Friday Note 8-26

Events of the Week:  It’s hard to believe that we have three weeks of school under our belt- and what a busy week it has been.

Math: In math, we learned about sorting, classifying, counting, and categorizing data.  You can practice this skill at home by giving your child several objects and then asking them to sort them by size, color and shape (what the item is or is used for).

Language Workshop: We continued our theme of All About Me.  Our Shared Reading for the week was Me Too.  We also read Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen, Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns We Can Get Along, and Don’t Need Friends and made self-to-text connections with the characters in the stories.   

This week we introduced the sight word is.  Your child should now be familiar with two sight words: I and is.  

Reading Workshop:  This week we started a unit over reading routines.  During these lessons we will be learning who we are as readers, how to take care of books, what rules we follow during Independent Reading (IR) time, and how to share books with friends.  Our goal by the end of the year is to look at books and read independently for up to twenty minutes every day.    

Writing Workshop:  We practiced correctly forming the letters B and M.  We practiced always starting at the top and we used our whiteboards to help.  We also went on a letter and word hunt around the room and made an anchor chart that helps us distinguish between a letter, word, and a sentence.  

Word Study: We had fun learning about the letter B and M this week.  We listened to several songs about each letter, went on a letter hunt around the room, talked about the sounds each letter makes and played some games to help identify each letter.  

Important Dates:

• Aug. 31st- Volunteer Training at 2pm in the Clever Conference Center
• Sept. 5th- Labor Day-No School
• Sept. 8th- Cox CARE Mobile---The Cox CARE Mobile will see infants up to age 18. The Care Mobile is a FREE medical office on wheels with services provided by a Nurse Practitioner.   They will do well check-ups, see sick kids, pre-k physicals & sports physicals. Contact Nurse Sarah at 743-4810 if you need to make an appointment.
• Sept. 9th- Grandparent’s Day 2:30pm-4:00pm (see below for information)
• Sept. 16th- No School for Students (Staff Professional Development)

Grandparents Day   

Classrooms will be open for visitors during that time as students will be asked to escort their grandparents through the building.  Weather permitting, visitors may park in the open field west of the school as parking around the building may become limited.  Visitors should enter using the K-4 office entrance or the 5-8 office entrance.  

Important Information and Reminders:

1.        Please be sure to send all money to school in an envelope with:

a.       Child’s Name

b.       Teacher’s Name

c.        Purpose of Money (i.e lunch money)

d.       $ Amount

2.       When the weather gets too hot, too cold, or too rainy, we will have inside recess.  It is a good idea to leave a small toy in your child’s backpack for inside recess.

3.    Please make sure to write your child’s name inside of his/her lunch boxes, jackets and coats.  It is amazing how quickly our lost and found fence gets filled up!

SIGHTWORDS

Has your child said anything about sight words??  In kindergarten, we learn sight words.  These are common words that tend to “pop up” all over the place.  By mastering words, such as our sight words, children become more fluent readers.  Also, it is so much fun to see the boys and girls get excited when they find a sight word in a book and can read it!  These are the sight words we have learned so far.  Your child should be able to read each of these words.  Please practice them at home with your child.

I    is     

Shapes Assessment

You will notice a shapes assessment paper in your child’s folder today.  After we spent last week learning to identify five basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle and hexagon), I assessed your child over their knowledge this week.  They were given a score depending on how accurate your child identified these shapes.  Each score corresponds with an achievement level (advanced, proficient, basic and below basic).  Definitions for these terms are as follows:

Advanced:   *Goes above and beyond meeting the standard

*Very few of our assessments in Kindergarten lend themselves to the   possibility of advanced     

Proficient:    *Meets grade level expectations regarding understanding of the standard

               *Consistently and independently demonstrates understanding of standard

Basic:          *Shows some success on assignments related to standard

               *Meets expectations on only some parts of the standard

Below Basic:  *Rarely shows success on assignments related to standard

                  *Does not meet expectations for understanding of the standard

If your child did not score Proficient on the shapes assessment, please continue to work on this skill at home.  We will continue to work on this at school as well and I will re-test them at a later date.  This is how your child’s performance will be reflected on the kindergarten progress report.

7 parents have already signed up for Seesaw.  I would love to have the rest sign-up as well.  It’s a wonderful way for you to see what your child is doing and learning in our classroom.  If you have any questions about how to register, please let me know and I will be happy to help you.

Next Week:

• Our theme will be Families.  Please complete the family page that was sent home today and return it on Monday.  We will share these with the class.    
• In math we will finish our topic over sorting.
• Our sight word will be a.
• We will begin introducing letters, their correct handwriting formation and the sounds they make.  Our letters next week will be Rs and Ss.

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn

Tooth Truck Info.

We are pleased to announce the Tooth Truck has the opportunity to treat eligible students at Clever during the 2016-2017 school year.  The Tooth Truck provides comprehensive treatment, from cleanings and x-rays, to repairing cavities at no charge for qualifying families.  Requirements for being seen and treated on the Tooth Truck are:

-Qualify for free and reduced lunch program at school

-Cannot be an established patient of a local dentist

-Cannot have private dental insurance

-Must complete a Tooth Truck application form

The Tooth Truck treats Medicaid-eligible and uninsured children.  Children seen last year are not eligible for a routine check up but should apply if there is a new dental concern.

An application is available at school upon request.  Complete the application form and return to the school nurse as soon as possible.

The Tooth Truck staff will be scheduling students very soon.

Thank you,

Your school nurse

Friday Note 8-19

Events of the Week:  I can’t believe how quickly the week has gone and how much we are learning each and every day. The children are working hard to follow the rules and are enjoying their special classes.  Below you will find a “sneak peek” of the week.  Our literature block is divided into different workshops.  These workshops each have a specific format and target.  For example, in Language Workshop we focus on a Shared Reading book and discuss/find vocabulary, sight words, concepts of print (amongst other things) and complete literature responses.  In Writing Workshop, we focus on learning and practicing the strategies necessary to be good writers.

Language Workshop: This week we started our “All About Me” theme.  Our Shared Reading for the week was Things I Like.  We also read books that helped us discuss our feelings including Wilfred, How I Feel, and Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully. We introduced the sight word “I” this week.  Be sure to practice finding "I" in books and other writing. 

Writing Workshop: Our predictable chart was “I like to ____”.  Each student dictates a sentence and then the teacher models writing it on the chart paper.  This week we focused on the fact that words are written from left to right and words are made up of letters.    

Reading Workshop: We started playing several “All About Me” games.  This is a fun way to learn more about our classmates and the things they like.  We split up into 3 groups and played a board game where students have to state in a complete sentence what their favorite things are.  For example, if they landed on the circle “favorite animal” students would respond “My favorite animal is _____.”  They had fun getting to know each other.    

Math:  In math, we started a unit on Shapes.  We identified and learned the attributes of rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, and hexagons.  

Sight Words:  Sight words are common words that tend to appear often when reading and writing.  By mastering words, such as our sight words, children become more fluent readers.  Each week we will add a sight word or two to our list.  Students will be assessed each quarter over these words.  They should be able to “read” each sight word within 3 seconds. A great way to practice these words with your child is to make a set of flash cards. 

Cox Care Mobile

The Cox Care Mobile is scheduled to be at Clever Schools on September 8, 2016.  The Care Mobile is a medical office on wheels that provides FREE services for children ages birth to 18 years.  These services include: sport physicals, hearing and vision screenings, well check-ups and sick visits.  Vaccinations are available for those that qualify.  You may call the school nurse to schedule an appointment and to receive the necessary paperwork.  Thank you!

VOLUNTEER TRAINING We will be conducting our first volunteer training on August 31st at 2:00 in the Clever Conference Center.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you to be involved in your child's classroom by reading with students, monitoring group and center work, and assisting with other class activities.  Our parent volunteers are required to have a back ground check conducted and the cost is approximately $50.   This is a one time cost to you and will be good for upcoming years (as long as you volunteer at least once a year).  If you are able to volunteer, please consider doing so.  We value our parents and the irreplaceable role that you play in your child's education.  Please contact Ms. Joetta at 743-4810 if you plan to attend.  The Kindergarten teachers would love to have parent volunteers available to help with lunch each day.  Thank you.

Important Dates:

Ø Aug. 31st- Volunteer Training

Ø Sept. 5th- Labor Day-No School

Ø Sept. 9th- Grandparent’s Day 2:30pm-4:00pm (more info to follow)

Ø Sept. 16^th- No School for Students (Staff Professional Development)

~The beginning of the school year can be a difficult time for families.  Getting back into a routine can be challenging both for children and parents.  One idea to help your kindergartner get calmed down for bedtime is to read together each night before tucking him/her into bed.  Reading to your child has SO many benefits—not to mention giving your child some of that precious one-on-one time that kids love so much.  As the year progresses, you’ll be amazed at all the letters and words your child will be able to find while you are reading together.  In fact, we have already learned to look for the word “I”.  Happy reading!

 Important Information and Reminders:

• Please be sure to send all money to school in an envelope with your child’s name, teacher’s name, purpose of money (i.e. lunch money), and amount. 

• When the weather gets too hot, too cold, or too rainy, we will have inside recess.  It is a good idea to leave a small toy in your child’s backpack for inside recess. 
• Please make sure to write your child’s name inside of his/her jackets and coats.  It is amazing how quickly our lost and found fence gets filled up!

 In an attempt to help the environment, we are going to stop sending home paper copies of our Friday Note.  A paper copy will continue to be sent home until August 26th.   After August 26^th, paper copies will no longer be sent home unless a specific written request for a paper copy is made.   

Our classroom blog is up and running. This will be how updates and important information is sent home. The office also has a blog with important updates about our school. I encourage you to subscribe to it also. I have already subscribed everyone to my blog that I have an email address for.  If you didn’t receive an email from Feedburner asking you to confirm you subscription you can subscribe again. 

To subscribe: type in the web address for my blog, on the right hand side there is a box that says follow by email. Type in your email address, it will pop up a security feature, enter the letters in the image. Once you subscribe you will get an email from feedburner wanting you to confirm your subscription. After you confirm you will get a email each time I post on the blog.

Next Week:

o   We will continue our All About Me theme. 

o   In math we will begin learning how to sort objects

o   We will continue to engage in fun activities and games that will help us get to know each other better.    

o   Our sight word will be: is

o   We will learn to recognize the letters and sounds for Bb and Mm.

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn

Friday Note

FRIDAY NOTE (8/12/16)

Events of the Week:  Wow!  The first week of school has already come and gone.  You won’t believe what all we have learned so far!  I hope your little one had as much fun this week as I did.  They are a great group of kids!  We are working on routine activities, such as using the bathrooms, eating in the cafeteria, walking quietly down the hallways, and so on.  The children have made much improvement in only three days.  

• Attached you will find some important papers including a copy of our daily schedule and our classroom rules.  Please take time to look through these carefully.  

Important Dates:

Sept. 5—No School-Labor Day

• We will have P.E. on Monday and Wednesday.  Coach Wise asks that your child wear tennis shoes & appropriate clothing on these days due to the activities they will be doing.

• If you have not reviewed the items in your child’s packet that was sent home Tuesday night, please do so and return the signed forms on Monday.  

• When the weather gets too hot, too cold, or too rainy, we will have inside recess.  It is a good idea to leave a small toy in your child’s backpack for inside recess.  

• Please place an extra outfit (including socks and underwear) in your child’s backpack.

Lunch Balance:  The price for breakfast is $1.40 and lunch is $1.90.  You must maintain a positive balance in order for your child to eat a school lunch.  You can check your balance on www.myschoolbucks.com.  If you send lunch money to school with your child, please send it in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and my name written on it.

Next Week:

• Our theme will be All About Me & My Community.  We will also learn about shapes.  We will play the Name Game to learn everyone’s names.  
• We will continue working on routine activities, such as using the bathrooms, eating in the cafeteria, walking quietly down the hallways, following the classroom rules, etc.  

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn

This year I will use a weekly newsletter to keep you informed.  In an attempt to help the environment, we try to communicate through a classroom blog.  Our blog will contain information about what’s going on in our classroom.  Occasionally I will post group pictures of our class on this blog.  Your child will not be photographed alone, nor will he/she be identified by name.  Also, last names are never used on the blog.  Our classroom blog will be up and running next week.  I will use your emails to subscribe you to the blog.  You will recieve an email from “feedburner” that you must click on and verify before you can access my blog.  Be looking for this sometime next week.  

Important Info. & Reminders

ABSENTEE POLICY

Please be sure your child is at school and on time each day!  If you know your child will be absent, please let me know ahead of time or send a note from home so that I can prepare make-up work.  In the event your child is sick, please call the office (743-4810) or send a note upon your child’s return to school.  If I do not receive a phone call or note, the absence is considered unexcused.  If your child has been sick, I must receive a doctor’s note if you wish for your child to stay in at recess!  

Please note the following policy as stated in the student handbook:

“Missouri Law (167.031) states that it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that children attend school regularly.  Excessive and/or unexcused absences or tardies may be considered educational neglect.  Should a child accumulate more than 10 absences and/or tardies per semester that have not been excused by a doctor’s note or pre-approval in the office, a letter will be sent to the parent addressing the issue of attendance.  In addition, copies of this letter will be sent to both the offices of Division of Family Services and the Prosecuting Attorney.”

LUNCH

Kindergartners will be eating lunch from 11:20-11:40.  If you plan to join your child for lunch, please notify the office as early as possible for lunch count purposes.  Also, please check-in at the office when you arrive.  If you will be eating a school lunch with your child, you will need to purchase a lunch ticket in the K-4 office.  Mrs. Ramey asks that you do not bring carryout food for yourself or your child.

BIRTHDAYS

If your child celebrates his/her birthday during the school year, please feel free to send treats to share with the class.  In order to include every student, please consider sending peanut free snacks.  A little secret I’ve learned is to send individual treats such as cookies or cupcakes.  It is hard to cut up a cookie cake and make sure that each student gets an equal amount.  Birthday invitations may not be passed out in class, unless EACH child in the class is receiving one.  

POLICY REMINDERS

• Students will report directly to classroom or cafeteria upon arrival.  Breakfast will be served in the classrooms.  Please notify your child if he/she is to eat breakfast each day.
• Students may not be at the school before 7:45 a.m.  If they arrive after 8:05, they will be considered tardy.

• If you will be picking your child up after school in the circle drive, please use the nametags that were sent home at Open House.  Since each child will be safely escorted to your car, these nametags really speed up the process.  
• Also, please remember that if you plan on your child doing anything different than the normal routine at the end of a day (for example, getting picked up instead of riding the bus like usual), please send a note or call the office before 2:00.  We cannot allow a child do anything different without permission from you, so this will make everything run smoother.  Thanks for your cooperation with all these details!
• In an effort to promote the safety and welfare of our students, parents picking up PreK-4 students should use the north circle drive and parents picking up 5-8 students should use the south circle drive. For some, this will mean two separate pick up locations but we are trading convenience for much greater security.

KINDERGARTEN WISH LIST IDEAS:

If you would like to donate one of these items, our classroom would be very grateful!

• Ziploc bags (all sizes)
• Clorox/Lysol-type wipes
• Extra Expo markers
• glue sticks
• Anything you think would be fun in our art center

THANK YOU!!

Seesaw is a new app we are using in our classroom to share what we are learning about.  Seesaw is a digital portfolio of your child’s work.  The students and I can take pictures and videos and upload them to the app.  Then you will receive an email notification that your child has a new post.  You will only be able to access your child’s portfolio.  The students and I are very excited about using this new app.  Sign-up instructions are in your child’s daily folder.  Sign-up today!!