Communication Arts Skills for Second Quarter

These are the communication arts (reading, writing, language) skills your child should have mastered before we leave for Christmas break. Please be practicing these at home.

* New this Quarter
1. Sight Words (see complete list below)
2. Color Words
3. Write First and Last Name (capitalize and spell correctly)
4. Write Letters
5. Identify all Letters of the Alphabet
6. Letter Sounds
*7. On a Book…locate title, pictures, author and illustrator

Math Skills to Practice

These are the math skills your child should have mastered before we leave for Christmas break. Please be practicing these at home.

Second Quarter Math Skills
* New this Quarter
1. AB Patterns
2. Positional Words
(above, below, front, behind)
3. One-to-One Number Correspondence
4. Recognizing Written Numerals
5. Counting
6. Shapes
(triangle, square, circle, oval, hexagon, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, rhombus)
*7. Coins: Penny and Nickel (identify and know value)
*8. Sort Objects
(size and other attributes)
*9. Describe Passage of Time
(today, tomorrow, yesterday)

School website is updated!

I have updated my Bernie school website with pictures from November. Click on the link at the top, right hand side of the blog to go directly to my site.

Stockings

If you did not get a chance to decorate the stocking over break, it is not too late! Just send it to school as soon as you get it finished. We already have some neat ones hanging in the hallway, and the kids really enjoy looking at each others creations. The kids have been very creative on their designs! Great job so far! I am looking forward to seeing many more good stockings.

Thanskgiving Break-- Stocking Activity

Don't forget about Thanksgiving Break. It is November 24th-26th (Wed-Fri). I have sent home a large red stocking and would like for you to decorate the stocking with your child over break. Be creative and use items from around your house (candy, beads, crayons, glitter, markers, stickers, noodles, ribbon, cotton, etc) to make the stocking unique. Please send these back to school on Monday the 29th so I can display them in the hallway. I hope to see some creative stockings.

American Education Week

American Education Week
"Bernie Schools: Where Everyone's A Super Star!"

November 14-20 is American Education Week, and we will be recognizing this week with different daily activities.

Tuesday
Nov. 16-- Dress up as your Super Star Hero Day!
Send your child dressed as his/her favorite super star or hero (Spiderman, Hannah Montana, etc).

Wednesday
Nov. 17-- "Let Your Super Star Shine" and do something nice or kind.
We will be collecting winter wear (gloves, hats, etc). The class that collects the most items wins a popcorn party.

Thursday
Nov. 18-- "Everyday Hero Super Star"
Decorate or put the name of your personal hero on a star to hang in the hallway. (These will be made at school.)

Friday
Nov. 19--"Super Star Spirit Day"
Students and teachers will wear Bernie Spirit shirts.

New Nightly Homework Assignment

Next week your child will begin bringing home a short decodable reader (a small book with color pictures and about eight pages). These decodable readers are in addition to the black and white phonics reader sent home once a week. Your child is supposed to read the decodable reader for homework nightly until it can be read fluently with no errors. I will be splitting the students into two groups, and your child will either read with me every Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs. As each book is mastered, s/he will receive a more advanced book to read. I will log when I read with your child on the back of his/her behavior log. Please note when you read with your child on the back of the behavior log also. Please place the decodable reader in your child’s blue folder every night. This way it will be there for us to practice in class. Thank you for helping your child learn to read!

Scarecrow Ice Cream Cones

Thank you to those parents that were willing to donate supplies for our scarecrow ice cream cones. I received an abundant supply, and I even have extra. With the extra we will do doing another fun activity! Don't worry, nothing will get wasted! We can always use what you send!

However, we are running low on snacks. We still have juices, but we need a fresh supply of other snacks. Recently, parents have donated cereal bars, granola bars, fruit snacks, teddy grahams, cheese crackers, chips, cookies, and so much more. Basically, the class will eat anything you send! :)

Veteran's Day

Remember: No school on Thursday in honor of Veteran's Day. However, we will be having school on Friday. Please remember to send your child to school in his/her Bernie Blue on Friday.

Also, the kindergarten shirts are being printed and will be picked up later this week. I will send them home with your child as soon as I get them.

Fall Festivities Update

It has been a while since I last posted. Here is a recap of what has been going on in our classroom:

Painted Pumpkins

Right before conferences, the kids had the opportunity to paint their own pumpkins. These were actually small gourds shaped liked pumpkins, but the kids had fun getting messy and creating their "masterpiece" as one student called it!

Fall Festival

On Monday, October 25th, our students participated in a Kindergarten Fall Festival. We had many fun activities that included face painting, sack races, Halloween story time, marshmallow ghosts, paper ghosts, pin the nose on the witch, and witch hands. We had tons of parent volunteers to help make the event a success. It was a memorable day for all of the kindergarteners.

Book It:

Pizza Hut has a reading incentive program called “Book It.” The idea for this program is that the teacher sets a monthly goal for each student in reading, and if the student reaches the monthly goal, s/he receives a coupon for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. Every student received a Book-It coupon on Monday for their effort in October. Enjoy your free pizzas!

Kindergarten T-Shirts:

The picture below is the final design for the t-shirts. The large design with the paint splash will be on the back of each shirt, and the small design on the bottom (white hand print with "Bernie Kindergarten Class of 2023") will be on the front "pocket" area. We should be getting those shirts sometime next week. If you ordered one, be looking for it in your child's backpack very soon! Don't forget to have your child wear his/her shirt on Bernie Blue days!

School Website:

Hopefully, pictures from October will be posted on my school website by the end of this week. The update will also include the October newsletter and second quarter skills to practice.

New Video!

Exciting news!!! I have posted an updated video of the kindergarten kids. It is on the right side of this blog and includes pictures from August until now. If you click on the bottom, right-hand side of the video where you see the square, the video will go to full screen. Enjoy!

New Slideshow Coming Soon

I am working on updating the slideshow on the right-hand column of this blog. Right now, those are my kids from last year. Soon I will have a new video from this year's kindergarten kids. Keep a watch for it! It should be on here around the last week of October.

Picture Retakes

October 14th is picture retake day. If your child missed school or there is something wrong with the picture you received, please have your child get his/her picture remade on the 14th.

Blue Folder (October 11)

There is a lot to look at in your child's blue folder tonight.

Please make note of the:

1. Scholastic Information

(Orders due this Friday, Oct 15 before 3 pm)

2. Conference Information and Sign-Up Sheet

(Please return ASAP to get the time slot of your choice.)

Grandparents' Day

Grandparents' Day will be Friday, Oct 1st from 2:15-2:45 on the student playgrounds. Hope to see you here!

In case of an accident...

Please place an extra set of clothes in your child's backpack in case of an accident. Even if your child generally doesn't have accidents at home, it may happen at school. They may not make it to the bathroom in time or might spill their milk or juice on them. The school setting is very different than home, and the kids aren't always near a bathroom. As a result, please place an extra pair of pants, a t-shirt, and extra underclothes in a plastic bag and leave in the bottom of your child's backpack. Thank you for your help!

No School Friday, October 24th!

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday. Enjoy the long weekend with your kids! Don't forget to be practicing counting to 100, letter recognition, and writing his/her name.

What did they learn about in Science?

After we finished the Science unit on plants, I asked the kids to tell me what they learned. Some were specific answers and some were more general. This is what a few of them said:

"We learned about plants." Gabriel

"Plants need water." Nathan

"Plants need sun." Angelina

"Plants need soil." Hunter

"How plants grow." Deandrianna and Trey

"Pumpkins have pumpkin seeds." Giana

"Plants can be food." Lucenda

Overall they learned the basic parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaf, flower), what plants need to live (air, water, sun, soil), and that we can eat plants (fruits and vegis).

We also made potato paintings! These are hanging up in our room for now, but will be sent home eventually. Look for them and ask your child how s/he made it!

What's Going On?

Last week we made blue and white AB pattern bracelets. These bracelets reinforce the AB pattern concept we have been practicing in math and also show our school pride. If possible, have your child wear his/her AB pattern bracelet every Friday on spirit day. Look for pictures of the kids wearing their bracelets on my class website.

In Science, the kids are learning how plants grow and what a plant needs to live. Since fall is near, this was a good time to do an apple theme while the kids are learning about plants (specifically fruits and vegis). We read a book about how apples grow and the process apples go through to get from the seed to the apples in our grocery stores. We also taste tested many apple items such as apple cereal bars, dried apples, apple cereal, assorted fresh apples, applesauce and apple juice. Most of the kids thought everything was delicious, except the dried apples were a little too tart. Hopefully we will be making an apple pie on Tuesday. A big thank you to all of the parents that donated these wonderful apple snacks. There were so many parents willing to donate, and I received all of the supplies within just a few days. I appreciate you and so do the kids!!!

We will also be making Root Prints to go along with our study of plants. The boys and girls have discovered that we eat many roots such as carrots and potatoes. On Tuesday, we will be looking closely at potatoes, cutting them into pieces, dipping them in paint, and making individual root prints. Hopefully this will be a memorable activity that helps them remember roots can be plants we eat.

Apples!

Next week we will be doing a unit on apples. We will be trying all kinds of foods made with apples and even baking an apple pie! Also, we will read books about apples and make apple crafts. It will be perfect for the start of the fall season.

Many parents have volunteered to donate apple supplies. I have already received some supplies from three parents. I greatly appreciate the parent involvement and help. It makes your child's year even better.

Make sure you ask your child what s/he did with apples next week! You know how they like to claim that they only have PE and recess at school. They never tell you about what they learned unless you pry it out of them! I guess recess and PE are just that memorable!

Have a great day! It is almost the weekend.

Scholastic Book Order Change

I have discovered that Scholastic has changed the online ordering process since the end of school last year. As a result, the information I sent home on Monday regarding book orders is wrong. Today I sent home a modified letter with the correct information. Please note the changes and discard the previous letter. I am sorry for the inconvenience. The new information is also listed below:

Here’s how it works:
1. SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation: GQVPR . This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
2. SELECT the books you would like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.
3. SUBMIT your order to me online by the due date (Friday, September 3rd). Your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic’s secure server, and the books you ordered will be delivered directly to our classroom for your child to take home.

Remember, you may still order the traditional way by sending your order to class with your child. When paying for the order, you may send cash or check, but a check is preferred. Please make checks payable to “Scholastic.”

More Handwriting Help

On Thursday, I sent home a couple of papers from my Handwriting Without Tears teacher guide that can help you teach your child the proper way to write. Hopefully, those papers made it home in your child's backpack, and you have had a chance to look at them. Continue to practice: holding the pencil correctly, writing his/her full name, and forming letters and numbers correctly.

Also, I have been working on the class newsletter, and it will be coming home in your child's blue folder next week. It is full of good information and includes pictures from the first month of school. These pictures will soon be on my school website also. Look for them next week online.

Have a great weekend!

Writing Our Names

Today I finished working one-on-one with the kids on name writing. Right now, we are strictly practicing first names. In a few months, we will begin writing our last names. Please work with your child on writing his/her name with a capital letter at the beginning and the rest of the letters lowercase.

Also, we use the Handwriting without Tears method for writing our letters. This teaches them to always start their letters at the top and gives catchy rhymes to help the students remember how to properly form each letter. This method helps the students develop neat handwriting.

Last week I sent home a paper that listed all of the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 0-9. Additionally, it gave directions on how to form each letter. Please reference that form when working with your child. If you need another copy of the paper, let me know. Also, if your child has mastered writing his/her first name, go ahead and work on your last name. Thanks for your help and enjoy your time as you help your child! Handwriting takes a lot of patience with little kids! Good luck!

Back to School Time!!!

Welcome back! We started school last Wednesday, and boy have we been busy. The boys and girls have been learning our class schedule, how to get around the school building, and school procedures. This Monday, we started doing more curriculum and less procedure practice. The kids seem eager to learn and are working hard. This week, we will be reviewing our letters, writing our names, and getting familiar with our math manipulatives. Hopefully we will start some science next week. Things to practice with your child: identifying the letters of the alphabet, writing his/her first and last names, counting to 20, and identifying the numbers 0-10.

Also, I hope to continue to update my class website monthly. At the end of each month or the beginning of the next month, I will post new pictures and our class newsletter. Please keep an eye on the website and the blog for information regarding our kindergarten classroom. It looks like it is going to be a great year!

Kindergarten Graduation

Hello Again! I am very sorry the blog has been on hold these last two months. I still have very bad vision strain when in bright lights and when using computers. As a result, I try to limit my computer use to only what is necessary. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed the few months I was able to update frequently.

Also, I would like to remind everyone of the Kindergarten Graduation coming up tomorrow night-- Tuesday, May 18th at 6:00 pm. All friends and relatives of the students are invited to attend. It will take place in the cafeteria. Hope to see you there!

One last thing-- Please check out my school website for pictures from last month and the updated newsletter!