This week in kindergarten

I hope everyone had a wonderful break.  The students enjoyed writing and talking about their big and little adventures.

The students did an amazing job yesterday during our difficult afternoon transition.  Please feel free to catch me if you have any questions or concerns.

Our big change this week is moving to a "walk to read" model of teaching reading.  Many students are going to different classrooms during our reading time (formerly our center time).  In each classroom the teaching will be more closely aligned with students reading levels.

In math, we have been moving into concepts of addition, subtraction and "number sentences".  A number sentence is another word for an equation, e.g. 2+4=6.  We are working to make sense of the different symbols and how they work with numbers.

We are a little low on snacks right now.  Please think about us as you shop!

This weeks themes:
(This looks a lot like last week...)
Theme Book: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Letter study: Gg
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr, Dd, Kk,Ff, Oo, Hh, Ll
New words: one, two, three, four, five
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of, do, are that
Writing: Challenge Paper & details
Math: addition and subtraction and "number sentences"
Song: The Fox

have a great break

A few quick notes before break:

Several of you have asked about our Run for the Arts.  it looks as if we will be doing our Run for the Arts on April 11th, details TBD.

We were a little tired today.
  Hopefully everyone will return from break well rested

We are a little low on snacks -- think of us when shopping!!

Have a wonderful, adventurous, and restful break!

This week in kindergarten

We had a fantastic field trip to OMSI last week.  The students did a great job walking to the MAX, and being wonderful transit riders.  The OMSI exhibits were amazing-- the students especially enjoyed the Lego exhibit. For me the best part was seeing the students taking it all in.

Thank you to our volunteers.  Several of you signed up well in advance, and I roped some of you in at the last minute.  Altogether I felt that we were in very good hands.

Last week we also met twice with Morgan Konn, our Artist in Residence.  We have been doing a variety of art projects exploring shapes, patterns, cityscapes, symmetry, and other concepts.

On top of this, Mollie spent several days last week helping us start seeds for the Chapman school garden.

This week we will continue working on addition and on understanding the idea of number sentences (e.g. 3+2=5).  We started another week of centers based on Keriko Kasza's book My Lucky Day.  If all goes ads planned, we will spend much of Wednesday creating our own "sea creature" story problems.

This is our last week of school before Spring Break.  I hope all of you have a wonderful and restful break.

This weeks themes:
Theme Book: Goldilocks aand the Three Bears
Letter study: Gg
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr, Dd, Kk,Ff, Oo, Hh, Ll
New words: one, two, three, four, five
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of, do, are that
Writing: Challenge Paper & details
Math: addition and subtraction
Song: The Fox

This week in kindergarten

On Wednesday morning we will be performing at the Roundup Assembly.  We will be performing the folktale "Henny Penny".  I believe that there also will be coffee and time with Ms. Kruger and Ms Vanderwolf.


This week is classified appreciation week -- classified is edu-speak for almost everyone who supports us teachers.  Be sure to offer a word of thanks to Shari, Heather, and all the other amazing folks who are an enormous part of your child's time here at the Ramona.


This weeks themes:
Theme Book: My Lucky Day
Letter study: Ll
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr, Dd, Kk,Ff, Oo, Hh, Ll
New words: do, are that
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of
Writing: Challenge Paper & details
Math: addition and subtraction
Song: TBD

This week in kindergarten

First off -- I emailed this out yesterday!  If you are a parent of a child in my classroom and you did not receive this, this means that we no longer have your email.  I received notices of three failed emails yesterday!

This week is a busy week with our “Read Across America” theme days, our 100 Day celebration and our field trip to the Chapman main campus.  Read Across America week coincides with Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Thursday, and out themes this week go along with his books.

On Tuesday we will celebrate Green Eggs and Ham by wearing the color green to school.  Tuesday is our morning of Stories with Ms. Davis, Guidance with Ms. Cox, P.E. with Mr. Studt and music with Ms. Jetton.

On Wednesday we will celebrate Wacky Wednesday with clothes that are backwards, inside out or mismatched.  Wednesday morning is also an off-week small assembly.

On Thursday we will celebrate Dr. Seuss’ real birthday with the Cat in the Hat book and wearing cool hats.  Thursday, of course, is library day and share day.

Friday is a big day; Students can wear mismatched socks to celebrate Fox in Socks.  Students should bring in their 100 collections, and we will be touring different classrooms to check out every 100 collection.  Later we will board busses to go for our first visit to the Main Campus of Chapman School, and we will spend much of the day visiting the campus, enjoying some lunch and recess, and visiting with first grade and with our third grade reading buddies.

In between we will be plugging ahead with academics including more work on double digit number & coin values, the words that, are & do, and lots of writing and reading groups. 

I have started getting permission slips back for our March 16 field trip to OMSI.  Please let me know if you have not received a permission form.  We have a limited number of volunteer slots for this trip.

Thank you again to everyone who has brought food for snacks and who has volunteered in the classroom.  These needs are ongoing.

Don’t forget to check the blog often at http://mrmelling.blogspot.com/

Below are a few items from our wonderful room parent Sarah Groom.

Tuesday, March 2 - Volunteers Needed: Volunteers are needed for the vision and hearing screenings on Tuesday, March 2 from 8am to Noon. Contact Tiffany Goldwyn tiffanydmd@hotmail.com for more information. 

Tuesday, March 7 - Math & Science Night: Join us March 7th for an exciting night dedicated to adventures in math, science, and engineering. We will have the Reptile Man with his amazing creatures, engineering and building challenges, science experiments, and fun math games. It's a fantastic evening for the whole family! If you are interested (no experience necessary) in volunteering your time, please contact Mythandra Fenner at mythandrafenner@gmail.com

Wednesday March 15 - PTA Meeting - Attend the Chapman PTA General meeting starting at 6pm in the Library. Our guest, Laura Hanson, will discuss Portland Public Schools' next Capital Construction Bond. 

 

 

Valentine's Week in Kindergarten

First off, the wonderful news...  Yesterday, they drove the last pile, so our winter of pile driving is officially over. This means we will be going to The Fields Park again every day (well, every day that it is not too wet).  The students are very excited about this!

Celebrating our return to the Fields yesterday

It has been a wild week or two, what with the Pajama Rama, report cards, preparing for today's "Connect to Kindergarten" program, and the long awaited arrival of full school weeks. As you might imagine, things have been a bit hectic; I apologize for the missed blog post last week.

Today, we will celebrate Valentine's Day. In the morning, after our "specials" we will decorate bags.  In the afternoon we will exchange cards and have a small celebration.

Over the past weeks, we have been going full steam.  I am enjoying meeting with reading groups, moving forward with our math curriculum, and beginning to work on the idea of extending our writing to add details to enhance our stories.  After our challenging winter, it is nice to get moving again.

 We have run a little low on snacks -- please think of us as you are shopping this weekend!

This weeks themes:
Theme Book: Hide Clyde
Letter study: Oo
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr, Dd, Kk,Ff
New words: they, you, of
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look
Writing: Challenge Paper & details
Math: "Teen" numbers
Song: TBD

This week in kindergarten

It was wonderful to be here for five days in a row last week.  I am really hoping that the weather holds off and that we get to be here for all four days this week (plus our evening Pajama-Rama Thursday night)!

Please be aware that there is no school on Friday, February 3.  I will be here that day working on report cards.  These should come home on Friday February 10.

More than anything right now, we are working on  re-establishing our rhythm.  We have been working on centers, doing reading groups, writing and trying to squeeze in math.  I am also working hard to finish assessing everyone for their report  cards.

Valentine's day is coming up.  We will be having a small celebration in the afternoon -- we would love a few contributions -- hopefully mostly healthy food!  We would love to have your child bring in Valentine cards (but no candy) for the class.  I hope to send out a Valentine's list within the next week.

My understanding is that we are moving towards the last month of pile driving, and that they plan to drive fewer piles per day from here on out.  Hopefully we will be able to squeeze in some outside recesses over the next few weeks.


This weeks themes:
Theme Book: Farfalina and Marcel
Other book: Frog and Toad
Letter study: Ff
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr, Dd, Kk
New words: see, look (week 2)
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she
Writing: friend words
Math: Making sense of 10's
Song: Zip a de Doo Dah
Star of the Week: Malik