Thursday Newsletter

Dear Parents, September 30, 2010





It’s already time to be sending out the October calendar, Fall is really here!

One thing we noticed about the month is that we do not have any October birthdays. That may mean that we get low on snacks. If you can help us out please send another snack this month. Mrs. Gibson has offered to share her small room refrigerator with us. So if you want to send carrots, apples (we have an apple cutter, so they can be sent whole) or any other healthy snack, we have a place to store them. Other favorites this year are Teddy Grahams, Goldfish, and pretzels. Thanks for your help.



On Picture Day in the fall, each child’s individual picture is taken even if you do not want to order any. This is so we will have pictures for records at school and a couple special art projects throughout the year. Please return the envelopes by tomorrow, if you want to order pictures and request a certain background.



Hopefully, we received all the addresses permission blue slips and parent-helper pink slips. We will get those lists out to you as soon as we compile them. The first Special Occasion will be the afternoon of the 29th. It helps to have a parent helping at each of 4 tables and a parent coordinating snacks so we have a variety not 3 cupcakes for each child. We will send out more information later this month. You are welcome to volunteer by emailing us at clapperc@billingsschools.org and hansen2@billingsschools.org.





Sincerely, Carol Clapper and Abbie Hansen

PICTURE DAY TOMORROW!!! :-) 

Wednesday!

Wednesday was great! The students did a wonderful job listening today and talking in quiet tones. Way to go! Some of you have asked about eating with your child during lunch. This is a GREAT idea. Your child loves it and you can see part of their school day. All you need to do is check in at the office during lunch (11:05-11:35) get a visitor sticker when you sign in and bring a lunch. If you want to eat a hot lunch just have your child tell me or bring a note for me so that I can let Mrs. West know.

Today in Math we worked on finding matching patterns. It was a bit difficult, but we will continue to do many patterns though out the year. We had Library time today, so take some time to read the book to your child. Have them try to find the word "THE" in the book. This is one of the sight word they are learning right now.

Hope that your day went well! Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday!
~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

Friday!!

Friday, already! Wow! Here are some of the things we worked on today:

Math- we reviewed algebraic patterning. The class is beginning to pick up how to make patterns. Not just ABABABAB, but ABCABCABC using shapes, colors and pictures. They even came up with what the pattern would be if we continued it on. Great job class!!

Reading- We did our retelling of a story as a class. They are getting better and better with putting story cards in order of how they happened. We also listened to the story, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". We talked about fables and what it means when someone asks for the moral of a story. We also read as a class two different renditions of "The Little Red Hen." If you have the story at home, read it to your child and ask them to compare and contrast the stories. 

Science- In Science today we talked about matter and how it feels and looks. We focused on liquids and solids today. The class felt and played with water and talked about and observed its properties. The class then was able to play in the goo that I made. It had both properties of a liquid and a solid. In the end we talked about how the goo was called a suspension because it had both the properties of a liquid and a solid. The class had a lot of fun. If you would like to make the goo at home here is what you need:

1 c. cornstarch 

1/2 c. water

put the cornstarch in a bowl and add the water slowly. Play around with it. You should be able to have it drip from your hands or when you squeeze it have it become solid. 

The class also had a chance to work with computers today, centers and handwriting. They had music and we also went as a class to look and talk about the tipi that is set out on the playground. I sent home their Apple books. Please take the time to read the book with your child. Have them find words that they recognize. I also sent home their reading/writing packet. You may work on the rest of the packet with your child for extra practice. 

Have a wonderful weekend! Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday! Please remember that picture day is coming up soon and TOMORROW IS SATURDAY LIVE!!! HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

Thursday Newsletter

 

Newsletter for the Week of  Sept.  27th – Oct 1st
Monday	Tuesday
Introducing letters & sounds of    Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, and Zz Review words:   the     little   I   am   P.E.  Please wear tennis shoes	Story: Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip Question of the week: “How do people in                   a community cooperate?   Everyone needs a cold lunch or a sack lunch from the school menu! Show-n-Tell:  Maddy, Treyden
Wednesday	Thursday
Library Day – Please remember to return your library book to the gray tub in our room so you can check out another one for this week!   Show-n-Tell:  Emma, Ethyn, Erica	Show-n-Tell: Kaleigh, Kendal, Orion
Friday	Special Announcements
Music     Show-n-Tell: Rikki, Sophia  and                            Remington	Mrs. Clapper is out of town for the birth of her first grandchild!
Reminders
This Saturday the 25th of September is SATURDAY LIVE! Please try to come and support our schools! There is a volunteer sign up sheet in the office if you would like to help at Meadowlark’s stations. Thanks!

 

What a Great Wednesday!

Here we are, the first day of fall. Chilly weather was upon us today. Please remind your child of the importance of  bringing and wearing their jacket during recess when it is cold out. This morning the students shared their show and tell. Please remember which day is your child's and allow them to pick three things to share with the rest of the class at school. The class reviewed shape patterns, reread Plaidipus Lost and had the chance to check out a book at Library. We worked on letter sounds as well today. Here are the Amazing Words that we have been working on this week: AROUND, FOUND, GROCERIES, LOST, MARKET, PLATYPUS. The sight words are: I, AM, THE, LITTLE Please praise your child today for being such a great listener during our fire drill. The alarm was very loud, but the students followed directions well and we all got outside in great time. Thank you for all the love and encouragement you give your child everyday! 

EARLY OUT TOMORROW!!!! NOON!!!

Terrific Tuesday

Wow we had a great day of learning today! The children love to look at pictures and read their colorful Skills Buddy workbooks. We had an informational article about the original 13 star flag and our present flag. We also explored words and pictures with the 'p' sound and rhyming words. Then we had a wonderful story about a plaid Grandma-made platypus who kept getting lost and found!

For Social Studies today we talked about our American Heritage. We learned about Chief Plenty Coup, a great Crow leader, who taught his people how important it is to get a good education. The children enjoyed that he learned to be a strong, agile runner by chasing butterflies when he was young. We also read a beautiful book called Brother Eagle, Sister Sky and talked about taking good care of our earth. Then we ended our day by skipping afternoon centers to get ready early to leave by way of the tipi set up south of the school. We quietly sat in a circle inside the tipi and talked about how it is constructed, and why it could move easily to follow or find buffalo herd, and what it would b like to live, eat and sleep in that kind of home.

Life is Good when I get to read two wonderful stories in one day and have a real tipi for the children to experience!

The rest of the week should be busy with two birthdays, and an early dismissal at 12:00 noon on Thursday. Tickets will be on sale for Saturday Live, and you can also sign up to help our PTA with the Meadowlark blow up slide and selling tiarra's. Saturday Live is a fun family outing that supports our schools! I won't be able to be there this year, but have enjoyed the atmosphere and fundraising in the past.

Your children are a joy to work with! Thank you for reading our communications and letting us know how things are going from your child's point of view! It's going to be a wonderful year!

Sincerely, Carol Clapper

Monday the 20th

We had a marvelous Monday! We started out with math manipulatives and practiced making patterns. Then introduced the new amazing words that include groceries, which everyone is familiar with and market which many of the children were unsure of what it meant. We talked about how it is kind of an old fashion word for a grocery story or place to get food. It was great when all of the children remembered their tennis shoes for P.E. Mrs. Edgmond had a guest teacher named Mr. Hart. The retired kindergarten teacher who used to teach right next door is on call for when my daughter has her baby. Mrs. Mettler came in to meet the children the second week of school. I am sure they will enjoy her while I am gone. Unless the baby comes early, I will leave after school on Wednesday and be gone Sept. 27, 28 and 29th. We also caught quite a few boys and girls being kind, helpful and respectful today! I am sure they will be extra helpful when Mrs. Mettler is our guest teacher.

If you hear your child talking about 2 o'clock, we havent' started studying time, yet but are making lots of o's. To learn how to form the letter "o" properly we looked at the face of a clock and saw where the 2 is. Then we pushed up to the 12 and around counterclock wise back around to the two. We will be practicing that all year as we make o's and g's and a's and d's and even q's!

We also started a new workbook called "My Number Book" and worked on making the numeral one saying "top to bottom, now you're done. One is Fun!"

I hope your child is having as much fun as I am this year!

Sincerely, Mrs. Carol Clapper

Friday!! :-)

Hello! I hope that this finds you well and ready for the weekend! Here's a quick look of what we did today:

Math- can you believe that they are actually starting the foundational concepts of Algebra? We worked on patterns. AABAABAAB and so on. If you would like to work on this at home you can use drawings or actual manipulatives for your child to figure out patterns. This is VERY difficult for some, so practice is always a great idea.

Reading- We were able to retell the story, We are So Proud. The students enjoyed coming up to the computer and moving the pieces into the correct order. You can ask them to retell the story to you. They also came home with a sticker on their shirt that says: Ask me about the word: Cooperate. They should be able to tell you that it means "to work together".

We used white boards today to work on handwriting and their reader/writer notebooks went home today as well. If you have time to work the rest of the sections over with your child that is awesome practice for them. This is just some of what we worked on today. Thank you so much for all the love and encouragement you show your child everyday! We have an amazing class!! ~Mrs. Hansen

P.S. If you have the sheet for a sack lunch on the half day of school the 23rd please be sure to turn it in. Also, please fill out the class address form if you would like to be on the class directory.

Newsletter for the Week of Sept. 20th – 24th Mrs. Hansen & Mrs. Clapper's Kindergarten
Monday	Tuesday
Introducing letters & sounds of Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, and Ss New words: the little P.E. Please wear tennis shoes	Story: “ Platypus Lost” Question: “How do families cooperate? Show-n-Tell: Abe, Austin, Eli PTA Meeting – 7:00 p.m. (Commons)
Wednesday	Thursday
Jaxton’s Birthday! Library Day Show-n-Tell: Ella, Elias	Erica’s Birthday! Show-n-Tell: Jaxton, Gabrielle
	Early Out Day Dismissal for all students at 12:00 Sack lunches may be purchased with lunchmoney and reorder slip.
Friday	Special Announcements
Music Show-n-Tell: Morgan, Reece	Looking ahead, Tuesday, Sept 28th is the ice cream social at 6:30 p.m.
Reminders
This week the 9 children listed bring 3 items in the white STAR bag that tell us more about themselves. Next week the other 11 students will have an opportunity to do the same thing! Starting in October they will bring one item every week starting with the letter of the week! Book Orders due – online or to the teacher by tomorrowFriday, September 17, 2010

A quick Monday update

Today, we had a short line heading into school. We were missing our 4 friends who moved to the new class, 2 students absent, and the bus students got held up for about 5 minutes! But once the bus students got there we had 18 present and everyone remembered tennis shoes for P.E.! Way to go students and parents!!!

We started the second week of Unit 1 in reading. We have Amazing words like proud, preparation, guide,create and cooperate! We talked about times when we have felt proud and ways we can cooperate in school. We worked on writing the capital and lower case Ff and Gg's. We will take a couple letters a day and hopefully get through Mm by Friday!

We will be working on our speaking and listening skills as we talk about the "All About Me" pages your filled out before Open House. We will take the students in order of their show-n-tell days. This will just be a telling time, without bringing anything from home.

We practiced "I am _______ " and filled in the blank first with our name and then a picture of how we are feeling. Most students wanted to put both a happy face for liking to be back at school after the weekend, but sad that some of our friends were not there. By lunch and afternoon recess they connected with Caitlin, Aayla, Kian and Duncan and everyone enjoyed seeing each other! Because of this big change all of the students after #9 will have a number change. I moved the mailbox numbers and the children adjusted well. You will be able to tell when you get Thursday folders what you child's new number is.

Finally, we got to one of Mrs. Clapper's favorite bear stories "Berlouis" and listened to two versions of "Flight of the Bumblebee" on YouTube. See if your child can tell you the connection between the story and the song. We introduced the work 'ENCORE' and they enjoyed requesting an encore of the song!

We're looking forward to a terrific Tuesday tomorrow!

~ Mrs. Carol Clapper

FRIDAY!

Friday already! Wow! I hope that your child is feeling more and more comfortable at school. Here is what we worked on today:

First, the students had a chance to look through some of Mrs. Clapper's bear books. Second, we finished out the reading series of the last two weeks. The students worked on character, setting and plot. (These were all introductions and we do not expect your child to know what they are verbatim yet.) You may want to start using some if this vocabulary as you read to your child at home. The class read Jack and Max together and worked on actually reading the words "I and Am" throughout the story. We retold the Little School Bus story using story cards. The class worked on putting the parts in the correct order of occurrence. We finished out the day reading the story of King Midas and following the ordinal numbers. In Math today we finished chapter one by taking a test. The class did very well. Please use prepositions at home whenever you can. This extra practice allows your child to have some meaningful learning experiences at home. Also, practicing which hand is your left and right helps your child when we talk about left and right in class. The students had a chance to play in centers and to learn about nouns. Phew! We did a lot today! Also calendar! Have a great weekend! ~Mrs. Hansen

Thursday Letter Home

Dear Parents, September 9,2010

The weeks are already beginning to fly by! The students have been doing very well adjusting to routines and procedures. Both Mrs. Clapper and myself are very proud of them. Please read the blog, http://learninginkindergarten.blogspot.com , if you are wondering what some of our daily activities are. Also, be sure to read the important letter from Mr. Croff all about the new Kindergarten class that will be here at Meadowlark.

Some of the things that we’ve been working on as a class this past week are the letters A, B, C, D, E . We have been practicing talking about upper and lower case letters, their sounds, finding them in words and even reading our two amazing words: I, AM. To finish off Unit 1 week 1, we will be sending home their “ReaderWriterNotebook Packets” We forgot to talk about these at Open House. Each week we work in this 4-6 page packet of workbook like pages. Some weeks we get to almost everything, other times very little. We will send them home each week so you can see what your child is learning to do. And to watch their progress through out the year! If your child has been absent, his/her name will be at the top. It would be wonderful if you would help your child complete it but it is not necessary to send it back. The pages we did not get to are fun extensions for those children who are ready for more challenging concepts. The directions are at the bottom of each page. We hope your child enjoys showing you what they did each week! Many times they have to stop coloring the pages to go on to another activity, so we always say “you can finish that when you get to take it home.”

Wednesday was Bear day and the students were able to bring a bear into class with them. They enjoyed reading to their bear. In Math we will be finishing up chapter 1. The students have been practicing, over, under, left, right, above, below, same and different. They have been doing very well. Science has been fun and the students have been exploring their five senses. We have been talking about what a scientist does and how they use their senses to discover new things.

Please take the time to stop by the lost and found. There are already many jackets, sweatshirts and lunch boxes there. Please see if anything may be your child’s.

Thank you so much for all the love and support you show your child everyday! You are the backbone of meaningful learning in your child. If you are excited about school they will be too! Thank you parents!

Sincerely, Mrs. Abigail Hansen and Mrs. Carol Clapper

Letter to Kindergarten Parents from Mr. Croff

9/7/10

Dear Parents/Guardians of Kindergarten Students,

As you are likely aware our kindergarten classes this year are extremely full and well over state accreditation. Due to our large class sizes I am excited to announce we will be adding another kindergarten classroom to help reduce teacher to student ratios. The teacher in the additional classroom will be Mrs. Natasha Norby and I can assure you that not only is she very qualified, but she is a genuinely kind, friendly and caring individual.

We will be transitioning approximately four students from each existing classroom into Mrs. Norby’s room. The new kindergarten room will begin Monday, September 13^th and I will personally contact parents this Thursday or Friday if your child is selected to be in Mrs. Norby’s room. Initially, I will be taking parent requests to transfer into the new room and then we will be selecting students from our existing rooms. If you would like to volunteer to have your child placed in the new kindergarten room, please contact me at 281-6213.

As a parent myself, I can certainly understand any apprehension that you may be experiencing, but I can confidently state that I would be willing to place my own daughter in our new classroom. I assure you that this decision is being made on the premises that it is best for the children and that they typically are much more resilient than we give them credit for. I am thrilled that we have this opportunity to reduce our classroom sizes to help our students. I encourage you to email, call or set up a meeting with me to address any questions or concerns you may have. Sincerely, Kevin Croff, Principal

Wednesday

What a great Wednesday! I just want to tell your kids thank you for all the birthday wishes that they gave me. It was so nice of them! Our day went fast! They had a chance to work on coloring and reading the coloring words with Mrs. Clapper. They had a chance to complete centers and even pretend read/read to their bear that they brought to school. We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears today as well. If you have another version of the book sit down and read it to your child and have them tell you what is the same or what is different about the book. In Math we reviewed above, below and left and right. We worked on giving and following directions. This is something easy to practice with them as well, at home. There is an important letter from Mr. Croff that you all need to read. I will post it on the blog as well. PLEASE CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND. Already there are jackets and lunch boxes piling up. Take the time to check and see if there is anything there that is your child's. Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday! ~Mrs. Hansen

Terrific Tuesday

       WOW, it was a Terrific Tuesday today !!!

We had so much fun getting reacquainted with our new friends and getting back into our school routine.  We worked on sorting in math and got to play with some wonderful attribute shapes.  We had some nursery rhymes and started a project in conjunction with the rhyme "Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick"   Rhyming is a pre-reading skill that we will be working on all year.  Help your child find rhymes, make up rhymes and listen for words that rhyme in books you read at home. We discovered that quick, stick, brick, tick, pick, lick  and trick all rhyme!  Our career student from West High, Kelsey Komar, helped us write our names in the poem instead of Jack.  Kelsey will be joining us from 9:05 - 9:50 every morning and is a wonderful help while she is learning to be a teacher someday! 

  The only part of our day that was not terrific was when one  of our boys got stung by a bee at lunch recess and later there were 2 bees in our room.  We will start closing the windows earlier in the day and hope they stay away. 

  Right before dismissal, I reminded the children that tomorrow is BEAR DAY!  Please help your child remember to bring a bear.  It can be any size or color, theirs or borrowed from a sibling or parent!  We will be doing activities all day with them.  Please do not go out and buy a bear just for the day.  I have a few extras that I said I could lend to the children who were worried about not having one.   Thanks for your updates about daycare arrangements.  I was a little late getting out today and will try to be on time in the future.  The front door dismissal worked well for all 3 Kindergartens! 

  Looking forward to a Wonderful Wednesday! 

  (Or should I say a BEARY GOOD Wednesday?)

   Sincerely, Carol Clapper

Great Friday!

What a great Friday! The kids did great and we were able to fit in a LOT of things today. The students started off the day reviewing same and different from the Math the day before. We went on in Math and completed the sorting of objects by one attribute. For Reading we retold the Little Bus story as a class using the amazing words for the next two weeks, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth. The students did very well in retelling. We then created a class graph of how each student gets to school. We also discussed characters in a book. They then had the chance to draw their favorite character from the story and try to label it. We completed calendar time today and reviewed the letters A,B, C, D, E. We began Science today for the first time. The students had a great time with the Science lesson. We are discovering our five senses and how that relates to the study of Science. I placed bags on their tables and they recorded in their Science journal what they felt and saw in each bag. The students also had the chance to do centers at the end of the day. Overall it was a great day! Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday! ~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

P.S. Please remember that our dismissal will be at the front entrance to Meadowlark at 2:20 p.m. starting September 7th. Have a GREAT Labor Day weekend!! :-)

After Open House

Thanks for coming to the Open House! For those who couldn't make it, we missed you but don't worry because you will get all the information we covered (and more because I never seem to cover it all!) in the Thursday folder we saved for all the handouts pertaining to both Open House and September. I hurried to get the calendar ready for Open House and accidentally gave September 31 days. I meant to put Oct. 1st on the last Friday of the calendar to include everyone in our Show-and-Tell list. I also forgot to get the blog site address along with our emails. But if you are reading this you've already GOT IT!

One other note, I sent home their bear name tags the other day because we have found that they were uncomfortable for some of the children and others were chewing on them or playing with them. So we sent them home for good and Mrs. Hansen made some new clip on name tags that work better for P.E. and Music. Since they have lunch tags on when they go to Library, Mrs. Treglown can tell who they are without tags at all.

We hope you enjoy a nice 3-day weekend. And remember Tuesday, Sept. 7th we will dismiss out the front (west) door at 2:2o.

Sincerely, Carol Clapper

Thursday

Thursday, what a great day! The kids did very well. They are still walking through procedures and routines and trying to get them down, each day is better and better. Today we read in our buddy books the story, "Who am I?" We got to read it together and then they tried on their own. We worked on our Reader Writer Notebooks and they did well trying to write out their "A's and B's". Math was working on Same and Different. The class brought up these words throughout the day. We worked with manipulatives and they had to try to match the pattern that I placed on the ELMO. We also worked in centers again and everyone had the chance to use the computer lab and use starfall. Over all it was a great day! Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday! ~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

P.S. Don't forget about open house!!

Wednesday

What a great day the kids had! It was Mrs. Clapper's birthday so the class was able to work on a dot to dot happy birthday card for Mrs. Clapper and even enjoy a special birthday treat! The class was again able to work in centers again today and I was pleased to see them choosing new things to explore. Making patterns, painting and even working with matching up dominoes. Math has been fun. We are working on right and left and which hand is which. I placed a sticker or a stamp on their right hand and we played the hokey pokey to practice right and left. The students had calendar time and we went through the new month and day. They have been learning to read the words "I" and "am". The students also had Library today. Overall it was a great day! Thank you for all the love and support you show your child everyday! ~Mrs. Hansen

REMINDER- Open house is tomorrow night!! :-)

It begins at 6:30 in the commons with Mr. Croff.

20 minute classroom presentations begin at 7:00 and one more at 7:30 if you need to go to 2 classrooms. The open house is for parents only. Hope to see you there!