September22, 2006

September 22, 2006

Dear Families,

Seasons and weather were discussed this week. We made lists of summer words, fall words, winter words, and spring words. These lists were written on seasonal symbols and hung in the hallway. We took an “end of summer” walk to look at the trees, flowers, grass, etc. (If the weather didn’t cooperate, we didn’t go on the walk.) We talked about how the trees are still full of green leaves. We noticed that some of the leaves are already turning colors, and some have even fallen off the trees. The kindergartners talked about how the trees change for each season. They made trees to show the four different seasons. The kindergartners enjoyed painting the trunks brown. Have them tell you about how the trees change for each season.

Last week the kindergarten students participated in the DIBELS Benchmark Assessment. We had several different people working with our students on this evaluation including Mr. Foster. (So if your student tells you that he/she had to work with Mr. Foster, that probably wasn’t a bad thing!) We will share these evaluations with you at your fall conference.
If your child practices writing numbers, their name, or the letters as we learn them at home, send that paper to school. We will give them a sticker for their work.

Next week we will be talking about the letters of the alphabet. We will learn how many letters there are, why we need letters, letters make different sounds, and what letters our names begin with. We will begin learning to write our first name the “kindergarten way.” We will also be reading and doing activities with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We will read other alphabet books and learn some alphabet songs. Next week’s sharing needs to be something that deals with the alphabet. This item can be a book, a puzzle, a game, an educational toy, etc.

An important date coming up is Tuesday, October 17th. We believe that this is school picture day. Watch for more information to be sent home soon! Another important date to remember is Thursday, October 5th. That is Family Math Night for kindergarten families. There will be NO SCHOOL for students on Friday, October 6th. Teachers get to attend meetings all day.

The kindergartners are hosting their annual bake sale on Thursday, October 19th. The money we raise will benefit Taylor Wauters. Each kindergartner is asked to provide AT LEAST 6 items to sell. Families could send more! The bake sale will take place in our room starting at 11:30. Kindergartners are able to buy bake sale items also. If you do not enjoy baking, prepackaged items are also wonderful sellers.

Please remember that each Monday the kindergartners get a new library book. If your child forgets to return the book that day, the teachers will try to get them to the library for a new book as soon as they can. It may NOT be the very day theirs is returned due to our busy schedule.

We hope your child is enjoying kindergarten. Things are going well! Have a great weekend!

Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, and Mrs. Herink