Gingerbread Stories

As you can imagine, our kindergarten classroom is filled with energy and excitement during this holiday season.  This week we will keep ourselves busy with reading, writing, math, and many fun projects to go along with our Gingerbread theme.

During reading, we have just begun comparing and contrasting different versions of the Gingerbread Man stories.  As we read, we are talking about the 'big idea' (main idea), the 'main character',  and the many different characters in each of the stories.  We are also discussing the beginning, the middle, and the end of each story.  The children love noticing the similarities and differences between the stories and are so good at remembering the details! 

As writers, we have begun Writing Workshop.  This is very exciting!  We are all working on writing our very own list books.  Each child has their very own book that they are writing.  They are so excited to be authors and illustrators and I am so proud of their efforts during our writing time each day.

During math, we have been comparing and contrasting numbers and putting numbers in order from least to greatest and from greatest to least.  Practice naming a number and then asking your child to name a number that is 1 more, 2 more, 1 less, 2 less and so forth.  We are also using many different manipulatives during our math time each day.

Technology~  Last week we were very happy to have Mrs. Jones visit our classroom.   She helped us learn all about ibooks and how to take care of them.  We will begin using ibooks and ipads in our classroom each week to enrich our math and reading skills.  Logging on and off were the tricky parts, but overall we did a great job working with the ibooks.  Check out some of the websites on the left sidebar of this blog.  This week we worked on Starfall.  This is a great literacy site for kindergarten kids.

Holiday Celebration~ Our holiday celebration will take place on Friday, December 1:45 - 2:15.  You may arrive between 1:30-1:45, but we will begin decorating our gingerbread houses at 1:45 promptly.  We will need to end our celebration at 2:15 due to a school wide assembly, buses, and overall dismissal safety.  You may sign your child out at this time or you may leave your child with me to attend the assembly and ride the bus home.  All gingerbread houses will need to go home with an adult or remain at school until after break.  I don't believe that any gingerbread house would survive a bus ride home in one piece! Thanks so much for your support!

I am looking forward to a fun, messy, and exciting week in kindergarten!

Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)

Teddy Bear Week!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  Below is a peek at some of our learning that will be taking place in our kindergarten classroom.

This week we will continue learning all about bears.  As part of a reward for filling up our 'warm and fuzzy jar' we will be having Teddy Bear Week in our kindergarten classroom.  Please send in a teddy bear that can fit inside your child's backpack.  The bears will help us with various learning activities all week long.  We will be reading, writing, and working on different math activities to go along with our bear unit.   Some of the stories that we will read are Corduroy, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Bear Snores On (series).  All teddy bears will go home on Friday.  Thank you for your support!

During science, we will continue learning about our Five Senses.  So far we learned about our sense of sight, touch, and smell.  This week we will explore the senses of hearing and taste.  The children have enjoyed reading nonfiction stories and working on experiments during our Five Senses activities. We will be wrapping up our actual unit this week, but we will continue to talk about our Five Senses throughout the year in all that we do.

Our December Family Project will be sent home this week. Please check your child's folder for instructions.  Please send in completed projects any day before December 14th. We love sharing our family projects with our kindergarten friends.  I hope that you enjoy working on them!  

During the second and third weeks of December, we will begin reading, writing, and comparing different gingerbread stories.  Please note that we will be building gingerbread houses with our fourth grade buddies during the school day.  Families are invited to join us in our classroom to help decorate our gingerbread houses and to bring the houses home. This celebration will take place on Friday, December 21st at 1:45.  Please join us!  More information will follow, but I wanted to make you aware of the date and time.  This will be a fun and messy way to celebrate our gingerbread unit before our December break.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends!

This week we will wrap up our unit on families.  By the end of the week, we will begin a fun unit on hibernation and bears!  We will read many different fiction and nonfiction stories.  The nonfiction books will help us identify facts as we learn all about bears. The fiction stories will help us to identify the main characters, the setting, and the beginning, middle, and end of different stories.  Some of the stories we will read are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Bear Snores On, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, and the different versions of Goldilocks and The Three Bears.  We also work on many different projects and activities to go along with this unit.

During math, we will finish our unit on patterns.  We will then go back to working on numbers 11-20.  We will practice reading, writing, and showing these numbers in many different ways.  These skills will be worked on throughout the entire school year.

As readers and writers, we will continue working on our Daily Five activities.  The children really look forward to choosing their literacy activities during the day.  We are trying hard to build our independence during this time.  We are also beginning to add sight words to our Word Wall.  We have been practicing reading and writing sight words, but we will now add them to our Word Wall.  We will call them 'heart words' because these are words that we should 'know by heart'.  They are not words that should be stretched or sounded out.  The first three words are I, a, and the.  We will add two or three words each week until the end of the school year.  Practice reading and writing these words at home too! :)

I am looking forward to another great week of kindergarten fun in our classroom!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

50th Day of School, Thanksgiving Fun, and a New Friend!

This will be a short week, but we sure are packing a lot into it! :)  We will continue learning all about families and Thanksgiving during these three days.  We also welcome Jasmine Berryhill into our kindergarten class.  We are very excited to learn all about our new friend Jasmine!

50th Day of School! Since September, we have been counting the days of school in our kindergarten classroom.  Our friend, Zero the Hero, visits us each time we reach a new group of ten.  He visited on the 10th day, the 20th day, the 30th day, and the 40th day.  Zero the Hero will visit us on Monday and we will also have a 50th Day of School Celebration.  The kindergarten teachers will provide the activities and the treats, but please help us by dressing your child in clothes that celebrate the 1950s!  Please do not buy anything new.  Your child can wear rolled up jeans, a white shirt, rolled down socks.  Please see the letter that went home in your child's folder for some more ideas.  Use what you already have at home!

Parent Teacher Conference Days:  Tuesday is a half day due to parent teacher conferences. Please note that the children will be dismissed at 11:45 on these days. We will still eat our morning snack, but lunch will be eaten at home.  Please make sure that your child has a healthy morning snack on these three half days.  Your child's report card will be on BC@HOME the day prior to your child's conference. Please review your child's report card prior to the conference.  Feel free to contact me or the main office with any questions or concerns regarding this. Also, Wendesday is a full day of school.  Please let me know if your child will be absent or if you plan on leaving early due to traveling for the long holiday weekend.

--> ~Winter Weather and Clothing ~
As a class, we have been working very hard on putting on our coats, zippering our coats, and putting on our own hats and mittens for recess and at the end of the school day.  We are also practicing putting our gloves, mittens, and hats inside our coat sleeves after taking them off so that they do not get lost.   Please note that the kindergarten children go to lunch after recess.  Each day they take off their winter clothes in the cafeteria before sitting down to eat. Students should be putting hats and gloves in their sleeves so they don't get lost. Please also remember that students need sneakers to change into if they wear boots. Our goal is to keep our classroom neat and safe each day and to prevent clothing from entering the Lost and Found!  Thank you so much for your support in this area.  It is a huge help.

Mystery Readers:  We had our very first Mystery Reader on Friday. The children loved hearing the clues about our reader and were very excited to meet Lily's grandmother!  Thank you for sending back your clues to me.  We can stretch this out during the next couple of months to ensure that every child's family has a chance to be a Mystery Reader.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.  It's never to late to sign up to be a Mystery Reader! :)

I am looking forward to a busy three days with your children! :)  I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Eileen Browne

 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We have officially begun one of the busiest times of the school year.  Please check this blog and the dates on the left sidebar each week.  This will help you to keep track of everything that is going on.  I am also using this blog entry to clarify some of the dates!

I want to begin by thanking you for your generous donations for our Dollar Dash.  Our school raised approximately $2,000.00 during the week.  The money is going directly to the families of Long Island and Staten Island.  We are also beginning to collect school items to fill backpacks for some of the children who need to attend new schools and may have lost all of their original supplies.  We are collecting items according to grade levels for this project.  As a kindergarten team, we are in charge of collecting pencils, erasers, and primary notebooks to fill up these backpacks.  We will have collection boxes in our classrooms.  I am currently working with some teachers in Staten Island to assess some of the long term needs of children and families.  Perhaps we can connect to another school as a year long project if some of you are interested?  Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for the support given so far.

Eagle's Silent Auction is coming soon!  Each grade level is in charge of filling up a gift basket for this event.  The kindergarten gift basket is all about books.  Please consider sending in a favorite picture book to put into our kindergarten gift basket for this event.  The items are due this Friday, November 16th.

American Education Week:  Please join us in our classroom this Wednesday, November 14th at 2:15.  We will be visiting the Book Fair and creating a project together in our classroom.  

Turkeys are due!  Please send in your Family Turkey Project.  We love sharing them.

Family Picture:   Please send in a picture of your family as soon as possible.  The picture should be 4 x 6 inches.    I would really love to have the pictures by Tuesday, November 13th!

50th Day of School~  We have been counting the days in our kindergarten classroom.   Our friend, Zero the Hero, visits us each time we reach a new group of ten.  He visited on the 10th day, the 20th day, the 30th day, and the 40th day.  The 50th day of school will be on Monday, November 19th.  Zero the Hero will visit us on this day AND we will also have a 50th Celebration.  The kindergarten teachers will provide the activities and the treats, but please help us by dressing your child in clothes that celebrate the 1950s!  Please do not buy anything new.  Your child can wear rolled up jeans, a white shirt, rolled down socks...  Use what you already have at home. 

Report Cards:  Parent Teacher Conference Days are approaching.  Please note that the children will be dismissed at 11:45 on these days.  Your child's report card will be on BC@HOME the day prior to your child's conference.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thank you for  your ongoing support during this busy time of the year! 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

Mrs. Wishy Washy, Five Senses, and The Dollar Dash

Below is a peek at some of our kindergarten learning for this week ~

We will be reading Mrs. Wishy Washy and learning all about farm animals.  This is a fun rhyming story.  We will use this story to learn about rhyming words, story sequencing, and retelling the different parts of a story.  We will also create a few fun projects to go along with this story.

Our focus letters for this week will be Ii, Vv, and Zz.  We will have three new 'letter experts' to help us learn about the letter sounds, the sentences, and the poems.  The children have been creating pages for each letter as we learn about them.  They are getting much better at drawing and labeling their pictures during these activities. This is something that can easily be worked on at home too! :)  Encourage your child to stretch out letter sounds and to write the sounds they hear during writing activities.  I am not concerned about perfect spelling for most children.  The goal is to become more confident in writing and to take risks in writing even when it's hard!  We will soon begin writing our own personal stories during Writing Workshop.

During math, we will continue our work with exploring numbers numbers to 20.  We are showing numbers in different ways, exploring ten frames, and learning all about more, fewer, less, and equal.  The teen numbers can be tricky for many children.  We are using various materials and playing different math games to help us with our learning.  The children love using cards and dominoes to identify numbers!

During science, we will dig a bit deeper into our Five Senses unit.  We will be working with many different hands on materials while asking and answering questions.  Our goals is to explore our five senses and to think, observe, and write like scientists!

This Friday, we will be having a Dollar Dash to raise money for families who were affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Please think about sending in a donation for this very important fundraiser.  As some of you may know, I am originally from Staten Island, NY.  I spent this past weekend visiting with family and was overwhelmed by the destruction that took place.  My family is very fortunate and are safe, but there are so many families in need.  Please help our school to help others in need. Our goal is to ensure that all proceeds go directly to families in need.  Thank you!

I am looking forward to a great week in our kindergarten classroom.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Pumpkin Fun!

Thank you to my four parent volunteers...Megan's mom, Lauren's mom, Tucker's mom, and Amanda's mom!   We had a lot of fun exploring pumpkins in our classroom this morning.  We measured and weighed the pumpkins.  We counted the ribs on the outside of the pumpkin.  We even carved the pumpkins, scooped out the pulp and seeds, and named the pumpkins.  It was messy, but we had fun and learned a lot too!  I hope your child was able to tell you all about it.

This week we will be wrapping up our unit on pumpkins as well as some of our fall themes.  We will, however, continue to explore our Five Senses during the month of November as part of our science curriculum.  Working with leaves and pumpkins has certainly helped us to begin exploring our Five Senses. 

During November we will also begin learning about families as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We will compare and contrast families of today and families of long ago.  We will also spend time talking about our own families and what makes our families special.  Please think about having a family photo available for an upcoming November family project!  As part of our family unit, I would like to have a Mystery Reader from your family come in during the month of November or December.  This person can be mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, an aunt, an uncle...you decide!  The children love having visitors come in to read them a story.  I will send home more information about this in your child's folder next week.   I will also be sending home information about our November Family Project.  I hope that you enjoy working on these projects as much as we enjoy sharing them. 

During our literacy activities, we are continuing our work on the different parts of Daily Five.  So far we have practiced:  Reading to Self, Reading to Someone, Listening to Stories, and Writing.  This is the time during the day where the children will eventually work in different literacy stations throughout the week while I meet with small groups of children.  Right now we are working on building stamina and independence in these areas each day.   We are also learning about more letter sounds, thanks to our Letter Experts each week.  We have recently learned about the letters Cc and Pp.  We will learn about the letters Oo, Ii, and Gg this week.  During Word Wall activities we are also practicing reading sentences, stretching our letter sounds, and reading sight words (the, is, at..) to help us build our reading and writing skills.  I am so proud of the children and their excitement about reading and writing!

During math, we continue to explore the numbers 6-10.  We are learning about adding one more, two more, one fewer, and two fewer to make larger numbers.  Please note that the math papers are just a small part of the math lessons and activities that we do each day.  We work with math manipulatives, white boards, math vocabulary, whole group discussions, and small group activities to enrich our math lessons each day. 

I hope this gives you a sneak peek at some of the learning that is taking place in our kindergarten classroom.  We sure are busy!  :)

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Pumpkins, Spiders, & Fall Fun!

This week we will be busy reading all about pumpkins, spiders, and fall activities. We will be reading, writing, and working on several projects to go along with these fun themes. On Friday we will use our five senses to explore real pumpkins in our classroom. A special thank you to our four parent volunteers!

During literacy, we are reading many books by Donald Crews as part of an author study. We are very busy comparing and contrasting his different books. We love his pictures and how he uses labels throughout many of his stories. We also continue to work on our Daily Five activities each day. So far we have learned all about three parts: Read to Self (independent reading), Read to Someone (partner reading), and Listening to Stories (cd, computer, adult). You can do these activities at home too. A Reading Activity Log has been sent home in each child's folder. Please choose to do at least one reading activity each day at home. Your child should color in a smiley face after completing his/her reading choice for the day. Thank you for your support.

We have also been working on our Handwriting Without Tears program in our kindergarten classroom. We are working very hard on holding our pencils the correct way, 'stacking our blocks' when we are sitting, and starting our letters at the top! We often listen to 'writing music' to help us do our best work. Be sure to ask your child all about his/her orange handwriting books.

During math we are learning all about the numbers 6-10. We will practice using five frames, ten frames, and various math manipulatives to help us identify these numbers. We love using dominoes in our kindergarten classroom!

Please note that the Eagle Spooktacular is this Friday from 6-8 PM. This is a great time for students to show off their costumes with friends. Please note that costumes may not be worn to school on Halloween. Instead we can wear orange and black! Families are welcome to visit our classroom on Wednesday, October 31st at 2:30 PM. We will be making a pumpkin life cycle craft and having snack. We hope to see you!

Pancake Breakfast Reminder!
Please don't forget to order your tickets for the Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, November 17th at Applebee's. It is a fundraiser for our school. Please go to Eagle's homepage for more information!

As always, please feel free to contact me any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

October Learning

I hope you enjoyed another beautiful fall weekend with family and friends. We have been having great fun in our kindergarten classroom with many fall activities.

Last week, after reading Lois Ehlert's Leaf Man,we went on our very own kindergarten leaf hunt outside our school building. We were so excited to find many different kinds of leaves. We loved the bright and changing colors. We also tried to figure out which types of trees the leaves came from. We were very good at matching maple leaves. After gathering leaves, we flattened them out using our pencil boxes. The next day we worked on creating our own leaf artwork along with some writing just like Lois Ehlert! Our final products are now hanging in the kindergarten hallway. We also hung up or Pumpkin Projects in our hallway. We loved sharing our pumpkin projects with one another and learning about the different ways that families worked together. Thank you so much for sending them in. Our hallway is looking quite festive!

This week we will continue reading and writing about fall, but we will also begin a short author study. We will read various books written and illustrated by Donald Crews. He has written many books about transportation vehicles. We will compare and contrast his different books and even write our own class book using some of Donald Crew's writing techniques.

We will also have three letter experts this week! We will work on the letters Tt, Ll, and Rr. In addition to these letters, we are working on our Daily Five literacy activities. This week we are working on three different parts of Daily Five: Reading to Self, Listening to Stories, and Reading to Someone (partner/buddy reading). We are learning that readers take their time, readers care for books, and readers are quiet in order to respect other readers in the room. This week I will be sending home a reading log in your child's folder so that he/she can practice these skills at home too. You may read to your child, your child may read to you, or your child may listen to a story. The important thing is that your child is spending 10-15 minutes at home each day with books.

During math, we are working on comparing groups of numbers. We are creating groups that have 1 more, 2 more, 3 more, 1 less, 2 less, 3 less, etc. We will also begin working on numbers 6 - 10. In addition to our math pages, we are playing many different math games during work stations each day. Last week we used dominoes to play 'domino parking' The children loved counting the dots on the dominoes and parking them in the appropriate parking spaces on different mats.

I hope this post gives you an idea of some of the fun learning that is taking place in our kindergarten classroom. I will be sending home a hard copy of some October Reminders in your child's folder.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I am looking forward to another fun and busy week in our kindergarten classroom!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

Fall is Here!

I hope that you enjoyed your long weekend. It certainly feels like autumn is officially upon us! Below is a peek at some of the things we are working on in our kindergarten classroom.

This week we will work on the letters Jj and Tt. We will have two more letter experts to help us with the sounds, sentences, and songs for these letters. Be sure to check your child's folder for this important job! We will also continue to work on our Daily Five literacy activities. So far we have worked on what 'Reading to Self' looks and sounds like in our classroom. The children have been doing a great job using their reading bins and reading quietly each day. We have been practicing 'Word Work' activities as well. During Word Work we use magnetic letters to build names and words that we find on charts in our classroom. We are also having fun using white boards and expo markers during this activity. This week we will add 'Listening to Stories' as another Daily Five literacy choice. We will listen to stories on tape as well as on the computer while following along. The children are really enjoying our time spent reading each day.

In addition to handwriting, we are also beginning to explore Writing Workshop. Much like reading, we are talking about what Writing Workshop looks and sounds like in our classroom. We are noticing that there are many different reasons for writing: writing lists, writing letters, writing cards, writing labels, writing stories, etc. 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 have been working on creating number books. We are also using objects and hands on materials in our classroom to show numbers in different ways. Some of the children have also been joining materials together to practice adding and counting. A practice book will be sent home this week for additional practice. Work on this book at your own pace. You may send the book back when your child has completed it or you may keep it at home. This is optional, but some of the children may enjoy completing 'homework' :)

One last item...Throughout the month of October, we will be reading and learning about fall leaves, spiders, and pumpkins. I am hoping to have four volunteers come into our classroom on Friday, October 26th at 10:45 to help with pumpkin activities. If you are interested in bringing in a medium sized pumpkin to weigh, measure, and carve with a group of children, please contact me by email or by sending in a note. I only need four volunteers on October 26th, but all families will be invited into our classroom on Wednesday, October 31st at 2:30 for some fall fun!

Thank you.

Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

October 1st!

This week we will celebrate Farm to You Fest. Children may bring in fresh produce for daily donations throughout the week to help 'squash hunger' with healthy choices. In our kindergarten classroom we will be talking about eating fresh produce from local farms. Please check Eagle's homepage and our district website for more information.

During literacy we will learn about two more letters this week...Nn and Hh. Two more 'letter experts' will help us learn about proper letter formation and the sounds these letters make. Be sure to check your child's folder! We will also learn more about reading books and practicing what reading looks and sounds like in our classroom. For example, as readers... we must take care of our books and respect other readers in the classroom ~ even when it's hard! We are also practicing writing activities and working with letters each day. We are very busy learning all about reading and writing!

During math, we are continuing to work on identifying numbers and counting in many different ways. We are still working on our counting books. We have discovered that the pages take longer to complete as the numbers get bigger! It is also easier to make mistakes with bigger numbers. Our books are looking great and we can't wait to share them with you when they are completed.

This week we will also wrap up our unit on apples. We didn't quite finish last week, but we definitely will this week. On Friday we made homemade applesauce in our classroom. We learned that our homemade applesauce had more lumps than the kind that is purchased in the store, but it smelled terrific all day long! Approximately 3/4 of the class loved the applesauce. The other 1/4 are not quite sure, but EVERYONE had fun helping to make this fall kindergarten treat and we had wonderful manners. :)

I am looking forward to another fun week of kindergarten learning!

Sincerely,
Eileen Browne

Apples!

I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful fall weekend. This is always my favorite time of they year. Below is a sneak peek at some of our kindergarten learning!

We are working hard as kindergarten readers and writers. So far we have learned about the letters Aa, Ss, Ff, and Dd. This week we will learn about the letters Mm and Bb. Be sure to check your child's folder to see if he/she is the newest letter expert! The children are doing a terrific job learning how to print the letters, identify the sounds, find objects beginning with the sounds, draw pictures, and label pictures. Be sure to practice these letter sounds at home too!

During reading we have been practicing the three ways to read a book. Readers can read the pictures, read the words, and retell a story. We are very excited to begin using our reading book bins this week! We will use our bins to store our reading materials each day. This week will begin working on what reading looks and sounds like in our classroom.

We have also begun working on our writing skills in our classroom. We are practicing drawing pictures, writing labels, writing words, adding colors, and adding details to our work. Part of our writing activities also includes sharing our work with our classmates and using our words to explain our writing. We are learning to love writing in our kindergarten classroom!

During math we are continuing to work on counting, number recognition, and printing numbers. We are practicing these skills through various activities each day. This week we are creating our own Counting Books for numbers 1 - 10. We are also using playdough to practice number formation while working on motor skills.

This week we will also wrap up our unit on apples. We are having a lot of fun learning about apples. We are using our hands to paint apples trees and we will be using real apples for a few more projects before moving onto our next fall unit.

The first Scholastic Book order forms were sent home today. You may order books online using our classroom code or by sending in the order form to me along with a check. I will send home an order form each month for anyone who wishes to order books. There are often great selections with some terrific deals.

One last item ~ Our school is collecting Box Tops! Please check your products at home and send in any Box Tops. The class with the most Box Tops will win a pizza party!

Thank you for your support and please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Thank you for coming to our Open House! I hope you enjoyed your time visiting our kindergarten classroom. Below is an outline of what we are working on.

Last week we learned about the letters Aa and Ss. This week we are learning about the letters Dd and Ff. We will have our first two 'letter experts' this week to help us learn about Dd and Ff. Practice printing these letters and identifying the sounds they make. Be sure to check your child's folder each day. Every child will eventually get the opportunity to help us learn about a letter. Two children will be selected each week. Thank you for your support with this important task!

We are also continuing to learn about one another as we crown a new child king or queen for the day! We have been having so much fun interviewing our friends and learning all about our likes and dislikes. This is also helping us to learn about our names, how many letters are in each name, and whose name is the longest. We are using unifix cubes to 'build' our names each day. This helps us to compare how long or how short our names are! We are 'sneaking' in some math and counting during our literacy work. :)

During math, we are practicing counting, writing numbers 1-5, and arranging and rearranging objects to match numbers. We can move objects around but the number is still the same! Continue to practice counting and printing numbers at home too. Talk about which numbers come before and after a given number.

During science, we will begin a fun mini unit on apples. We will read many nonfiction books about apples and create several projects to go along with this theme. We will even use real apples for some of our projects. Feel free to send in a picture of your family if you have been apple picking! Write a sentence to go along with the picture and we can share them during this unit.

Thank you so much for your support. We are looking forward to a fun week of kindergarten learning! :)

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

First Full Week!

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weekend and are ready for our first full week of kindergarten together! The children have been doing a terrific job transitioning into a full day of kindergarten at Eagle. I am so proud of their efforts and am looking forward to a great week.

This week we will continue to work hard on learning our routines, learning about one another, and forming friendships in our classroom each day. We are reading some great books about going back to school. So far we have read The Kissing Hand books by Audrey Penn. We even had fun making our very own hand prints during one of our work stations. This week we will begin reading books such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! to help us recognize and identify letter sounds. We will also read books by one of my favorite children's authors, Kevin Henkes, that will help us learn more about comparing and contrasting our individual names as we continue to learn more about one another.

During math, we are using manipulatives to practice counting each day. We are also learning to recognize and print numbers correctly. Practice counting during everyday activities at home too. Make it fun! :)

Thank you for your support as we begin this exciting school year together. I hope to see you all on Thursday at 7:30 for our Open House!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I hope you are having a terrific summer! I have been busy spending time with my family. We have spent a lot of time swimming and visiting with family and friends. I am also busy reading and planning all of the fun things we will learn about in kindergarten!

I will use this blog throughout the school year to remind you and your family of upcoming events and learning activities. It will be a great way to communicate. We will be saving paper at the same time. Be sure to bookmark this page and to check our classroom blog weekly!

Enjoy the rest of your summer. Have fun! I'll see you soon. :)

Sincerely,
Mrs. Browne

Thank You!

We had a terrific Field Day today. The weather was absolutely perfect for our day outside. The children and I had so much fun participating in the many different activities throughout the day. As you could tell when your child arrived home, we had a lot of fun getting wet during our last station...water relay races! The children should definitely sleep well tonight! :)

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your support during the school year, for helping with our many celebrations and activities, and for the generous gift I received today from the class. I am very proud of your children and will truly miss them next year as they move on to first grade. I hope you all have a fantastic summer! Read, write, play, and stay safe.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

Kindergarten Graduation!

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is here. I am so very proud of how much we have grown as individuals and as a classroom community since September. Though we only have a few days left, we are still very busy reading, writing, singing, creating projects, and participating in our Kindergarten Countdown activities each day!

Our Kindergarten Graduation will take place this Thursday at 9:30 in the cafeteria. The orange graduation t-shirts have arrived! The kindergarten teachers will help put the t-shirts on when the children arrive to school on Thursday morning. We will send the shirts home at the end of the day. During the graduation, the children will sing a few songs and then go back to the classrooms for a refreshing snack. These activities will last until approximately 10:30. We are looking forward to a fun morning!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I will see you soon.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend with family and friends. We are now officially heading into the final stretch of our school year, but we are not finished with our kindergarten learning!

This week we will continue to learn about the ocean and sea creatures. So far we have learned about crabs, jellyfish, seahorses, fish, and sea stars. Today we began learning all about sea turtles. The children are very anxious to learn about whales and sharks too! We have been having so much fun with this interesting unit and have been incorporating all that we have learned into our reading and writing activities too.

During math, we have been learning all about measuring. We have been using many different kinds of materials to measure objects in our classroom. We have measured the length and height of various objects using crayons, markers, cubes, and paperclips each day. We will also begin exploring weight and capacity this week. These concepts will fit nicely with our science unit as well.

As writers, we have begun wrapping up our poetry unit. The children and I have had so much fun exploring poetry. We read poems and even wrote our own. I have been typing some of the children's poems. They love to see their writing in print and I am so very proud of their work! Their poems are absolutely precious.

During reading, we continue to work on our Daily Five Literacy choices. We are also learning about D.E.A.R. time (Drop Everything And Read) during the day. Now that we are all readers, we are working on finding a quiet spot in the room and curling up with our books as we practice for first grade! We have grown so much since the beginning of the school year. We also continue to practice our Word Wall words each day. We now have 54 words on our wall! I will send home a copy of our words this week so that you can practice reading these words at home too.

As always please feel free to contact me any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

PS Our kindergarten graduation will take place on Thursday, June 14th at 9:30. It will be a short celebration with some songs and a morning snack for the children. I look forward to seeing you there!

Glue Sticks Needed

We have been creating many projects throughout the year and are constantly depleting our glue stick supplies. It would be greatly appreciated if each child could bring in at least two large glue sticks for their supply boxes. We have been doing a terrific job sharing our supplies, but we still need more. Thanks so much! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all had a terrific weekend and enjoyed your Mother's Day with family and friends. The children worked very hard on their writing and projects for this special day. I hope you enjoyed sharing them as much as we enjoyed making them. I especially liked our class poem the things that moms love. We could have gone on and on with our ideas! :) We have been spending some time learning about poetry and writing our own poems. The children love the idea of picking a topic and writing lists and words into poems. We will spend some more time this week creating kindergarten poems during writing workshop. We created a kindergarten 'Think Spring' bulletin board in the front hallway with some of our writing and artwork. Check it out if you are in the building! This week we will continue working in small guided reading groups during our literacy work stations. The children are all reading books at different levels, but we are working on some of the same strategies. We are working on story mapping while we read~ Who are the main characters? What is the setting? Is there a problem in the story? And what is the solution? The children are doing a great job talking about these concepts as readers. During math we completed a short unit on composing and decomposing numbers 11 - 20. We will continue learning about these numbers, but we will also begin a short math unit on measurement as well. During science we will begin a unit on water play. This will go along with all of the learning we are doing about oceans and sea creatures. We are having a lot of fun working on projects, reading, and writing all about the sea. Reminders: Tuesday, May 15th: District Budget Voting and Kids Vote Too! Bring your child to vote and he/she will be able to vote on a new snack choice in the cafeteria. Also, the May Family Timeline projects are due on Thursday, May 17th or by the end of the week. This is the last family project of the school year! Kindergarten T-shirt orders are also due this week. The cost of the shirt is $10.00. Please let me know if you need a new order form. We are looking forward to another great week of kindergarten learning! As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Eileen Browne

Thank you for coming to our Kindergarten Dinosaur Exhibit. The children were so excited to show off their projects and hard work. It was so nice to see you all. Our next family event will take place on June 14th. Please mark your calendars for this day. Our Kindergarten Graduation/Moving Up Celebration will take place during the morning of June 14th. More information will be sent home, but I wanted to make you aware of the date. Reading: This week we will continue to work through our Daily Five Literacy Stations. We will add two more heart words to our Word Wall. We are practicing reading and writing these words. We are also practicing making new words in the same word family. Now that we know the word all, we can read and write many other words in the same family: ball, call, fall, hall, mall, small...etc. This has been very exciting for us! You can practice doing this at home too. Writing: We have been doing a great job writing in our journals and responding to the many different dinosaur stories we have been reading. This week we will begin a short writing unit on poetry. I can't wait to see what our kindergarten writers create! :) Math: We are wrapping up our unit on addition and subtraction. This week we will revisit composing and decomposing numbers 11-20. We will use manipulatives along with our math pages to practice these tricky teen numbers. Science: We will soon begin a unit on water play. We will experiment with sinking and floating and many other activities with water. This will help us as we begin to explore a fun unit on oceans and ocean life! Thank you for your ongoing support. I am so very proud of how much the children have grown during these past few months. :) Sincerely, Mrs. Eileen Browne PS I am not sure why the format is not allowing me to make paragraphs. Please know that this is driving me crazy and I am trying to fix it! :)

Dinosaur Exhibit

We have been very busy in our kindergarten classroom learning all about dinosaurs! We are reading many great and interesting books. Some of the children have been bringing in dinosaur books from home as well. This has added to our learning. We have also been working with one another on many different projects. We have been painting, gluing, cutting, counting, singing, and writing all about dinosaurs this month. We will wrap up this unit with our Kindergarten Dinosaur Exhibit on Friday, April 27th at 2 pm. Please join us in our classroom where you will be able to view some of the fun projects we have been working on. The children are very excited to show off their hard work. We hope to see you there! As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Mrs. Eileen Browne

Welcome April!

I hope you had a terrific weekend! This will be a short week as we prepare for spring break, but we will pack a lot of fun learning in. :)

Reading: We will continue to add two more words to our Word Wall to help us with our reading skills. The children are doing a fantastic job reading these words and finding them on charts, poems, and stories. We will also continue working in small guided reading groups each day. This is the time where I am able to read and write with a small group of children while the rest of the class rotates through literacy work stations. We have been doing a great job following this daily routine.

Math: We are wrapping up a short unit on subtracting numbers, but we will revisit addition as we talk about how the concepts of addition and subtraction are related. We will talk about whole numbers and how they are split into parts when we add and subtract. Ex: 10 = 6 and 4; 10 = 8 and 2; 10 = 7 and 3 .... and so forth. We will learn about all the different ways we can make numbers.

Science: We will finish up our unit on properties. The children have really enjoyed learning about solids, liquids, and gases. We have sorted objects and experimented with floating and sinking. We will finish this unit with a few more interesting experiments this week. Be sure to ask your children all about it!

Additional Theme: This week we will begin learning all about dinosaurs. We will read many stories and create lots of fun projects throughout the month of April. We are hoping to end this unit by inviting families in to visit our Classroom Dinosaur Exhibit on Friday, April 27th at 2pm. Please mark your calendars and join us for this fun event!

As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

I hope you all enjoyed the fantastic spring weather this weekend. I am hoping that this weather will continue. It will allow us to spend more time outdoors during the school week as well.

Last week was packed with exciting activities. The children and I had fun learning all about leprechauns, shamrocks, clovers, and rainbows. We worked as a class to build and decorate a trap for the leprechauns. We were hoping to catch one or two so that we could learn more about these mischievous little friends. Our trap was terrific, but we were not able to catch any leprechauns. They did, however, leave us some footprints, gold dust, and shamrock cookies! You can just imagine our excitement!

This week we will spend some time adding two more words to our word wall. We will also continue growing as readers and writers during our Daily Five literacy work stations. This is a great time for us to work independently and with partners at our many different reading and writing levels each day. I am very proud of the progress we are making.

During math we have been working on using pictures and hands on activities to help us write addition number sentences. We will continue to practice addition, but will also work on subtracting numbers as well.

During science we will wrap up our mini unit on nutrition and keeping our bodies strong and healthy. We will begin another science unit on exploring the properties of solids, liquids, and gases. During this unit we will conduct various experiments that will help us to record information and think like scientists!

Reminders:
Tuesday: 11:45 dismissal due to Parent Teacher conferences
Wednesday: Gently Used Book Sale~ Please send in money in an envelope labeled with your child's name. The children will be able to purchase books for very little money on this day.

We are looking forward to another great week in our kindergarten classroom.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

Dental Health, Nutrition, Dr. Seuss & More!

Welcome to another fun week of kindergarten! Last week we were very busy reading books about Dr. Seuss and dental health. We conducted two fun experiments. The first experiment was based on dental health. We placed hard boiled eggs into cups of iced tea, soda, diet soda, and water for the week. We observed the eggs throughout the week and watched three of the eggs turn brown. On Friday we took the eggs out of the containers and practiced brushing with toothpaste. We made a bit of progress cleaning the eggs, but overall they remained an ugly brown color. We talked quite a bit about taking good care of our teeth to keep them strong, healthy, and beautiful! We have also been busy trying to guess the beautiful smiling pictures in our classroom. I have folded pictures so that only the smiles of each one of the children are showing in our classroom. This has been a fun activity.

The second experiment that we worked on was based on Dr. Seuss' book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. The children loved this book. After reading, we made two big bowls of green oobleck in our classroom and had lots of fun dipping our hands in the gooey green oobleck! We talked about how it felt both like a liquid and a solid. We will experiment more with oobleck this week. You can even make some at home by using corn starch, water, and green food coloring! Use more water to make it more liquid and less water to make it more solid. It's messy, but quite fun. :)

This week we will begin reading books about nutrition and healthy eating habits. We will also learn about rainbows and shamrocks. We are really enjoying sharing the rainbow projects that have come in so far. Please send in your March Family Rainbow Project if you have not already done so. Also, wear green on Friday. We will talk a bit about St. Patrick's Day and all things green!

During math we will continue working on number sentences as we add and subtract numbers using pictures and manipulatives. The children have been doing a terrific job during our recent math activities. I have been sending home some of the papers that support the hands on activities that we have been working on each day during math.

As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Read Across America

I hope you all had a terrific weekend and were able to spend some time outdoors on Saturday. My family and I enjoyed some time simply walking through our neighborhood in the fresh air~ what a treat!

We are getting ready for another busy and fun week in our kindergarten classroom. This week we will continue participating in Read Across America activities at our school:
Monday: We will read some Dr. Seuss books throughout the day.
Tuesday: Wear green to school. We will read Green Eggs and Ham
Wednesday: Wear crazy socks to school. We will read Fox in Sox.
Thursday: Wear red and blue to school. We will read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.
Thursday, 6:30 - 7:30~ Eagle Elementary Read In Event!

This week we will also be wrapping up our Dental Health unit by conducting a fun experiment with hard boiled eggs, different kinds of drinks, and toothpaste. Be sure to ask your child all about it!

Math: We have been working hard on counting and reading numbers 1-100. We have also been practicing skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Counting by 2s and 5s can be tricky! Practice these skills at home too. This week we will begin focusing on reading and writing addition number sentences.

Daily Five/Literacy/Word Wall: We now have 30 heart words on our Word Wall. These words are helping us to become stronger readers. We are finding these words in our books, on our charts, on our school walls, and many other places. Your child should be finding these words at home too! This week I am spending a lot of time reading with individual children. It is so much fun for me to listen to and talk with the children about the great progress they are making as readers. Keep up the great work!

Report Card Conferences: This spring there will be only two days for report cards conferences. All kindergarten report cards will be uploaded to BC@HOME by March 28th. Please check your child's folder for a letter regarding spring report cards.

Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

Welcome Back!

I hope you all enjoyed your week off and are ready to get back into the swing of kindergarten fun! Below is a 'sneak preview' of some of the topics we will be learning about throughout the next few weeks.

Literacy: The children are truly enjoying our Daily Five literacy block each day. They are doing a great job working in our different stations: reading, writing, listening, word work, and guided reading groups. We will continue to practice reading and writing our heart words. We will also learn about different strategies to help us grow as readers and writers each day.

Math: We have been working hard on identifying numbers on our 100 chart, counting by 10s, and noticing different number patterns. Please practice reading, writing, and counting numbers 1 - 20 at home too. The teens can be quite tricky for many of us!

Additional Themes: This week we will spend some time reading and learning about dental health and keeping our smiles healthy. Throughout the month of March we will learn about nutrition and keeping our bodies healthy as well. Be sure to ask your child all about it! Later on this week we will celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday by reading some if his books and working on some fun projects. We will also begin a new science unit that will allow us to experiment with different properties.

As you can see, we will be quite busy in our kindergarten classroom. Stay tuned for more information!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Wecome February!

We began this month by welcoming a new student into our classroom. The children and I were so excited to meet our new friend Colin! Everyone has done a terrific job helping our new friend learn all about our school and daily routines.

This month will be short due to the upcoming winter break. It will, however, be packed with fun and interesting kindergarten learning. We are wrapping up our mini unit on penguins. We have learned so many interesting facts about these fascinating animals! Did you know that the male penguin can slide on his belly while continuing to protect the precious egg that his female partner layed? We thought this was very cool! Be sure to ask your child all about penguins at home. This month we are also learning about and celebrating Groundhog's Day (6 more weeks of winter), The 100th Day of School (counting & sharing 100 collections), Valentine's Day (love and friendship), Presidents' Day, and Dental Health. Whew...we sure are busy! In addition to these fun February themes we are working hard as kindergarten readers, writers, mathematicians, and scientists.

Reading: We are now rotating through different groups during our Daily Five Literacy block each day. The children are choosing to work in different literacy work stations in small groups while I work with different small groups of children on reading, writing, and letter sounds each day. We are working hard on using whisper voices and staying on task during this time each day.

Writing: We continue to practice printing our uppercase and lowercase letters using white boards, markers, crayons, and pencils during handwriting lessons each week. We are also working on printing our names by using an uppercase letter for the first letter only. We are getting so much better at this! During writing workshop, we are working on writing list books. Currently we are writing and illustrating short list books about all the different things we can do. We have many talents in our kindergarten classroom!

Math: We began using Cuisenaire Rods this week to help us learn more about counting and comparing numbers. These are very colorful and fun math tools! We are playing and learning at the same time. We will also counting numbers 1-100 as we prepare for our 100 Days of School celebration, which we are very excited about.

Word Wall: We now have 26 heart words on our wall. These words are helping us to become readers! The words are: the, no, in, is, I , it, go, me, and, a, at, to, he,run, my, yes, like, will, see, am, on, not, we, can, you, & she. We have been adding two new words each week and we are practicing reading and writing these words daily.

Additional Reminders: Each day the children have two separate snack times. We eat once in the morning and once in the afternoon in addition to lunch. Some of the children have been eating their snacks during lunch or buying ice cream or two milk items despite reminders. Please have a quick conversation with your child about your family rules regarding snacks and lunch time. Thank you for your support. Also, several children have recently begun bringing in toys and stuffed animals. Please encourage your child to keep these items at home or in their backpacks so that they are not lost, damaged, or disruptive to our learning activities. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

We are looking forward to another busy and fun week of kindergarten fun! :)

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

January Highlights

I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend and are staying warm! We have been very busy in our kindergarten classroom and are getting ready for another fun week of learning. Below are some of the things we are working on each day.

Reading: We are doing a terrific job working in small groups and as partners during our Daily Five Literacy block. The children are learning how to use pictures and their growing sight word vocabulary to read short stories. We are currently reading many fun stories about snow, mittens, and hats. We have also been working on various projects that go along with our stories. These projects are helping us to recall the 'big idea' and the sequence of events in each story.

Word Wall: We now have twenty-two heart words on our Kindergarten Word Wall! Each morning we spend time reading and writing these words. We are finding these words in everything we read! :) Our current heart words are: the, no, in, is, I, it, go, me, and, a, at, to, run, my, yes, like, will, see, am, on, we, can.

Writing: As writers we are working on proper letter formation, journal writing, and writing and illustrating individual stories. We write every day and are making terrific progress. This week we will be working on a short book to go along with Jan Brett's The Mitten.

Math: We have been very busy learning all about counting and comparing numbers 1-10. This week we will begin working more closely with numbers 11-20. We will be using many hands on activities and games to help us identify, read, write, and build these numbers.

Reminders:
The January Family Project is due this Wednesday! We have enjoyed sharing the snowmen that have been sent in so far.
Also, please begin looking out for Acts of Kindness. A note went home on Friday explaining this important project.
Lastly, the cold winter weather has arrived! Please make sure that your child has warm clothes for outdoor recess. The children need hats, gloves, winter coats, as well as boots and snow pants on snowy days. Please note that the clothing will go home with your child each day. It is helpful to have a plastic bag for wet clothing so that your child's backpack remains dry. We have been doing a super job getting dressed and keeping track of our clothing so far! Thank you so much for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

Welcome 2012!

I hope you all had a terrific break with family and friends. Welcome back and Happy New Year! I am in the process of updating our January events so please check back soon! This week we are working on settling back into our daily routines of reading, writing, math activities, and work stations. Two of our friends, Hannah & Justin, have moved to a new house and a new school community in CT. We wish them well and will stay in touch through letter writing. Today we welcomed a new friend, Emily, into our kindergarten classroom. The children were so welcoming and helpful with our new friend! We are looking forward to a great week of kindergarten learning as we begin to read, write, and learn about snow! :)
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne