Western BBQ and more

The Western BBQ is tomorrow! Kindergarten lunch is from 10:30-11:00.  You are invited to come spend time with them and eat lunch! An adult meal is only $3.00. When you come you have to come through the office.

Pictures are in! I will be sending them home today.  I will discuss how important it is to NOT bend them and to put them in their BEE Binder.  :)

Report cards are coming up, along with Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences! I will be assessing students for their grades! Please make sure your child is here every day so that I can assess them.

Library! Our Library time is on Mondays.  Please make sure your student return the books on time.  If it is not returned they will not be permitted to get a new book.

I think that is all! Have a great Thursday!

Mrs. Leopold

Apples, Apples, Apples

Hello!

Sadly, I don't have any pictures this week.  I forgot to bring my camera with me during the Poetry in Motion and the Bus Safety event.  However, we will continue to do apples next week and we will get to do plenty of things that I can take pictures of!

We did learn about Johnny Appleseed this week.  We have two more books to read about Johnny Appleseed and we are going to compare and contrast the books.  For, science we are learning about the parts of an apple, apple trees, apple orchards and picking apples.  We are also going to taste test apples, apple juice, and applesauce!

We also got to see Poetry in Motion. It is a dance group that shoes how poetry and dance are types of art.  We read the book "Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss to prepare for the show.  They did a mini-ballet to that book. The students loved it.

We also learned about how to be safe on a bus.  We got to watch movie about bus safety and then go on a bus and meet the bus driver.  The students had a lot of fun on the bus!

This week in Kindergarten...

Homework: I am adding a math sheet of homework for every day.  I will put the day on there to do it because it will be corresponding with what we learned in class that day. If you would like even extra practice or more worksheets for you student then please let me know. I don't want to overwhelm them, but I had a lot of parents ask for extra practice. 

Donations: In order to do our taste tests of apples we need the following

• Apples (Green, red and yellow.  Each child will just get a slice of apple)
• Apple Juice (If you get a big container we also need cups. Or you can get the apple juice  boxes.)
• Apple sauce without cinnamon (If you get a big container we also need plates)
• Spoons (for the applesauce)

Remember, we don't have school on Wednesday because it is Professional Development for us teachers.

I think that is all for now!  I hope you have had a good weekend.

Mrs. Leopold

Farming and Centers

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have found your weekend to be relaxing and energizing!

This last week, we were learning about Farms and farm animals! We read the book "A Farm" in our reading group which slowly getting underway.  It is a lot to learn just learning how to do a reading group! We practiced "Partner Reading" this week.  The students sit knee to knee and elbow to elbow and take turns reading the pages.  Here are a few of our students practicing...

We also practice writing, even if that meant scribble writing.  They were told to write about their S picture. For example, I modeled drawing a snowman and wrote "A snowman."  Here are some examples of our friends writing!

We also practiced working in centers during our scheduled intervention time.  This is used to pull small groups so students get extra needed attention. If they are not in a small group they are working in centers with a partner.  Right now, all of our centers are letter naming games or putting the alphabet in order.  As they master letter names and putting the letters in order we will add different centers.

As you can tell, they LOVE to play in centers and with their partners! 

Coming up this week in Kindergarten...

 APPLES! I love the fall and enjoy doing all the units that come along with it! :)

Also, coming home tomorrow (Monday) is a progress report! It has a part on the bottom that you need to write your child's name, sign it, and comment anything if you wish.  It must be turned into me by the 24th!! Thank you for helping your child be successful in school!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know! All of my information is sent home on my Newsletters!

Enjoy your Sunday Night!

Shannon Leopold

Pete the Cat

Happy Monday!

I hope that the "Rain Day" did not cause you much frustration! Here are some pictures of what we did last week....

We are practicing Daily 5 for reading and writing! :) I have seen several teachers use Daily 5 successfully in their classrooms and was eager to start it with your students! The goal of Daily 5 is to have each student working at their own personal level which allows me to pull small groups or work individually with students.  The first few months of Daily 5 is rough with such a young age group. We are practicing "Read to Self" right now.  Students are given book(s) and they choose a spot and read.  They can read the pictures, read the words (if able), and retell the story.  My goal is to get them up to 15 minutes before we move on to another skill.  Right now, we are at 2 minutes and 21 seconds after just 3 days!!! I am so proud of your students for being such good learners!

We also did a cut and paste activity for the letter Cc! We tried a new gluing technique that helps not get everything covered in glue and/or ruin the glue sticks.  So far, it has worked beautifully! Your student was to cut out the pictures and glue on the ones that started with C.  I am proud to say that EVERY student completed the assignment correctly!!! :)

Overall, it was a great week! I see your child improving and learning EVERY DAY in school whether it be just remembering routines to seeing them understand a new concept.  That is one of the many reasons I love teaching Kindergarten!

This week we will be learning about FARMS! We will be making some arts and crafts and reading about real life farms along with stories about farms. 

As always, I hope you enjoyed your weekend and "Rain Day"!

Mrs Leopold.

Reminders

Happy Labor Day!

I just wanted to remind you about some important events happening!

Tomorrow is PICTURE DAY! Each child will be photographed individually.  Our class picture is in the spring.  If you forget to, or don't have money right now, you can order pictures at a later date!

Starting tomorrow, if your child forgets to bring their ID to school they will be sitting out at recess.  I have been talking to them everyday about the importance of a school ID. 

Also starting tomorrow is 'Homework Club".  If your child returns their BEE Binder every day AND it is signed by you they will get a special surprise at the end of the month!

I think that is all for now!

I hope that you were able to enjoy your extended weekend! I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning!

Mrs. Leopold

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!!

I hope you are all able to take some time off to spend with your family and friends.  I am spending my weekend recharging and spending time with my kids (my animals) and my husband. :)

I realized last night that I completely forgot to take pictures this week! :( However, we are not completely done with our Brown Bear Unit, so there will still be pictures!  So far, we have read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" along with "Baby Bear, Baby Bear What Do You See?" and "Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See?"  They are all written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle.  I love these books and they are excellent for teaching skills such as sequencing and color words! It is also a good book for children to read because it is easy to remember the words and help them track print!  Many excellent skills that they need to learn.

We did a sequencing activity for "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?".  They had 1 hour to complete it, so if your child did not get it done they were given a sentence strip so they could complete it at home! :)

We were also working on numbers 3 and 4.  You will notice that we are moving VERY slow with numbers (and letters) because I really want to make sure your student grasps number sense.  I want them to be able to manipulate numbers that is easiest for them and that starts with understanding that there are different ways to show them. 

I have introduced Daily 5.  This is a reading block activity that allows students to work independently and gives me time to work in small groups.  This also allows me to differentiate for students at their level.  This means I can push students who are high while still helping those students struggling with a certain concept. I will also be incorporating this teaching style with Math.

In case you are not following Glendale Elementary School District on Facebook, then you missed all the amazing pictures that came from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! I was only one of many who took the challenge! Jim Cummings from our District Office was there to capture pictures of us the moment the water hit us! Here I am..

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It was only cold for a little while and then heat warmed me right back up! :) There is also a video somewhere! When I locate it I will post it for you all to see.  In the meantime be sure to like Glendale Elementary District and Bicentennial South Facebook pages!

Remember that Tuesday is picture day! I want to apologize for getting the papers out so late.  They are in the BEE Binder (stay at home pocket).  If you don't return the money on Tuesday there will still be time to order! :) We go at 9:45 on Tuesday that way your student doesn't spill on their outfit or run and get sweaty before picture time! 

I will be posting a reminder post on Monday morning! Be sure to check in so that you remember all that is happening and going on this coming week! 

Enjoy your long weekend!

Mrs. Leopold

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Welcome back to our Classroom Blog! :)

We have successfully completed week 2 of Kindergarten and with that our theme of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"!

In math this week we were learning about numbers 1 and 2.  We practiced counting them, writing them, and making them! I use the curriculum provided by our district called "Go Math".  I also input supplementary worksheets and activities to go along with Go Math.

We also started doing Problem Solving using story problems.  The story problems right now are using the skill of reasoning. Yesterday our story problem was about two children who were buying a toy.  They were looking at 5 different toys (all were vehicles of some sort).  They were given 3 clues as to what the toy was that the children wanted to buy and they had to figure it out.  We are doing them as a whole group right now, but eventually they will be doing them on their own.

Throughout the week we read several books including: "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", "Chicka Chicka 123" and "The Numberlys".  I love all three of these books!

I was most excited for Friday to make our silly Chicka Chicka Boom Boom hats! I found a template for it online and was so excited about it!

Some of the letters didn't stick very well, but overall they turned out really cute! If I was not able to put your child's together-they should have gotten all the materials to finish it at home! We ran out of time and some children work slower than others.

Next week our them will be "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". It shall be another fun week!

Enjoy your weekend,
Mrs. Leopold