What's Happening?????

Dear Parents:
I am sorry that it has taken so long for me to post on my blog but I could not get into the blog for a few days and had to figure out what was going on.... Anyway, when things work, it is wonderful but when things break down....boy... it is extremely frustrating. I am happy to be up and running again. So.... Happy Chinese New Year....Happy 100 Days of School....Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Vacation Week!!!!

Tomorrow is the 100th Day of School. Do you believe it? It is so hard for me to believe.. Your children are doing amazing work and have matured so much these last 99 days. As a teacher...it makes me so happy to see all of them love school and enjoy every subject and to be reading and writing and doing difficult math problems everyday. The children in Class K-207 will certainly be ready for the rigors of 1st Grade. We have been doing a lot of work on our math curriculum getting ready for the 100th day. We made links with construction paper and the children figured out that it would take ten links to get to 100 if each link was 10. The links are outside and inside the classroom for all to see. Today we worked on the question - How many hands does it take to get to 100? The children of Class K-207 - with the help of Gracie's mom - painted their hands and grouped by 5's to find the answer. Do you know how many group of 5's make 100? Come look at the painted hands in our classroom. We also read the book - Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells and learned the song - 100 Bottles of POP on the Wall. Our shared reading is a poem entitled 100 days and it is to the tune of Ten Little Indians. Ask your child to sing it to you. We looked at some the 100 objects that your children brought into class - and looked at Ms. Graham's 100 pencils - and counted them by 5's and 10's. We realized that today our straws are grouped by 9 tens and 9 ones and that tomorrow - our big day - our straws will be grouped as 1 one hundred - 0 tens - and 0 ones. Very exciting stuff!!! We will be having a small celebration tomorrow in our classroom in celebration of the 100th day. It is also an Open House for the school - so tomorrow will be very hectic.

I would like to remind you that the Kindergarten Classes will be going on a walking tour of CHINATOWN SUNSET PARK on Friday, February 13, 2009 and will be having lunch at Pacificana Restaurant, located at 813 55th Street, Brooklyn, NY. We will be having an authentic Chinese lunch and will be seeing the Lion Dance. The children will be leaving the school around 9:40 a.m. and will walk around the Chinatown neighborhood – if the weather is appropriate - where we will see many live creatures – turtles, crabs, etc. Lunch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. This is the Year of the Ox - 4707. Have a healthy appetite. The food is very good. Even though we were supposed to only bring 5 parents, I have included an additional four parents to come along - since they have not been on trips with the class before. My parent helpers are:
Adelaide's mom
Andrew's dad
Clea's mom
Dzevad's mom
Emily's mom - I am very happy that Emily's mom can join us. She is also a public school teacher and - as a mother myself - I know how hard it is to miss your child's school events and this is the first time she was able to come.
Grace's mom
Kevin's mom
Lucas' mom
Unni's mom

As parent helpers, this goes without saying, that we need to watch all the children in the class and not just our own. Thank you in advance. This lunch will also serve as our Valentine celebration. There are not enough days in the week!

I hope that you all have received our Kindergarten Newsletter for February. Here is an overview of what your child is learning this month.

Reading Workshop: This is a new unit of study where the children are story detectives. They are noticing and defining patterns in their texts and using these patterns to help them read their books.

Writing Workshop: This is also a new unit called How-To Books. How-To Books are types of procedural writing. Each of your children will be a teacher this month! It empowers the children to get them to think about what they know how to do really well. I have had a mix of How-To's - from Jack Bowen's "How to Hug Sam" - where the ingredients that he needs are fingers, hands, Sam and ME! to Flynn's - How to Walk on Ice - where the ingredients are Flynn, boots, ice and a fence (in case he falls down!!! They are all hilarious. Please have a conversation with your child about all of the things that he or she knows how to do, make or play! It is important that you child be able to teach us how to do or make something step-by-step.

Bed Time Stories: Our Winnie-the-Pooh study has been a great success so far! Pooh has watched the Super Bowl, been to Karate and met a lot of new friends. The children are so excited about this unit.

Word Study; We are learning so many sight words. I will be giving each child a word wall list to bring home so that they can study it over the break. Ask them about the Word Wall Fairy who visits our class sometimes!

Shared Reading: We are reading Big Books and the children are getting familiar with all the sight words and patterns. It is really exciting.

Social Studies: We are continuing to explore our fire unit. Each kindergarten class is taking a slightly different approach to the study. Our class is now in the process of making a fire truck.

Math: We are skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We are playing addition Top It with our classroom playing cards and will be making symmetrical Valentines Day Hearts. We are very busy in math!!!

That is all for now. As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Check out this great literacy website: www.starfall.com. The children love it.

Fondly,
Ms. Graham

P.S. For all concerned....I am happy to report that Mrs. Rice's escaped SNAKE - who she had for only one day before he took off from her classroom - was found safe and sound in the ART ROOM!!!! (slithering down two flights of stairs during the night!!!) Luckily...the snake was found by one of Mrs. Rice's Students and NOT Ms. Kelly - who probably would have had a heart attack if she came face to face with him.