Healthy Snack Vehicles

Thank you so much to the volunteers and parents who donated to this very fun healthy snack today.

Craft Fair Volunteers Needed

Please consider helping our classroom and working at our team table for the SCS Craft fair on Saturday, December 3. The commitment is not a lot and you could have your child work with you at the table. It's a lot of fun.

Out of this World Words

Today the Corduroy story bit retelling sheets will go home with the kids. I also introduced some big vocabulary words to them that go along with the book. We are calling them "Out Of This World Words". They are posted in our room. My hope is that they will begin to use these words to expand their vocabulary. I told them that if they use these words in their Corduroy retellings, then I will give them one marble in our reward jar for each word used.

The "Out of this World Words" this week are:

admiring
enormous
peered

A "Bit" of Confusion

I wanted to take a moment to clarify some confusion around our Story Bit activity. A few weeks back, the kids came home with a clear envelope that contained a retelling sheet and red pebble to go along with the story Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. The kids were supposed to keep those story bit envelopes somewhere safe at home with their red pebble inside. The idea is for them to collect several story bits throughout the school year and keep them as treasures in these envelopes. Hopefully, they will serve as memory pieces for the stories and they will be able to recall events of the stories by simply looking at the bit.

On Friday, their second story bit will be coming home. It will be a button for the story Corduroy. Please help your child to understand the importance of keeping these treasures for retelling purposes. With this week's story bit will be a retelling sheet that you should work with your child on and write down what your child remembers from the story. Send them back to school inside of the provided plastic bag by Tuesday.

Sorry for any confusion. I made a mistake and also bought clear folders for the Emergent Reader program! I already made a note not to do that again:)

Hand Washing Experts

Today Nurse Jocelyn came to talk with our team about how to keep themselves healthy. She read a funny book and they had a great discussion about hand washing, coughing into their "chicken wings", getting lots of sleep, eating the rainbow, and drinking lots of water. Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, I plan to take the kids to the SCS track to walk together. I can't wait to do this with them.

Volunteers Needed

Journey Volunteers Needed
The SCS Holiday Craft Fair is on Saturday, December 3rd. If you are able to help sell items that the children have made at our team table, please consider signing up for a time to volunteer on our team Wiki. Sign up the same way you did for conferences. We need two parents in each time slot. To find the Wiki go to scsvt.org, then teams, then Journey Kindergarten, then Journey Team Craft Fair Volunteers. The following times are available. We look forward to seeing you there! Set Up: 8:45-9:30
9:30-10:30
10:30-11:30
11:30-12:30
12:30-1:45 (Includes very little Clean Up)

Classroom Fitness

I am looking for a couple of parents who would be interested in coming in during this month's "Happy Healthy You" unit to teach the kids fitness activities. This could include yoga, stretching, running, walking. The opportunities are endless. I would also like to get the class outside in this nice weather. Anyone interested in coming along on a hike? Email me at ahazen@cssu.org and we can arrange something special for the class.

Learning About Nutrition

This week the kids participated in several activities to discuss the importance of eating a well balanced diet. They learned about eating a variety of foods in moderation. They also learned about how the more colorful foods have more nutrients and vitamins to make them grow big and strong. Today I sent home a little guide for you to discuss with your child that has a wide variety of foods that fit into the "colors of the rainbow".

3-D Shape Museum

Our UVM student teacher did a very fun lesson today with the kids where they created 3-D shapes using marshmellows and toothpicks. It is displayed in the classroom in a "Shape Museum". What a blast!

Journey Doctor's Office is Now Open for Business

Open for business and still accepting donations. Thanks so much to all that have contributed so far. It is a huge hit.

End of the Community Unit Puppet Show

To end our unit on Our Community, the kids watched Mrs. Kendrick and I perform a puppet show that highlighted some local community helpers. It was an interactive performance and the kids loved reading the words with us.

Meet My Little Authors

Today I taught the kids how to create little books on their own. They listened to a story called Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk. In this story, a little mouse loves to write stories and hide them in the library for kids to find. Ask them about our "Meet the Author" box.

Conference Sign Up

Conferences are approaching very fast. Please be sure to sign up by going to our team webpage and following the links for our classroom conference sign up.

Plans for 10/31

Hey everyone! I bet you are gearing up for a very busy Halloween weekend. I wanted to send you a note to let you know that the kids should not bring costumes or Halloween candy to school on Monday. I am planning a very fun day that will include a fun, nutritious snack for Monday afternoon. I know they will be getting a lot of extra treats over the weekend and that evening. I will be making the day fun, special, and educational! Please be sure to keep the candy in the upcoming day out of their morning snack. Thanks for the help!

Popcorn Words

Yesterday I introduced the concept of "Popcorn Words" to the kids. There are 25 of these Kindergarten sight words. These words "pop" up often in books. The kids need to read them by the end of the year. I am sending home the list today. Please keep them in a safe spot and begin practicing them. Knowing how to spell these words is not a requirement but will help with early writing as well.

Calling all Doctors and Nurses

I would like to begin changing out our Dramatic play area from dress up/housekeeping to a Doctor's Office theme. I need some help with this. If you have any items that you think they would love to play with and you can spare, please send them in. I am looking for notepads, lab coats, ace bandages, stethoscopes, crutches, etc. They will love it!

Extra Change of Warm Clothing

Please be sure to send the kids to school with a new change of extra clothing. With the colder weather approaching very fast, I was finding that many kids still had summer clothing as their spare set. They should put their labeled, zip-lock bags in the bottom compartment of their cubby area. Thanks for your help.

Trees

The Hands On Nature topic today was about trees. The children listened to an informative puppet show, dressed me up like a tree, and enjoyed some activities outside between the raindrops.

Little Boy Blue

The children were busy working with their rhyming skills using the nursery rhyme Little Boy Blue today. After listening to the song, practicing the words using an overhead, and then making the book, the kids felt like readers and read to friends. We also made haystacks to eat out of chow mein noodles and butterscotch chips.

Foot Handshake