Gingerbread/ Winter Holidays

As we continued with our Tell Me a Story planner, we focused on The Gingerbread Man last week and will finish our study of that story this week. We have read many versions of the classic story and today even made up our own! Look for a copy of The Chinese Gingerbread Man in your child's backpack soon. I was so impressed with how well the students organized their thoughts and cooperated to make up this great story. I can't wait for you to see it and neither can the kids! :)
The second half of this week and all of next week we will be learning about different holidays around the world. Next Tuesday and Wednesday students will be participating in the Holidays Around the World rotation and will get to learn about a different holiday from each of the 6 kindergarten teachers.
In math we are focusing on number patterns, graphing, and weight.
We have gotten behind on our sight words, so this week we will cover 5 instead of our normal 3. They are may, say, day, look, and her.
A note about our Winter Party will be in tomorrow's brown folder.
Have a great week!

November 9-20

Last week we began our third planner, Tell Me a Story.  We kicked it off with a study of classic stories, beginning with The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs.  This week we will continue with The Three Little Pigs and then move on to The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Some of our activities include retelling and acting out the stories, writing about our favorite parts, extending a story, and creating our own books.  

In math we will focus on sorting, graphing, and money.

Our new sight words are you, for, and has.

This week we will be switching our ancillary time with 2nd grade so that we will be in our classroom during the Magnet Tours, so we will be in ancillary from 2:05-2:50.

Reminders:

-Friday we will be participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk.  Please remember to send your child in comfy shoes.

-The Book Fair is Monday and Tuesday at Barnes and Noble.  Free Dress Passes for all students who attend!

Upcoming Dates to Remember

Here are some dates to put on your calendar. We are going to be busy until the end of the semester. I'm sure additions will be made in the coming weeks.

Wednesday, Nov. 4- Early Dismissal (12:30), NNAT, Parent/Teacher Conferences (No journal volunteer today.)
Thursday, Nov. 5- Substitute in the classroom---CPR training for Mrs. Eddlemon (No journal volunteer today.)
Friday, Nov. 6- Juvenile Diabetes Assembly @ 8:15 (No journal volunteer today.)
Nov. 9-20- LDC (No journal volunteers for these 2 weeks.)
Nov. 11- Kindergarten teacher planning day---There will be a sub in the classroom in the afternooon.
Nov. 18- Hansel and Gretel performance @ 8:30
Nov. 20- School-wide Diabetes Walk in the a.m.
Nov. 24- Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
Nov. 25-27- Thanksgiving Holidays
Dec. 3- Stuart Little performance @ 8:30 (No journal volunteer today.)
Dec. 4- Sub in the classroom in the p.m. Mrs. Eddlemon's sister is getting married. :)
Dec. 10 and 11- Sub in the classroom---3 of the kindergarten teachers will be attending an IB conference in Baltimore. (No journal volunteer needed.)
Dec. 14- 18 LDC- No journal volunteers needed.
Dec. 15 and 16- Holidays Around the World---Kindergarten classes will rotate to all of the 6 different teachers' classes to learn about holiday traditions around the world.
Dec. 17- Winter Holiday Party
Dec. 18- Last day before the holidays
Dec 21- Jan. 4- WINTER HOLIDAYS!!!

October 26th- November 6th

This week and next we are focusing on tools that keep us organized.  We will learn about clocks, calendars, and schedules.  In math we will discuss positional terms, patterns, and weight.  Our sight words are am, of, or, no, as, & and.

Wednesday, November 4th is an early dismissal day.  All kindergarteners will be taking the NNAT that day.  This test is used for placement in the gifted and talented program.  Students will have about 30 minutes to take the test.  I will test half of the class at a time.  One of the teacher aides will help with the kids that are not testing.  Please make sure that your child has a good night's sleep and a good breakfast that morning.  The afternoon has been set aside for parent/teacher conferences.  Report cards will also be given out that day.  

We are collecting Box Tops for Education.  There is a competition between all of the classes at Mark Twain to see who can bring in the most.  My class won last year...let's make it a tradition!  :)

The Big "O"

Last week we started out second PYP Planner...The Big "O".  This planner focuses on organization.  We kicked off with Backwards Day on Monday.  The day was all mixed up and it made students realize that the organization and predictability of their day is comforting.  This week we will focus on how organization makes us feel safe.  We will do many activities involving safety and community helpers.  We will discuss stranger danger, read Officer Buckle and Gloria and make our own safety tip, make community helper puppets, watch a demonstration from the Mark Twain Safety Patrol, and visit the local fire department.  

In math we will focus on numbers, patterns, and measuring.

Our sight words for the week are on, of, and we.

We will be going to the fire department on Friday morning.  We need volunteers to walk with us, so let me know if you are available.  We will miss our lunch time, so please send a sack lunch on Friday.  Look for the permission slip in the Tuesday folder.

Spooky Spaghetti is this Saturday!  It's going to be a great time!

Children's Museum

We had a great time at the Children's Museum.  Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to chaperone.  It was a success!  Here are a few pictures of our day.

Project Week

Over the next week and a half we will be finishing up our All About Me PYP planner.  To complete the planner, the kindergarten classes will host a Me Museum on October 7th from 8-9 am.  Parents are invited to view the museum.  Please plan to let your child show off all his/her wonderful work.

This week students will participate in the following activities.

* ME/WE Book- Students will work in pairs to complete their page for our class book.

* Create a life-sized self portrait

* Rainbow of Me

* Me Map- Students will write and draw to complete a map of themselves.

* Me Museum Reflection

Our class will go to the Literacy Development Center (LDC) this week and next.

Our field trip to the Children's Museum is Wednesday, September 30.  Please send in your permission slip and money if you have not done so yet.  Also, please send a sack lunch for your child the day of the trip.  We still need volunteers, so if you are available let me know.

We are still looking for volunteers to help with the life-sized self portraits.  Please stop by if you can from 8:15- 9:00 and/or 2:00-2:40.  Thank you!

Five Senses

This week we will be exploring the five senses.  Students will participate in the following activities.

* Make individual books about their senses.  

* Find and cut out pictures of things you can taste, smell, see, feel, and touch from magazines.

* Play various sense-related games such as I Spy and Mystery Box.

* Make an "I can touch..." caterpillar.

* Tasting activity...bitter, sweet, salty, and sour.

* Listen to a variety of Read Alouds pertaining to the 5 senses.

Math- activities involving numbers, parts of a whole and relationships between numbers

Journal- Students will write in their journals each day.  We will begin our story dictation with parent volunteers this week.

Miscellaneous Info:

-Two homework activities will be in the brown folder.  Please send them in as finished.

-Me Posters are due this week.

-Don't forget....We have Show and Tell every Friday!

-Kindergarten Pizza Night is September 23rd.  Hope to see you there!

-Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering for our field trip to the Children's Museum on September 30th.  

I can't believe it's already our 5th week of school!  Let's make it a great one!  :)

Freinds

This week we are continuing our "All About Me" Planner with an emphasis on FRIENDS.  Some of the activities we will be doing are...

* Reading Friends and creating a storyboard to use to retell the story.

* Reading The Rainbow Fish and creating our own rainbow fish.  We will also write about sharing.

* Reading A Color of My Own and making a class book based on this story.

* Reading Ruby the Copycat and interviewing/introducing a friend to the class.

* We will continue writing in our journals all week.  ***I am already noticing improvement in writing skills this early in the year!  Yeah!!!***

* Math activities involving patterning, number recognition, counting, and graphing.

Other Informaiton and Dates to Remember

- You will find directions for a homework project in the brown folder.  The "All About Me" posters are due next week.

- If you have not filled out the Media Release form, a new one is in your child's brown folder this week.  Please complete and return it as soon as you can.  I would like to add pictures to our blog but can't until I get these back.  Thanks!

- Open House is September 15.

- Sally Foster and Entertainment Book fund raisers are due on September 18th.

- Kindergarten Pizza Night is September 23rd from 5:30 -7.  Hope to see you there!

- There is no school on Monday, September 28th.

- Children's Museum Field Trip is September 30.  Parent Volunteers are needed.  Look for the permission slip in the brown folders.

- Our Class Party will be on October 3rd at Karl Young Park at 9 am.

Congratulations to Avonlea and her family who welcomed a baby boy over the weekend.  :)

News

September 8-11

This Week's Focus:  FAMILIES

Activites:

* We will read My Family, Your Family and graph our families.

* We will also read A Chair for My Mother and Just Me and My Dad.  Each student will complete a page for a class book.

* We will read aloud Tar Beach and students will complete a glyph about themselves.

* Students will write in their journals each day.

* Math- Activities involving numbers, operations, and quantitative reasoning in addition to daily calendar activities.

Miscellaneous Info:

* The first of four Home Links will be in the brown folder.  Home Links are a supplement to our math program.  The books suggest activites for you to do at home with your child.  You do not need to return the book.  It is yours to keep.

* Me Dolls- Look for Me Dolls in the brown folder.  This project will be due on Monday.

* Please send in a baby photo with your child's name on the back.  We are going to guess who's who.  The photo will be returned.

* Don't forget to join the PTO!  We want 100% participation for our class.

* Scholastic Book Orders are due on Wednesday.  I have not gone online with this yet, but I'll let you know when I do.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

In an effort to go green, I have launched a class website.  The address is:

mrseddlemonsclass.blogspot.com

Look for updates each week online instead of in the brown folder.

Thanks!!! :)

Open House

Save the Date!  

Open House will be on September 15 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.  Find out everything you want to know about life in Kindergarten!

Meet the Teacher

My name is Sarah Eddlemon and I am very excited to be teaching at Mark Twain Elementary!  I graduated from The University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Learning and Development.  I then taught kindergarten in Katy, Texas for 3 years and first grade in Spring Branch for one year.  This will be my second year teaching kindergarten at Mark Twain Elementary.

I have been married to Eric for a little over 3 years.  We had our first baby boy, Miles, in February and are loving parenthood.  We also have a wild and crazy dog named Fozzie.

In my free time I enjoy scrapbooking, swimming, baking, suduko, and spending time with my family.

I look forward to a great year!