Hello, well, we only have one more short week. I can't believe it. I have to say that in the short time I have been here, I have come to love your children so much. We had so much fun today. In science we talked about Giant Clams and Queen Scallops. We also talked about how people do not live in the ocean, but that they only visit, and why they might visit. Our experiment today was about sinking and floating. They each got to choose an object in the class to test if it would sink or float. We talked about how in science we predict what it will do, and we are either right or not; but, it does not matter if you are wrong, but that, it is how you learn in science. We continue to learn addition and subtraction in math. They are really getting good at it!!!
Have a very wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!! Sincerely Mrs. Bartsch
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday
We had a great day today. We all felt very thankful for the sun. Today we practiced spelling short /e/ words such as set, bed and step. Other words we practiced spelling are hat, bit, got, sad and sod. We also read the story "A Big Dent" and looked for this weeks high frequency words look, that, is, a, what, the, and blue. The special word we focussed on was truck.
We also talked and read about sponges in the ocean. We did an experiment to find out how waves are formed. Ask your child. Have a great night. Sincerely, Mrs. Bartsch
We also talked and read about sponges in the ocean. We did an experiment to find out how waves are formed. Ask your child. Have a great night. Sincerely, Mrs. Bartsch
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday May 24th
Today is Sophia's birthday but we had to postpone her celebration with the class until tomorrow because she was sick. We still made her birthday cards and many of the children made Get Well cards for her at center time! I am not sure if we'll have time for Second Step tomorrow as we want to do Sophia's poster and write sentences about her and have birthday treats!
We had a wonderful informational book about how beavers build their homes. We talked about their teeth, their tail and their webbed feet. It even had a glossary in the back with new word definitions and a search and find game that we hope we'll have time to play toward the end of the week. It's amazing to see how the game lends itself to good study skills later in their school years.
We are having fun making up Math stories, but the children are having trouble switching from adding to subtracting story problems. So challenge your child to tell you a story that turns into a subtraction problem like: At the store I saw 7 lollipops. Emma bought 3 of them so there were only 4 left! 7 take away 3 is 4 or 7 - 3 = 4
Tomorrow is library but we have all of our books turned in !!!!
Way to go boys and girls and parents!
Have a nice evening!
Sincerely,
Carol Clapper
We had a wonderful informational book about how beavers build their homes. We talked about their teeth, their tail and their webbed feet. It even had a glossary in the back with new word definitions and a search and find game that we hope we'll have time to play toward the end of the week. It's amazing to see how the game lends itself to good study skills later in their school years.
We are having fun making up Math stories, but the children are having trouble switching from adding to subtracting story problems. So challenge your child to tell you a story that turns into a subtraction problem like: At the store I saw 7 lollipops. Emma bought 3 of them so there were only 4 left! 7 take away 3 is 4 or 7 - 3 = 4
Tomorrow is library but we have all of our books turned in !!!!
Way to go boys and girls and parents!
Have a nice evening!
Sincerely,
Carol Clapper
Monday, May 23, 2011
SUN IS FUN!
We were so excited to be able to have Field day this afternoon. We did experience a little rain at the 3rd station, the sack races. But the students just kept on jumping and enjoying the many activities that Mrs. Edgmond set up!
We started our Building with Beavers unit and practiced our lower case "e"s with the proper handwriting technique o starting in the middle going across, up and then around. Many of the children were making a backwards c and then the line This will slow them down when they start writing longer stories! The week is a review of the vowels "a.e. and i". One of the things we were doing was rhyming things with the word 'it'. After quite a few one child started to put the sh sound at the beginning and quickly decided not to say it. Others realized that a 'bad word' could be made. One student said "only bad guys say that word" . We talked about how it is inappropriate to use that word and that something regular people say it when they are hurt or shocked. We even talked about the animal in last week's story that hit his hoof with a hammer and screamed 'OUCH" and how somebody else might have said the "sh" word. Just wanted you to know how it happened so you'd know what happened!
Tomorrow, I will be leaving a little before lunch to attend a funeral, and Mrs. Bartsch has offered to come in. On Friday I will return the favor when she gets to go to an honors program for one of her sons! This is another benefit of job sharing. I am so thankful for Mrs. Bartsch and her joyful attitude about coming in and helping us finish our year. Our hall is filled with bright colorful fish, she had the energy to do with the children. Many teachers could not believe we were doing a big painting project this close to the end of the year!
That's about all for tonight. I've been entering numbers and letters into the report card program. It is amazing how much we have learned since August and unbelievable how fast the year has flown by!
Have a nice evening!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
We started our Building with Beavers unit and practiced our lower case "e"s with the proper handwriting technique o starting in the middle going across, up and then around. Many of the children were making a backwards c and then the line This will slow them down when they start writing longer stories! The week is a review of the vowels "a.e. and i". One of the things we were doing was rhyming things with the word 'it'. After quite a few one child started to put the sh sound at the beginning and quickly decided not to say it. Others realized that a 'bad word' could be made. One student said "only bad guys say that word" . We talked about how it is inappropriate to use that word and that something regular people say it when they are hurt or shocked. We even talked about the animal in last week's story that hit his hoof with a hammer and screamed 'OUCH" and how somebody else might have said the "sh" word. Just wanted you to know how it happened so you'd know what happened!
Tomorrow, I will be leaving a little before lunch to attend a funeral, and Mrs. Bartsch has offered to come in. On Friday I will return the favor when she gets to go to an honors program for one of her sons! This is another benefit of job sharing. I am so thankful for Mrs. Bartsch and her joyful attitude about coming in and helping us finish our year. Our hall is filled with bright colorful fish, she had the energy to do with the children. Many teachers could not believe we were doing a big painting project this close to the end of the year!
That's about all for tonight. I've been entering numbers and letters into the report card program. It is amazing how much we have learned since August and unbelievable how fast the year has flown by!
Have a nice evening!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
Friday, May 20, 2011
Fish, Fish, Fish
Dear parents, I was not here yesterday because my mom had surgery. It was a minor surgery, but she had a small complication that my sister and I needed to help monitor. She is better now; but I missed being with the class. In the last two days the substitute and I have middle phonics sound a and i, and beginning sounds. We reviewed the story Old MacDonald had a Woodshop, and discussed plot and characters, and vocabulary from the story. In math we worked on regrouping and subtraction. In science we discussed whales and the fish they eat in the sea. Today we made awesome pillow fish. This was a big day of art. It was a fun thing we did because we missed the farm. The class had to cooperate A LOT!!! I was so proud of them. They had to cut out their fish, then stuff their fish, and then paint and glitter their fish. We did this in stages. This takes a lot of concentration. I was so proud of them for being good listeners, working kindly together, having self-control, and being so creative with their fish. Have a Great weekend. Sincerely Mrs. BArtsch
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday Tool Day!
We had so much fun reading Old MacDonald Had a Toolshop that it helped the children take the disappointing news of a cancelled Farm Trip much better than I expected. Then as it started drying out today, I am questioning our decision to cancel but I always second guess things like that.
We talked about a variety of tools, both that a carpenter would use and the tools we use at school. The children enjoyed the online song called 'If I were a builder" to the tune of "If I had a hammer". We used Mrs. Hansen's computer and found all sorts of fun songs and activities to do related to our reading series. Later the children drew what they would make if they were building something. I saved them to assess how much they label and write about their pictures, but you will get them home by the end of the year.
I better close now, but please check backpacks tomorrow. As we are sending home Thursday folders on Wednesday so that everyone gets the news about not going on the field trip in three ways - email - Blog - and written as a reminder on the newletter that comes home in the folder. (4 if your child told you about it)
Have a good rest of the week!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
We talked about a variety of tools, both that a carpenter would use and the tools we use at school. The children enjoyed the online song called 'If I were a builder" to the tune of "If I had a hammer". We used Mrs. Hansen's computer and found all sorts of fun songs and activities to do related to our reading series. Later the children drew what they would make if they were building something. I saved them to assess how much they label and write about their pictures, but you will get them home by the end of the year.
I better close now, but please check backpacks tomorrow. As we are sending home Thursday folders on Wednesday so that everyone gets the news about not going on the field trip in three ways - email - Blog - and written as a reminder on the newletter that comes home in the folder. (4 if your child told you about it)
Have a good rest of the week!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday, May 16th
As the children left today, I asked them to remember something they liked about our learning day. Here were some of their answers:
"The Mystery of the Missing Meatballs" a wonderful math story that began our new unit called Understanding Subtraction! We will be working with terms like separating, taking away, comparing, and finding the difference.
Centers - always a favorite, especially the new ocean center Mrs Bartsch started last week!
Having our volunteer, Mrs. Jockers take children one at a time to the hall to count, talk about more and less, name shapes, 3-D shapes, and coins! She had been on a trip and it was fun to have her back for the last few weeks! As we came in from recess, Mr. Croff walked by her and Mrs. Jockers called him "Kevin" because she knew him when he was a little boy. One student said "That's not his name, it's Mr Croff! Mrs. Jockers felt like she had done something wrong calling him "Kevin" but he explained that she could because she was an adult. So the students learned that it shows respect to call adults by Mr. and Mrs. and when they get older to use first names.
We also had a fun song called "The Fix-It Shop" where we found three words that rhyme and got to clap when we heard them 5 times in the song!
:( :( :( :( :( :( - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - :( :( :( :( :( :(
The sad news is it is really looking like rain the rest of the week. We will either be postponing or cancelling the Farm Trip. I left a message with the Farmer to see if next Tuesday or Wednesday would work for them. Either way, the children who said they are bringing lunches need to bring them this Thursday because the order is already in and the school will be receiving less lunches that are on the menu and sack lunches for those who ordered them. We will probably make it a fun lunchtime in the room or some other place in school if it really is raining the whole day! Keep checking the blog and the backpacks for a notice of the final plans. Weather is always a factor in these kinds of field trips and children need to learn to deal with disappointments as well as enjoying different environments when we can!
In PE today Mrs. Edgmond went over some of the games that will be at field trip and the behavior expectations as well as introducing the huge parachute that will be outside next Monday afternoon! Hopefully the weather next week will be wonderful, warm and summer-like!
That's about all for now, except to ask you to please remember to donate a snack if you can!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Clapper
"The Mystery of the Missing Meatballs" a wonderful math story that began our new unit called Understanding Subtraction! We will be working with terms like separating, taking away, comparing, and finding the difference.
Centers - always a favorite, especially the new ocean center Mrs Bartsch started last week!
Having our volunteer, Mrs. Jockers take children one at a time to the hall to count, talk about more and less, name shapes, 3-D shapes, and coins! She had been on a trip and it was fun to have her back for the last few weeks! As we came in from recess, Mr. Croff walked by her and Mrs. Jockers called him "Kevin" because she knew him when he was a little boy. One student said "That's not his name, it's Mr Croff! Mrs. Jockers felt like she had done something wrong calling him "Kevin" but he explained that she could because she was an adult. So the students learned that it shows respect to call adults by Mr. and Mrs. and when they get older to use first names.
We also had a fun song called "The Fix-It Shop" where we found three words that rhyme and got to clap when we heard them 5 times in the song!
:( :( :( :( :( :( - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - :( :( :( :( :( :(
The sad news is it is really looking like rain the rest of the week. We will either be postponing or cancelling the Farm Trip. I left a message with the Farmer to see if next Tuesday or Wednesday would work for them. Either way, the children who said they are bringing lunches need to bring them this Thursday because the order is already in and the school will be receiving less lunches that are on the menu and sack lunches for those who ordered them. We will probably make it a fun lunchtime in the room or some other place in school if it really is raining the whole day! Keep checking the blog and the backpacks for a notice of the final plans. Weather is always a factor in these kinds of field trips and children need to learn to deal with disappointments as well as enjoying different environments when we can!
In PE today Mrs. Edgmond went over some of the games that will be at field trip and the behavior expectations as well as introducing the huge parachute that will be outside next Monday afternoon! Hopefully the weather next week will be wonderful, warm and summer-like!
That's about all for now, except to ask you to please remember to donate a snack if you can!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Clapper
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday
Dear Parents,
First of all I would like to apologize for not blogging. I tried yesterday and it was not working. So I am sorry, but here we go...
*These last few days we have been working with short vowel words, reading a story called "Building with Dad", and practicing our High Frequency word which are: a, are, for, have, look, the, they, to, and you.
*In math we have been working on addition. We have transitioned from saying 2 and 3 is 5 to 2+3=5. The class is doing a great job!
*In science as you know we have started an Ocean unit. We have discussed different animals in the ocean, the top and bottom of the ocean, and how fish swim in a school to protect themselves from larger preditors. We read Swimmy today by Leo Leonni. The class made a mural of swimmy and the other fish swimming together in a school of fish to protect themselves from the large preditors of the ocean.
I hope you have a great weekend the class had a great day today. Thanks!! Mrs. Bartsch
First of all I would like to apologize for not blogging. I tried yesterday and it was not working. So I am sorry, but here we go...
*These last few days we have been working with short vowel words, reading a story called "Building with Dad", and practicing our High Frequency word which are: a, are, for, have, look, the, they, to, and you.
*In math we have been working on addition. We have transitioned from saying 2 and 3 is 5 to 2+3=5. The class is doing a great job!
*In science as you know we have started an Ocean unit. We have discussed different animals in the ocean, the top and bottom of the ocean, and how fish swim in a school to protect themselves from larger preditors. We read Swimmy today by Leo Leonni. The class made a mural of swimmy and the other fish swimming together in a school of fish to protect themselves from the large preditors of the ocean.
I hope you have a great weekend the class had a great day today. Thanks!! Mrs. Bartsch
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Rain Rain Go Away, Come again another day!
We want recess! The children are ready for some outside exercise and sunshine. Yet, they are making the best of our 6 hour indoor days and we are learning and having fun together despite not being able to have recess. One of the ways we played and reinforced some reading skills was to play a modified version of Duck Duck Goose instead of afternoon recess. Have your child explain how we included the short vowels in the game!
Tomorrow is the LAST day to check out a Library book. PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILD REMEMBER TO BRING IT TO SCHOOL.
Mrs. Treglown will still meet with them, read stories to them and make a fun year-end project in the final three Library times we have left this school year.
One last plea to have everyone turn in their lunch slips for both the Spring BBQ and the Farm Field trip by this Friday!
Thanks,
Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
Mrs. Clapper
Tomorrow is the LAST day to check out a Library book. PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILD REMEMBER TO BRING IT TO SCHOOL.
Mrs. Treglown will still meet with them, read stories to them and make a fun year-end project in the final three Library times we have left this school year.
One last plea to have everyone turn in their lunch slips for both the Spring BBQ and the Farm Field trip by this Friday!
Thanks,
Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
Mrs. Clapper
Monday, May 9, 2011
Rainy School Day
We enjoyed a fun rainy day at school. We had PE in the morning and went out for a little bit after lunch and for afternoon recess. We had so much fun starting our new unit in reading called "Putting IT Together" and did some short vowel review. We will make a graph of the short vowel show and tells this week.
We are working on all sorts of adding problems and tomorrow well vary it a little adding pennies rather than butterflies in today's lesson! We are going through the addition chapter pretty fast, but the children seem to understand putting together, joining groups, adding and even using the plus sign to say 2 plus 4 equals 6. Many of them even caught a mistake Mrs. Clapper made today. No one laughed at me, but they very courteously pointed out my error!
We enjoyed celebrating Emma's birthday with ice cream sandwiches for treats this afternoon!
We also got into our new purple Skills Buddy books this afternoon so that tomorrow morning, we can do a birthday cake card for Ella tomorrow morning. Ella's grandmother made treats for Ella to share with the class!
Thank you for the two response forms I already received regarding the Farm lunch either being ordered or brought from home. I only need 17 more to make sure everyone is accounted for! I sure hope we get all this rain out of the way before next week. It would be too difficult to take 100 students to a muddy, wet farmyard. We will keep you posted. If we get rained out, we will still do the sack lunches and home lunches and have a fun picnic in the room during lunch time! It won't be the same as going to the farm, but we'll make the best of plans that get changed.
A new notice was added to your child's mailbox today regarding the Spring BBQ, so if you are planning to attend please return the blue form also!
Have a nice evening. I love to read when it's raining and we have a fun story called Building with Dad tomorrow.
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
We are working on all sorts of adding problems and tomorrow well vary it a little adding pennies rather than butterflies in today's lesson! We are going through the addition chapter pretty fast, but the children seem to understand putting together, joining groups, adding and even using the plus sign to say 2 plus 4 equals 6. Many of them even caught a mistake Mrs. Clapper made today. No one laughed at me, but they very courteously pointed out my error!
We enjoyed celebrating Emma's birthday with ice cream sandwiches for treats this afternoon!
We also got into our new purple Skills Buddy books this afternoon so that tomorrow morning, we can do a birthday cake card for Ella tomorrow morning. Ella's grandmother made treats for Ella to share with the class!
Thank you for the two response forms I already received regarding the Farm lunch either being ordered or brought from home. I only need 17 more to make sure everyone is accounted for! I sure hope we get all this rain out of the way before next week. It would be too difficult to take 100 students to a muddy, wet farmyard. We will keep you posted. If we get rained out, we will still do the sack lunches and home lunches and have a fun picnic in the room during lunch time! It won't be the same as going to the farm, but we'll make the best of plans that get changed.
A new notice was added to your child's mailbox today regarding the Spring BBQ, so if you are planning to attend please return the blue form also!
Have a nice evening. I love to read when it's raining and we have a fun story called Building with Dad tomorrow.
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tuesday May 3rd
Another good day of busy activities in Kindergarten. We read from our Skills buddies, worked on a Mother's Day gift, and read three and a half stories. We did 4 pages in our Reader Writer notebook, including a couple pages where we discussed a variety of sources that we can get information when we need it. We are working on capitalizing the first letter of every sentence and remembering to do our best everytime we write! We talked about how Mouse managed his anger and learned some of a volcano song.
Since this is a 4 day week, Mrs. Bartsch will do a full day on Wednesday and Thursday. We will all have Friday off!
I wish each student's mother a very happy Mother's Day. If you get something in the mail before Mother's Day please save it to open with your child. Look for a note in Thursday's folder that has a lunch order form for the Field trip. It is due earlier than was originally posted on the May calendar.
I really enjoyed watching some of our students encourage others today to be the best they can be! The power of positive peer influence is amazing! That's another reason I love teaching Kindergarten!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
Since this is a 4 day week, Mrs. Bartsch will do a full day on Wednesday and Thursday. We will all have Friday off!
I wish each student's mother a very happy Mother's Day. If you get something in the mail before Mother's Day please save it to open with your child. Look for a note in Thursday's folder that has a lunch order form for the Field trip. It is due earlier than was originally posted on the May calendar.
I really enjoyed watching some of our students encourage others today to be the best they can be! The power of positive peer influence is amazing! That's another reason I love teaching Kindergarten!
Sincerely, Carol Clapper
Monday, May 2, 2011
Monday Madness
Today went so fast, I felt like I rushed to get everything in and didn't even get to our little decodable reader "Run Tim" So I sent it home at the last minute unread. It would be a good thing for many of you to have your child read to you!
We did get to our first book of the Anger Management section of 2nd Step called "When I Feel Angry" And tomorrow we will try to fit in Mouse Was Mad! We hope the steps we learn to calm down and make good choices show up at home as the children use what they learn in school.
We will also have the story called "This is the Way We Go To School" My favorite way to teach is through reading wonderful stories to children of this age, so it will be a good day for sure!
We worked on Mother's Day gifts and moved to new places to sit for the month of May!
I expect lots of yellow for show and tells this week, and we will put yellow paint in the art center!
I love Kindergarten!
Have a great evening!
Mrs. Clapper
We did get to our first book of the Anger Management section of 2nd Step called "When I Feel Angry" And tomorrow we will try to fit in Mouse Was Mad! We hope the steps we learn to calm down and make good choices show up at home as the children use what they learn in school.
We will also have the story called "This is the Way We Go To School" My favorite way to teach is through reading wonderful stories to children of this age, so it will be a good day for sure!
We worked on Mother's Day gifts and moved to new places to sit for the month of May!
I expect lots of yellow for show and tells this week, and we will put yellow paint in the art center!
I love Kindergarten!
Have a great evening!
Mrs. Clapper
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