K-C News
November 18, 2016
What you really need to know
Sad News: One of our fish has swum on to the great beyond. I'm not sure if it was Terry or Eyeball, which probably makes me a very bad fish-mom. I'm going to say it was Eyeball so we can choose a rhyming name for our new fish, due to arrive after Thanksgiving. Because we're working on rhyming and multitasking is the name of the game in half day K. So get ready to meet Jerry, Merry, Kerry, Berry, Ferry, Perry or Very soon.
I have received several photos and "at home" projects that your kids have been creating as extensions of our school learning. Look on Bloomz for a new album of "I Did It At Home" masterpieces! Keep em coming if you want to be published. And I also posted a Halloween photo album, because better late than never.
Thanks to Will's Mom, Dad and sister who came in to be our Mystery Readers and play with our pattern blocks! You can guess who did what. They shared the story The Day the Crayons Came Home.
Since nobody has ordered yet, this weekend is the last call for November Book Orders. Here's the November Kindergarten Flyer. Order by Sunday night if interested.
Go to https://clubs.scholastic.com and use our class activation code HVXFH if this is your first order. Visit the ALL FLYERS tab to choose any grade level and browse November selections.
Happy Birthday to Willie who turned six years old this week!
ALICE UPDATE
Coming Attractions
Early Release for Thanksgiving Break at 12:15
Wednesday, 11/23
Thanksgiving - No School
Thursday-Friday, 11/24-25
No AM Kindergarten/PM KASE in session - K conferences by appointment
Thursday, 12/8
Delayed Opening (Professional Development)/No AM Kindergarten
Wednesday, December 14
Winter Break - No School
Saturday, December 24- Monday, January 2
School Resumes in 2017
Tuesday, January 3
What we've been up to.
- Our math studies have expanded to include the reintroduction and review of two-dimensional shapes. Your children can identify a rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagon, among other things. We used pattern blocks (those cute rainbow colored shapes that are fun to build with and sort) to make pictures of scarecrows and then recorded how many of each shape we used.
- As you may already know, we have been learning about bats as part of a study of nocturnal animals. I mentioned the word homework and most of them literally ran home to do research, make posters, create bat collages and write books. So yeah, keep doing what you're doing because your kids love to learn.
- Mrs. Cohen flew solo with the iPad cart, perhaps my greatest teaching achievement to date. Except it really wasn't because your kids are so proficient with iPads, even I could not confuse them. We used the drawing app Rocket Paint (created by an Eliot parent, I'm told) to create awesome pictures of bats. Stay tuned for a multimedia production including visuals and narration by the K-C kids.
- We have begun guided reading groups. I am beginning to meet with students in small groups to look at predictable texts and talk about reading strategies. We have already begun to talk about decoding CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words by looking at the beginning, middle and ending sounds. We have also talked about rhyming words that have similar endings.
- Our third grade buddies came by to read with us and BONUS: to teach us a bit about Thanksgiving. Several third graders volunteered to speak to our class about the who, what, where and when of Thanksgiving.
Links of the week.
Find the shapes to make a space ship for the chickens!
http://pbskids.org/games/shapes/
Practice finding the teen numbers!
http://www.education.com/game/number-demolition-11-20/
Connect the dots 1-20
http://www.abcya.com/connect_the_dots_20.htm
Play guess the number (BASIC: 1-10, CHALLENGE 1-100)
The things kids say. For real.
Mrs. Cohen: Oh no. It looks like he isn't alive anymore.
Student 2: That happened to my fish. We put it in salt water and then we changed it back to clean water and then he was alive again.
Mrs. Cohen: Well, we can try that, but I'm pretty sure he's been dead for a while, and it may not work.
So I put the no-longer-living fish in a small bowl of salt water and left him out for observation. By the end of the morning, it seemed clear it was not his fate to be revived. But it wasn't from lack of trying. Or maybe it was...
Student 2: It didn't work because that bowl was too small. You have to use a bigger bowl.
I really am a bad fish-mom, aren't I?