Newsletter for the week of December 12th, 2008

Dear Families,
The Gingerbread Man has been keeping us on our toes this week, with mail deliveries from all over the world!
Monday, we got a delivery from Antarctica.Near the package, we found the ingredients to make reindeer food--glitter, oats, and plastic baggies. We all enjoyed shaking the baggies and watching the glitter move around the bags!. We put another dot on our map to mark this trip. We also read The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. After reading the story, we compared and contrasted this story with that of The Gingerbread Boy. We used a Venn Diagram (two large intersecting circles). In one circle we wrote everything that was unique to the Gingerbread Boy and in the other large circle everything that happened only in the Gingerbread Baby. In the area where the circles overlap, we wrote down things that happened in both stories.
Tuesday, the Gingerbread Man sent us a letter from Israel. He was there to learn about the celebration of Hanukkah. He also sent along menorahs for us to cut out and glue together. When we reached to the bottom of the package, we discovered 9 candles that we could put in the menorah I keep here at school to share with the children. We put the candles in and lit them briefly so the children could see them lit. They all “oooohed!” and “aaaahhhed!” when we did this! :) We also read several books about Hanukkah-including one called The Matzo Ball Boy! He ended up in some soup!
Wednesday, we got a delivery from Africa. .Inside the package were black sheets of paper, along with red and green strips of paper. The directions in our letter told us to weave mats just liked the ones used during Kwanzaa celebrations around the world. We put another dot on our map to mark this trip.
Thursday, while I was gone, the children looked at a Scholastic News that showed many different holiday celebrations. They talked and shared their thoughts about the holiday windows that were shown and then held them up to the light to see the celebration happening through the window.
Friday, we learned all about St. Lucia day. The package with our instructions was delivered to my house yesterday--wink, wink! I was glad that it was because inside was a bread machine mix for Cinnamon Raisin Bread. The Gingerbread Man told us about the tradition in Sweden surrounding St. Lucia Day. The oldest girl in the house would dress up wearing a white gown with a red sash and would deliver sweet treats, such as cinnamon raisin bread to her parents on St Lucia Day. She would also wear a crown made with greenery and candles, so the children make their own crowns.
The children have been doing a wonderful job helping me to write the Morning Message each day so far this year. Last month, we began, “Sharing the Pen”. The children were invited to come to the chart paper and help write the sounds that they heard in the words. This month, we have been writing our own individual Morning Messages and sharing them with the class. The children are invited to tell about something they did the previous evening or weekend. You should see their writing! It is done totally unassisted and it is amazing! Watch for those special messages to be coming home in the next few months to come!
Don’t forget that on Wednesday next week, we will be learning about Polar Animals and the North Pole, so be sure to send your child in their pajamas and make sure that they bring their regular shoes as well! We will have a fun day learning about very cold places and the animals that live there!
We also practiced a tornado drill this week--just a heads up so you know what your child might be talking about! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter for the week of December 5th, 2008

Dear Families,
I’m sure by now you have heard that the Gingerbread Man visited our classroom and stole some of our Gingerbread cookies to take with him on and around the world tour. The Gingerbread Man left several clues for us to find and to help us learn about celebrations around the world. You can see pictures of our “crime scene” on either of the blogs. The children have put on their thinking caps are are busy making lists of suspects and clues that we find along the way.
Our week started out innocently enough--we took a picture walk through our new Big Book, The Gingerbread Boy and we then read it aloud. The children enjoyed the story very much! Tuesday, we read the story again and this time we retold and sequenced the story with pictures and the names of the characters. The children all love saying those famous words, “Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”
Wednesday, I really talked up the graphing we were going to do in the afternoon with our gingerbread cookies. Upon returning from recess, we discovered quite a mess on our floor and we all rushed over to see what it was. We found a map of the world, passports for each of us, a book about Las Posadas, two bags of cookies (one open and empty) and a note from The Gingerbread Man. He said that he had taken the cookies and was off to learn about winter celebrations around the world--he wanted to share the cookies with everyone he met. The note said that he was visiting Mexcio first. Not too long after that, Mrs. McDaniel (our wonderful secretary!) rushed into our classroom with a packed addressed to us, straight from Mexico. We opened it and read yet another note from The Gingerbread Man. This time, he was already in Mexico, and was learning all about Las Posadas. We learned about some of the other holiday customs in Mexico, like making and hanging poinsettias. The Gingerbread Man had thoughtfully included directions to show us how to make them out of red paper. We tried, but were not very successful at that! (We will try again later!)
Thursday, the Gingerbread Man surprised us with an early morning e-mail from Brazil. We got another package (that was mysteriously delivered overnight) and when we opened it up, there was a note that told us to check my e-mail. When we did, we found and e-mail that said, “Hello from Brazil!”. We read it and saw a slideshow all about holiday customs in Brazil. The package we received contained toucan birds printed on heavy paper with instructions to watercolor them and paint them with vegetable oil to make them shine. We are letting these dry for a few days! :)
We also ended up with enough Gingerbread cookies to complete our graph (the Gingerbread Man was kind enough to leave me money to buy new cookies to replace the ones he borrowed from us). We each took one bite from the cookie and then using Gingerbread Man cutouts, we cut the same part off of them as the part we ate. We then made a graph of the results. Usually, we make a vertical graph, but this time we made a horizontal graph, so the children could see the difference, but still interpret information from it.
Friday, we got another letter--this time from Australia. The Gingerbread Man told us how the holidays are celebrated there--complete with surfboards and white kangaroos! We also made Australian bellflowers; a common flower found in Australia during the holiday season.
Friday morning, we retold the story of the Gingerbread Man using props made from wooden spoons. We sat in a circle and passed the characters around as they appeared in the story--this also let the children experience the “chase” of all the Gingerbread characters. We also made Gingerbread Man puppets for the children to bring home and retell the story to you with.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter for November 14th, 2008

Dear Families,
This week we have read one of my most favorite stories ever! I love to read The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie to the children--it always makes them laugh. We began on Monday by taking a picture walk through the story and then reading it aloud. Tuesday, I used my large pocket chart and retold the story (with help from the children) with words and pictures. Wednesday, I used my Little Old Lady prop to tell the story to the children. She is a cutout of a Little Old Lady that I have attached a plastic baggie to the back of and use as her stomach. As I tell the story, we drop the corresponding foods into her “stomach” and watch it fill up! Thursday we read the story again and colored our own Little Old Ladies. Friday, we colored and cut apart the items she eats in the stories and used them to retell the story to each other. Look for your child’s Little Old Lady to come home in their backpacks today. Ask them to tell you the story and watch to see if they can sequence the items as they appear in the story
Our Predictable Chart this week was a fun one! It was titled, “I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed...” The children came up with some very funny ideas! You will have to ask your child what he or she said in response! The class book that we made form the sentences is wonderful--I was excited all week to see the illustrations that would go along with their words.
During our Math time, we have continued to work on patterns. We used a variety of materials to assess the children’s knowledge and they are all doing quite well! Next week, we will be moving on to some other math related games and then on to graphing and reading and collecting data from graphs.
Our recycling is going well. The 2nd graders have already come to our room twice this week to empty our boxes. Keep sending in those recyclable materials! The children are so proud that they bring things in to recycle.
We planted our milkweed plants on Monday and placed them into the greenhouse that we have in our classroom. The children will each be taking turns caring for them, watering them and rotating them under the grow lamp.
Writer’s Workshop this week has really taken off! The children are so interested in making words, where they come from, and how to put them together. I have seen so much growth in their writing just in the last two weeks--it is incredible!
As the weather gets colder, please make sure that your child has a hat, gloves, and appropriate coat for out door weather. We go out most days above freezing for recess. Please also make sure to label their things with their name-it makes it much easier to find the owners! Many children do not recognize their coats, hats, or gloves so this would be a big help!
Our next convocation is Monday, November 24th at 1:15 in the gym. Each classroom will be recognizing 2 Students of the Month that represent our character value for that time period. I will be sure to let you know if your child is chosen so that you can attend if you are able. You are more than welcome to come to all of our convocations--Kindergarten usually sits in the front, so be sure to look for us there and come join us!
I have also opened our Parent Volunteer Library. This is a collection of books about various parenting topics that are available for checkout in our classroom. They will be located by the Parent Volunteer table. Please feel free to come in anytime and check them out! I have read most of them and can point you in the right direction so you can learn more about topics concerning your child and their development.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter for November 7th, 2008

Dear Families,
This week we have been learning all about the Little Red Hen and her helpers. We began by reading the Big Book The Little Red Hen. We then talked about how we could help out in our classroom and in our homes. That translated into a Predictable Chart titled, “I will help...”. We have many great ambitious helpers in our classroom, so be sure to ask your child what they will do to help either at home or at school. We read several different versions of the Little Red Hen, including The Little Red Hen Makes A Pizza, With Love from the Little Red Hen, and Cook-A-Doodle-Do! Thursday, we acted out the story with character tags and several actors and actresses. The props for this story will go into our Drama Work Station so the children can retell it over and over.
We also discussed ways that we can help our planet and a wonderful opportunity was presented to us by Miss Rude’s 2nd grade class. They got a large recycling dumpster for our building that can accept paper (magazines, cardboard, newspaper) plastic (labeled 1&2) and cans. We have three large boxes in our classroom donated by Sophia’s family that we are decorating to collect these things in our classrooms. If you have any of these materials, please feel free to send them in daily with your child, but please make sure they are rinsed out and cleaned beforehand--we don’t want to attract any bugs! :)
Our compost is coming along as well. We are still adding materials to it, so any “green” or “organic matter” that you have at home can be sent in. The children are taking turns at recess turning the compost and adding their contributions from home. Think how much less garbage you would have at home if you sent in all your cans, plastic, paper, and composting materials! I know that at my house we take the garbage out much less frequently! :)
I wish that you could have seen our classroom on Thursday during Writer’s Workshop! It was AMAZING! There were children everywhere and to the passerby it could have looked like chaos! There were children borrowing “Rainbow Words” from the word wall, stapling books, discovering the new lined paper that I put out and surveys everywhere about the election and who the children voted for! I took several pictures and will post them on both of the blogs below for you to see. EVERY child in this room was writing about something and it was so good to see the end results! I hope that you too are seeing progress in your child’s writing at home, because we are surely seeing it here!
Our classroom election on Tuesday was wonderful! We each took turns voting with secret ballots. The children were asked to vote for their favorite flavor of ice cream--Vanilla emerged as our winner with a strong lead over chocolate early on in the voting process. There is a picture of the graph on the blogs as well.
Just a few other tidbits to share:
Sight word cards for the “green rainbow words” came home Monday with the homework, please practice them daily if possible (blue and purple were also sent home again for a reminder). When using these with your child, be sure to allow them to manipulate the words from all three colors into sentences so that they can see that these words can be used for writing.
I have also opened our Parent Volunteer Library. This is a collection of books about various parenting topics that are available for checkout in our classroom. They will be located by the Parent Volunteer table. Please feel free to come in anytime and check them out! I have read most of them and can point you in the right direction so you can learn more about topics concerning your child and their development.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter and pictures for October 17th, 2008

Dear Families,
How many of you can say that you like spiders? The children have discovered the art of surveying each other to find out their likes and dislikes and are coming up with very creative questions each day. After watching them create their own survey sheets for several days, I created one that they can all use: but they have to write in their own question and the answer choices in order to be able to use it. Mrs. Groote and I are helping those students who need assistance writing their questions and many words have been added to our word wall because of it. Today’s popular question was “Do you have a Wii?” There have also been questions about favorite color, food, shapes, animals, and on and on!
You should have seen the children’s faces light up when I told them we would be learning about spiders this week! We started our theme with a Big Book titled, I Love Spiders. Monday, we took our usual picture walk through the story. Tuesday, the children echo read the story and Wednesday, we predicted how many times we would read the word “spider” in the story and then we highlighted it each time we found it. This will be a new task that goes into our Big Book Work Station. Thursday, we made a web all about Spiders and things that we knew about them and had learned about them. Friday, we added to the web and completed our KWL chart.
Our KWL chart was created with the students thoughts. The “K” stands for “what we know”, the “W” for “what we want to know”, and the “L”, “what we learned”. We spent some time on Monday filling in the KW parts of the chart. The children knew many things about spiders and so we made a long list of those. They also had some wonderful things they wanted to know about spiders, so I took that information and used it to help me choose the books I would read aloud and the concepts we would explore about spiders. Friday, we re-visited the chart and looked at the “L” column and answered many of the questions from the “W” column. The chart is hanging in the hallway outside of our classroom.
We dove deep into patterning this week. Wednesday, we used candy corn to help get us excited about patterning. The children all did a wonderful job and Thursday, we continued to make more patterns with various materials. We used fall shaped foam pieces, spider and bat rings, fall shaped math manipulatives, and fall themed stamps and patterning paper. I took pictures of many of the patterns and posted some of them on my blog (the last one listed below).
We also created a new Predictable Chart this week, simply called, “Spiders...”. The children came up with some amazing ways to end this sentence! You can see a picture of that on our classroom blog. Friday, we used the sentences to make a class book. I will have all of our class books out for you to look at during our conference times in two weeks.
I sent home conference confirmation sheets Monday, so if you need to make a change please let me know. Please note that on Tuesday the 28th, there is a 1/2 day of school. If you child will be getting home a different way that day, please let me know that as well. There is NO KINDERGARTEN on Wednesday the 29th or Thursday the 30th, so please make a note of that. Grades 1-5 will have 1/2 days even though we are not in school.
Friday, October 31st, is a holiday that is celebrated by some, but not all of our students. Please do not send your child to school wearing a costume. We will not be having a party that day, but instead have chosen to use that day for a Science Stretch Day where we will get together with the 3 other Kindergarten classes for a day full of science activities!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Dear Families,
We’ve been learning all about pumpkins this week! Our Big Book this week is called Pumpkin, Pumpkin and is a wonderful story about a boy named Jamie and the process of growing a pumpkin. Monday, we took a picture walk through the story and gave our thoughts as to what might happen on each page. Tuesday, we predicted how many times the word “pumpkin” would appear in the book (13). We highlighted it each time we found it and then went back and counted. Wednesday, played Guess The Covered Word. I covered some key words in the story and through reading the story, they children had to use the words and the letters in the covered word to guess what it was. Thursday, we talked about the life cycle of the pumpkin. We used sentence strips and wrote down step by step the growing process of a pumpkin. Friday, we choral read the book together and reviewed the different activities we could do with this book once it is in Big Book Work Station.
We also introduced two new Work Stations this week: Name Work Station and Work with the Teacher Station. At Name Work Station, I will be creating a box for each child to practice writing their names, tracing their names, and matching magnetic letters to outlines of their names. They all love to see their name in print at this age, and this lets them do that but also practice fine motor skills, their friends names, and one to one correspondence. Work with the Teacher Station is a station where the children will come work with either myself or Mrs. Groote. We will be doing different activities for different groups of children based upon their current ability levels. These may be as simple as identifying letters all the way up to reading simple books and having a discussion. These activities will change throughout the year and when a child’s ability level changes.
Our Predictable Chart this week was all about pumpkins. We started the week by beginning our chart, A pumpkin is...” The children then each took turns over two days completing their sentence. Wednesday, we touch read the sentences; the children each had a chance to come up to the chart and read it aloud. Thursday, I picked three sentences and wrote them on sentence strips. I cut them apart and the children came up to the front of our group and held them. We then talked about what students needed to switch with others so that the words would be in the correct order and match our Predictable Chart. Friday, I gave the students their sentences that I had typed into the computer and cut apart. We used them to illustrate a class book called “ A Pumpkin Is....”. You can see it in our classroom.
During our Math time this week, we completed a Pattern Block Pumpkin, much like the apple we made last week. After completing it, the children graphed the numbers of each pattern block shape that they used to make their pumpkin. We also had our first opportunity to sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin on paper. The children were given 6 pictures of the life cycle and asked to put them in order. We glued them on a sheet and they will be displayed in the hallway out side of our classroom. We also used our balance scales. We talked about how we could make each side balance with the other. The children had different math tools at each table and were given the opportunity to rotate from table to table and use various materials.
During our Writer’s Workshop time, our mini-lessons this week were about stretching out words and writing down the sounds that we heard. We placed special emphasis on writing down the first sounds in the words we want to write. I conference with 5-6 children a day and am charting their progress so we will be able to see the children’s growth throughout the school year. More on that at conference time! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Newsletter for the week of September 19th, 2008

Dear Families,
We have had so much learning going on this week during our Apple Week! Monday, we looked at all the apples and sorted them by color. We then graphed them by color. After making a "real graph" with the apples, we took that information and put it into a "picture graph". We talked about what makes a real graph different from a picture graph (real items vs. picture representations) and what a good title would be for our graph. We also discussed which kind of apples had the most and the least. We read a Big Book called "Apples" and first took a picture walk through it--looking at the pictures to gather information. I then read the story to the children. We also learned a apple poem called, "Apple Happy". Tuesday, we put an apple in one side of the double balance scales and each took turns estimating how many 1 inch cubes it would take to make the scales balance. We posted the list of our estimates outside of our door so you can have a look. While we were doing that, Mrs. Groote was slicing apples for us to taste. We tasted red and green apples and then chose our favorite. We wrote our choices on a graph and found out that more boys and girls liked the taste of red apples than green apples. During our Shared Reading time, we again read "Apples", but this time we looked for seasonal words. I asked the children to name the seasons and we wrote them on index cards. As we saw them in the book, we used highlighter tape and highlighted them. The Big Book and the cards will go into our Big Book Work Station so the children can practice finding these words as well. Wednesday, we looked back at our apple tasting graph and wrote about the results. The children also came up with the title of the graph, "What apple do you like best?". We echo read, "Apples". I read the sentence first and the children repeated it to me. Thursday, we made "Apple Happy" books. The children each read to either me or Mrs. Groote. We then used our hand eye coordination skills to glue on paper pattern blocks (one of our math tools) to an apple outline. Friday, we graphed how many of each shape we used to create our apples. We also predicted whether our apples would sink or float. Then, we tested our ideas in a large tub of water. You can see pictures of our week here: http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com
Your children did an amazing job this week! Our Literacy Stations are running better than ever and we are starting to add various activities to keep the stations interesting.
Next week, we will begin learning about Pumpkins and will continue to do so on and off through the middle of October. We will also take a quick look at farms before we take our trip to Stuckey Farm on October 6th. If you have not turned in your child's money for that trip, please do so soon so that we can make sure everyone is able to attend! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com

Homework Questions Answered/State Standards

Dear Parents,
Now that homework has gotten underway for the year and you have seen what it is like, I just wanted to send on a few reminders:
1) If at any time during the year, you feel that the homework is too hard or too easy for your child, please let me know so that I can adjust it.
2) If your child finishes their homework for the week early and you or them would love more, please let me know and I would be glad to send more along.
3) Don't worry if your child doesn't finish in an evening--we're doing this more for the process than the content. I want the children to get in the routine of homework, so if they are at their breaking point, let them have a rest! :)
4) Baggie books only need to come back on Friday for a new book on Monday--again, if it is too hard or too easy, let me know and I will adjust! :)

Thanks so much for a great start to the year!
I've had a few questions about our State Standards--what they are for Kindergarten and how to find them. The Standards as we (teachers) knew them underwent a revision this summer and are presented in a new format, with selected standards being identified as "Core" Standards--the standards that we as teachers should focus on. Not to say that the others are less important, but when we look at the 1st grade standards, these are the most important for us to focus on. The standards that are not identified at "Core" Standards, are included under their headings. Basically, they took the long list that we had and condensed it into a more manageable list for both students and teachers. In doing this, the state made the lists of standards more developmentally appropriate for the children who are intended to be learning them. For a look at them, you can visit this site and download them to your computer and refer back to them as the year goes on:
http://www.doe.in.gov/standards

I hope you visit and check them out--I log on almost daily! :)


Working hard for your children,

Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for September 8th-12th, 2008

Dear Families,
if you could step inside of our classroom during our day, I know you would be extremely proud of ALL the children in our class! They are doing an outstanding job (credit to you for being GREAT parents!!). After reading a book about LIteracy Stations this summer, I decided to put it into action, and I am AMAZED with how well the children are doing. You can see the kinds of things we are up to on my blog that I created for teachers and families. http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com. It is different from the classroom blog in that I have EVERYTHING we do and use daily on it for other teachers and families to use at home. I snapped some pictures last week and those are there so enjoy them! Please be sure to leave me a comment so I know if you’re visiting! :)
Our Literacy Station encompass much of what we do during the day, Big Books, searching for letters, words, and sentences, manipulating letters and sounds, and the awareness of print going from left to right and top to bottom.
We have been busy learning about Monarch Butterflies again this week and thanks so much for all your cute e-mails about what your Kinder. kids are teaching you each evening about Monarchs! We have made our symbolic butterflies-paper butterflies that will be mailed to Mexico to winter there and then be sent back in the Spring. We would like to collect some money to send with them to help the Journey North organization replant some trees for the Monarchs to roost in. If you are able to send in any money (ANYTHING!!) we would love to collect that and send it on. Our goal is to send $20.00 with our Monarchs. We will be keeping a chart next week to see how close we get. Just send it in with your child in an envelope marked, “Monarchs” and we will count it as part of our math!
Speaking (or typing, I guess!) of math, we have learned several new math games this week. Cube Grab and Record was a big hit--the children reached into a brown paper bag and pulled out a handful of cubes. They then recorded how many they grabbed on a graph. We also played Finger Count--each child listened as I played notes on the xylophone. For each note I played, they added one cube to the top of their fingers. We used different amounts of cubes each “round”. Another game we played was called Grow and Shrink. I gave each child a math mat (1/2 sheet with 10 black dots on it) and had them show me various quantities with cubes. We then used dice to roll and add or take away that number of cubs from their mat. I watched the children to see if they needed to count the cubes that were left on their mat each time or if they could just add or take some away with out counting. Very Interesting!
The information for our trip to Stuckey Farm will be coming home today, so be sure to watch for that. If you would like to go with us, be sure to include payment for yourself as well when you return your child’s money. I will post that form on the blog as well incase you lose it! :)
We fortunate to have a Junior Education Major from Marian College joining us in our classroom on Fridays from 8-11. Her name is Olivia Newhart and she loves being around children! :) Welcome Olivia!
We have started our classroom jobs this week and responsibility has stepped up a notch! :) The children are falling over each other with excitement to get their jobs done! Today was our first payday and the children got to go to store to celebrate their new jobs. Be sure to ask your child what their job is and what they like about it. We will be changing them in a few weeks, so encourage them to stick with them if they would like another job! :)
Take time to get outside and enjoy a nice walk with your child and ask them about their week! :)
www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Mrs. Poindexter's site for Teachers!

Hi Kindergarten families,
I just wanted to let you know that I have started a blog with ideas for teachers on it, but it also has copies of most things we do in Kindergarten. You can use this page to download things at home for your children to use, if they lose their homework, or if you would like things for your younger children to work on! :)
The address is: http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com
Enjoy it and let me know if you have any questions.
P.S. It's also a great way to check up on what we are doing, as I post photos (the back/side of their heads only) of the children using our centers and other activities we do throughout the day/year.
Mrs. Poindexter :)

Newsletter for September 1st-5th, 2008

We started off the month of September by learning all about Monarch Butterflies. We started our our theme by guessing what was in the Mystery Box. We played 20 questions and I was only able to give “yes” and “no” answers to the questions, which helped us be problem solvers by analyzing our answers and responses. Once we guessed that I had a Monarch Butterfly puppet, we read a Big Book called: A Butterfly is Born by Melvin Berger. It is the story of the life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly through pictures and simple text. It is available from the IMCPL libraries. Through a grant I wrote last year, we are fortunate to have a little copy of this book for each student to use while they are at school. We first read just the Big Book, pointing to the words as we read. Then, on Wednesday, I gave each of the children a smaller copy and we read them together, again pointing to the words. Thursday, we read the book again, but this time, we told the story in our own words. The children were great at this!
The children are VERY interested in what we can do to help the Monarch Butterflies, so we have talked about possibly collecting money to send to an organization in Mexico that would plant more trees for the Monarchs to winter in. We have also discussed planting more milkweed plants in the Spring, so that the Monarchs will have a place to lay their eggs. Stay tuned for our ideas!
We also started and completed another predictable chart. This one is called, “A Butterfly...”. The children each finished the sentence, and we will again made the sentences into a class book. Thursday, we practiced this by writing several of the sentences on sentence strips and cut them apart. We mixed them up and several students held the words for us. We then talked about what parts of the sentence went where. Through the process of switching the students around, we got them back in order.
Our Literacy Stations are going very well! The children have the process of rotating from station to station each day down very well. I have introduced several new items to the stations, including “Wikki Sticks” (sticky-ish candle wicks used for underlining words and letters), words to find cards to go with our Big Books, and highlighter tape (a Big Hit!). The children highlight important words in the story with this removable tape. I have also added several new games and puzzles to our ABC Work Station, and our Puzzles and Games Work Station. We also received new materials for our classroom--4 brand new Leap Pads with books! It is the new favorite center!
During our math time, we have been using our math mats to work on basic addition and subtraction--starting with 10 cubes and adding or taking them away, then counting how many we now have. We have also been using some new manipulatives to sort into categories (ie: color, wheels, no wheels, wings, no wings, floats, doesn’t float, etc.)
I am collecting e-mail addresses from parents. If you are not on my e-mail list and would like to be, please e-mail me at the address below so that you can be added to my list! :) I will be posting new information to our classroom blog as well: www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for August 29th, 2008

We’ve grown so much in the last 3 weeks! Can you believe we’ve been in school for 13 days already? The children have quickly picked up the routines and are following them without to much difficulty.
This week, we have been reading a big book titled “Cookies Week” by Cindy Ward. I like using this book because of the way the words repeat. It also helps us learn the Days of the Week. We did several activities with this book, including sequencing the activities, re-writing the ending to the story, and retelling the story with out pictures; using the sequencing chart we made.
To supplement this book, we wrote a Predictable Chart. I started each child off with the sentence starter: “A cat can...” and the children filled in several words that they thought fit. Friday, we made our first class book where each of the students used their sentence to create words on their page and drew illustrations to match. I type each child’s sentence and print it out and give it to them to glue it on to their paper. Eventually, the children will cut apart their sentence and glue the words back together and in order.
We have also begun to move away from free exploration time with our math materials and into more structured lessons. We have been working on developing our concept of numbers, and being able to recognize groups of numbers without counting them.
Writer’s Workshop is a big hit! The children groan every day when I tell them it is time to stop writing. I spend a few minutes with each of them everyday, commenting on their work, helping them to stretch out words and offering up suggestions for them to try. They have come a long way in 3 weeks! Many of the children are writing words they see around the classroom and making them into labels for their illustrations.
Thank you so much to the Washington Township Foundation for funding several grants in our classroom this year! Our magnet lab materials are slowly trickling in, as well as our composting materials, greenhouses, and our new Legos arrived on Thursday afternoon!
Thank you so much for taking time to attend our Back to School night on Wednesday. If you were unable to attend, I sent home packets with your child on Thursday detailing what we discussed.
I am collecting e-mail addresses from parents. If you are not on my e-mail list and would like to be, please e-mail me at the address below so that you can be added to my list! :) I will be posting new information to our classroom blog as well: www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for August 18th-22nd, 2008

We have had another great week! The children are quickly getting the routines and procedures down and are doing a great job following them. Please review the classroom procedures sent home last week with your child.
When dressing your child in the morning, it would be helpful for them to wear shoes with closed toes (ideally tennis shoes would be the best). Our KIndergarten playground is covered with pea-gravel and the children are constantly removing their shoes to empty the rocks.
The snack calendar for August and September was sent home Tuesday, so please be sure to check it and send in snacks as you are able! :)
Make sure to attend our Back to School Night for K-2 on WEDNESDAY, August 27th--please note the date change. This was due to the number of students and the available parking. It would be very helpful if at all possible to find child care for your children so that you may focus on the presentation I will give. It is difficult to keep the children occupied and listen at the same time! :)
I will have information about parent volunteers at Back to School Night, so please be sure to sign up for some times if you are able.
I have also scheduled our first Field Trip to Stuckey Farm for October 6th. Look for more information to come home soon listing the price and times. We will need 6-10 parents to attend with us, so if you are able, put the date on your calendar now! :)
This week we have been focusing on learning all about colors! We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See? by Bill Martin Jr. and completed several color activities. Mrs. P made ice cubes in different colors and we melted them and watched the colors mix. The children also got to experiment with watercolors and record various color combinations on paper. We also have used our Math Tubs which will later be used for our Math time.
Some of you may have heard about our Bulldog Bucks. Currently, they are given out to the children for following directions and are taken away if they cannot. We have “store” each Friday where they can “shop” for items and spend their Bucks. Eventually, they will be paid for classroom jobs and can save or spend them. More about that during Back to School Night! :)
I also keep a classroom blog for those of you who would like to keep up with happenings in our classroom that way. The address is: www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter

Spring Mill Kindergarten Reminders

Happy Summer!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation! I know I am. I will resume posting in August when school begins again, but in the meantime--if you are a teacher, you can check out my blog just for teachers at: http://www.kpoindexter.wordpress.com

Kristen Poindexter :)

Poindexter Press for May 5th-9th, 2008

Dear Parents,
Welcome to the first full week of May! Time just flies by doesn’t it? We have been very busy this week! We are in the very beginning processes of getting everything all wrapped up for the year. Mrs. Poindexter has been doing the last round of assessments and the children have been very flexible with the changes in our schedule! ☺ We learned how to play a new math game called Roll, Add and Place! The children have two number dice (numbers 0-5) on them and a sheet of paper labeled with the numbers 0-10. They roll both at the same time and add the numbers together. They then place a cube under the correct number on their recording sheet. We played this game with a partner and alone and the children seem to love it! ☺
We have also been checking in with our beanstalks, our Wisconsin Fast plants, and our vegetables. All are growing very nicely and our beanstalks will be coming home today! If you are able to move the beanstalks outside and plant them in the ground—the plants will continue growing and you could even harvest the beans.
The children have also had time to explore our Science and Reading Center boxes (provided to us through a PTO grant 3 years ago). They have been practicing skills such as; listening for beginning, middle, and ending sounds, printing letters, recognizing letters, making sight words, parts of plants, exploring with magnets, mixing color wands, and sorting different materials by various attributes.
Be sure to make a note of all the upcoming dates in May—it’s a busy month for all and you don’t want to miss it! ☺

http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend—check out the blog!!
Kristen Poindexter ☺

Poindexter Press for April 28th-May 2nd, 2008

Dear Parents,
We have many things “growing” on in our classroom! Our beanstalks have gotten quite tall—not quite the height needed to climb them yet! The AM class helped to plant vegetables and those are in the greenhouse off to a great start. The PM class planted Wisconsin Fast Plants and they are almost ready to be pollinated! ☺ We have also had several of our Painted Lady butterflies emerge from their chrysalides this week and we will be releasing them sometime next week.
We read the Big Book titled “Growing Vegetable Soup” by Lois Elhert this week and explored how she makes her illustrations. The children all enjoyed the fact that she labels many of her illustrations so that they could copy the words into their own writing. It sparked quite an interest in labeling everything! ☺ We made a list of all the vegetables we could think of and the list was quite long and included some not-so-popular vegetables (edamame, okra). This lead to the AM class asking about what the seeds looked like for vegetables, so I tried to find as many as I could and bring them in. Both classes passed the seeds around and studied them with magnifying glasses. We decided to plant them to see what they looked like. Did you know broccoli grows quite quickly? We planted Monday and already have ½ inch sprouts! The peas are not too far behind!
Be sure to make a note of all the upcoming dates in May—it’s a busy month for all and you don’t want to miss it! ☺

http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend—check out the blog!!
Kristen Poindexter ☺


Important Dates:

May 8th- Muffins with Mom (Moms come in and enjoy a muffin and juice with your Kindergartener (8:30 and 12:00)

May 12th-Last day to return books to the Media Center

May 16th-Science Stretch Day (more info. To follow)

May 22nd- Kindy 500

May 27th- Retirement Open House for Mrs. Leininger, Mrs. Crook, and Mrs. Lach-Stone

May 27th-Last day for PM Kindergarten

May 28th-Last day for AM Kindergarten

From a Chicks' Eye View!

Baby Chicks!!

Poindexter Press for April 7th-11th, 2008

Dear Parents,
Welcome back from a much needed Spring Break! I hope you all had a wonderful time home with your children and were able to enjoy the nice weather. We are back hard at work and have gained 3 new students in the PM class.
The children have quickly learned how to use the “clickers’ that I am testing out in my classroom. Each day when they come in, they are responsible for finding their clicker number and entering a code to mark their attendance. We also use the clickers to take votes on undecided items, answer math problems, and to answer questions about books we are reading. The wonderful thing about them, is that each child uses the same clicker each day, so I can go back and check their progress by using their answers. We have also taken our Morning Message digital. I am also using the wireless chalkboard which allows me to move around the room and write the message while keeping an eye on everyone. I will try to post a sample on the blog: http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
We have been learning about ants and their homes this week. Our Time for Kids magazine showed us several types of ants and their homes and we watched a Magic School Bus episode to take a look inside their nests. We also read “A House is A House For Me” to learn about homes for other animals. On the last page of this story, the words say, “and the Earth is a home for us all!”, which lead us right into…RECYCLING!! We talked about how we can take care of our home to keep it safe and clean for ourselves and bugs and animals. We decided to start recycling paper in our classroom—so if you have any magazines, newspapers, etc. that need to be recycled, please send them in!!
Thursday, we learned a new game called Roll and Count. The children each had a math mat with 10 dots, a number dice, and a +/- dice, and some cubes. They rolled the +/- die first and then the number die. Depending upon what the dice said, they either had to add cubes to their math mat or take them away. They loved it so much, they want to play again tomorrow!! ☺ We will be adding an additional math mat, so that if they have more than 10 cubes they have somewhere to keep them.
Have a wonderful weekend—check out the blog!!
Kristen Poindexter ☺

Chick Pictures

Pictures of our chicks will soon follow....stay tuned!! :)

Poindexter Press for March 24th-28th, 2008

Dear Parents,
The chicks have arrived! All 6 eggs hatched between Monday and Tuesday and we have 6 happy, healthy chicks in our classroom. They will be leaving us Friday to go to their new home on a farm.
I was lucky enough to be chosen to try out some new technology in my classroom for the rest of the year and so the children are helping me do so. Each of the children has a “clicker” or “remote control” assigned to them and we use them to respond to questions I ask them. They punch in their answer and they all pop up on a large screen. I like using these with the children because it ensures that everyone is participating, and I am able to see quickly who does not understand and help them.
Today, I am sending home a packet of activities that you can do with your child during Spring Break. Please note that there is an updated Kindergarten Sight Words list attached. We added a few words and made sure that the color words and number words were also included. I am working on making flash cards for each family to help you practice them at home daily. I also introduced the children to a song about color words, which also helps them spell each of the color words, so be sure to ask them to sing it for you! ☺
Our week was spent catching up on odds-and-ends that we needed to finish from the first part of this semester. We talked more about caterpillars and how we will start seeing eggs soon on leaves. We also had the chance to use many of our center materials-Leap Pads, Alphabet games, extra computer time, Alphabet practice activities. The children spent 15-20 minutes at each station. Some children asked if there were any books that they could read, so eventually, we had a small group of children doing that as well. During Writer’s Workshop, we were each given a writing partner and I modeled what sharing with your partner was like. Each of the children sit knee to knee with their partner and take turns sharing what they will write about. It is then the partners’ responsibility to tell their partner one thing they liked about their idea and give them one suggestion or new idea to think about. This is the first group of children I have had who can have those conversations and be productive in doing so. They all have at least one person now who can listen to their story idea and validate it for them. ☺
Kristen Poindexter ☺

Poindexter Press for March 17th-21st, 2008

Dear Parents,
It’s beginning to get crowded and farm-like in here! The chicken eggs are here! They arrived Wednesday when the children were out for conferences and will be hatching sometime next week-if all goes well! Our tadpoles are doing well too-only one did not make it, so that’s much better than my track record last year, when they all died! ☹
I have also shared a website with the children so we can learn about Peregrine Falcons. There is a nesting pair that live here in downtown Indianapolis, and the Department of Natural Resources added a few cameras to their nesting box (high atop Key Bank on the 31st floor). As of Wednesday afternoon, Kenny and KathyQ have two eggs in their next box, with 1-2 more on their way soon! You can check out their progress from home too! Just go to the IndyStar.com website and scroll down a bit, on the left side you will see a heading for “blogs” and click on “Falcon Blog”. There you can read updates that are posted, the latest Falcon news and if you look to the right, you can click on the pictures and view the images from their nest. The kids love it and ask about Kenny and KathyQ all the time. We leave the images up on the TV all day, so they can see what happens.
Thank you so much to all the families who took time to make it to their child’s conference time this week. You will find your child’s report card attached to this newsletter. If you were unable to make it, please give me a call and we can have a phone conference or schedule a time to meet later.
During this short week, we have been “lucky”! Monday, we graphed and sorted Lucky Charms cereal in honor of leprechauns and St. Patrick’s day. We wrote sentences telling things we are lucky to have, and had a discussion about the difference between feeling lucky about having food, clothes, and a home, and feeling lucky about having video games, toys, and technology. The children read their sentences out loud and Friday, we wrote some down on sentence strips and cut them apart, scrambled them up and put them back in order.
We have also moved on to solving 6x6 Sudoku puzzles. The children asked if we could move on from the 4x4 size! We have also begun starting our day with a problem solving journal page. We gather as a whole group and work on simple addition problems, graphing, counting, and measuring. Kristen Poindexter ☺

Poindexter Press for March 10th-14th, 2008

Dear Parents,
Attached you will find the schedule for conferences for Tuesday and Wednesday next week. If you did not return a sign up sheet, I have assigned a time for you. If you cannot make your time, please call me so that we can reschedule at a more convenient time.
We are hot on the trial of the wintering Monarch Butterflies. They are quickly approaching Indiana as they make their journey northward from Mexico. We spent time this week revisiting a big book we used in the fall and helping our brains remember the important Monarch vocabulary (egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly, metamorphosis, change, nectar, proboscis, flower)
During our math time, we learned several new games. We played “Snap” and used our cubes to help show addition problems. The children were each given 4-5 cubes and they stacked them up in a column behind their back. When I said, “snap!”, the children broke their stack in two parts and then had to tell their partner what their addition sentence was (2+3=5). They did very well at this game and for the most part do not realize they are doing addition! ☺ We also played Shake the Beans 4 & 5 this week. Each child is given either 4 or 5 beans, all painted red on one side. They shake the bans and drop them gently on their paper. They then find the math sentence on their Shake the Beans paper that shows the math sentence they see in front of them with their beans.
During our science time, we have been learning more about our tadpoles and the stages in their development. We will be learning more about them in the coming weeks as they grow and change. I also showed the children my “wave bottle”, I made using vegetable oil, water, and food coloring. The oil and water will never mix so they are able to see the water move in waves through the bottle. For extra fun, we added part of an Alka-seltzer tablet to the bottle and watched as it turned into a lava lamp!
It was great to see so many of you during Open House last evening. I hope you got to see the wonderful book fair our PTO set up for us, and that you were able to purchase some books for your child’s collection. Friday is the last day for the book fair.
If there are still any cookie dough orders out there, they need to be returned ASAP!
Kristen Poindexter ☺

Newsletter for March 3rd-7th, 2008

Dear Parents,
I’m baaack!! I am so glad to be teaching again! I have honestly never ever missed teaching this much! The children have jumped right back into our regular routines and helped me to remember some things I had forgotten! ☺
Incase you have not heard at this point, the TADPOLES have arrived in our classroom. They will be with us through the end of the year, unless they turn into frogs before that point, then we will release them into our Nature Center.
Speaking of the Nature Center, I was awarded a grant through DonorsChoose.org and The Washington Township Foundation to purchase Monarch Butterfly caterpillars and milkweed plants. I will order them in early April and the children and I will be planting the milkweed plants in early May and then will release the caterpillars. Their ideas were the driving force in me writing the grant; they wanted to see what a Monarch Butterfly looked like at the beginning of it’s life. They are on their way back from Mexico, so beginning this week, we will study the 2nd half of their lifecycle.
I also received another grant from DonorsChoose.org for Wisconsin Fast Plants. I learned about these plants while at a workshop last month and I knew the children would love to make a greenhouse and plant their own plants, so we now have all the materials to do so! ☺
The PM class will be taking their field trip to the Ruth Lilly Center on Wednesday, so be sure to send in your child’s money-I have only 3 children who have not paid at this point.
I will be sending home a sheet with your child’s conference time listed on it, on Friday of this week, so be watching for that. I have not received a large number of them, so if you see a sign-up sheet attached, you need to return it ASAP. If you do not return it by Friday, a time will be assigned to you. If you do not show up for your child’s conference, you can either call me for a phone conference or we can set up another time to meet. I NEED TO MEET WITH ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS, to share my thoughts on 1st grade or Kindergarten retention with you.

Kristen Poindexter ☺

Poindexter Press for February 19th-22nd, 2008

Dear Parents,
Hi! I hope you have had a good week, because we have had a lot of fun learning about healthy habits! The entire week has been about learning the different things we can do to keep our bodies healthy. We have learned six different habits to keep us healthy: brushing your hair, brushing your teeth, taking a bath, getting plenty of sleep, exercise, and eating healthy food. Ask your child to sing to you our healthy habits song. ☺ We played memory with the different healthy habits and we learned the six steps for washing our hands. We also learned how to brush our teeth by becoming the teeth! Monday, will end our Nutrition/Healthy Habits Unit. All of the students have learned a lot, and I have had fun teaching them how to be healthier!
In Math, we have been practicing with guessing and checking different quantities of numbers. We have practiced the guessing and checking strategy with a partner. We also built a tower with Unifix Cubes then broke down the tower into a cup. This helps the students with number concepts and problem solving.
During Writer’s Workshop we have practiced stretching out words we don’t know how to spell. If we get stuck, we stretch it out so that we can hear all of the different sounds.
We are continuing to collect pennies for Leukemia patients, so bring in those pennies!
I also want to thank Dr. Christopher Potee from Noblesville Oral and Maxillofacial for donating toothbrushes to all of our students.
We have our field trip to Ruth Lilly on Wednesday and Friday. The AM Kindergarten is going on Friday, and the PM Kindergarten is going on Wednesday. Both trips are during the school day. Please make sure you have you child’s permission slip and money in by February 27th, or they will not be able to attend the trip!
I also have attached a survey about my eight weeks in Kindergarten. If you could please fill it out and send it back in with your child I would appreciate it! It is completely anonymous.

Enjoy your weekend ☺ Miss Sweet

Dear Parents,
We have had a fun week in Kindergarten. Thursday was our Valentine’s Day party and we a great time! Thank you to all of the parents who helped out!
Mrs. Poindexter went to a Science workshop on Tuesday and she brought back a greenhouse for our classroom. It is a great learning tool for the students. We have already learned that the light bulb is the sun, and that helps our plants grow.
This week also started our nutrition unit. Monday, we watched video clip of a book titled Gregory the Terrible and learned about healthy snacks that animals eat at the San Diego Zoo. Tuesday, we read a story about the six food groups and then we practiced putting different foods in each group. Wednesday, we each had a food item and we determined whether the food was healthy or unhealthy and which group that food item goes into. Thursday, we took our different food items and picked out what food would make the healthiest afternoon snack. Friday, we had a taste testing of different foods and decided which food we liked the best. Then we graphed and drew our answers. Look for our favorite food item on the bulletin board outside our classroom early next week!
In Math we practice guessing and checking our answers. We used candy hearts to guess how many candy hearts would fill a heart shape on our paper. We also used foam hearts to estimate the length of different items around the room, and the students were very good at estimating!
In Writer’s Working shop we have been practicing planning our writing before we write. We are doing this so we do not forget those important details we want to share.

Here is a great website to check out about how nutritional our children’s snacks are:
http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/gd/applications/snackwise/home.cfm

Miss Sweet


February 18th No School (President’s Day)

February 19th- Mrs. P out (science Workshop)

February 20th- Kindergarten Math Night 6-7 pm

February 27 & 29 Field Trip to Ruth Lilly (during regular class time PM class goes the 27th and AM class goes the 29th)

February 29th- 10 am Convocation


** Please send in your child’s permission slip and $3 for our Ruth Lilly field trip by February 27th**


Notes from Mrs. Poindexter:
-We’ve started collecting Pennies for Patients at area hospitals, so help our class win by sending in those pennies!

-I am in need of some containers for a planting project we will do in the Spring. If you have any of these and could send them in clean, I would appreciate it!!
- clear 2 liter bottles and clear 16 oz. soda bottles
- clear/frosted deli containers (potato salad, deli containers)
- lids from 2 liter bottles or soda bottles

Poindexter Press for February 4th-8th, 2008

Dear Parents,
Hello! I hope you have had good week, because we have had a great week in Kindergarten. Tuesday was our field trip we all had a great time! Thank you to the adults that attended went with us. It would not have been a success without you!
Spring Mill School continues it’s partnership with our sister school in Dalian, China. Thursday marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat. To help the children understand some icons from China, we read a book about a Giant Panda named Hua Mei.. We have learned a lot about how Hua Mei grows in her first year of life. Monday, we introduced the book, and used a picture walk to help us predict what the book might be about. Wednesday, we reread the book and decided who the characters were, where the story took place, and why the author wrote the story. Thursday, we retold the story using sequencing cards. Friday, we celebrated the Chinese New Year by making dragons and participating in Spring Mill’s annual Chinese New Year parade!
In Math we are currently practicing matching the number rolled on a dice to the correct number of cubes. The children are working to develop their number sense by playing this game.
In Writer’s Workshop we are still practicing adding more details to make our stories more interesting. Make sure to help your child try this at home!
Thank you for all of your feedback regarding the field trip and the homework. I appreciate any and all input!
Miss Sweet


February 11th-We start our unit on Nutrition ( a letter will be sent home on Monday)

February 12th-Mrs. P out (workshop)

February 14th- Valentine’s Day party
(9am and 1:30pm)

February 18th-No School (President’s Day)

February 19th-Mrs. P out (Science workshop)

February 20th-Kindergarten Math Night 6-7 (more details to come home later)

February 27th and 29th-Field Trip to Ruth Lilly (during regular class times)
Watch for the flyer to come home next week!

Poindexter Press for the week of January 28th-February 1st, 2008

Dear Parents,
Wow! This is my first newsletter as a student teacher! I’m excited! This first four weeks has flown by for me. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know each of the students in the class. I feel that all of us have worked hard to build a relationship with each other. I am learning more about each student every day, and I find they just keep getting smarter and smarter and cuter too! ☺
I want to thank all of you for being so patient with me! I am doing my absolute best to make sure that I send the right child to the right car every morning. I know it can be frustrating seeing your child standing there and me telling them to hold on, but that is only because I am still learning what car goes with what child. I think I have it down for the most part, so hopefully in the morning dismissal will start going quicker!
Thank you also for being patient while I learn all of the routines, how to create homework, exchanging of baggie books, the students last names, and which parents belong to which children! It is a lot to learn in a short time, but I am really trying! If you have any feedback, I welcome it! Please let me know if the homework is too hard for you child or too easy and I will adjust accordingly; or if I forgot something for your child, please let me know!
This week we have been learning all about groundhogs! Monday, we read the story “Fluffy Meets the Groundhog” then looked at pictures of real groundhogs and created a fact sheet! Tuesday, we read more of “Fluffy Meets the Groundhog” and then we wrote sentences on our predictable chart. Our predictable chart started with the phrase “The groundhog…” and the students dictated excellent sentences. Wednesday, we learned a new song called “I’m a Little Groundhog” sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” We also learned the fun actions that go with the song, and practiced reading our sentences aloud from the predictable chart. Thursday, we sang our groundhog song, took a few of the student’s groundhog sentences, and mixed up the words. The students then had to unscramble the sentence to have it make sense. Friday, we drew pictures to go with our groundhog sentences and created a groundhog nose made with a Styrofoam cup. In Writer’s Workshop, we practiced adding interesting details to our stories to make them more enjoyable to read. In Math, we practiced building 3-D shapes out of cubes and simple addition with cubes on our fingers.
Starting February 11th I will begin teaching a unit on Nutrition and Healthy Habits. I will be sending a letter home early next week to give you exact details of what I am covering!
It has been a busy week but I am really excited to be in Kindergarten working closely with your child and with Mrs. Poindexter. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions!

Have a wonderful weekend! Miss Sweet

Be sure to check out the blog! The CORRECT address is:
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com

Happy February! Kristen Poindexter ☺

Poindexter Press for the week of January 22nd-25th, 2008

This week went by so fast! Miss Sweet is now leading the children during calendar, Morning Message and during our Shared Reading and Predictable Chart time. Next week, she will also lead the children during Writer's Workshop. I've had several parents ask what I get to do while she is teaching; LOTS of things-where to begin?? I will be finishing up assessments with some of the children, working with small groups of our English as a Second Language students, writing grants so we can plant a Monarch Butterfly garden in the Spring, working on professional development (workshops, projects I've dreamed up for myself, and taking a look at my Science curriculum). I am enjoying a time of self-reflection as well, which is keeping the wheels in my head turning at all hours of the day! Miss Sweet will be assuming most of my regular duties beginning February 4th, so anytime you come in during February-she is our go to person. I will always be available for questions but she is the first person to ask. I know there is sometimes uncertainty when you hear the words "student teacher", "Will my child be taught everything they normally would be during this time?" (YES!!) Kelley and I sit down almost daily and talk about her lesson ideas and make sure she is covering everything I usually would. I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I hope you and your child enjoy your time with her, she's got some great lesson already planned, so be waiting to hear about those!
We've spent more time learning about dinosaurs and enjoyed our first Big Book with Miss. Sweet, call Daniel's Dinosaurs. The children first read the story and then participated in many activities, including "roaring" when they heard the word "dinosaur" and making tally marks to count, highlighting important vocabulary, and talking about whether or not the story was real or fantasy. Tuesday, the children used gummy dinosaur fruit snacks to make a graph. We talked about more than, less than and equal to when comparing our graphs. Wednesday, we watched a Reading Rainbow movie clip about palentologists digging up dinosaur bones. Thursday, we used chocolate chip cookies and toothpicks to carefully excavate the chips from the cookies. Each of the children counted their chips and we made a class graph showing how many chips we each had.
Be sure to check out the NEW AND IMPROVED blog online! http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com The old blog is up and running again, but I am finding this one more user friendly and nicer to look at! :) BE SURE TO SEND BACK YOUR CHILD'S PERMISSION SLIP FOR THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM TRIP BY FEBRUARY 1ST. EVEN IF THEY CAN NOT ATTEND, PLEASE MARK THAT ON THE PERMISSION SLIP!! THANK YOU!

Have a wonderful weekend! Kristen Poindexter

Newsletter for January 14th-18th, 2008

I can’t believe we’re halfway through January already! We have been busy at work learning all about Dinosaurs! Monday, we kicked off our theme by guessing what was in Mrs. Poindexter’s mystery box. Dinosaurs of course! We also started a KWL chart (the K stands for What we Know, the W for What we Want to know, and the L for what we Learned). We completed the K and W portions of the chart. This will help me guide my instruction towards what the children are curious about. We also started a new Predictable Chart called “Dinosaurs can…” The children each though of a few words to complete the sentence. Wednesday, each of the children used our new classroom pointer (it looks like a hand!) and pointed to their sentences and read them out loud. Thursday, we played “Be the Sentence”. I selected 3 of the children’s sentences and wrote them out and cut them apart. I have special necklaces that the children wear that hold the parts of the sentence. We mix the words up and the children help me put them back in order. Friday, the children each took their sentences and illustrated them, these were then put into a classroom book.
During our math time, we have learning how to work with math cubes, mats, and math dot mats. Our first few lessons were to help us get acquainted with the materials. We then started with simple lessons to build our number sense-the ability to match an amount of an object with a number and then be able to count them accurately. We have moved on to simple story problems and the children are so excited each day when I pull out the tub of cubes.
Miss Sweet has begun co-teaching with me and so far has taken on the task of leading the children through our calendar and Morning Message times. Next week, she will also be planning our Shared Reading and Predictable Chart times. She has also taken over the duties of filling out Behavior Cards for those children who need them. Be sure to check out the blog (http://www.poindexterpressonline.blogspot) where I have been posting new things to try with your children, a new poll, and some video clips to share with you child. Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter ☺

Link to the MSDWT homepage

http://www.msdwt.k12.in.us

Click on "Our Schools"

Then select "Spring Mill"

You can find out all about the Spring Mill Bulldogs!

Try this with your kids!!

Poindexter Press for the week of January 7th-11th, 2008

Welcome back to school! I hope that you all had wonderful holiday and were able to spend some relaxing time with your families. We are back in the swing of things in our classroom and the children seem to have grown so much in the last 2 weeks! We are pleased to have my student teacher, Miss Kelley Sweet with us in our classroom until the end of February. She has written a introductory letter and you will find it attached to this newsletter. She is open to any comments, suggestions, and questions, so please feel free pass them along. During her time in our classroom, she will spend 2 weeks co-teaching with me and then will be teaching the children during the entire month of February. She will be responsible for all the lesson planning, homework, newsletters, and anything else that comes along with doing my job! :)

This week we have been working with rebus stories. Rebus stories have words and pictures on each page and are great for beginning readers because as they look through the book, they see some "words" they can read by looking at the pictures in the sentences. The story we are reading is called The Jacket I Wear in the Snow. Monday, we took a picture walk through the story and then read it aloud. Tuesday, we expanded on that by re-reading the story and the children echo read the story with me. Wednesday, we matched the pictures in the story with their words. Thursday, we took the words and pictures and put them in the order that they were in in the story.

The children are doing a great job writing!! This week, I introduced booklets! Many of the children have taken off writing short stories and some are writing short chapter books! We also learned about making lists and the children thought up a list of reasons to make lists. Encourage them at home to make lists and to help you make lists (grocery lists, birthday lists, to do lists, etc.)

Due to some problems with technology, I switched the classroom blog site to a new address: http://www.poindexterpressonline.blogspot

I hope to get all of the old information switched over, but all the new information is there already. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see added to the new site. I am able to add pictures and other information more easily with this site than the last, so I hope to be able to post LOTS more quickly.

Field Trip

Watch for information to come home this week (January 7th) about our upcoming Children's Museum Field Trip.

December 6th, 2007 Newsletter

Dear Parents,
We began our study of Holidays Around the World this week by learning about Hanukkah, Saint Nick Day, and Saint Lucia Day. During our Hanukkah study, we read several books about Hanukkah, studied a menorah, and then made one of our own. We also learned about the dreidel game and potato pancakes! Yum! On St. Nick Day, “St. Nick” stopped by and left presents in our shoes-we were very glad that no one received sticks instead of goodies in their shoes! ☺ On St. Lucia day, the tradition in my house is for the oldest daughter (me!) to make cinnamon rolls and a hot beverage for the rest of the members of the family. St. Lucia dressed up in a white robe and wore a wreath of candles on her head. The children each made their “wreath” of candles and we enjoyed cinnamon treats!
We have also been busy chasing the Gingerbread Man around our classroom. We have read several different versions of the story and compared and contrasted them using a Venn Diagram (two overlapping circles where we wrote similarities and differences between two stories). We all got a chance to visit the Gingerbread Store and with the play money we were given, were able to “shop” for items to decorate our felt Gingerbread Boys and Girls—they are adorable and will be coming home soon! We had many opportunities to sequence the story and the class favorite was when we used the wooden spoon characters to chase the Gingerbread man around our circle.
We are in need of more AM and PM classroom volunteers! If you are able to give an hour (even ½ hour!!) of your time even once a month, we would love to have you in our classroom to work with a small group! To sign up for a time, just stop in and jot your name down on the calendar located on the Parent Volunteer Table!
Be sure to check out the blog site for new information: http://podcast.msdwt.k12.in.us/weblog
Have a great weekend!

Kristen Poindexter ☺

Happy New Year! 2008

Happy New Year Everyone! I've decided to switch to this blogger site because I was having "techie" issues with the other one. I hope to get everything switched over from the old blog to the new one fairly soon, but in the mean time, all new newsletter updates, pictures, and other information will be posted to this site.

Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see posted on the blog that is not already here--I will do my best to accommodate!

Kristen Poindexter