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

A full week in kindergarten

In all my years of teaching, I have never been as excited by the prospect of a five day week..  It certainly has been a challenging few months since we began missing days in November, and my hope is we can get back into the groove this week.

Please be sure to note that there is school this Friday and there is no school on Friday, February 3rd.  This is a change from the original school year schedule!

During this week I hope to run out a new bunch of centers based on our book about pandas, work on several math projects, do a writing sample and to spend lots of time assessing what we have learned.

Our Pajama-Rama party is Thursday, February 2nd from 6:00 to 9:30.

Also coming up is our Connect with Kindergarten meeting on Valentine's day at 9:00.  This is a chance for parents of kindergartners to learn more about the kindergarten program here at the Ramona (the more kid-friendly program is in May).  Please be sure to let friends know about this event!

We had a wonderful citrus tasting event on Thursday, sponsored by Food Front.  Many thanks to Molly for organizing this and for the volunteers who helped out that morning!

This weeks themes:
Theme Book: See How We Grow
Letter study: Dd, Kk
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb, Rr
New words: see, look
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: Jamaica Farewell
Star of the Week: Malik

A short post for a short week

Hi all:

It looks like the crazy weather is behind us (for now) and we can start looking forward to a predictable schedule.

This week is a combination of re-entry into school, celebrating the snow, and doing the best we can to finish up the academics we began last week.  We wrote about the snow yesterday and we will write about Maliyah, out star of the week, tomorrow.  I hope to find time to squeeze in more centers, reading groups and math.

It is not too late to email me a picture of your child or family out in the snow.  I hope to do another round of printing soon!


This weeks (and last week's) themes:
Theme Book: Little Quack
Chapter Book: Dinosaurs Before Dark
Letter study: Rr
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb
New words:me, with, she (week 2)
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for
Writing: independent writing
Math: Making sense of 10's
Song: Jamaica Farewell
Star of the Week: Maliya

This week in kindergarten.

Back in early December, I started my blog with "After a November of short weeks, it is nice to be in the midst of three full weeks of school."  There is some rich irony here.  I am hoping that, at some point, we will have another full week of school.  Many thanks to everyone who is staying flexible, not cursing the phone when it rings at 5:45 a.m., and getting their children to school when it is safe!

Be aware that next Monday, January 16, is the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  There will be no school that day.

Even with all the missed days, I am enjoying seeing the young scholars make continue to make strides in their reading and writing. I have posted their stories about winter break outside the classroom.

Thank you to everyone who brought in a snack for the class.  We could still use a few more boxes of snacks for our hungry students.

This weeks themes:
Theme Book: Little Quack
Chapter Book: Dinosaurs Before Dark
Letter study: Rr
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii, Nn, Bb
New words:me, with, she (week 2)
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for
Writing: independent writing
Math: Making sense of 10's
Song: Jamaica Farewell
Star of the Week: Maliya

A new year in kindergarten

Welcome back -- I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful break!

We are very excited about our new reading center.  The students seem to have embraced it quickly!  Many thanks to the PTA (and everyone who has helped the PTA) for the funds to make this happen!

Our new reading center.

This week will include a smorgasbord of old and new activities.  We will run out a new bunch of centers, begin a new chapter book (Dinosaurs Before Dark), learn a little bit about panda bears, update our calendar for a new year and do a lot of reading, writing and math activities.

Thank you to everyone who has brought in snacks. We are currently very rich in pretzels, and fairly poor in all other snack areas.  Please think of us as you are shopping!

This weeks themes:
Theme Book: Little Panda
Chapter Book: Dinosaurs Before Dark
Letter study: Nn, Bb
Letters we know: Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc, Ii
New words:me, with, she
Words we know: I, am, the, little, a, to, have, is, we, my, like, he, for
Writing: independent writing
Math: December Calendar, Number practice and much more
Song: TBD
Star of the Week: Patrick