November 28

Hello Families:

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing long holiday weekend. I am excited to hear the many stories that the kids will tell me tomorrow. I wanted to take a moment and post several pictures from our classroom last week. Remember, all pictures may be made larger by clicking on them individually.

On Monday we had a visit from "Dr. Pepper, " a local pharmacist. She talked to us about her job at the pharmacy and how she helps give us medicine when we are sick.

She also talked with us about medicine safety--and before we play with, or eat anything that we are unsure about to STOP and ASK an adult.
On Tuesday, two students from the high school came to visit our room and do a fun activity with us. As part of their child development class, these students asked if they could do a fun activity that focused on letters, drawing and writing. Our class was a very willing set of "guinea pigs" and gladly agreed to practice writing their letters, names and numbers in shaving cream. I think this was definitely the highlight of the week for them--minus the intense cleaning part:-)

On Wednesday, we played bingo with our fourth grade buddies in Mrs. Held's class. Our buddies were so helpful to us. We worked really hard on number and letter recognition with them. It is always fun to visit the big kids in their classroom.

We also had fun sharing what we are thankful for while cutting and coloring November turkeys. It was fun to see friends work together to help each other finish.
On Wednesday afternoon, the entire kindergarten came together for a Thanksgiving feast. We enjoyed plates of fruit and popcorn with our families and good friends. We laughed, shared and realized just how much we have to be thankful for.

Look for show and tell bags to come home EARLY this week (Monday) with a different show and tell assignment. Those students who are working on extension packets should turn them in by December 6. Any students who turn in completed, neat packets will eat lunch with me in the classroom. November reading charts are due tomorrow! Stay tuned for another exciting week in kindergarten.

November 18

Where do I start? We have had such a busy last few days.

We had so much fun listening to our guest speaker: a dental hygenist from Woodbury Dental Care. She read us a story, talked to us about how to take care of our teeth and even showed us how to brush and floss.


We have been really busy learning new sight words: we have been focusing on a, my and the. We love to practice writing our sight words on dry erase boards. Can you tell what word we are writing in the picture?
This morning we listened to another community helper. She was a veterinarian from Inver Grove Heights. Our favorite part was looking at real live x rays from the animals she has helped.

Here we are practicing a safety procedure. The vet told us that if we ever come across a scary dog without an owner, we should stand as still as a tree, or lay like a rock. Can you tell which position we are practicing?
This afternoon we continued our PYP unit of inquiry on communities. We talked about three different types of communities: city, small town (suburbs) and farm (rural). We made a chart that told us the characteristics of each community. We were so lucky to have some of our buddies from Mrs. Held's class come and help us make collaborative murals of each community. It was fun to see the team work and cooperation that took place between the students. Come see our murals. They are hanging right outside of our classroom. Ask your student to tell you the differences and similarities between each of the three community types.

• Remember to work together on yellow math links that were sent home on Monday of this week. They are wonderful enrichment activities that support our math curriculum at school.
• Letter R show and tell is tomorrow.
• All students should be coming to school with the Winter Five everyday. If you need clothing assistance please let me know by sending a note in your student's folder.
• Read aloud with your student. Let them read a book to you, and you read a book to them. Students should be reading a minimum of 15 minutes a night.
  

Enjoy a wonderful evening at home together. Tomorrow is Packer Pride Day!

Early Release!

Don't forget. Tomorrow is early release day. Students will be released at 1:30. All buses will run their regular routes. Please make sure your student knows how to get home tomorrow.

November 15

Happy Monday. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend enjoying our big snowfall. The kids were anxious and excited to tell me just how many trips down the sledding hill they made, how many snowballs they threw and how tall they made their snowmen.

Please remember to send appropriate winter clothes with your student to school. It is that time of year when the weather is so unexpected. We want to make sure all of our students stay warm and protected from the snow, cold, wind and sleet. We talked about how to get dressed for winter and taught the students about the winter five. Winter Five sheets will be sent home tomorrow. If you do not own any of the Winter Five, please let me know and we can find some extras for your student at Lincoln Center to borrow during the winter season.


We had a visit from Officer Friendly--a Saint Paul police officer this afternoon. She spoke to us about her job, and showed us a video about stranger danger. The kids were really excited to ask questions about what it's like to work at the police station. Tomorrow we will be visited by a dental hygenist who works in Woodbury.
A packet of information about how to read with your kindergarten student at home will be sent to you in take home folders tomorrow. Reading together is such a special bonding experience for student and parent. Don't forget to fill out November reading calendars. They are due Monday November 29.


Don't forget that Wednesday November 17th is an all school early release day at 1:30. All buses will run their normal routes. Please make sure your student is clear on how to get home.


Ask your student about their symmetry paintings today in math. See if they can tell you that symmetry is another way to say "the same on both sides." I will post pictures tomorrow of their beautiful works of art:-)Enjoy a wonderful evening cozied up at home.

November 12

Happy Friday.

We had a busy busy day.

It is official. Cold and flu season has begun in our room. We spent a good deal of time this afternoon cleaning our room, washing tables and spraying down door handles. Remind your student how important it is to get a good night's sleep, eat well, wash hands after bathroom time and before eating, and to keep fingers out of our mouths. We hope our friends who were not feeling well today will feel better by Monday.

We are working hard on reading to ourselves. Here we are in the library with our new books.



This afternoon was our first time meeting our new buddies in Mrs. Held's fourth grade class. All students were paired together based on similar personalities and interests. Everyone worked in small groups on a "getting to know each other" activity. These will be on display in our hallway so come check them out.Here we are with our new buddies. We were so excited to go upstairs to the "big kids" room. Ask your student to tell you their buddy's name and what they learned about their buddy today.






Show and Tell was also a great success. The kids had so much fun listening and sharing with each other. It was fun to make a giant class list of S objects and rhyming words. Ask your student to share some of the objects their classmates brought in.

PS. By clicking on each picture, you may view it as a larger image:-)

Have a wonderful weekend--can you believe snow is on the way? As always we are in need of extra snacks, and Clorox wipes. Don't forget to send back clean rest towels and paint shirts on Monday.