Weekly Update

What a short, interesting week. I hope this finds everyone drying out and safe from the flood. Due to our short week, there was not a weekly progress report sent home.

Info to Know

• Scholastic Orders are due on Friday, October 2nd. Username: pkokpride Password: wearereaders


• The magazine that came home yesterday is for your reading pleasure. Hopefully, we will receive these on a regular basis. There is lots of valuable information in it!


• Sunny D is running a promotion for free classroom books. Please see the participating products and send in the intact UPC code. 20 UPCs = 20 class books

VALID PRODUCTS INCLUDE:
Bottles: 128 oz, 96 oz, 64 oz, 48 oz, 20 oz and 16 oz
6 PACK OUTER WRAPS: 11.3 oz and 6.75 oz
24 PACK OUTER WRAPS: 11.3 oz and 6.75 oz
8 PACK OUTER WRAPS: 6.75 oz
CARDBOARD CASES: 12 packs 6.75 oz bottles, 12 or 24 packs 12 oz cans
1, 2 & 3 LITER BOTTLES

• a handwriting website has been added to the activities links. Check it out! You can print handwriting practice sheets for anything you can type!
• The school is having a "Change for Change Drive" next week. Monies collected will go directly to the Red Cross. A flyer with more info will come home on Monday.

Academic Update

• Sight word testing is completed each Friday. If your daughter is ready to test on an entire list of words, please send me a note or email to test by Friday morning. She must know them well; read them within 3 seconds each.
• Addresses were tested this week. Your little darlings should know their house number, street, city, state, and zip code. We will check this again next week. Thanks to those who already know this valuable information in case of emergency.
• IB news: This week we concluded our All About Me unit with our at home project presentations and in-class assessment collages. They are all displayed in the hallways. Be sure to come check them out!! They are SO awesome! Next week we start our new unit, My Place in the World. We will discuss our state, maps, and Johnny Appleseed.
• ELA: With the short week, we continued with reading groups all focusing on our "tool kits." Ask your little darling about the tools that she has in her belt to help her read. (sounding out words, looking at the pictures, and sight words) Next week: the letters Nn and Dd
• Math: Shapes are all around us! See how many your family can find in and around your environment. Next week: numbers up to 20, writing numbers, coins, and patterns.

Classroom News

• Thanks again to our classroom volunteers!!
• Snack (and Show and Tell) this week:

M: Cleo T: Reagan W: Kymani Th: Willow F: Campbelle

Ooops! A Late Weekly Update

Oops! With all that has been going on, I forgot to blog last week! Here are a few quick updates:

-Scholastic orders came home last week. Please check them out and go online to order or send in your order with payment. These are due on October 2nd.
-We hoped you enjoyed the books on which we have been working hard! Your little darling should be able to read these to you!
-Thanks to all the donations for the Chinese books....we should have a class set soon!
-Thanks also to all the volunteers that are helping out in the classroom on a regular basis! This makes our work and learning so much better!!
-There will be no additional homework packet this week due to the short duration....also there will be no weekly progress report.

Let's Try to Clarify Homework

I know that there is still some confusion about homework....when does it come to school? In what folder? Let me try to help.

• The purpose of homework is two-fold: (1) to provide responsibility to the girls each night and (2) to be a tool for parents to extend classroom learning at home providing meaningful activities. It is NEVER meant to be frustrating or a burden.
• Reading and discussing what is read each day is the most important part!
• Homework travels to and from school in the RED folder on the first day of each week.
• On the first Monday of the month, a monthly homework calendar will come home. It should stay at home until the end of the month. Please complete the activities at your leisure and check them when complete.
• Activities that should be returned in the clear folder for special assignments will be clearly marked on the calendar. Otherwise do not return homework in the clear folder.
• Math homelinks will come home as we reach the coordinating lesson in the weekly homework supplement. They can be completed at anytime in that week.
• If you have further concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Class Schedule

Mrs. P. Kok’s Schedule

7:45 - 8:10 Morning Labs
8:15 - 8:30 Morning Meeting (includes calendar)
8:30 - 8:45 Literature Read Aloud
8:45 - 9:15 Language Arts/Reading
9:15 - 10:00 ELA Labs
10:05 - 10:45 Specials
10:55 - 11:20 Lunch
11:25 - 11:45 Math
11:45 - 12:45 Centers
12:55 - 1:30 Chinese
1:30 - 1:50 Snack/Recess
1:50 - 2:20 Rest Time
2:20 - 2:45 Review of the Day
2:45 - 3:00 Pack Up & Dismissal

Weekly News

Despite the short week, we accomplished a lot! Five senses, fun stickered water bottles, more superstars....read all about it and have a restful weekend.

Info to Know

• Picture Day- Wednesday, September 17--this will be the picture made for the yearbook. Uniforms should be worn.
• Wednesday, September 24-- All About Me! Home project is due--see clear folders
  

Academic Update

• IB: Our IB unit, Me, Myself, and I, is coming to a close. This week we talked about our five senses. We created another book that will come home next week displaying our learning. Without our five senses, it would be difficult to learn! Next week: personal safety and culmination project.
• ELA: This week we used the letters that we have learned thus far and began to blend them into words. We also talked about rhyming and the -am family. We continued to learn more sight words, wrote in our journals, and really enjoyed learning our poem, "Me." Next week: more blending, the -at family, and last names
• Math: Calendar skills have so much math integrated into the routines. We skip count by five's, practice place value, patterning, and counting. This week we also worked on counting down from 10 to zero, collecting data and analyzing it, and patterns. Next week: number sequence, matching numbers to sets, and our body weight and height.
• In the clear folders, you should find the information and instruction sheet for the at-home IB project for this unit. Please review and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
• Check out the new websites added to the blog! Lots of fun stuff for adults and kids!
• Here is a website on the Five Senses http://www.iit.edu/~smart/essijea/lesson2.htm
  

Classroom News

• Water bottles and rest blankets/towels came home on Friday. Please wash them and return them on Monday. This is imperative for every one's health during the cold/flu season.
• The volunteer schedule has been made and distributed for regularly scheduled volunteers. Please check it and provide feedback as needed. If you are not on the regular schedule, we still would love to see you! Please let us know in advance so that we can best prepare to use your time and talent to its fullest potential. The background scanner in the front office is up and running! Just bring in your driver's license to be scanned the first time you volunteer.
• Thanks to this week's volunteers!!
• Books are in.....look for them in your little darling's backpack on Monday! Thanks again to those who ordered!! Free books for the classroom are ALWAYS appreciated!
• Check out the links on the side of the blog.....good websites and info
• Snack: M-Sadira, T-Shoshana, W-Kameron, Th-Madeline, F-Gigi
  

This Week's News and Info

Info to Know

• No School on Monday, September 7 for Labor Day.
• Curriculum Night & PTA meeting: Tuesday, September 8 @ 6pm PLEASE plan to attend the curriculum portion from 7-8 pm in the classroom. This is a parent only night.
• Picture Day: Thursday, September 17 (please reference the flyer in the clear folder)
• Sally Foster fundraiser ends on Friday, September 11. Remember the class with the highest number of participants receives a $50 gift card for school supplies.
• Progress Reports came home on Friday. Please review and return only the signature slip on Tuesday.

Academic Update

• The first part of this past week, we spent catching up from my absence. We completed our shape and color books and stamped our covers. They should come home in the first part of the upcoming week.
• ELA: We are reviewing the letters we have already introduced (Cc, Mm, Pp, Rr, Ss, and Tt). We love using our letter charts with our pictures to write words in our journals. We using Cc word stamps to make patterns. Also, we continue to read books and discuss characters, beginning, middle, and end, and predicting. We will make our Aa chart on Tuesday and begin blending words and learning about the -am word family. Also, next week we will meet in our small reading groups and focusing on how to sound out words.
• Math: This past week we talked a lot about patterning. Ask your little lovely what a pattern does? We displayed the patterns outside on our bulletin board. Come check it out. Also, we used "math words" to talk about finding a partner using strips of paper. We found our partners because the strips were the same length, width, had stickers on the end or in the middle. Use "math words" at home to help with directions and descriptions of objects. Next week, we will continue to talk about patterns, coins, and numbers 0-10
• IB unit: We continue to draw and make a book for our Super Star of each day. Also, we talk about manners, feelings, and using our words to make good choices. Next week will be all about our five senses and completing our second book "All About Me."

Class News

• Thanks to our first in class volunteer, Mr. Banks, Alexis's dad. I know that many of you are waiting on your background check from PTA. I am hoping that at Tuesday's meeting we will find out more info.
• Also thanks to Mrs. Stanford, Caroline's mom, for providing all the girls with water bottles and stickers to decorate them. We will use them in the classroom and send them home on Friday's to be handwashed. I know that the girls are quite excited about them!
• Poetry notebooks are back on track this week! Please review it with your little one....this week's poem was a bit harder to memorize...and return the notebook before Thursday.
• Thanks so much to all that placed Scholastic Book orders! The response was awesome and I can't wait to order all the free books for our classroom!

Volunteering

Okay folks! Now that we are well on our way with learning the class routines and having a general understanding of expectations in the classroom, we would love some additional help!

In order to volunteer in the classroom, you must have a clear background check. You can do this in a few ways:

1. Use the office system. Pay $10 in the front office and scan your driver's license.
2. Provide a copy of a recent background check.
3. Complete a background check at City Hall East.

Once you have a clear background check, please email me to let me know days and times you are available.

We will need help during learning labs in the morning (9:15 - 10:00) and afternoon (11:45 - 12:45) with monitoring and assistance. If you are not available for these specific times, there are many other items to be completed. There are filing tasks, set-up tasks for learning labs, and general clerical tasks.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Library Check Out

Today we had our first opportunity to check out library books! Here is some basic info and guidelines from Ms. K:

• Each girl may check out one book at a time. Books must be returned prior to checking out another.
• Books are checked out for one or two weeks.
• Our media (library) day is Tuesday.
• Each girl is responsible for her book. If it is lost, the book must be paid for in full prior to receiving a report card.
• Late notices will be sent every other week.

Thanks and enjoy!

Getting Back on Track

So I have returned and we are getting back on track from my two day absence. I think the girls missed me as much as I missed them!! Here are a few quick notes and reminders.

• Scholastic Book Orders are due on Wednesday. Please place your order online or turn in your paper order form in tomorrow's clear folder.
• Next Tuesday, September 8 @ 7pm there will be Curriculum Night held after the scheduled PTA meeting. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE plan to attend! This is the time to ask, ask, ask questions and find out more specifics about how our classroom works, the expectations for the year, grading policies, etc. This is a parent only event.
• Trimester Progress Reports will come home this Friday. Please be sure to review and return the signed slip. If you have not returned last week's weekly report, please do so.
• No school Monday, September 7! Labor Day holiday