I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. I was certainly grateful to spend some time visiting with some of my closest relatives and friends during our time off from school.
This week we are beginning a fun unit on bears! We will read some nonfiction and fiction books as we learn all about bears in our kindergarten classroom. We will learn true facts from our nonfiction reading and we will learn about the different elements of a story from our fictional stories. We will discuss main characters, settings, and the big ideas in our different stories about bears. Be sure to ask your children all about our learning!
This week we will also add three new words to our Word Wall~ 'in', 'at', & 'my'. We now have twelve words in all on our Word Wall: I, a, the, is, me, go, it, and, no, in, at, & my. Please practice reading these words at home. Knowing these words 'by heart' will help your child to begin the process of reading! We practice our 'heart words' each and every day in our kindergarten classroom.
During math we are learning about growing patterns, numbers lines, comparing numbers (two more, two fewer), and learning about numbers 10 - 20. We will be using different types of materials to help us with our math learning each day during the month of December.
Mystery Readers are a huge hit in our classroom. Please send me an email or a note if you haven't signed up to read to the class and are still interested in participating in this activity. The children absolutely LOVE it!
Gingerbread Houses~ Please mark your calendars! We will be decorating gingerbread houses in our classroom on Thursday, December 19th at 2pm in our classroom. Please join us for this very messy and fun event. More information will come home, but I wanted to make you aware of the date.
Please make sure your children have winter clothing for outdoor recess each day! The children need warm coats, hats, and gloves every day. On snowy days the children play outside. Please send in snow pants (they will go home each day) and wear boots. Sneakers should be packed in your child's backpack. Sneakers are worn during the school day and boots are worn for outside play!
Thank you so much for your support in your child's learning and play. I am looking forward to a terrific December!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
November Reminders!
~November Reminders~
~November Family Projects~ Thank you for sending in your turkeys. We love sharing the projects. The turkeys are currently hanging in the kindergarten hallway for all to see!
~Mystery Readers~ A note went home explaining this activity. During the months of November and December we will have family members coming in to read to the class. We like to keep it a surprise in our classroom. It adds to the excitement. Please try to arrange for someone in your family to participate in this activity. We have had a few mystery readers so far and the children absolutely love it! Please let me know if you would like to participate and haven't yet signed up.
~Family Pictures Wanted!~ Please send in a picture of your family by Monday. The picture should be 4x6 in order to fit inside a project we are making. The children love learning about their friends' families.
~50th Day of School!~ Please see the note in your child's folder. Next Tuesday is our 50th Day of School! We will be celebrating by dressing up like children from the 1950s. We will also be working on many different fun crafts throughout the entire day with all of our kindergarten friends.
~Family Celebration~ We will have a small family celebration on Friday, November 22nd at 12:00 during American Education Week. You are invited to come in and work on a project with your child and see some of things we are working on in our classroom. The Book Fair will also be taking place on this day. This is a great opportunity to shop with your child. You can also eat lunch with the children at school at 12:50 if your schedule allows for it. A yellow note was sent home last week.
Word Wall: We have begun adding 'heart words' to our Word Wall! We added I, a, & the this week. We refer to these words as 'heart words' because we do not stretch out the sounds in these words...we have to know them by heart! We will add three new words each week.
Writing: We are working very hard on writing 'true stories' during writing workshop. The children are doing a terrific job adding details to their pictures and trying to write labels and words to make their stories even better! I am so proud of our kindergarten authors.
Math: We are wrapping up our unit on Ten Frames and are spending some time comparing numbers and groups of objects. We are focusing on the words greater, more, fewer, and less as we compare different groups.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
~November Family Projects~ Thank you for sending in your turkeys. We love sharing the projects. The turkeys are currently hanging in the kindergarten hallway for all to see!
~Mystery Readers~ A note went home explaining this activity. During the months of November and December we will have family members coming in to read to the class. We like to keep it a surprise in our classroom. It adds to the excitement. Please try to arrange for someone in your family to participate in this activity. We have had a few mystery readers so far and the children absolutely love it! Please let me know if you would like to participate and haven't yet signed up.
~Family Pictures Wanted!~ Please send in a picture of your family by Monday. The picture should be 4x6 in order to fit inside a project we are making. The children love learning about their friends' families.
~50th Day of School!~ Please see the note in your child's folder. Next Tuesday is our 50th Day of School! We will be celebrating by dressing up like children from the 1950s. We will also be working on many different fun crafts throughout the entire day with all of our kindergarten friends.
~Family Celebration~ We will have a small family celebration on Friday, November 22nd at 12:00 during American Education Week. You are invited to come in and work on a project with your child and see some of things we are working on in our classroom. The Book Fair will also be taking place on this day. This is a great opportunity to shop with your child. You can also eat lunch with the children at school at 12:50 if your schedule allows for it. A yellow note was sent home last week.
Word Wall: We have begun adding 'heart words' to our Word Wall! We added I, a, & the this week. We refer to these words as 'heart words' because we do not stretch out the sounds in these words...we have to know them by heart! We will add three new words each week.
Writing: We are working very hard on writing 'true stories' during writing workshop. The children are doing a terrific job adding details to their pictures and trying to write labels and words to make their stories even better! I am so proud of our kindergarten authors.
Math: We are wrapping up our unit on Ten Frames and are spending some time comparing numbers and groups of objects. We are focusing on the words greater, more, fewer, and less as we compare different groups.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Welcome November!
Last week we said goodbye to October with many fun activities. We had a Fire Safety Assembly where we met some firefighters, a rescue dog, and sat inside real fire trucks. We also celebrated Halloween with some fun crafts and treats. Thank you to everyone who sent in supplies and volunteered in our classroom for this event!
The month of November is always a fun and busy time of the year. I will try my best to keep you all updated on the many events taking place. This Tuesday is our last half day. Dismissal will take place at 12:10 on this day. Please send in a note if there any changes in dismissals. Our class has been doing a terrific job with this! Tuesday night is Eagle's Silent Auction. I hope to see you there! It is a great fundraising event for our school.
Throughout the month of November our kindergarten classes will be learning about families, Thanksgiving, and gratitude. Below are some projects and activities that we will be working on to celebrate our families:
~November Family Projects~ will be sent home tomorrow. Please send in all completed projects by November 13th. We love sharing our projects each month.
~Mystery Readers~ A note will go home explaining this activity. During the months of November and December we will have family members coming in to read to the class. We like to keep it a surprise in our classroom. It adds to the excitement. Please try to arrange for someone in your family to participate in this activity. Look for the note in your child's folder this week.
~Family Pictures Wanted!~ Please send in a picture of your family by the middle of next week. The picture should be 4x6 in order to fit inside of our projects. The children love learning about one another's families.
~Family Celebration~ We will have a small family celebration on Friday, November 22nd at 12:00 during American Education Week. You are invited to come in and work on a project with your child and see some of things we are working on in our classroom. The Book Fair will also be taking place on this day. This is a great opportunity to shop with your child. You can also eat lunch with the children at school at 12:50 if your schedule allows for it. I will send home a note about this event as well.
This week we are reading stories about Mrs. Wishy Washy and learning about the letters Ii, Yy, and Ee. We will be adding some November poems to our literacy binders too. We are working hard as readers and writers every day in our classroom.
During math, we have been learning all about ten frames and how they can help us to count numbers. This week will learn how ten frames can help when counting numbers greater than ten (11-20) too. We are working with actual ten frames and our Smartboard to help us with our learning.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support! Happy November :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
The month of November is always a fun and busy time of the year. I will try my best to keep you all updated on the many events taking place. This Tuesday is our last half day. Dismissal will take place at 12:10 on this day. Please send in a note if there any changes in dismissals. Our class has been doing a terrific job with this! Tuesday night is Eagle's Silent Auction. I hope to see you there! It is a great fundraising event for our school.
Throughout the month of November our kindergarten classes will be learning about families, Thanksgiving, and gratitude. Below are some projects and activities that we will be working on to celebrate our families:
~November Family Projects~ will be sent home tomorrow. Please send in all completed projects by November 13th. We love sharing our projects each month.
~Mystery Readers~ A note will go home explaining this activity. During the months of November and December we will have family members coming in to read to the class. We like to keep it a surprise in our classroom. It adds to the excitement. Please try to arrange for someone in your family to participate in this activity. Look for the note in your child's folder this week.
~Family Pictures Wanted!~ Please send in a picture of your family by the middle of next week. The picture should be 4x6 in order to fit inside of our projects. The children love learning about one another's families.
~Family Celebration~ We will have a small family celebration on Friday, November 22nd at 12:00 during American Education Week. You are invited to come in and work on a project with your child and see some of things we are working on in our classroom. The Book Fair will also be taking place on this day. This is a great opportunity to shop with your child. You can also eat lunch with the children at school at 12:50 if your schedule allows for it. I will send home a note about this event as well.
This week we are reading stories about Mrs. Wishy Washy and learning about the letters Ii, Yy, and Ee. We will be adding some November poems to our literacy binders too. We are working hard as readers and writers every day in our classroom.
During math, we have been learning all about ten frames and how they can help us to count numbers. This week will learn how ten frames can help when counting numbers greater than ten (11-20) too. We are working with actual ten frames and our Smartboard to help us with our learning.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support! Happy November :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Last Week of October ~
I apologize for the late update. This is a busy and quick week filled with excitement about Halloween. We are spending time this week incorporating pumpkins, fall leaves, and Halloween stories into all of our learning this week. We are reading, writing, counting, playing, and having fun with our fall units as we get ready to say goodbye to October this week.
Please note, Thursday is Halloween for many families. The children do not wear costumes to school, but they are encouraged to wear orange and black or festive t-shirts on this day. We will have a small classroom celebration for the children in the afternoon. Please note that only four parent helpers will be joining us on this day to work with the children. During the months of November and December we will have classroom celebrations where all families will be invited to attend. I will try to get the dates set soon so that you have time to make arrangements to join us!
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Please note, Thursday is Halloween for many families. The children do not wear costumes to school, but they are encouraged to wear orange and black or festive t-shirts on this day. We will have a small classroom celebration for the children in the afternoon. Please note that only four parent helpers will be joining us on this day to work with the children. During the months of November and December we will have classroom celebrations where all families will be invited to attend. I will try to get the dates set soon so that you have time to make arrangements to join us!
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, October 20, 2013
October 21st!
I hope you all enjoyed another beautiful fall weekend with family and friends. The weather sure has been cooperative! Below are some highlights regarding our kindergarten learning.
Parent Conferences: We will have a half day (11:45 dismissal) this Wednesday for Parent Teacher Conferences. Thank you to those families that I have already met with. I look forward to meeting with more families this Wednesday and next Tuesday.
Literacy: We are working hard in our classroom learning all about what readers and writers do. As readers we have learned that we can read books in three different ways: read the pictures, read the words, and/or retell the story. We have also been practicing 'reading to someone' or 'partner reading'. We sit side by side, elbow to elbow, knee to knee, book in the middle, so we can both can see! We are doing a great job spending time with books each day. As writers, we have begun working on our very own stories. Just like Donald Crews, we are writing books about transportation. Some books are about cars, some are about buses, and the list goes on and on. I am so proud of our growing kindergarten readers and writers.
Math: This week we will continue counting, playing games, reading, writing, and comparing numbers 6-10. We have been using dominoes, dice, beads, and pipe cleaners to explore numbers in different ways. We are really excited because our friend Zero the Hero will visit our classroom on Monday. He loves the number zero and Monday will be the 30th day of school! We will work on using materials to make groups of 10 to help us count to 30!
Science: We will continue to explore our Five Senses this week while also learning about pumpkins. We will use our sense of sight, touch, smell, taste, and listening while exploring real pumpkins in our classroom. Thank you to my four parent volunteers for helping out with this fun and messy activity on Friday! We will donate our pumpkins to Eagle's Spooktacular event.
Spooktacular: Eagle's Spooktacular will take place on Friday 6-8pm. This is great time for children and families to share their Halloween costumes with their Eagle friends. We do not wear costumes to school on Halloween, but we can have fun wearing orange and black or festive shirts on this day.
Thank you for all of your support and have a great week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Parent Conferences: We will have a half day (11:45 dismissal) this Wednesday for Parent Teacher Conferences. Thank you to those families that I have already met with. I look forward to meeting with more families this Wednesday and next Tuesday.
Literacy: We are working hard in our classroom learning all about what readers and writers do. As readers we have learned that we can read books in three different ways: read the pictures, read the words, and/or retell the story. We have also been practicing 'reading to someone' or 'partner reading'. We sit side by side, elbow to elbow, knee to knee, book in the middle, so we can both can see! We are doing a great job spending time with books each day. As writers, we have begun working on our very own stories. Just like Donald Crews, we are writing books about transportation. Some books are about cars, some are about buses, and the list goes on and on. I am so proud of our growing kindergarten readers and writers.
Math: This week we will continue counting, playing games, reading, writing, and comparing numbers 6-10. We have been using dominoes, dice, beads, and pipe cleaners to explore numbers in different ways. We are really excited because our friend Zero the Hero will visit our classroom on Monday. He loves the number zero and Monday will be the 30th day of school! We will work on using materials to make groups of 10 to help us count to 30!
Science: We will continue to explore our Five Senses this week while also learning about pumpkins. We will use our sense of sight, touch, smell, taste, and listening while exploring real pumpkins in our classroom. Thank you to my four parent volunteers for helping out with this fun and messy activity on Friday! We will donate our pumpkins to Eagle's Spooktacular event.
Spooktacular: Eagle's Spooktacular will take place on Friday 6-8pm. This is great time for children and families to share their Halloween costumes with their Eagle friends. We do not wear costumes to school on Halloween, but we can have fun wearing orange and black or festive shirts on this day.
Thank you for all of your support and have a great week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Monday, October 14, 2013
October 15th
I hope you had a wonderful long weekend with families and friends. The weather was absolutely perfect! Below are some kindergarten highlights.
We have had a lot of fun this past week thinking about the fall season. We can see leaves changing many different colors and falling to the ground. We can hear the leaves crunch under our feet too! Last week we went on a leaf walk and used real fall leaves to make leaf projects after reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Our 4th grade buddies helped us with this fun project.
We have had a lot of fun this past week thinking about the fall season. We can see leaves changing many different colors and falling to the ground. We can hear the leaves crunch under our feet too! Last week we went on a leaf walk and used real fall leaves to make leaf projects after reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Our 4th grade buddies helped us with this fun project.
This week we will be learning about the
letters R, 0, and C. We will also begin our handwriting program, Handwriting Without Tears, to help us learn proper letter formation. Please help your child to remember that we always start our letters at the top!
During literacy, we will start an author study on
Donald Crews. We will learn that
Donald Crews loves to write books about transportation. He also draws
big pictures and loves to include labels! We will study his books as readers and writers and even make list
books of our own during writing workshop. During writing workshop we are learning that some writers use pictures, some writers use words, and some
writers use a combination of the two. Please encourage your children's writing
skills at home too!
During math we are practicing reading, writing, and counting numbers 1-10. We are comparing numbers and practicing putting numbers in order too. We are playing math games and using many hands on materials to help us with our counting each day.
Soon we will begin learning about pumpkins as part of our fall learning. I
am looking for four volunteers to help with a fun pumpkin project on
Friday, October 25th. These 4 volunteers will need to provide a medium
size pumpkin, carving tools (just to borrow for the activity), a scale, and some
newspaper. This project will only be open to the
first four volunteers that I hear from. Please email me if you are
interested in helping out on the 25th and can provide the above
mentioned items. Please note that there will be other opportunities for parents
to join us in our classroom throughout the year!
One last reminder...we will have an early dismissal this Thursday due to parent conferences. Dismissal will take place at 11:45. Please write a note and place it in your child's folder if there will be any changes in normal dismissal routines.
One last reminder...we will have an early dismissal this Thursday due to parent conferences. Dismissal will take place at 11:45. Please write a note and place it in your child's folder if there will be any changes in normal dismissal routines.
Thank you for your support. I am looking forward to another fun week of kindergarten learning! :)
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Thursday, October 3, 2013
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