Week of October 3-7, 2011

Kindergarten News

In the upcoming week in Phonics, we will be learning Tt as in tent, tail, and tie. Take some time to find items at home that begin with the letter Tt sound for Show and Tell! Also, boys and girls are asked to learn their telephone numbers. Please practice at home!

We will be starting our 5^th story for Reading, Julius. Watch for your Family Times newsletter to come home on Monday. Our focus will be on the story’s setting. Continue to read at home and practice the high frequency words; I, am, the, to, of, you and little; practice rhyming and counting syllables in words and identifying the letters from Aa-Zz.

For Math we will be creating and reading an AB color pattern, acting out story problems using teddy bear counters, identifying ordinal position to fourth, and will be covering designs using pattern blocks. Be sure to review daily practice pages and continue to review number writing for numbers 0-9.

Our theme for the upcoming weeks will be Fire Safety. There are many activities planned to teach the students about fire safety. Don’t forget to ask your child what he/she has learned!

**Please help your child learn his/her 4-digit computer number. This will help him/her log into the computer quickly and give him/her more time to work when using computers at school. (We can also stop wearing our name badges to lunch once all students know their ID number for the cooks!)

We have been practicing writing our first names. Please watch your child as he/she is writing. Be sure to check if letters are beginning at the top, not the bottom and also guide him/her to use the lines when forming the letters. Thank you!

Box tops for education, Turkey Hill Moo lids and Campbell’s labels will be collected at the end of each month. If you have any at your home, then please send them to school with your child. The box tops, lids and labels help our school to earn extra money and the homeroom with the most collected each month will receive a treat from PTO!

We will soon begin our writing program called Kid Writing. Several times a week we will break into “centers” and students will work in small groups working on different activities while the teachers help students write and illustrate their own stories. When our Kid writing books are filled they will be sent home for you to keep. Hopefully we will have a few stories completed for viewing at Parent Conferences in November!

FYI:

· There will be another Fall Festival planning meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 5^th @ 6:00pm at the Mine Shaft restaurant in Ashland. All who would like to help with the preparations and planning are invited and encouraged to attend. **The Kindergarten Fall Festival will be held at the school on Thursday, October 20^th. Parent and grandparent volunteers who have the necessary clearances are welcome and needed to help the homeroom moms with this fun-filled day!

Monday, Oct. 3^rd will be Day 4 on our special classes’ schedule. **Students will need sneakers and gym attire on Thursday, Oct 6^th for gym class.

Hip, Hip, Hooray it’s the weekend!