Dear Parents,

        We have started the second book in our Food Unit, I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie.  I have a large doll with a clear stomach and the children took turns feeding her the food items as we read the story.  It was a big hit and everyone was very focused.  It is a great book to read at Thanksgiving since it ends with a Thanksgiving parade.  With this story, we are continuing to work on expanding food vocabulary, sequencing and comparisons.  We plan to bake a pie on Wednesday and will share it with you on our Thursday Grandparents and Friends luncheon.  You are invited to come at 10:15 (we need to be in the cafeteria to get our lunches at 10:30). 

        I have found two wonderful books on sharing and giving, and have decided to change the unit for December.  Instead of a Jan Brett unit, we will be reading You Can Do It Sam by Amy Hest (a book about giving) and Because of You by B. G. Hennessy (about sharing, giving and peace).  I am always on the look-out for new children’s books and these two are perfect for the holiday season. 

        The book fair is in the media center this week.  They have some nice books for younger children, so be sure to stop by.  On Thursday the book fair is open from 7:30 am - 4:00 pm, if you want to go while you are here for the luncheon. 

        Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week with family and friends. 

                                                                November 7, 2008

Dear Parents,

        We have finished our unit on Scary with the book The Spooky Old Tree.  It is a great book and full of positional words, so we have been focusing on them this week.  We talked about into, out, through, over, under, up, down, and across.  One of our favorite songs, “Going on a Bear Hunt”, went well with this unit since it also is about positional concepts. 

        Because Thanksgiving is a time when families share fellowship and a special meal, next week we will begin a short, two week unit on Food.  Our first book is To Market, To Market, a humorous take on the nursery rhyme.  We will be talking about many vegetables and will try our hand at making vegetable soup on Wednesday.  The second book, I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, has the old woman in the story eating all the things we usually have at Thanksgiving, only in great quantities.  It is a silly book and we will have fun with my old woman doll who actually “eats” the food. 

        I hope to see you at our Grandparents and Friends lunch.  We will go down to the cafeteria together, buy lunches and then come back to the room to eat.  It is a nice way to meet and chat with other families and to spend a special time with your child.

        Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                                         October 23, 2008

Dear Parents,

          I do much better writing a newsletter each week than trying to keep up with my blog, so I decided to do both.  We began our unit on SCARY this week with the wonderful book, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.  The class is loving it, especially when the pumpkin head goes “Boo!”  In language, we are working on vocabulary, adjectives, using sentences (instead of one word) and retelling the story.  Other key concepts are clothing, feelings, things that are scary, and scarecrows. 

          In math, we are working on counting objects to 10, making number sets, the concept of “more” and “less”, shapes in our environment, recognizing numerals, and sequencing.  I have pumpkin, skull and spider counters and we are having fun with those. 

          I am sending home the form for the Grandparents Luncheon.  The luncheon is for all family members, not just grandparents.  We will be eating in the classroom after getting our lunches from the cafeteria.  I encourage you to attend.  The children love eating lunch with a family member. 

          Next week we will continue our SCARY unit with Skeleton Hiccups.  This delightful book tells the story of a skeleton with a bad case of hiccups and the remedies he tries in attempts to cure himself.  As the previous book, this book is about something frightening (skeletons) which is presented with humor, and shows children that they do not need to be afraid.  We will be talking about the things we do to stay healthy (get enough sleep, brush your teeth, shower, exercise).

          Next Friday is Halloween. Could you send your child's costume in his/her backpack? We will dress up and have a parade, but I don't want them in the costumes all day. We are making a special pumpkin muffin treat for snack. We will be sure to take some pictures.

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9/11/08

Dear Parents,       

It has been a busy two weeks.  We finished our About Me unit last week and this week are reading the first book in our Animal unit - Big Red Barn.  We are working on farm animal vocabulary and talking about where our food comes from, as well as the concepts of big/little and same/different. We have begun to categorize animals and will do more of that as we read the other books.  Next week we will read about animals (and other critters) that we can find in our neighborhood.  Then we will look at forest animals and end with wild animals of Africa. 

This is always a favorite unit and we have lots of fun.  Monday and Tuesday of this week we worked on cutting and pasting, Wednesday we cooked scrambled eggs and bacon, Thursday we "milked a cow", and Friday is a tactile day and we will make a wooly sheep.

We started going to Art with a kindergarten class (Wednesday) and everyone did fine for a first time.  This will be a weekly activity since I want them to get used to following directions in a large group.  Ms. Lopez, the art teacher, is wonderful to include us.

The children have bonded nicely and we are seeing more interactive play, particularly outside.  Yesterday, everyone was holding hands and walking around on the playground (I wished I had a camera).  They are all very comfortable with our routine and behavior is wonderful. 

Thank you for sending in the Weekend Books each Monday.  Everyone has fun telling the others what he or she did over the weekend.  If your child has trouble expressing himself, please send in a very brief note with your picture or item so I can prompt.  That way I can help them expand on his or her sentences. 

                                                                           August 28, 2008

Dear Parents,

      We are having a busy week.  This is the third week of our "About Me" unit and we are studying the 5 senses.  We are reading the book, My Five Senses by Aliki, and learning about what our eyes, nose, tongue, ears and fingers do.  Monday we made a face with those parts.  Tuesday focused on the sense of taste, Wednesday-the sense of sight, Thursday-the sense of touch, and Friday we will focus on the sense of smell.  In circle, we are talking about our sense of hearing.                                                                                                                                                                               Everyone has settled into our routine and life is good.  We went to the computer lab Tuesday afternoon and the media center on Wednesday.  Next week, we will decide when we will be going to art. 

Last week we started our alphabet with the letter L (Lonnie Lion)and this week we have been learning about F (Farley Fox).  Next week is E for Ellie Elephant.  If you have been looking at the daily folder, you have noticed that we are playing a lot of games with shapes and counting.

Our last book in the About Me unit is The Way I Feel.  The next unit will be four weeks of Animals, and I will send a list of book home soon. 

I want to thank you for getting your child here 7:45 or earlier.   We are able to get off to a better start each morning and that effects the whole day.  Have a wonderful Labor Day Holiday.   Tracy