Exploring with our Five Senses

Check out our class using their Five Senses to explore, and observe at Centers. So much fun while learning.

Important Dates
Wed., Oct. 7th EARLY DISMISSAL @ 1:45
Fri., Oct. 9th SMILE! Fall Pictures
Mon., Oct. 12th Book Fair Week / Chick-fil-A Night
Tues., Oct 13th Book Fair Family Night 6-8pm in the Media Center
Thurs., Oct. 15th Field Trip to Diamond D Ranch
Here are some reminders for chaperones:
• Chaperones MUST have a current Chets Creek volunteer ID badge
• Chaperones cannot ride the bus—they can follow it or meet us at our destination
• Siblings are not allowed
Please be sure to turn in your child’s permission slip and payment by Oct. 8th. This will be a great trip!

We Need Pumpkins!
Please send a small (ornamental) or medium-sized pumpkin to school on or before Friday, October 9th for our upcoming Science unit. We also need a large one to observe and to decorate for the Literary Pumpkin Festival. If you would like to donate it, please send a note in your child’s folder. Thank you in advance!

FALL FUN
ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23RD WE WILL BE HAVING A FALL CELEBRATION. THE CHILDREN WILL BE ALLOWED TO DRESS UP AS THEIR FAVORITE LITERARY CHARACTER & WILL PARTICIPATE IN A PARADE AROUND THE SCHOOL. OUR CLASS WILL CONTINUE THE FUN THROUGHOUT THE DAY. YOU ARE INVITED TO COME & SEE THE PARADE AND STAY FOR THE FUN. WE WILL BE SENDING HOME A LETTER SOON ASKING FOR YOUR HELP.

THIS YEAR’S PTA “SYMPHONY OF FUN” FALL CARNIVAL WILL BE FROM 6-9 PM ON THE SAME DAY. OUR CLASS WILL BE SUPERVISING “PUTT-PUTT” AND WILL NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR 30 MINUTE SHIFTS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING. IF YOU CAN HELP OUT PLEASE SEND A NOTE IN YOUR CHILD’S FOLDER WITH A DAYTIME CONTACT NUMBER.

THE PTA NEEDS CANDY DONATIONS FOR THE EVENING. PLEASE LABEL ANY DONATIONS & SEND THEM ANYTIME BEFORE THE 23RD.

ART TO REMEMBER
Friday you received the ART TO REMEMBER Fundraiser packet from our ART teacher, Mrs. Snead. The due date for the envelopes to be returned is Friday, October 9th.

WE ARE WORKING ON…
Skills Block: Letter Names & Sounds (Star of the Day), Rhyming (Word Family –at), Vocabulary
Reader’s Workshop: Literacy Centers, Retelling Stories, and Sight Words (and, is, to, go, for, have, said, are, at)
Writer’s Workshop: Writing Genres (Report & Functional Writing) and S-T-R-E-T-C-H the word (sound by sound for writing)
Math Workshop: Calendar Skills, Patterns (Identifying the unit of a pattern), Writing Numbers, Number Recognition
Science Workshop: Five Senses, Pumpkins

Can you hear the music?

Thank You!

Happy Birthday Mrs. Lankford!
Wow! Thank you so much for the beautiful cards and the sweet well wishes! I appreciate all you do!

Apples, Apples, We Love Apples

Apples, Apples, We Love Apples!
THANK YOU to all the families that sent apples! Our activities were a huge hit! We learned about graphing, making applesauce, and the best part was tasting! YUMMY! Please ask your child about apple tasting and making applesauce.

Important Dates
Tues., Sept. 29th PTA Family Night @ 6:00 pm
Fri., Oct. 9th Fall Pictures
Mon., Oct. 12th Book Fair Week
Tues., Oct 13th Family Night Book Fair 6-8pm
Thurs., Oct. 15th Field Trip to Diamond D Ranch

Progress Reports & Conferences
This week your child will bring home a progress report. Please sign and return your child’s Progress Report as soon as possible so that we can begin contacting parents to schedule conferences on an as needed basis this first nine weeks. If we didn’t indicate the need for a conference on your child’s progress report then your child is meeting academic expectations at this time. Please let us know at anytime if you feel you need to schedule a conference with us.

WE ARE WORKING ON…
Skills Block: Letter Recognition & Sounds (Star of the Day), Sight Words (I, a, an, can, see, my, the)
Reader’s Workshop: Literacy Centers
Writer’s Workshop: Report and Functional Writing
Math Workshop: Calendar Skills, Patterns, Writing Numbers, Number Recognition
Science Workshop: Five Senses, Seasons (Fall)

Five Senses

Wow! What a great turn out for Open House! We appreciate everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed yourself and got a glimpse at how your child spends their day in our classroom at Chets Creek.

This week we are working on…
Skills Block: Letter Recognition & Sounds (Star of the Day), Sight Words (I, a, an, can, see, my, the)
Reader’s Workshop: Book Bins (Independent Reading Time), Reading Strategies (Look at the Pictures, Point to the Words)
Writer’s Workshop: Responding to Literature (Favorite Part) &
S-T-R-E-T-C-H the word (sound by sound for writing)
Math Workshop: Calendar Skills, Patterns Writing
Science Workshop: Five Senses, Seasons (Fall)

Important Dates
Wed., Sept. 23rd Early Dismissal @ 1:45 pm
Fri., Sept. 25th Scholastic book orders are due.
Fri., Sept. 25th Flag Raising in the courtyard @ 9:00 am
Sat., Sept. 26th Campus Clean-Up @ 9:00 am
Tues., Sept. 29th PTA Family Night @ 6:00 pm

THANK YOU!
Our class enjoyed a popcorn party because of you! Yeah! Thank you for supporting our PTA.
Thank you to the families that have provided us with items from our “Wish List!” We appreciate your support. We are still in need of the following items:
Lysol wipes
Post-It notes

The Music Continues!

The Music Continues

In Math Workshop we continued to work on Making Patterns. The students used a variety of math manipulatives to construct their own two and three part linear patterns. After using the math manipulatives, the students were able to construct patterns with different color construction paper. They shared their finished patterns with each other. Awesome!
Using our book bins during Reader’s Workshop was also a hit!

We look forward to showing you much more at Open House on Thursday, Sept. 17th @ 6:30 pm in our classroom. Our Volunteer Orientation will be held via the TV at that time. At the conclusion of our classroom presentation please plan to go to the dining room to get an ID badge made if you plan on volunteering at the school, attending field trips, or eating lunch with your child. See you at Open House.

Kindergarten Fun!

Making sweet sounds in Kindergarten!
Every morning begins with our Skills Block. During this time our focus is on the “Star of the Day”. Every “Star” shares valuable information about themselves. It’s a great way for the children to learn about their new friends and the letters/sounds in their names. Each child draws a picture of the “Star” to take home. After Skills Block we move right into Writer’s Workshop. This week we learned about Reading and Writing strategies. Picture walk (look at the pictures), and point to the words. During our Writer’s Workshop we worked on an “I see” book. To help the students with writing we use our pocket chart with family word cards.
In Reader’s Workshop we heard the “Star Book” Caps for Sale. We made monkeys to help with our retelling of the story. Stop by our hall to see our tree filled with monkeys wearing different color caps.
Sharing our homework assignment was great! The students needed to find items at home that begin with the first letter/letter sound of their first name. Wow! We were exposed to several thoughtful items. We ended the week with some dancing. The song titled Let’s Dance: Learning Basic Skills through Music by: Hap Palmer was a great way to end the week!
Can you hear the music?

Our First Week of Kindergarten

After you enjoyed your Boo Hoo Breakfast, our day started with a WOW assembly held in the dining room, featuring The KTG Musical Entertainment group. It was awesome and we all totally enjoyed it.
Most of Monday was spent teaching rituals and routines, practicing a Fire Drill, Tornado Drill and touring the school. On Tuesday, we started our day with our Skills Block. During this time all the children practice reading and sounding out each other’s name along with a Letter Name and Sound song. During Reader's Workshop we heard and "read" Nursery Rhymes and other poems.
During our Writer’s Workshop Mrs. Meissner read the story The Night before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing. The students were asked to think about what they did the night before Kindergarten. After turning and talking with each other, the students were asked to go to the tables and draw and write about what they did the night before Kindergarten. The children were also introduced to our “Star Books”, Caps for Sale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Where the Wild Things Are. The children will hear these books several times this month.
After reading these books the children were asked to retell their favorite part with pictures and words. The students shared their work front and center in the “Share Chair”
In Math Workshop the children were able to explore with our manipulatives.
Each child used interlocking cubes to count out the letters in their name. We discussed and created patterns with our colored shapes. Calendar Math was also introduced. We could hardly wait to see what next week will be like. Thank you for entrusting your children to us.

Awesome Orientation!

Welcome to Kindergarten!
It was such a pleasure to meet so many of you at Orientation on Friday! We are looking forward to getting to know your child very well in the coming months. We will be communicating often in these first few days and weeks, as there is so much new business to take care of. Please make sure you have filled out and returned ALL forms that were sent home with your orientation packet. It is very important for us to have the information for our classroom records and for the school’s records.
If you have any questions please email or jot us a note in your child’s Home-School Folder. We look forward to an exciting year! :)

Kindergarten Supply List 2009-2010

Each Kindergartner should bring the following items to school:
Every student needs a backpack (No rolling backpacks - space limitations)
• Please purchase plain-colored materials (no designs)
• Please do NOT label individual items with your child’s name (except art shirt)
Supplies
• 2 plain (solid colored) spiral notebooks (1 subject; wide ruled)
• 4 plain (solid colored) duotang folders with prongs and pockets on each side
• 1 pack of Crayola markers
• 1 pack of Crayola colored pencils
• 1 box of 24 Crayola crayons
• 3 glue sticks – boys
• 1 large liquid glue - girls
• 1 package of gallon-sized Ziploc bags – girls
• 1 package sandwich-sized Ziploc baggies – boys
• 1 package of copy paper
• 2 packages of baby wipes
• 1 oversized shirt for art (old shirt from Mom or Dad will work)
• 1 bottle of liquid soap
• 1 box of tissues
• 1 bottle of waterless hand sanitizer
• 2 PRIMARY composition journals by Mead

Welcome to Kindergarten

Welcome to Mrs. Lankford and Mrs. Meissner’s new Kindergarten classroom blog. Our school theme this year is "Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success." The year will be about experiencing life through the moves of music. Kindergarten will keep it simple as our little ones boot scoot and boogie into school on a Country beat.
We look forward to sharing with ya’ll our weekly experiences!


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