Week of October 1st

We had a lot of fun making apple pies to finish up our apples and season theme.  We will move on to Nocturnal Animals and Pumpkins for the month of October.  Can you believe we are already beginning October?  We have been in kindergarten nearly 40 days and I am seeing some behaviors that are making it difficult for me to teach.  I have decided to modify our classroom behavior system so that I can easily communicate your child's behavior to you on a daily basis.  Please read below the changes that will be made and how you can help support me and help your child be most successful in the classroom.  

This week:

Sight Words: a, to
Theme: Nocturnal Animals
Literacy Skill:  Key Details
Story Element: Retell, Problem/Solution
Comprehension Strategy:  Inferring
Math:  Sorting/Patterning
Writing: Writing with Sentences
Phonics: Mm
Phonemic Awareness Skill:  Rhyming

Important Dates:
October 10:  Minimum Day
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Phonics:
We have gone through the alphabet once, very quickly.  We will now go back over the alphabet, one letter a week.  We will work closely on how to write the letter correctly, the sound it makes and hearing the sound at the beginning, middle and ends of words.  


New Behavior System:
Every child will bring home a colored note each day.  The color of their note will tell you how your child's behavior was for the day.
Green:  I Had A Great Day!
Your child did a great job following our classroom rules today.
Yellow:  I Had An Okay Day!
Your child needed a few reminders throughout the day.
Red:  I Had A Sad Day!
Your child had difficulty following the rules at school today.  There will be an attached note with an explanation and you will need to sign and return the note the following day.   

We review our rules and expectations in the classroom several times a day.
On the carpet, your child is expected to:
1.  Have a "listening body".
2.  Raise their hand to speak.

On the playground, your child is expected to:
1. Listen to the campus monitors.
2.  Be kind to others

During Learning Stations:
1.  Work quietly
2.  Stay in one spot.
3.  Work the whole time.
4.  Get started right away.

Please ask you child for his/her note daily.
Please contact me if you have any questions.  

Week of September 24th

This week:

Sight Words: we
Theme: Apples and Seasons
Literacy Skill:  Craft and Structure
Story Element: N/A
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections & Inferring
Math:  Sorting/Patterning
Writing: Writing with Sentences
Phonics: Xx-Zz

Important Dates:
Sept 26:  Apple Pie Day
Sept 27:  Make up pictures
October 10:  Minimum Day
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch


Johnny Appleseed's Birthday:
We will be celebrating Johnny Appleseed's birthday on September 26th with an apple pie day!  If you signed up to bring items, please send them in this Monday or Tuesday.  Thanks!

Week of September 17th

This week:

Sight Words: can
Theme: Apples and Seasons
Literacy Skill:  Craft and Structure
Story Element: N/A
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections & Inferring
Math:  Sorting
Writing: Writing with Sentences
Phonics: Ss-Ww

Important Dates:
Sept 19:  Math Festival 
October 10:  Minimum Day
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip:
Thanks to those of you who returned your child's permission slip for the pumpkin patch.  I do have several that did not include the $10 donation and this is much appreciated.  If you were planning to donate, please send in asap.    
Our parent chaperones for the field trip will be:
Tamara Cook
Robert Goss
Genifer Reid
Arlene Rocha

I will be returning the donation to the parents who's names were not drawn on Monday in your child's red folder.  

Jog-a-Thon
We had so much fun at our Jog-a-Thon and you guys helped raise almost $1500 as a grade level.  Thank you so much for your support!    

Scholastic Book Orders
I will be placing the scholastic order on Monday.  Please place any online orders before then.

Johnny Appleseed's Birthday:
We will be celebrating Johnny Appleseed's birthday on September 26th.  We will be making apple pies in class!   I will need some extra help that morning from 7:45-10:00 that day.  Please let me know if you are able to come in and help!  Thanks!

Picture Proofs
Picture proofs are coming home Monday in red folders.  You can place an order by filling our the form and returning it in your child's red folder before the due date.  There are make up pictures, if you would like your child to take another picture, please let me know.

Week of September 10th

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

This week:

Sight Words: and
Theme: Apples and Seasons
Literacy Skill:  Craft and Structure
Story Element: N/A
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections & Inferring
Math:  Numbers 1-10/Sorting
Writing: Writing with Pictures
Phonics: Nn-Rr

Important Dates:
Sept. 10:  Box Tops Due
Sept. 12:  Jog-A-Thon and Minimum Day
Sept 19:  Math Festival 
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip:
Permission slips will come home Monday in your child's red folder.  The student permission slip is orange.  We are requesting a $10 donation per student to help cover the cost of the bus and entrance fee to the pumpkin patch.  Please fill out the orange permission slip and attach an envelope marked with your child's name with your donation BEFORE Friday.  

We will be drawing 4 parent chaperone names.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ENTERED INTO THE DRAWING, PLEASE:
1. Fill out the green parent volunteer permission slip that is also in your child's red folder.  
2.  Attach an envelope clearly marked with your name and include your $10 donation for yourself.  
3.  Green parent volunteer slips along with a donation must be in BEFORE Friday.  
4.  All the names will be placed in a basket and the office staff will draw 4 names from our classroom basket after school on Friday.  I will notify you via BLOOMZ if your name has been chosen.  
5.  Names that will be placed into the basket must:
-Must have parent volunteer paperwork already submitted.
-Must have green parent volunteer permission slip filled out and returned.
-Must have their $10 donation attached to their green permission slip.  

If your name is not chosen, your donation WILL BE returned in your child's red folder the following Monday.  

Let me know if you have any questions?

Jog-a-Thon
We will have our Jog-a-thon on Wednesday!  Please send in any donations on the day of the Jog-a-Thon.  They can be placed in your child's red folder.  These donations will go towards future field trips this year for our kindergarteners.  Thanks for your support!  

Scholastic Book Orders
I have placed some Scholastic Book Order catalogs in your child's red folder along with an explanation of how you can purchase books for your child.  Our classroom earns bonus points for your orders and those points are used to purchase books for our classroom library.  I'll be honest, our classroom books are well used!  Kindergarteners can be rough on books and many of our books are falling apart.  It would be great to be able to replace some of the old, ripped books in our library.  You can easily place an online order by clicking on the "book order" tab on this website. 

My BIG List of Kindergarten Goals
I found a great, free resource on-line that I am sending home.  It will help give you an idea of what your child should be able to do by the end of kindergarten to be prepared for first grade.  This chart does not cover all the common core standards, but I feel it hits some of the most important ones.  Keep it as a reference.  Use is as a guide as to what you can be working on at home or in the car.  

Week of September 3rd

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend!  This next week will be a short, three day week for the students.  Homework this week will consist of the share homework, nightly reading and practicing sight words.  

This week:

Sight Words: the
Theme: Apples
Literacy Skill:  Craft and Structure
Story Element: N/A
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections & Inferring
Math:  Numbers 1-10
Writing: Writing with Pictures
Phonics: Kk-Mm

Important Dates:
Sept 3:  No School
Sept 7:  No School
Sept. 12:  Jog-A-Thon
Sept 19:  Math Festival 
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Volunteers:  Thanks to everyone who has agreed to help out weekly in the classroom!  We won't begin weekly volunteering until mid September, when the board approves all volunteers.  I will keep you posted on that.  Remember, you can not volunteer without being board approved.  

Math Festival:  We are looking for some parents to help during the day of the Math Festival.  You can volunteer the whole day or part of the day (7:40-10:30 or 10:15-1:45).  Please let me know if this is something you are interested in.  

Week of August 27th

The students had a great week and we are working hard to learn routines and self control in the classroom.  I like to spend as much time as needed learning and focusing on these two things as they lay the foundation for the whole year!  I have a lot of information to go over in this post, so please feel free to message me on Bloomz or catch me at the playground gate before or after school to ask me questions for clarification.  

Homework will consist of the same components as last week.    To see what the share homework topic is, click on the homework tab.  There you will find details and instruction about our weekly homework.  If you are viewing our website from a mobile device, you MUST scroll all the way down to the bottom and click on "view desktop version" in order to have access to the website's tabs.  

*Remember, share homework is due any day Monday-Thursday.  The daily homework page is due Friday.  

Any questions?  Please contact me via Bloomz or email and I can help you navigate the website.  

This week:

Sight Words: like
Theme: Friendship
Literacy Skill:  Details
Story Element: Characters, Problem and Solution
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections 
Math:  Learning about Math Manipulatives
Writing: Writing with Pictures
Phonics: Ff-Jj

Important Dates:
August 20:  Spirit Cup Fundraiser Begins 
August 27-31:  Book Fair in MPR
August 30:  Ice Cream Social in MPR 5-7pm
Sept 3:  No School
Sept. 12:  Jog-A-Thon
October 12:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Book Fair:  The book fair will be happening this week in the MPR.  I will be taking the students to the book fair on Wednesday.  You can send some cash in an envelope labeled "Book Fair" with your child's name on it in their red folder Monday-Wednesday morning and I will hold it until we go.  They have a lot of books, but they also have trinket toys.  If you would only like your child to purchase books, please label the envelope "books only" so we can be sure they only buy books.  Please understand that if you send an envelope Thursday or Friday, I will not be able to take time to walk them to the book fair.  The book fair will be available for you and your child to shop at AFTER school each day, if you choose.  You do not need to send money to shop with me.  Please contact me if you have questions about the book fair.

PTSA Membership:  We are having a PTSA Membership drive.  Information and envelopes came home the first full week of school.  The class with the most memberships wins a pizza party.  Membership is $9 per member.  This money goes to PTSA to help buy things for our students.  So far, we have 2 memberships.  I'm hoping we can get this number up.  Please contact me if you need a new envelope to join PTSA.

Ice Cream Social:  This is a yearly tradition here at Cram.  This is happening in the MPR Thursday evening.  Come enjoy free ice cream and have an opportunity to shop at the book fair.  

Volunteers:  I know a few have messaged me letting me know you have turned in your volunteer paperwork.  Can everyone do me a favor?  If you know you have completed your paperwork to volunteer, can you message me on Bloomz, letting me know.  Also, in that message can you tell me if you are willing to volunteer weekly, in the classroom, or if you are only interested in going on field trips, coming to class parties an other school events.  I am specifically looking for weekly classroom volunteers to begin helping, but the completed paperwork is a must.  Let me know what day works best for you weekly and whether you'd like to help 7:45-9:15 or 9:45-11:15.  Or you can help both times as well.  I'd like to get my weekly parent helper schedule organized, so please message me on Bloomz or talk to me at the playground gate before or after school.  Thank you!

Room Parents:  I need 1 or 2 volunteers who are willing to be my room parent.  PTSA is having a meeting on Sept. 20th at 7:45 in the MPR where you will receive all the info you need.  I promise, it's easy to be my room parent!  

Sight Word Booklets:  Just a reminder about sight work booklets:  Each book has 10 lists.  The front of the list has words, the back of the list has phrases.  When your child has mastered list 1 in the red booklet, please place it in their red folder and I will test them.  They will receive a brag tag when they read the list fluently to me and I will sign them off and send the book back home for them to begin mastering list 2 and so on.  If your child can read all 10 lists in the red booklet already, please write a note on a post-it and place it on the front of the booklet and I will test them on the entire book and then move them onto the green booklet.  This program is an individually paced program, but I am looking for each child to progress at a steady rate.  Practicing their list is a part of their nightly homework and your child's ability to read sight words fluently will have a direct impact on their ability to learn to read.  Sight words are extremely important.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Jog-A-Thon:  This year's Jog-A-Thon will take place on Sept. 12th.  I will send information about this event home this Wednesday providing you with the details of this event.  

Spirit Week:  We are having a Spirit Week at Cram this week!  Here are the dress up themes for each day:
Monday:  Wear your favorite hat
Tuesday:  Wear crazy socks
Wednesday: Mismatched clothes or crazy hair
Thursday:  Dress Hawaiian
Friday:  Wear Cram colors (red shirt or cram t-shirts)

Name Writing:  It is important that your child is learning to write his/her name correctly.  This means using a capitol at the beginning and lowercase for the remaining letters.  If your child is mixing capitol letters in the middle of their name, please have them practice their name correctly.  Thanks for your support!  

Week of August 20th

Hello everyone!  I am happy to say that my arm and body is recovering quite well!  I so glad to be getting back into the classroom on Monday!  Thank you, again, for your support throughout these first few weeks of school!  The students did a wonderful job with Mrs. Clark.  We will continue to learn new routines these next few weeks while practicing routines that have been set in place. 

Homework will begin this week.  To see what the share homework topic is, click on the homework tab.  There you will find details and instruction about our weekly homework.  If you are viewing our website from a mobile device, you MUST scroll all the way down to the bottom and click on "view desktop version" in order to have access to the website's tabs.  

Any questions?  Please contact me via Bloomz or email and I can help you navigate the website.  

This week:

Sight Words: I, see
Theme: Sharing
Literacy Skill:  Details
Story Element: Characters
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections 
Math:  Learning about Math Manipulatives
Writing: Writing with Pictures
Phonics: A-E

Important Dates:
August 20:  Spirit Cup Fundraiser Begins 
August 23:  Picture Day
August 27-31:  Book Fair in MPR
Sept 3:  No School


Spirit Cup Fundraising information will come home Monday.