I will be out next week....

I wanted to let you know that I will be out next week.  My son is coming home from college and having surgery on Monday, so I am taking those three days off to be with him. 

My sub is Ms. Silbiger.  She has been here before and in kindergarten many times.  Your children know her and are always happy to see her.

As for the kids, they will be enjoying a couple of days rotating between the kindergarten classrooms for fun winter activities!

Have a great winter vacation.

Mrs. Goldberg

A Great Field Trip

We had a great time at Tobys Theatre today.  We saw The True Story Of The Three Little Pigs.  Your child could tell you the story but just in case...The wolf was making a cake for his granny and needed a cup of sugar.  He went to his neighbors house (the first pig in a house of straw).  He didn't answer.  Just then the wolf felt a sneeze coming on so he huffed and he snuffed and when he sneezed, he blew the house down, killing the pig.  So he ate him.  Ironically, the same thing happened at the second little pigs house which was build with sticks.  At the third pigs house, remember the wolf still needed his sugar, he was huffing and snuffling and the cops came to see what the commotion was.  The wolf was arrested.  The play today was a continuation of the book.  It was the trial of the wolf.  We heard from the third little pig and and an eye witness and from the wolf.  At the end of the trial, we got to vote whether we thought the wolf was innocent or guilty.  We voted not guilty so the the play ended with the wolf being set free.

Toby's Theatre Field Trip

Tomorrow, December 15.

I will have a snack for the kids when we get there so need to pack one.  We will be back for lunch.

Seed Experiment

We are starting our seed experiment today.  We wrote the materials needed in our experiment journal yesterday.  Today we will write our hypothesis and plant the seeds.  Some seeds will get water and sunlight, some just water and some just light.  Its a long process, hopefully we will see some growth before winter break.  If not, I'll take them home and bring them back so we can see the seeds grow full cycle.  We will record our observations in our journals and then write our conclusion.

PAJAMA DAY

To celebrate our last day with our teddy bears, we are having pajama day tomorrow.  Have your child come to school in their pajamas (no slippers, please).

Gingerbread Cookies

Next week we will be decorating gingerbread cookies with our reading buddies - Ms. Taylor's 3rd graders.  We are purchasing the cookies but asking both classes to donate either icing or bags of candy.  If you are able to, please send in a tube of white or colored icing or a bag of candy like skittles, m&ms or licorice by Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Thanks

Upcoming News

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.  Despite being sick, it was nice to be with family and friends.

December is a busy month for us.  You should receive an email with dates for mystery reader sign ups. Please sign up for only one slot to leave room for all our parents who would like to come in.

Our reading and writing continues with nonfiction work this week.   We are reading and writing about bodies of water and land forms - tying this into our social studies curriculum.  We are continuing with measurement in math, moving onto weight.

On Friday, we will be joining the rest of the school to watch and listen to our winter choral concert.

Please return the permission slip and money for our field trip. Have a great week!

Field Trip to Toby's Theater

In your child's folder will be a permission form for our next field trip.  We are going to Toby's Theater to see "The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs" on December 15.  Please return the form and money as soon as possible.

This week and next week updates

We are starting to celebrate Thanksgiving with some turkey crafts and fun activities.  They are on my bulletin board in the hallway so they won't be coming home just yet.

In reading we are working on retelling the story, with a beginning, middle and end in order.  We are reading different versions of the Three Little Pigs this week.  Ask your child to tell you the beginning, middle and end.  We will be writing our own versions of the story, too.  In math, we are measuring our feet and comparing numbers and amounts.  In social studies, we are learning about the globe and maps.

Remember, Wednesday, November 25 is an early release day, and no school on Thanksgiving or the Friday after.

Have a great week.

Did you hear about our germs/apple experiment?

Last week, to really drive home our lessons on germs, I cut an apple and put one slice immediately into a ziploc bag.  The other piece, I passed around and had each student touch it with their germy dirty hands right after recess.  Well, you can see the results...pretty gross.

50's Day

Monday, Nov. 16 is our 50th day of school and we are celebrating like they did in the 50's.  Look for the flier in their folder tomorrow for more information.

Sorry for the late picture

Here is a picture from Halloween.  I apologize I didn't upload it sooner.  

Weekly Update and Conference Reminders

Well, quarter 2 and started.  1/4 of kindergarten is over!!!
Reading is speeding along.  We are connecting letters to sounds to words.  We are able to answer questions about our text and are focusing on the key details.
In math, we are "measuring" with words like "more", "less", "taller"  and "shorter".  We use cube towers, letter strips of our names, and other classroom objects to compare to other objects to determine which is bigger, shorter, etc.
In health, we are learning about germs, staying healthy, what to do if you are lost and stranger danger.

Parent teacher conferences are under way.  If you do not remember your date/time, please email me and I will send it back to you.

Remember, Nov. 11 and 12th are early release days.

Have a great week.

Friday, Halloween CHANGE OF PLANS

Our parade and party is still on but times have changed a bit to allow more time for the kindergarteners to get dressed and ready.

We will have recess FIRST at 1:00.  At 1:35, the students will be eating in our room.  As soon as they are done eating, they will be changing into their costumes.  This should give us more time to get changed before the parade starts at  2:30.

If you were planning on coming in to help, anytime after 2:00 would be helpful.  Please sign in at the main office and then come to our room.

Thanks for your help.

Candy Corn Science Experiment and Book Fair

The kids loved the science experiment we did today....we put candy corn into 4 different cups with water, oil, milk and vinegar (they said the vinegar smelled like soap).  After about 30 minutes, the candy corn in the water, milk and vinegar started to dissolve and the outer layers were coming off.  By the end of the day, the water, vinegar and milk turned orange and the candy corns were gone.  The candy in the oil was unchanged.  The recording sheet for our experiment is in your child's folder, so make sure you take a look.

Also in folders are the wish lists the children made at the Book Fair.  They can bring money in next week to buy the books.

Have a great weekend.

Scholastic Book Fair

Our class is scheduled to "shop" at the book fair on Friday.  We will go as a class and each  child will make a list of books he/she wants, along with prices.  I will send the lists home in folders.  If you would like to send your child to school with money, they will be able to go to the book fair next week to buy the books from their list. This is a great opportunity to build your home library and raise money for the PTA.  

Comparing Taller and Shorter

We started to compare objects in our classroom to identify taller/longer or shorter.  With the help of Dr. Grossman (our ESOL teacher), we lined up in size order from shortest to tallest.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I am sending home information on your child's parent teacher conference.  Either you will get a confirmation note with the date and time you selected at Back to School Night or you will receive an updated schedule of available days and times.  Please complete the form with your first and second choice as soon as possible so I can finalize a schedule for all of my students.  This is an important opportunity for us to talk about your child and his/her progress.

Pics from Heyser Farm

Halloween Celebration

Our school will be celebrating on Friday October 30.

A note will be in your child's folder today with details and a request for a donation for Mrs. Garnett (Maya G's mom) to purchase treats for the kids.  Please send money back in your child's folder and I will get it to her.

If your child does not celebrate, please let me know.  There will be alternative activities that afternoon.

We're baaaack

We had a great time at Heyser Farm.  We watched them wash, sort and grind apples into cider.  We each bottled our own to take home.  We toured the orchard and saw apples trees, bee hives, a stinky compost pile, grapes on the vine and chickens.  We also got to take home three apples that we picked from the bins and went on a very bumpy tractor ride.

I will post pictures soon.

Have a great weekend.  Remember, there is no school tomorrow!

Things I forgot in my last post....

Yesterday afternoon we had a town hall meeting with the whole school.  We recognized those students who received Respect Awards (for our 6 pillars).

Today we made our rain sticks.  This was a multi step process of gluing on tissue paper (which they "eewww"ed at because they thought it was a bag of dirty tissues.  We then "painted" it with a water/glue mixture to seal it together.  Inside is rice and corn kernels to give it the raining sound.    They loved the whole process and their finished rain sticks.

I sent out a "sign up genius" email today.  Because it is mid month there are only three slots for volunteer opportunities but in the future, there will be one per week.  Please only sign up for one slot so other parents can sign up, too.

Ok, I think I got everything now...have a good weekend.

weekly update

Happy Friday!  We had a busy week....

We have been making lists in writing - lists of colors, pets, groceries and today will be fire safety items.  We have been talking about Fire Safety this week, too.  We are counting and representing quantities with numerals, words and pictures.  We've been playing lots of math games like grab and count and roll and record.  Ask your child about them.  We learned about the American Flag, Statue of Liberty and Bald Eagle and will continue next week with Mt. Rushmore, the Pledge of Allegiance and Liberty Bell.

A few reminders for next week:
Monday is Open House from 9:30-12:00.  Join us for our morning and see our morning routines, literacy centers and reading groups.  We don't have a special on Monday so I usually do a craft or project related to that week's lessons and events.

Tuesday we will be having a bus evacuation drill.  Every student will practice "jumping" out of the bus in case of an emergency.

Thursday is our field trip to Heyser Farm!

Friday - No School!

Have a great weekend.

Reading Books

We started reading groups this week and that means that books will be coming home on Fridays.  Please read the books with your child.  These are books that we have read together during the week.
Remember, the books NEED to be returned on Monday so he/she can bring a new one back next week.  Have fun reading!

Picture Forms

We have NOT received Picture Order Forms yet.  As soon as we do, I will send them home in your child's folder.

Media and Weekly Updates

Our Media date has been set for Mondays.  We will visit the library every Monday.  We will alternate weeks between a lesson with Ms. Seres or just a book exchange.  Your child can get a new book each week.  Remind them to bring their books back on Mondays.  Kindergarteners are allowed to have one book checked out at a time.

We will be starting our small guided reading groups next week.  Your child will be grouped with other students with similar skills and needs.  We are learning about the character in a book and will be moving on to the setting next week.  We are finishing up our weather unit in science with clouds and the water cycle.

Remember, Friday October 2 is an early release day.  We dismiss at 1:20.  Students will have lunch that day.

Enjoy the fall weather!!!!

Loving the fall weather

Just something about me....This is my favorite season and weather.

Anyway, back to school...we are continuing our color week - blue, purple, pink then brown.
Our reading testing will continue for the next couple of weeks.  We are learning about the weather and the seasons in science and counting in math.  We are perfecting our routines and learning how to work independently during centers (when I will eventually be pulling small reading groups).  We are up to 9 minutes of staying at our centers!  Our goal is to get to 15 minutes of independent work (they know they can not interrupt me when I am wearing a lei because this is when I would be working with other students).

Here's to another short week....

Dojo Points

We've been working very hard earning Dojo Points.  Your child can earn a point by showing behavior that follows the six pillars - Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship.  For example, following directions the first time is responsibility.  Helping another student is caring.  Raising their hand quietly and waiting patiently to be called on is respect.  Other teachers can give them points, too, like Art, PE, Music and lunch and recess aides.

Today, we reset our points to 0.  We are starting over tomorrow to work towards earning a ticket with a specific reward.  This type of positive reinforcement has been proven to work with behavior management with young children.  Once a student receives 20 points, they can pick a ticket from my Dojo Ticket Collection.  The tickets reward them with a specific prize.  They currently have 8 different tickets to choose from:  use a special pen for writing all day, bring in a stuffed animal for a day, pick a prize from Mr. Heatwole's treasure box, pick a book from our library for me to read aloud, get extra computer time, wear the dojo master hat for the day, be a line jumper (jump ahead of other students in line), or bring in something for show and tell.  Your child will also bring home a little certificate letting you know they reached the 20 point benchmark.  Once they pick a ticket, their points will be reset to 0 and they can start earning towards another 20 points and another ticket.

In addition, when our class earns 200 points as a whole, we will have a Dojo Party with a special treat.

The kids are excited to start earning points tomorrow and I'm excited too see them grow with Dojo.

Color Days

For the next two weeks, we will be celebrating colors.  A letter was sent home with a daily schedule.  I encourage all the children to dress in the day's color if possible.  The kindergarten teachers do, and even the specialists join in.

Don't forget to check out the kindergarten team blog at www.singerkindergarten.blogspot.com.

Information has been posted there about September curriculum updates, important dates, snack information and Class Dojo.

Happy First Day of Kindergarten

We made it.  Phew, what an exhausting day...

We had breakfast, learned how to "unpack", practiced for fire drills, read  a story about Mrs. Bindergarten, wrote in our weekend journals (we do this every Monday and write/draw about our weekend), took a quick tour of the school, had lunch and recess and went to a school assembly.  Wow...I don't know about your kids, but I was exhausted when I left school today.

This week will focus on building routines, learning each other's names, creating classroom rules and setting up our Class Dojo so we can start earning points.

I hope everyone came home happy and excited to share their day.

Congratulations to you for surviving, too.

Welcome to our Classroom Blog

Hello and Welcome to our classroom blog.  I will use this blog to post important information, classroom updates, school updates, and pictures of some of our special activities. You will be able to:

        read about what we are learning this week in kindergarten

get reminders about important dates and deadlines

see pictures of what we are doing in class or on a field trip

You can check for new posts at www.mrsgoldbergskindergarten.blogspot.com or click the link on the right to subscribe and you will automatically receive an email when I publish a new post.  

Your emails are safe - I do not share them.

Please remember, if you ever have any questions, you can email me at

Amy.B.Goldberg@mcpsmd.net