Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, We're so busy in our room...

     The last few weeks have been busy in our classroom (actually, every week is busy).  Parent -teachers conferences are finished and report cards are out.  I truly enjoyed meeting and talking to many parents during conferences.  We continue our study of trees through the rest of this month.  There are also some Thanksgiving related works in the classroom.

     The children have been very interested in the corn tweezing work (using tweezers to pluck corn from the cob).  The bubble making work (using a hand mixer to create soap bubbles) has also been popular.  Other new works include wood polishing and leaf polishing.  In the upcoming weeks I hope to introduce mopping and silver polishing.  These practical life works and many others help children develop skills for further learning as well as their self-help skills.  The corn tweezing work develops fine motor skills (it takes a lot of precise hand control to squeeze the tweezers, isolate 1 kernel of corn, pull it off, and drop it into a bowl) and also concentration.         

     The week of Halloween, the children made 2 special snacks; spooky spiders and witch hats.  The children had to follow a "recipe" to make their snack which included counting the correct number of spider legs and putting the spider together.  

     During our group meeting, we have been singing a "hello" song to help children learn the beginning sound in their names.  Here are the words to the song (to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
   Katie starts with /k/ (make the sound of the the first letter in the child's name)
   Katie starts with/k/
   Hip, hip, hooray
   Katie starts with /k/
You can try the song at home with the names of the people in your family!

     We have also begun visiting the school library on Mondays.  Mrs. Genton, the librarian, reads a book related to our theme to the children and then discusses the book.  Beginning in Kindergarten, the children will visit the library and be able to check out their own books.  
   

     Next week we will be reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and I have several activities planned to go along with this book and also some variations of the book.  We will be making a "coconut tree" snack using graham crackers, apples, grapes, and alphabet cereal.
    




VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP
*If you are interested in signing up to volunteer in our classroom, please click the link or contact me directly.
Click here for SignUp Genius  

REMINDERS...
*The cold weather is here!  We will be going outside whenever the weather is above 30 degrees and the playground is dry.  PLEASE, send you child in a warm coat.  I also encourage you to send your child with a hat and gloves/mittens.  We will help them put them on if needed.  
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep him/her home to rest until he/she is healthy.  This is both for the comfort of your child and the health of the other members of the class.

Fall is Fun

Dear Families,
     Fall is in full swing and so is our tree study.  This week we read the book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert.
  
We took a leaf walk around the school neighborhood and collected leaves to make our own leaf art.  The children made many different leaf creations.  
     Thank you to all the families that sent in pumpkins and gourds.  The children have enjoyed scrubbing them in the touch table and using a hammer to pound golf tees into a pumpkins.  Some other works involving pumpkins and gourds include; sorting by color,sorting by texture (bumpy or smooth), and putting gourds in size order.  We also have a bucket balance for the children to try to balance gourds and rocks.  Next week we will be exploring the insides of pumpkins and gourds.  
     As part of our tree study, we have been talking about leaves.  We have compared different types of leaves and discussed the veins on the leaves and looked at the veins in our arms.  We also have a leaf rubbing work on the shelf.
     Last week, we did our first writing journal page.  Each month, the children do at least 1 journal page related to our theme.  Last week, the children drew a Halloween picture and then "wrote" about their picture.  This activity relates to the Ohio Early Learning Standard - Writing Application and Composition: "With modeling and support, use a combination of drawing, dictating and emergent writing to tell a story, to express ideas, and to share information about an experience or topic of interest."  We will continue to develop our writing skills through a variety of activities this year.  We will discuss your child's current stage of writing development at conferences.  

REMINDERS...

• Parent-teacher conferences - 10/30, 10/31, 11/6, and 11/7.
• Book Fair in the school library - 10/28-10/31.
• Picture Re-take Day - 11/3.  If your child was not here for picture day in September and you need an order form, please let me know.
• No School - 11/4, 11/11, 11/26-11/28.

*We are in need of a few more small vases for the flower arranging work. 

As always, feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns.

-Ms.Katie 

Terrific Trees

Dear Preschool Families,
     We are nearing the end of the 1st Quarter already!  This year is flying by.  The first round of assessments are finished, WHEW!  I have been doing classroom observations and taking notes on the children's work habits.  Report cards will be sent home at the end of the month.  I look forward to discussing your child's progress at conferences on 10/30 and 11/6 (and a few Friday conferences as well).  If you haven't signed up yet, there is more information below.   
     The 4 and 5 year old children have begun working on the "My First School Book" from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  The Handwriting Without Tears program compliments the Montessori Philosophy with a lot of great hands on activities to prepare the children for reading and writing.
     This week, we began our "Letter of the Week" activities.  Our first letter was M and next week's letter is S.  Each week, there are several multi-sensory activities that help the children learn letter names and sounds and also how to write the letters.  In the last newsletter, I listed several of the activities associated with Letter of the Week.  Alphabet Exercises are one of the activities.  During Alphabet exercises, the teacher holds a letter card with a picture and the children stand up with their hands over their head and say the letter name, then they put their hands near their shoulder or mouth and use a tactile cue (such as touching the nostril while making the /n/ sound), then touching the toes and saying the name of the object in the picture.  Alphabet exercises happen each day and we review the letters we have learned as the year goes on.  
     We have also started our tree study.  This week we took a tree walk to the front of our school and looked at 3 different types of trees.  We talked about the parts of the trees.  We will be taking more tree walks in the upcoming weeks to observe the changes in the trees.  

HOMEWORK...
*Bring in something from a tree (fruit, bark, leaves, stick, seed, etc...)  Please DO NOT bring any nuts as we have children with severe allergies and we want to keep everyone healthy.  


HELP NEEDED...
*We would love to have some pumpkins and gourds to study and use for various works in our classroom.  If you would like to donate, please send at any time.  Any size or quantity is greatly appreciated.  We will use these in several areas of our classroom.  
*We have a couple bikes and tricycles that need some minor repairs.  Please let me know if you are able to help.
*We are all out of sidewalk chalk for the playground.  If you would like to donate some, you can send it any time.  The children are very interested in chalk this year.  

REMINDERS...
*When you and your child arrive and are waiting for school to start, please wait near the fence alongside the grassy area (not in front of the classroom door).  As soon as the classroom door is open, your child can walk to the door and enter the room.  When everyone waits near the classroom door, it is difficult for the families in Mrs. Langworthy's class to get to their door.  If you have a family member or childcare provider that brings your child, please pass this information along.
*The back parking lot and driveway are for staff use only.  Please do not park in this area of use it for drop-off and pick-up or turn around space.  Using the driveway also poses a safety issue for families walking to/from their cars.  Thank you for your cooperation.    

Conference sign up:
Sign Up Genius for Parent Teacher Conferences

Scholastic Book Order are Due 10/17.  Remember, every time you order from Scholastic, we earn free books and materials for our classroom.  You can order online by clicking the link: scholastic.com/readingclub  

Fall is here

Dear Families,
     I'm so excited about the start of fall.  It's my favorite time of the year for so many reasons.  Fall provides so many great learning opportunities in our classroom.  In October, we will be studying trees and their products.  We will also begin our "Letter of the Week" activities.  
     Letter of the week includes learning letter names and sounds as well as how to write the letter.  We will do alphabet exercises, make the letter with wood pieces and play-doh, trace the corresponding sandpaper letter and explore objects whose name begins with the letter of the week.  Letter of the week is a multi-sensory approach to early literacy skills.  The Ohio Early Learning Standard is for children to be able to "recognize and name some upper and lower case letters in addition to those in first name and recognize the sounds associated with letters."  As children learn letter names and sounds, we will begin incorporating this knowledge into building words with the movable alphabet.   
     This week we read the book "A Bad Case of Stripes" by David Shannon.  We took pictures of the children and then printed them in black and white.  The children colored their pictures.  Next week we will use the pictures to make a class book.  Each child will fill in the sentence _____ had a bad case of ______.  Children will write, copy, trace, or dictate their response.  
     The children also enjoyed exploring various sunflowers in the touch table.  The sunflowers were cut from the front of the school.  We talked about the sizes and colors of the flowers and compared the seeds that each flower produced.  The children also used tweezers (to develop fine motor skills) to pull the seeds from the flowers.  
     I am finished up state assessments and also scoring the screening that was given at the beginning of the year.  Screening results will be sent home soon and assessment results will be shared at conferences in October/November.


*Have you turned in your letter collage for the picture dictionary?  If you haven't, please turn it in by 10/2.  We have a few extra lowercase letters that we still need to do.  If you are interested in making another letter collage page for our picture dictionary, please let me know.  I will send a page home this week.  I'm looking forward to putting our picture dictionary together for the children to read and look at.  

HELP NEEDED...
*We have a few bikes that need some minor repairs.  If you are interested, please let me know.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
-No School 10/1 - teacher in-service day
-School Carnival 10/3
- Parent-Teacher Conferences 10/30 and 11/6.  More information soon.

REMINDERS...
-Our classroom is a NUT FREE classroom.  Several of the children have been collection acorns on their way to school.  If your child does collect acorns, please do not allow him/her to bring them to our classroom.  We have students with allergies and we want our classroom to be a safe place for everyone.  

HEAR YE, HEAR YE!  IT’S BOOK FAIR TIME!

The Book Fair theme this fall is “Sir Readalot’s Castle:  Enter the Kingdom of Books!”  The Book Fair is a great way to get everyone excited about reading!  Williams Ave. Elementary Library will host the Scholastic Book Fair October 28-31, 2014.  Students will be able to shop daily.  If you would like to come and enjoy this shopping experience with your child, the book fair will be open on Parent/Teacher Conference night, Thursday, October 30^th from 4 to 7 pm.  And, you have the opportunity to contribute books to your child’s classroom library from Teachers’ Classroom Wish Lists.  For your convenience, credit cards will be accepted that evening.  All profits benefit our school library. 

Off to a Great Start!

Dear Preschool Families,
     The school year is off to a great start.  We have been very busy in the classroom the last 2 weeks.  The children have been working hard on learning the school routines including; the arrival routine (including good hand washing habits), learning to sign-in (practicing name recognition and name writing), and the procedures for serving and eating snack.  I have also been presenting lessons to the whole group and individual children.  We also discussed that school is a safe place.  We made a list of people that keep us safe.  We then talked about rules that keep us safe.  The children came up with many good rules to keep us safe.  At the start of each day, we are reviewing our classroom rules.  We also took a tour of the school including the office, auditorium, library, and cafeteria.  
     Some of the popular works in the classroom right now include: painting at the easel, snack, play-doh, art shelf, and the book corner.  There are limited works available on the shelves right now.  Each week, I will present more lessons and add new work to the shelves.  Next week we will begin "Letter of the Week."  Each day, the children will participate in various activities that support early literacy skills.  I'll talk more about "Letter of the Week" in upcoming newsletters.
     Our main theme right now is "Going to School."  Over the next few weeks we will study 5 Senses and All About Me.  In October we will do a Fall Study.
     Screening results will be sent home by the end of the month.  Next week I will begin working with students 1 on 1 for state mandated assessments.  The information collected on these assessments will also be used for progress reports.      I will begin posting classroom photos on a photo sharing site once I have photo permission forms from the office. 

THANK YOU to all the families that signed up for snack, play-doh, and flowers.  Also, a big thank you to families that provided wish list items!!!!
      


IMPORTANT INFO:
-No School 10/1 - teacher in service

OTHER INFO:
- Many of the girls in our class have been wearing beautiful dresses to school.  If your daughter wears a dress to school, you may want to consider encouraging her to wear shorts or leggings under her dress to ensure modesty.  A lot of the day is spent sitting on the floor.  Most little girls forget about keeping their legs and other areas covered while sitting on the floor.  Wearing shorts or leggings will help keep everything covered.  Thanks!  
- Birthdays... If you would like to send a treat for your child's birthday please follow these guidelines:
- Parent Volunteers: Opportunities for volunteering in the classroom will begin in October.  More information will be available in upcoming newsletters.

• Any food must  include the complete list of ingredients.  All foods must be NUT free.  (We have children with severe food allergies in our class.)
• Non-food treats such as stickers, play-doh, bubbles, or other small goodies are preferred.
• Consider donating a book to our classroom collection instead of individual treats.  

As always, feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns.
plunkett.k@norwoodschools.org
924-2529
   
     

May Memories

 Dear Preschool Families,

The month of May has been very busy for the preschoolers as the school year commences. The children have completed fun memory pages for their portfolio's and a self-portrait. They have put a lot of effort into these self-portraits and they look fantastic. During our story time and research about seahorse's, hermit crabs, and fish the children have enjoyed many new works in the classroom. Some of our lessons/activities have included: tying practice for the seahorse, cutting fish skeletons out of construction paper, and sorting, graphing, and counting Goldfish crackers. After reading the "Rainbow Fish" the children completed their very own rainbow fish with paper plates and a small piece of foil. We have been reviewing letter naming and letter sounds. The children have been making letters with playdoh and tracing letters in shaving cream.

Last week, the children continued working on their picture dictionaries. These books will be in their portfolio to complete over the summer if they choose. 

The morning class had the opportunity last week to visit with the Norwood Police department here at school. The afternoon class will be going to Williams Elementary Talent Show in the auditorium on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. This event is open to all. 

 

Note from the Nurse:

The Norwood Health Department has graciously offered to give out 15 booster seats to preschool students that are in need. Children need to be properly restrained in booster seat until 8 years old. The Norwood Health Department is going to be at Williams Elementary on Wednesday May 28th at 11:10 A.M. This is a first come first serve basis. They will also be on hand to demonstrate a proper installation. For questions contact Kathy Strasser:  Strasser.K@norwoodschools.org  513-924-2882

Special Note of Thank You:

As the children look forward to their summer break, Miss Katie, Miss Karen and I would like to say thank you to all of the children and the families for a great Preschool year!  I personally enjoyed my time here at Williams Elementary. I loved getting to know all of the children, teaching them everyday and watching them grow.  I have so many good memories and feel blessed I had this great opportunity to share in their lives. Thank you and best wishes to a prosperous future. 

Have a wonderful Summer,
Miss H.

 Important Dates

Monday, May 26th - No School (Memorial Day)
Tuesday, May 27th - Back to School
Wednesday, May 28th - K-6 Talent Show at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 29th - Last Day for Preschool 
(Preschool will NOT make up snow days) 

May Flowers

 Dear Preschool Families,

 The month of May will focus on the Ocean, and the creatures that live in and near the ocean. Some of our lessons have included: exploring shells and sea stars, fishing for letters, creating ocean books, sorting animals by habitat, and counting fish. During our story time and research about the ocean the children have enjoyed sharing their beach stories from family trips.

     Last week, the children finished up their color butterflies to take home. This week we continue to review the life cycle of a butterfly. This work includes stamping out the sequence of the life cycle.

 The children continue to make geometric shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks (triangles, squares, and pentagons).  

     Our letter of the week was the letter "Y." This week we will focus on the letter "Q." This will be our last letter of the week! A popular work right now is stamping the alphabet.

Both the morning and afternoon class got to go on a little field trip last week to our school library. During our tour they learned about the different kinds of books in the library (fiction and non-fiction).Then we stayed for story time about "Percival The Plain Little Caterpillar."

 Important Dates

May 26 - No School (Memorial Day)

May 29 - Last Day for Preschool (Preschool will NOT make up snow days)