Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

After beginning the day with listening to The Cat in the Hat, the kids got to create their own hat to wear to our school assembly to honor Theodor Seuss Geisel. We began work on a bulletin board within our classroom inspired by the story called And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Two guest readers, Ms. Miller and Mr. Madden came in to read various favorite Seuss books. There was green eggs and ham for lunch. Fun stuff on this first day back!

Hello Over Vacation

I hope that everyone is enjoying this winter vacation. Finally, snow in the Champlain Valley! I also hope that everyone is staying healthy. Just before break many kids were home sick with a common illness that seemed to sweep across the classroom. I even got it and am thankful for some quiet time home to recuperate. I still do not have my voice back fully but am on the mend!

During the month of March, we are beginning a science unit called "Being a Scientist". If you are interested in coming in to do an experiment or discuss a job that you have that is in the science field, please let me know. The kids always love this unit.

Well, goodbye for now and I cannot wait for Dr. Seuss's birthday festivities at school on Tuesday!

Corking

The children had fun learning how to do a new knitting activity called Corking today. Thank you so much Nikki, Dana, and Jeanne for teaching us this craft. Please encourage your child to continue with his/her corking at home this weekend. Who knows, maybe you will want to cork too!

Spring Conferences

Our classroom conference sign up has been updated and is ready for everyone to sign up for a time to come in to discuss student progress. Simply go to www.scsvt.org, click on teams, then Journey Kindergarten, and finally find the page line on the left for our classroom conference sign up.

Thanks so much! Can't wait to talk about everyone's progress!

Zero the Hero

SCS Book Fair News

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to SCS next week. Our class will be going to preview the books on Monday morning. Our buying time is Friday 2/17 at 9:30. If you would like to send your child in with money to buy a book, please do so next week and we will send kids with money down with our team para on Friday. I would prefer for families to come buy books together with their children at the after school family night times. The after school hours will be Tuesday and Thursday from 3-8PM. If you cannot make any of those times, no problem. Just send your child to school on Friday with money. Happy reading!

Happy 100th Day of School

Hip, hip, hooray! It is the 100th day of Kindergarten. We celebrated by making these special crowns that helped the kids count to 100 by tens and ones. They also tried really hard to write 100 words from an activity that we call "Write Around the Room." The Hiyaku snack was really yummy and the kids worked together to count by hundreds to see how many pieces of food were in our trail mix...1900. Wow! This afternoon the kids will enjoy a special visit from our 100th day hero named "Zero the Hero". They will also begin learning how to work their way around a hundreds chart. All of this on Kindergarten concert day! What great workers!

News About the Kindergarten Concert

I am excited to announce we will be streaming, LIVE, our kindergarten program! A first at SCS!! Those not able to attend will be able to view the concert over the Internet! I am sending a note home today with the details. Check it out!

Healthy Choices Restaurant

Our classroom restaurant in now open. Thanks for the many donations. As of now, I think we are all set with items. If you have anything out of the ordinary that you think we may not have and the kids would enjoy, please consider donating it to our dramatic play area.

Calling All TP Rolls

We will be doing a craft in a few weeks that involves empty toilet paper rolls. Please send any that you may have in. Thanks.

Busy February

Please be sure to look at the list of upcoming dates to remember. I will outline a few in this post.

2/8 Kindergarten Concert at 9:00 AM in the gymnasium

2/8 100th day of school-We will be celebrating by having a day filled with fun math activities. We will also be making a special trail mix snack on that day together. Each child will be asked to bring in a small bag with 100 small food items to add to our special mix. More information will go home with the kids on Friday about this snack.

2/13-2/17 Book Fair week- We will have a preview time on 2/13. There are night hours that you can bring your child to. I actually prefer this over having you send money in. We will have a time as a class to send any children to the Book Fair that have money. That is TBA.

2/14 Valentine's Day Party- Please let me know via email (ahazen@cssu.org) if you might be able to send in one of the following items as I want to plan a special AM snack: muffins, juice boxes, napkins, fruit salad.

As you can see, February is a very busy month. We also have Ground Hog's Day and Presidents' Day to celebrate. For these many reasons, Rue and I have chosen to hold off on beginning our next science unit called "Being a Scientist". That will begin in March. Instead, we have begun a unit on Friendship. The kids have been listening to many books about friendship and have been role playing different scenarios about how to be a good friend. Be sure to ask your child about our new "Friendship is..." candy heart inspired bulletin board. I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.

Date to Remember

The SCS Kindergarten Concert for 2012 will be Wednesday, February 8th at 9:00 am. Mark your calendars for a fun event.

Classroom Work Update

Here is a breakdown of what your children have been learning recently:

Fundations: Uppercase letter formation and multisyllabic word work
Reader's Workshop: Guided Reading Groups have begun and the kids are working in groups based on reading levels. They are also continuing to work on independent and partner reading skills work incorporating use of taught reading strategies.
Writer's Workshop: Personal Narratives, sentence structure, adding details to writing pieces
Math: numeral writing 11-20, addition concepts, money (penny and nickel), many new math games for workplace use

Assessments in all academic areas are complete once again. I love checking in on the kids. Their progress at this time of year is impressive and it's always fun to form new work groups to get everyone to the next level!

Items Needed

Next week I will be on a mission to collect new items to make the dramatic play area of our classroom into a restaurant. If you have any of the following items at home and would like to donate them, please send them in. I am looking for the following:
aprons,oven mitts, table clothes, fake flowers and plastic vases, menus from different local restaurants, trays, place mats, etc. If you can think of anything else fun it would be appreciated. This will be a literacy and math center as well. I will be teaching the kids how to make lists by taking food and orders. They will learn how to identify coins as well as bill values. The cash register will be in full swing I am sure.


The Doctor's office in our classroom has been a blast for all of the kids to play in. They loved all of the unique items sent in. I will put the items aside for later use unless I hear back from you. I know many of the items families may need back. Please email me to make arrangements for getting them home.

A big thank you once again for helping to make our classroom such a fun place to be!

1,2 Buckle My Shoe

The kids have begun reading groups and are learning the first steps to becoming active readers. Today, we used this prereading activity to talk about keeping track of where they are in their reading. We call it 1-1 match and as the kids are reading at home, please cue them to use their fingers to track the text they are reading and to get their mouth ready for the next word. Please encourage your child to read 1,2 Buckle My shoe to you at home using the rebus pictures and the real text.

A Big Thank You

I want to thank you all for the generous holiday gifts. I know that I've told you before but I want to reiterate how much of a gift you already give me every day by sharing your wonderful children with me. Have a great, snowy weekend:)

A Peek at Work Time

As the kids were working today, I took a couple of photos so that you could see how dedicated they are to work time. Picture Perfect!

Active Readers

The kids are on the move and ready to continue learning how to be active readers and writers. The past two days we have reviewed the workshop processes and their brains are once again ready to continue learning to better themselves. Here are a few photos from today as they were "Reading Around the Room".

Winter Clothing

Snow is finally here is Shelburne. Please remember to have the kids wear boots, hats, mittens, and snow pants to school every day until further notice. They must also have an extra pair of shoes to change into to wear in the building. Thanks for your help!

Happy New Year

Hi everyone! I hope all is well with you and your family in the beginning of this new year. I can't wait to see the kids again tomorrow! Happy New Year!