Friday May 27th, 2011

IMPORTANT DATES
- Monday May 30th:  NO SCHOOL
- Thursday June 2nd: Last Full Day
- Friday June 3rd:  Poetry Palooza at 9:30, dismissal following
   (students may dress up on Friday in "Sunday Best")


What a busy week!  Thank you to everyone who came in last week for our May Crowning, it was wonderful.  I have been trying to upload video of the Kindergarten singing Let It Be.  Hopefully I'll be able to get it posted by the time they go to First Grade. 

For the past two weeks, the students have been very busy writing their insect reports for Dr. Calihan.  Each student chose a different insect on which to write their report.  They found some facts at home for homework and researched more here at school using the computer and our bug books.  They turned out very well!  The Kindergartners will be presenting them this afternoon along with Miss Vier's class.

We celebrated our third and final Publishing Party on Tuesday.  The class voted and we decided to invite our Third Grade reading buddies.  They were a delightful audience.  There was no end to the complimentary things they had to say about all the books.

In connection with our Insect Unit, we read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and shared the things that make us grouchy.  They ranged everywhere from crying babies to waiting too long in line.



We also finished our Math book this morning with a review on graphing.  We discussed taking a survey, collecting data and building a graph.  We also talked about different types of graphs; real graphs, picture graphs and bar graphs.  We are almost graphing experts!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Friday May 6th, 2011

Happy Mother's Day weekend to all the wonderful mothers of Room 7!  We hope you have an amazing weekend!

Thank you so much for all your help with our new science unit.  We know that it's a little more work than usual homework, but everything we are getting back looks wonderful!  If your child hasn't brought in any of his/her science homework yet, it's not too late!  All of the homework is being kept together in a portfolio and we will still be adding to this portfolio in the coming weeks.  Many of the caterpillars have spun their chrysalises and are ready to be moved into the Butterfly Garden.  Last week, each Kindergartner was asked to draw and label their own butterfly and they look amazing!  As a class, each table had the chance to color and label a large butterfly that we now have displayed on the wall for the remainder of the unit. 

This week we used butterflies to review symmetry.  Butterfly wings are symmetrical, did you know?  We also talked about and dramatized butterflies' roles in pollination.  They are key in getting pollen from one flower to another.  We also read 2 books about butterflies and then discussed what made one a non-fiction story and why the other story was fiction.  Butterflies are everywhere in Kindergarten!


Requests
-  We are in need of forks and spoons for forgotten snacks and lunches, please send some in if you have extras.

Thursday 21st, 2011

Happy Easter!  We celebrated today in Kindergarten by joining Room 8 in a sight word Easter egg hunt!  Each group of students was tasked with finding 20 Easter eggs, reading and writing the words on a class list.  What a fun way to practice sight words!  We also watched the first and second grades as they performed the Passion Play.  How talented they are!

 It was also very fun meeting all the Special People on Wednesday!  Thank you SO much to everyone who came in, all the students enjoyed your visit very much. 

We started our butterfly unit on Monday.  Together with Room 8 we broke into groups and read books about insects and butterflies.  We have been focusing this week on vocabulary and the needs of butterflies versus humans.  We are looking for baby food jars for an experiment if that is something that you can send in. 

 Field Trip Chaperones:
-  Arturo Barrera
-  Jenny McGinn
-  Blaga Seng
-  Romeo Vasquez

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to join us at the Arboretum!

Friday April 15th, 2011

Thank you so much to everyone who came in for Parent Teacher Conferences today!  It was wonderful to see you and share with you the progress your child has made this year.  Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you at the Gala on Saturday.  Please read below for a few announcements that I may have forgotten to share with you during our meeting.

PLEASE TURN IN PERMISSION SLIPS FOR OUR THURSDAY APRIL 28th TRIP TO THE MORTON ARBORETUM.  WITHOUT ONE, YOUR CHILD WILL NOT BE ATTENDING.  Please let me know if you need another copy.  Thanks!

Scholastic
There has been an error made with our classroom Scholastic book order from February.  Can anyone who paid for February Scholastic with a personal check please look to see if Scholastic has cashed your check?  We are trying to pinpoint where the error was made.  Thanks!

Reminders
-  Wednesday April 20th is Special Persons Day.  All Special People must report to their classrooms at 9:00 AM.
-  Dismissal on Thursday April 21st will be at 11:30.  The first and second grades will be performing the Passion Play at 11:00AM, all are invited to attend.
-  There will be no school on Friday April 22nd and Monday April 25th for Easter Break. 

Requests
-  We are in need of baby food jars for a science experiment coming up.  Please send in any that you may have at home!

Friday April 8th, 2011

Welcome back!  We hope that everyone had a fun and safe spring break!  This week in Kindergarten we have been VERY busy.  On Monday we enjoyed a wonderful field trip to the Harold Washington Library to meet with an author about her poetry.  Her enthusiasm was catching and everyone had a wonderful time! 

This week we also started our unit on plants.  On Tuesday we planted our own zinnias and started plant journals.  Every day for the next two weeks we are going to observe the plants and record what we see.  On Wednesday we watched a short video on Discovery Education about the different parts of the plant.  Afterwards we discussed what we saw in the video and labeled a plant together.  Then each table was given a large sheet of paper asked to draw and label a plant of their choice.  It was wonderful to see all the great teamwork that went on during this assignment. 

 Also this week we started short a word families.  We reviewed the short "a" sound, talked about what makes a family and brainstormed words for the -at, -ad, -am, -ag, -ap and -an word families.  We then wrote a story using the -ap words from our list.  In addition to short "a", the students learned about the "sh" sound.  We talked about how you can hear this sound at both the beginning (shrimp) and end (fish) of words. 

April has begun our study of fiction stories!  The students are so excited to be able to use their creativity and imaginations during writing.  We have been very careful to discuss how this unit is separate from Writer's Workshop.  We spent this week reading and listening to different stories and discussing what makes them alike and different.  We also talked about the different elements that make these stories fiction.  Next week we will begin the planning process of our stories.  In Writer's Workshop we are continuing to learn what makes our stories readable and unreadable.  This week we went over hearing ALL the sounds in our words, how to write and then read and rewrite and reread.  It's going to take awhile, but we are hoping that it will be very beneficial in the long run.

Reminders 
-  This Sunday April 10th is the last family mass of the school year.  It starts at 8:30 in the church, we hope to see you there.
-  Next Friday April 15th school will dismiss at 11:30.  Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for the afternoon.  Please turn in your sheet by Monday for a conference time.  Can't wait to see you!
-  Special Persons Day is next Wednesday April 20th.  Invitations went out this week, please make sure that your special people received his/her invitation and knows the details of the day.
-  School will dismiss at 11:30 on Thursday April 21st and will reconvene on Tuesday April 26th for Easter weekend.

Friday March 25th, 2011

 We're mad about magnets!  This week in Kindergarten we focused on magnets.  We sorted items using magnets, tested objects in the classroom for magnetism and talked about the different objects in which you can find magnets.  It was a great chance for a lot of hands-on science!

Reminders
-  Turn in your forms for Special Persons Day!
-  There will be no school March 28th-April 1st for Spring Break
-  Pleaes continue to practice counting coins with your children over break
-  We are in need of clean washed egg shells for an Easter project we will be doing after break.  Please save up your shells!

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE BREAK!

Monday March 21st, 2011

 Happy Spring!  It may not quite feel like it yet, but yesterday March 20th marked the first day of spring!  The chicks from Miss Julie's room hatched last week making it a very memorable experience for the whole school.  Each classroom had a chance to borrow some chicks to hold and pet.  Every student was given the option to hold a chick, but they were able to just pet them as well if they wanted.  On Tuesday of last week a chicken expert came in to talk a little bit about chickens and the processes they go through with growing and hatching.  She even brought in a live chicken. The Kindergarten was well prepared from Miss Julie's chick facts that we have been receiving for 21 days.  Did you know that chickens are born with all the eggs they will ever hatch in their lifetime?

 Last week we also celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  We took a quick trip to Ireland to learn a little bit about the history of St. Patrick in Ireland.  We discussed the significance of the shamrock with regards to the Holy Trinity. We also talked about different traditions for St. Patrick's Day including those in Ireland and here in Chicago.  On Thursday we attended an Irish dancing presentation in the church put on by third and fourth grade students. Many of the Kindergartners were inspired to jig all day.  Also in honor of St. Patrick's day, we tasted corned beef and green jello jigglers as a part of our publishing party.

 Thursday was also the date of our second Kindergarten Publishing Party.  Look for these stories coming home soon.  My mom, a Kindergarten Aide at St. Petronille Catholic School in Glen Ellyn, attended the publishing party and was very impressed with the writing that room 7 has done.  She borrowed a few books to take in and show her class so that they have something to aspire to.  The kids were very eager to volunteer their stories.  Congratulations to all of our authors!

 We will be finishing up Topic 13: Money this week.  Please keep practicing with your child over Spring Break, money is a hard concept and we can all use a little practice.  After break we will start Topic 14: Time. 

Requests
-  We are asking for CLEAN eggshells for an Easter project after break.  Please send them in at your earliest convenience.
-  Hamilton is available for a Spring Break visit.  Please send a note if you are willing to host him over break.
Reminders
-  Spring Break starts Friday March 25th at 2:40.  Classes resume on Monday April 4th.
-  We are still collecting non-perishable food items for the food pantry.  There is a box in the classroom available for donation.