News From The Honeybee Hive

September 15-19, 2008

As the last week of summer comes to an end, the honeybees completed our unit on the Five Senses.  We reviewed each of the senses and how they help us learn about our world.  Participating in the High Touch-High Tech program "Let's Make Sense" gave us hands-on opportunities to explore the concepts we learned about in class.  We also began our Colors unit where we learned about primary and secondary colors.  The children discovered how to make secondary colors on the color wheel by mixing primary ones.  We are learning to read color words: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, black, brown, white, and pink (these ten words are the next level --orange-- rainbow words).  The children are creating their own version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, incorporating color words and rhyming words into our reading.

T-t-t-t-t-t. . . The letter this week was Tt.  Our take home books Tails and I Can Use My Five Senses focused on the initial /t/ sound and several of the sight words we have covered.  We integrated technology into our phonics study through the Kidspiration computer program--the honeybees created a picture map of words that begin with the /t/ sound.  Be sure to have your child explain this picture map to you!

     This week in math, we worked on creating and labeling patterns. We learned to identify the pattern unit of a given pattern; that is, the part of the pattern that repeats over and over (ex. green-yellow-red would be the pattern unit of a G-Y-R-G-Y-R pattern).  The children have used manipulatives and drawings to demonstrate their understanding of the patterning concept. 

    Next week we will complete this math chapter by learning to fill in the missing part of an established pattern.  The letter of the week will be Cc and the sight words will be an and in.  I will be assessing all of the red rainbow words at the end of next week, so please be sure to practice instant recognition of those words.  If your child can read all 10 red rainbow words, his honeybee will move to the red arc on our rainbow in the classroom.  In math, we will begin a new chapter--Numbers 0-5.

Items of interest:

• Congratulations to Meg, our latest "Honeybee of the Week".  The snack, poster, and stories read by her mother were enjoyed by everyone.
• Kindergarten will have a schedule change next week due to testing in 3rd and 5th grades.  Our Specials time will be 9:30-10:10 a.m.  Lunch time will remain the same, 11:48-12:18 p.m.
• Thursday 9/25 is Spirit Day and Carvel Ice Cream Day!
• There will be a Parenting Workshop on Friday, 9/26 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. in the Media Center.  The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss the standards-based report card.  Everyone is invited to attend.
• Mark your calendar for Friday, 10/3.  GM's Fall Festival and Fun Run will take place from 5:00-8:00 p.m.
• Specials next Friday will be P.E.

See your honeybee on Monday!

Janie Hutcherson

September 8-12, 2008

What a great week of learning we have had in our classroom!  We began a unit on the Five Senses, discovering how they help us learn about our world.  The honeybees have participated in many hands-on activities that explored our sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste,and smell.  Ask your child about the sound cannisters, smell jars, and texture hands we explored in class.

Ff was the letter of the week. The children worked on identifying the letter sound and forming the upper and lower case Ff.  Our take home books, Four Furry Feet and My Ff Book, provided excellent opportunities for reviewing the initial /f/ sound as well as reading the rainbow words covered thus far.  Georgia Kindergarten standards say that students will read previously taught sight words and grade-level text with speed, accuracy, and expression.  Please use the take-home readers for continued practice and review at home.  We began our Center Time this week with the help of our parent volunteers.  Guided reading, guided writing, phonics instruction, math, and thematic activities are done during this block of time each morning. 

     In math this week, we continued to work on patterning.  The students are learning to identify and label a pattern--for example, a red-blue-red-blue pattern would be an AB pattern.  Copying and extending a given pattern was done as well.  We began work in our math journals--they will be used this year to help the children examine and verbalize the thinking processes needed to solve math problems.

     Next week we will complete our Five Senses unit and will begin a unit on Colors.  In phonics and reading, we will look at the letter Tt and focus on the rainbow words up and go.  Patterning will continue in math.

Happy birthday to two of our honeybees . . . Jack celebrated his birthday on the 11th, and Matthew's special day was the 12th!  Be sure to ask your honeybee about the birthday gift in our classroom and what it means to the birthday student!

Important things to know. . .

• This week's "Honeybee of the Week" was Daniel.  We loved the poster, snack, story read by his mom, and honeybee erasers!
• Congratulations to Reece, the top seller in our class for the Sally Foster fund raiser.  He will enjoy a party at Pump It Up! courtesy of GM's PTA.  Way to go, Reece!
• Tuesday, 9/15 is Early Release Day.  Students will be dismissed from school 2 hours early at 12:20 p.m.  The After School Program will be available immediately upon dismissal.  Our lunch time will be 10:08-10:38 a.m. Our Specials (P.E.) will be 11:05-11:30 a.m. 
• The High Touch/High Tech program, "Let's Make Sense" is next Friday, 9/19.  Our class will be attending the program from 11:10-12:40 p.m. in the Media Center.  Our lunch time on Friday will be 10:33-11:03 a.m. 
• Permission slips and donations for Performing Arts should be returned by Friday, 9/19.
• Please continue to send in Box Tops for our classroom collection bin.
• As your child dresses for school each morning, please keep in mind that Garrison Mill has a dress code . . . no midriffs, spaghetti strap tops, tank tops or flip flops are allowed.  For shorts and skirts--students must be able to have fingertips touch the hem when standing up straight.  Please have girls wear shorts under dresses.  Thank you for your help with this matter.
• Specials next Friday will be Art.

Have a nice weekend!

Janie Hutcherson

 

September 2-5, 2008

September is here and the honeybees are busy learning many new things.  Our unit, "All About Me" was filled with fun ways to share our interests and likes/dislikes with each other.  We wrote poems about ourselves and practiced reciting personal information (address, phone number, and birthday).  Repetition and practice will assist your child in learning this information--thank you in advance for your help at home. 

This week the honeybees focused on the letter Ss.  We practiced forming the upper and lower case letter and worked hard to correctly print that letter in everyday writing.  Preschool children write using mostly upper case letters --in kindergarten, we work on using lower case letters in our writing.  We will be learning about the correct use of upper case letters such as at the beginning of a sentence or at the beginning of a name.  In reading, we had several take-home books featuring the letter and sight words of the week.  Please have your student re-read these titles at home.  Encourage him to find the sight words in print and use a reading finger to track the words one by one.  In math we began a new unit, Patterning.  The honeybees learned that a pattern is a series of things (actions, objects, etc.) that repeats over and over again.  Students identified, copied and extended patterns during our math time this week.

Coming next week . . . The letter of the week will be Ff and the new sight words (rainbow words) will be at and it.  We will continue to work on patterning in math, focusing on creating and transferring patterns.  In science we will study the Five Senses and how we use each of them to discover and investigate the world around us.

A few reminders:

• Congratulations to the "Honeybee of the Week", Kavya.  We enjoyed the poster, special snack, and stories read by her mother!
• Please send in a photograph of your child if you have not already done so.  We will be using them for a center activity next week.
• Permission slips and donations for High Touch/High Tech are due ASAP.
• Please return the GM Behavior Expectations Booklet if you have not yet done so--both you and your student should sign the back sheet. 
• GM's fund raiser, Sally Foster, ended today.  Please return any remaining orders on Monday.
• Box Tops for Education has begun--check your pantry for products with the "Box Top" coupon.  Clipped coupons may be sent to school and placed in the collection bin outside our classroom door.  GM recieves money for each Box Top collected!
• Our class will be going to the Media Center on Tuesday--please send in books prior to Tuesday's visit.
• Thursday, 9/11 is Patriotic Day--wear red, white, and blue.
• Specials next week will be P.E.

Thanks for a great week with your children!

Janie Hutcherson