March 30, 2007

March 30, 2007

Dear Families,

We have enjoyed working on the letter Xx this week. (Can you believe that we have only 1 letter left to learn?) The kindergartners made x-ray books and read the booklet Pug. The numbers 0 - 30 were reviewed. We learned one new word this week, he. This week we worked more on the short e sound. Centers included tangrams, a coloring activity, butterflies, working with Smarties, legos, and music on a tape.

Next week we will finish learning about the letters in the alphabet. There will be no sharing next week since there are only 3 days of school! After Zz week, sharing will be free choice for the rest of the year.

Report cards went home today. Conferences are not scheduled for this quarter. If you have a question or concern about your child’s report card, you are welcome to set up a conference.

Next Wednesday, April 4th, the students get out 1 hour early. Students do not have school on Thursday, April 5th or Friday, April 6th, or Monday, April 9th.

Grandparent’s Day has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 9th and Thursday, May 10th. Grandparents or special adult friends are invited for a short program and delicious snacks. Grandparents may come either of those days. Families can schedule one set to come one day, and one set to come another day. Both sets of grandparents may come on the same day. Official invitations will go home later.

Please help your child get his/her library book here on Mondays. It is harder to get new books on Tuesdays because the teachers are busy working with the students.

Remember, it is always a good idea to have an extra shirt, pair of pants, and underwear in the backpack or in a sack that is kept in the cubby. Boys and girls dump milk on their clothes, fall in the mud, and have bathroom accidents. If your child does have a problem here at school and needs different clothes, we do have extras. These borrowed pieces of clothing need to be washed and returned as soon as possible!

Since the weather can be so inconsistent during the spring, it is hard to know how to dress children for school. It is fine to put cooler or warmer clothing in their bags and have them change if necessary. Please send jackets or sweatshirts to school. When we go out for a morning recess the temperature tends be cooler. If it is warm enough to go outside without coats, then coats are left in cubbies.

Have an exciting weekend!

Ms. Howard, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Herink, and Mrs. Pokorny
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May Dates to Remember
April 23 - 27 - Round Up! Kindergartners have the week off.
May 9th and 10th - Grandparent’s Day
May 29 - Last day of school (for now!)

March 23, 2007

March 23, 2007

Dear Families,

This week we were busy learning about the letter Bb. The kindergartners talked about what they would like to do when they get bigger. We also learned about bears and made Bb booklets. We read two more booklets: Tom is Sick and Fun in the Sun. The kindergartners learned the word for. On Thursday morning we went down to Farmers Savings Bank and learned about all of the different types of banking jobs. Centers included making balloon booklets, bead bracelets, bingo, journaling, building with mega blocks and Lincoln Logs, and the dramatic play house.

Check with your child on the condition of his/her glue stick and crayons. Many need replacing, and we have very few borrowing glue sticks left!

Our brief spring break will be around the Easter holiday. Students will be dismissed ONE HOUR EARLY ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH. There will be no school for students on Thursday, April 5th. (The teachers get to have meetings that day.) Spring break continues on Friday, April 6th and Monday, April 9th. We will return together on Tuesday April 10th. While home for spring break, boys and girls could practice reading, identifying pennies, dimes, and nickels and their values, counting by tens, and counting by fives.

We now have officially scheduled Grandparents/Guest Days on the calendar. The dates are Wednesday, May 9th and Thursday, May 10th. Kindergartners may invite their grandparents to school during the afternoon on one of those days for a short program and refreshments. If your kindergartner does not have a grandparent that can attend, then any grown up guest will be fine. More information and official invitations will be sent home later.

On Tuesday the kindergartners got to attend a really fun assembly in the MPR. The assembly was called “Rock In Prevention.” The message that the leader and the high school mentors gave us was that we are wonderful people, and we should stay away from alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. We sang many songs. Each kindergartner received a cd with the the songs that we sang together.

Wednesday, March 21st was the end of the third quarter of school. It is hard to believe that there is only one quarter left! We continued to work on report card jobs. Report cards will come home on Friday, March 30th.

Next week we learn about the letter Xx. Not many items start with Xx so sharing is free choice.

Have an beautiful weekend!

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

March 16, 2007

March 16, 2007

Dear Families,

We had a great week learning about the letter Gg! (However, we are grateful it is gone!!!) We read and learned about St. Patrick’s Day. Mary McLean, one of our school’s secretaries, read the book called Mary McLean and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to us. The kindergartners learned the word go and read the booklet Nap in a Lap. We finally officially learned the sound for Ee. The boys and girls had a great time reading and acting out the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The students made Gg booklets. Centers included working with gummy bears, journal work, word bingo, guessing the amounts of items in jars, geoboards, and the Pizza Palace.

Please be aware that we have had 2 more cases of pink eye in the classroom. The nurse will check any child that has red itchy eyes that hurt or have gunk on them. Families will be called if she suspects pink eye.

The third quarter will end on Wednesday, March 21st. We have been working on evaluations for the report cards. Report cards are scheduled to go home on Friday, March 30th.

Next week we will begin learning about the letter Bb. Sharing for next week should be an item that starts with the letter Bb. We are working on going to a local bank next week.

Many families are wondering if snowpants and boots are still needed. We do need snowpants and boots when there is snow on the ground. We need boots if there is mud on the ground. If unsure, send the boots. We will have the students wear the boots if needed. If they do not need to wear the boots, then the boots just stay on the red rug. That is not a problem.

Families may still send in stuffed animals to be donated to children that have to stay in the hospital.

We hope you have a good weekend!!!

Mrs. Herink
Ms. Howard
Mrs. Owens
Mrs. Pokorny

March 9, 2007

March 9, 2007

Dear Families,

We learned about the letter Kk. Two animals that we read about were kangaroos and koalas. The kindergartners learned that the letter combination ck is found at the end of words, and it has the same sound as k. It was fun reading stories with kings in them, pretending we were kings, and writing in our journals. Centers included letter evaluation, kites, a kite color word worksheet, word Bingo, journaling, and books.

Next week we will be learning about the letter Gg. For sharing children need to bring something that begins with a Gg. (Grandparents are welcome to be sharing. If the grandparent cannot be at school at 11:30 during our regular sharing time, please call one of the teachers and set up a time that is good for everyone. Later on, usually in May, we will be having a Grandparent’s Day so if the grandparent isn’t available next week, don’t worry!)

The Fine Arts Festival is a wonderful event that features special projects produced by students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The Fine Arts Festival will be held on Thursday, March 15th from 6:30 - 9:00. The Fine Arts Festival is held in the multi-purpose room, the lunchroom, and the gym. There’s more information about the Fine Art’s Festival in the Elementary Newsletter that was sent home earlier.

Soon this 3rd nine weeks will be over. We have been working hard on evaluating the students for their report cards. Some of the skills that you can practice at home are counting to 75, identifying numbers through 25, counting items to a specific number up to 25 correctly, identifying left and right, the days of the week, the months of the year, addresses and phone numbers, recognizing the letters learned so far, recognizing rhyming words, identifying pennies, nickels, and dimes and their values, counting to 100 by tens and fives, and associating the sounds to the consonants learned so far.

The Iowa winter weather is so unpredictable! Boots are still a good idea because our kindergartners are known to find the mud. Their shoes and our room’s floor stay cleaner when the kindergartners wear their boots. The boys and girls that do not bring boots are required to stay off the grass and out of the snow and mud.

Do you have an abundance of stuffed animals at your house? The 5th Annual Melissa Babinat Memorial Stuffed Animal Drive is happening during the month of March. Families may donate stuffed animals by bringing them to school. The stuffed animals are then donated to a children’s hospital. The North Tama National Honor Society is sponsoring this event.

Have a great weekend!

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