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Schedule for 1/24 - 1/28

M - Art
T - Gym & Music
W - Music & Gym
Th - Art, Media
F - No School - Teacher Workshop

This week we will be working on the word families -in, -ig, and -it. Our new sight words are where and do.

On Thursday, students are encouraged to bring a dollar to dress like a Rock Star!!!

PJ Day

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Friday) is Comfy clothes/Pajama Day at Shirley Hills. Students just have to bring in a dollar to donate to our fundraiser!
Thank you!

Schedule for 1/17 - 1/21

M - No School
T - Music & Gym
W - Art
Th - Gym & Music, Media
F - Music & Gym, Computer

This week we will be working on two letters: B and K. Our new sight words are for and me.

We are busy making birthday cards today! We are celebrating Sami's birthday and Dylan's half-birthday!

Avery's mom was able to come in and read to us last week. Thank you!

Schedule for 1/10 - 1/14

M - Music & Gym
T - Gym & Music, 4th grade buddies
W - Art
Th - Music & Gym, Media
F - Gym & Music, Computer

This is a review week for us in language arts. Remember to keep practicing these sight words: like, come, to, here, this, he, a, I, my, the and go.

Our word families for this week are -it and -ip. We will also be working on listening for the middle sound in words.

The kids are getting really good at using their "smartie spelling". They are becoming much more comfortable when they are writing in their journals and it's great to see how far their writing has come along.

Pastries for Parents is this Thursday morning in the cafeteria from 7:45 - 8:45. "That morning, we will be decorating and assembling “Breakfast Bags” for families to eat while they are at the Ronald McDonald House. We are asking families to donate the following supplies to fill the bags: granola bars, cereal bars (i.e., NutriGrain bars), juice boxes or pouches (100% juice only, please), and individual servings of apple sauce, nuts, or trail mix."

Ms. Bridge will be my substitute for when I go on maternity leave (hopefully not for a few weeks!). She will be joining us on Thursday and Friday to spend some time with the class and get to know the routines!

Have a great week!

Guest Readers!

Dylan is the Star of the Week and his parents were able to come in and read to us this morning!

Schedule for 1/3 - 1/7

M - Gym & Music, Character Assembly
T - Art, bring in a nickel
W - Music & Gym, bring in a dime
Th - Gym & Music, Media, bring in a quarter
F - Art, Computer, bring in a dollar to have your picture taken in the Shirley Hills Photo Booth.

This week we will be practicing the letters G and F. Our new sight words are here and this.

Today we will be having an assembly in the afternoon to kick-off January as our Caring for our Community month. Students will be raising money for children that are born with heart defects. Today after the assembly each student will be given a penny to donate. See the above schedule to donate the rest of the week.

Thursday, Jan. 13th from 7:45 - 8:45 is Pastries with Parents. Stop by for a light snack and to help with a service project.

We are getting to the end of our extra snack supply. Please make sure to send in a snack with your child each day and also (sometime in the next couple of weeks) send in a box or bag of snacks that we can keep in the classroom for when a child has forgotten theirs. Thank you!

I hope you enjoyed the holiday break. I'm looking forward to hearing about it from the kids today :)

Schedule for 12/6 - 12/10

M - Art
T - Gym & Music
W - Music & Gym
Th - Art, Media
F - Gym & Music, Computer

This week in Kindergarten we are starting to celebrate Holidays Around the World. Each day this week the students will use their passports and travel to another Kindergarten classroom to learn about a country and their holiday traditions.

In math we will continue to work on Chapter 5: Geometry and Fractions. We will also be learning about symmetry this week!

Next Tuesday, December 14th, we will be going on a field trip to the Old Log Theater in Excelsior. We will be seeing their holiday children's show - Puss in Boots. We will leave around 9:15 in the morning and return to school in time for lunch. We do have room for 2 parents to ride the bus and more are welcomed to meet us there. Cost for adults is $8.00. Please contact me if you would like to attend.

Please make sure to send clothes for your child to go outside each day. Also, if you could write their name on the tags of their snowpants, hats, etc...that will help us track it down if something does get lost!

Have a great week!

Schedule for 11/22 - 11/26

M - Gym & Music, Character class with Mrs. Swanson
T - Music & Gym, Computer
W - Art
Th - No School
F - No School

Because of the short week, we will not be introducing a new letter or sight word. We will finish working on numbers 6-10 in math. Here's a few pictures from the last couple of weeks!





Happy Thanksgiving :)

Schedule for 11/15 - 11/19

M - Music & Gym
T - Art
W - Gym & Music
Th - Music & Gym, Media
F - Art & Computer

This week we do not have a new letter, so we will be reviewing the ones that we've learned so far. Our new sight words is: he. We'll spend more time working on blending sounds together to make words. The word families for this week are -ap and -an.

In math we will finish up with Chapter 4 and numbers 6-10.

The kids are very excited to get outside and play in the snow during recess! Please make sure that you send appropriate winter clothing each day. The classes will go out every day unless the temperature is too cold. Any extra practice that you can do at home to work on getting themselves dressed to go out would be much appreciated!!!

Have a great week!

Schedule for 11/8 - 11/12

M - No School - Conferences
T - Gym & Music
W - Music & Gym
Th - Art, Media
F - Gym & Music, Computer

It was great to meet with all of you for conferences! Thank you for taking time out of your day to come and visit with me!

This week we are working on the letter D and our new sight word is like. Our vocabulary words this week are: active, gigantic, voyage, gasped, glum, and whimper. We will be spending more time on learning what a sentence is this week.

In math we will begin working on the numbers 6-10. We have our first Time for Kids magazine to read this week as well!

Grandfriend's Day

Schedule for 11/1 - 11/5

M - Music & Gym
T - Art, 4th Grade Buddies!
W - Gym & Music
Th - Music & Gym
F - Art, Grandfriend's Day, Computer

This week we do not have a new letter, but we will be spending lots of time working on word families and blending letters together to create words. In math, we will continue to practice numbers 0-5 and using a number line.

My first round of conferences is this Thursday evening from 4-8. Next Monday, there is no school for the kids, but I have conferences scheduled throughout the day and evening. I'm looking forward to talking with all of you then!

Friday morning is Grandfriend's Day at Shirley Hills. The students have been busy rehearsing their songs with Mrs. Bray. If you haven't already, please make sure that you send in the form to let me know how many Grandfriend's are attending.

Have a great week!

Family Fun Night

Tonight is Family Fun night at Shirley Hills from 5 - 8pm. Come check out all the new books at the book fair!

Schedule for 10/25 - 10/29

M - Art
T - Gym & Music
W - Music & Gym
Th - Art & Media
F - Gym & Music, Computer, Halloween Parade

Hope you all were able to enjoy some extra time with the kids last week! This week we are working on the letter Aa. The students will practice listening for the beginning sound in words also. In math we will start learning about numbers 1-5.

On Friday, we will have our Halloween Parade in the afternoon. Students are invited to bring in a costume, please send them in a separate plastic bag on Friday. Parents are invited to come in and watch the parade! It begins at 2:15, head to the Gym to see all of the classes walk through. After our class has walked through the Gym, feel free to come to our classroom and visit your child. If you would like to bring your child home that afternoon after the parade, please make sure that you let me know and that you also sign him/her out in the office before you leave.

Have a great week!

Schedule for 10/18 - 10/22

M - Gym & Music
T - Music & Gym
W - No School (Teacher Workshop)
Th - No School
F - No School

Since we have a short week ahead of us, we will be reviewing the letters and sight words that we've learned so far. The class will be rollerskating for the next couple of weeks in Gym with Mr. Halvarson. If your child has one, please send in their bike helmet for them to use while they are skating!

Last week our 4th grade buddies came down and helped us get familiar with the using the i-Touch apps.


Jacob was the Star of the week and both of his parents were able to come in and read to us!

Deardorff Apple Orchard

We had a great field trip this morning. We couldn't have asked for better weather and the Deardorff's are always so warm and welcoming! The class had fun looking at the animals, jumping in the hay, and seeing how they collect and wash the apples. Due to an early frost this spring and lots of business, they took us to a different part of the orchard to pick apples. The kids didn't seem to mind, especially when they told us we'd be getting there by a hay ride :)
A special thank you to all of the parents that took time out of their day to join us!

Parent Readers & Apple Tasting!

Dylen was our star of the week last week and his Mom was able to come in and read!

This morning Reese's mom was able to come in as well.


This afternoon we tasted four different kinds of apples: Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, McIntosh, and I was able to track down a few SweeTango's!


The students had fun talking about which flavor they liked the best.


The SweeTango won! We're looking forward to learning more about apples tomorrow at the Deardorff Orchard!

Schedule for 10/4 - 10/08

M - Art, Character class with Mrs. Swanson
T - Field Trip and Media
W - Music/Gym
Th - Art
F - Gym/Music, Computer

A busy week ahead of us! Tuesday will be a big day. We will be heading to the Deardorff Apple Orchard in the morning. We will be back to school in time for recess/lunch. We are switching our Media time with Mrs. Koepp this week, so K-1 will be going on Tuesday afternoon. Please remind your child to bring their book back by Tuesday morning.

Have a great week!

Schedule for 9/27 - 10/1

M - Gym/Music
T - Music/Gym
W - Art
Th - Gym/Music, Media (remember to bring books back)
F - Music/Gym

This week we will be working on the letter T. We'll finish up Chapter 1 in math and start Chapter 2 - Patterns. Today we will start our year-long observation of a tree and we'll record what we see in our tree journals. Tomorrow we will meet with our 4th grade buddies!

Here are a few pictures from last week:
Our table groups were working on sorting by shape and color.



Max and Dylan spent much of their free choice time working on their drawings!


Helena was our star of the week and her Mom was able to come in and read to us!