Friday Note - 9/1/17

NO SCHOOL MONDAY!

Math: We continued sorting objects.  Students participated in several class activities to practice sorting, classifying, and counting objects.  We practiced sorting a variety of ways using different manipulatives.  We are also working with numbers 1-5.  Please take the time to review your child’s work with them each night to ensure that they understand the lesson.  If you notice your child needs continued practice on a skill, please work on that skill at home.  We are doing a lot of hands on activities so there may be days that a math page does not come home.  

Language Workshop: This week we continued our All About Me and My Community theme.  Our focus was on families.  We read the book Families are Different and a variety of family books.  We discussed the importance of our families and discovered some similarities and differences that we have.  We realized that all families are different and special.  We talked about common physical, social and emotional needs and how these differ from wants.  We shared our family papers that you filled out and returned.  

Reading Workshop:  We continued our unit over reading routines.  This week we learned how to handle books carefully, the correct way to put books away, and what we do with a damaged book.  

Writing Workshop: Our sight word for this week was “my”.  Each day our special person of the day told me a couple sentences to write.  As a class we found for sight words and the letters we are learning in the message. We have also introduced spacing, capital letters and when we use them in a sentence, and punctuation.   

Word Study: This week we learned about the letters Aa, Bb, Cc & Dd. Students were able to engage in various Smartboard games to reinforce letter recognition and the sound the letters make. We sorted the letters and found the letters in a song.  We also learned how to correctly form each letter.  Please encourage your child to practice writing the letters we have learned so far at home.  Please sit with your child and watch as they write the letters and make sure they are holding their pencil correctly.  A letter formation page (Alphabet Path of Motion) is coming home today.  Please hang this somewhere to refer to when practicing at home.     

Important Dates:

• Sept. 1 - Oct. 20 - Box Tops Contest
• Sept. 4 - No School-Labor Day
• Sept. 8- Grandparent’s Day 9:00-10:00am
• Sept. 11 - No School
• Sept. 11 - Math Parent Night 6:30-7:45 in the cafeteria
• Sept. 12 - No School - Teacher Professional Development Day
• Sept. 19 - Cox Care Mobile (call the nurse for an appointment)
• Sept. 21 - Watch DOGS Pizza Night 6:00-7:00 (be looking for more info)

Name Homework--Your child has homework to complete this weekend.  We have spend a LOT of time working on our names and writing them correctly.  Please read the directions very carefully and sit with your child while he/she is practicing.  Thank you!

Sight Words

Continue to look for these words in books at home!

I       is     my

Reading Challenge

Information was sent home earlier this week about our Reading Journey.  Be sure to work towards meeting your child’s reading goal by reading daily with them.  Feel free to email me pictures and we will share them during calendar time.  Thank you!

Important Information and Reminders:

• We are working on reciting our phone numbers, addresses, and birthdays.  Please practice with your child at home on these.  This will be our September learning goal.  
• Please make sure your child eats a well-balanced breakfast to ensure that they do not become hungry before lunch time.  If your child will be eating breakfast at school, please have them here by 7:45 a.m.  We stop serving breakfast and begin our day at 8:05.  
• There is a letter coming home today regarding Show and Tell beginning in our classroom soon.

I hope you hear your child coming home each day saying, “We are learning to... (Ex: We are learning to sort objects.)  These are the learning targets that we focus on each and every lesson.  These learning targets come from our standards that the state of Missouri requires us to teach in Kindergarten.  Every week we will focus on new skills in reading and math.  

Next Week:

• We will continue our All About Me and My Community theme by focusing on our school, community, and country.  We will learn about the Clever School pledge, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the American flag.
• We will continue playing the Name Game until every student has had a turn.
• We will continue our math topic working with numbers to 5.  
• We will learn about the letters Ee, Ff & Gg.   Our sight word will be “a”.

Have a Great Weekend!

Mrs. Vestal

Parent Math Night!!

The Greg Tang Parent Math Night is coming up on September 11th from 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm.  It will take place in the  Clever EleMiddle FEMA/Cafeteria. All EleMiddle students and parents are encouraged to attend.  Information regarding this exciting event is coming home today.

I had the opportunity to go see Greg Tang last fall.  He is AMAZING and has a wonderful approach to making difficult concepts easier to understand.  Please make plans to attend this math night!

Friday Note - 8/25/17

Events of the Week:  It’s hard to believe that we have two and a half weeks of school under our belt- and what a busy week it has been!

Math: In math, we began Topic 1 (same/different).  Our school is new to Eureka Math this year, so if you have older children, you may notice several changes from prior years.  Each lesson begins with fluency practice.  Right now our focus is working with numbers 1-5.  We also complete an application problem in our math journal daily.   There are practice sheets that you should see coming home in your child’s folders.  During this portion of the lesson, students complete the page independently and then review with a partner.  While they are completing their daily practice sheet, I am walking around and observing who has a strong grasp of the material and who needs continued practice on the skill.  I then meet with students individually or in small groups based on their needs.  Please take the time to review your child’s work with them each night to ensure that they understand the lesson.  We are doing a lot of hands on activities so there may be days that a math page does not come home.  

Language Workshop: We continued our theme of All About Me.  Our Shared Reading for the week was Me Too.  We also introduced the sight word is.  Your child should now be familiar with two sight words: I and is.  Practice finding these in books and other writing.  We continued with the Name Game.  We’re learning more about our classmates every day.  What a fun way to make new friends!

Reading Workshop:  This week we started a unit over reading routines.  During these lessons we will be learning who we are as readers, how to take care of books, what rules we follow during Independent Reading (IR) time, and how to share books with friends.  Our goal by the end of the year is to look at books and read independently for up to twenty minutes every day.    

Writing Workshop:  Each day our special helper of the day told me a sentence to write.  We are learning that what we say can be written down.  As a class we looked for sight words, capital letters, counted words in a sentence, learned how to return sweep when writing a new sentence, and found periods (be sure to ask your child “what does a period tell us to do?”).  We also learned different handwriting strokes that we will use when we begin introducing letters next week.

Word Study: We had fun as we continued to practice writing our names this week.  We practiced cutting up our names and building them by putting the letters in the correct order.  We also built our names with magnetic letters.  We sorted which letters are in our names and which are not in our names.  Be sure to have your child practice writing his/her name at home.  Remember, only the first letter in your child’s name should be capitalized.

Important Dates:

• Sept. 4 - No School-Labor Day
• Sept. 8- Grandparent’s Day 9:00-10:00am (see below for information)
• Sept. 11 - No School
• Sept. 11 - Math Parent Night (more info to come)
• Sept. 12 - No school - Teacher Professional Development Day

Grandparent’s Day

A letter is coming home today asking you to RSVP to this event.  There will be a light grandparent breakfast served from 9-9:30am.  From 9:30-10:00am, grandparents will take a tour of their grandchild(ren)’s classroom.  Weather permitting, visitors may park in the open field west of the school as parking around the building may become limited.   

Important Information and Reminders:

1. Please be sure to send all money to school in an envelope with:

a.  Child’s Name b.  Teacher’s Name c.  Purpose of Money (i.e lunch money) d.  $ Amount

2. The new school policy is that toys are no longer permitted at school.  If a toy comes to school, then teachers have been authorized to take the toy and it will not be given back until the end of the day or the parents come and claim it.

3. Please make sure to write your child’s name inside of his/her lunch boxes, jackets and coats.  It is amazing how quickly our lost and found fence gets filled up!

Thank you for signing up for Seesaw!  

I hope you are all enjoying the posts of your child.   

SIGHT WORDS

Has your child said anything about sight words??  In kindergarten, we learn sight words.  These are common words that tend to “pop up” all over the place.  By mastering words, such as our sight words, children become more fluent readers.  Also, it is so much fun to see the boys and girls get excited when they find a sight word in a book and can read it!  These are the sight words we have learned so far.  Your child should be able to read each of these words.  Please practice them at home with your child.

I    is     

Next Week:

• Our theme will be Families.  Please complete the family page that was sent home today and return it on Monday.  We will share these with the class.  Be sure to complete the front & back of the page.     
• In math, we will continue sorting and working with numbers to 5.  
• Our sight word will be my.
• We will begin introducing letters, their correct handwriting formation, and the sounds they make.  

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vestal

Community Pep Rally

Friday Note - 8/18/17

Events of the Week:  I can’t believe how quickly the week has gone and how much we are learning each and every day. The children are working hard to follow the rules and are enjoying their special classes.  Below you will find a “sneak peek” of the week.  Our literature block is divided into different workshops.  These workshops each have a specific format and target.  For example, in Language Workshop we focus on a Shared Reading book and discuss/find vocabulary, sight words, concepts of print, and complete literature responses.  In Writing Workshop, we focus on learning and practicing the strategies necessary to be good writers.

Language Workshop: This week we started our “All About Me” theme.  Our Shared Reading for the week was Things I Like.  We introduced the sight word “I” this week.  Be sure to practice finding "I" in books and other writing. 

Writing Workshop: We are working hard on writing our names. We have practiced tracing our name, writing our name with pencil and crayon. We also practiced writing our name on whiteboards. We are focusing on only capitalizing the first letter.

Reading Workshop: We started playing the Name Game.  This is a fun way to learn more about our classmates and the letters in their name.  What a fun way to make new friends!

Sight Words:  Sight words are common words that tend to appear often when reading and writing.  By mastering words, such as our sight words, children become more fluent readers.  Each week we will add a sight word or two to our list.  Students will be assessed each quarter over these words.  They should be able to “read” each sight word within 3 seconds. A great way to practice these words with your child is to make a set of flashcards.

Important Dates:

• Sept. 4 - No School-Labor Day
• Sept. 11 - No school
• Sept. 11 - Math Parent Night (more info to come)
• Sept. 12 - No school - Teacher Professional Development Day

~The beginning of the school year can be a difficult time for families.  Getting back into a routine can be challenging both for children and parents.  One idea to help your kindergartner get calmed down for bedtime is to read together each night before tucking him/her into bed.  Reading to your child has SO many benefits—not to mention giving your child some of that precious one-on-one time that kids love so much.  As the year progresses, you’ll be amazed at all the letters and words your child will be able to find while you are reading together.  In fact, we have already learned to look for the word “I”.  Happy reading!

Classroom Blog:  In an attempt to help the environment, we are going to stop sending home paper copies of our Friday Note.  A paper copy will continue to be sent home until August 25th.   After August 25th, paper copies will no longer be sent home unless a specific written request for a paper copy is made.  Please fill out the attached paper and return it Monday.  The Friday Note will be posted on our classroom blog weekly.   Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you receive an email each time I post on our blog.  I subscribed everyone at Open House but many of you need to verify that you want to receive emails.   

If you need to subscribe, go to the blog and type in your email address on the right hand side in the box that says “follow by email”.  After you type in your email address, it will pop up a security feature.  Enter the letters in the image. Once you subscribe, you will get an email from “Feedburner” wanting you to confirm your subscription. After you confirm you will get an email each time I post on the blog.

A paper is coming home in your child's daily folder today regarding the blog. Please fill it out and return it to school on Monday! Thank you!!

Next Week:

• We will continue our All About Me theme. 
• We will begin our first math topic.
• We will introduce the different handwriting stokes.
• We will continue to do our Name Game each day until every student has had a turn.  
• Our sight word will be “is”.  

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vestal

Clever Wear Online Store

Just a reminder that Care To Learn's Clever Wear online store is open!  View, place your order and make your payment online  following this link:  

https://cleverwear2017.itemorder.com/

There is a wide selection of sizes ranging from toddler to extended sizes in several styles.  

The online store will close on Sunday.

Friday Note - 8/11/17

Events of the Week:  Wow!  The first two days of school have already come and gone.  You won’t believe what all we have learned so far!  I hope your little ones had as much fun this week as I did.  They are a great group of kids!  We are working on routine activities, such as using the bathrooms, eating in the cafeteria, walking quietly down the hallways, and so on.  The children have made much improvement in only two days.  

• Attached you will find some important papers including a copy of our daily schedule and our classroom rules.  Please take time to look through these carefully.  

Important Dates:

• Sept. 4 - No School-Labor Day
• Sept. 11 - No school
• Sept. 11 - Math Parent Night (more info to come)
• Sept. 12 - No school - Teacher Professional Development Day

Reminders:

• We will have P.E. on Tuesday and Thursday.  Coach Wise asks that your child wear tennis shoes & appropriate clothing on these days due to the activities they will be doing.

• If you have not reviewed the items in your child’s packet that was sent home Tuesday night, please do so and return the signed forms on Monday.  

• Mrs. Ramey has asked that no toys be brought to school (even for inside recess).  I will provide toys and activities for inside recess times.  Sorry for the confusion!

• Please place an extra outfit (including socks and underwear) in your child’s backpack.

Next Week:

• Our theme will be All About Me & My Community.  We will play the Name Game to learn everyone’s names.  
• We will continue working on routine activities, such as using the bathrooms, eating in the cafeteria, walking quietly down the hallways, following the classroom rules, etc.  
• We will work on our fine motor skills, such as tracing, cutting, and using glue neatly.  We will also do a lot of name-writing practice.

Important Info. & Reminders

CLASSROOM BLOG

This year I will use a weekly newsletter to keep you informed.  In an attempt to help the environment, we try to communicate through a classroom blog.  Our blog will contain information about what’s going on in our classroom.  Occasionally I will post group pictures of our class on this blog.  Your child will not be photographed alone, nor will he/she be identified by name.  Also, last names are never used on the blog.  Our classroom blog is up and running.  I have entered the email addresses that you provided to me at Open House to subscribe you to the blog.  Be sure to verify the email from FeedBurner to activate your account.  

ABSENTEE POLICY

Please be sure your child is at school and on time each day!  If you know your child will be absent, please let me know ahead of time or send a note from home so that I can prepare make-up work.  In the event your child is sick, please call the office (743-4810) or email me.  If your child has been sick, we must receive a doctor’s note if you wish for your child to stay in at recess!  

BREAKFAST & LUNCH

Kindergartners will be eating lunch from 11:00-11:20.  If you plan to join your child for lunch, please notify the office as early as possible for lunch count purposes.  Also, please check-in at the office when you arrive.  If you will be eating a school lunch with your child, you will need to purchase a lunch ticket in the K-4 office.  Mrs. Ramey asks that you do not bring carryout food for yourself or your child.

The price for breakfast is $1.50 and lunch is $2.00.  You can check your balance on www.myschoolbucks.com.  If you send breakfast/lunch money to school with your child, please send it in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and “lunch money” written on it.

BIRTHDAYS

If your child celebrates his/her birthday during the school year, please feel free to send treats to share with the class.  In order to include every student, please consider sending peanut free snacks.  A little secret I’ve learned is to send individual treats such as cookies or cupcakes.  It is hard to cut up a cookie cake and make sure that each student gets an equal amount.  Birthday invitations may not be passed out in class, unless EACH child in the class is receiving one.  

POLICY REMINDERS

• Students will report directly to our classroom upon arrival.  Breakfast will be served in the classrooms.  Please notify me if you do NOT want your child to eat school breakfast at school.
• Students may not be at the school before 7:45 a.m.  If they arrive after 8:05, they will be considered tardy.

• If you will be picking your child up after school in the circle drive, please use the nametags that were sent home at Open House.  Since each child will be safely escorted to your car, these nametags really speed up the process.  
• Also, please remember that if you plan on your child doing anything different than the normal routine at the end of a day (for example, getting picked up instead of riding the bus like usual), please send a note or call the office before 2:00.  We cannot allow a child to do anything different without permission from you, so this will make everything run smoother.  Thanks for your cooperation!
• In an effort to promote the safety and welfare of our students, parents picking up PreK-4 students should use the north circle drive and parents picking up 5-8 students should use the south circle drive. For some, this will mean two separate pick up locations but we are trading convenience for much greater security.

KINDERGARTEN WISH LIST IDEAS:

If you would like to donate one of these items, our classroom would be very grateful!

• Ziploc bags (all sizes)
• baby wipes

THANK YOU!!

Seesaw is an app we are using in our classroom to share what we are learning.  Seesaw is a digital portfolio of your child’s work.  The students and I can take pictures and videos and upload them to the app.  Then you will receive an email notification that your child has a new post.  You will only be able to access your child’s portfolio.  The students and I are very excited about using this app.  Sign-up instructions are in your child’s daily folder (orange paper).  Sign-up today!!

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vestal