December 8-19

Important News

• Winter is here and unfortunately that includes snow! Please pack an extra pair of gloves and socks in your child's backpack in case they get wet. Also, if you would like to keep an extra pair of pants and socks at school, please send them in a large ziploc bag with your child's name on it. We will keep them in our classroom in case your child gets wet at recess and needs to change. Thank you!  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather!  
• Book orders-- Mrs. Gallucci's class are due December 9.  
• Don't forget the Holiday Shop!  Please send your envelope back to school if you are interested in participating.  Mrs. Haughey's class is shopping on Thursday.  Mrs. Gallucci's class is shopping on Friday.

Language Arts
The next two weeks we will continue to learn about cultures around the world.  We will be learning about the different homes they live in, types of transportation and the ways children get to school. We are also reading fiction stories that teach about many different cultures.  We will be comparing and contrasting what we have learned.  Ask your child to share the information that he/she has learned.  Can you tell me about houses in areas where it is always cold?  What do houses look like in hot climates?  How do children get to school other than the bus, car or walk?

We will continue to learn about blending and segmenting phonemes and medial sounds.  We are focusing on the short vowel sounds in the middle of words.

Please continue to work on your Cultural Heritage Project.  Please email us with any questions.  The projects are due on Monday, December 15.  We will be sharing these projects throughout the week.

Math
We will be solving story problems with and without manipulatives.  We will also be learning about place value.  For example, 34 means 3 tens and 4 ones.  34 also means 30+4.  We are always practicing counting and number recognition too!

FYI from the Lunchroom
If your child buys lunch or milk, you can send in a larger sum of money all at once ($5-10). We will apply it to your account and each time your student buys milk or lunch it will be deducted from that amount. If you choose this method, you won't have to send money in each day that your child is buying lunch/milk.

Have a wonderful winter break!  

Cultural Heritage Projects

Cultural Heritage Projects are due December 15.

Please be sure to send back the form that states your choice for the cultural heritage project. This way we can send you the full directions, supplies and an example.

There are 3 choices for creating a project about your cultural heritage.

1.  Personal Narrative--write a true story that tells about a family tradition.  This could include a holiday or non-holiday tradition.

2.  Google Presentation--Choose a country that represents your heritage or a country that you would like to learn more about.  Add pictures and videos that show the flag, map, clothing, music, food, and/or holidays of that particular country.

Sample Google Presentation:

http://bit.ly/1t2dXcS

3.  Poster--Choose a country that represents your heritage or a country that you would like to learn more about.  Add pictures that show the flag, map, clothing, music, food, and/or holidays of that particular country.

November 17-21 and 24 & 25

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are very thankful for wonderful families like you!  

• Important News
  • Winter is coming and unfortunately that includes snow!  Please pack an extra pair of gloves and socks in your child's backpack in case they get wet.  Also, if you would like to keep an extra pair of pants and socks at school, please send them in a large ziploc bag with your child's name on it.  We will keep them in our classroom in case your child gets wet at recess and needs to change.  Thank you!
  • Dads and Donuts is on Thursday, November 20.  Dad or a special guest may come any time between 7:45-8:45 for a special breakfast of donuts, coffee, and juice. Please do not leave your child unattended or in the classroom prior to 8:50 am. Thank you!
  • Mrs. Haughey's class welcomed a new student this week.  Brandon came to Aurora from Arizona.  Welcome!
  
  
  Homework
  
  • Practice tying shoes and zipping coats! Please make sure all hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, and snowpants are labeled with your child's name.
  • Make a card for the Joy Maker Challenge (if you would like to participate)
  
  
  
  

  Language Arts
  The next three weeks we will be learning about cultures around the world.  We will be learning about the different homes they live in, types of transportation and the ways children get to school.  We will be comparing and contrasting what we have learned.  Our focus in word study is on middle sounds.  We will also continue our personal narrative unit in writing.
  
  
  

  Math

  We will be solving story problems with and without manipulatives.  We will also be learning about place value.  For example, 34 means 3 tens and 4 ones.  34 also means 30+4.

Service Project--The Joy Maker Challenge

Miller School is participating in a great service project that will brighten a day for children who are in the hospital.  If you would like to participate, please have your child make a holiday card for the children and send it to school by Wednesday, November 19.  Each card that is made, Hasbro will donate a game or toy to the "Toys for Tots" campaign.  Thank you for taking the time to model the idea of giving back.  

November 10-14

LINKS
Please visit our website www.kindernewsletter.blogspot.com to see the list of Educational Links.

Important News

• We are switching our classes more often now as we make flexible groups for reading, math, and more! 
• Dads and Donuts is on Tuesday, November 19th from 7:45-8:45 am.  Dad or a special guest may join your child for a special breakfast of donuts, coffee, and juice.  Please do not leave your child unattended or in the classroom prior to 8:50 am.  Thank you!

Homework

• Practice tying shoes and zipping coats!  Please make sure all hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, and snowpants are labeled with your child's name. 
• Sight words
• Counting

Language Arts
We will be reading several stories about Thanksgiving.  Our focus skill for the week is comparing and contrasting.  We will also be working on listening and writing the middle sounds in words.  The students have been learning how to "chop" the words in order to hear each sound when writing.

RAZ kids--A Literacy Resource
The Aurora City Schools has purchased another resource for your child to use to increase their literacy skills.  It's called RAZ kids and you can download it for FREE!  We have taught all the children how to log on and put in their password.  Now, we are sending home the information so that your child can access it at home as well as school.  This resource, much like Storia, offers students an opportunity to read books at their level, answer comprehension questions and earn stars for completing these tasks. The kids have found this to be highly motivating because they use the stars to purchase pieces to build a robot!  Please look for the log in information to come home this week.  Have fun reading and building!

Math
We are working on several activities to build the concept of subtraction.  We are also working on number recognition, counting and number formation.

Have a great week!

Two Hour Delay Procedures

If our Superintendent, Mr. Bennett announces a "Two Hour Delay", school will begin for our kindergarten students at 11:05.  Lunch and dismissal time will remain the same.  

November 3-7

Important News:

• Don't forget that there is no school on Tuesday, November 4th!
• Thursday, November 20 is Dads and Donuts!  Dads or a special guest are welcome to come and share a doughnut with your child before school. 
• November 12 is Picture Retake Day.
• Report Cards will be handed out at the conference.  We look forward to talking with you about your child's progress!

Language Arts
We will be learning about bears through both fiction and non-fiction books.  We will be comparing and contrasting the stories.  We will continue to discuss how we know if a book is fiction or non-fiction.

Sight words have also been a focus.  Please continue to practice the sight words at home.  If you child is very fluent (can say it quickly), then move on to the bonus sight words that come home monthly.

Math
We have been learning the combinations that make 5.  Also, we are working on becoming fluent within 100.  We will be playing several games this week that reinforce these skills.  We are also reinforcing recognition of the teen numbers.

Homework

• Counting to 100--Practice saying the name before and after a given number.
• Try writing at home.  We tell our students they cannot say "How do you spell..." instead they can say "Can you help me chop/stretch?"  Help your child stretch out the words that they are writing.  

October 27-31

Important News

• Please be sure to send back the confirmation of your conference time.  
• Thank you to all the families that donated books to our classroom from the Book Fair!  It is so fun to have the new books for the students to enjoy!
• No School on Tuesday, November 4
• Please practice zipping coats! 
• Please make sure your child's name is on all of their winter clothes.  Thank you! 
• Friday, October 31 is the Fall Festival Party.  Please send your child's costume to school in a bag.  We will get dressed right before the party begins.  Please refer to the party/costume guidelines that came home in the Miller newsletter.  Remember no extra treat bags allowed!

Language Arts
This week we will be reading fiction and non-fiction books about bears.  We will be focusing on the skill of sequencing.  What happened first, second, third, and at the end?

Another skill we will be focusing on is positional words.  (on, under, beneath, in, above, etc.)

Don't forget to send back your "book buddy" so that your child can continue to practice reading!

Math
We will be doing several activities where the children will be practicing the number combinations that make up 5.  We will also be ordering numbers.  This activity involves putting number cards in order that are not necessarily in sequence.  For example, the cards they might have are 7, 4, 2, 9.  They would have to order the cards from least to most 2, 4, 7, 9.  We will continue to work on skills such as counting, number recognition to 20 and number formation.

Star Student

Each week a child in the class will be the Star Student!  This means that they get to bring a poster to school to share with the class all the very special things about them.   Also, the students can write about the star student during literacy centers.  

Book Buddy Letter

Your child will be bringing home a "Book Buddy" or "book in a bag".  The book inside this bag is the one your child received small group instruction on during guided reading.  This book MUST be returned tomorrow.  Inside the bag, you should also find 2 bookmarks with the reading strategies that your child is learning in guided reading.  The students have not received instruction on all of these strategies just yet, but will as the year progresses!  Please encourage your child to use one of these strategies when they get stuck on a word.   The letter you see below is also included in the book buddy bag for your reference.  Happy Reading!

Dear Parents,                                                                                                                   

“Book Buddy Bags” are an important part of our reading program.  Several days a week your child will bring home a guided reading book in the bag, home to practice.  This book will be one that he/she has practiced with me in our small guided reading group lesson.  Please have your child read the book as part of his/her homework.  It is extremely important the book be returned to school the following day.   We will be using it again for our guided reading groups.

At this stage of reading the story has a very predictable text (I like red, I like blue) and the pictures are very important, as they support the child’s “reading” of the words.  At times your child may forget the predictable part of the text (I like).  If that happens, you can help them by reading the first few pages together.

When working with your child, please encourage him/her to:

·         Point to each word as they say it (this helps develop their one-to-one correspondence)

·         Look at the pictures if they get stuck

·         Go back and re-read if they get confused (you may help them by saying “I like…). Then have them read the sentence again on their own.

·         Get their mouth ready for the first sound in the word

Learning to read is a lot like learning to speak. You must:

·         Believe your child will learn to read

·         Praise and encourage your child’s every attempt. Just like you did with their first words

·         Reread books over and over and over….

·         Make reading a relaxed and enjoyable experience

·         Let them see you reading.

Please be careful NOT to:

·         Get impatient or upset when reading with your child (if you or your child is frustrated put it away for another time)

·         Expect your child to sound out each letter.

·         Cover the pictures to prove your child is “really” reading.

Don’t worry if it appears your child has memorized the text…That is a Good thing!!  Just be sure they are pointing to each word as they say it.

A note of responsibility: The children are taught that these books are precious and their responsibility (not Mom’s or Dad’s).  It is their responsibility to keep them in great condition and to bring them back every day.  The “Book Buddy Bag” will keep them dry and protect the pages from being ripped as they are put in their backpacks.  Once they have finished reading their books, please remind them to put them right back in their backpack.

Thank you for all of your help and support as we begin our adventure in reading.

Happy Reading!!!!! 

Letter Fluency Homework

Dear Parents,

A packet will come home today for you to practice letter fluency with your child.  For this activity, set the timer for one minute.  The students will read the letters across the row and see how many they can read within one minute. Research states that the quicker students are able to recall their letters the better readers they will become! Please spend only a minute or two on this activity a few times a week.

October 20-24

Upcoming Events and Reminders

• Book fair will be open all week!  Wednesday, October 22 is Family Night 4:00-7:00 if you would like to shop with your child.  This year the family night includes story time and crafts in the gymnasium with local author, Eric Van Raepenbusch!

Literacy Center Switch

We have started switching for Literacy Centers.  Your child will be in either Mrs. Gallucci's or Mrs. Haughey's class for an hour and a half for literacy centers.  Ask your child about which room they are in for centers.

Language Arts

We will begin a unit on the seasons and weather.  We will be reading both non-fiction and fiction books about these topics.  While reading these books, we will focus on main idea and comparing and contrasting.  We will also be writing about the things we see during each  of the seasons.

Writer’s Workshop: Personal Narratives

During the next few weeks of writer’s workshop we are going to be focusing on narrative writing. Students will be working on writing true stories of things that have happened to them. The standards emphasize the importance of narrating a sequence of events; having students write WHO is in the story, WHERE the story is happening and WHAT is happening. In school, we will be looking closely at this genre of writing, noticing what authors do when writing in this genre.

                The first step in helping students become successful in this genre of writing is promoting storytelling. As you know, our students always have stories to tell! They are excited to tell us about what they did the night before or places they have been. Orally rehearsing their stories will help them develop a sense of storybook language. We will be practicing telling our stories orally and then practice bringing those stories to our books in written words and pictures.

How can you support your child with this at home?

Promote storytelling at home! You may not realize it but you are already supporting this at home! When your child gets off the bus, the first question you usually ask is: How was school today? What did you do at school? Although your child may have a two word response or a shrug, you are waiting for all the details! I bet you could get a response out of: What did you do at recess? J Prompt your students to tell you WHO they played with, WHERE they were and WHAT they did. Thanks so much for your support in our next writing adventure!

Honoring our Heroes

Last week, we wrote letters to Miss Czaplicki's brother Private Jacob Czaplicki who is currently serving in the Army.  He is stationed in Iraq, which the students saw on the map. We are hoping to be able to talk to him via Facetime after he receives our cards.  He will also write us back!  

This was a great opportunity to show the students the importance of writing for a purpose.  We wanted the students to see a real life, real world experience, but at a kindergarten level.  The students were focused on sending thank yous for having an important job and being a community worker.  

October 13-17

Lake Farmpark Field Trip

We are all set for our field trip to Lake Farmpark on Tuesday, October 13.  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather!  We will be outside even if it is rainy.  Also, please make sure your child brings a packed lunch.  Please pack in a disposable bag so that we can throw all items away after lunch.  Thank you!  We are looking forward to our trip tomorrow!

Remember no school on Friday!

September 29-October 10

Picture day is on Thursday, October 2!

Important News

• Remember to send your picture envelopes to school on Thursday!
• Mrs. Gallucci's class only--Book orders are due on October 1.
• Thank you to the parent who volunteered to attend the Farm field trip with us! Our helpers are:  Mrs. Haughey's class: Kendall Exline, Sandra Kecken, Patti Valencic

           Mrs. Gallucci's class:  Mrs. Rodenhauser, Mrs. Zamary and Mrs. Spinelli

Language Arts

We will begin a unit on apples that will last two weeks.  We will be reading several stories, fiction and non-fiction, about animals and the seasons.  This works perfectly with our Lake Farmpark field trip.  During the field trip, the children will learn how to make apple cider from the apples at the farm.  They will even have an opportunity to taste apple cider!  We will continue practicing fluency with the Apple, Apple on the Tree poem in our poetry folder.

Phonemic Awareness skills:  letter names, letter sounds, ending sounds, syllables

Practice sight words!  We would like the children to be able to read and spell 4 sight words by the end of the first quarter (October 24).  The words are: a, it, in, on

Math

We will continue our unit on counting.  We have learned some strategies for careful counting.  Ask your child to share these strategies with you.  Also, we are practicing counting from any given number.  We have been practicing counting by 10s to 100.  We are also working hard to learn what number comes next when crossing over a decade.  What number comes after 29, 39, 49...

September 22-26

Important news:

• Please send an extra set of clothes to school.  We will keep them in our classroom in case of an accident like a lunch spill, muddy clothes, etc.
• We will be starting lessons with our guidance counselor, Tami Mazzella this week.  She will be working with our classes for the next six weeks.

We will continue with our Language Arts theme and Math skills for one more week.  

We hope you have a great week!

Word Study

Word Study

Word study provides students with opportunities to investigate and understand the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students do not need learn to spell one word at a time.

Students learn that spelling patterns exist and that these patterns help to explain how to spell, read, and write words.

Word study is also designed to build word knowledge that can be applied to both reading and spelling. Because it is closely tied to reading instruction, it also develops students' abilities in phonics, word recognition, and vocabulary.

During word study, we do some of the following activities:

Word sorts:  You will see a ziploc bag come home with small picture cards.  These are used for our word sorts.  The students do several activities with the cards including sorting them according to the feature.  The feature will be beginning sounds for the first 5 weeks.  When you see the sort come home on Fridays, ask your child to sort the words at home.  They should be experts! 

Word hunt:  In this activity, students are looking for pictures around the room that follow the feature we are learning.  For example, we were learning about the beginning sound "b".  The students were looking for a picture that began with a b.  When they found the balloons, they wrote/drew the word under the b.  

Writing sort:  The writing sort is our assessment of whether the students understand and have mastered the skill.  We will say a word, and the students are expected to write the word under the correct column.  At this time, some students are writing just the beginning letter, some are writing beginning and ending letters.  Some students may also be stretching out the word and writing all of the letters in the word.  All of these methods are acceptable and correct.  We are only looking for beginning sounds at this time.

Read to Self

In our September 8th post, we discussed our activity "Read to Self".  Have your children told you about it?  We have been working hard on increasing our stamina (how long we can work on a task).  Building stamina makes us better readers!

This is what Read to Self looks like.  Great job kindergarteners!

September 15-19

Writing Workshop

We began writing workshop last week with the goal that our students begin to see themselves as writers!  Did they share that they are in a writing club?  Mrs. Gallucci's class' club is called "Awesome Writers".  Mrs. Haughey's class named their club "World Writers".  We will be writing several times a week.  Last week we learned that "When we think we are done, we have only just begun!"  That means we can go back, reread our writing and add more details to our pictures or add more words.  We could also start a new paper.  The students chose their own topic.  We suggest they choose something they know a lot about.  What does your child know a lot about?  Talk with him/her about some possible writing topics.  Do they know a lot about animals, baseball, ballet, fishing, the beach, bike riding?  Any topic will work!  If you would like, you could create a list (with pictures) of ideas for writing and send it to school.  Your child can keep the list in his/her writing folder in case they get stuck and need an idea.

Next week we will learn about stretching out words to write them and how to write about things that the students might think are too hard to write about.

News

• Please put all notes to the teacher or office on a large sheet of paper.  Small notes (like post-its) tend to get lost.  Thank you!
• Our classes had the opportunity to shop from the Miller Store last Friday.  The students were so excited to "buy" something with their Miller dollars they have been earning.  After spending their money, Mrs. Minrovic stamped it with a "paid" symbol.  This will help us keep track of how much they can spend next time.  Congratulations kindergartners! You earned a lot of fun prizes!

Homework

• Review letters and sounds with your child daily.  How quickly can your child name the letters? 
• If your child knows his/her letters and sounds, practice the sight words.  Start with only a few words at a time. 
• Ask your child to name the characters and/or setting in a story you read together. 
• Storia--Don't forget to log onto your Storia account and read a book or 2!

Language Arts
We have been learning about the farm.  We are reading several stories about the farm and farm animals.  We will be using these stories to learn about characters, setting, cause and effect and sequencing.

The focus for the next 2 weeks includes:

• rhyming
• letters and sounds
• final sounds
• syllables
• Left to right directionality

Sight words--a

Math

In math, we are learning addition and subtraction to five with materials.  Also, we practice counting from any given number to 100 forward and backward.

Storia

Dear Parents,

The Aurora Schools have purchased a great resource to support literacy skills called Storia.  Storia is a website that gives your child access to a digital library of fiction and non-fiction books and can be accessed at home and at school.

Your child’s account is set up and ready to go with many books on his/her virtual bookshelf.  Some of the books in your child’s library were chosen because they relate to curricular topics we are learning at school.  Other books were chosen for your child based on his/her reading level or literacy skills.  All you have to do to access these books is follow the instructions on the attached paper to get started! 

Before you log on, please read the following quick notes that should help

you as you navigate this resource. 

·        **You will need to use one of the following browsers to launch Storia: Chrome 21 or higher, Microsoft 9 or higher, Firefox 13 or higher, or Safari 5 or higher

·       ** Some of the books are not ready to access yet. They will be available at the beginning of October, but there are plenty of other books to read while you wait!

·        **Periodically, new books will be loaded onto your account. Go back and check for new updates!

·        **Please go back and reread stories as that will help your child gain important fluency skills. 

·        **Try the reading challenge questions at the end of the story to check your child's comprehension of the text.

·        **If the book is too difficult for your child, read it to him/her.  Remember, listening to reading is also an important part of early reading skills.

We are excited about this resource as it provides an extensive library of books for your child to read at his/her reading and interest level.  We hope you enjoy it!

                                                                                           

                                                                                            Thank you,

                                                                                            Mrs. Karen Gallucci

                                                                                            Mrs. Cyndi Haughey

September 8-12

Book Baskets
Each student in our classroom has his/her own basket of books.  We use these baskets to do an activity called "Read to Self".  For this activity, each child finds a quiet spot in the classroom with their book basket to read the books inside.  Each child has several books in the basket.  Some of the books are chosen by the student according to his/her interest (princess, baseball, animal, Clifford, etc.)  The other books are on their reading level.  If your child would like to bring a book from home to put in his/her basket, we encourage it!  This is the introduction to one of our Daily 5 literacy centers.

The students were taught that there are 3 ways to read a book.  The first way is to read the pictures.  We modeled for the students how to use the pictures to read the book to themselves.  The second way is to read the words in the story.  The third way is to retell a story that they have heard before.  Some students may have a book in their basket that they have read before such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Now, the student can retell the story as he/she reads the pages.

Important Notes:

• We have been experiencing some problems with our email.  If you have not received a response from us, please let us know.  Some of our emails are not being delivered.  Sorry!
• Thursday is September 11 so wear red, white and blue!
• We do not need to wear our bus tags anymore.  Thank you for always remembering to send it to school each day!
• HOMEWORK--Have you played a rhyming game with your child?  Practice rhyming by asking your child if two words rhyme.  (Do cake and rake rhyme?) Also, try asking your child to think of a word that rhymes with a word you say.  (Can you think of a word that rhymes with sun?)
• Mrs. Haughey's class has a student teacher!  Miss Tara Czaplicki will be teaching with Mrs. Haughey until December.  She currently attends Kent State University.
• Please check the Miller Money paper daily to see the good news about your child's behavior!
• Mrs. Haughey's Class ONLY--Please remember to send in a picture of your child if you have not done so already!  Thank you!

Language Arts
This week our stories will be about our five senses.  We will be reading both fiction and non-fiction books.  We will be experiencing all of the senses, except tasting, during our activities this week.

We will continue our practice of phonemic awareness with our "blue book" activities.  We will focus on rhyming.

Math
Our district math coach, Mr. Lipnos will be working with our classes for the first 9 weeks.  We are working on saying the number before and after any given number from 0-30.  What number comes before 18?  What number comes after 12? 

Science:  5 senses

September 1-5

Quick Reminders

• Please pack only ONE snack for your child each day.
• Please remember a folder each day.
• Please remember to wear your bus tag every day!
• It is no longer necessary for your child to have a PE shirt!

Language Arts

This week we will be reading 2 stories, The Little School Bus and Big Yellow Bus.  We will compare and contrast these stories and talk about the characters in each story.  At home, as you read books with your child talk about the characters in the story.  We tell the children that the characters are the people or animals in the story.

We will continue to work on fluency this week through poetry.  The children have enjoyed the mystery color poems.  Have they shared these with you?   We will also look at a new poem called Get on the Bus.

We will also complete a Name of the Day activity each day until each child in the class has a chance to bring home a special book.  During this activity we work on letter names, sounds, and formation of letters.

Every week throughout the year we will do phonemic awareness activities such as letter names and sounds, rhyming, listening for the beginning sounds in words, compound words, and listening for ending sounds in words.  Please practice these types of activities at home with your child.  The best part of these activities is that it doesn't require any materials or take a long time.  All you have to do is say "Can you think of a word that rhymes with dig?" or "What sound do you hear at the beginning of ball?"  "What do you hear at the end of mug?"

Sight words this week: a, the

Math

We are working on counting!  We want the students to be able to count to 100 by the end of kindergarten fluently.  This means that they can count starting from any number.  Can you start counting at 8?  Can you count beginning at 87?  We are also learning how to count by 10s to 100!We are also exploring our math tools such as attribute blocks, unifix cubes, and pattern blocks.

REVIEW:  Last week our focus was on rules.  What are the rules for the cafeteria, recess, bathroom, classroom and hallway?  Ask your child if they can share the rules with you.  

Welcome!

Welcome to our new Kindergarten Families!   It was so nice to meet you!  We had a great first week.  We can already tell that it will be a wonderful year!

Quick reminders:

• Please remember to wear your bus tag to school every day for the first 2 weeks.  Mrs. Haughey's class are bears and Mrs. Gallucci's class are frogs.
• Pack a snack daily for your child.  Please try to pack it separate from the lunch.
• Bring a folder to school each day.
• Keep the PE shirt in your child's backpack because we wear them to all of our specials.  This helps our librarian (Mrs. Kudley), our music teacher (Mrs. Jones), and our PE teacher (Mrs. Barnes) learn names. 
• Please remember to complete and return all forms.  Thank you!

Below is our contact information:

Karen Gallucci  330-562-6199 ext. 2218 or kgallucci@aurora-schools.org
Cyndi Haughey 330-562-6199 ext. 2199 or chaughey@aurora-schools.org

Here are a few pictures from our first week...

THANK YOU!

Thank you for such a great year!  We were lucky to have such amazing students and families this year!

If you are looking for a few ideas for summer, check out these recommended apps:

Writing Wizard--Letter formation
Letter Reversals--Letter formation

http://happynumbers.com/?redirect=no#~oG2zOPRqSz1CiI--Math
Friends of 10--Math

Have a safe and happy summer!

End of Kindergarten Notes

Reminders 

• Friday is our field trip to Craddock!  Please wear your tie-dye t-shirt!  
• Monday is our end of the year party.  Remember to wear your tie-dye t-shirt, sunscreen and a bottle of water.
• Tuesday is our last day of kindergarten!  Report cards will come home with your child.  Your child will not be able to purchase a school lunch or milk on Tuesday.  Please make sure your child has a packed lunch!
• We are collecting all of the "book in a bag".  Please make sure you return them to school. 
• Please make sure you return all library books.

Butterflies

This week we let our butterflies free!  It was so exciting to watch them fly away! 

May 12-30

Important News

• Field Day is Tuesday, May 13.  Please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes, their tie dye t-shirt and has a water bottle. 
• We will being completing end of the year assessments during the month of May.  Therefore, please make sure your child is well rested and eats a healthy breakfast. 
• Please continue to work on sight words and math facts. 
• Please return your "book in a bag" as we are going to be concluding this program for the year and we would like to have all of our books returned.  Thank you!

Language Arts and Science
We will begin a unit on insects.  We will learn about all types of insects!  Have you heard about the caterpillars that we have been observing in our classroom?  We have been writing in our journals about our observations.  Now, we are waiting for them to make a chrysalis.

We will continue to talk about long vowel sounds, and adding -s and -es to make plural nouns.

Math
We will continue our unit on shapes, place value and practice our math fluency facts to 5.  We will solve addition and subtraction story problems.

Tie Dye Tshirt Dates

• Tuesday, May 13--PE Field Day
• Friday, May 30--Craddock Field Trip
• Monday, June 2--End of the Year Party

Music concert

Dear Families,

A family had some technical difficulty during the music concert and was not able to get a video of the entire show. Does anyone have a copy that they would be willing to share with this family? If so, please send us an email to let us know.

Thank you!

April 28-May 2 and May 5-9

Important Reminders

• The second blizzard bag is due on Monday, April 28.  
• The white t-shirts for our Tie dye project are due by Wednesday, April 30. 

Music Concert

Our music concert is on Friday, May 2 at 2:30.  Students should dress in clothing that fits the farm theme.  Suggestions include:  Shirts with pictures fitting the theme such as tractors, farm animals, scarecrows, sunflowers etc.  Plain shirts are fine also.  Please avoid tops with other types of pictures or athletic numbers.  Pants, skirts, shorts, overalls, or dresses may be worn.  Please make sure your child's outfit has a pocket.  The students will be bringing a small prop on stage and keeping it in their pockets during the performance.  Please make sure they wear safe, comfortable shoes.  Please keep it simple.  No one should feel obligated to buy new clothing for this concert.

Language Arts, Science and Social Studies

For the next two weeks, we will be learning about seeds  We will be learning about what seeds need to grow and the difference between living and non-living things. We will be reading various stories including Seeds, The Mystery of Seeds and Alive or Not Alive.  We will continue to work on comprehension skills such as comparing and contrasting.

During writing workshop, we will continue our unit on narrative writing.  We learned that narrative writing means that we are telling a story.  Narrative writing includes characters, setting, and a beginning, middle and end.  We will be practicing writing in this genre for several weeks.

Word study--Blends

• Week of April 28--dr, gr, tr
• Week of May 5--sw, wh, qu, tw

We are also working on spelling our sight words correctly.  

Math
We have been focusing on fluency with the addition and subtraction facts to 5. You may have seen some timed tests come home. We are practicing completing 10 math facts in one minute.  We will begin a unit on shapes.

Tie dye Letter and Instructions

Dear Parents,

          The school year is coming to an end and we will be celebrating our kindergarten year with some final fun activities.   However, before the end of the year, we would like to do a special project.  Each class will be making tie-dye t-shirts to wear to the end of the year events (PE field day, Craddock visit, and end of the year party).  They will be coordinated so that each class will be wearing a different color.  Therefore, we need your help.

          Please complete the following steps:

1.  Provide one plain white t-shirt.  Please wash and dry it before you begin the next step so that the dye will adhere well to the t-shirt.   Please write your child’s name on the tag.
2. Create a design by wrapping the attached rubber bands around the t-shirt in any pattern.  We have attached some sample ways to tie on the rubber bands.  You may do any of these patterns or choose one of your own.  We will apply the dye at school.
3. Place the t-shirt in a Ziploc bag and then a plastic grocery bag.  Write your child’s name on the outside of the bags and send it to school.

We would like to have all the t-shirts by Wednesday, April 29 if possible.  We will apply the dye at school and then send home the t-shirt that day.  When we send home the tie-dyed t-shirts we will include special washing instructions. 

 

Striped Tie Dye T-shirt

Instructions:

1.    Lay your freshly washed and dried t-shirt on a flat surface.

2.    Starting at the bottom, fold your t-shirt like an accordion (back and forth in a zig-zag motion) then tie the ends together with a rubber band.

Read more at http://www.favecrafts.com/Shirts/Striped-Tie-Dye-T-Shirt#MA7FoZbuOMHXDk1k.99

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Please also visit this website for a tutorial on other ways to fold your t-shirt:

http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-Dye-a-Shirt

 

Step 1:  Place a pre-washed t-shirt on a counter. 

Step 2:  Pick a spot on the shirt and pinch some fabric to place between your fingers.  Some use a fork in place of your hands but that has been known to tear the fabric if you are not careful.

Step 3:Twist your fingers to begin the spiral twirl and begin wrapping the fabric around your pinch. Continue twisting until it resembles the shape of a cinnamon roll. 

Step 4:  Rubber bands are used to hold the fabric together.  Slide the rubber bands under and over the spiral so that the fabric will hold its shape.