One More Request...

I promise this is it for (today)!

Is there anyone that would be willing to create a set or two of these flashcards for our class?http://www.oneshetwoshe.com/2010/09/leap-frog-letter-factory-flashcards-she.html

Letter Factory is a wonderful resource for our students who need reinforcement with their letters and corresponding sounds.   The flashcards on the site are beautifully done and would be a wonderful resource for our class.

Thank you!

Taking down the October calendar was a hard thing to do yesterday.   This action sparked a great conversation about how quickly time passes with the children. J

This week, we spent a great deal of time beginning our sorting unit.  We used the book Sort it Out by Barbara Mariconda as the base for this unit.  In the book Packy the Packrat sorts his “collection” in a variety of ways.  The children brought up the idea of sorting their candy this weekend.  We agreed this was a great idea.  We will discuss the ways they sorted on Monday.  *If your child does not trick-or-treat, please  encourage another sorting activity in its place (socks, groceries,…).

Our Book Character Parade to CSU was a fantastic success!  The costumes and book connections were OUTSTANDING.  It was also wonderful that the children truly had reflected on which Learner Profile their character best represented and could verbalize this to the group.  This is a great task for our kindergarteners and your involvement is greatly appreciated!

Next week we are beginning our first International Baccalaureate Unit of Inquiry-Who We Are. 

Central Idea: Children can develop an understanding of the uniqueness of others by learning about themselves.

We are absolutely thrilled to begin!  To make this unit of inquiry a huge success, we will be requesting your help.  The link between family, community and school will make it even more special J. 

We will be sending home a letter this week requesting a few items, but here is a preview if you would like to plan ahead J:

1.     Baby picture of your child

2.   Current picture of your child

3.   Family picture

4.   1 CLEAR., clean 2 liter soda bottle

**If you have digital copies of your pictures and would prefer to email them to your child’s teacher, please let us know.  We will be doing activities with these photos, so please do not send in the original.

Other items we need in our classroom are listed below.  If you have any of these items around your home and would be willing to donate them to our kindergarten floor, we would GREATLY appreciate it!! J

1.     Walkmans (these are hard to come by these days, but make for great individual listening centers)

2.   Alphabet beads

3.   Buttons, beads

4.   Popcorn kernels

5.   Sand

6.   Plants

7.   Aquarium (we will be observing animals and creating a composting area)

8.   Baby Soda bottles (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/test-tubes)  *These are what a 2 liter is before they have air added. They make fantastic, safe test tubes.  We’d like to make I Spy sight word tubes, name tubes, etc. with them.

Remember-No School Tuesday (Election Day)

Thinker

(to the tune of “Clementine”)

I'm a thinker, I'm a thinker

I can think creatively,

Solve a problem, make decisions,

I can think of different things.

I’m a thinker, I’m a thinker

I can think all by myself.

I can think and choose an action

Choose an action that will help.

It is so hard to believe that the end of October is upon us!  The weather certainly has made exploring our season enjoyable.

Thinker was our Learner Profile for this week, and we will be stretching our thinking for certain this week as our Explorers choose a storybook character to dress-up as on Friday.  We have had quite a few conversations about ideas and the excitement is overwhelming!  Matching the character chosen to one of our Learner Profiles is taking the experience to an IB level J.  Friday is going to be so much fun! 

Check the Campus Communicator that was sent home 10/22/10 if you need more information about Friday’s activities.

Our pattern unit has been so much fun.  Our Explorers are finding patterns in so many things.  They certainly are fabulous observers. 

Becoming authors and illustrators has really excited our students.  In addition to Writer's Workshop in school, many are writing books at home and bringing them in to share with the class.  The retellings are absolutely awesome!  We plan to capture these on video to keep in your child’s portfolio.  Priceless memories J!

Please continue to review the following basics at home:

Ø   Letter names/sounds

Ø Letter formation

Ø Numbers 1-20  

Ø Address

Ø Phone number(s)

Ø Sight words

Celebrating Fall

The Fall Festival yesterday was an unbelievable success!  What a beautiful day to come out and celebrate our students, families and school.  We have such an amazing Campus International family and yesterday proved it once again!  A big thank you goes out to all the families who donated their time and energy to put on such an amazing program.

In the classroom this week, we are also celebrating fall.  Each child brought in their own special leaf to share with the class, and of course, use as a tool for learning.  We compared/contrasted our leaves, sorted our leaves, sang songs about our leaves and used our leaf as a base for our science project My Leaf.  The project should conclude this week.

Everyone received their Chinese names this week in Mandarin.  Ask your child what their name is.  We have all enjoyed learning and using our new names.

Next week, we are going on another field trip.  This time it is to Playhouse Square to see Leo Lionni’s books Swimmy, Inch by Inch and Frederick.  Permission slips will be send home on Monday.

We are Explorers!

This week was filled with excitement as we discovered new places and items to explore!  We ventured to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and learned a bit about the history of music as well as the fundamental elements (volume, pitch and rhythm).  What a blast!  We could have stayed for days exploring the vast museum.

We are in the process of meeting our new classroom friend Twiggle as part of our PATHS curriculum.  The children have been predicting who they think Twiggle may be and have learned only that he helps us.  The predictions are absolutely fascinating!  Look forward to the unveiling of Twiggle next week.  Please ask your child how they have “met” Twiggle so far J.

We are sequencing in Reading, as well as learning basic sight words and the alphabet.  Please remember to read every day with your child to encourage this passion.  I Spy is a fun game to play with the sight words in the books you are reading at home.

In Math we are continuing to focus on our number formations, quantity, various ways to represent a number and calendar time elements (seasons, months, date, days of the week, place value, time, temperature, etc). 

In Mandarin we were introduced to an ancient Chinese writing tool and some “magic” paper.  The children really enjoyed using the tool to write their Chinese numeric characters.

A fabulous week in deed!

Open-Minded Explorers

Open-minded

(to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle”)

People are different

They do different things.

Not everyone will think like me.

Others I will try to understand,

Listening well as beside them I stand.

Trying new things is important to me

As I become the person I will be.

This week was filled with new experiences that really allowed us to practice our new Learner Profile, Open Minded. 

First, we welcomed our new kindergarten teacher Mrs. Karas.  Wow, is she outstanding! Second, we began learning Mandarin.  The children are really enjoying the classes.  This week’s focus was numbers.  So fun!  Please ask you child to share what they have learned.   Another new experience this week was that we are now moving through the classrooms as continents.  By working in continents the students are able to work with a variety of children in kindergarten while learning skills that best fit their needs. 

What a fun and exciting week!  Our Explorers really are Open-Minded!  They have embraced all these new experiences with enthusiasm and caring.

Coming up this week:

Monday- Assessment on September’s Everyday Homework

Tuesday and Wednesday- Vision First

Wednesday- Shake, Rattle and Roll Field Trip (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)