Thursday, September 23, 2004
September 20 - 24
September 24, 2004
Dear Families,
Seasons and weather were discussed this week. We took an “end of summer” walk to look at the trees, flowers, grass, etc. We talked about how the trees are still full of green leaves. We noticed that some of the leaves are already turning colors, and some have even fallen off the trees. The kindergartners talked about how the trees change for each season. Have them tell you about how the trees change. We finished working with our senses. This week, we learned about the senses of touch, smell, and taste. We used the feely box to learn about the sense of touch by putting objects inside and guessing what they were. We also smelled several different containers to see if we could identify what they were just by using the sense of smell. We also had the opportunity to try four foods which had very different tastes. We sampled M&M’s, pretzels, dill pickles, and unsweetened chocolate to demonstrate how we like the taste of somethings and not others. To finish our unit on the five senses, we made a small book about some of the ways we use our senses at home.
Last week the kindergarten students participated in the DIBELS Benchmark Assessment. We had several different people working with our students on this evaluation including Mr. Foster. (So if your student tells you that he/she had to work with Mr. Foster, that probably wasn’t a bad thing!) We will share these evaluations with you at your fall conference.
If your child practices writing numbers, their name, or the letters as we learn them at home, send that paper to school. We will give them a sticker for their work.
Next week we will be talking about the letters of the alphabet. We will learn how many letters there are, why we need letters, letters make different sounds, and what letters our names begin with. We will begin learning to write our first name the “kindergarten way.” We will also be reading and doing activities with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We will read other alphabet books and learn some alphabet songs. Next week’s sharing needs to be something that deals with the alphabet. This item can be a book, a puzzle, a game, an educational toy, etc.
An important date coming up is Wednesday, October 13th. This is school picture day. Watch for more information to be sent home soon! Hearing checks for kindergartners will be Thursday, October 14th. Also remember that the Kindergarten/1st Grade Family Math Night will be Thursday, September 30th. Notes were sent home earlier this week. There is still time to reserve your spot!
The kindergartners are hosting their annual bake sale on Thursday, October 7th. We are raising money to buy some reading materials called “Read Naturally”. First and second graders are using some of these materials, and they discovered that there is a kindergarten version. It costs approximately $100. Each kindergartner is asked to provide AT LEAST 6 items to sell. Families could send more! The bake sale will take place in our room starting at 11:30. Kindergartners are able to buy bake sale items also. If you do not enjoy baking, prepackaged items are also wonderful sellers.
Please remember that each Monday the kindergartners get a new library book. If your child forgets to return the book that day, the teachers will try to get them to the library for a new book as soon as they can. It may NOT be the very day theirs is returned due to our busy schedule.
We hope your child is enjoying kindergarten. Things are going well! Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Ms. McGowen, Mrs. Herink
Dear Families,
Seasons and weather were discussed this week. We took an “end of summer” walk to look at the trees, flowers, grass, etc. We talked about how the trees are still full of green leaves. We noticed that some of the leaves are already turning colors, and some have even fallen off the trees. The kindergartners talked about how the trees change for each season. Have them tell you about how the trees change. We finished working with our senses. This week, we learned about the senses of touch, smell, and taste. We used the feely box to learn about the sense of touch by putting objects inside and guessing what they were. We also smelled several different containers to see if we could identify what they were just by using the sense of smell. We also had the opportunity to try four foods which had very different tastes. We sampled M&M’s, pretzels, dill pickles, and unsweetened chocolate to demonstrate how we like the taste of somethings and not others. To finish our unit on the five senses, we made a small book about some of the ways we use our senses at home.
Last week the kindergarten students participated in the DIBELS Benchmark Assessment. We had several different people working with our students on this evaluation including Mr. Foster. (So if your student tells you that he/she had to work with Mr. Foster, that probably wasn’t a bad thing!) We will share these evaluations with you at your fall conference.
If your child practices writing numbers, their name, or the letters as we learn them at home, send that paper to school. We will give them a sticker for their work.
Next week we will be talking about the letters of the alphabet. We will learn how many letters there are, why we need letters, letters make different sounds, and what letters our names begin with. We will begin learning to write our first name the “kindergarten way.” We will also be reading and doing activities with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We will read other alphabet books and learn some alphabet songs. Next week’s sharing needs to be something that deals with the alphabet. This item can be a book, a puzzle, a game, an educational toy, etc.
An important date coming up is Wednesday, October 13th. This is school picture day. Watch for more information to be sent home soon! Hearing checks for kindergartners will be Thursday, October 14th. Also remember that the Kindergarten/1st Grade Family Math Night will be Thursday, September 30th. Notes were sent home earlier this week. There is still time to reserve your spot!
The kindergartners are hosting their annual bake sale on Thursday, October 7th. We are raising money to buy some reading materials called “Read Naturally”. First and second graders are using some of these materials, and they discovered that there is a kindergarten version. It costs approximately $100. Each kindergartner is asked to provide AT LEAST 6 items to sell. Families could send more! The bake sale will take place in our room starting at 11:30. Kindergartners are able to buy bake sale items also. If you do not enjoy baking, prepackaged items are also wonderful sellers.
Please remember that each Monday the kindergartners get a new library book. If your child forgets to return the book that day, the teachers will try to get them to the library for a new book as soon as they can. It may NOT be the very day theirs is returned due to our busy schedule.
We hope your child is enjoying kindergarten. Things are going well! Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Ms. McGowen, Mrs. Herink
