Granola Bear

Hi Families,

Meet Granola Bear.  He will be visiting each student's family in the coming weeks/months. Granola travels in a bag with his name on the front.  There is a binder inside where I would like to you to write about the time you spent with Granola Bear.  Granola has been on many adventures.  He's been to the park, to get his hair cut, to the movies, sleep overs, etc. Feel free to add pictures or drawings.  I have included a couple examples from last year. Have fun and please return Granola on Monday morning!

Jamie Lynn Spears

Yes...she was here.  I got to meet her while the kids were at specials and she read/sang to the students.  What a wonderful experience.  Check out the Sunday Post Below!

Sunday Post

Hi Families!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.  Emma (my dog) and I were in a car accident....we're ok!!! With the exception of some bumps and bruises.  But for now, I'm car-less.  I have reason to believe the other driver was texting.  I now understand, first hand, how important it is to turn your cell phone off while you're driving.  Anyway....we had a super week in Kindergarten.  Check out the pictures below!

We practiced buddy reading this week!

Practicing problem solving and perseverance! 

Independent reading with their book box:

We practiced using whisper phones this week: 

We explored the kindergarten center room for the first time!

The kids had so much fun

Next week they will explore a new station!

Art Station 

Science Station

Blocks/Building Station:

Dramatic Play Station:

Library Station:

Writing Station:

Shopping for a book for their book boxes.....

Weekly Reminders:

-please sign and return Thursday folders on Friday

-a BIG thank you to the parents that have already ordered books through Scholastic!

-we have a special lesson with our enrichment specialist this week.  Her name is Liz Brohawn.

-our September K newsletter will come home in Thursday folders this week - thank you for your patience....it's been a busy month so far!

-If you have not returned the green emergency cards or orange health forms....please do so as soon as possible...thank you!

-we will visit the center room twice this week!

Questions to ask your student:

-What is the role of the author?  Illustrator? Photographer?

-What do you do during writing time?  Ask about their writing folder and the steps to creating a narrative writing piece. (think about your idea, sketch a picture, color your picture, plan your sentence/sentences)

-How do you organize manipulatives when you count?

-What is a set?

-Can you name 2 rhyming words? 

-Recite the poem Have You Ever Seen a Sheep in a Jeep

-Recite the poem Teddy Bears

-What are some different ways you can sort objects?  (color, size, shape)

-How can we find a book to fit our purpose for reading? (preview the book) 

-Ask about poetry and library center in our classroom 

Lastly, happy opening day!!!!

There's no place like Kindergarten at Whittier!

Help support our classroom and your student by ordering from Scholastic!

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: J3N44
Due Date for next order: September 30, 2014 

Dear Families,
Encouraging reading is one of the most important things we can do to help your child succeed. It can be tough finding the right books to keep them interested, which is why I am so excited that our class will be participating in Scholastic Reading Club this school year.

With Scholastic Reading Club:
-Every book you buy earns FREE Books for our classroom library
-You can choose from handpicked, grade- and reading-level-specific books for your child
-You'll find the best values on a variety of formats, including eBooks
-Each month, your child will bring home Reading Club flyers. Together you can choose from books hand-selected by teachers and experts, and then order online or by returning your order form and payment to me.

I'd also love some help growing our classroom Reading Club. If you'd like to help out, please let
me know! I'm excited to get our class reading!

Thank you for your support,

VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code (top of this letter)
SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books, value packs, and Storia eBooks
SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
 All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading
together!

Thanks!

Ms. Grimes 

Warm Fuzzies

Check out our Warm Fuzzy Jar!

I use this jar as a whole class positive behavior support.  If our whole class is working hard, following directions and trying their VERY best, they get to put a warm fuzzing in the jar.  You will notice that there are different sizes for various acts of outstanding behavior.  When the jar is full, students get to vote on a whole class prize.  Examples: extra recess, PJ day, bubbles at recess, game day, bring your favorite stuffed animal to school, etc. Notice that we have 4 in our jar already : ) 

Our 1st Weekly Post

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

A few updates for the week: 

-We have our first library lesson with our Fabulous Media Specialist, Ms. Datolli (9:20 am) 

-Students will not check out books, we are still learning about Media Center rules/procedures

-If you came to our literacy night in May, you may have seen the center room that is available to K students.  We were given a room to create traditional centers (dramatic play, blocks, writing, math, language arts, etc).  Each class gets to use the center room twice a week.  We will begin visiting the center room this week.  You may hear your student talk about Mrs. Ingram....she works with the students during this time.  I am also there to observe, take notes, and administer assessments.  We are VERY lucky to have this space.  It's a  wonderful opportunity to watch our students learn through imaginative play! 

-Please remember to send your students in sneakers on PE day

-During our classroom literacy center block, we are learning about independent reading and what it looks like to be a good reader.  We discussed, modeled and practice holding a book properly, turning pages, choosing a book of interest and telling the story through words or pictures.  You will see in some of the pictures below, that each student has an individual book box.  We will continue to practice reading independently and then work with buddy reading.  

-Has your student told you about the letter fairy?????  We have a fairy that is visiting our classroom at night...leaving a trail of glitter and a "bedazzled" letter.  We are adding these letters to our word wall and working with letter formation, sounds and associating the letter with words that have that beginning sound.  

-This week I am going to model telling stories using wordless books.  I hope to get some help from the students!!!  Tomorrow, we will read Pancakes for Breakfast by: Tomie DePaola. 

-We are going to look at photographs and practice: See, Think, Wonder.  What do you see?  What do you think?  What do you wonder? Connection: I will explain that when we read and listen to stories, we use the pictures to help us understand the story.  We also have things that we know, things that we think and questions that we wonder and that is all part of reading too.  All year, we will talk about stories and what they mean.

-In social studies we are going to learn about the Pledge of Allegiance and other U.S. symbols. We will also practice teamwork in our classroom by working in groups to create a rainbow.

-Over the weekend I printed pictures of the students and wrote their name next to the photo. We are going to add their names to the word wall during writing. In the pictures below, you will see students decorating their writing folder. We will practice uses their writing folders this week.

-In math we are going to work on several lessons the involve counting and problem solving. Stay tuned for pictures!

Have a great week...Any questions, just ask!

Ms. Grimes

Enjoy the pictures.....