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!