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!