We Are Readers & Writers!

Wow! These kids are really proud of all the reading and writing they are doing. Today I introduced a recording sheet for them to use while they are reading. On this sheet they have a list of eight sight words that have been formally introduced. They were instructed to use their "Super Hero Reading Powers" to read to find these words and to record the ones they found. They loved it, especially since they were also introduced to clipboards as a new "cool tool" for learning in our classroom! Here are a few photos I snapped as the children were quietly working during Reading Workshop today:

Upcoming "Mindfulness" Seminar For Parents Hosted by the SCS PTO

On Tuesday evening, November 13, from 7:00-8:00 PM, Shelburne resident Marilyn Neagley will present a free seminar on mindfulness to all interested adult community members in the SCS Library. This presentation will be of particular interest to parents and care-givers of children at Shelburne Community School, where mindfulness training has recently been introduced and integrated into parts of the curriculum. The goal of this forum is to inform parents & care-givers of what's already going on in schools. Marilyn will introduce mindfulness to parents and show how mindfulness can look when introduced to a classroom. Then parents & care-givers can help reinforce the mindfulness exercises that the children are learning in the classroom. Marilyn is the Director of Talk About Wellness (www.talkaboutwellness.org) and co-editor of Educating from the Heart (www.marilynneagley.com). She has led three in-service trainings for SCS and has most recently presented at the Vermont School Counselors’ Conference and at the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children. This seminar is presented by the SCS PTO as part of its mission to strengthen the partnership between the home and the school. Marilyn’s presentations are sponsored by grants from the Ferguson Foundation and from Holly Bartlett Johnson of Wind Ridge Publishing. Free babysitting will be provided by the PTO. Please contact Alice Brown, 985-4918, if you have any questions.

New Classroom Restaurant

Welcome the to Journey Team Restaurant! May we take your order?

The children have been having fun incorporating reading and writing skills into this Choice Time Center. It's very popular as you can imagine!

What's New?

A new month means new topics and learning tools within our classroom. Please be sure to ask your child about our new writing center. The children have been invited during Writing Workshop to become authors and to begin writing their own books. You will probably see and hear some book making happening at home. I showed them how to create some very small books using one sheet of paper, scissors, and a stapler (limit of two staples per book:)! We read the story Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk which is about a mouse that secretly writes books and hides them in the library stacks for children to find. This book inspired the children to write little books of their own. We have created a display shelf for them to place their books. Very cute! Next week we will be working on choosing topics to write about and stretching words out to write the sounds they hear.

Class Photos

This is just a reminder that class photos will take place on Wednesday, November 7th. Our team's photo time is 8:30. This is also picture retake day if you wish for your child to have pictures retaken. Please email me if you are wishing for your child to do this so that I can make plans. Thank you!

Volunteers Needed on Thursday, Nov. 8th

Next Thursday and Friday the Vermont Symphany Orchestra will be at SCS for a K-2 presentation of the instruments. It is called the VSO Petting Zoo. Our team needs 8 "handlers" from 10:30-11:30 on Thursday. Please email me at ahazen@cssu.org if you are interested in coming in to help for that hour. I think "help" means being at one station to help the kids handle the instruments. I would like to get 4 volunteers from our classroom. Please let me know asap.

Journey Team Important Notice for October 31st

Journey Team Special Notice For October 31st • The Journey Team will be having a Pajama Day on Wednesday. Please remember to be sure that the children are dressed for the cooler weather. (Mrs. Kendrick’s class has P.E. on this day so it may be beneficial not to send them in footed pajamas as they will get very hot running around the gym.) • We will also be walking to the Pierson Library on Wednesday (weather permitting). We plan to leave at 12:45pm to go to enjoy a story or two with the Kate Bosley, the Children’s Librarian, at the Pierson Library. We plan to return by 2:15pm. • Please note that the children should not bring costumes to school to wear on Wednesday.

Confence Sign Up

This is just a reminder to be sure to go to our team webpage to sign up on my classroom wiki for a conference. The day is November 12th and it is approaching rapidly. If those times do not work, please email me and we can figure out another day/time.

Plans for October 31st

Halloween is almost here and I thought I'd jot a quick note about what our team does for this day. We plan to invite the children to have a pajama day. Please do not send costumes to school for this day. Our classroom will be having a special healthy morning snack together that is being coordinated by our room parent. I have asked that she contact only a few parents to help supply food and other items. Please do not send in candy for this special snack. We have all of the fun and food covered!:) I am also trying to coordinate a special walking field trip to the Pierson Library for a story or two in the afternoon but am playing phone tag with the librarian trying to make this happen as part of our Me and My Community unit.

What's happening this week?

Here is a quick breakdown of the academic topics that the students are studying this week. Reading: Being a Reading Problem Solver, We study books to grow ideas, and How to Read for Deeper Understanding. Writing: We are writing problem solvers, When you think you are done you have just begun, beginning book making. Math: Numeral formation, patterning. Social Studies Theme work: Me and My Community-What does a community do for its members? How can a community meet its members basic needs?

It's Workshop Time

This week the children have begun Reading and Writing Workshops. In each, there is a 10 minute mini-lesson that targets a whole group skill. Then the children independently read from their book boxes books that are "Just Right" books. They have many books that they have made and are now choosing books from within our classroom library. While they are book box reading, I am pulling small groups of children to work on target skills that each child is needing. These groups were formed based on data that I collected during the month of September from assessments. Some groups are working on alphabet letter and sound recognition, some on phonological/phonics skills, and others are beginning guided reading groups. I love this time of year! They are all blossoming so much!

Beaver Fever!

Today the children learned about the beavers and muskrats in Hands On Nature. They watched an interesting puppet show, worked in small groups to eat like beavers, and observed some beaver/muskrat pelts and skeleton skulls. Very cool! Be sure to ask your busy beaver about what s/he learned.

More Letters...

Creative Alphabet

Today the children enjoyed reading the story called Albert's Alphabet by Leslie Tryon. In this book, a principal wants the school carpenter to build an alphabet for the walking path on the school playground. Albert finds that he does not have enough materials and he very creatively used materials from within his workshop and outside to make the alphabet. After the story reading, the children had the opportunity to creatively make a couple of alphabet letters on their own using our large letter key cards. Here are a few of the letters that I photographed. The kids loved this activity! It sparked wonderful creative and cooperative skills.

Just FYI

Class Picture day will be November 7th. They will be doing picture retakes that day as well.

More Totally Terrific Child Photos

Key skill Practiced: Sentence Structure

Key Skill Practiced: Letter Formation

Key Skill Practiced: Sentence Structure

Key Skill Practiced: Letter formation

Totally Terrific Class

We are now finished honoring each of our classroom friends as a "Totally Terrific Child". This activity was a great way to get to know each child as a unique and interesting individual. It was also a great opportunity to beginning work in key phonological awareness and phonics skills. We worked on letter and sound recognition, letter formation, syllables, rhyming recognition and production, sight words, sentence structure, and beginning Writing Workshop routines. All of this was accomplished and some very important Kindergarten skills have been front loaded so that the children have been given a sneak peak at some of the skills we will be diving into more deeply in the coming months. The month of September was also spent gathering baseline assessment information on each child in literacy and math. Next week we will begin formal Reading and Writing Workshops. The children will also begin small group work in all academic areas which will ensure that all learning needs are met at the level where the children are at. You will also hear this called Differentiated Instruction. We are also beginning a new unit called "Me and My Community" next week in Social Studies. I have subscribed to a Scholastic newspaper for Kindergarten aged children called "Let's Find Out". When these come home, please reread it with your child. Try to have them read it to you using their "tracking fingers". (They can teach you about this!)

Imagination Playground

Our school is so lucky to once again be able to host the Imagination Playground. On Monday, the children got a chance to go for the first time. After a short discussion on expectations and the power of team work, our class build this structure using these cool building materials. VERY COOL!

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Today our class read the book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. It mentions how everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry around with them. When they are happy their bucket is filled with drops and when they are sad their bucket drips and can become empty. Bucket fillers are those people who do nice things for others. Bucket dippers are the opposite and they cause drips from others' buckets. It talks about how when you fill someone's bucket, you also fill your own because it makes you feel good to be kind to someone else. Ask your child if s/he has put drops in someone's bucket today.

Marble Jar Reward

They did it again! Our awesome class filled our classroom reward marble jar. To celebrate, they all enjoyed popsicles.