Handwriting Without Tears

We have been working on capital letters in our handwriting workbooks. You may hear some of the language at home and I encourage you to use it with your children. We sing, "Where do you start your letters? At the top!" to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands!" We also use the terms big line, little line, big curve, and little curve. These 4 types of lines make all of the capital letters. The first set of letters I've taught are "leap frog" letters: F,E,D,P,B,R,M,N. These letters all start with a big line down and then we leap frog back up to the starting point to continue the letter. The next set of letters are starting corner letters: H,K,L,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. The final set of capital letters I teach are center starting letters: C,O,Q,G,S,A,I,T,J. We practice each of these capital letters in a gray box in our workbooks. Leap frog and starting corner letters start in the top left corner; starting corner letters start in the middle of the top of the box.

New Reading Computers

Your child may have told you about the new computers in our room for the Waterford Reading Program. Each student gets a 15-20 minute turn per day and moves at his or her own pace. If a reading skill is mastered, he or she moves on. If not, that student will receive more practice. I keep scratch paper near the computer in case they need to write something down, so you might see those notes come home. Students seem excited and are eager to take their turn each day. The songs and activities are a lot of fun!

Don't forget!

Our class goes to P.E. every Monday and Friday. Please remember to have gym shoes so students can participate. With the season of snow boots upon us, you might consider leaving a pair at school if you don't already. Layering clothes is another good idea; many of us are wearing warm sweaters. A t-shirt underneath allows students to keep cool during P.E.

Monday is also our library book check-out day. Mrs. Pearce suggests keeping your Longfellow Library book in your backpack so you always have it at home and at school.

Food Drive

Longfellow's Student Council is sponsoring a food drive now through the 16th to benefit the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. They have set a goal to collect 1000 pounds of non-perishable food and toiletry items, as well as $200. The Pantry especially needs pasta, dried beans, crackers, boxed snacks, canned items and toiletries like soap, diapers (all sizes,) toothbrushes/paste, shaving cream, and shampoo. Added incentive: the class that collects the most food and money gets 5 Bear Necessities slips for every student! Please be generous this holiday season!

2 more things!

A field trip permission slip went home last week. The field trip is not until April, but we need the money to purchase tickets by Friday, 12/11. Please send $12 in cash in a baggie or envelope (if you pay your bills electronically, you'll have plenty of unused envelopes!)

Math-a-thon permission slips will go home this week. The math problems are fun, students win prizes, and it benefits St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Longfellow has raised over $21,000 over the past three years! At St. Jude's, families never have to pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay.

It's Getting Cold!

Snow is forecasted for Thursday and Friday - winter weather is on its way! Students love to play in the snow, so warm clothing is essential. We only stay inside if it is raining or the temperature or wind chill is in the single digits. Morning recess can be especially cold before the sun has had a chance to warm us up. Each student should have a coat that closes, a hat or hood, and mittens or gloves. Children should have boots when it snows. Snowpants make recess and lunchtime a lot warmer and more fun. (I tell students not to sit or lay in the snow if they don't have snowpants.) Consider asking for a pair for the holidays if you don't have them already. Feel free to send an extra pair of socks for your student to keep in his or her cubby in case a dry pair is needed.

Keep practicing tying shoes and boots, and zipping, buttoning, or snapping coats. I also recommend putting your name on everything you can! (I'm always amazed when the Lost and Found has ONE boot.)

Scholastic Book Orders

I sent home 4 book order forms today. If you choose to order, you can make 1 check out to Scholastic no matter how many forms you use. Please return them to me on or before Monday, 12/9. If any books are a surprise, let me know and I can get them directly to you.

Holiday gifts

Many children will be asking for holiday gifts this time of year. A few suggestions with a teacher's bias:

• reading books
• coloring books
• activity books (word searches, crosswords, sudoku, etc.)
• games that build strategy (Connect Four, Trouble, Checkers, Sorry, Uno; some children may be ready for Battleship or Rummikub)
• games that build counting skills (Candyland, Chutes and Ladders)

Many games also have a Jr. version for younger children, like Monopoly, Clue, Boggle, and Scrabble. I'm a fan of anything that gets kids' minds and bodies active!

I hope to see you tonight!

I'll be at Fitzgerald's tonight for the Parent Teacher Social. Food, raffles and fun start at 7! Whether I see you or not, have a great weekend!

Math Goals

I've been individually assessing some of our math goals:

• orally count to 35 (by the end of November) and to 50 (by the end of December)
• identify numbers to 15
• orally count back from 10 (by the end of November) and from 12 (by the end of December)
• generate, continue, and copy patterns
• understand concepts of greater/ more than and less than

I'll send a note home next week with your child's progress on these topics.

Calendar

Students are into our calendar routine each morning. We sing the days of the week and months of the year; we review today, tomorrow, and yesterday; we say the date in English and Spanish. We also keep track of the days of school and the weather. A student records the weather on a monthly graph. November has been much nicer than October! Another student adds a straw to our collection each day to record how many days we've been in school (56!) We count to 56 by 10s and 1s using straws, and again using dimes and pennies. Then we count to 56 by ones. The number gets bigger everyday! Counting by 1s, 5s, 10s, or even 2s, is something you can do in the car or while you're making dinner.

In the classroom...

• On Friday I sent home a template of a turkey with instructions on the back. I can't wait to see how creative you are in disguising your turkey. You can use just about anything to keep him from getting eaten for Thanksgiving dinner! Please turn them in by Wednesday.
• Don't forget - fresh fruits and vegetables are welcome for snacks. I tell students it should look like it was just picked. We usually eat our snack during recess and children are anxious to play. Something easier to eat (half an apple, cut up instead of a whole apple) is more likely to be eaten.
• A representative from Jr. Achievement has been coming to our classroom; your child may have mentioned Ann. Jr. Achievement is an organization that sends members of the business world to volunteer in classrooms. Ann has read stories about working together and saving money, and has follow-up activities for students.

Nonfiction Week

This Monday the 16th starts Longfellow's Nonfiction Week. We're making a special point to read lots of nonfiction books. Students love learning "real stuff!" Mrs. Pearce has also introduced kindergarteners to the nonfiction section of the library, so you may see different types of books coming home. (Don't forget - Monday is library day!) If you have a short nonfiction book at home, bring it in and I'll read it to the class.

Shadow Play

We've been reading about shadows in our big book. Does your child remember the three things it takes to make a shadow? We took advantage of a beautiful, sunny week and tried to make our own shadows do crazy things! It turns out they can swing on the monkey bars, hang upside down, and stick out their tongues!

Letters and Sight Words

Today I assessed students on their sight words. You should see a note in your child's backpack pertaining to this. So far, I have introduced 25 words from the paper books that go home each week. Students should point to words as they read, both in the paper books, and the books you choose to read at home. The sight words introduced so far are: a, an, and, are, big, do, down, go, has, have, he here, I, is, in, it, no, see, she, small, the, this, up, we, who. These are words students should know, or should be getting to know. They will be expected to know at least 26 words by the 2nd trimester report card. I'd hope they know at least 15 words by now so they are on track for that future goal.

Kindergarteners were expected to know all their upper- and lowercase letters by the time of October's conferences. I recently reassessed those students who had not met this benchmark. You'll see the results on the back of the note sent home today. If your child does not know all of his/her letters, please continue to work on them at home. Not knowing the letters makes learning sounds and sight words, as well as writing in journals, a struggle.

Besides reading, other ways to practice sight words and letters are with flashcards or a game (Bingo, Memory, Go Fish.) Some children are tactile learners; perhaps make the words (or letters) out of puffy paint, foam, or sand paper and have your child trace them with his/ her finger.

I'm Looking For....

• workshop volunteers! At the beginning of the year, several of you mentioned you would like to volunteer in the classroom on a regular basis. Students are into their everyday routines and have become accustomed to Workshop. They rotate between centers for 10-15 minutes at each center. We could use a volunteer at the writing center to help with topic ideas and sounding out. If you have about an hour a week you could work, or pair with a friend to come biweekly, please let me know. Check our weekly schedule to the left to see when we are NOT available. (Please consider this a time to work with ALL students, including your own. This is also a confidential position; even the "cute" stories should not be shared.)
  
• old button-down shirts! I got some great new paint, but would love to have some smocks to protect our clothes. An old button-down shirt worn backwards is great for protecting our fronts and sleeves. Adult sizes cover kindergarteners the best.
  

3 More Things

Please do not wear your costume to school tomorrow. If you choose to dress up, please bring it in a bag and we will change into them before the party. Remember, no weapons, please. We will start lining up for the parade at about 1:10. All are welcome to watch!

Turn in your October Pizza Hut Book It! calendars. A November calendar will go home today. If you ever lose a calendar, just make another one or find one online. Students need to read 25 minutes a day for 20 days a month in order to receive a coupon for a free personal pizza.

There is no school next Friday, November 6th in honor of Veteran's Day.

What's New?

Today Opera for the Young came to Longfellow. Students have been learning songs from "The Elixir of Love" in music class so they knew some of the songs from the opera.
We are working in our 2nd reading unit: Shadows. This also ties into our first science unit we'll start soon. If you don't know all your letters yet, keep working at home. We are now putting sounds together with the letters.
In math we've started a new game called "Buzz" to help us with our skip counting. We're pretty good at counting by 10s, but counting by 5s is difficult for many.
Reminder: if you do not come in the building with our class, you are late. Please go around to the front and check in with the office for a tardy slip. The office has been repeatedly reminding teachers to send children around to the front. Thank you for your help with this.

UNICEF boxes

Our Student Council is sponsoring the UNICEF boxes that go home today. Money collected helps kids around the world! You choose if and how you want your family to participate. Some students just ask friends and family for donations; others take it with them trick-or-treating. They are due back by Thursday, November 5.

Halloween

Are you ready?! (I'm 0 for 5 on costume stores in search of my costume - no luck yet!) Please don't include any weapons (swords, guns, light sabers, etc) as part of your costume at school.

We will celebrate Halloween on Friday, October 30th. The whole school will be on a different schedule that day:
The morning is from 8-12.
Lunch is from 12-12:55.
The afternoon is from 12:55-2:55.

We start lining up for the all school parade at 1:10. Because we have P.E. and music the last hour of the day, our party will be in the morning. We'll start around 10:30 - thanks to Macy's mom and all the room parents for organizing! Students may wear their costumes for the party and the parade, but NOT for lunch, which means they will have to get in and out of them. Parents have volunteered to help with that - thanks!

Many Longfellow families do not celebrate Halloween. If your family does not celebrate, please let me know if I can make alternative arrangements for your child.

The Pumpkin Festival is Thursday, 10/29, and Friday, 10/30. Look for details in the Thursday packet.

Conference Week

I look forward to meeting with families this week! Students are welcome at the conference, but it is your choice whether or not to bring them. Please do your best to be on time to your conference as many are back-to-back. A few things to remember this week:

• Thursday and Friday are half days. Students will be dismissed at 11am.
• Check out the Book Fair until 7:30pm now through Thursday and until noon on Friday.
• There are MANY items in the Lost and Found, which is currently on a table in the front hallway. If you've lost anything, check it out!
• Friday morning is our Staff Switch Day. Our class is looking forward to 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Lorenzi (formerly known as Miss Martin) being the teacher that morning. I will be the librarian for Mrs. Pearce!
  

Sight Words

Our Word Wall has 9 words now: a, an, and, here, I, is, see, the, we. Students don't have to worry about spelling them; I want them to read the words at first "sight." I checked students today to see which words they knew and sent notes home accordingly. Practicing those words just a few minutes a night would be a big help! Reading the paper decodable books help students practice these words.

Book It!

An orange calendar went home yesterday, marking the beginning of the Pizza Hut Book It! program. Your regular kindergarten homework is to read 20 minutes every night. If you can read an extra five minutes a night for 20 nights of the month, you will earn a coupon for a free personal pizza. Mark you calendar with a smiley face each night you read for 25 minutes; this could mean the child is reading, or an adult is reading to the child. Turn it in to me at the end of the month. If you ever lose the calendar, just make another one on your own or find one on the web and mark it as you would the orange one. Students who earn a coupon all five months (Oct-
Feb) will also be invited to a pizza lunch at school in the spring! Happy reading!

September, check!

We've been in kindergarten for over a month now! Our first journals are just about full and will go home this week. Students' pictures and sounding out have already greatly improved since the first weeks of school. We'll go through several journals this year; you'll love to see their progress throughout the year.

A few other things:

• Thanks to Macy's mom for coming in to read us a story last week! If you would like to be a guest storyteller, please let me know. First thing in the morning works best for us, but we can work around your schedule.
• This Tuesday we'll have our first fire drill. We'll talk more about fire safety in the coming month. It's an important safety issue for your child to know your phone number and address.
• Don't forget, tomorrow is our trip to the Maze Library. Wear comfortable walking shoes!
• As Mrs. Dolezal said at Curriculum Night, students are late if they are not in line as we walk into the building. Please go to the office for a tardy pass. All adults must check in at the office every time they enter the building. We need to know who is in the building for the safety of our students, as well as guests' safety in case of an emergency.
• If students are absent, planned or due to illness, please email me and email or call Debbie Taylor in the office at dtaylor@op97.org or 708.524.3060.

Congratulations!

Yesterday was our 20th day of school. Those students who had a green light everyday filled up their sticker chart and went to the treasure box today. Way to go! We are responsible, respectful, and safe.

Notes sent home

I've been working individually with your children to determine their needs for the beginning of the year. Today I sent home a letter highlighting some of the things I've assessed, as well as a few items that might need some extra work at home. Please check your child's backpack for this letter.

Don't forget, daily homework is to read for 20 minutes a night. Choose a variety of fiction and nonfiction - kids love to learn "real stuff!" Board, dice, and card games are a great way to learn through play. Also, starting Monday, I will send home 1-2 math Home Links each week. These are activities you can do at home and, for the most part, they do not need to be returned (I'll let you know if so.)

Have a great weekend!

3 Important Dates!

This coming Wednesday, September 23rd, David Shannon (author of No, David among many others) and Jon Scieszka (author of The Stinky Cheeseman...) will be coming to Longfellow! All are invited at 7pm to the auditorium to hear them speak for FREE! They will autograph the books they'll have on sale.
On Tuesday, September 29th our class is walking to the Maze Library. Hopefully you've already been there, but this is a great opportunity for children to see all the books available for them to borrow. I need one parent volunteer to walk with us. Please email me if you are available. We'll leave at about 12:45 and return around 2:15.
Wednesday, October 7th is International Walk to School Day. If you already walk - wonderful! However, if you normally drive, make the healthy and "green" effort to walk that day. Students who can't walk to school will have a chance to walk at lunchtime so they can earn a paper shoe to put up in the gym.

The First Weeks of School

We are off to a great start! Check out the first page in your child's digital portfolio. The link to our class work is to the left. You can also see pictures from the first days of school in our new slide show, also to the left.
In reading, we are working on identifying all capital and lowercase letters, including the funny "g" and funny "a." I will be checking these for the October report card. Students are also expected to write their first name, in either uppercase or lowercase letters. We sing the alphabet song just a little bit differently than they may have already learned - can your child do it for you? Our first word wall word is "the."
Our journals are filling up with wonderful pictures. We are practicing making up oral sentences to go with a picture. Since a sentence might be too difficult to write for most kindergarteners at this point in the year, we pick the most important word to sound out and label our picture with that word. You can practice sounding out words orally with your child. Start with short words. If hearing all the sounds is too difficult for your child right now, just ask for the first sound.
In math we are counting orally by 1s and 10s. We are identifying numbers (numbers up to 10 are expected for the October report card.) We practice place value and coins everyday when we keep track of our days of school during calendar time. We graph the weather for each school day and are graphing the teeth we've lost since the first day of school. Students are learning the days of the week and the months of the year. Maybe they have a song to sing for you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Curriculum Night tonight!

I look forward to seeing you tonight at 6pm! This is a time to let you know about the material we cover in kindergarten, as well as our classroom routines. We'll start in the classroom for the first 20 minutes or so for things that just pertain to our class. Then we'll move into the auditorium for notes that apply to all kindergarten classes. We'll be done by 7.

A few odds and ends:

• Please send in the $10 class fee, preferably cash, if you haven't already.
  
• Children are welcome to bring playground toys (softer balls, jumprope, etc.) but please don't bring other toys to school (cars, dolls, stuffed animals.) I strongly recommend you label playground toys with your name.
• If you forgot to send in the picture order form and money, they will still be accepted through the end of this week.
• I need a volunteer! This is something you can do at home: I need some stapling done to make books we'll be using throughout the year. If you can do a little or lot, it would be a big help!
  
• The Longfellow Welcome Back picnic is this Friday on the playground at 5:30!
  

Lunch and Snacks

Snack
Students are welcome to bring a fresh fruit or vegetable snack to school for the morning and/or afternoon. I recommend peeling or cutting hard-to-eat foods. Please pack the snack separate from your child's lunch, as lunches go down to the lunchroom first thing in the morning. Water bottles are also welcome.
Lunch
Kindergarten did very well today eating their lunches! The hot lunch menu can be viewed on the district website. Please let your child know if you have a milk account or not so they know if they should or should not be getting milk each day. Please check to make sure your child likes what is being served, either for hot lunch or in a packed lunch. The lunch staff encourages children to eat all, or almost all, of the food in their lunch. Consider planning your child's lunch with your child so he or she has the right amount of food, as well as a variety of nutrition. Throughout the year, the lunch staff generally tells kindergarteners to sit at their tables for 20 min. We encourage them not to rush through their food, but to eat at a healthy pace. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Say Cheese!

This coming Monday, August 31st, is Picture Day at school. An order envelope will go home tomorrow (Wednesday.)

Welcome!

It was great to see some of you at the open house this afternoon. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow morning at 8am! We line up at door 6W in line #12. From there, we'll walk down to our classroom door and enter the building right into our room. I will dismiss students from that door as well. I will make sure all students are with an adult (or older sibling if you let me know) - I won't just send them out. If someone different than usual ever picks your child up, please let me know ahead of time.
The best way to reach me is by email: svietzen@op97.org Provided I have a working classroom computer soon, I almost always see an email within an hour, and try my best to respond within a day.
Our classroom is air conditioned, (your student may even want a sweatshirt to keep in the room)though not all parts of the building are. Students are welcome to have a water bottle in the classroom, preferably with a sports top to prevent spills (reusable bottles are even better!) Students are also welcome to bring a fresh fruit or vegetable snack in the morning and/or afternoon. Many students may need you to peel or cut hard-to-eat food.
Mondays and Fridays are our P.E. days, starting this week - don't forget your gym shoes!

Come on in!

Did you miss Popsicles on the Playground? Are you anxious about the first day? Do you want to check out your classroom? I'll be in the room on Monday, August 24 from 4-5pm if you'd like to stop by and see the room. Parents, feel free to have sitters or other family members bring your children if your work schedule doesn't allow it. If you'd like to bring your supplies, you can; otherwise just bring them the first day. If you have older students, you may know my room as the old reserve room. Enter through the front doors on Highland, but our classroom faces the playground. It is on the first floor, right next to the mini-gym on the north end of the building.

Please email me

The easiest way to ensure I have your email address is to email me at svietzen@op97.org

If you are in my class, please fill out the forms in the bar to the left (one for you, one for child.) I'll get your email address this way. Please feel free to email with questions or concerns at any point in the year.

Important Dates

This Thursday, August 13th: Popsicles on the Playground, a kindergarten meet and greet. Please join Principal Dolezal and all the kindergarten teachers for a cool treat on the Longfellow playground from 5:30-6:30. Students and parents will meet their '09-'10 teacher. I hope to see you there!
Thursday, August 20th: New Parent Meeting
Tuesday, August 25th: First Day of School! Our first day is a half day; the hours are 8-11am.
Wednesday, August 26th: Wednesdays all year are shorter days; the hours are 8am-1:55pm.
Thursday, August 27th: Our first day with "normal" hours - 8am-2:55pm.
Tuesday, September 1st: Kindergarten Curriculum Night for parents only from 6-7pm.
Friday, September 4th: "Welcome Back to School" Family Picnic from 5:30-7:30pm on school grounds.

I'm keeping active!

Tomorrow I have my first tennis lesson is almost 20 years! I'm really looking forward to learning how to be a better tennis player. Hopefully I'll improve my game when I play with friends! I've been to a couple of Cubs games (I'm a big fan!) and saw the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" before it closed. I'm also on a bike-riding quest to find the best sandwich in the city. I have a big list of places to go!

Happy Summer!

I'm having a great summer! I spent my first week in Hilton Head, SC, with my family. It was fun playing on the beach and at the pool with my seven nieces and nephews. My summer is also full of classes - I'm a teacher AND a student! I'm taking a lot of technology classes through OP97, including learning how to blog! Outside of OP, I took my very first Irish dancing lesson, something I've always wanted to learn! I'm continuing my guitar lessons, too. Let me know what you're learning!