Goals Poster

I got a great idea today form a parent who created a "Goals" poster with her child. Together they put all of the goals from the goal sheets so far that her child needed to work on still. They use it as an reminder of what he needs to work on and when he reaches his goal of knowing something they check it off. I thought this was an awesome idea and the student was so excited to tell me all about it. Mom told me he is really motivated now to reach his goals.

Advent

Advent begins on Sunday and in your child's Friday folder the monthly homework for the month of December will be an Advent calendar to help your child prepare for Christmas. Enjoy this time with your child. I think you will find that you get as much out of the activities as your child does. December is such a busy month and I love the Advent calendar because it requires us to slow down and focus on what is really important. I am combining the December and January goals into one goal sheet to be worked on at home. If your child recognizes all of the letters of the alphabet and knows the letter sounds (progress report sent home last week) they really need to be working on sight words at home. I am really stressing the importance of knowing these words to the children because knowing the introduced sight words are so crucial to reading and writing at this point in kindergarten.

Canned Foods

We are still collecting canned foods this week if you would like to send some in. The kids are having fun counting the cans so we are getting so practice with adding.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful day today. We went to church where Father Chris reminded us to use a simple two word prayer often. That prayer is "Thank you."I hope you hear your child say "thank you" often. Praise them when they do and remind them to if they do not. We made stone soup with our magic stones this am and enjoyed the smell throughout the day. After reading another version of Stone Soup we got together with Mrs. Hacker's class and enjoyed the soup, corn bread with butter and apple cider. Ryleigh Plunkitt found the magic stone in her soup. Congrats to Lucas Lahey for being First in Math on Monday and Tuesday this week. Friday folders are full of important information and surprises so be sure to go through it with your child. We met our goal of bringing in cans of food for the needy of our parish. Thank you!    Towels did not come home because we were so busy we didn't have time to get them in backpacks so do not send one in on Monday.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Catton

Chores for Change

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!! The kids met their goal of filling up the jug for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. As part of religion class today one of our sixth grade students who had leukemia when he was in kindergarten came down to visit us and thank us for working so hard doing chores to help others in need. Putting a face with the activity really was meaningful for the kids and me as well. This student was in my room as a kindergartner and I know the fear he and his family dealt with daily but he is a happy and healthy boy now.( Check out the email sent with the picture of JJ and the kids. It was sent this afternoon.) We then went to see Mrs. Ahonen to present her with the jug and the poster the kids made. She was overwhelmed and really appreciated their efforts to help her team in training. Thank you so much for helping with this activity.

Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

First In Math

Henry, Easton, Mackenzie, Lucas and Allison were the First In Math VIP this week. Good job kids! Towels will not be coming home today due to the short week next week. There is no need to send in another towel on Monday. Contributions to our stone soup are due on Monday so we have time to prepare the potatoes and carrots for our soup on Tuesday. Girls bring in one large potato and boys bring in one large carrot.

Chores for Change

Only two more days to earn change for chores! We are so close to our goal of filling the jug given to us by Mrs. Ahonen, one of our first grade teachers.  Mrs. Ahonen is part of a team in training to run a marathon for the Leukemia &Lymphoma Society. We would like to present her with a FULL jug and a poster that the kids have been creating with their names and what they did to earn their change on Friday. PLEASE help us reach our goal by giving your children a few more chores to earn that change. Today at Mass Father challenged each of us to thank five people today and then thank God as well. I would like to THANK each of you for all you do to support me and your child with school and I thank God each day for your kids and you.

Stone Soup

We read a version of the story Stone Soup with Mrs. Hacker's Class on Monday and we will be reading another version of the story later this week. On Monday we will do a Venn Diagram to discuss the similarities and differences between the two stories which is a state standard in language arts. As an extension of this activity we are going to make stone soup and share it with Mrs. Hacker's class on Tuesday. The children will also make butter during science on Monday. I would like all of the girls to bring a potato and all of the boys to bring a large carrot on Monday as their contribution to our stone soup.

Daily Five and Book Buddies

Daily Five is going really well. My goal is that your child is working on reading for 90 minutes. On Thursdays we will get extra reading practice because we have paired up with Miss Hill's second grade class for Book Buddies. During this time your child will have a second grade book buddy that they will do the part of Daily Five called Read to Someone. During Read to Someone the pair sits EEKK (ask your child what it stands for) with a book from your child's book bag. They are using books from their book bag because it is a good fit book for your child. They will listen to their second grade book buddy read (fluency). Stop frequently to check for understanding (comprehension) from the kindergartener. Because the kindergarten children are all at different reading levels some will be reading sentences with their book buddies, some words, and some may be will be looking for letters but they all can read the pictures when it is their turn to read.  We set procedures during our first time together because we know that when the children take ownership in their learing they will be more successful. Miss Hill and I were so impressed with their ideas about what would make Book Buddies run smoothly and effectively.

Math

We have math centers everyday after Daily Five in the morning. On Wednesdays we have math throughout the school day due to Mass in the morning. We will be finishing up a unit on comparing lengths, quantities, numbers and ordering this week. In this unit the math vocabulary consisted of longer, shorter, same, more, less, fewer, least and greatest. You can help your child at home by using this vocabulary as you are speaking with them.

ENVELOPES

PLEASE put any money sent into school in a sealed envelope or a zip lock bag with  your child's name on it and what it is for. It takes a lot  of time in the morning trying to determine what money is supposed to be used for, tracking down an envelope, and it upsets the students when I ask them what it is for and they are  not sure. I had a student today bring in an envelope with money earned from chores for change with her name on it and a sentence she wrote (with the help from mom) about what she did to earn her change. She not only felt really good about giving she also got writing practice and it did not take very long.

Uniforms Girls

Sweat pants are not part of the school uniform when worn under jumpers.  I would suggest that the girls wear tights to keep their legs warm on cold days.  Color blue or white no crazy patterns or colors. Please refer to the student parent handbook if you have any questions. If they wear sweat pants under their jumpers they will need to remove them at the beginning of the school day.
Thank you!

Help from home

Please provide your child the opportunity to do some  chores  to earn  change to bring into school to support our school wide service project the Leukemia Lymphonma Society. The few students who have brought in change so far have expressed how great they feel about the fact that they are helping out others in need.  Only a few students have brought in an item for the fall science center so far. As soon as a few more items come into the classroom the center will be open for the students to explore.

Goal Sheets

Beginning in November I would like you as the parent to initial the goal sheet in the small box of the activity so I know that you are observing your child do the activity. I am finding that some of the goals sheets are checked and when I ask the child who did the activity with them them tell me they did it by themselves. I also really appreciate the few  of you who write some of your child's responses in the box. That really keeps me informed.

Fall Science Center

I would like to do a fall science center for the children to explore over the next few weeks. Have your child collect something in nature to bring in to add to the science center. Some examples are a gourd, leaf, acorn, apple, book about fall, etc. These items will not be returned so what ever you send in consider it a donation.. The Children love exploring God's world so I am hoping to fill up the science center. Items are due by Friday of next week.

Chores for Change

This weekend would be a great time to give your child the opportunity to do some chores around the house to earn some change. I would love to hear every child in the classroom tell me what they did to earn their change on Monday. One student cleaned his room and he told us that it really made his Mom happy. We will only be doing this activity for this charity until November 16th. Today four children gave up their ice cream money for charity. It was so great when one of the kids told me he really loved ice cream but he wanted to share. Now that is making a connection. I told him I gave up my Diet Coke and that was a sacrifice for me too. :) This is not just a one time thing. Your child can bring in change everyday if you are inclined to give them some chores.

First in Math

VIP First in Math winners this week are Lucas (twice), Ryleigh, Max, and Frances. Our class has earned 3,737 stickers so far. The top five players in the room are Henry, Lucas, Caroline, Frances and Max. Great job kids!