rainy day

Rain rain go away

Come again another day 

Little children want to play

Outside in the sun!

Our first rainy day for arrival and dismissal went well. Please remember to dress your child appropriately. Despite the rain there was lots of sunshine in our room as the children were busy visiting various centers related to the letters M and B, and family.

Thanks to Mr. Adams (Mimi-AM) who came in on this dreary day to read A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.

The highlight this day was having our first ever Spirit Day at Wilson School. Thanks to all who dressed their child with our school colors, pink and blue. All classes gathered in the Gym, where Mr. Gil talked to the children about Good Citizenship, what it means and how to exemplify the character traits of a good citizen. Each month Mr. Gil will announce the Star Students. These will be students selected from each class who, for that month, have demonstrated good citizen behavior. This month, I chose Matthew Carey and Belinda Poh in the AM and Jackson Moller and Juliette Gringieri in the PM. Choosing 2 from each class was not an easy task, but these children, from Day 1, have been respectful, helpful, and friendly to all of their peers. By the end of the school year, all children will hopefully have been selected to be a Star Student Wilson School.

You can continue to reinforce good citizenship by being a role model for your child at home. 

Afterwards, all the teachers led the children in a few group cheers! Our first Pep Rally!

Ask your child if they can tell you one. (Hint: I say pink... you say blue... Come on Wilson, we love you!) It was great to see all the children gathered in the Gym. We are looking forward to many more of these assemblies. 

In today's folder you will find the words to a new song, I'm a Nut. The AM children have begun to learn it and you can practice at home with them. There are some hand movements to accompany the words. See if your child can remember them. The PM will begin to learn it on Monday (we ran out of time!)

As the weathermen are predicting a weekend of rain, why not go to this website and explore some free games and activities with your child. Scholastic.com

There are various areas for you to check out, including a suggested book list for children in kindergarten. 

As we continue our studies on family, spend some time this weekend doing some family activities: baking together, playing some board games, reading a book together,  drawing a family portrait, looking through family photos, or  building an indoor tent!

Looking ahead to next week, we will introduce the letter R and meet a new Letter Person, (hint: it likes ribbons and rainbows), continue reading books on families, discuss family celebrations and traditions, and graph our birthdays. 

Remember there is no school on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Have a great weekend.

 

thank you!

It's been a long day but  wanted to thank all who were able to come to Back to School night this evening. I hope you found it informative, and that I answered your questions. If  I did not, please send me a note and I will try to clarify things further. 

We are enjoying your children and we are looking forward to a great year of learning and fun. I hope you will have an opportunity to volunteer in our room so that you can see things "up close and personal".  If you did not get a chance to sign up for any activities, please contact me and I will make sure your name gets on a list. 

Getting involved is a great way to see what happens "behind the scenes".  I look forward to seeing you in Room 112.

I hope you now agree with me when I say that "Kindergarten Rocks!"

 

On a roll!

We are all enjoying our time together in kindergarten. The children are beginning to learn each other's names and are doing more talking and socializing, especially during snack.

Last week we brainstormed words that start with the Bb sound and we made a list of words that start with this sound. You can continue this activity at home by looking through magazines and cutting out pictures that start with that sound. 

We had fun singing the Bear Went Over the Mountain and Mrs. Lenck did a great read aloud of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. 

We are learning the letter "Mm" this week and enjoyed listening to the new song Mr. M and his Munching Mouth. 

This week we will also discuss our family. Take time to look at some photos of your family, perhaps Grandparents and relatives who are distant or deceased. If your child would like to bring in a family picture, he/she can share it with the class.

Listening to The 4 Seasons by Vivaldi was a nice way to welcome in the season of Autumn. Several children have made contributions to our Science table, sharing the colorful leaves that they have collected on their walk to school. Try doing some leaf rubbings and looking closely at leaves with a magnifying glass. 

The children are exploring the math manipulatives and are beginning to demonstrate some great patterns. Look around your house and nature for some interesting patterns in your everyday  living. The number this week is 3 and we read several versions of The 3 Billy Goats Gruff and The 3 Little Pigs. 

Homework this week is reading Back to Back and Hip to Hip. I will go into more detail on Wednesday evening. 

This Wednesday 9/24 is Back to School Night. It will begin promptly at 7pm in the Multi-Purpose Room (gym) for a brief intro from Mr. Gil. Afterwards,  I will meet you in Room 112, where I will give you an overall view of the curriculum and "life in kindergarten". As time is limited, please try to arrive as quickly as possible. Please jot down any questions you may have and I will try to answer as many as possible. 

Please keep in mind that this evening is meant to introduce you to your child's classroom and curriculum. Please refrain from asking personal questions regarding your child and his/her progress. 

I look forward  meeting you all. I know with the new drop off and pick up procedure, our meetings are few. Please be sure to put on a name card that will be provided outside the classroom.

And the winner is..............

Pink and Blue!

stayed tuned to find out more about how we will proudly wear our new colors!

Go Wilson! 

Introducing........

Monday's are always busy! The children did a great job telling each other about their activities they did over the weekend. Thanks for helping to "refresh" their memories before the start of school today. After the Talking Feather was passed around the children were introduced to their first Writing Workshop. This first assignment was to draw a picture that showed what they shared with the class. For example, "I rode my bike over the weekend" was the activity they spoke about. They then drew a picture of themself riding a bike. Some requirements were: they had to use at least 3 colors, the picture had to be as big as their hand, and they had to be in the picture.  The all did a fabulous job! Each student conferences with Mrs. Lenck or myself when done. As the year progresses the children will start to do writings on their own.

The student were also introduced to our first Letter Person, Mr. B., as well as his song. Throughout the year as we study the alphabet the children will meet these characters. For homework this week, take the time to have your child find things around the house that start with the "b" sound, for example; blankets, bagels, bananas, balls. Are they wearing clothes with buttons? Can they find 5 things that are blue, black or brown? Try playing a game of Bingo! and for extra fun let them take a bubble bath. Read some books on bears and bunnies. Remember, reading should be a daily activity with your child. 

School colors have not been determined yet. We are awaiting the tally results!

And lastly, join me in welcoming to our newest PM student, Dana. We have been anxiously awaiting her arrival.  

We Did It!!

Congrats on making it through the first full week of kindergarten. We all seem to still be smiling! And that's a good thing.

Fridays are Fun Fridays in Room 112 and the children enjoyed visiting some new centers, one of which was Computers. Always a big hit. As the school year progresses the children will get formal instruction in Technology. 

The children were also surprised to see that I rearranged the seating arrangement in the room to make it more conducive to student flow. 

The children were taught how to do "rotations" a clockwise movement in which the children move from center to center. They love doing it and it avoids "head on collisions" and also helps each child predict and know where they are moving to next. 

I began Reading Workshop, which I will explain in detail at BTSN(9/24), and the children learned a few things: first, how to treat books, how to hold books, and how to return them to the basket they got them from. They also sat "knee-to-knee" which is exactly what it sounds like. Students are paired together and then face each other and then take turns having discussions about books etc.  or sharing ideas etc. 

Both AM and PM classes are demonstrating great listening skills and are quickly learning that Good Readers are also Good Listeners.

To get into the spirit of things, Mr. Gil  asked the students to vote for school colors. After discussing what voting means, the children had an opportunity to place their "color ballot" into the "voting booth". The color combination choices were: purple and yellow; pink and blue; and green and yellow. As of 3pm Friday not all class results were in so we will wait in anticipation to see which colors will get the most votes. I used this activity to introduce the children to graphing, a math activity that we will do frequently throughout the year. The children did a great job making observations about which color had the most/least/same. Doing comparisons and discussing what is the "same" and "different" about things/people is math that we will do daily. In small ways, this helps the children to become more aware of themselves and their surroundings. 

So, stayed tuned for the Wilson School color voting results. 

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Remember, on Mondays we  always do the "Talking Feather". Help prepare your child by discussing some activities they did over the weekend and let them choose one that they want to share with the class.

FYI: I will be starting our Social Studies Unit on Family and Friends this week. An activity you can do together with your child is to look at pictures of the family and talk about some things you enjoy doing together. 

Our First Birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday to Rileigh! We celebrated our first birthday in Room #112 with lots of singing and a special Guest Reader. The children were great listeners as they were being read to and all joined in to wish Rileigh good wishes on  her special day. 

As each child has his/her birthday they will be able to bring home this cuddly bear and enjoy 24 hours with it. There's a book, pencil, and journal for them to draw and write in to share with us some of the activities they did with this stuffed animal. I can't wait to read them all at the end of the year! I try to pass these entries to their Fifth grade teachers and the kids get a big kick out of seeing what they did when they were 5 or 6 years old! It is a treasure. Keep in mind that if you want us to distribute invitations in school we will so long as there is one for each child in the class. I cannot distribute class lists, but if you just send in unaddressed envelopes, we will put them in the folders. 

Speaking of folders:

I had requested at the beginning of school that each child bring in a 9x12 folder of their choice. Some students still did not have one so we have given them a folder. This folder should be returned each day to school This is where you want to put important papers, notices about play dates, appointments, babysitting arrangements, etc. Please take a peek at these daily, as there may be papers that your child has done in class, as well as  information from school/district.

The PM had their first Gym class today. Ask your child what activity they enjoyed doing. 

On a final note: The "ME BAGS" have been a big hit! The students have done a great job "presenting" and  not only are we learning each others names, but also finding out that lots of us like doing the same things! This is how play dates get started. By the end of the week all the children will have had an opportunity to share their bags. Thanks for your assistance in helping your child to be successful at his/her first Kindergarten project.

Stayed tuned for the next exciting entry........we will be voting soon for something VERY special! 

Getting the "hang of it"!

I am IMPRESSED!! The children are really catching on quickly to our classroom routine. 

Have you heard about the traffic light and tally marks?  Ask your child to tell you about the job the have this week. 

The morning class had Gym today. They came back to class exhausted and sharing lots of fun activities that they did with Ms. Rachel Gordon, our PE instructor. 

Thanks to all who have sent in all the emergency forms etc. If you have not done so yet, please try to have all these important papers in by the end of the week.

In your child's folder today there were the words to Yankee Doodle and the Pledge of Allegiance. Please practice these at home with your child. Also enclosed was an explanation of how I celebrate birthdays in Kindergarten. Please contact me if you have any questions. 

Regarding ways to get in touch with me: You can write a brief note and put it in your child's folder, or you can leave a message on my voicemail, ext. 6566. 

Some children had a chance to share their "ME BAGS", and we are all learning new things about our classmates. Please encourage your child to put at least 3 (but not more than 5) objects in the bag supplied last Friday, that will help us to learn more about them.

Each day we are discovering new things in our room as well. Today the PM class had an opportunity to explore our Science center, as well as play dough, math, blocks, and the I Spy bottle. 

Both the AM and PM classes seem happy and eager to be in school. 

Next week we will begin to introduce the  alphabet, starting with the letter B. 

We continue to read and look at many books. The children are already demonstrating Good Reader skills and we will begin our formal Reading Workshop next week. Did they tell you about the books Unlovable and Coco? Too cute! They loved them.

Today, and every Monday we will do the "Talking Feather". This is an opportunity for your child to share one activity that they did over the weekend. Their sentence must start with the words, "Over the weekend".... and state a complete sentence. This activity not only helps us to find out what other people do when they are not in school, but it is also beginning to develop Public Speaking skills. Try to help your child on Sunday nights or Monday mornings/ afternoons, to recall one thing they did over the weekend that they want to share with the class. This pre-teaching sometimes helps children who are shy or have a hard time recalling things.

As the year progresses this will then become a writing activity as well. 

So, you can see, we are busy and happy in room #112. 

Line up a babysitter, and mark your calendars for Sept 24th for Back to School night. I am looking forward to meeting you  and showing you all the great things the Wilson Primary Center has to offer. 

oops!

I seem to be having a little difficulty with the chronological sequencing of my blogs. 

Please bear with me.  I'm working on it!

Well.... I hope you enjoyed the brief visit to Room #112. 

Both Mrs. Lenck and myself enjoyed meeting the children and having an opportunity to match faces to the class list. 

I hope you found the classroom inviting and that your child is excited to be entering Kindergarten at Wilson. 

Once we get a routine going, there will be many opportunities available that will allow you to be an active participant in our kindergarten. 

See you on Thursday. Don't forget to put the name tag on your child, and if driving, please remember to place the name placard in your windshield. Please review the handbook procedures for drop off and pick up. 

Mrs. Fisher