Next Tuesday, all of Kindergarten will come together for a Thanksgiving Feast. The students will choose to attend the event as a member of the Wampanoag tribe or as a Pilgrim. The students are making a hat for both groups of people. For the feast, the students will be making homemade corn bread and homemade butter. The butter making is a lot of fun and gives the children a tiny glimpse into how much work Pilgrim and Wampanoag children had to do. The students will each make a patterned placemat as a gift for a new friend at the feast. The feast will also include popcorn and cranberry juice. It will take place in the cafeteria in the morning.

What’s Going on in Centers?

The students are still working on their Animal ABC book. We should have a new podcast Letters M-T by the end of this week. The whole book will be finished by the first week in December.  The children are also working on a book about the First Thanksgiving. We’ll finish it this week and the kids will practice reading it before they bring it home next week.

I am working with smaller center groups so I can individualize instruction even more as the students’ skills spread out more. Many children are ready for everyday reading lessons, others need more time learning to identify the alphabet, and others need to master the sounds associated with the letters. The same with math; many are ready for more challenging activities while others are still learning to identify the numerals 0-10.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Report cards were sent home last Friday for Grades 1-12. Kindergarten does NOT have a 10 week report card. We meet to discuss your child’s progress instead. Our first report card will be at 20 weeks.

Popcorn words

I am really impressed with all the popcorn words the students know! These words are the key to helping your child become a reader and a writer. Here are some fun ways to practice these words: Write them in sugar spread on the table; Put the words on sticky notes around the house then go on a hunt looking for them, have your child read the words as you find them; Keep magnetic letters on the fridge and let your child arrange them into popcorn words. Keep track of words your child can only read and words your child can read and write.

KinderBlogs

Last year, I attended a technology conference in Rochester. I saw a presentation by a teacher who used blogging with first graders. I had been skeptical of this in the past since I assumed having 5-year-olds hunt and peck on the keyboard would be too labor intensive and a waste of time. However, I decided to try blogging in the classroom last year. The kids really surprised me! They knew computers! They sat down with their stories and matched the lowercase letters on the page to the uppercase letters on the keyboard.

Your children started blogging last week. Now they check in daily to see if they have any comments on their stories. I pull up the blogs on our big screen and we read the stories and comments together. Please log in at kinderblogs. They’d love it if you read their stories and left a comment (your child is listed under authors by his/her first name). Comment directly on your child’s story page. Your comments will not show up right away, all comments are filtered before being posted. Check back each week, they will be blogging at least once a week. Sometimes more if they choose to blog in their free time.  You will see their typed story and their picture. Pictures may not be posted right away (I have to scan, resize, and upload them- a little too much for Ks to do on their own). Under the picture is the adult underwriting of the story if your child’s story is not readable without it.

You will be able to watch over the year as they learn about matching letters to sounds and begin to add more details to their pictures and stories. You will see that as they add spaces between their written words; they’ll also know when to push the space bar on the computer. They will be writing during our Writer’s Workshop first thing each morning. Much of their work is guided by an adult assisting at their table. The adults help the students stretch out the words and listen for the sounds in the words. As the year progresses, the children will become more independent and will not need as much help. Each Workshop starts with a minilesson focusing on a skill the children are need of learning. Each Workshop ends with sharing their work. I’m glad to be able to share their writing and drawing with you on the web. It’s a nice way for family in other cities to stay in touch with your child as well. They really do love it. The goal is to get at least 25 published stories online by June for each child.

Food Donations

I hope you’ll consider sending in canned goods and non-perishable food this week. The school is collecting for the Palmyra-Macedon Food Pantry located at Zion Episcopal Church right next door to the school. As this economy gets more difficult for families, it’s important we all pitch in to help each other out. We are collecting food through Friday, November 21^st.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving vacation. I look forward to seeing everyone the following Fridays for Parent/Teacher conferences.

Pumpkin Fun

Last week, the kids each “picked” their own pumpkin from our classroom pumpkin patch. They had to pick a number from a hat then find the pumpkin with the matching number in the patch. The students used the pumpkins to conduct math and science experiments. The students measured the circumference of their pumpkins by making paper belts. They compared their belts to each others’ belts and ordered the belts from shortest to longest.

The children also measured the height of their pumpkins using blocks. Most of the pumpkins came out to be 5 blocks high. Several were 4 blocks and one was 6 blocks tall. The students then weighed their pumpkins. They weighed their pumpkin against my pumpkin, Mr. Plumpy. They also compared their pumpkin to each others’ pumpkins. Sam, Rocco, and Emily tied for the heaviest pumpkin. Madison had the roundest pumpkin with the longest belt.

We also conducted the experiment, “Do Pumpkins Float?” Eleven students predicted they would sink and four thought a pumpkin would float. One student was undecided, and another thought it depended on the size and weight of the pumpkin. Each student was able to test their own pumpkin. We concluded that all pumpkins float.

We also predicted how many pumpkin seeds were in Mr. Plumpy then removed the seeds and counted them up. He ended up with 392 seeds. The nearest guess was 150 seeds. The seeds were roasted and served at snack time last Friday. This week we will bake a pumpkin pie to eat at as our Halloween snack on Friday. We will watch Mr. Plumpy decompose in a jar.

You can see pictures and videos from our pumpkin activities on the website mrs.malsup.com. The sink or float videos aren’t the best. They are quite short and move rather quickly! Don’t blink or you might miss your kid (if he’s in the video).

Character Bricks

Our third character brick recipient is Sam. Sam is kind to his friends and gets along well with everyone. He follows the classroom rules and works hard during centers. Thank you, Sam, for being a good citizen.

Card changes

I didn’t send home certificates last week for staying green all week because most did not. There were quite a number of yellow cards all week long.

For the first two months of school we were concentrating on the correcting the big problems-keeping hands and feet to oneself, walking quietly in the hallway, staying at the appropriate center. Now that the big behaviors are under control, we’re working on some of the smaller behaviors such as raising our hands at our meeting time; using inside voices ALL the time; completing work in the recommended time frame; using good table manners at snack; coming over for help instead of yelling across the room; and taking care of one’s belongings and lunch order without being asked. There will be quite a number of “reminder cards” for the next few weeks for everyone. Yellow cards are just reminder cards. I don’t want kids to be told they have to stay green all week or else. We all need a reminder now and again and that is what the yellow card is for, a chance to change their inappropriate behavior without getting into trouble. It is only when the card is changed to red that the child misses out on play time or gets a note home.

I hope you understand. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks.

Fundations

The children are really catching on to all the names of the letters, the sounds associated with the letters and how to form them correctly. Thank you to everyone who is practicing alphabet writing at home with your child. Your hard work is noticed and appreciated.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Just a reminder, the first marking period ends next week. Your parent/teacher conference time will be coming home in your paper version of this.

Be sure to let me know if you need to reschedule. If you didn’t sign up for a conference at the open house, I have assigned a time. If this doesn’t work for you, please let me know.

High School Helpers

If you've been hearing about Katie and Abbie, they are our two high school helpers!  Katie and Abbie are wonderful girls and really help out so much in our classroom.  The kids just love them.  Abbie comes in every morning and Katie helps out every afternoon.  We really appreciate all they do!!!!  

Snack

Here is a review of the upcoming families who will be providing snack for the next few weeks. Thank you again for sending in food.

This week: Brenna’s Family

Thank you for the wonderful snacks!!! The kids will be enjoying apples, orange slices, animal crackers and goldfish this week!  They were very excited by the selection.

Next week 11/3: Seth’s Family

Week of 11/10: Bryce’s Family

Week of 11/17: Kaleb’s Family

Halloween Party

Our Halloween Festivities are this Friday. It is really more than just a party because it’s an all day event. During centers, the children will make Halloween hats, Halloween necklaces, sort and count M&Ms, and play a Halloween listening game. At 12:00, the kids will put on their costumes over their clothes. We will have a costume fashion show and play traditional party games such as musical chairs, freeze dance, and bingo. At 12:30, we will join up with two other kindergarten classes for a parade around the playground and the hallways. When we return, the kids will enjoy a Halloween story and another game. The kids go to gym at 1:23 then we’ll have our special snack at 2:05. The students will eat their pumpkin pie and a Halloween cookie or two. If anyone would like to supply juice boxes, we’d greatly appreciate it.

Today the kids tested if pumpkins sink or float.  Tune in tomorrow to see their predictions and watch videos of the results.  (You can also ask your child what happened :-) )

We also cut Mr. Plumpy (Mrs. Alsup's pumpkin) open and counted his seeds. He had 392 and he was just a little guy who was extremely hard to open!  Tomorrow, we'll chop Mr. Plumpy into bits and watch to see how long it takes for him to decay into mush.  This last week of October, we'll paint our pumpkins and make pumpkin pie.

Here are some very quick videos of some of the students testing whether or not their pumpkin would float.  The children were quite surprised to find out all the pumpkins floated!

Open House

It was very nice seeing everyone again at the Open House last week. We had a wonderful turn out. Your children were very excited to show you around "their" school. This is a big change from where they all were at the Kindergarten Orientation in August! The big winner of the pumpkins in a jar was Taylor. She guessed the exact amount of 55 pumpkins. We had several other very close guesses too. Thanks for making your pumpkin page. Those will be made into a class book that we can read together and learn a couple more Popcorn words from it (here and is).

Centers

The children continue to be busy learning the proper writing formation for letters. At the same time, we practice matching the letters to the sounds, and figure out what letter is at the beginning of words.

In math, the children are working on indentifying the numerals 0-10 and matching sets to those numbers. Students who can identify those numbers are ready to continue on to learning the teen numbers this week.

Snack

Thank you to Amanda’s family for sending in snack last week. The kids appreciate the variety and healthy treats you have supplied! They LOVED the graham crackers, apple fries and dip. Thanks!

Palmyra Fire Dept.

We had a treat last week for Social Studies. The Palmyra Fire Department visited with a safety movie and many of their trucks! The firefighters led the children on an interesting tour of the vehicles. You can see a movie of the visit on our class website. This is a great week to discuss fire safety at home, practice dialing 9 1 1, check your smoke detectors, and plan your family escape route. This week during "Interactive Writing", we will write a class thank you note to the Palmyra Fire Dept. We will "share the pen"; the children will supply the beginning sounds and letters and I write the rest of the words. Also, I will show the children more resources I have around the room for writing popcorn words.

We also studied Christopher Columbus for Columbus Day. We will learn a little more about him this week too.

Halloween

We are planning a Halloween party for the afternoon of October 31st. The children will be allowed to bring (not wear) a costume to school for the party (please NO weapons of any kind). The party is an all day event. Centers will have a Halloween theme. After recess, we’ll dress up and have a costume parade around the playground and school then play games. After gym, we’ll have a special snack (not in costume so they won’t get messy for the big evening). It will be a fun day for all.

Art Smocks

Please send your child’s art smock back to school if it is still at home. I will send those home every OTHER week to get washed. Every week is just too much for some families.

Next week, we will be immersed in All Things Pumpkin!

Firefighter Visit

Apple Pies

Our study of apples continues this week. They learned how to make an apple pie yesterday! Each child worked on a team of six students to make a pie. Today the kids got to sample their hard work during snack time. You can see pictures from one of the groups hard at work on our website: mrs.malsup.com.

Snack

Thank you to Madison and Rocco’s families for sending in snack last week and this week. The kids appreciate the variety and healthy treats you have supplied! Thanks!

Art Smocks

Please send your child’s art smock back to school if it is still at home. The kids use the art smock in our classroom and in the art room. We have art on Tuesdays. Just a reminder, these are going to come home each weekend with the rest time blanket. Be sure the shirt and blanket come back to school every Monday.

Paper Books

Some of the children are ready to learn to read! If your child knows the letters and letter sounds, then he/she is ready to read. If your child is ready, you will see little paper books come home. Help your child become a reader by encouraging him/her to read these little books multiple times. It would be wonderful if you had a box or special place for the books. Your child will accumulate quite a collection of these paper books as the year progresses.

Character Brick Winner

Our second character brick recipient is Brenna. Brenna is a hard worker and puts great effort into all she does. She is enthusiastic about her school work and conscientious about following the school rules. She is kind and a friend to all. Thank you, Brenna, for all you do.

Podcast-KIndercasts

The class has been busy making podcasts on the alphabet. You can watch the shows from our website under Kindercasts. You can also download them from itunes. The children are making their own Animal Alphabet Book. For the podcast, one student’s page is selected for each letter. The child records the name of the letter, the name of the animal and the sound the letter makes. So far we have completed our first row of letters A-F. This week we started recording Part II Letters G-L. Look for that second podcast next week.

Homework Calendar

Thank you for working with your child on the September Homework Calendar. I will be collecting those tomorrow to see how much your child did. A new homework calendar is already in your child’s BEE Book. The purpose of the homework is to help you stay informed of what we do in the classroom and to give your child extra practice at the skills we work on in school.

Questions? Concerns? You can always reach me by phone, email or notes.

September Homework

October Homework Calendar

Here are pictures from our classroom today. The children spend most of the day working in small individualized groups. The activities include name writing, letter identification and formation, counting, matching numbers to sets, puzzle building, beginning reading, science discovery activities, art projects, and computers. The kids also get to play twice a day in our developmental centers which include painting, pretend play, puppets, Legos, blocks, dollhouse and trains.

It's Apple Time

We'll be studying the life cycle of an apple tree for the next two weeks as we welcome Fall.  Some of our activities include measuring apples, making apple sauce and apple pie, stamping apple prints, and much more.  Stay tuned.

Here's a fun book that helped kick off our apple study.

Our Address and Phone Book

I have finally put together our Kindergarten Class Address and Phone Book. I wanted to give everyone a chance to participate. Please use this book to invite friends over to play. Remember it should not be used for business purposes or shared with anyone not included in the list. If you notice a mistake in it, let me know so I can fix it.

What Did you do

in School Today?

Not many papers have come home so far, you may wonder what we’ve been doing for the past week and a half in school. If your child is like my kids, you don’t get many details. So I’ll let you know…

Centers

Book Making: The children are busy creating their own ABC Animal book at this center. The purpose of this center is to teach the children to independently follow step by step directions; it is also an opportunity for the students to exercise their fine motor skills-drawing, cutting, gluing, coloring and writing. The finished book provides a wonderful sharing opportunity for parents to read with your child. It will be coming home in October.

Math: Currently at the math center, the students are learning how to make the numerals 0-5 and match sets of objects to different amounts. Some of the activities include matching the correct amount of apples to the numbered apple trees; putting the correct amount of fish in the fish tanks; matching ice cream cones to the correct amount of ice cream scoops; and playing games with dice and moving the correct number of spaces.

Puzzles: Students have a wide variety of puzzles to choose to build. It is interesting to see how some of the children really challenge themselves with the most difficult puzzles and others do the same one again and again. Both approaches are just fine. The puzzles range in all subject matter.

Writing: Students work on practicing their letters on our Fundation white boards. We also hunt for the letters on magnetic letter boards. This week, the students will also add a picture and an “I like..” sentence to their writing folder and on their blogs. I still have 4 students who need to finish their self-portraits on their blogs too. Thanks for the parents who left comments to your children online. I shared the website with the class today.

Science: This week in science, the students are mixing primary colors and creating new secondary colors with paint and food coloring.

Reading: I do have a number of students who are ready to learn to read. Look for little personalized books coming home soon with your child. I encourage you to keep these books in one location and ask your child to read these over and over again to you.

Computers: The students have been playing around with Starfall.com. This is a wonderful site for learning to read. I highly recommend it.

Art: The art center has been busy. The kids did a ripped paper Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree on Monday. Today, the kids created their own Zero the Hero. He’s a little puppet who visits our class every tenth day of school. Today is the 10^th day of school! Later this week, the kids will make stained glass apples for our windows to help kick off our study of the fall harvest beginning next week.

Movies: Does your child mention watching movies? During rest time, I show 5-10 minute animated versions of classic children’s literature from WXXI’s education website. We have watched beloved children’s literature come alive including-Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Chrysanthemum, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Curious George Goes to the Hospital.

Reading: I do have a number of students who are ready to learn to read. Look for little personalized books coming home soon with your child. I encourage you to keep these books in one location and ask your child to read these over and over again to you.

Computers: The students have been playing around with Starfall.com. This is a wonderful site for learning to read. I highly recommend it.

Art: The art center has been busy. The kids did a ripped paper Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree on Monday. Today, the kids created their own Zero the Hero. He’s a little puppet who visits our class every tenth day of school. Today is the 10^th day of school! Later this week, the kids will make stained glass apples for our windows to help kick off our study of the fall harvest beginning next week.

Movies: Does your child mention watching movies? During rest time, I show 5-10 minute animated versions of classic children’s literature from WXXI’s education website. We have watched beloved children’s literature come alive including-Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Chrysanthemum, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Curious George Goes to the Hospital.

A Big Thank You!

Thank you so much to Sean’s family. We appreciate the variety of snacks you have supplied for this week. The children enjoyed apples and bananas today. It is so nice to have such wonderful participation from families. Thank you!

Coats

As you know, we do go outside everyday and I really appreciate when the kids come properly dressed for the elements, thank you. However, at the end of each day I am noticing a trend…we have a pile of coats left on the bottom of the coat racks that are being left behind and none have names written on them. I hold them up to the kids, but they seem to be unrecognizable to the owners. When you do finally get your child’s coats home, please label them with your last name so I can make sure these get back to their proper owners quickly.

Character Bricks

Our first character brick recipient is Madison. Madison is a great listener, a kind friend, and a hard worker. Madison embodies good character in her behavior throughout the day. She follows the rules, helps classmates, and always does her best work. We’re waiting to hear Madison lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the entire school on the morning announcements soon. Congratulations, Madison!

Our First Book

Look for our book My Class to come home this week. I am just waiting to take a picture of our newest classmate, Michael before I send it home. The book can serve several purposes if you read it aloud to your child every evening.

First, it will help your child learn the names of all his/her classmates. I have been hearing a lot of “the boy in the green shirt…” or “the girl with the yellow hair….”. We play name games together in class and we have a name chart we read each day but reading this book each evening will help too.

Reading the book together can help start conversations about different children in the class. You can ask, “Do you play with _____?” “What do you like about ______?” This can help your child tell you more about his/her school day especially if your child doesn’t like to supply details.

Another benefit of rereading this book together each night is it can help your child learn to read. Two of our Popcorn Words are in this book (I and see). Point under each word as you read it. Soon your child will be reading the book to you! Repetition helps your child notice print.

It can also start conversations about the alphabet. You can ask, “What letter does _____’s name start with? Can you think of another person in your class who has the same beginning letter?” We play these letter games at school and it will be good reinforcement to continue at home.

Snack

Thank you to the Seth’s family for supplying our class snack this week. The children appreciate your generosity.

Library

Our library day is Thursdays. The students will go there this Thursday but won’t be checking out books for at least one more week. Ms. Hotchkin will show them around the library and explain how it works.

Fire Drill

We haven’t had our first fire drill yet but we keep practicing and are ready for the new bell to ring!

Busy Bees!

You may have noticed we didn’t get our busy bee art project done until Friday even though I included that in our first day activitiesJ. I always forget how hard the first two days of Kindergarten are for learning routines and procedures. It took us to Friday to finally settle into our routine a little better. The kindergarteners make so much growth over the year; it is always a big adjustment for me to transition back from where Kinders function in June compared to September. But I can tell I have a very smart group of fast learners this year and we’ll move quickly.

Writer’s Workshop

In our first two sessions of writer’s workshop, the kids showed me how they write their names and drew self-portraits. These are in their writer’s notebooks, which are temporarily sent home with each report card and permanently at the end of the year. However, you can track your child’s writing and drawing on our website mrs.malsup.com under kinderblogs. The self-portraits will be posted by tomorrow so you can take a look. Adults will type in your child’s stories on the blogs until December when we get through all the letters in Fundations then your child will take over typing and submitting their own stories and pictures.

Homework

Handwriting

I have been looking at the homework calendars in the BEE Books. Thank you to the families who are completing these activities each night and checking them off. It is great reinforcement and doesn’t take long at all.

This week’s homework needs a bit of explaining. You’ll notice the Tuesday homework for the month is “Trace and color your Fundations letters”. Fundations is the name of the phonics program we use. We started it last year and found it to be extremely beneficial. I have included a big packet attached to this newsletter explaining Fundations. The packet includes the language we use at school for forming all the letters. The last two pages show pictures and the letters t and f. These are the pages your child should “trace and color”. Have your child trace the letters with his/her finger while you say the language for making each letter. Example: t-“Point to the sky line. Go down to the grass line. Cross on the plane line-t.” You can also have your child practice on paper, with a paint brush, in sugar spilled on a plate, with shaving cream, etc… Your child can color the picture. We read these pages in school by saying the letter name, the name of the picture, and the sound the letter makes. Example, for t we say “T top tttt” we are careful not to say tuh. These sayings will anchor your child’s alphabet knowledge and help him/her read and write as the year progresses.

Keep these pages in a folder and each week have your child finger trace all the old letters as well. They also make good flash cards to quiz your child on the letter name and the sound associated with the letter. When your child has learned all the lowercase letters, you and your child can assemble the pages into alphabetical order.

I have also included “Sky Line” Paper. You can use this with your child to practice making letters and for the Thursday homework “Practice writing your name the kindergarten way”. I have included a name card to show you the kindergarten way (Uppercase first letter, the rest in lowercase letters). Let your child copy the card. Talk to your child about letter formation. Use the Fundations Letter Formation Guide to help you. It’s important to reinforce good writing behavior and not bad habits like letter reversals and starting letters from the bottom up (this slows writing way down). If your child has no experience with writing (and I see about 5 do not) place your hand on top of your child’s and guide them along as you say the directions to each letter formation. Concentrate only on your child’s first name until he/she has that under control then add last name practice.

Math

Saturday’s homework asks your child to “Practice writing numeral one, use the poem in the BEE Book”. I have included the poems in this packet. These are actually lyrics to a song we listen to and practice numeral writing every day. We use a lot of music in the classroom to help us learn and remember. It’s always easier to remember when the information is presented in a song.

Popcorn Words

Friday’s homework asks your child to write the popcorn word I. Popcorn words are called that because they “pop” up a lot in reading and writing. We will practice writing I in school this week and we will look for it in books we read together and in games we play on our SMARTboard (large computerized white board).

Classroom Volunteers

Thank you to all who have responded about being a classroom helper. I will send home the schedule tomorrow, I think I’ve included enough in today’s packet for you J. I plan to start our schedule next week. We still need this week to settle into our routine.

Behavior

You may have received a note from me last week about your child’s behavior. It is important that we work together from the beginning to curb inappropriate behavior. Some children like to test in the beginning to see what they can and cannot get away with in school. I do send children to the time out room and if they go there more than three times, they will be sent to the principal’s office. Children go to the time out room for physical infractions (pushing, hitting, throwing) and for defiant behavior (refusing to work, being a disruption). Every child has the right to learn in a safe and calm environment. You will receive a note from me if your child goes to the time out room or sits for part of our playground time. If your child is having chronic issues, I will ask you to come in so we can talk in person about a plan to help your child succeed in school. Getting along with others is the MOST important goal you can have for your child in life.

We did it! Everyone survived the first day of school. 

Phew, your children will be tired tonight. They learned a LOT of new things today. We spent a great deal of time getting to know each other. We’re a family here at school and it is very important for the children to bond with each other and understand that we come to school to learn and to allow others to learn. Our classroom is a peaceful place without any screaming, name calling or fighting. I spend a great deal of time building a comfortable environment for all.

Today we practiced lots of routines that are important in the school setting. We practiced walking quietly in a line. We learned the routine for the cafeteria (and its complex garbage throwing system). We learned how to pick the developmental centers in the morning and that cleaning up is just as important as playing. We learned how to take attendance and empty the backpack. We learned where the gym is located and met the three P. E. teachers. We played on the playground together and rested. We met Kelly Bear and learned we have classroom rules to make school a nice place for everyone.

We took a tour of the school and found the nurse's office, the girls' and boys' hallway bathrooms, the time out room, and the main office.

We practiced walking to our bus lines or walker room. Remember if your child is a walker to please wait for your child outside across the bus loop by the flagpole. The children will be dismissed to you. Do NOT come into the building as this creates confusion. Bus children are dismissed first. No walkers will be escorted out until the buses have left. My walkers will be lead out by Mrs. Davis, another kindergarten teacher. Look for her to bring your child out. Please wave to you her so she can spot you.

Snack

We share a community snack each day. Children do not need to bring their own individual snack but can if they choose. I noticed in my flurry to set up for the Kindergarten Orientation, I hung up the second half of the year snack sign up. I am just going to change the dates so we can start this snack sign up next week. For families who didn’t sign up, I have assigned you two weeks.

If you have a problem fullfilling your week, let me know in advance so I can be sure we have a snack to share. I have attached the list. It will also be on our website and I will send you a personal reminder before your week. We do have severe food allergies in the class so please stick to providing items on the list. Thanks so much!!

Kelly Bear

Each week, a character building thought will be taught to the children. Our puppet Kelly Bear, leads a discussion and activities on making good decisions. We role play good and bad scenarios for each thought. Each day, we will take a few minutes to remember the thought and brainstorm how we can act on it for the day.

Each week, a child will be recognized for demonstrating appropriate behavior and good character. The child will receive a Character Brick. Mr. Austin will read the child's name on the morning announcements. The child will also have the opportunity to lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the entire school over the P.A. system.

Volunteers

I am looking for classroom volunteers for our morning writer’s workshop and centers. It is only an hour a day 9:45-10:45am. Could you consider giving your child’s class an hour a week or every other week or even just once a month? You can help children write and type their stories, scan their pictures into the computer, and run a center. If you are interested, please return the attached volunteer form.

People Who Help Us

We have wonderful helpers who make all that we do possible.

Mrs. Hart is our early intervention teacher. She comes into our room everyday for 40 minutes to instruct children one-on-one or in small groups. Mrs. Hart provides reinforcement and enrichment activities. She is a valuable asset to our learning community.

Mrs. Fox is one of our Kindergarten classroom aides. You may also see her working in the nurse’s office in the afternoons. Mrs. Fox is a fantastic assistant that we are privileged to have in our room two days a week. She is a kindergarten expert!

Mrs. St. Thomas is our other Kindergarten classroom aide. This is her first year in this position but not her first year helping us. She has been in Palmyra Elementary School for several years as a substitute. We are excited to have such a capable teacher helping us two days a week!

Newsletters

This is our special first day of school newsletter. Look for newsletters to come home every other Monday.

Homework

Did you notice the homework calendar in the BEE Book. These are meant to give your child a little bit of extra practice and inform you of what is going on in the classroom. These assignments are meant to be completed together by you and your child and shouldn’t take longer than 5 or 10 minutes. Please color in each completed activity.

Remember to help your child become responsible for packing and unpacking his or her BEE Book. This should come to school everyday. Any notes you have for me should go in the zipper pouch. Thank you so much!

Library

Our library day will be Thursdays!

You can help make the lunch order go more smoothly by highlighting the food choices your child should eat on your lunch calendar in the BEE Book AND talk to your child about the choice. Explain what the food is, many kindergarteners have no idea what ravioli is or spiral macaroni in meat sauce or other food items. FYI, Deli Day, is an assortment of various sub sandwiches; the child can pick the meat choice at lunch and every kind of meat is available. “Trash Plate” is just a choice of a hot dog or hamburger. The lunch ladies do not pour baked beans or sauce over the food.

If your child is a bringer, make sure he/she is responsible for putting the lunch into the backpack . This helps your child be more aware of what he/she is eating.

As the year goes on, I expect all the kindergarteners to be responsible for placing their own lunch order each morning. Help them be independent by talking to them about what you want them to order and if it is the A lunch (main lunch) the B lunch (those are items that follow OR; for example it may say Chicken dinner or a hot dog). Chicken dinner is A and Hot Dog is B. The C lunch is always a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and the D lunch is the sandwich listed at the bottom of the date if available (such as egg salad sandwich).

Please use the zipper pouch to send in any lunch money. Remember you can put money on your child’s lunch account online or by simply sending in a check made out to Palmyra Elementary. Please note that the check is for lunch money.

Feeling overwhelmed?

If you are feeling like you are on information overload because this is your first child in school, just relax. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Let me know. We all want school to be a positive experience for your child.

diane.alsup@palmaccsd.org or call 597-3475.

Today’s events

We did it! Everyone survived the first day of school. J

Phew, your children will be tired tonight. They learned a LOT of new things today. We spent a great deal of time getting to know each other. We’re a family here at school and it is very important for the children to bond with each other and understand that we come to school to learn and to allow others to learn. Our classroom is a peaceful place without any screaming, name calling or fighting. I spend a great deal of time building a comfortable environment for all.

Today we practiced lots of routines that are important in the school setting. We practiced walking quietly in a line. We learned the routine for the cafeteria (and its complex garbage throwing system). We learned how to pick the developmental centers in the morning and that cleaning up is just as important as playing. We learned how to take attendance and empty the backpack. We learned where the gym is located and met the three P. E. teachers. We played on the playground together and rested. We met Kelly Bear and learned we have classroom rules to make school a nice place for everyone.

We took a tour of the school and found the nurse's office, the girls' and boys' hallway bathrooms, the time out room, and the main office.

We practiced walking to our bus lines or walker room. Remember if your child is a walker to please wait for your child outside across the bus loop by the flagpole. The children will be dismissed to you. Do NOT come into the building as this creates confusion. Bus children are dismissed first. No walkers will be escorted out until the buses have left. My walkers will be lead out by Mrs. Davis, another kindergarten teacher. Look for her to bring your child out. Please wave to you her so she can spot you.

Snack

We share a community snack each day. Children do not need to bring their own individual snack but can if they choose. I noticed in my flurry to set up for the Kindergarten Orientation, I hung up the second half of the year snack sign up. I am just going to change the dates so we can start this snack sign up next week. For families who didn’t sign up, I have assigned you two weeks.

If you have a problem fullfilling your week, let me know in advance so I can be sure we have a snack to share. I have attached the list. It will also be on our website and I will send you a personal reminder before your week. We do have severe food allergies in the class so please stick to providing items on the list. Thanks so much!!

Kelly Bear

Each week, a character building thought will be taught to the children. Our puppet Kelly Bear, leads a discussion and activities on making good decisions. We role play good and bad scenarios for each thought. Each day, we will take a few minutes to remember the thought and brainstorm how we can act on it for the day.

Each week, a child will be recognized for demonstrating appropriate behavior and good character. The child will receive a Character Brick. Mr. Austin will read the child's name on the morning announcements. The child will also have the opportunity to lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the entire school over the P.A. system.

Volunteers

I am looking for classroom volunteers for our morning writer’s workshop and centers. It is only an hour a day 9:45-10:45am. Could you consider giving your child’s class an hour a week or every other week or even just once a month? You can help children write and type their stories, scan their pictures into the computer, and run a center. If you are interested, please return the attached volunteer form.

People Who Help Us

We have wonderful helpers who make all that we do possible.

Mrs. Hart is our early intervention teacher. She comes into our room everyday for 40 minutes to instruct children one-on-one or in small groups. Mrs. Hart provides reinforcement and enrichment activities. She is a valuable asset to our learning community.

Mrs. Fox is one of our Kindergarten classroom aides. You may also see her working in the nurse’s office in the afternoons. Mrs. Fox is a fantastic assistant that we are privileged to have in our room two days a week. She is a kindergarten expert!

Mrs. St. Thomas is our other Kindergarten classroom aide. This is her first year in this position but not her first year helping us. She has been in Palmyra Elementary School for several years as a substitute. We are excited to have such a capable teacher helping us two days a week!

Newsletters

This is our special first day of school newsletter. Look for newsletters to come home every other Monday.

Homework

Did you notice the homework calendar in the BEE Book. These are meant to give your child a little bit of extra practice and inform you of what is going on in the classroom. These assignments are meant to be completed together by you and your child and shouldn’t take longer than 5 or 10 minutes. Please color in each completed activity.

Remember to help your child become responsible for packing and unpacking his or her BEE Book. This should come to school everyday. Any notes you have for me should go in the zipper pouch. Thank you so much!

Library

Our library day will be Thursdays!

You can help make the lunch order go more smoothly by highlighting the food choices your child should eat on your lunch calendar in the BEE Book AND talk to your child about the choice. Explain what the food is, many kindergarteners have no idea what ravioli is or spiral macaroni in meat sauce or other food items. FYI, Deli Day, is an assortment of various sub sandwiches; the child can pick the meat choice at lunch and every kind of meat is available. “Trash Plate” is just a choice of a hot dog or hamburger. The lunch ladies do not pour baked beans or sauce over the food.

If your child is a bringer, make sure he/she is responsible for putting the lunch into the backpack . This helps your child be more aware of what he/she is eating.

As the year goes on, I expect all the kindergarteners to be responsible for placing their own lunch order each morning. Help them be independent by talking to them about what you want them to order and if it is the A lunch (main lunch) the B lunch (those are items that follow OR; for example it may say Chicken dinner or a hot dog). Chicken dinner is A and Hot Dog is B. The C lunch is always a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and the D lunch is the sandwich listed at the bottom of the date if available (such as egg salad sandwich).

Please use the zipper pouch to send in any lunch money. Remember you can put money on your child’s lunch account online or by simply sending in a check made out to Palmyra Elementary. Please note that the check is for lunch money.

Feeling overwhelmed?

If you are feeling like you are on information overload because this is your first child in school, just relax. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Let me know. We all want school to be a positive experience for your child.

diane.alsup@palmaccsd.org or call 597-3475.

Click on it for pdf file.

Mrs. Alsup's Daily Schedule (pdf)

In just a little while, your child will complete one of life's big milestones -the first day of school! This is a new and exciting time. It will be a time of change and new beginnings, new surroundings, new friends, new challenges, and new skills. By working together we can make this year a happy and rewarding experience for everyone. I hope this letter might answer some questions you have.

Who is Mrs. Alsup?

I am looking forward to teaching your child. I have been a teacher for over nineteen years. I have taught various primary grades and I worked as a Reading Specialist and Reading Recovery teacher. This is my fourth year teaching Kindergarten at Palmyra Elementary and I absolutely love this grade. The kids make such tremendous growth (physically, emotionally, and academically) during Kindergarten. We have a lot of fun throughout the year and we do a lot of laughing and playing as we learn. I am also a mom to triplet sons who turn 13 this year! We live right here in Palmyra village so you’ll probably see me around town once you know me.

B.E.E. Books

The best way to stay informed about our classroom is by checking your child’s BEE Book nightly. What is a BEE Book? BEE stands for Bring Everything Every day. It is a 3 ring notebook that your child will receive at the Kindergarten Orientation on Thursday, August 28^th. The BEE book holds the lunch calendar, our homework calendar, a zipper pouch for notes and lunch money, a folder for papers, and other items including our schedule. It is important that your child gets in the habit of taking the BEE book out after school and putting it back into the backpack after you’ve looked through it. If you have a note excusing your child from school or a change in your child’s transportation please put it in the BEE Book. I check it every morning for notes and money.

Want to Volunteer?

If you have time to volunteer in the classroom, there will be plenty of opportunities for you!  There are many ways you can help. If you have the time, perhaps you’d consider coming in on a weekly or monthly schedule. You can run a center and help with Writer’s Workshop. Perhaps you’d just like to come in for a special occasion such as the class field trip to the zoo in the spring or a walking trip around Palmyra. If you are only available in the evening, the PTO (Parent/Teacher Organization) is another great way to be a part of your child's education.

A Note about Classroom Supplies

I try to run as green a classroom as I can. There are supplies on the Kindergarten list that we do NOT use in our classroom so you don’t need to purchase them. I apologize if you already have but trust you can use them at home.

We do NOT need:

• 3 pkgs. of 5 oz. disposable paper cups
• 1 small pkg. of napkins
• 1 box of gallon or quart size Ziploc bags
• 1 Elmer’s glue (bottle - white or blue gel)

We do NEED:

1. 1 box of Crayola crayons (of 48 or more)
2. 10 or more large Elmer’s glue sticks
3. 2 boxes of Crayola brand markers (any colors)- not thin
4. 1 large backpack that’s large enough for big library books, art projects, and a 3 ring notebook
5. 1 adult small plain t-shirt for an art smock
6. A child’s size towel or baby receiving blanket for rest time (Please make it a small blanket, our cubbies are tiny-no pillows or babies please)

We share our supplies so you don’t need to label the markers or glue sticks with your child’s name. We use reusable individually labeled plastic cups for drinks (which are washed nightly). We also use cloth napkins and plates for snack.

When you are purchasing your child’s backpack, look for durability. Plastic backpacks’ zippers and seams do not hold up well to everyday use, especially when transporting a 3 ring notebook. It is better to invest a little more in a roomy nylon backpack that can be used for more than one year.

What else do we need?

We do a family style snack in the afternoon. One snack is offered for the day and the children can choose to have it or not. I encourage healthy finger food snacks including fruit (applies, oranges, grapes, watermelon, strawberries, raisins, etc.), vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, etc.) and some grains like wholesome cereal, whole grain pretzels, and whole wheat crackers. We also cook healthy snacks together at least once a month. I am looking for families to help contribute snacks for our class. I will have a sign-up sheet at the orientation. If you would please choose 2 weeks to supply the snacks, I’d really appreciate it! Cake and cookies are saved for birthday and holiday celebration snacks only. Thanks!

Kindergarten Orientation

I am very much looking forward to meeting you all at our orientation. It’s a great day for easing any anxiety you and your child may have about school. The kids get to explore the classroom while you fill out your child’s bus tag (please be sure you have made all your babysitting arrangements and you know where your child is going each day). You will also help your child make his art smock. Just a heads up, we use permanent fabric paint to decorate the shirts, so your assistance is required! J You and your child will also take a bus ride and enjoy everyone’s favorite lunch-pizza. See you then!

The students share their favorite memories of Kindergarten.

Listen (.mp3)

Enjoy pictures from our play "The Little Red Hen" and the last day of school.

The Last Day

Here are pictures from our Kindergarten Summer Sendoff.

We were lucky to have some critter guest visitors lately.Hannah from Mrs. Strong's class gave a wonderful presentation on her butterflies, answering lots of questions about them. Mrs. Strong visited with a click bug, and Kyle came in with his new pet hermit crabs. We've enjoyed learning about our animal friends. You can see Hannah's butterflies in our slideshow below.Also in the show, you'll see our half mile walk to and from my house. That was very exciting! You can also see the kids trying out our home-made kites and working on our bird feeders.

The Genesee Country Museum's Nature Center visited us last week and brought some interesting friends along. We learned about animals native to Upstate New York (and an added bonus of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches). These animals got everyone excited to go to the zoo!

Cinco de Mayo!

We're prepping for our Mexican Fiesta by making two homemade Pinatas!

Kindergarten Fiesta!

Kindergarten enjoyed our fiesta together. We did the Mexican Hat Dance, smashed pinatas, and enjoyed a tasty treat of chips and salsa. Everyone agreed, the afternoon was "Muy Bien!"

Cinco de Mayo

Our Trip to the Zoo

Here our pictures from our zoo trip. Thank you, Mrs. Prindle, for adding more pictures to our show. We had a wonderful time together! The weather was beautiful, we had the zoo to ourselves, and the chaperones were fabulous! Thank you to all the parents who helped make our field trip so pleasurable.

Zoo Field Trip  Tuesday, May 6th

Be sure your child arrives to school on time Tuesday with a bagged lunch (labeled with your child's name).  Please make sure everything in the lunch is disposable and that your child has a disposable drink.  Your child's chaperone will be carrying the groups' lunches in a backpack.  If you want your child to wear sunscreen, please apply it before school.  We are not allowed to apply any to the children. We will leave the school by 9:15am.  We will return by 2:00pm.  Do not send your child with any spending money.  We will not be going to the snack bar or the gift shop. 

If you are a chaperone, please remember to bring a backpack to carry the lunches in.  If you have a cell phone, please bring it. 

Let's hope the weather stays like it's predicted-sunny and warm!  We're all looking forward to a wonderful time together at the zoo.  Check back in later in the week for pictures from our trip.

We've spent a few minutes each day learning about the U.S. Presidents and we practice our handwriting in our President Book. Here's a fun song about all the men who have run our country.

Here's a peek at some of our experiments on the five senses. We're doing more this week. We'll go visit the 5th grade Science Fair on Thursday afternoon so we can see all the interesting experiments the older students conducted.

St. Patrick's Day

Sorry there are no videos or pictures from St. Patrick's Day. I did the unthinkable and left all of my cameras at home! Even though we don't have the pictures to remember it, we did have a good Irish time. The children made little peanut leprechaun necklaces. They sorted and graphed the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. We ordered leprechauns by listening to directions. The kids made Irish scones for snack (very tasty). We also watched a short video on Ireland and Irish-American heritage. Several of the kids got up to "demonstrate" Irish dancing. It was very cute. A little leprechaun (Mrs. Davis) supplied our class with Leprechaun Fizz. That's an interesting chemical reaction, add sherbet to Sprite and it really fizzes (not quite the reaction of Mentos in Diet Coke, but still pretty cool).
One thing we didn't do was look for Lucky the Leprechaun around the school, as was predicted in the homework calendar, oops! Speaking of another mistake on the homework calendar, we won't be making kites this week, it's still a little too cold for that fun.

Here are pictures from all the Kindergarten classes 100 Day celebrations.

Check out our video of the rootin' tootin' cowboys and girls who are wanted for this celebration!

What do you need to bring on the 100th Day of School?

Remember to make your 100 project. In this project you are finding 100 items and putting them together in a display. It can be as simple as counting out 100 pieces of cereal and putting it in a bag or it could be as complex as building a structure with 100 Legos or 100 toothpicks and gumdrops. You might glue 100 pennies to a poster in the shape of 100. Maybe you want to make 100 circles on a mobile. The sky is the limit. Get as creative as you want. Here are some ideas including 100 gummy worms in "dirt" (dry chocolate cake mix).

Ideas from Mrs. Pohlmeyer's Kindergarten Class in Texas

What else do you need to bring on the 100th Day of School?

Come dressed as a cowboy in jeans and a button up shirt. If you have cowboy boots then wear them! Cowboy hats and bandanas will be provided as you can see. The bandanas are covered in 100 dots and the hats will be covered in 100 stickers during our celebration.

What happens at the 100 Day Hoedown?

In the morning, the cowpokes will share their collections. Then we will break into centers to make a lasso with 100 Froot Loops on it, put 100 stickers on the cowboy hat, create a cowboy puppet, and stamp 100 circles onto a cowboy picture. In the afternoon, we'll sit around our "campfire" and roast marshmallows while singing cowboy songs. Then we'll go on a round up looking for 100 Hershey Kisses. After we'll end the celebration with some cowboy games like "Lasso the Bull" and some cowboy dancing!

Want to see our Chinese New Year fun?

Kindergarten enjoyed a fun and noisy afternoon on Friday when we rang in the Chinese New Year. Mrs. Strong, Mrs. Davis, and our class paraded up and down the first floor in our dragons. We also had dancers, drummers, bell ringers and more along for the ride.

We created our dragon head together with paper mache, paint, and lots of glitter! The students also decorated the classroom with hand painted paper lanterns and dragon puppets.

After the parade, the students were treated to orange slices, cookies, and juice.

We had fun looking at China on our website map. We had three visitors from China this week which made it even more fun to celebrate!

Besides just having a lot of fun, celebrating Chinese New Year, helps the students explore geography and get a better understanding of the difference between town, state, and country.

We'll continue to discuss China throughout the year since the Summer Olympics are in Beijing. We'll also study other countries around the globe as well.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy New Year)

Our Dragon Parade

Snowy Day

Right now there is a patch of ocean called the North Pacific Gyre where the currents can trap floating debris for years. It is miles and miles of garbage floating and trapping sea animals. It is the result of years of garbage being hauled out by barges from major cities around the world and dumped in the ocean.

The Citarum River, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, is so polluted with garbage fishermen can no longer fish there. This short sighted thinking has caused unknown tragedy environmentally and to humans. The river is full of chemicals and human waste which runs down tributaries and seeps into farmland and drinking water.

The World's Most Polluted River

The environmental debate of the day is whether global warming is man-made or a natural cycle. This debate misses the real problem; the world's population is doubling exponentially. There are more and more people sharing less and less natural resources.

The U.S. Census Bureau population projections for mid-next century range from about 393 million to 522 million. In the 55 years between 1940 and 1995, U.S. population doubled and is on schedule to double again by 2050. That is just the United States' population. China and India are doubling with larger amounts of people.

This should be more than enough reason to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 50 years is not long at all. Your children will be 55 with children and perhaps grandchildren of their own. We need to act now for their future.

The little things DO matter!

Will bringing cloth bags to the grocery store really make a difference? It will when the individual creates the tipping point for larger organizations to step up.

Other countries have reached the tipping point with the plastic grocery bag. Just this week, China banned them completely. So did the city of San Francisco. Ireland, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, and Bangladesh tax the totes or banned their use outright.

"Tony Lowes, director of Friends of the Irish Environment in County Cork, said the 15 cent (about 20 cents U.S.) tax on plastic bags introduced there in March 2002 has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in their use. "It's been an extraordinary success," he said.

According to Lowes, just about everyone in Ireland carries around a reusable bag and the plastic bags that once blighted the verdant Irish countryside are now merely an occasional eyesore. Cobb believes a similar tax in the U.S. would have a similar effect on reducing consumption.

The American Plastics Council is wary of such a tax in the U.S. They say it would cost tens of thousands of jobs and result in an increase in energy consumption, pollution, landfill space, and grocery prices as store owners increase reliance on more expensive paper bags as an alternative.

Bateman said the Irish tax of about U.S. 20 cents per bag is too high, but that a tax of 3 to 5 cents could have a positive impact on reducing plastic bag consumption by changing people's behavior.

"Having bags charged has some merits because it gets them used more responsibly," he said. For example, instead of a bagger using six bags to package a person's dinner, the bagger might use just two.

As for Cobb, he hopes people will begin to realize that paper and plastic bags both come at great cost to the environment and instead of scratching their head when asked which type they prefer, they'll pull a tightly packed reusable bag from their pocket.

"We want to make it cool to carry reusable shopping bags," he said."

-From Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Enivornment?, National Geographic, 2003.

My Kindergarten Class's Recycle Public Service Music Video

Watch this to get an idea of how much garbage Americans make!

Children's writing ability develops at different rates of speed. Don't compare your child's writing to other students. Instead, watch as your child moves through the phases of beginning writing at his/her own pace.

First Stage of Beginning Writing

The first stage of beginning writing involves the writer realizing the written word conveys the message to the reader. The child realizes people read the “letters” so he simulates writing by recording a bunch of letters. Typically at this stage, the child will approach the teacher and say, “I wrote a story! What does it say?”

There is no connection of letter sound/symbol at this stage.

Transformer Day on Christmas December 3rd, 2007

Ahhhlhbdhhhl (Child’s writing)

“Transformer day on Christmas.”

We had great fun at our first ever schoolwide sing-along. The kids did a phenomenal job singing Must Be Santa with Mrs. Strong's class. We enjoyed all the musical acts including all the teachers singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas to the kids. The class had a wonderful party together. We toasted all the good things in life and ate delicious treats. We played a few rounds of Musical Chairs and the M&M game. The day went very quickly and was a great deal of fun!

Enjoy your vacation. Don't forget to track Santa's journey on Christmas Eve from his official website via Norad. Let your child explore the North Pole and try out all the fun games. My favorite game is Mrs. Claus' Alphabet Soup. The object of the game is to find and type in the letter shown on the screen as fast as you can, then play again to beat your time! What a great game to help your child improve his/her blogging skills.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good and restful vacation! See you in 2008!

Time with Friends

Making Our Gingerbread House

Online version of our book

Subscribe to our show and hear what our class thinks about good character.

Subscribe to this podcast: Feed RSS | iTunes

Kindergarteners explain what good character means to them.

Episodes:

* 4. Zoe and Talib (00:00:41)
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* 3. Sami and Jack (00:0-:50)
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* 2. Devin and Katarina (00:00:47)
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* 1. Savanna and Michael (00:00:37)
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