Nov.26th-Nov.30th

Kindergarten newsletter November 26th- November 30th  Next week in Phonics we will be focusing on the letter “F” and its sound as in fish and feather. We will have show and tell on Friday as usual. Wordlist # 4 was sent home and I will be testing it next week. Most of the children did a great job on wordlist # 3. Math- We will continue with pattern, and we will compare objects by weight and explore the use of a geoboard. Reading- Our new book will be “Who’s Garden is It”. It is a rhyming story, and the comprehension skill is “realism and fantasy”. We ended our unit for Thanksgiving by writing about what we were thankful for, and making butter in our classroom almost the same way as the pilgrims did. We watched “Charlie Browns Thanksgiving while munching on popcorn with our read-a-long friends. Reminders: Book orders are due Friday, November 30thth. Due to the holiday rush we must order early to get it shipped in time for Christmas. If you would like to use any of the books for Christmas presents that you ordered, I will hold them for you and you can pick them up in the office. You can order on line by simply using a one-time activation code(GMXW8). When you do this we get $3.00 in free books for out class every time you order on line, and you get a coupon for a book worth up to $5.00. Please make sure your child is dressed warmly for the cold weather. We will be playing outside for recess in the cold weather until we get a snow covering. Tuesday will be day # 3 and we have library class. Please return the letters to Santa in an envelope before Monday Dec. 3rd if possible. The postman will be coming to school sometime during the week of Dec. 3rd.

Thanksgiving Week---- Nov.19th-23rd

Kindergarten News Phonics We will be finishing the letter “S” as in sun and snake. Due to the shortened week for the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not begin a new letter next week. Wordlist #4 was sent home today in the communication folder, but I will not test the students until November 29th or 30th. Most of the children are doing very well on their wordlists. Math We will continue to learn about money and time, and continue to identify the numbers 0-10. We will identify before, after and between. Directions are important for many areas of study. At home you can help with this skill by playing Simon Says, and including words like: up, down, in front of, behind, below, up, left, right; etc. Reading We will continue the story “A Bed for the Winter”. The genre is “informational text” and the comprehension skill is sequence. Many science concepts will be covered in this book including day to day weather changes, preparing for winter weather, and the four seasons. FYI We did an experiment for the letter “I” with Total cereal to show the children how to find iron in the cereal we eat. They were amazed. To conclude our unit for fall, we painted pieces of pumpkin pie and then made a predictable chart about one fact that we knew about pumpkin pie. We then made our own “pumpkin pie with pumpkin and vanilla pudding, and graphed if we liked it or not. Next week we will make some Native American vests and headdresses that will be taken home on Wednesday just in time for your Thanksgiving dinner. We have been invited on Wednesday morning to watch “Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving” in Mrs. Burda’s room (4th grade classroom), and celebrate Thanksgiving together with our friends. Popcorn will be enjoyed by all. Wednesday November 21st will be an early dismissal @ 1 PM. There will be no school from Nov. 22th through November 26th. We will return to school on Tuesday, November 27th. There will be no breakfast served on Wed. November 21st due to early dismissal. The kindergarten will eat lunch at 9:15-9:45 on that day!!!!!!!!! Please remember not to send candy for snack time. We encourage healthy snacks. Monday, November 19th is day # 5 and we have gym class. Fundraiser pickup-Monday Nov.19th from 3:45 until 8:00pm

November 5th-November 9th

Kindergarten News- Nov. 5-9, 2012 FYI- Picture retakes and/or make-ups will take place on Monday, November 5th. If you were not satisfied with your child’s picture, you must return it, in order to have your child’s picture retaken. Thanks to everyone for making the Halloween parade and party so much fun!!!!!! The kindergarten report cards will be sent home, Tuesday, November 6th, 2012. Please look over the report card, sign it, and return it as soon as possible! If you have any questions or concerns, please notify me and we can discuss them. The parent-teacher conferences will be held on Tuesday ,Nov. 6th. If you requested a conference, look for your confirmation in your child’s folder today (Monday). Those who requested a phone conference will be called after you have had an opportunity to look over your child’s report card. Many of the students are forgetting to bring their show-and tell on Fridays. I will begin sending brown lunch bags home as a reminder on Thursdays . The children get very disappointed when they forget something to share. Friday November 9th is an Act 80 day. There is no school for students. Day light savings time ends on Sunday, Nov. 4th @ 2 AM. Remember to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night. School policy states that shorts may not be worn until the spring! Coat zipping can be a major problem for kindergarten, please practice this skill at home. The children hate being late for recess because they need help! Also feel free to send gloves for recess, we will be going out whenever possible, even when it is cold. READING: This week we read “Animal Babies in Grasslands”. The children learned about calves, cubs, joeys pups, and foals. This week our story is “Bear Snores On” by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Its genre is animal fantasy and the comprehension skill is realism and fantasy. Phonics: We will continue learning learn about the letter Mm as in monkey and mom, but we will also introduce the letter Ii if possible. I will be testing wordlist #2 early in the week, and wordlist #3 might come home so that you can begin to work on it . Math: We are learning how to have a mathematical conversation by naming a shape piece using three attributes (shape, color. and size). We will also learn how to identify a missing piece in a matrix, and describe the relative position of objects.

Oct. 29th -Nov. 2nd

Kindergarten News October29th-Nov. 2nd Next week in Phonics we will be working on the consonant letter Mm as in monkey and mom. We will have show & tell on Friday as usual. Our theme will be a “mish mash” of M topics, and we will learn a little about magnets and measurement. It will be “marvelous”! In Math we will be acting out story problems , and continue with identifying and counting 0 to 30. In Reading, we are introducing the story “Animal babies in grasslands.” Its genre is animal fantasy and the comprehension skill is setting. I will be sending wordlist # 2 with your child in their Friday folder. This copy does not have to be returned to me. Have your child practice the words all week, and I will individually test them on Thursday or Friday. I will then send the graded list home for you to review, sign it and return it to me. The “NSE” T shirts are a gift from the PTO. It is very important that your child wears this shirt on our field trip in the spring. The shirts can be worn on spirit days and gym days but please not to misplace it or you will be responsible for purchasing a new shirt. We have been having some problems with some children having bathroom accidents, and because of this we are asking for clothing donations of pants, socks, and shoes to be kept in the nurse’s office. If your child comes home with clothes from the nurse please make sure you return them after they are washed. Report cards will be sent home in your child’s folder on Please review it, sign it, and return it to me ASAP. If you have any questions, please contact me. Since the weather will be getting cooler, we ask that the boys and girls practice at home putting coats on themselves and zipping/buttoning them. We often spend lots of time struggling with coats and zippers at this time of year. Thanks for the help! The Halloween party and parade had been rescheduled for Friday Nov.2ndst @ 2:15 o’clock due to the impending bad weather on Wednesday. Please have your child bring their costume to school, they should not wear it, and please make sure it is in a bag with their name on it, so that you are assured of getting it home. There will be homeroom parents at school to help me get the children dressed. If you are a homeroom parent that has notified me that you are helping at the party, please be here at 1:40 PM. The book orders are due on Monday November 5th and our online activation code is GMXW8. Report cards will be given out Monday, Nov. 5th. Please sign them and return them ASAP. A schedule for parent conferences is in your child’s folder, if you would like to discuss your child’s progress please fill it out and return it to me. I will send a note next week informing you of the time of your conference. Monday is day # 3 and we have library class. Have a great weekend!

Week of October 22nd- 27th

Kindergarten News This coming week we will be learning the consonant letter Nn as in nest and nut. Please continue to review all the letters we have learned so far. Show and Tell will be on Friday. Please find something that begins with the letter Nn. Your child will have a word list #1 in their folder. This list should be practiced all week and I will be individually testing them on reading each word at the end of next week. Keep the list at home to practice each night, and I will send the wordlist that I tested as soon as possible. The word lists are used for a grade on their report cards. We will begin reading the book “Hot, Hot, Hot”. It is the first Phonics reader for this year, and we will be reading it all week. It is very important that your child knows all the letters and sounds that we learned so far in order to find success with this. In reading we are in Unit 2. The theme of unit 2 is Animal Live Here we will be reading stories that focus on animals’ homes. Our first story was called Life in an Ocean in which we learned about the ocean environment and also comparing and contrasting different things living in the sea. This week’s story is Armadillo’s Orange. The genre is animal fantasy, and the comprehension skill is “setting”. In Math we will be working on identifying, describing, and comparing triangles and squares. Please review the concepts of MORE, FEWER, and EQUAL and practice counting objects with sets of 0-10 with your child at home. Since the weather will be getting cooler, we ask that the boys and girls practice at home putting their coats on themselves and zipping/buttoning them. We often spend a lot of time struggling with coats and zippers at this time of the year. Thanks for the help! We are working on out “Tree journal” and it will be sent home soon. **Red ribbon week begins the week of October 22-31. Check the north Schuylkill newsletter for the specific things planned for this week. The school walk for diabetes will be held on Friday October 26th @ the high school track. We will be walking early in the morning so please make sure your child has a jacket. Monday is day # 3 book-exchange, please remember to return library books. Have an “awesome” weekend. Mrs. Bernosky

Week of October 15th-19th

Kindergarten news- October 17-21 Next week in phonics we will be learning the letter “A”. We will learn that apple has a short /a/ sound and acorn has a long /a/ sound. Show and tell will be on Friday as usual but I will not be sending a bag home anymore. We will be beginning the story “Life in an Ocean” in Reading. The genre is “informational text” and the comprehension skill is “compare and contrast”. For the next ten lessons in Math we will be focusing on: * Numbers and operations, * Algebra- recognizing, describing, and order of objects by size, and number. *Geometry- recognizes, name, build, draw, compare and sort two and three dimensional shapes. Before we know it, it will be time to begin individually testing your child for their first report card, so please continue to practice letter and number recognition, letter and number formation, and letter sounds for l, o, g, h ,t ,p and A. Also practice the memory words “I, a, am, to, the, little, love, of, have, and is.” They will also be tested on making and extending an A,B pattern, and be able to give me a rhyming word when I provide them with a word (tell me word that rhymes with hat) and be able to tell me if two words rhyme(like bug- rug). The fall festival was a huge success. The children had a wonderful time. A lot of people devoted a huge amount of time to making this an enjoyable day for our students, and it is appreciated. I would also like to thank my nephew Travis Brown and his two friends and co-workers from Colorado for providing our school with a free demonstration of “slack-lining”. The main objective of this presentation was to educate children on the importance of staying physically fit. We had a wonderful time at the pajama party on Friday. Some of the activities were: pasta necklaces, printing with Halloween sponges, paper plate puppets, and playing with play dough. Everyone looked perfect in their pajamas, and we even had pancakes. For snack time we munched on popcorn and pretzels. Thanks to the homeroom moms and dad that helped out. If you signed up to be a homeroom mom and have your clearances, and you would like to help out for the Halloween party on October 31st(Wednesday) please send a note to me and I will be in touch with more details. Please note that Friday October 19th is an early dismissal (11:45) for students due to an act 80 day. Please make any necessary arrangements for your child, and let me know through a note if their departure from school will be different than usual. Lunch will be served at 9:15-9:45 and there will be no snack time. This month students are invited to raise awareness for breast cancer by wearing pink every Thursday. The weekender backpack program will begin this week for participating families. Please return the empty food bag to school on Monday. The next distribution will be Oct. 25th. Picture retake day is Monday, Nov. 5th. Anyone who was absent on picture day is asked to be photographed on re-take day. Also anyone not happy with their photo taken in September may return the complete package of photos and have their picture retaken. Monday will be day # 3 and we have library class! Don’t forget your book!!!!! Have a Perfectly Peachy weekend!

Week of October 8th-12th

Kindergarten News October 8th-11th No school for students Monday Oct. 8th A new revised calendar has been sent home for the month of October. The school rotation has been changed so please take note of next week’s schedule. Monday- no school for students Tuesday-Day # 5-Gym class Wednesday-Day #1-computer class Thursday- A special program will be help in the gym during the student’s special time. This is also the fall festival. Friday- Day#2- Music class.- No show and tell this week! Tuesday will be day #5, and we will have gym class. We will not begin a new letter this week in Phonics due to the short week. • Please continue to review the letters we have covered at home. • We will continue working on patterns in Math and we are also going to learn about ordinal numbers, and even explore acting out story problems. • In reading we will be starting the story Dig, Dig, Digging. Our focus skills for unit one are story setting, characters, sequence, and comparing and contrasting the story elements. The genre is a concept book. • We began our writing program titled Kid writing. Several times during the week we work in small groups writing stories. Once we complete several pieces I will send home your child’s writing for you to keep and enjoy. When I am working individually with some students, the other children are working in learning centers that are designed around some of the concepts that we have covered so far. It is very exciting to watch the children grow into writers! • Thursday Oct. 11th will be the Fall Festival. The children can wear the clothes that they would wear for Gym class or dress code attire. We will be outside very early in the day, so remember a jacket for the cool mornings. Sneakers are a must!!!! • Congratulations to Ava Karabinas for earning student of the month. • Now that the colder weather is approaching, please make sure you have name labels in your child’s jackets and coats to avoid confusion .Also please practicing zippering and buttoning jackets for recess. Mrs Bernosky Activation code for the scholastic book order online- GMXW8 Make sure you keep the list of red ribbon week activities for the week o fOctober 22 -31,2012