BERNIE THE ELF WROTE US A LETTER!!!

BERNIE THE ELF:

After last recess we came back to class and Bernie was stuck in one of the globes hanging from our ceiling!  Looks like he got out last night and made it back to the North Pole, because he isn't in our classroom anymore.  I wonder who he will visit next?  I know Mrs. Williams' and Mrs. Powell's kids are excited for his visit!

 

Christmas Fun!

Yesterday the boys and girls helped me decorate our two Christmas trees.  They are little trees, but the kids think they are wonderful and asked me all morning when they could help me add the ornaments. 

 

We also started hanging our stockings in the hallway.  They are so pretty and make the hallway bright and cheery!  Try to have your child's stocking returned to school by this Thursday so we can have plenty of time to enjoy them over the next few weeks.   

 

Bernie, the Elf that visits our school each December, should be making his stop here in the elementary school very soon.  I can't wait until he visits our classroom.  He stays around all day and watches the kids, then reports back to Santa about their behavior. 

 

 

YEARBOOK REMINDER:
Order your Bernie Elementary School 2013 yearbook today!  Order before November 29th and receive a discount.  Order online at www.jostensyearbooks.com.

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.

1. Sight Words (I am the little have is we my like he for me with she)
2. Color Words
3. Write First and Last Name
4. Write All Letters (capital and lowercase)
5. Identify All Letters of the Alphabet
6. State All Letter Sounds
7. On a Book…locate title, pictures, author and illustrator

THANKSGIVING BREAK:
No school November 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.  Enjoy this time together and remember to be thankful. 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS:
Book orders are due back in class or online by this Friday.  If you order online, the class gets a free book and so do you!  You will receive a $5.00 gift certificate to purchase a book with your next order. 

TOM THE TURKEY:

I hope you have started camouflaging your turkey.  I can't wait to see them! They are due back in class this Friday, and they will be displayed in the kindergarten hallway until Thanksgiving. 

NEW VIDEO:
Check out the new video posted on the right side of the blog.  You can make it full screen by clicking at the bottom of the video.  It is a link from youtube.com, where you can find tons of educational videos for your child to watch.  Be sure to monitor your child and watch each video BEFORE you let him/her preview it, because not all of the educational videos are as appropriate as they initially seem. 

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd!!!

Congratulations to the Bernie Mules Volleyball Team for making it to the Final Four! The girls will play this Friday at Cape Girardeau and students are dismissed from school so they can show their support at the big game!



HOW MUCH LONGER???

The boys and girls have been talking about trick-or-treating for days!  They look at the class calendar and count down each morning and tell me how many more days until Halloween.  This morning, when they entered the class, so many of them immediately looked at the calendar and told be excitedly that there is only one more day to wait!  I hope each of you have an enjoyable time, and I am sure the kids will all look too cute! 

MISS ANDREA'S LAST DAY IN KINDERGARTEN

We are very sad to say it is almost time for Miss Andrea to move on to her next student teaching experience.  Monday, October 15th is her last day at Bernie.  She has been with us for eight weeks, and we have become very attached to her.  We will definitely miss her, but we are also very excited for Miss Andrea to be one step closer to graduating and having her own classroom one day.  We have learned so much from our eight weeks together and hope she comes back to visit us throughout the school year!  Thank you for everything!

OCTOBER BOOK ORDER
Your child will be bringing home a few Scholastic book order catalogs this afternoon. Along with the catalogs, you should find an informational letter in his/her blue folder.

Here are the basics to ordering online:

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. Or LOGIN at the link above with the username and password you previously created.
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. 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.  For every parent order placed online, the classroom gets a free book coupon and so do YOU!!! :)

The order is due online or in class by October 5th. 

Snacks 

An afternoon snack will be provided by the school on a daily basis. But, if you would like to send an additional snack to school for all the students, you may. The students love getting a variety of snacks and are always excited when parents send new snacks to school! These are some snacks the kindergarten kids always seem to enjoy:
-cheese and crackers
-goldfish
-dry cereal
-fruit rollups
-granola/cereal bars
-fruit snacks

We LOVE Apples!

This has been a busy week, but the kids have loved the learning activities.  As a class, the kids tasted red, green, and yellow apples during snack time. When tasting the apples they decided which apple they enjoyed the most. We then made a graph to figure out which color apple was the class favorite.  Ten of the seventeen kids loved green apples!  We read a book about Johnny Appleseed and how the apples grow from dormant trees in the winter to apples in the fall, then to apple pies.  As we read the book, the kids thought about our previous plant science lesson and recalled that a seed was planted, watered, sun shined on the seed, grew roots, stem, leafs, and finally apples!  After reading the book and discussing how Johnny planted a seed to grow the apple tree, the kids all wanted to go home and plant an apple seed.  The kids favorite part of apple week was making the apple pies. We made four pies.  Each kid got the chance to add apples, sugar, cinnamon and apple pie filling to a bowl.  They then mixed everything together and poured it into the crust. The kids thought it was awesome to cook in the classroom.  After the  pies baked we were all excited to try the apple pie while drinking apple juice.  The halls smelled of apple pies for the rest of the day, which reminded the kids how much they loved apple pies!! 

Miss Andrea

Apple, Apple, Apples!

During snack on Wednesday the students tasted apple juice, apple jelly, apple cereal, applesauce, dried apples, and several different apple bars. It seemed the class favorite was apple cereal.  This was a surprise to me.  I figured the kids would love applesauce.  Today we will be tasting red, yellow, and green apple slices and then as a class we will graph the kids favorites.  Watch for the graph to be sent home in the blue folder.  Hopefully during the next few days the class will be making apple pies!  I can't wait to see how excited the kids are about making the pies! :)

Miss Andrea  

RECYCLED BOOKS
Recently your child brought home a few children's books. These were extra books that kindergarten was not using anymore. Your child got to browse the books and pick two of his/her liking.  Enjoy! 

IT HAS BEEN A GREAT FIRST WEEK!

It has been fun getting to know all the boys and girls in Mrs. McGarity's kindergarten class.  I am thrilled to say I finally know everyone's names.  I look forward to spending the next seven weeks with your child.  

Miss Andrea

FIRST CLASS PICTURE

Look at how good we look!!!  The visitor in the back is my sister, Mrs. Linsey.  She came in from Kentucky to help us our first two days of school.  :)  We appreciate her help so much!

WELCOME!!!

I am excited to announce that we have a wonderful student teacher for the next few months in our classroom!!! Her name is Miss Andrea Duncan and she has already been here with us for four days.  She has been busy getting familiar with our school, the precious kids, and our daily routine. 

Miss Andrea will be, and already has been, such an asset to our classroom.  With her help, more students have been getting one-on-one attention and assistance as they complete their math, reading, and science activities. Be looking for an intro letter from Miss Andrea in your child's blue folder this week. 

We are very thankful for this opportunity to get to know Miss Andrea and show her how awesome our Bernie kids are!  

Just a Few Reminders
1. Picture Day is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 22nd. Please dress your child accordingly and send in the picture order form if you would like to purchase them.

2. If you have not turned in all of the school paperwork on your child, please do so before this Friday. Thank you so much to those parents that have returned everything. I realize it is a ton of work to complete so many papers, but all of it is done for the protection of your child.

 

3. I will begin my monthly newsletter at the end of this month. Look for it in your child's blue folder. It will have pictures of your child from August and important dates and information for September.

4. Please send your child to school in tennis shoes every Monday and Thursday. Those are PE days, and PE is much more fun when your child can run and play in tennis shoes. 

Kindergarten Orientation

We have kindergarten orientation scheduled for August 10th at 6:30 in the kindergarten classrooms.  Please enter through the annex doors adjacent to the preschool building.   You will be receiving an informational packet in the mail within the next few weeks, so keep a look out!

End of the Year Kindergarten Video!!!
Check out the NEW video posted on the top, right hand side of the screen.  First, go to the bottom of the blog and pause the music player.  Next, scroll back up and play the video.  Remember, you can view it in full screen.

Symmetry...
In class, we recently learned about symmetry. As a result, we created beautiful symmetrical butterflies.  Your child will be bringing these home from school soon.  Right now, they are being displayed in the hallway. 

 Snack Time...

Since we are coming up on our last week of school, it would great if we could celebrate each day with a special snack.  Our students are provided with peanut butter and crackers for their daily snack, but they always enjoy the special snacks the parents send much more.  If you would like to contribute, you may send the snacks to school with your child, drop them off in the office, or personally deliver them to our classroom. 

I know many of you have repeatedly provided snacks for our kids, and I greatly appreciate your continued support.  I realize buying snacks for 16 students gets expensive and your sacrifice is noted.  So again, THANK YOU to those who have already donated! 

End of Year Snack Ideas:

·         Cookies

·         Chips

·         Fruit Rollups

·         Goldfish Crackers

·         Fruit Snacks

·         Breakfast Bars

·         Popcorn

·         Popsicles

·         Capri Sun or other juice drink