2005-2006 Room 302—Newsletter 3
September 16, 2005
Dear Families,
I hope you’re hearing good things about school. Our days are packed, and they seem to go by quickly.
In reading….
We’re learning how reading time should sound (pretty quiet) and look (people reading, or looking for books). We’re trying to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction every day. One thing effective readers do is make connections between their lives and what they read, and today we read awhile and then shared a connection we’d made. That will be something we’ll continue to do throughout the year.
In writing….
We’re working here, also, on what it should look like and sound like at writing time. For special project we all wrote birthday cards for Jordan L. and now each child is making a page in our class book called I Like Myself.
In math….
We learned a new game called Compare, and a similar game called Double Compare. The games are similar to War. Each player has a pile of cards (like playing cards), and they turn over one (Compare) or two (Double Compare) at a time. The player with the highest card (or highest total in Double Compare) says “Me” and then another round is played. The difference from War is that there is no winner—each player keeps his own cards. If you have a deck of playing cards, you could play these at home.
Some things worth repeating….
Snacks
Thanks to those who have sent them so far. If you haven’t, we’ve now got enough to last about a week, so you’ve got some time. I’ll let you know here if we get low again.
Volunteers
I welcome volunteers in the classroom, but we haven’t started yet. If you’re interested, let me know, either when you stop by, or by email, or call, or send a note. You can also sign up at Curriculum night. I have a sign-up sheet with times that I need people, and I’ll also have the necessary forms for you to fill out when you come to Curriculum Night.
Curriculum night / Back-to-School Night
On Thursday, September 22, 2005 we’ll have our annual night for Kindergarten, First, and Second grade parents and kids to meet at school, hear from teachers, and look around. We’ll all start together in the gym at 6:30. Your time with me will be about 30 minutes, so we really won’t have time to discuss individual students that night, but I’d love to talk with you any other time if you have questions about your child.
Email List
I have about ten families on my list so far. If you wrote to me and didn’t hear back, please write again. I’ll respond to your message if I get it. If you’d like to be on the list, please send me an email. Include your name and your child’s name so I can identify you.
Classroom Visits
Any time you’d like to visit, you’re welcome to do so. Just make sure to stop in at the office to sign in and get a Visitor sticker.
Take-home Folders
We have new folders this year. They’re red, and they’ll come home every Thursday (and back every Friday). We had 22 out of 23 back this week—I appreciate your help on this.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
Week of Monday September 12
Monday, September 12, 2005
We went to music and sang:
B-B-Bumblebee
Stung a man upon his knee
Stung a pig upon his snout
I declare that you are out
And whoever the bee landed on got stung and had to sit down.
We had an assembly with Eric Ode. He sang funny songs and one was about a skunk. And the skunk came out and went across the stage. It surprised us. It was funny. It was great!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
We got the Vowel Song poem. We colored it and put it in our binders.
We had a fire drill at lunch time. The alarm went off and we had to go outside to the baseball field. Then we went back in and finished lunch, and we didn’t get very much time for eating.
We went to the library and got books to take home until next Monday. Mrs. Yonkers read us a book called Don’t Spit on Your Shoes.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
We had Physical Education today. First we did sit-ups. Then we jogged around the gym in a big rectangle, and when the music stopped we had to stop where we were. Then we felt our necks to feel our pulse and it was beating really fast because our hearts were pumping really hard.
Later we tossed glow-in-the-dark balls to each other, and Mrs. Smith said that if we ever lose power, we could use those balls for light.
Then we got drinks and came back to class. We felt tired and hot and happy.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
We wrote in our journals. We each wrote different things, except for the special project people at Table 1. They made some beautiful pink pages of a book we’re making together called I Like Me.
At reading, we got out our book boxes and read. Then we sat in a circle and shared what we read.
Later we sat down by the calendar and we did calendar. We counted the money. We wrote on the number line and the tally chart to count the days of school. We sang the song of the days and the song of the months.
Friday, September 16, 2005
“I ran around outside on the gravel when it was recess time,” said Kayla. So did Donna, Shelby, Rien, Justyn, Jesse, Lukas, Savannah, Ashley, Cameron, Mckayla, and Travis.
“I played on the rings with Katie,” said Abby.
“Taylor and I played Freeze Tag,” said Taylor.
“I made a nest for the birds with Aubree,” said Jamie.
“I went to the library with Jasen and Jordan, and we listened to a book on tape with some other kids,” said Kaelyn.
At the end of the day, Noah lost his tooth!!!
We went to music and sang:
B-B-Bumblebee
Stung a man upon his knee
Stung a pig upon his snout
I declare that you are out
And whoever the bee landed on got stung and had to sit down.
We had an assembly with Eric Ode. He sang funny songs and one was about a skunk. And the skunk came out and went across the stage. It surprised us. It was funny. It was great!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
We got the Vowel Song poem. We colored it and put it in our binders.
We had a fire drill at lunch time. The alarm went off and we had to go outside to the baseball field. Then we went back in and finished lunch, and we didn’t get very much time for eating.
We went to the library and got books to take home until next Monday. Mrs. Yonkers read us a book called Don’t Spit on Your Shoes.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
We had Physical Education today. First we did sit-ups. Then we jogged around the gym in a big rectangle, and when the music stopped we had to stop where we were. Then we felt our necks to feel our pulse and it was beating really fast because our hearts were pumping really hard.
Later we tossed glow-in-the-dark balls to each other, and Mrs. Smith said that if we ever lose power, we could use those balls for light.
Then we got drinks and came back to class. We felt tired and hot and happy.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
We wrote in our journals. We each wrote different things, except for the special project people at Table 1. They made some beautiful pink pages of a book we’re making together called I Like Me.
At reading, we got out our book boxes and read. Then we sat in a circle and shared what we read.
Later we sat down by the calendar and we did calendar. We counted the money. We wrote on the number line and the tally chart to count the days of school. We sang the song of the days and the song of the months.
Friday, September 16, 2005
“I ran around outside on the gravel when it was recess time,” said Kayla. So did Donna, Shelby, Rien, Justyn, Jesse, Lukas, Savannah, Ashley, Cameron, Mckayla, and Travis.
“I played on the rings with Katie,” said Abby.
“Taylor and I played Freeze Tag,” said Taylor.
“I made a nest for the birds with Aubree,” said Jamie.
“I went to the library with Jasen and Jordan, and we listened to a book on tape with some other kids,” said Kaelyn.
At the end of the day, Noah lost his tooth!!!
