Don’t I teach the cutest bunch of witches, Transformers, princesses, ever!

Many thanks to Mrs. Moustafa for purchasing the pails and goodies.  Thank you also to alll who donated Goodie Bags, pencils, glowstick items.  You are so generous.  The kids had a fantastic day!

Happy Halloween from our “house ” to yours!  Be safe tonight.

Another busy week in Kindergarten!  Our theme is still Halloween/Fall.

LETTERS-L  l   N  n

WORDS-Go  go   to

READING COMPREHENSION-Sequencing  This is a very important strategy when retelling or writing a story.  Things/events need to be in the correct order.  After reading a story, ask your child to retell  the story to you.  Characters should have names, stories have settings (where is the story taking place) and then the  events in the order in which they happened.

MATH-We will finish up our first Module in our Math curriculum.  We have been working with Counting and Cardinality ( the number of objects in a given set or objects).  Your child should be able to count, read and write numbers up to 30.  Practice at home.  Count as you are walking up steps, out to the car, down a hall, up the driveway, etc.  Any place, anytime…count!  Instead of a video game or watching tv, have them write the numbers while they are waiting for dinner.  Practice makes perfect.

Wednesday is Halloween!! We are very excited.  Students are to come to school in regular school clothes, costumes in a bag.  They will have lunch, a noon recess, back with me for about half of an hour and then I will help get them into costumes.  They will then go to Music from 12;55-1;40.  The All-School Parade will follow at 1:40 outside, around the track.  Parents are invited to watch the parade.  Bring your cameras!  We are very cute!!  Afterwards I will bring my kids back into the room to continue our day with some treats from our homeroom moms.

FRIDAY IS HALF DAY FOR STUDENTS-Dismissal will be at 11:45.

Enjoy tomorrow night with the cutest little pumpkins ever!!

Mrs. Smith

“Five Ethics of Life:

Listen-before you speak

Earn-before you spend

Think-before you act

Try-before you quit

Live-before you die”

Today we had a visit from Avery Pelty’s dad, Firefighter Pelty.  We learned a lot about fire prevention, what the parts of his uniform are called and things we should do as  family to keep safe.  We need to make sure that our houses have a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, and our families need an outside meeting place in case of a fire.  We also learned NOT to go back in for any toys or pets.  We’ll leave that job to the firefighters.  If we are in our bedrooms when a fire occurs, we can throw toys out of the window to let the firefighters know that someone is in that room.

Thank you firefighter Pelty for teaching us about fire safety, since October is Fire Prevention Month.

Here some pictures of Firefighter Pelty’s time with us.

Firefighter Pelty in his uniform                                              Mohamed and Abass putting on a “Junior uniform”

Mohamed Rhebi                                                              Mohamed Rhebi and Abbas Ouza

Avery putting on her pants                                                 Avery getting assistance from Dad

Avery and Dad                                                                              Thanks Firefighter Pelty!!

Math due Monday

You are getting a “Halloween Door Decoration” today!!  There was soooo much concentration and effort put into these creations.  Strengthening those hands with cutting is good for little hands and muscles.  I told them to ask permission before taping this to your front door or wallpaper or newly painted surfaces or…  You’re welcome.  🙂

Next week looks like  SPIDERS!

WORDS: Look  look  at

LETTERS:

READING: Monday-The Very Busy Spider  (for sequencing)

Tuesday- Diary of a Spider (Ask/Answer Questions)

Wednesday- Miss Spider’s Tea Party (Character Traits)

Thursday- Super Spiders (We’ll make a word web about spiders)

WRITING: We will focus on writing good sentences with our weekly words spelled correctly.  Please see former posts for weekly words.  All students should have these words (and weekly letters) mastered by now.  Create some of your own sentences and have your child write the sentence.

“Look at the spider.”     “I can look at the pumpkin.   “ I like to look at the  kitten.

Underlined words are all words that your child should know.

MATH:And one more    Give your child a number and then tell them “and then 1 more.”

“8  and then 1 more = ?”

FRIDAY-NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERGARTEN.  (PD for teachers)

“Sometimes you will never know the value 

of a moment

until it becomes

a memory.”

-Dr. Suess

Enjoy your weekend of moments.

Mrs. Smith

Thank you to Mr. Pelty for a generous donation of 15 pumpkins!

We have been working with pumpkins all week.  Here are a few pictures…

We had a great day at the Detroit Zoo!  Perfect weather and many of the animals seemed to appreciate the cooler temperatures and were out roaming.  I have been to the zoo so many times and have never seen the 2 rhinos so active.  The penguins are always a hit as they swim past at such speeds and the 3 new baby chicks were so tiny!  The giraffes, one of my favorites,  were enjoying lunch and sneaking the branch of leaves from the handler.  The seals and polar bears were enjoying the water, the flamingos looked beautiful in pink, and the snakes looked comfy in their “rooms.”

I think the most enjoyable showing was “Baby Jane,” the new chimp born mid-summer.  We got to see her mother cradling her, even Mom turning her back against the wind to shelter her baby.  we saw another mother carrying her baby too.

Such a wonderful day.  Thanks to all of the parent chaperones.  I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did with the kids.

Here are just a few quick pictures…

These 3 bears were rescued as cubs because their mother abandoned them.

Great apes

Seal

Brown Bear

Look closely and you can see Mom holding her teenager

Dad is close by napping.  Mom is holding Baby Jane.

Look very closely on Mom’s right side and you will see a very small hand.  That’s Baby Jane being sheltered from the wind by her Mom.

Mom carrying her teenager.  Check out the size of those feet!

We are so excited for tomorrow’s trip.  A few reminders…

Parent chaperones should meet at 9:00 am.  I’ll take attendance, talk about expectations, some things to look for, etc.  Then I’ll call in the parents and answer any final questions.

Parking for chaperones will be in the lot.  I will meet you where we enter the zoo.  You’ll see us!  Car pooling is suggested.

Bring a lunch.  Kids will be hungry early in the morning because they know food is with them.

Today I showed them pictures  of some of the animals.  We talked about different things to look for at the exhibits.  Please help them with discovering new facts about the animals.

Wear comfortable walking shoes and be prepared for weather.  This is Michigan, you know!

Upon arriving back at school, you may take your child home after checking in with me.  NO CHILDREN ARE DISMISSED FROM THE ZOO.  All must report back to school.  If your child is not going home early with you, they will be dismissed at regular dismissal time.

Thank you in advance for coming along on this trip.  Enjoy this time with your child.  These days are precious.

See you tomorrow.

Mrs. Smith

P.S.  Our caterpillar, Stripey, has spun his chrysalis.  Stripey is a Black Swallowtail.

Stripey                                                                               Stripey in his chrysalis

Stripey has a brother or sister, Oreo,  who just yesterday,  spun it’s chrysalis.

Oreo in it’s chrysalis

We were quite the Scientists making observations and comparisons with the two chrysalis.  Ask your Scientist about these two chrysalis.

Welcome cooler temperatures and beautiful colors!

We have a short week next week.  Thursday is our Zoo Field Trip.  Friday is half day for students.  (11:45 dismissal)

READING theme is PUMPKINS.  We will be Making Connections with our reading from other books, our lives, with other people, situations, etc.  We will also be working with Asking and Answering Questions.

LETTERS-  P  p

WORDS-Can  can      Question…”Can I carve a pumpkin?”

Answer…”Yes, I can carve a pumpkin.”

MATH-Working with 8 in different formations.  Also, writing number sentences.

“If I have 3 beans, how many more do I need to make 8?”

I will be doing Math Assessments with the students.

Get out and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

Mrs. Smith

“The same boiling water

that softens the potato,

also hardens the egg.

It’s about what you’re made of, 

not the circumstances.”

Today your child is bringing home 6 books that we have made in the past 2 weeks.  This takes a lot of time and there are so many skills involved with these creations.  PLEASE have your child take out the books and have them read to you.  Notice capital letters at the beginning of each sentence, spaces between words, and periods at the end of each sentence.   The books are also more than 2 pages in length too! I can honestly say that I do not know of another Kindergarten class that has written 6 books at this early time of the school year.  I am very proud of my students and their accomplishments.