Monday, November 24, 2008

November

Hi-
I'm finally entering this century by starting my own blog. I'll be sharing information about the classroom, upcoming events and whatever other exciting news I can come up with. Stay tuned!

Dear Parents:

Eight weeks are behind us already! We have been enjoying lots of reading and writing. We are singing about the days of the week and lots of seasonal songs, too. We are counting by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s and increasing our pattern knowledge from “ABAB” to “ABBABB, AABAAB, ABCABC…” patterns. In Social Studies, we are continuing our study of our surroundings and recognizing our role and our family members’ roles in our community. We are studying life cycles in Science.
Our Alphabet Bag has been going home with a different letter enclosed each week. The children have enjoyed sharing all the words they thought of and, in some cases, the words they wrote themselves on the letter. There have been so many fun and unique items in the bag as well. Thank you for taking the time to help your child complete this task.
Our Bridges math homework has been going home as well. I hope you have been having fun with these games that reinforce concepts learned at school. Thank you for remembering to sign and return the empty envelope for future homework activities.
Our field trip to the pumpkin patch was a success! The weather was just right, the activities were fun and the donuts and cider were yummy! We were so fortunate to have 20 dads, grandpas, grandmas, and moms join us!! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to share in this day. We know it is not always easy or even possible to rearrange your schedules, but we were delighted that so many of you could.
We began our Star Student weeks. Congratulations to our first Star Students, Noah, Heidi, Ethan, Sydney M. , and Jacob. We will continue recognizing all our Star Students through the year. If you have not already done so, please complete the Star Student biography (attached to this letter if we do not currently have one for your child) and return it to school as soon as possible so it is on file when their week arrives.


SPECIAL NOVEMBER DATES
Nov. 3 LSAC/PTC
8 Savannah’s birthday
10 No School – Elementary Grading Day
11 No School – Veteran’s Day Holiday
13 Katelyn’s birthday
19 Thanksgiving Feast
20-25 No School – Conferences
27-28 No School – Thanksgiving Holiday
28 Noah’s birthday


We will be reading/learning about the first Thanksgiving and working on Pilgrim and Native American projects. To enhance our experience, on Wednesday, November 19, the children will have an opportunity to dress as Pilgrims or Native Americans for our own Thanksgiving feast and share the meal. Each child will contribute something to our meal. If you have a preference, please let me know right away. Otherwise, the children will choose their item and you will be notified the week prior so you can send their contribution to school on or before Tuesday, the 18th.
Our kindergarten conference days will begin on Thursday, Nov. 20 and continue through Tuesday Nov. 25. A conference slip will come home prior to the 20th indicating the date and time of your child’s conference.
We look forward to each school day and our class time together.

Sincerely,



Denise Zahradnik