An amusing "Art Response"

The young artists were asked to respond to Rosseau's "The Sleeping Gypsy"...



Below is one response...

I would be nervous too...

No Roundup Tomorrow

While it is officially our week for Roundup, we are giving up our space so we can accommodate all the 1st -5th graders to pay tribute to Mr. Doi our retiring P.E. teacher.

Transitions in PE

Today was our last day with Mr. Doi, who is retiring.  The young athletes have enjoyed getting to know our new PE teacher, Mr. Studt.

Library Book Kudos

Every Room 2 student returned their library book this week.  According to Cynthia, we are the first class to accomplish this since the 2011-2012 school year.

As a reward Cynthia put out a selection of special books for us to check out.

Conferences

I am looking forward to seeing everyone for conferences beginning this afternoon and continuing next Monday and Tuesday.  Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1) Please be early.  There are a few times when I have many conferences back to back; one late family can have major ripple effects.

2) Feel free to confirm times.  I made a few mistakes on the "pre-conference questionnaire" that I sent home. Your conference time is what you signed up for (and what is on the board)

3) There is no childcare.  Conferences are usually a little easier when children are not here, but I would MUCH MUCH rather see you and your children than to have you miss a conference.

4) I plan to meet with each family for 25 minutes -- beginning on the hour or half hour, and ending 25 minutes later.

5) I spend the first, say, ten minutes going through academic and other things from my point of view and I try to leave the final 15 minutes to answer questions or discuss whatever is on your mind.

6) Some parents find it helpful to bring notes of questions or concerns.

7) Let me know whether you find the classroom blog helpful.  This is my first year without a regular paper newsletter.  I want to make sure nobody is left out by this.

Finally, lost and found has been moved to the front hall.  Please check for those missing coats and more. Everything left after Thanksgiving will be sent to charity.

Recess

Philippines fund raiser Friday at Roundup

Lola Conopio-Mora, a fourth grade student, and one of my former kindergarten students, will be holding a fundraising bake sale outside of Roundup on Friday.  Lola's family has close ties to the affected areas of the Philippines.  All proceeds will go to Mercy Corps and Our City of Ormoc foundation.  This should be a great opportunity to support a great cause while satisfying that sweet tooth!

Writers at work

Centers with volunteer Emily

Art Volunteer(s) needed Friday

I am hoping to pull off a cool art project on Friday, but I need a volunteer or two from about 8:50 to 10:30. Please let me know if you can help!!

This week

Here are a few highlights from the week before Thanksgiving...

We will be learning the words he and for
We will be focusing on the letter Ii (vowels are often tricky for the k set)
Our book for the week is A Bed for the Winter
Our Star of the Week is Mads
In math we are working on comparing lengths, subitizing*, and more...
We hope to do a Picasso "Hand and Flowers" art project on Friday
We will be learning about Thanksgiving in social studies
We will be brainstorming Thanksgiving words for writing.

Have a great week

* Yes it is a word, here is the definition from dictionary.com

su·bi·tize

/ˈsubɪˌtaɪz/ Show Spelled [soo-bi-tahyz] Show IPA

verb (used without object), su·bi·tized, su·bi·tiz·ing. Psychology .

to perceive at a glance the number of items presented, the limit for humans being about seven.

Conferences

There may have been a few mistakes on the Pre-Conference Parent Worksheet that I sent out.  Everyone is still scheduled for their original day and time.  If there is any confusion, check the calendar as you drop off or pick up your child, or shoot me an email!

Another performance at Roundup Tomorrow

Another Friday, another quickly scheduled performance...

Tomorrow, we will join all the kindergarten classes in reciting a poem for Friday Roundup.  We will be performing the following poem...

Veteran’s Day

  

Let’s take a moment

to say a thank you

to brave US veterans

for all that they do.

They serve our great country

whether peace or at war.

Their job is important –

we must not ignore

their bravery, courage

and so we must say…

thank you to them

and Happy Veteran’s Day!

Hopefully I will get a copy of this home with your child to practice.  Have your child ready to enter the auditorium at 7:50!

All kindergartners practicing poem

Our drinking fountain is fixed!

Clowns

Yesterday the young artists made clowns during their art class in room 1.  You can see their fine artwork hanging on the wires in the classroom.

Check your child's backpack / library books due

Check your child's red folder for a "pre-conference questionnaire".  This is a great way for me to know what is on your mind as you come in for conferences.  Please return as soon as possible.

Tomorrow is library day.  Don't forget those books! 

Photos of Auction Project (at last!)

Auction News from Morgan

Hopefully you have all heard about the upcoming Chapman School Auction (this Friday evening at the Crystal Ballroom). I wanted to let everyone know that our class made three pieces of art that will be included in the auction. We have a larger piece called Font-Tastic in the live auction and two smaller pieces in the silent auction. I've included the descriptions below and attached a couple of photographs so you can see how beautiful they are. If you haven't bought tickets but would like to attend, do it before November 13th when registration closes. https://chaps.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/2013ChapmanAuction/BUYTICKETS/tabid/489723/Default.aspx

Font-Tastic        
Combining the discovery of graphic design and photography with mastering penmanship, Mr. Melling's Kindergarten class produced a cyanotype-printed font. Each student created a negative by tracing and decorating a letter onto a piece of acetate, which we then printed using light sensitive paper in the sun. Dimensions 20"" x 28"", cyanotype on watercolor paper

Put a Leaf On It #1 by Mr. Melling's Class
Working in teams, students from Mr Melling's Kindergarten class selected and arranged locally collected leaves onto light sensitive paper to make traditional cyanotype prints. Each frame measures 16" x 20". This pair is made from ginkgo leaves and maple seed pods

Put a Leaf On It #2 by Mr. Melling's Class

Working in teams, students from Mr Melling's Kindergarten class selected and arranged locally collected leaves onto light sensitive paper to make traditional cyanotype prints. Each frame measures 16" x 20". This pair is made from pine needles and ornamental grasses.

This Week

Here are some themes for this week.

Learning about the letter Cc and linking it to the /k/ sound
Continuing to work on the words we, my, and like
Making a chart of "friend words".
Work on "position words" such as above, under, behind...
Work on "subitation" (one of my favorite words) meaning something like: instantly recognizing patterns of symbols, such as dots on a dice.
Reading "Bear Snores On" and learning about bears.

Our Star of the Week is Milo.

Don't forget -- library books are due by Thursday!!

Teen agers helping with books

Jonah (Dana's son) and Grey came by to help organize our many new books.  Thank you to everyone who contributed classroom books, both through the book fair, and through contributions to the the PTA.

Parachute at p.e.

Working on counting books

This week

We are already to the middle of a short week.  Here is what we are working on...

Learning the words my, we and like.
Focusing on the letter Pp.
Making our own counting books.
Reading Animal Babies in the Grassland.
Learning about Veteran's Day in Social Studies.

Our star of the week is Nate.

We had a slight snafu with our library books.  Many children did not get them home this week.  If you have one at home, be sure it gets back Thursday!

Thank you to the families who contributed glue, a hole punch and two soccer balls!!

Our volunteer calendar for November is somewhat empty.  We would love help during center time!

Don't forget, there is no school Friday, due to a teacher planning day, and there is no school Monday due to Veteran's Day.

Leveled readers coming home

Check your child's red folder (or backpack) for one or two leveled readers!

What a day!

We had a wonderful day today which included...

A successful and fun time on stage singing "Jamaica Farewell" and "This Little Light of Mine".

A visit from Evri Kwong, Issa's dad, in which we learned about Filippo Brunelleschi (the inventor of single point perspective) and Jackson Pollock.  Using their concepts, we made our own art.

Later we opened a box full of new books and read a few before working on math.

After lunch we broke out the November calendar, enjoyed choice time, and read with our third grade buddies.

We ended the day with a visit from younger siblings.

Art with Evri (Issa's dad)