September 30

We had a great week in Kindergarten!


We practiced some new letters in Fundations this week: m & n.

We finished our Brown Bear books. Students will be bringing them home next week to share with you. The predictable and familiar text will help the students to read fluently. You can encourage your student to point to the words as they read. 

We have continued our work-board projects. The students are working hard and learning the routines of the classroom, cafeteria, and hallway.  

This afternoon our fourth grade buddies from Mr. Stead's room came down for the first time. We will get together with our big buddies a few times a month to complete various projects. It's nice to have an older friend in the building!

We went to the library on Wednesday. We will go every other week. If you have already enjoyed your student's book they can return it to the classroom. I have a basket in the room we will keep them in until we return to the library.


If you have not sent in the money for the field trip please do so this week. We are looking forward to our trip to the zoo!

Some highlights of our day today!

SOAR!

Today we went to the auditorium to learn about our Francis Wyman school wide expectations program. It is called SOAR.

We are also using Falcons coupons in the classroom to promote the SOAR expectations. Students can receive them when "caught" by a teacher for doing the right thing. Coupons are earned and cannot be asked for. Once a student receives a coupon, they write their name on them and put them in a special jar. A few times a week I will pick a few names from the jar to earn a prize from the prize box. I have explained to students that not everyone will get a prize every time, but I will also make sure that students do receive prizes. The coupons will help promote the positive behaviors in the classroom and around the building. 

Library!

We went to the library for the first time today! We met with Ms. Carney, our school librarian. She read us a story and then we were able to browse books and check a book out. Students brought the books home in their backpacks today. We will be going to the library every other week to do different activities as well as check out a book. Please make sure your student returns their book by our next visit, October 11th. We will have a basket in our classroom if students wish to bring back their book early. 

Week 2!

We had a wonderful second week in Kindergarten! The students are continuing to learn to listen and follow directions. We are still practicing taking care of materials and putting them away, as well as using them independently.


We continued our centers time projects daily. The students are getting used to the routines of following their daily job list and completing their projects. You will notice that they have brought home letter books b and t. We will be using these books along with our Fundations units to learn our letters and sounds. You can keep these books at home to practice reading and reinforce sounds. 


During our centers we have also started journal writing, learned different poems, and completed art projects. We have been working on an individual innovation of Brown Bear, Brown Bear. The students are illustrating their own books. These books will be nice to keep as well to practice with the familiar and predictable text, perfect for oral fluency. 


In math we are still working on Topic 1: numbers from 1-5. The math papers that have been coming home will hopefully help you to see what we are doing in math. There is a homework piece attached that sometimes we will complete in class. Other times you can complete it at home with your child if you would like. It does not have to be returned to class. 


The notice for our Franklin Park Zoo field trip went home on Friday. Please send in the $6 to cover the cost of the field trip as soon as possible. Checks can be made out to Francis Wyman Kindergarten.


Please let me know if I made any typos on the class directory that went home last week. 

As the weather gets cooler we will still continue to go outside. Please make sure that you label your students hats, sweatshirts, jackets etc. with his or her name. It can help at the end of the day with any confusion! Also, please practice with your child putting on his or her jacket and other outside gear. It will save us some time getting everyone ready for recess!


Check back to the blog often! I will try and post as many pictures as I can of our days here at Francis Wyman!

Wish list...

We are looking for some wish list items that you may have around your house!

-small plastic containers i.e cream cheese tubs with a lid (cleaned!)

for example!!

-paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls

-paper plates for art projects

-yogurt containers with lids such as the YoCrunch (cleaned!!)

If you have anything you'd be putting in recycling such as these items feel free to send them in!! I am sure we will find use for them!

Math choice board

We started math choice board today during math time.  Students will be able to pick and complete different activities having to do with the different math topics.  During this time, students will also be working in small groups with me to complete the math lesson of the day.  Here are some pictures of today!

We had a wonderful first week in Kindergarten! We have spent time getting to know each other's names and will continue to do so next week. 

We have spent the week doing guided discoveries of different things and materials in our classroom. This will help us to use materials correctly and to promote independence. 


We have read many stories this week. Ask your student about Sarah Jane Hartwell in First Day Jitters or what it means to be a "bucket filler." We read a story entitled Have You Filled a Bucket Today? that talks about being kind to others. 

We started our centers projects today! The students followed the different icons according to their color groups to complete their work! They did a great job! 

In math we started unit 1! We will be working with the numbers 1-5. We are learning how to use the different math manipulatives as well as working on following directions. 

It was great to see so many of you at Open house! If you did not make it to Open House, I had a sign up sheet for a conference in December. More information will go home as we get closer to the conference day. I also sent home a Who Is This? page for anyone who did not make it to the Open House. Please draw it as your face and then under the flap that says This Is.... You can write Sadie's Mom or Sadie's Dad. We will make this into a class book for all to enjoy!

A few reminders:

*Please send in the $5 to cover the cost of the field trip t-shirt. We are ordering them soon and they are so helpful when we are on a field trip!

*Please send in any paperwork you may still have at home from orientation.

*Let me know if I made any mistakes on the contact sheet that home today.

We have had a great first couple of days here in Kindergarten! Here are some highlights!! 

We had a great first day of school! We were all so excited to be here and it was nice to start getting to know all of your children! I will post pictures as soon as I get all the blog forms back so please send them in as soon as possible!!

A notice went home in blue folders yesterday about open house! Hope to see you all tomorrow night!

Here is a copy of the information as well:

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Our annual Francis Wyman Back to School Night will be held Wednesday, September 14, 2016 from 6:00-8:00pm for all grade levels.  This evening is designed for parents to meet their child’s teacher(s), learn about grade level curriculum materials, and hear about classroom expectations.  Please refer to the schedule below and plan to attend the presentations that are conducive to your needs.

 Back to School Night Schedule

6:00 - 6:30  Grades K-2 presentation 1

6:45 - 7:15  Grades K-2 presentation 2

6:15 - 6:45  Grades 3-5 presentation 1

7:00 - 7:30  Grades 3-5 presentation 2

All grade level presentations will take place in your child’s homeroom class.  Teachers will be starting and ending presentations promptly to allow enough time for them to repeat their presentations for families with students in multiple grades. Parents should only plan to attend one presentation for each child.

Mrs. McDonald, Mr. Doiron, and Guidance staff will be available in the library to meet with families throughout the evening.  Please stop by to say hello and introduce yourself.

Specialists – Staff from the Music, Art, Band, and PE departments will be available in the front lobby to speak with parents regarding these programs. 

Special Education Staff – All special education staff and specialists will be available in their individual classrooms to meet with parents regarding these specialized services.

PTO representatives and information will be available in the front lobby.  Please be sure to support our Francis Wyman community!

A Confidentiality Meeting will be held in the auditorium at 7:40 pm for parents looking to volunteer for any school activity.  This meeting needs to be completed once during your years at FW and the signed documentation will be kept on file in the main office.

Back to School Night will end at 8:00pm.

Please remember that Back to School Night is an informational event designed for parents only and students should not attend when possible.

We look forward to seeing all of our families on Wednesday night!

It was so wonderful to meet everyone at the open house today! 

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions over the weekend, or anything you'd like me to know about Monday!

Feel free to send a note with any dismissal plans!


We are looking forward to seeing your children on Monday!!

Room 113 is ready for our students! We can't wait for Monday!!