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.

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.

Thank you for your support.  I am looking forward to another fun week of kindergarten learning! :)

Sincerely,

Mrs. Eileen Browne

Welcome October!

All About Apples!

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, Ff, and Bb. We will have three new 'letter experts' this week to help us learn about our new letters.  Please 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.  Thank you for your support with this important kindergarten 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
PS...  Please send in any Box Tops this week!
         Scholastic Book Orders will be due this Friday!  You can send in a check with the paper or     order online.  

Our First Week!

The children did a terrific job transitioning into our kindergarten classroom this week.  I was so proud of how well they did, despite the hot weather!  We are having so much fun each day.

This week we worked 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 and Chester the Racoon craft during one of our work stations.  The projects are hanging in our kindergarten hallway and will be sent home soon!

Next week we will begin reading alphabet themed books such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! to help us recognize and identify letter sounds.  Each week we will focus on learning 2-3 new letters.  We will begin with the letters A, S, & M.  We will even have kindergarten letter experts to help us learn all about the alphabet.  Be sure to check your child's folder to see when it is his/her turn!

During math, we are using many 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 6:15 for our Open House!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne

PS....Below is an email I received from the PTO.  Please be sure to return the yellow PTO Student Directory forms. 

"Would you please encourage your families to complete and turn in the PTO Student Directory Form?  The yellow sheet went home the first or second day of school.  Forms can also be found at the front office or on the Eagle website.  They are due next Friday, September 20th."

Welcome To Kindergarten!

 

I hope you are having a terrific summer! I can’t wait to meet you and hear all about it! I have been spending lots of time with my four children and my dog.  I have also been busy getting our classroom ready for the school year and planning many fun things to do together.

I am looking forward to meeting you on September 3rd, 3:00 - 4:00. This is a great chance to meet some of your classmates, find your cubby, and drop off your classroom supplies. Below is a list of the classroom supplies that you will need each day!

These items will be community supplies – please do not label with your child’s name. 2 Boxes 24 crayons 12 sharpened yellow #2 pencils 1 Pink Eraser 2 Boxes markers (boys) 2 Boxes colored pencils (girls) 10 large Elmer’s glue sticks 8 dry erase markers 1 4-pack play dough (optional)

Please label the following items with your child’s name: 1 plastic crayon/pencil box 1 scissors 2 laminated 2-pocket folders (pockets on the bottom) 1 Primary journal (Mead Brand - vertical pages and has primary lines with a place for a picture on each page)

This blog will be updated weekly once school begins. Please bookmark this site and check it throughout the school year. In an effort to save paper, I will not be sending home weekly newsletters.  Thank you for your support.  I am looking forward to a great year! 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)

We are truly in the 'homestretch' of the school year.  I am in the middle of organizing pictures, writing report cards, and reflecting on each student's work from this year.  I can't help but notice how much the children have grown ~ in every single way!  They are taller, they are missing teeth, some have shorter hair and some have longer hair, and they all have simply stretched out and lost that 'baby look'.  They are readers, writers, poets, scientists, and mathematicians.   They are kind, loving, and they are now filled with confidence.  Please know how very proud I am of each and every child.  They have all come so far, in many different ways, since our early days of September!

Please note that our last week of school will be a short week.  On Monday we will celebrate our 'Summer Birthday Friends'.  A note went home last week to any child who has a summer birthday.  On Tuesday the children will attend our last school assembly for this school year.  This assembly is for students and staff only.  Wednesday will be our last day of school.  Dismissal will take place at 11:45.   We will continue to work as readers, writers, mathematicians, and scientists this week as kindergarteners love structure!  We will also work on cleaning our classroom and putting materials away for the summer months.  They love to 'help' with these tasks. 

Thank you so much for all of your support during the school year.  I hope you have a fantastic summer and I'm sure I will see many of you around town and at the Town Park Pool!

Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
PS  I hope your families have a wonderful 'Father's Day' and enjoy the project that your child made for your family. 

Welcome June!  We are really getting close to the end of the school year which is always 'bittersweet'!  Our remaining days are packed with activities and learning as we wrap up our school year. Please note, that your child may bring in a water bottle during this month.  Please put water only in the bottles.  This is much easier to clean in case of spills!

Last week we saw Mrs. Crawley's first grade play called "Character Matters." It was so fun for us to see our first grade friends perform on stage.  We talked about how we will soon get a chance to sing on stage too!  We can't wait to see you at 9:45 on Friday morning in the cafeteria. We will sing some songs, receive diplomas, and refreshments for the kindergartners will be served.  This will all take place in the cafeteria.
   
Our Kindergarten Countdown will begin on Tuesday.  This is a fun way for us to count the last 12 days of school.  A pink letter was sent home last week explaining our activities. Tuesday will be K day which will be Kindness day. We will be showing kindness to our buddies on this day.  Each day we will do something different to celebrate our last days as kindergarten students.

Academically, we are wrapping up our Rainforest Unit and beginning a unit on Oceans and Water Play.  We are also working on a measurement unit and will soon begin a unit on space shapes and plane shapes.  As readers and writers, we are working on reading stories, retelling stories, and writing our own journals, letters, and stories.  We have grown so much since our early days in September!  

We are looking forward to another great week of kindergarten fun.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne