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