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.

Friday March 11th, 2011

Brush 'em, Brush 'em, Brush 'em!  Kindergarten has just finished a week long unit on Dental Health.  On Monday, the Drs. Leonard (Danny Room 8) came to teach the Kindergarten classes about the importance of brushing and flossing.  All the students received gift bags to help them on their quest for dental health.  We talked about brushing twice a day and flossing.  Dr. Leonard even did a flossing demonstration using a rope and students as teeth!

Also as a part of this unit, we did 2 different science experiments this week.  In our first experiment we took hard-boiled eggs and soaked them overnight in Pepsi.  This was to illustrate the effect that pop has on your teeth if you don't brush right away.  We then took them out on Friday and tried to brush them with toothbrushes and toothpaste.  In our second experiment we poked holes in an apple to examine the effects of cavities on the insides of our teeth.  Along with these experiments, on Thursday we learned about hypotheses and what we think will happen in our experiments.  Then on Friday we checked to see if our results matched our hypothesis.  We discovered that it takes a lot of toothpaste and dedicated brushing to get our teeth back to their original color after sleeping with pop teeth.  After this experiment Holly Jo claimed that she is now going to brush her teeth 4 times a day and Frank swears that 100 is the magic number.

We started talking about money this week in Math.  So far we have discussed the penny and the nickel.  The penny was very fun and easy to learn because we are already experts at counting by ones!  Nickels are a little trickier because they require counting by 5's.  Ask your child to count some nickels with you this weekend as practice.  Next week we will be covering the dime and the quarter.

During Writer's Workshop we have been focusing on really adding details and awesome endings.  Dr. Katie Van Sluys of DePaul visited with us on Tuesday and did a lesson on adding details using thought and speech bubbles.  The class has been so excited to add these to their writing!

Reminders
-  Students may add green accents to their uniforms on Thursday March 17th in honor of St. Patrick's Day
-  NO SCHOOL Friday March 18th
-  Summer Program forms are due Thursday March 17th.  Any questions, please contact Mrs. Salmon
-  SPRING BREAK begins Monday March 28th.  Classes will resume Monday April 4th

Friday March 4th, 2011

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  March 2nd would have been the 107th birthday of the famous author.  In his honor, Kindergarten celebrated all week!  We used his books in many ways.  On Monday we read The Cat in the Hat and started talking about the -at word family.  We will be going more in depth with short vowel word families in the coming months.  On Tuesday we read a biography of Dr. Seuss and picked our favorite fact about his life.  Did you know that Dr. Seuss wrote 44 children's books?  Kindergarten does.  On Wednesday we read the book Wacky Wednesday and searched for all the wacky things happening.  On Thursday we read the book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street to review fiction vs. non-fiction.  On Friday we had a great time watching the movie Horton Hears a Who with Room 8.  Also on Friday we reviewed rhyming with the book, There's a Wocket in my Pocket!  Take a look at the rhyme your child brought home, they were very creative.

This week in Math we finished up Topic 12: Larger Numbers.  Next week we will begin Topic 13: Money.  If you go shopping anywhere this weekend and need to use change, start asking your son or daughter to help you count.  Money is a BIG topic this year.  There will be a math game coming home on Monday. 

Kindergarten planned the prayer service this Wednesday for Ash Wednesday.  It will be in the church at 9:15, we invite you all to attend.

Reminders
-  Family Mass is Sunday March 6th at 8:30AM
-  Summer Enrichment Program forms are due by March 17th.  Please direct any questions to Mrs. Salmon
-  NO SCHOOL Friday March 18th for a Professional Development Day
-  Spring Break starts Monday March 28th.  School will resume Monday April 4th.



We are really good at keeping our classroom clean!



Friday February 25th, 2011

Room 7 would like to welcome 2 new PillowPets to the classroom.  Rudy the dog and BuzzBuzz the bee have greatly increased the popularity of the reading corner during free choice and center time.  The class has also been very good about making sure that they all get an equal number of turns.

Thank you so much to the volunteers who came with us to Junie B. Jones, The Musical on Wednesday.  This much anticipated field trip was very fun and everyone had a wonderful time, despite the fact that it was a little hard to hear.  We still have a few field trips on the horizon, so if you have not yet had a chance to join us, there is still time.

Our Love Around the U.S.A. unit has been a blast this week.  Thank you so much to all the family and friends who sent postcards to our class.  On our last count, we had collected postcards from 21 different states and 3 different countries.  We will continue to read postcards into early next week, so if you still have some on the way, don't worry!

It's been a big week for Room 7!  The class earned themselves their first official Fancy Lunch on Friday.  Fancy Lunch can only occur when ALL the bees stay in the garden for an entire week.   We are very proud.  Fancy Lunch came complete with tablecloths, floral centerpieces, special napkins, special dessert, mini umbrellas, and classical music.  Pictures from Fancy Lunch will be available next week. 

In Math this week we have been working on Topic 12: Larger Numbers.  We will still be concentrating on this unit next week along with reviewing addition and subtraction.

Also next week we will be getting loose with Dr. Seuss!  In honor of the famous author's birthday, Kindergarten will be concentrating on rhyming and begin our study of word families using his iconic literature.  Most of the students have already pointed out their favorite books!  We are so excited!

Friday February 18th, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!  We all had a wonderful time celebrating our friendshisp on Monday.  It was great to see all the special valentines the kids brought for each other and their artistic valentine boxes.  This week in Kindergarten we carried the valentine theme throughout the week with our geography unit, Love Around the U.S.A.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent in postcards.  We really enjoy reading about all the different places our families live and facts about those places.  Our goal is to talk about all 50 states!  There is still time to send them in, we will be reading them next week as well.

We are finishing up Topic 11: Subtraction this week.  On Thursday we wrote our own subtraction sentences after acting out various subtraction problems.  The students really enjoyed pretending five of them went to the beach then two went home.  Next week we will begin Topic 12: Larger Numbers.

In Writer's Workshop, we are talking about adding Five Finger Detail to stories.  It helps to have this visual representation when students are planning out what they want to write.  It's amazing to see the detail they have begun to include in their stories.

Reminders
-  Monday February 21st - NO SCHOOL for President's Day
-  Wednesday February 23rd - Field Trip to Junie B. Jones, the Musical.  Thank you so much to everyone who signed up to join us.  Unfortunately, we are only taking 2 chaperones on this trip.  The chaperones for this trip will be Mr. Gollias and Mr. Fanning.  Please be at school at 9:00, the bus is scheduled to leave at 9:15.
-  All parents who accompany us on field trips must be Virtus certified.  Please visit the website for the Archdiocese of Chicago under the tab "Protecting Children" to learn more about where and when those training sessions occur.
-  There are still spots available for Celebrity Reader.  Please send a note or email with your day of preference.
-  There will be a Parent's Association Meeting on Tuesday February 22nd at 7:30 in the church commons.
-  Mark your calendars!  Kindergarten will be planning the mass for Ash Wednesday (March 9th) and we would love for all of you to attend. 


Requests
-  Disinfecting wipes
-  Paper towels

Thank you so much for your unending generosity!

Friday February 11th, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!  Happy 100 Day!  We have been very busy catching up from all our snow days last week.  100 Day was moved from last Thursday to Monday as a result of the blizzard.  We had a blast counting to 100 every different way imaginable.  We counted jumping jacks and Fruit Loops by 10's, we counted blocks by 5's, we counted hops by 25's and by 2's...it was exhausting, but great practice!

Also this week we started talking about hibernation.  We talked about what we already know about hibernation.  Then we came up with questions that we want to answer about hibernation this week.  We also read the book, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson to see what happens when a bear and his friends hibernate.

In Math we started Topic 11: Subtraction.  So far we have learned about take away and leftover.  Next week we will begin working with the minus sign.

Requests
-  Spoons
-  Recess Volunteers.  We are in need of recess volunteers for Kindergarten's 1:00 recess.  Please contact Cathy Veth if you would like to help out.

Reminders
-  Please send in your child's valentines and boxes on Monday.
-  Scholastic Book orders are due February 25th.  If you would like to order online, our class activation code is: H2YDJ


Thank you so much for everything you have sent in for our class!  We really appreciate it!

Friday January 28th, 2011

Happy Friday!  This week in Kindergarten we talked a lot about sequencing with Jan Brett's The Mitten.  On Tuesday we read the book and talked about characters, setting and sequencing.  On Thursday we read the book and made our own mittens and animals.  Then on Friday we listened to the story and practiced putting all the animals inside in order.  We are on our way to becoming sequencing experts!

We also started addition this week in math.  We started with the basics, joining groups together with number stories.  We then brought in the more traditional elements of addition with the plus sign on Thursday.  Next week we will talk about sums and begin writing our own number sentences.  Building math from the ground on up!

Next Thursday is 100 Day!  Please remember to send your child's bag in with their 100 items before then!

Requests
-  disinfecting wipes
-  glue sticks


Reminders
-  There is a Virtus training on Saturday at Old St. Mary's.  All parents must be Virtus certified in order to attend any field trips.  Please contact Mary Ann Cushing in the parish offices to find out more about time and availability.
-  Family Mass is this Sunday at 8:30AM in the church.  It marks the beginning of Catholic Schools Week!  We can't wait to see everyone there!
-  Next Friday, February 4th is Jeans Day!  So give your uniform a break and wear your jeans!

Friday January 21st, 2011

Brrrrr!  I sincerely hope that everyone is staying nice and toasty today!  Due to the frigid temperatures outside, we have been enjoying a steady stream of indoor recesses here in Kindergarten.  This week we taught each other Jenga, Twister, and Trouble to add to our list of available activities.

Also this week we finished up our units on snowmen, temperature and winter.  We read the book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and wrote about what we would like to fall from the sky if we could choose.  We also read and discussed the poem, "The Five Little Snowmen".  Everyone very much enjoyed this poem because it reminded them of our old poem from October, "The Five Little Pumpkins".  The poetry binders are going home today so we hope you enjoy hearing the poem as well. 

In Math this week we have been finishing up Topic 9: Measurement.  We have talked about weight, length, width and capacity.  This topic has also been new in our use of Math Partners.  Math Partners are key during the measurement unit because it allows the students to check their answers with each other.  Next week we are starting Topic 10: Addition.  Look out for a math game coming home on Monday!

Celebrity Reader

Celebrity Reader will start up again next Friday.  Celebrity Reader is on Fridays at 2:15.  Please send me a note or email if you are available on any of these days.  First priority will be given to any family members that have not yet had the chance to visit.

January 28th

February 4th

February 25th

March 11th

March 25th

April 8th

April 29th

May 6th

May 13th

May 20th

Requests

We are in need of a few items in our classroom.  Thank you so much for your generosity so far this school year.  We couldn't manage without you.

-  disinfecting wipes

-  glue sticks

Thanks!

Thursday January 13th, 2011

Welcome back!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas break, it's so nice to be back this week.  I know that some people are not loving the snow that we have been having, but it works perfectly into our Winter Weather theme here in Kindergarten.  This is one of my favorite themes because it is a fun transition back to real life after all the hoopla of the weeks before Christmas.  In this unit we focus on the differences between hot and cold, cold and freezing, summer and winter.  We also introduce temperature and talk about the uses of a thermometer.  We read the book, What Will the Weather Be Like Today? by Paul Rogers and  talked a lot about the special clothing we have to wear in order to keep our bodies warm during the winter.  We even designed our own winter wardrobes and dressed paper versions of ourselves.  We also read the book, Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester and discussed in which winter sports we would like to get a gold medal.

Next week we are going to extend this theme to include snowmen.  We will watch the movie Snowman and write about what WE would do if our snowmen came to life.  An extra homework assignment will be coming home in your child's folder today to connect to this unit.  Please send it back in on Tuesday.


Have a great long weekend!


Reminders
-  Please send in a paint shirt for your child.  This can be any old shirt that covers their uniform to keep it clean during projects.
-  The quarter ends Friday, January 14th
-  No School on Monday, January 17th for Martin Luther King day
-  Family Mass will be on Sunday, January 30th at 8:30 AM