Math Skills

In math, we have recently been learning:

• how to put numbers cards 0-20 in order
• how to read numbers 0-20
• counting to 100
• identifying and knowing the value of a penny and nickel
  
• ordinal positions (first through sixth)
• how to create and read AB and ABB patterns
• how to read the days of the week on the calendar

You can practice some of these skills by:

• having your child read numbers you see in your everyday environment (at the grocery, in the car, at home, in books)
• having your child count objects you see
• letting your child sort your loose change, then discuss what each coin is worth
  
• asking your child to read the days of the week on your home calendar (they use the first few letters as clues)
• having your child create AB and ABB patterns out of objects in your home (pencil--pen or fork--spoon or big book--little book)
• practicing writing letters and numbers (we have practiced all of the numbers 0-20 and all of the capital and lowercase letters)

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. Expect to find your child's pizza coupon in his/her blue folder at the end of each month.

American Education Week
Education Generates Super Heros
November 13th-November 17th

*Monday-November 14th-Students will attend a short assembly to “kick-off” the week.
*Tuesday-November 15th-Green Lantern Day-WEAR GREEN!
*Wednesday-November 16th-Spiderman Day-WEAR RED OR A SPIDERMAN TEE SHIRT!
*Thursday, November 17th-Military Super Hero Day-WEAR RED, WHITE, AND BLUE!
*Friday, November 18th-Super Hero Day-DRESS APPROPRIATELY AS A SUPER HERO, OR WEAR A SUPER HERO SHIRT!

The students have the opportunity all week to be Community Super Heroes. All classes will be collecting pennies (any denominations of money) for the Stoddard County Children’s Home. The teacher of the class that collects the most money will receive the privilege of wearing a Super Hero cape all day on Friday, the 18th!

Food Drive

The canned food drive has been extended until this Friday, November 11th! If you didn't get to donate last week, now's your chance. The food will be donated to local churches and will help feed the members of the Bernie community in need.

Tom the Turkey

Don't forget to work on disguising your turkey! We have already seen some very creative disguises! The kids think it is great! So far, we have a mayonnaise jar turkey, rock star turkey, Bernie basketball player turkey, and a princess. I can't wait to see what kind of turkey will arrive next! It is so exciting each morning as I get to show the class the new turkeys.

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, ABB, ABC 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)

Student of the Quarter
The students of the quarter are children that show kindness to their fellow classmates and are respectful to teachers and other peers around them. Additionally, they always work hard in class to achieve their personal best. Congratulations to Chase Eads and Rylee Eaton for receiving this honor.

AB Pattern Bracelets
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.

Parent/Teacher Conferences
Conferences are Friday, October 21st. We will dismiss the students at 12:30 and conferences for my class will begin at 1:30. Please make a point to be here at your scheduled time so we can review your child's report card and the progress s/he is making. Hope to see you then!

Painting Pumpkins!
We will be painting pumpkins on Thursday. This paint is washable, but it would still be good to dress your child in old clothes. Also, Bernie Kindergarten has purchased small pumpkins for each child to paint, but if you would like for your child to paint a larger pumpkin, you may send it to school with your child before this Thursday. Thanks!

September Character Trait Winner for RESPECT

The student in our class that exhibits respect when working with his classmates and for his teachers is Ethan Hicks. Great job Ethan! I am very proud of you!

Grandparents' Day

We will again be celebrating Grandparents’ Day this year at Bernie Elementary. Grandparents are encouraged to come to school to have cookies and punch while they enjoy playing with their grandchildren at recess. Grandparents may also take their grandchildren home at the end of this event if we have the signed permission slip from a parent. Grandparents’ Day will be on Friday, October 7th from 2:15-2:45. Grandparents will meet their grandchild on the playground. If the weather forecast calls for bad weather on October 7th we will move the Grandparents’ Day to the following Friday-October 14th.

Pictures from September
Click on the "Pictures" link to see tons of pics from our September activities. Many of these pictures didn't make it in the newsletter due to lack of space. Enjoy!

Apples, Apples, Apples! For the next few days, our class will be doing a unit on Johnny Appleseed and apples. We will be reading about Johnny Appleseed, making related crafts, and taste testing many apple flavored foods. We already made an apple pie on Monday and it turned out great. Almost every kid thought it was delicious! The kids were able to add all of the ingredients, such as butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Then they mixed it all up and poured it into the crusts. While it baked that afternoon, the entire building smelled of apple pie. It was perfect for a nice fall day! So, don’t be surprised if your child comes home talking about all things apples! Have a great week!

This is the design for our 2011-2012 Kindergarten t-shirts! The front "pocket" area will read "Bernie Kindergarten Class of 2024." The back of the shirt will be the KINDERGARTEN ROCKS design. We should be getting our shirts soon! Be looking for them in your child's backpack in the next week or two.

Rocking in Kindergarten! It's been a great week with some beautiful weather, and the kids have enjoyed all of the time spent outside. I hope the nice weather sticks around for a while before it gets too cold and we have to bundle up in our coats.

The boys and girls have been busy each day and we have really focused on our alphabet-- specifically identifying each capital and lowercase letter. Now that we are more familiar with the letters, they are practicing writing their first names using lowercase, instead of all capitals. I am surprised at how quickly they catch on. They always impress me! We have also started reading small books with the sight words from our reading lessons. The sight words your child should know are: I AM THE LITTLE TO A. The kids are always excited when they recognize a word they recently learned and that excites me too.

In math, we practice counting and number identification daily. The kids pretty much have their basic shapes mastered, so we can move on to bigger and better things! Our pattern of the month is AB, and we have been practicing this since August. Patterns are a big deal in kindergarten and luckily these students have been doing great!

Next week we do a fun unit on apples. There will be a ton of taste-testing and the kids have already been asking when we get to eat all of the apple-flavored foods the parents have been sending. We will make a couple of apple pies at the start of next week and will also be trying apple sauce, apple cereal, apple jelly, and assorted fresh apples. This will all come together with stories about apple trees, apple foods, and Johnny Appleseed! So much to do in the next week and I can't wait. Thank you to each parent that sent in apple-related supplies. You all were VERY generous and kindergarten would not be near as much fun for your child without your support. THANK YOU!!!

Character Education
Every month our school focuses on a character trait. For September, the trait is RESPECT. At the end of the month I will pick one student from the class that has shown the most respect to his/her classmates and teachers. Please talk about respect with your child at home as we try to instill this characteristic in all of our students at Bernie.