Mrs. Edwards' Class

Wow! Have things been crazy? This is, by far, the longest I have gone between blogs yet! Sorry for that. I know some of you really count on this to keep up with classroom happenings.
Anyway,you can imagine that with so much craziness keeping me away from the blog, there is also a lot to report in the blog.
We have been very busy in the classroom the last few weeks.
Social Studies: We have finished our unit on Antarctica and are almost finished with Asia. We learned a little about Chinese New Year and the extended day class even got to build a Dragon. We have been reading a lot of stories that come from that part of the world and have learned some of their culture. We also have spent considerable time learning about some of our presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, in conjunction with President’s Day. This month was also Arizona’s birthday, so we spent some time on that as well. As you can see, a very busy month.
Science: We have been watching our chicken eggs very closely. We should have hatching this coming Tuesday. We are very excited to see that!
Spalding: We have now learned a total of 60 phonograms! Only ten more to go! The children are very excited to point out our multiple letter phonograms when they encounter them in reading and writing. We have been learning about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. We have also been adding the ending “-ing” to various words. We now have been introduced to homographs, which are words that look the same but are said differently (live, live; read, read). We can compose 4 different types of sentences and know which punctuation to use for each. All the children are making astounding progress at sounding out words. Many are reading sentences or even whole books independently.
Singapore Math: We have been exploring the meaning of place value as it relates to tens and ones. Now we are learning about number bonds (fact families). This is laying the groundwork for addition and subtraction very soon. We have also introduced some money concepts as they relate to the presidents (Washington on the quarter and dollar, Lincoln on the penny, etc.) and some of the relative values.
Art: Your children are doing an amazing job with the Art Masterpiece program. So far, they have learned about Van Gogh and Monet. I am excited to show you their beautiful artwork when you come for conferences next month.
Next month we have a lot to fit into our short time (Spring Break). We will be learning about plants and plant growth in Science and about Australia in Social Studies. We will begin our study of the 7th Habit: Sharpen the Saw (this means to take care of all parts of ourselves; body, mind, spirit, etc. and to seek balance). Spalding will continue to progress in phonograms and their use in reading and writing, as well as parts of speech, adding endings, and past tense. In Math we will be practicing addition and subtraction.
Please know how much I appreciate each of you and your amazing child(ren)! I count myself as truly blessed to know you and your families. I am looking forward to seeing all of you at conferences next month. Don’t forget to send me your time preferences!
Thanks!!!
Mrs. Edwards

I am so excited about where we are in Kindergarten right now. I mean, we should all know how important a strong foundation is for any structure, and it has been on that foundation that we have been focused before now. But now we are ready to move forward in a big way, and are finally starting to have visible results!

This month we have been learning about Antarctica and it’s plants and animals (especially penguins.) The children have been really enjoying it. The rest of the month we will be adding magnetism and the Wright brothers to the mix and learning about Synergizing.
We also have been doing some work on our poetry journals and have set new eggs in our incubator for hatching. I want to send out a huge Thank-You to the parent who donated a new fan kit to circulate the warm air within the incubator and to Mr. Eyre (second grade) for lending us his automatic egg-turner. These items should help us achieve far greater success with this attempt.
As before, if your name is not on the list for adopting a chick, and you want to, please notify me. We will do our best to have enough hatch to accommodate all who want one, but this is really nature’s call.

In Math we have just finished the first textbook and are starting the second on Tuesday. The students are all very excited!
We also have just begun writing spelling words in our Spalding spelling notebooks this last week. It was a momentous occasion! The students are excited about this, as well. Maybe too excited, as I have had difficulty in keeping them calm during this process.

I mentioned in the email to each of you that we will be sending home specific homework assignments starting this week and that we want the work returned the next day. This is for several reasons: first and foremost, it helps the students retain what we are teaching as it secures it into long-term memory; second, it gives the students opportunities to practice the skills that we expect them to perform in school; third, it shows them the importance of what we are teaching and reinforces that you, the parents, also feel it is important to do their best work; and fourth, it keeps you in the loop about what we are doing in class. There are even more reasons, but I cannot possibly enumerate them all here, so for now, that list will do.
Tuesday and Wednesday the students will have a list (different each day) of words they need to practice (2x each) before writing them in our spelling notebooks. We will be practicing them at school as well, however, they can all use more practice to improve penmanship. The key factors we are looking for are:
1. all letters are formed precisely and correctly, including pencil grip (see Spalding Parent Guide for specific instructions, this can be found at the Curriculum Resources link on the main ALA page.)
2. all letters sit right on the baseline (bottom line on which we write), not “floating” above or “sinking” below
3. all letters are the same relative size (fit on the same-sized clock), short letters are short, tall letters are tall
4. there is appropriate spacing, i.e. one-letter space between syllables, about one inch between the word and any rule notation (see below)
After writing each word, the markings need to be applied. The markings are designed to be visual cues to the students to help them learn to read the words and spell them automatically. Some of the markings include:
1. small numbers over a phonogram to indicate which of that phonogram’s sounds is used in that instance (only used with phonograms that have more than one sound, and almost never for the first sound the phonogram makes)
2. underlining of multiple-letter phonograms to indicate that that letter combination makes only one sound all together
3. underlining of any vowel that occurs at the end of a syllable, indicating it makes it’s second sound (or says its name), this is also accompanied by a “r. 4″ placed about an inch away on the same line
4. any rules that apply to that word are noted with a “r.” and the rule’s number about an inch away from the word on the same line and never going over into the next column (not all the rules we learn get noted in the book)
5. as mentioned above, syllables are separated by a small one-letter sized space
6. Silent final “e”s are underlined twice and typically will have a small number placed next to the line that indicates which job it takes
Please don’t stress about this or try to memorize this list. The markings will be on the words we ask the children to write, you will only have to help them duplicate them. I listed these here so that you could learn why we mark them this way.
As with any and all of our curriculum, we encourage you to find out as much as you can about Spalding and its peculiarities, so that you can be the most help to your students. I will be happy to answer all your questions at any time. I am not trying to give you all that you will ever need to know here and now, only what I think you most need to know for the immediate time. More will come as we progress. (Remember that the teachers were in class for this for 2 weeks.)

There will also be leadership homework and Math coming home, but those should be pretty self-explanatory.
As always we want you to keep reading with your children, letting them slowly take over more and more of the reading themselves, and lasting at least 20 minutes per night. And we always appreciate you reinforcing the other work we are doing by seizing opportunities and learning moments as they occur. I will continue to send home the “Week at a Glance” forms so you can know what we are working on. Please feel free to ask questions about those if you have them. Sometimes they can be a little oblique, I know, but I am happy to explain any of my abbreviations or notations to anyone.

We have a lot happening in our classroom and welcome any of you anytime! I am so thrilled when you come into the class to help out! We really welcome your input and efforts. Even with what might seem small things to you, it makes a big difference to us! I would love to train several of you to help us with some of the assessments we do and to help with small groups. If any of you are interested in that, PLEASE contact me. We would love to have you!

Don’t forget the 100th Day of School Celebration coming up, as well as the spring carnival. We need to be collecting donated items for our baskets continuously from now til then to earn money for a super field trip this spring. Please believe me, that we will take any donation and find a way to make it work. (Okay, let’s be reasonable, there are some things that would just be inappropriate. Please do not feel the need to challenge me on that. ) I want to put together some baskets that people really want to bid on. Thanks!!!

Excitement truly is in the air!!! Thank you all so much for all you do!
Sincerely,
The luckiest teacher ever,
Mrs. Edwards

How can one week seem so long and go so fast at the same time?

Was that concert amazing or what? I want to personally thank each of you for allowing your children to share in that experience with us! There are precious few things that bring the holiday spirit to me faster than the sound of children’s voices singing Christmas music. Another thank you to all who brought (or who were willing to bring) the goodies to share with all of us. The entire night was a huge success!!! (I still have some dishes in my classroom for those who left theirs behind.)

This last week we have been continuing our work learning about Europe, seasons and weather. We also have been learning about measuring length in Math and lots of grammar in Spalding. The kids are even starting to read words using the phonograms they have learned. Of course, many of you have noticed this at home already!
This week we will be continuing to practice these skills and doing assessments to wrap up this grading period. Few new concepts will be added, as we are preparing for report cards and trying to retain as much as possible over the break. Some of the new content includes measuring weight and using “and” in sentences. These concepts, and the others we have been working on, will be reinforced upon return.

As mentioned last week, the children have been working on memorizing a Mother Goose rhyme. However, I have yet to send out their assignments. Please be patient with me as I get these out to you. (We have been very busy with the Christmas program and assessments.) The students will have over the break to work on these and will need to be ready to recite them on Monday when they return. They may bring any props they wish for this presentation.

We have begun to get some of the items turned in for Santa’s Helpers. Thank you to all who took tags for this endeavor. There are still several tags left for others who want to participate. Please know that, if you cannot provide an entire outfit or complete stocking, for example, but would still like to participate, you may bring whatever you can do. These families do not have any expectations. They are in very difficult situations and will be ecstatic with whatever we can help them with. If you would rather provide a gift card with which they may buy their own things, that is possibly even preferable to doing the shopping for them. Thank you so much for your help with this!!!

Please remember that this Friday will be on Early Release Schedule. That means 8-10am for AM Kinder and 11-1pm for PM Kinder. (Extended day begins at 10 and will continue, as normal, until 1.) This day has been set aside by the school as a special Pajama, Popcorn, and Polar Express day. The children may wear their modest pajamas and come to enjoy the movie and popcorn.
Because of this. the Kindergarten has decided to have our Holiday Celebration on Thursday, the 17th. It will be very similar in structure to the Fall Festival we held in Oct. The children will have several fun, holiday activities to participate in, including a special storytime, some craft activities, and the Dreidle game. Of course, we will need some parental help with this. We need volunteers to bring some sugar cookies and decorations for them (just as before, perhaps a holiday shape). Some juice boxes would also be nice, but are not critical. We also need help with gingerbread, 40 gingerbread stars (of varying sizes – I have the patterns) to be precise. These will become gingerbread Christmas trees that will be delivered to Mr. Sinclair and other important ALA staff members.  We will need decorations for that as well: frosting, small candies, etc. And, of course, we need extra hands and eyes for this very busy day!!! Please let me know what you are able to help with. Remember that time you spend at home counts toward your volunteer hours for the year, and the year is halfway over! (and don’t forget to log the hours you put in with the office.)

Homework:
1. READ
2. DISCUSS
3. PRACTICE phonograms.
4. Measure things around the house with other everyday objects. Weigh things on various scales (ie bathroom scale, kitchen scale, produce scale, etc.) Make comparisons as to weight (heavier, lighter, etc.).
5. Estimate. Ask your child to guess how many, how long, how tall, how heavy, etc. This is an important math skill that does not often get enough attention. Help them lose their fear of “getting it wrong” and help them to know that it’s okay to guess.
6. Work on memorizing the Mother Goose rhyme.
7. Practice handwriting using the verbal cues on the Spalding Parent Guide.
8. Notice and discuss changes in the weather. Watch weather reports together and use weather words.

Over the break I will be sending home the Math Textbooks. Please look through these and fill in all the blanks up to our current chapter (Unit 9). I also will be sending home some practice sheets for handwriting. Please do these over time, not all in one session, and don’t forget to have them say the cues to themselves as they write. I will send reminders about these again next week. Thanks!

I just gotta say again that you guys are awesome! Thanks for all you do!!!
Mrs. Edwards

WOW! Do I keep saying that? Every week these kids amaze me more! What a fantastic week!
As mentioned in the email, we did our first Spalding spelling test this week. Some of you have asked if I had sent home the words to practice. No, you didn’t just miss that. We wanted to see where the kids were in applying their knowledge of the phonograms. We did not want this one to be about memorizing words. In the future we will send the words home for study, but that wasn’t the intent of this assessment. As I said before, THEY DID AN AMAZING JOB!
In Math we have begun measurement and the kids are doing pretty well with it. One thing it has brought up though, is that several of them have not quite mastered one to one correspondence. Which means, they do not always count each object once and only once. I would really appreciate some help at home with practice of this very important concept. (See homework.) This will be part of the assessments taken this week and I will send home extra practice for those who are struggling, but it never hurts for everyone to get more.
In Social Studies we are learning about Europe this month. Ask your kids about the London Bridge and King Midas.
In Science we are going into more depth with the seasons and weather. Ask about some of the new words we have learned, like temperature, fog, hail, and air pressure. They should also be able to tell you what kind of weather to expect in each season.
Our poetry work this week, and next, centers on Cinquains. These are 5 lined poems that follow a special pattern. Each class wrote one together and next week they will each write one individually. These will be written in their Poetry Journals to bring home when we are done. I will also be selecting a Mother Goose rhyme for each of the students to begin memorizing. If you have a preference, please let me know. Otherwise, I will select one for them. I will be doing my best to match rhyme to ability level. This will be a big part of their memorization grade on the next report card.
The children have been working very hard on the music they will be presenting Tuesday night at the Program. They are very excited to share it with you! Please come out and enjoy a great time with your children, celebrating this wonderful holiday together. If any of you have video recording devices, that would also be appreciated. Besides the joy of reliving the moments, we have one mom who will be delivering a new baby at the time and will not be able to attend.
The Santa’s Helpers effort will be going strong starting Monday. The bulletin board with all the information and how you can help will be in the hall between my classroom and Mrs. Lane’s. There will also be collection boxes there. Even if you cannot help with a gift tag, we are also collecting gift cards and household items for the families.
Our school book fair was a gigantic success. (Something I especially appreciate, seeing as I was the faculty adviser for the event.) As a class, we received many books from our wish list. THANK YOU to all who donated these!

Homework:
1. READ
2. DISCUSS
3. PRACTICE phonograms, reading and writing them. Use the Spalding Parent Guide found on the Curriculum Resources link for specific instructions on how to form the letters and say the phonograms.
4. Write a letter or card to someone.
5. Count objects using 1:1 correspondence. Have them put a finger on the items being counted and move it to the next, one at a time, while counting.
6. Measure using non-standard measurements. Take an item, any item (shoe, book, toy, etc.) and use it to see how long or tall something is (i.e. 3 shoes long, 5 books tall, etc.).
7. Learn something about a country in Europe to share with the class.
8. Choose and begin memorizing a Mother Goose rhyme.

Thank you all so much for everything! I know I say that every week, but it is just not possible to say it too much! Thank you!
Mrs. Edwards

Well, it might not have all been farm work, but we have have been working hard, nonetheless! And the results are nothing less than amazing!

In Spalding we have been hard at work learning more 2 letter phonograms, reviewing nouns and verbs and learning about adjectives, new spelling rules, and new vocabulary.

In our Singapore Math we have been working on patterns:  identifying them and stating the “rule” (i.e. repeats after 2, etc.)

We have been continuing and extending our unit on Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, with a great tie in to Science with our field trip to pick vegetables on the farm.

All this week we also have been hard at work on our Class Book. Because of this, our poetry notebooks have temporarily been put on hold, to be picked back up the week after Thanksgiving.

Because next week is a very short one (only 2 days) we will be reviewing what we have already learned and completing units in Math and History.  We also will be enjoying a “feast” together and getting in more Christmas Program practice.

Homework:

1. READ

2. DISCUSS

3. ENJOY the holiday together!

Okay, let’s start with the announcements:
1.  Our class book is coming along nicely.  It will be absolutely  adorable!  I need to make a correction, however.  I was under  the impression, and told the children, that each of you would receive one book free.  I was mistaken.  The free book is the one made with the original pages.  Because it is a shared book, there will only be one of those.  If each family will return the order form, even if you do not order, the class will be given that book free.  But, if you want one of your own, you will need to order it.  Please return the order forms AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  Thank you for your understanding about this.

2. We have a field trip coming up this Thursday.  ALL classes will meet at 8:00am in the classrooms.  We will then organize and depart to Schnepf Farms.  There will be a tour of the farm, during which the children will be allowed to pick vegatables. After the tour we will eat our sack lunches before returning to the school.  We are anticipating returning to the school sometime around 1:30pm.  At that point you may return home, regardless of the time.  If you are unable to pick up children until the regular time, that it completely acceptable.  There is a cost of 7$ per person (including volunteers)for this trip.  Permission slips are coming home and will need to be returned with money immediately.  We also need 10 volunteers to help on that day.  We will not be able to accomodate siblings.  Let me know if you are able to help us with this.
3. The only response I received concerning adopting families for Christmas was overwhelmingly positive, so we have decided to go ahead with it.  We are now in the process of getting the information we need and deciding on a format for who does what.  Keep looking for more information; it will be coming soon!

4. I have been noticing that we have had several dress code violations lately and there have been some amendments to our policies regarding what we can wear to school, so I feel the need to address this here.  The problems we seem to be having are:  shorts or skirts/dresses that are too short, shirts with stripes, and wearing of denim pants/skirts.  Please review the Dress Code, which is found here on the ALA website.  Also, it is now permissible to wear jeans with the new ALA T-shirts, on Fridays ONLY.  You can purchase the shirts in the ALA office.

5. We will be having a Thanksgiving Feast for each class on Tuesday, November 24th.  I will be posting a sign-up for families to volunteer to bring different items to share for our feast.  If you would like to attend, please let me know so we can plan ahead to have enough food.  If you cannot get into the classroom to sign-up, but would like to help, please email me what you would like to bring and I will add you to the list.  We would like to offer some of the traditional items, plus anything that is special to your particular traditions and/or heritage.  We will also need paper goods and utensils.  Thanks!

6.  Don’t forget that we are also collecting food for needy families for Thanksgiving. Feel free to donate anything you would like to this cuse, however, we have been asked to particularly work on providing instant mashed potatoes.  Thank you to those who have already sent in donations.  We are still needing help in order to meet our goal of feeding
25 families.

7.  Our Book Fair is rapidly approaching.  This event is scheduled for December 2nd-4th.  In conjunction with this, we are taking monetary donations for our new school library.  This program is called One For Books.  We are asking for a donation of at least one dollar per student which will be used to purchase new books.  Whatever we raise in this way will be matched by Scholastic in a donation to charity organizations providing books to the less fortunate.  In addition, Scholastic will also give us 50 cents on the dollar to increase our purchasing power for the library.  We will also get points for purchasing more books for any purchases made during the Fair.  There will be an oppotunity to purchace for
yourselves (remember, Christmas is coming!) and to donate to the classroom libraries (there will be a teacher’s wishlist per class).

I’m sure there are other things that need to be said here that I am forgetting right now. But these will have to do and I will update the rest as I remember them.  Please continue to ask questions as you have been.  You are helping me out a lot, keeping me on my toes.  Most of the time you will not be the only one that needs the answer.

Getting on to what we have been and are about to be doing:
Spalding:  We have added 4 new phonograms “oo”, “ch”, “ou”, “ar”.  They are doing pretty well with these, but there has been some confusion and mispronunciation.  Please continue to work with your children on these and point them out in your reading together.  Next week’s will be easier (only one sound each) but the more we add, the more the children will need your support.

Math:  We just finished our unit on shapes and will start and complete a unit on patterns next week.  This will be review for most and so we will go through it very quickly.

History and Science:  We have now finished our unit on Native Americans, but will continue to reflect on them as they relate to our next unit: Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. We will pair this with more on plants and harvesting for Science.
We will also be continuing our Poetry Notebooks and finishing up our class books.

Homework:
1. READING
2. Discuss school happenings.
3. Practice phonograms.  Point them out wherever you see them (ie reading, license plates, billboards, advertisements, labels, letters, etc.).
4. Practice writing every chance you get.  Let them figure out how to spell words using the phonograms we have learned.
5. Practice separating words into syllables.
6. Make patterns around the house (ie setting the table: fork, knife, spoon; laundry: red sock, red sock, blue sock, blue sock, etc.)
7. Review parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns.  Notice them in your reading.
8. Practice turning statements into questions and vice versa.  Point out question marks when you see them.

As always, I am loving every moment I get to teach your wonderful children!  Thank you all so much, for being who you are and letting me share that with you.

Sincerely, Mrs. Edwards

Well, we have officially entered the holiday season and, true to form, things are getting fast and furious!
Where to begin?
Veteran’s Day: Most of you probably know the the school is having a Veteran’s Day luncheon. If you have a friend or family member that is a Veteran (or actively serving) please bring them (or come with a picture for our wall) and enjoy an appreciation luncheon and program in their honor. This will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 10th, at 11am. In addition to the meal, I would love to have some veterans come in and share stories with our class to help us understand better the sacrifices made and why we honor our veterans this way. Please contact me if any of you know someone that could come and talk to us and enjoy this special day.
Fall Festival: Some have asked me about the Fall Festival on the calendar for today. Obviously, it did not happen. I just wanted to let you know that it has not been canceled, but postponed. We will be holding a winter event instead, during January. Each class/teacher will have a booth (I still need ideas and help)
and a themed basket for the silent auction. Someone has suggested a sports theme, which I think would be a lot of fun and very versatile to fill. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know. I’m not sure yet whether we will be doing one per class, or one per teacher. I’ll let you know.
Scholastic Book Orders: As I mentioned in an email earlier this week, we now have online ordering set up at the scholastic site. the URL is http://www.scholastic.com/clubsordering. Our class user name is MrsEdwardsKinder and the password is LetsRead. This will bring you right to our page where there are catalogs availabble for you to shop from. As I understand it, you order and pay online, then they ship your books to me just like usual, but our class gets all the credit. So, we not only get the customer rewards (points we earn through purchases that I can spend on classroom books) but we will also get a free book for each order placed online. Tell all your friends and family members to order, too. Books make great holiday gifts.
Book Fair: Speaking of holiday gifts, we are having a school-wide book fair from December 2-4. Wish lists for both students and teachers will be coming home when we get closer, but I wanted to let you know it was coming so you can plan and prepare for it. There will be other novelty items for sale as well. The first day will be primarily for student shopping, but parents, friends, relatives, etc. may come and shop for books anytime between 9 and 3 on those days. In conjunction with this, we are running a One For Books drive where we are trying to raise funds for our school library. We are hoping for at least a dollar per student to be donated, with a reward for the class with the highest donations. If you have multiple children attending, please let each donate in their own class. We will begin accepting donations this Monday.
Thanksgiving: Many of you have seen the flier that went home about the Food Drive for Thanksgiving. Kindergarten has been asked to help with Instant Mashed Potatoes. If you can and would like to donate, please do so! Bring your donations into class and we will deliver it to the office for collection. If you would rather donate something else (especially a turkey) you are more than welcome to do so. Just bring in those donations the same way. Also, please DO NOT feel obligated to donate! If, for any reason, you do not feel able or comfortable, do not worry. There is never an obligation.
Christmas: The last topic leads us into the next. I have always felt that compassion and empathy are important values to teach as young as we possibly can. I know some families that will not have a Christmas this year without some intervention by someone willing to help. I would like to donate a couple of small families that could use this help. What I am envisioning is that any who are willing and able can sign up to donate either a stocking or a gift for a particular person in these families. I will get bios from them to assist in choosing an appropriate gift. I would also like to provide a household kit per family and some hygiene kits for each person. If this is something that you would be willing to do, please contact me so that we may begin the process of collecting data and preparing the sign-up sheets (or gift tags, or some other way to sign-up). Don’t worry about young believers. I have already explained to them about the elves I know and how they have asked me to see if we can help them (because, even though they worked hard all year, they are afraid they won’t have enough for everybody, and everybody deserves a Christmas). So far the children are enthusiastic, but I told them that we need to know if the parents are able to help before we can say for sure. Just email me a “yes, we would like to help” or “no, we would prefer not to participate”. We will base the group decision on the total number of votes either way.
We also need to know if there are any of our kindergartners that are especially talented with music or dance that might like to perform at the Christmas Concert. We need just a few in-between acts to help us set the stage for the next group number. Please contact me with the information so I can pass it along. We are looking for a little dance number or a musical instrument, including piano.
Wow! Am I done with all that?
Our week was pretty interesting. We have learned a lot about Native Americans. We concentrated on those from our area here in the Southwest (primarily Hopi and their ancestors, the Anasazi) and then compared them with other groups like the Cherokee and Sioux from the Plains region. Thank you all so much for all your help with gather natural paint ingredients and paintbrushes. We had so much fun with that activity and we learned a lot. We definitely were using our higher order thinking skills for that one. And their art is beautiful, too. We will have it hanging up next week for all to see.
Our Spalding is moving right along again. We have now introduced “ow” and “th”. Next week we will have 4 more new phonograms. We have also moved on from nouns and verbs to adjectives (We’re still a little shaky on those. Good thing we plan to work on them for awhile.)
In Math we got through the 2D shapes and have introduced spheres, cylinders, cubes, cones, and rectangular solids. They are doing very well with these, but still need some help remembering their names.
Next week we will be wrapping up that unit and preparing to move on to patterns. I think we will be able to continue working pretty quickly through that unit as well, but we will play it by ear. At this point, I am considering each lesson individually. I can pretty much tell what concepts will be difficult or easy for them.
Next week will be a recap week for Science and Social Studies. We will be moving all the concepts introduced during the last couple of weeks into long-term memory, by reviewing and extending the material about North America, Native Americans, Fall/Autumn, weather, and plants.  We will also be digging into poetry a lot more and even writing a little.

Homework:
1. Please READ for at least 20 minutes each day. Log on November’s chart. Don’t forget to set a goal and write it in the upper corner. We are looking for progression here. Maybe you can color books you read to them in one color and the books they read to you in a different color.
2. Discuss topics covered in class and class happenings.

3. Notice and comment on 3 dimensional shapes in your environment.  Spheres, cylinders, cubes, cones, pyramids, and rectangular solids.

4. Look at maps together, especially of North America.  Point out the US, Canada, and Mexico.  Notice and point out features such as oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, etc.

5. Talk about Veterans and their service and sacrifice.

6. Continue to recognize Native American influence in the community.

7. Continue to practice phonograms and writing.

8. Use descriptive language.  Ask them to describe objects using adjectives.  Play games trying to use as many adjectives as possible to describe a single object. (i.e. not “dog”, but “small”, “brown”, “scruffy”, “hungry” dog)

Wow! What a week! Kinda crazy, but so much fun!
We had two special days for dressing up: picture day and our Halloween celebration. Everyone looked amazing and we had a great time. Thanks to all the help we had for both!

We learned a lot, too!
In Spalding, we began introducing new phonograms again. We learned “sh” and “ee” and also saw dramatic improvement in our WPR (Written Phonogram Review) results.
We started our poetry unit by exploring some familiar poems, and some written by other kindergartners, and by learning some of the characteristics of poetry (rhyme, rhythm, etc.) Next week we will be choosing poems to memorize and learning some new forms of poetry.

For Social Studies last week we learned more about the continent upon which we live. We talked about the animals, plants, and landmarks of North America. Next week we will be starting a unit on Native Americans.
In Science we focused on Fall and the weather we see during this season. We will continue to highlight the characteristics of Autumn as we progress through the season.

We began a new unit in Math last week that will continue through next week. It is about shapes, and will take us from the 2 dimensional shapes we all know to the 3D shapes that are less familiar to kindergartners. This will be done in such a natural way that the children will have no difficulty with the material. That is the beauty of Singapore Math!

Our Covey leadership studies have taken us into Habit 4: Think Win-Win. Last week we introduced a “Warm Fuzzies” jar into which we place a pom-pom for each example of our 3 Rs or 7 Habits that we bring to report on. There are special, “sparkly” pom-poms for when we recognize someone else’s positive behaviors (as opposed to our own).

Our Halloween celebration was non-stop fun. We began each class with a costume parade. From there the classes diverged as to the order in which the events came, but both participated in the Dia de los Muertos Fiesta, party games, storytime, and a craft project. Both classes also had music class. Despite the unbridled fun had by all, we managed to fit in at least some reinforcement of skills learned (in reading) and practice with fine motor skills, not to mention the history and geography they learned about Dia de los Muertos.

For homework this week:
1. Don’t forget READING 20 minutes. Remember that we start filling out a new log for November.
2. Talk together about what we are learning.
3. Work with your child on memorizing their poem.
4. Point out shapes, both 2D and 3D, in the environment.
5. Continue to practice phonograms together.
6. Give plenty of real opportunities to write. For example, have them make holiday cards for family members. Don’t forget to have them sign them.
7. Invite your child to participate in choosing his/her clothing with weather in mind. Discuss choices and reasons why the choices might or might not be appropriate.
8. Notice Native American influence in our community. Discuss whatever you know about their cultures and histories. Talk about legends in general, and any specific ones you know in particular.

You all are terrific! I can honestly say that I have never had such a great set of students and families as you all. Your children represent you, your families, and your homes very well!
Thank you for all your support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Edwards

I hope everyone had a great break! I know mine was nice, but busy! I sure missed all my students, especially during the second week when I was at the school for our Core Knowledge Training. Every time I came back to my empty, quiet classroom it just didn’t feel right.

Thank you all so much for coming to Parent Teacher Conferences! I have been able to meet with all but one of you, and the last is scheduled for next week. I so appreciate the effort to come out and take the time for the benefit of your children. I very much enjoyed the time we got to spend together and all the patience and support you showed during the process.

I have already shared with you during conferences about our week, so I won’t take the time right here. Suffice it to say that the children arrived back from break full of energy. We worked hard during the time we had, but the schedule changes due to conferences and such made things a little more difficult to get through this week. But we managed by staying flexible!

Before I forget, we had some class visitors this morning and I wanted to thank the Hepworths for bringing in their pet baby tortoises. The kids enjoyed that very much. If you have a pet that you would like to bring, please email me and we will make the arrangements.

Next week we will be focusing our study of the seasons on Fall and harvest time. Of course we will be doing a fun Halloween/Fall celebration on Friday. (We could use a lot of help for that, by the way. Sorry I did not get sign-up sheets out earlier!)

In Spalding we will be adding new phonograms again starting Monday. These will be 2-letter phonograms. Please continue to work with your children on the single-letter phonograms at home. I will try to get the 2-letter ones copied to send home as soon as possible.

We also will be starting our Poetry Notebooks next week and I hope to have them in reading groups next week or the following. (If you are interested in helping with that, please let me know so we can schedule it. Thanks!)

In our Singapore Math, we continue to take 2 lessons at a time so that we can spend more time on the stuff that is new to them (like measurement, time and money) when we get there.

For Homework this week:
1. Please continue reading at least 20 minutes a day. Start backing off a little and let your child read some of the high-frequency words or easily-decodable ones to you. (Reading charts are due back at the end of next week.)
2. Continue working with the phonograms. Point them out in your reading.
3. Invite your children to write as often as possible. Have them write letters to family/relatives, write captions for their artwork, and put writing into their pretend play (like making a menu for playing restaurant).
4. Count EVERYTHING! Forwards and backwards!!!
5. Share some of your favorite poetry with them and express why you like it, especially how it makes you feel!
6. Notice evidence of changing seasons together. This is especially important for us here in the valley, because we do not have such clearly defined seasons here (no orange and red leaves to rake up and jump into).

Thank you again for continuing to allow me to teach your angels! I continue to be amazed by each of them!
Mrs. Edwards

Can you believe that we are already a fourth of the way through the school year?

We have been very busy and have accomplished much.  I am so very pleased with the effort and the progress the children have shown so far and know that it will continue.

In this last week of school, in addition to our regular studies of phonograms, words, and numbers, we have been learning about maps, globes, and Columbus.

I will save the specifics for when you all come to meet with me for Parent/Teacher Conferences, which will be held on Wed. and Thur. of the week we return (Oct. 21st & 22nd).  Please plan to meet with me to go over your child’s report card and discuss his/her progress thus far.

When we return to school on the 19th there will be some recognizable changes.   First of all, we regret that we have lost our wonderful Instructional Assistant, Mrs. Lambeth.  We will miss her terribly, but wish her the best for her future endeavors.  Another IA has been hired and we are confident that, while she has big shoes to fill, she will do a tremendous job.  The good news is that she has already spent a great deal of time with us, helping out in the classrooms, so the transition should go very smoothly and the negative impact should be minimal.  I am pleased to let you know that the new IA is Jesi Edwards, my daughter.  (To minimize confusion, the children call her Miss Jesi.)

There will be several other changes happening as well, most far more minor, and many are meant to be surprises, but I am sure you will all be pleased.  Because we are Kindergarten, we have spent much of the first quarter figuring out where each student is and laying the groundwork for future learning.  From here out we maximize on that foundation and really deepen and broaden our instruction.  I believe that you will be amazed at how quickly all these components will come together and produce incredible results.

A couple of specific things I can tell you is that we will be beginning our work on a poetry notebook, breaking into smaller groups for math and reading instruction, and even publishing our own class book (one each for AM & PM).  To facilitate these, we will continue to need your help and support, even more than ever.  I so appreciate all the help you have already given, but will be asking for more in order to give your children the best learning opportunities we can.  In particular, I need volunteers to help 2 or 3 times per week to lead a math or reading group(does not need to be the same person each time, even if you can only help once or twice and not every week, that’s okay, do not hesitate to sign up).

I hope all of you are already enjoying your Fall Break.  It gives us a great opportunity to “Sharpen the Saw” and renew ourselves for the next push forward.  Many of the children have shared with me their plans for wonderful activities over the 2 weeks not in school.  I wish you all fun and happiness, and above all, safety and health.

While you are enjoying yourselves these next two weeks, do not forget to read with your children, talk with them (as opposed to talking only to them), play games, and practice the many skills they have been working on in school.  Help them to know that you value their education and that learning can be, and is, fun.

My sincerest thanks,

Mrs. Edwards

PS I look forward to seeing you each in a conference.  PLEASE schedule a time to meet with me!