Book Order Time

Look in your Thursday folder and you will find our first book order for the year! Scholastic book orders are a wonderful way to get inexpensive, yet quality books for your children. You can order on-line--just follow the link in the sidebar on the right (it's under the lunch menu link). Then you enter our super-secret user name and password (that I will send in an e-mail). Or, if you prefer, you can fill out the paper order form and send cash or a check. Ordering is always optional, but every purchase does help us buy new books for our classroom!

Happy Reading!

Poem...Poem...Poem of the Week

Since I'm a little behind on my blogging, I will post 3 poems at a time! Here is this week's poem:

Popcorn

Pop, pop, popcorn...popping in the pot.

Pop, pop, popcorn...get it while it's hot.

Pop, pop, popcorn...hear it go "POP".

When I eat popcorn, I can't stop!

And our previous poems:

Piggy in the Puddle

See the piggy.

See the puddle.

See the muddy, little puddle.

See the piggy in the middle

Of the muddy, little puddle.

PIZZA!

There is a treat

That's good to eat

And pizza is its name!

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA

And pizza is its name!

Yum! Yum!

We Love Bear!

If you are looking for some good books to check out at the library, you might consider the Bear series by Karma Wilson. These are wonderful books that focus on a lovable bear and his group of forest friends. They are very rhythmic, have great rhymes and wonderful illustrations by Jane Chapman.

Here is a link to Karma Wilson's web page:

http://www.karmawilson.com/

And here is a cute connect-the-dots page the kids can print and color:

http://www.karmawilson.com/teacher-features/bear/bearcolorsheet.pdf

Grandparents' Day

Thank-you to all the parents and grandparents that were able to join us for the Grandparents' Day Lunch!

Focus on Art Center

In order to familiarize you with what we do and how we learn, I thought I would showcase a different center every week. This week, I will will focus on the Art Center. (It's the yellow center, if the kids have ever mentioned it--definitely a class favorite).

Everyday during Reading Workshop (from about 8:40-9:40) the kids are assigned to one center. (It is during this time that I will eventually be meeting with small guided-reading groups. The goal is to get the children to work as independently as possible, so that I have more time to spend with these small reading groups). In that center, they have a "Must-Do," or an assignment that they must complete.


Typically, the art center must-do will be an art project/poem. We read the poem together in class throughout the week. When the kids visit the art center, they complete an art project that coordinates with that poem. You might recognize the pizza poem.


When your child brings home one of these poems, please give it a place of honor in your home (the refrigerator always works nicely). Read the poem with your children. Decide if it is funny or not funny. How do the words sound? Is it rhythmic? Does it rhyme?

When the children have finished their "must-do," they may do a "choice" from the art center only (hence the color-coding. It makes it easier for the kids to know what they are allowed to do). There are lots of things to do in the art center!


There are lots of different things to draw and color with--crayons, markers and colored pencils. We even have drawing guides that teach us how to draw things we like.


Play-doh is always a popular choice. We have lots of tools and cookie cutters.


We have a whole drawer full of "junk" that we can create things from. It may look like trash to you and me, but to a kindergartner, it is TREASURE!


When we visit the art center, we practice our fine motor skills (cutting, drawing), nurture our creativity and even develop good literacy skills. I think we definitely have a few Van Goghs in our class!

Lunch!

The question always arises about 8:30 am--

When's lunch??

The kids definitely look forward to lunch! They are finally getting to the point where they can navigate the lunch line pretty independently! Here are a few things moms, dads and grandparents should know about lunchtime at Patsy Sommer.

There are always 3 sides available with a lunch tray. They vary from day to day. The children buying a lunch must choose at least 1 of these sides (they may choose all 3 if they want).

In addition, there are several extra items available for purchase. The items are whole pieces of fruit, seasonal fruit, juice, yogurt, or baked chips/snacks. These items range in price from 50-75 cents a piece. I never let the children choose more than 1 "extra" a day. If you would prefer your child NOT get these extra items, please e-mail me. If you do allow your child to purchase these extras, please monitor their lunch account balance so that they always have plenty of money.

(Shhh.....there is ice cream available for purchase, but I prefer that kinders do not purchase it until 2nd semester. Even then, I prefer they only purchase ice cream on Fridays. Otherwise, they only eat their ice cream and not their lunch!)

When we eat our lunch, we may talk quietly with our friends. We have to stay in our seats and use quiet, "inside" voices. We need to sit on our bottoms and not on our knees.

Although sharing is always nice, we are not allowed to share our lunches at Patsy Summer.

Please feel free to join us for lunch. We would love to have you! Our lunch time is from 10:45-11:15 am. There is a link to the lunch menu in the sidebar on the right!

September 4, 2009

Do You Tweet?

Because starting Tuesday, September 8, Ms. Warner's class will officially start doing daily class updates on Twitter. This is a GREAT way to know what we're doing in class everyday, so you can talk to your children at night about what they did that day. You can ask them specific questions, like "Tell me about Bear's New Friend," (the book we're reading on Tuesday).

The "Tweets" are going to be straight from the Children's mouths...I'm just the typist. As always, safety comes first...I will not be including any children's names on the Tweets. I will however, include initials, so you can know who said what. I will also not mention Patsy Sommer at all on our Twitter Page (although I doubt seriously with all the millions of Tweets that happen everyday, anyone will notice us!)

You can follow us in several ways. If you don't have a Twitter account, and don't want one, you can simply read our Tweets in the sidebar on the right. If you don't have an account, but want one, it's VERY easy to sign up. That way, all of our tweets will be on your Twitter homepage. Here's a link:

http://www.twitter.com/

If you have a Twitter account, you can have all of our Tweets sent as text messages to your cell phone. That way, you'll be notified immediately with any earth-shattering kindergarten news! Let me know if you have nay questions. I know both you and the kids will love this!