Picture Day

We have two days to dress up!

• This coming Thursday, October 4 at 8:25 - individual pictures. 
• Monday, October, 15 - our class picture and any individual retakes

I will be out Wednesday and Thursday next week for a training with many district kindergarten teachers.  Order/ payment envelopes went home yesterday.  They need to be returned by (preferably) Tuesday, 10/2, or Thursday, 10/4 at the latest.  Please note that retake day/ class picture day is also the same day as the Fun Run.  I've let the PTO picture chairwoman know, so hopefully we will get a time slot before we run!  If you'd like, feel free to pack different clothes that your child can run in.

Walk to School Day

On Wednesday, October 3rd, Longfellow School will once again participate in International Walk to School Day.  We promote walking especially on this day, but also everyday.  Students who walk will earn stamps and shoes to decorate.  If walking to school is absolutely not possible, your child may still earn the rewards by walking around the block during the lunch hour.
Why walk?
It's fun!  Walking brings a sense of joy and independence.
It's healthy!  The trip to school is a chance for children (and adults!) to get the physical activity they need.
Cleaner Environment!  Replacing car trips to school with walking can reduce congestion and air-polluting emissions.
Promoting Safety!  Building sidewalks, providing education programs and adding traffic calming measures are some of the ways to improve safety. Encouraging walking to school can help build support for infrastructure improvements in the broader community.
Community Benefits!  Reducing traffic congestion, boosting a sense of community, and improving neighborhood connections benefit the community.

Apple Day is Tomorrow!

Don't forget to bring an apple tomorrow!  It can be any variety, any size, though bigger is preferable.

Passport to Reading Starts Monday!

Longfellow's Passport to Reading program starts on Monday.  All five kindergarten homerooms are divided up by skill.  We have five homeroom teachers and three reading teachers to make eight different groups.  This time around, most children from our room will work with another teacher for a half hour, four times a week.  We will reassess and regroup every four weeks.  It's been a very successful program!

A Message from Nurse Angie

The health office is in need of any new or used size 5-7 size clothing and sizes 4 to 8 girls and boys new underwear.  If you have any items to donate, please send them to school with your children. In case of student accidents, we need to stock the health office clothes cabinet!

Caps Needed!

Ms. Raia, our art teacher, needs your caps!  The 5^th Grade will be doing a RECYCLED ART PROJECT using plastic caps. Caps from milk jugs, Gatorade bottles, pop bottles, water bottles- any color any size- are ideal. Please bring caps into school and I will get them to the Art Room. They will be used to create outdoor mosaics for Longfellow’s garden and field. The more caps we get, the better!

2 Things Going Home

Yesterday I sent home notification that we are having an apple tasting at school.  Thank you to all of you who already turned in the $6.  I'm sorry the letter didn't mention that it needs to be in cash.

Yesterday we also had a kick-off assembly for the Fun Run.  This is a fundraiser for the Longfellow PTO, which does WONDERFUL things for our school, including helping fund the new playground, track, and field.  Pledge sheets and information are going home today.

PTO Meeting

Tonight's PTO meeting will begin at 6:45 instead of 7pm.

Lexia

A letter went home today explaining how to use Lexia at home.  As I said at Curriculum Night, it is totally up to you and your child how much you use this at home.  Some kids love it and want to work more at home.  Others don't like it as much, so unless they aren't successful on it at school, I wouldn't push it much at home.  Students should do this independently.  As time goes by, I'll let you know if they aren't going through the program at an appropriate rate.
One thing to note, students should finish each activity instead of clicking the stop sign in the bottom right hand corner.  For example, if there are ten problems in an activity, but they only do six and then click stop, they do not get "credit" for those six and will have to repeat them another time, which can be frustrating for students.  Once they finish an activity, the computer will bring them back to the main menu and they can choose a different activity if they wish.

Welcome Back Picnic

The picnic has been canceled for today due to weather.  It has been rescheduled for September 21.

Assessments

In your child's backpack today, you'll find two notes:

• A letter from Longfellow about the Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT):  This was the test your child took during the summer.  We used these scores to balance our five homerooms.  The letter also mentions DIBELS, which was administered this past week and helps determine the first Passport to Reading groups.  We regroup every four weeks after that, using new information.
• A note from me:  This is the information I use to drive my instruction.  Over the past week, I've assessed children on some basic information so I know what to teach them and what they already know.  I'm impressed!  Please work on the highlighted items at home.  Most will be graded on the 1st trimester report card, though we really hope all kindergarteners know their upper- and lowercase letters by mid-October.  Flashcards or a game for just a few minutes at night can be a big help at school.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Library Books and Gym Shoes

Just a friendly reminder to bring your library book back to school on Tuesday.  Kindergarteners checked out books for the first time this past week.  They are not overdue until after two weeks, but students are only allowed to have one book out at a time.
Also, please remember to bring gym shoes on Monday for P.E.
Thanks!

I'm Proud of You!

Your child may have mentioned that we spent yesterday in Ms. Mulsoff's room next door.  Most of the school is not air-conditioned like our part of the building is.  The third floor can get very hot and stuffy, which is an extremely uncomfortable learning environment.  Two fifth grade classes used our classroom yesterday and we spent the day with Ms. Mulsoff's class.  Our kindergarteners did so well!  We are still getting used to kindergarten routines, but students did exceptionally well with this out-of-the-ordinary situation.  Way to go!
Mrs. Parr also visited our classroom for an hour this morning and we assessed students using DIBELS to start to determine groupings for Passport to Reading, which starts in 2 weeks.  Our class did a GREAT job working quietly while Mrs. Parr and I worked with students individually.  I am so proud of my students!

PBIS Raffle

You may have heard about our Bear Necessity slips, or bear claw slips.  Students can earn these slips from any teacher when they are "caught" following the Bear Necessities: be respectful, be responsible, be safe.  Our class has earned a LOT among our 17 students in these first 10 days of school.  Every Friday, beginning this Friday, Longfellow holds a raffle using these slips and 10 winners are selected.  The raffle box is emptied out after the raffle and it starts again for the next week.
P.S. If you have access to inexpensive prizes, especially for the Bears Den for 4th and 5th grade students, please contact Ms. Helm at vhelm@op97.org.  We would really appreciate it!