Field Trip

Last Friday a permission slip went home for a field trip to the Morton Arboretum on 10/19. It should be a fun day! Thanks to those of you who have already gotten the slips and $8 fee back. We're only allowed 3 chaperones per class, which have been filled already. Please return your slip by next Friday, 10/8.

Scholastic Book Orders

Several book order forms went home today. If you'd like to order, please have them back by Thursday, September 30 with a check made out to Scholastic.

Sent home....

In your child's folder today, you'll see information about one of the PTO's big fundraisers: the wrapping paper sale.
You'll also find order forms for Picture Day on Monday, October 4. You can send it in anytime before then.
As always, please empty the folder and return it to school each day.

Passport to Reading

Passport to Reading starts Monday, September 27! This is a 20 minute time period, 4 times a week, when our reading teachers Mrs. Parr and Ms. Divis come into the classroom to work in small groups with us. Each of the three groups is based on the skill level at which children are working. Every 4 weeks we reassess and regroup students according to the progress they've made and therefore their new skill levels. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Treasure Box Time!

Many of our students are going to the treasure box for the first time this week. They filled up their sticker charts with stickers for all the green lights they earned. Way to go! When students fill up one sticker chart, they get another so they could potentially go back to the treasure box in another 20 school days. Keep up the great work being respectful, responsible, and safe!

Fees, Please!

If you haven't turned in your $10 cash class activity fee or the $4.50 fee for a subscription to Time for Kids, please do so ASAP. We are about to place our order for the subscription.

Book It!

October calendars went home today for the Pizza Hut Book It Program. For each day you read 25 minutes, mark the calendar with a smiley face. You can read to your child or your child might read to you. If you have 20 smiley faces on your calendar, bring it back to school at the end of the month and I'll give your child a coupon for a free personal pizza from Pizza Hut. If you participate all five months (Oct-Feb) your student will receive an additional reward!

Dr. Roberts' Community Chat

Please join Superintendent Dr. Albert Roberts for a Longfellow
community chat. This chat, scheduled to last approximately 90
minutes, will provide the staff, parents/guardians, and
neighbors of Longfellow an opportunity to participate in an
open, informal dialogue with Dr. Roberts about a variety of
issues (district finances, integration of technology in the
classroom, state of facilities, etc.) that impact their individual
building or the district as a whole.

The Longfellow community chat will take place on Tuesday,
October 19 beginning at 7:00 pm. We will meet in the
Longfellow Auditorium. Please be sure to let your neighbors know,
even if they do not have children in the district.

Maze Library

Today we walked to the Maze Library with Ms. Mulsoff's class. What a beautiful day! We toured the library, listened to stories, and danced with Ms. Lori. We also had some time to look at books. It was a lot of fun! I hope you have your library card ready to go back with your family!

Time For Kids

A notice went home Friday with a request for $4.50 for a Time For Kids subscription for each child. Thanks to those of you who already sent it in!

Longfellow's Digital Backpack

Last year, in an effort to be greener, Longfellow switched from paper Thursday packets to an online digital version. Some things still go home on paper, but the majority is online for you to seek out. If you would prefer a paper copy, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll always have a link on the left. You can also find the Digital Backpack on Longfellow's website.

A Few More Things!

• Tomorrow will be our second visit to the library. Make sure to bring back books from last Thursday so you can check out a new book.
• This coming Tuesday, September 14, we will walk to the Maze Library. Wear comfortable shoes and appropriate clothing. We'll leave at about 8:40 and be back well before lunch. I would love a parent or two to walk with us. Please email me if you're interested.
• Don't forget to return your Walking Field Trip permission slip at the left. We need it for Tuesday.
  
• It's suddenly become popular in class for students to want to "taste" the hot lunch, so they've asked to order one in the morning even though they brought their own lunch. Please discuss with your child if this is OK. I don't want you to get a surprise bill!
  
• Save those pink box tops! Longfellow's PTO collects them from certain products and exchanges them for cash. Send them in as you get them.
• Mark your calendar - October 4th is Picture Day.

Pre-decodable and Decodable Books

The first of our paper books went home last week. We read about one a week; they are yours to keep. The first 15 pre-decodable books use our sight words, as well as pictures in the text for more difficult words. These books will indicate which sight words I've introduced in class and therefore which you should be practicing at home. The 20 decodable books after that use sight words and simple words that children can sound out. Please practice these books until your child is fluent with them (no mistakes and with expression.) As they are easy to memorize, you may want to practice them a little bit at a time as well as revisit older books in your soon-to-be decodable "library."

Watch Your Step!

I'm watching your child's gross motor skills in the building and on the classroom. One thing I look for is their use of alternating feet as they walk down the stairs. If their right foot comes down on one stair, the left foot should go to the NEXT stair, not the same stair as the right foot. Usually children just need a little demonstration and reminder to slow down. Eventually, they can use this step to go a lot faster than a non-alternating step.

Letter Recognition

One of our first academic goals in kindergarten is upper- and lowercase letter recognition. We hope students know all 26 capital letters and 28 lowercase letters by about October 20th. (The 2 extra lowercase letters are the "funny" g and a we see in print.) While these first several weeks are so much about building classroom routines, I have started to assess your child on letter and number recognition to see who may already know them, and who I need to work with. I'll send that information home this week or early next week. It's also a big help for you to make some flashcards to work on at home.

Missing Some Teeth?

We celebrate the small things in kindergarten! Throughout the year, we will graph how many teeth we have lost during the year. If your child loses a tooth, or has lost one since the first day of school, make sure he or she tells me and we'll put it up on the graph.

Around Longfellow

It was great to see so many of you at Curriculum Night last night!
The first PTO meeting is September 15th. The class with the highest percentage of parents will win extra gym time!
Mrs. Dolezal asked me to remind you of part of the Longfellow dress code. Flip flops are not allowed at school. They are not safe for outside play or the amount we go up and down stairs.
Please remember to print out the Walking Field Trip Permission slip to the left, sign it, and return it to school.