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