars in their natural environment, as two will be plenty for our purposes.

Today I introduced assigned seats on the rug and places in line. This strategy comes from Mr. Hubbard and seems to be quite effective. You will notice a yellow line taped to the floor and a blue circle on the carpet. Both are numbered. Students have each been assigned a number and this corresponds to their place in line as well as their place on the circle. I will reassign numbers periodically. My hope is that this system will help make transitions to a line or to circle faster because everyone will know exactly where to go, and will also help define personal space. Thank you Mr. Hubbard!

This morning when students arrived they had the option of going outside with Katie who is with us until 7:50. This worked really well and made the transition to Morning Meeting much smoother. We will keep trying this on nice days until the colder weather sets in.

Today we spent a little bit of time discussing rules, or ways we need to be in the classroom to have a successful year. We will continue this discussion over the next several days and then establish a small list of classroom rules for the year.

We have been doing a little bit of yoga each day to break up our listening times, get children moving, and hopefully help them feel energized and focused! Some students have been reluctant participants which is fine, but if they choose not to join us they need to sit quietly at a table. I am hoping that soon everyone will feel comfortable participating.

Today I began work stations, which is a time when students are working at various tasks in small groups. This will be a critical routine when I need to assess students and when I begin reading groups. One of the stations today was documenting what is happening with our caterpillars. In anticipation of this we read the book ish by Peter H. Reynolds. This is about a boy whose drawings never feel "right" until his sister points out that they don't need to be perfect, they can be treeish, mountainish, or in our case caterpillarish.

Please remember to send in $3.50 for the Flynn.

PLEASE NO MORE BACKOGONS or other toys at school. They are problematic even at snack and recess. Thank you.

There is a note about math in the green folders today.

Please remember to send in $3.50 for the Flynn show by September 17.

We have a student in our class who is gluten and dairy intolerant. We also have several children with sensitivities to food dyes. With this in mind, if you are sending in food to share, please let me know ahead of time so I can be sure there is something for everyone. I also strongly encourage healthy snacks and treats. Thanks for keeping this in mind.

We had another great day. Today the class had two specials, gym and music. Tomorrow they will have library after which they will have been to all of their specials. So far the reports I am getting from the specials teachers are great.

I introduced the class to a sign in procedure this morning. The students each have a binder where they will write their names and the numeric date (8/30/10) each day. I was told that one weakness of our math program is lack of time writing numbers , so doing this every day will provide some practice. We will continue to do this as a whole group at least for the rest of the week, but eventually I will ask them to do it on their own when they first arrive.

We also began math today by exploring some of the manipulatives students will be using. Today students had time to play with pattern blocks, geo blocks, and linking cubes. Everyone had a chance to become familiar with at least two of these and we will spend more time with them this week.

We have read many books during our four days together. I have tried to incorporate a mix of literature relevant to what is going on in the classroom as well as emergent books that have predictable patterns and less print. As students become familiar with these books they will offer a gateway into independent reading. Some of the books we have read include We All Go Traveling By by Sheena Roberts, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, Boomer Goes to School by Constance W. McGeorge, Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way by Elizabeth Ring, and Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons.

On January 25th we will be going to the Flynn Theater. We need to collect $3.50 from each student to pay for this trip (the PTA funds a portion of the cost). All money needs to be in by September 17. You can either give this to me or directly to Connie.

Happy Friday!

I think overall our week was a huge success. Some things that we have worked hard on are being quiet and listening when the chime rings, walking quietly in the hall with hands to ourselves, cleaning up everything that we have been using when it is time, and figuring out the whole lunch process. It's a lot of work in just three days!

We did not really follow our regular schedule this week except for snack/ recess and lunch. This may be the case for the next few weeks as everything takes lots of explanation and practice. I firmly believe it is much better to start off slowly than to rush things. We will probably ease into the math program next week. It begins with a lot of exploratory activities.

We worked with Mrs. Hale's third graders just before lunch and we are planning on doing this each Friday. It went very well and I think the partnership is good for both groups.

A few things of note: there is chocolate milk available just on Fridays; water bottles are a really nice thing for children to have (I think it is supposed to be quite hot at the start of next week.)

Have a wonderful weekend and please let me know if you have questions.

We had another great day. Today everyone seemed a little more tired, which is to be expected. I’m sure you’re noticing this in the evening.

We are continuing to work really hard on recognizing the signals for quiet, and then actually remaining quiet after the signals are heard. Similarly, I am really stressing the importance of raising hands and being called on before speaking. I know both of these will take lots of practice and I would say given we just finished day two they are doing a great job.

Today I introduced the “take a break” space. This is where students will be asked to go if after a reminder they are still not doing what is expected. Children are not “in trouble” if they are asked to take a break, it is simply meant to be an opportunity for them to take some deep breaths and reflect on why they need a break and remember what they should be doing at a given moment. If a student returns to the group and the behavior continues, he or she will be sent to take a break again. If the behavior persists after this, they will be sent to Mr. Van Dine’s room to take a break away from the classroom. If anyone ever gets to this point I will certainly let his or her parents know.

I think lunch truly was glitch free today with everyone getting the correct lunch. A few students are expressing interest in having milk with their cold lunch, which is an option, but I explained they would need to pay for this. I think it’s been a little confusing watching some kids have hot lunch, some have cold, some have milk etc. I told them I would let parents know. More importantly, please make sure the children are really clear in the morning about what their lunch will be so I can accurately record this.

If you found rocks this summer please bring them in any time. We will begin looking at them very soon, once some of the other more timely stuff is taken care of. We have at least one caterpillar so our first science discussions will probably center on that, under the theme of living versus nonliving things, which is one of the science units in the Kindergarten Grade Expectations. Rocks could then flow nicely into this as non-living things.

Please remember green folders. I really want to establish this habit early.

August 25, 2010 First Day!

We had a great first day. What a wonderful group of children. Getting a school year under way takes a lot of patience on the part of students, with a lot of time spent listening and learning. A lot of time was spent on going over expectations for certain routines. We will spend a lot of time reviewing these expectations and practicing things like freezing and listening when I ring the chime, walking through the halls in a line, etc. in the coming weeks. The lunch and bus routine went off without a hitch!

In your child’s bag you will find a yellow folder with a note of explanation inside. This will travel back and forth with your child each day, and should be placed in the basket by the door upon arrival in the morning (this can be your child’s responsibility).

Several of you asked about buying milk. Your child can buy milk for both snack and lunch. It is 35 cents and you can either give the money to Connie or tome. If you buy hot lunch, milk is included in the price. Some of you also inquired about shoes. Children need to have regular shoes on at all times, so slippers will not work. We have gym on Mondays and Wednesdays so on those days students need a pair of shoes appropriate for gym. They are welcome to leave gym shoes here, especially in the winter. Please keep asking questions!

Please, please make sure you keep Connie and I abreast of after school plans/changes for your child. It is extremely important for us to know where each child is going at the end of the day, especially at the beginning of the year. For now I have a list posted by the door showing where I think each child is going that day. If you drop your child off please glance at my list to make sure it’s correct. If your child has a set routine that you have already shared with Connie then I have that information.

I hope everyone is feeling a little more confident and comfortable about the school year. I know students don’t always immediately feel comfortable asking questions or sharing anxieties with me. Please let me know if there are any burning questions or sources of stress. My biggest priority in these first few weeks is making sure every one is comfortable in school,

Welcome to Mrs. Beattie's Kindergarten blog. I will use this site to update you weekly on the happenings in our classroom.