Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Otto!

Let me tell you, Otto took this job very seriously today - he was all about helping me, his classmates, and couldn't wait to get home to help out his mommy as well! 

When we studied his name today, students immediately pointed out that the letters in Otto's name are the same both forward and backward... just like Hannah's name! 

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Reagan!

Reagan was so excited to be today's Star Helper of the Day. Her classmates were even more excited when they noticed that her name has a "g" in it which is the first "worm" letter we've found in a star helper's name! (ask your child what a worm letter is!)

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

N is for Nate! 

Nate was so pumped to be the Star Helper of the Day and to have his name looked at by his classmates during our phonics time. And, can we talk about his shirt?! He definitely picked the perfect day to wear it!

Star Helper of the Day & Pics from Last Week

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Hannah!

Hannah was so excited (check out that smile!) to kick off our week as the first Star Helper. 

Here are some pictures from last week! It was filled with everything "NAMES!"

Check out Mabel on our "My name is" chart!

Students working hard on creating their Mosiac Tile Name Plates that are now beautifully decorating the walls of our classroom!

Students have been working hard on learning letter and letter sounds. Here are some pictures of our friends sorting pictures that begin with the /s/ sound and ones that don't!

Finally, here are the finished Mosiac Tile Names that your kids created - how cool are these?!

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Gianna!

If a Disney princess was a student in our class and the Star Helper of the Day, I would imagine her to look just like Gianna in this picture! To say that Gianna was excited to be Star Helper today is an understatement!

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Danny!

Danny's shirt says it all! He was thrilled to be today's Star Helper of the day, and it showed through all of his awesomeness!

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Carson!

If you can't tell from the HUGE smile on Carson's face, he was VERY excited to be today's Star Helper of the Day and to sport the golden crown.. and let me tell you, he took his job very seriously! 

Star Helper of the Day

 Today's Star Helper of the Day was...

Beatrice! 

Bea was SUPER excited to be my assistant today, for the class to study her name, and most importantly, to be able to wear her golden crown all day! Tune in tomorrow to see who the star helper will be!

Star Helper of the Day

We had some super exciting news today in kindergarten! This morning, I told students all about the Star Helper of the Day and introduced them to the golden crown! Each day, there is going to be a new Star Helper  - their job is to help me get through the day. LOL. JK, kind of. :) The job entails being my special helper throughout the day - this includes passing out papers, picking brain breaks, being the line leader, leading the morning calendar, the list is endless! Students are SOOOO excited about the new Star Helper role and can't wait for their chance to wear the golden crown for the day!

Believe it or not, this is part of our new phonics program. The focus is on student names. We start at A and work our way all the way to Z. 

Aidan was our first Star Helper because his name begins with an A. We studied his name as a class, we counted the letters in his name, we looked at how many tall and short letters are in his name, and we cheered it!

Be on the lookout for the golden crown in the coming weeks!

Thank You!

I just want to take a minute and thank all of you amazing parents for coming to the virtual open house tonight. It was so nice seeing all of you again. This year is going to be so great - filled with growth, new experiences and learning, and of course fun. I'm so happy you're all here and onboard for this exciting ride! As a friendly reminder, please fill out and return the questionnaire in Google Classroom in the next week or so. If you'd prefer a paper copy, just let me know and I'll send one home. This questionnaire will help make an even stronger parent-teacher partnership in your child's education.

 

As always if you need anything or have any questions big or small, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Happy Belated Birthday to….

Gianna! 

Gianna celebrated her 5th birthday last Sunday, the 12th! While we did celebrate her special day in school on Friday the 10th, I totally forgot to post her birthday picture on the blog! A big thank you to Gianna’s mom for sending in a special birthday snack for the class to enjoy with her!

Week #2 Update

Happy Friday.... I mean Saturday....Saturday night! Apologies for not posting sooner. I had every intention of getting pictures up from the week on Friday afternoon but had family in town and completely lost track of time.

It's hard to believe that your little ones have already completed seven days of kindergarten! I'm so incredibly proud of each and everyone of them.  They've been working so hard and of course are having lots of fun along the way!  :)

Below are some pictures from week #2!

We kicked off our Tuesday morning with a bus safety drill in the front parking lot of our school.

Our K class did an AMAZING job listening to our bus driver discuss important safety tips for riding the bus, getting on and exiting, and crossing the street.  We even practiced crossing in front of the school bus, but only after getting the okay from our bus driver. Be sure to ask your child all about it!

When we returned to our classroom, I sang the kids a song that I learned in elementary school about crossing the street...

"Stop, look, and listen

before you cross the street.

First use your eyes and ears,

then use your feet!"

They weren't too impressed, but what can I expect from a group of 17 four, five and six year olds at 9AM - haha!

Our theme this week was sharing.  We talked a lot about "sharing" and what it means to share, and how it feels when our friends share something with us and how it feels when they don't share. The close read text we read was Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. Students LOVED this book and how the Rainbow Fish changed his views on sharing from the beginning to the middle to the end. Below are some pictures of the craft students completed at the end of the week!

Some other highlights from our week: Learning all about the letter Mm. Students were introduced to our class Phonics mascot, Mabel the Elephant! Mabel helped us learn about the sound the letter Mm makes, and helped us come up with a list of words that begin with the Mm sound. We also learned how to write the letter Mm and practiced writing the correct strokes to form the letter Mm. 

I also introduced students to the letter M song from ABC Mouse. These songs are so catchy and fun for students to listen to and sing (although after listening to it for the 30th time by the end of the week, I think they were over it...and my singing)! Click here to hear it!

Students were also introduced to their Poetry Notebooks this week! I love using poetry notebooks with students for a number of reasons: it helps with with fluency, it encourages them to notice concepts of print, high frequency words, vocabulary words, shapes, sight/snap words, the list can be vast!

Each week, students will be introduced to a new poem of the week that they'll glue into their poetry notebooks, along with different activities we'll complete as a class throughout the week!

So there you have it - a little glimpse into our week! :)

A couple of friendly reminders:

1. if you haven't done so already, please send in a change of clothes for your child in a labeled zip-loc bag, as well as an art smock to keep in their cubby.

2. Please send in two pictures of your child for our class name book!  These can be original pictures, copies, or ones printed off a computer. 

I will be sending home more information about our Virtual Parent Open House on    

                     Monday @ 6pm later this weekend. See you soon!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Hello kindergarten families! I hope your kiddos are feeling well-rested. What an AMAZING first day we had together! You all should be so proud of your children - I sure am! They persevered through the day and filled their little brains with so much new information!

We practiced unpacking our backpacks at our cubbies, lining up and walking through the halls, using the bathroom, and taking mask breaks. We also read a bunch of books together and began learning the names of all our new friends in the classroom. I couldn't be more excited about the year ahead with your little ones! Below are a few pictures I took of your kids throughout the day, including a sneak peek inside our classroom!

We also read, "No David!" by David Shannon and started coming up with some classroom rules for our class!

As if that wasn't enough, we also went on a tour of the school, following clues from Pete the Cat and familiarizing ourselves with important locations like the gym, the library, the music room, the art room, the office, and the nurse's office. We never did find Pete the Cat, but he left us a new book and some lollipops in our classroom for being so well behaved on the first day of school!

I'm so excited to be a part of this wonderful journey with your families. I am really looking forward to our school year and getting to know all of you. I truly believe children learn best when teachers and parents work together as a team. Together we can achieve wonderful things!

Please don't hesitate to contact me for any reason - I enjoy hearing from you. :)

Feel free to check out our classroom blog, as it will be updated regularly. Be sure to check out the tabs to your right to familiarize yourself with class reminders and dates, as well as the different pages at the top of the blog. 

Thank you for your commitment to your child's education. I look forward to working together this year!

The First Day

I gave you a little wink and a smile

As you entered my room today.

For I know how hard it is to leave

And know your child must stay.

You've been with them for five years now

And have been a loving guide,

But now, alas, the time has come

To leave them at my side.

Just know that as you drive away

And tears down your cheeks may floe

I'll love them as I would my own

And help them as I would my own

And help them learn and grow.

So please put your mind at ease

And cry those tears no more

For I will love them and take them at my door.

- Author unknown