Tuesday Note

Events of the Week: On Monday, we celebrated with Polar Express Day.  We watched the movie and ate some yummy snacks. We read Christmas books and completed some fun Christmas activities.  We continued with 2^nd quarter assessments and will send your child’s progress report home after Christmas break.     

Important Dates:

• Dec. 21 - Jan. 3 — NO SCHOOL
• Jan. 4 - Classes resume

Cold Weather

Just a reminder that we do go outside for recess, even on cold days. Please make sure your child brings the appropriate coats, hat and gloves to school each day.  If you are missing coats or jackets, you may want to check the lost and found "fence" located by the office.  Also as a reminder, children are only allowed to stay in from recess if we have a written note from the doctor stating that they need to stay inside during recess.

Parents: please wash and return rest mats when kids return from Christmas break.

Thank you so much for sharing your child with me.  I hope you have a blessed and joyous Christmas!

Mrs. Vaughn

Friday Note

Events of the Week:

• Math- In math, we continued working with “wholes” and “parts” using number bonds and ten frames.  When given a whole (i.e 8), students are learning to break it into part (4 and 4, 2 and 6, 8 and 0, 6 and 2, 3 and 5, etc).  This is setting the foundation of joining groups (addition), which is our next math topic.  

• Language Workshop— We read different gingerbread stories.  We had fun comparing and contrasting different versions.  We read The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Friends, The Gingerbread Baby and several others.  Ask your child about the different versions we read.   

• Writing Workshop— We wrote in a journal each day in response to the gingerbread book we read for the day.  The main focus was working on the writing goal they set for themselves last week.  They are doing a great job writing a response to the books we are reading.    

• Reading Workshop—Students are working daily in Literacy Centers while I work in small groups or one on one with students.  

• Word Study— We reviewed all the sight words we have learned so far.  I am very proud of how well my students tested on sight words!

Important Dates:

• Dec. 19: Polar Express Day (wear pajamas)
• Dec. 21-Jan.3: Christmas Break (NO SCHOOL)
• Jan. 4: Students first day back!

Thank you so much for all the donations to our Care to Learn Program!  You’re generosity is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Christmas Party!  

Next Week:

• We will have Polar Express day on Monday (wear pajamas).
• We will have our read-a-thon on Monday.    
• We will review all of our sight words.
• We will be finishing up our 2nd quarter assessments.

Have a great weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn

Dear Parents,

 As most of you know I will begin my maternity leave over Christmas break so my last day with students will be December 20th.  When students return to school on January 4th they will begin with my long term sub.  I will be taking 8 weeks off so I will return the beginning of March.  After much searching I believe I have found the perfect long term sub for my students and I.  Her name is Betty Nance. 

Betty retired in May from teaching kindergarten in Nixa.  She has been teaching for many, many years and most of those years were in kindergarten.  She has been my substitute a few times while I was gone to the doctor.  She has come to my classroom on two separate occasions to observe me for the day so she can get acquainted with our schedule, routine and my way of teaching.   She already has such a positive connection with my students and they all seem to really like her.

Also, even though I will be out of the classroom for several weeks I will still be very much involved in your child's education.  I plan on communicating weekly with the other kindergarten teachers to come up with lesson plans every week for my class.  It is very important to me that my class still gets the same instruction they need to be successful this year. 

Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Nance with any question or concerns during my absence.  I am very confident come January that my students will make a smooth transition.  

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Kaleigh Vaughn

Friday Note

Events of the Week:

·         Math- In math, we’re learning about “wholes” and “parts” using number bonds and ten frames.  This week we focused on number 1-10.  When given a whole (i.e 8), students are learning to break it into two different parts (4 and 4, 2 and 6, 8 and 0, 6 and 2, 3 and 5, etc). 

·         Language Workshop— We read different versions of the story The Gingerbread Man.  We had fun comparing and contrasting different versions of this well-known story.  We completed a paper where students drew a picture of what they and their house would look like if they were a gingerbread boy/girl and from whom they would run away.  We sequenced the story and reviewed things like beginning, middle and end.  We also made a cute gingerbread man craft that is hanging in the hallway, as well as gingerbread man ornaments.    

·         Writing Workshop— We did NWEA testing during writing time but we spent a few moments every day writing in our journals.  The students are improving their writing skills so much.  We’re working on utilizing the pencil rubric to remind us to use capital letters, punctuation and finger spaces in our sentences.  Students are also applying the knowledge that they have learned about letter sounds to “stretch out” unfamiliar words. 

·         Reading Workshop—Students are working daily in Literacy Centers while I work in small groups or one on one with students. 

·         Word Study—Our letter for the week was “Uu”.  We talked about how Uu is a vowel and can make a short sound and a long sound.  We also learned the sight word “we”. 

Important Dates:

o   Dec. 10: Clever Christmas Parade (5:30pm)

o   Dec. 12: Kindergarten Christmas Program (6:00 at the High School)

o   Dec. 16: Final day to turn in the Reading Log for Reading Journey

o   Dec. 16: Christmas Party (12:00-1:00)

o   Dec. 19: Polar Express Day (wear pajamas)

o   Dec. 21-Jan.3: Christmas Break (NO SCHOOL)

o   Jan. 4: Students first day back!

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I    is    like    see    my    a    the    be   

it   he    she   to  can   with  go  we  me

Care to Learn Program

In lieu of a gift exchange for Christmas, we would appreciate donations to Care to Learn.  To ensure that we have useable items for our Backpack program, our grade level has been asked to bring in single serve, shelf stable, microwaveable meals (macaroni & cheese, Chef Boyardee, soup in a cup, ramen noodles, Dinty Moore, etc.).  Thank you in advance for your support to such a great program. 

Reading Journey

Please be working on completing the Reading Journey before the deadline on December 16^th.  You can return the reading log as soon as it is complete.  If your child does not complete the journey and return and return his/her reading log, he/she will not be allowed to travel between classrooms and participate in our Polar Express read-a-thon on December 19^th.

Next Week:

• We will continue working on making numbers by breaking them into parts.
• Our theme will continue to be The Gingerbread Man.  We will be reading different versions of these books (The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Friends, The Gingerbread Baby, etc.)   
• We will review all of our sight words.
• We will be finishing up our 2^nd quarter assessments.

Have a great weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn 

Events of the Week: In math, we are learning different ways to form numbers.  We have been practicing using a tens frame and number bonds how we can take a whole number (like 6) and break it into two different parts (3/3, 4/2, 1/5, ect).  We have also been reviewing counting and identifying numbers 11-20.  I sent home a few assessments on counting this week.

Our focus in reading this week was on tools and their many uses.  Here’s what we did in each workshop:

·         Language Workshop— We concentrated on three different books The World of Tools, Push and Pull, and The Mystery of Magnets.  We focused on the fact that different tools are used for different jobs and that magnets push and pull metal.  We introduced vocabulary words that are in the stories, such as push, pull, lift, compass, force, magnetic field, and poles. 

·         Reading Workshop—Literacy centers and small group work.

·        
Writing Workshop- We wrote in our journals this week.  We are practicing using our pencil rubric to check if we are remembering all the elements of being a good writer.  I am very proud of how hard they are working on writing!

o   My picture matches the words I wrote.

o   I used a finger space between each word.

o   I began my sentence with a capital letter.

o   I ended my sentence with an ending mark.

o   I stretched out any words that I did not know.

·         Word Study—Our letter for the week was “Oo”.  We learned that Oo is a vowel and can make a short sound and a long sound.

·         Content Workshop- We had fun conducting various science experiments and exploring with different science tools.  

 

Important Dates:

·        Dec.12: Kindergarten Program (6:00 at the High School)

·        Dec. 16: Final day to turn in the Reading Challenge

·        Dec. 16: Christmas Party (11:30-1:00)

·        Dec. 19: Polar Express Day-(wear PJ’s)

·        Dec. 19^:  Read-a-thon

·        Dec. 21-Jan.3: Winter Break (NO SCHOOL)

·        Jan. 4: Students first day back!

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I    is    like    see    my    a    the    be   

it   he    she   to  can   with  go   me

Weather Alert!

With the temperature dropping, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather.  We will make every effort to go outside for recess even on cold days!  Please work with your child on zipping their coat. If we have inside recess due to the weather, please encourage your child to keep a small toy in their backpack to play with. 

Christmas Party Our Christmas Party will be on Friday, December 16th.  Parents are welcome to come set up beginning at 11:30.  The party is from 12:00-1:00.

Next Week:

• In math, we will continue to work with different ways to make numbers 1-10. 
• We will be learning about the Gingerbread Man. 
• Our sight word will be “we”.
• We will learn about the letter “Uu” and the two sounds the letter makes.  After this, we have completed our review of all 26 letters!
• We will be NWEA testing.  Please make sure your child eats a good breakfast each morning and arrives at school on time.

Have a great weekend!!

Mrs. Vaughn