End of Arthur's Perfect Christmas

This is the last bit of the movie we were watching at the end of the day.  Sorry we couldn't finish it!  I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing holiday break!  See you all in 2013!

Love,

Mrs. Rocky

Science Fair!

Do you love Science?  Are you interested in how things work?  

Do you love learning about famous Scientists?

Consider being a part of Thorson's Science Fair!

Click on the following link to find more information about it.  

http://www.cedarburg.k12.wi.us/cms_files/resources/PTO%20-%20Science%20fair%20flyer.pdf

What We Think Our Parents Want

What do you think your parents would like for a gift?

Rose: My mom would like a new cat.  I think my dad would like me!

Sophia: My mom wants a diamond ring.  My dad wants a new sweater to wear to work.

Elaina: I think my dad would like an outside cat.  My mom would like a diamond ring.

Kellen: Maybe my mom would like jewelry for Christmas.  Maybe my dad would like credit cards for Christmas.

Bailey: My mom and dad would like bowls for Christmas.

Abby: My mom would like two new sweatshirts.

Ellie: My dad would like a foam roller.  I think my mom would like an American Girl doll named McKenna.

Ben: My mom would like a new car.   My dad would like a new ring.

Alex: My mom would like a pink and black Brew City Bruisers sweatshirt.  My dad would like a new car.

Lauren: My mom would like a mug with my picture on it.  My dad would like me.

Luke: My dad would like a new computer.  My mom would like a jacket.

Charlie: My mom would like a computer for Christmas.  My dad would like a diamond ring.

Tanner: My dad would like a carbon fire snowboard.  My mommy would like me.

Kason: My dad would like new headlamps.  I think my mom would like pans.

Ethan: My mom would like a diamond ring.  My dad would like a new lunch box.

Kyle: My mom would like a diamond ring.  I'm not sure about my dad.

Ally: My mom would want a popcorn machine.  My dad would like a sweatshirt.

Mrs. Lane: I think my mom and dad want everyone to be nice and get along.

Mrs. Rocky: I think my mom and dad would love a nice long trip somewhere warm.

Events from Today...

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world. -Mr. Rodgers



A friend of mine found this link for helping children manage distress.  I hope it helps in some way.
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/aftermath.aspx

Much love to all of you,
Mrs. Rocky

Gingerbread Houses

Enjoy the Animoto Video of our morning of making gingerbread houses.  

A special thank you to all of the families that provided the yummy treats!  

Holiday Party

We will be celebrating the holidays in Kindergarten!  

We will be having a Holiday Party on December 21st at 2:30pm.  

I am asking for a few families to consider bringing in some items.  

Please click on the VolunteerSpot link if you are able to help out.

Gingerbread Houses

What was your favorite piece of candy to put on your gingerbread house?

Sophia: I liked the gummy bears.

Rose: I liked the gummy bears.

Ty: I liked the Kit Kats.

Elaina: I liked the Kit Kats.

Kellen: I liked the gummy bears.

Bailey: I liked the Skittles.

Abby: I liked putting on the M&M's.

Ellie: I liked the gummy bears.

Ben: I liked the Skittles.

Luke: I liked the Rolos.

Lauren: I liked the candy canes.

Alex: I liked the Rolos.

Tanner: I liked the lollipops.

Charlie: I liked putting on the candy canes.

Ethan: I liked the Kit Kats.

Kyle: I liked the Skittles.  

Kason: I liked the Rolos.

Ally: I liked the Skittles.

Thank you to all of our families that donated items for our gingerbread houses!  

We couldn't have done it without you!

Wear Red and Green Tomorrow!

Tomorrow wear RED or GREEN for the Kapco Kids to Kids assembly.  

The assembly will be around 9:30am.  At this time Kapco will come and collect all the toys that were donated.  

It isn't too late to donate!  Tomorrow is the last day to donate a new, unwrapped toy to a wonderful cause!

Our Busy Little Elves

During writing time and math time we did an elf project.  At writing time, we had to give our elf a name, think of his/her hobbies, and make a to do list for our elf.  We had to think about what an elf would have to do during this time of year.  Some ideas were: make toys, make cookies, play in the snow, help Santa, and be good.

At math time it was our job to measure our elves.  We measured with Unifix cubes.  We had to make sure our cubes were nice and tight together.  We didn't want any space between our cubes because if we did, we wouldn't be measuring correctly.

Here are some pictures of friends measuring.

Many of our elves took 20 Unifix cubes or more!  Please check out our Busy Little Elves in our hallway!

Happy 12-12-12!

Happy Aaron Rodgers' Day!  

It is so cool that today's date is 12-12-12.  It is the same number as the Green Bay Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  

Today during writing we wrote about the Green Bay Packers.  Some sentences said "I like the Green Bay Packers." or "I love the Green Bay Packers." or "My favorite is number twelve on the Packers." and "I like that the Green Bay Packers wear green and yellow."  

It was fun to wear our Packer gear today!  Here are some friends showing off the date- 12-12-12!  

Aaron Rodgers Day 12-12-12

12-12-12

Tomorrow is Aaron Rodgers's Day! 

Wear your Aaron Rodgers gear, Packer gear, or green and yellow!

Winter Gear

 

It's beginning to a lot like winter!  

The snow has started to fall!  Hopefully the kiddos had a chance to play outside in the snow on Sunday.  Just a reminder the students go out for two recesses daily.  We only stay inside if it is extremely cold or if it is raining.  This means our little buddies need to be bundled up for recess!

It is a school rule that students need to wear snow boots, snow pants, and coats to play outside in the snow. If your child forgets these items they will still be required to go outside but will be asked to stay on the blacktop.  In addition I suggest that families send in extra socks and mittens in your child's backpack for times when items get too wet for comfort.  

Thank you for your support!

Hat Day!

Remember that tomorrow is Hat Day!  

Bring $1 to donate to Kapco Kids to Kids Toy Drive.

Self Control

Today we talked about the topic Self Control.  We learned that Self Control is knowing you can do something but choosing NOT to.  For example, when bubbles are blown, self control is knowing you can pop them BUT not popping them.  We practiced self control during snack time.  Mrs. Rocky blew some bubbles and even though we REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to pop them, we practiced some self control and made the right decision to not pop them.

We need to especially learn and practice self control in kindergarten.  We may really really really want to talk to our friends when Mrs. Rocky is teaching but we need to use some self control and remember to be a good listener.  We may really really REALLY want to run in the classroom but we need to practice some self control and remember to walk.

This is something that we will continue to work on in Kindergarten.  We know we can do it!

Newsletter

December 6, 2012

Dear Parents,

Happy December!  The kindergartners are doing well settling in the morning. They all enjoy checking in for the day on the Smart Board as well as doing our morning routine on the Smart Board as well. 

This week, we started our unit on Food Traditions in guided reading.  We talked about  the letter "N, n" We also learned the sight words "for" and “you”.  We reviewed these words in the stories, poems, and writing we did this week.   We continue to review all words and assess through the year! Please continue to work on these words with your child. 

We are also practicing the strategy of summarizing. We are doing this by using the skill of sequencing the events.  We are doing this by reading/ listening to a book called Apple Farmer Annie Ask your kindergartner about this story!

          In math students have been working on using the number line and comparing numbers.  With the number line the students are able to explore addition and subtraction concepts and strategies.  Students were also able to compare numbers by playing the card game Top It.  In Top It, two cards are turned over and the card with the greater value wins.  The owner of that card then takes both cards.  You may all remember this game as called “War”  We also continue to work on number recognition and number formation.  Please continue to work on these with your child. 

**Upcoming reminders:

1.     Please have your child bring in a $1 to wear a hat for the Kapco Kids to Kids toy drive

2.     There is no school tomorrow afternoon.  School is out at 11:35am tomorrow.  Please be sure your kindergartner has plans.

3.     Please return the items needed for the gingerbread houses.

4.     Please work on basic life skills with your kindergartner-this includes zipping up jackets, buttoning, and tying shoe laces

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to e-mail or

call anytime. Thank you for all your support!

The Kindergarten Teachers

MISSING!!

One of our class books is MISSING!!!  The Apple book has been missing for awhile now.  It is a yellow book with pictures of apples on it.  Will you please look at your house for it?  We would love to have it back!

Scholastic Book Orders

Scholastic Book Clubs Ordering Information
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: HFYK6

Dear Parents,

Please remember to send in your Book Club orders!  Book orders are due THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6th.  (This way they can be here before winter break)

You can view this month's selections and submit your order online, or you can return the printed order form with payment directly to me.

It's always a special moment to see an entire classroom bursting with excitement to open the book box, so place your orders soon!

Take care,

Mrs. Rocky

P.S. When you place your order online, you'll help earn FREE Books for our class and you also get a $5 FREE Book Pick Coupon to use on your next online order!

Ordering online is fast and easy:

•  REGISTER at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
•  ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
•  CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT the order to your child's teacher
•  EARN FREE Books for you and the classroom too!

Star Word Notebooks

Today was our first day of our special Star Word Notebooks!  Hooray!  Thank you so much to all of the families who remembered to return them.   If you forgot your Star Word Notebook today, please be sure to return it to school tomorrow.  

Many friends will find the word GO! on a page.  If you do, you are more than welcome to color in the star on that page the correct color.  Please DO NOT color in stars on pages that do not have the word GO! on them.  If the word GO! is not on the page, that means a few words need some practicing yet.  

Thank you all so much for your support in this.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Take care,

Mrs. Rocky

Gordy the Elf

As we came to school today, there was a special visitor in our class!  It was a scout elf from the North Pole!  Mrs. Rocky called Santa this weekend to see if he could send an elf to watch over our class during the month of December.  (As everyone knows, once you become a teacher or a parent, you get Santa's phone number!)  Sure enough!  Santa sent Gordy the Elf and the book Elf on the Shelf to our kindergarten class.  From the book we learned that ever night Gordy will fly back to the North Pole and tell Santa everything he saw.  We also learned that we are NOT allowed to touch him or else he will lose all of his magic.

Today we found him next to our owl on our easel!  We can't wait to see where he shows up tomorrow!

Kids to Kids Toy Drive

Kapco with the help of Thorson Elementary is sponsoring a toy drive.  Please bring new unwrapped toys to our classroom to help needy children.  You may bring in these toys from December 3rd until December 13th.  

Gingerbread Houses-Frosting Needed!

Families,
For those families new to Thorson, there is a tradition that the kindergarten students make a gingerbread house for the holidays.  Families are asked in bring in special candies to help decorate the houses.  As a class we decided upon candies that we would like to have.  I will be sending home notes next week as to what your child suggested.

I am in need of 3 volunteers to make the frosting for our gingerbread houses. I have the recipe to make it.  If your family brings in the frosting, you will not be asked in bring in candy too.  Will you please click on the following link to VolunteerSpot to sign up?  This link is also available to the left of our blog.
Thank you so much for considering!

Take care,
Mrs. Rocky

Star Word Practice

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Today your child is bringing home their own personal sight word notebook.  The notebook is composed of our Star Words which need to be mastered by the end of kindergarten.  Once a child masters these words, other words and lists will be sent home to practice.  This may seem like a lot of words; however, the more words your child knows, the more fluently he/she will be able to read.  Please practice a few minutes each night, as this is the only homework your child has in kindergarten.  Please do not wait until the end of the year to begin working on the lists- it is tough to catch up.

Make sure your child brings his/her sight word notebook back each day.  Thank you so much for your support!

PLEASE DO NOT MARK IN THE BOOKLET, as I will mark in it each week to show mastery.  Once a page is mastered, ALL words will have a check beside them I will write "GO:" on the page, so they can move on.  Please do NOT move on until you see "GO!"  If you see a word without a check ,please practice this word again until mastery.  It is also a good idea to g back over old words, so they do not forget!  Thank you in advance for your assistance.  :)

Love,
Mrs. Rocky

What Did You Do At Recess?

What Did You Do At Recess Today?

Ethan: I played on the play structure.

Luke: I played football.

Abby: I played kittens.

Ellie: I played with my friends on the play structure.

Ty: I played save the kitties.

Kason: I played on the monkey bars.

Charlie: I went down the slide.

Bailey: I played save the kitties.

Sophia: I played on the play structure.

Lauren: I played kitties.

Elaina: I played save the kitty.

Tanner: I played on the play structure and I did a flip!

Alex: I played with my friend Logan.

Ally: I played kitties.

Kyle: I played football.

Ben: I played football.

Kellen: I played kitties.

Rose: I played kittens.

Missing! Lost!

These hats and this glove are lost!  They need their owners.  Do they belong to you?

Please let Mrs. Rocky know.

Thanks!

A Note From Our School Nurse

Dear Families,

This letter is to inform you that there was a case of head-lice identified at Thorson Elementary today.  Thorough head-checks were completed today for the entire class in which the case was recognized.

In effort to prevent head lice from spreading throughout the school, we are asking that you keep a close watch over your child's scalp at home.  Please check your child's hair over the next week or two for lice and nits.  For advice on what to look for and how to treat/prevent head lice on your child please reference the Thorson Elementary website.

(Parent Information-Health and Safety-Lice)

If you have any questions, please feel free to give one of us a call.

Sincerely,
Mary Beth Larscheidt-District Nurse- 262-376-6149
Peggy Yee-Elementary School Nurse-263-376-6705

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Families,

A very happy thanksgiving to all of you!  I hope all of your bellies are full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  I hope you have enjoyed your day with family and friends.

I just wanted to say how thankful I am for all of my kindergarten friends.   Thank you for trusting me with your "babies" everyday.   I have loved getting to know all of them and seeing them grow since September.  They are truly remarkable and I am so proud of all of their progress.

I look forward to the rest of the school year!

Take care,
Mrs. Rocky

Pajama Day/Feast Day/Half Day

Just a reminder that tomorrow is pajama day for friends in Mrs. Rocky's class!  We won the Box Top contest for kindergarten!  Hooray!

We will be having our Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow!  Thank you to the families who contributed!

Tomorrow is also a half day of school.  School will be let out at 11:35am.  Please be sure you have plans made for your child.  If you choose to do something different for pick up than what is on your child's going home plans, please be sure to write a note.  Thank you!

Scholastic Book Clubs

Scholastic Book Clubs Ordering Information
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: HFYK6
Due: December 6th, 2012

Dear Parents,
This month's Scholastic Book Club flyers are ready for you to explore with your child. Children
read more when they choose their own books, so I encourage you to look at the flyers together.
You can return the order form and payment to me, or give online ordering a try. It saves time,
offers more book choices, and earns extra rewards for the classroom!

I have sent home Holiday ones early as in hopes that they will be delivered before the holiday break!

Happy reading,
Mrs. Rocky

P.S. When you place your order online, you'll help earn FREE Books for our class and you also
get a $5 FREE Book Pick Coupon to use on your next online order!
Ordering online is fast and easy:
REGISTER at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
SUBMIT the order to your child's teacher
EARN FREE Books for you and the classroom too!

Eat More...

Last week we made some turkeys for Thanksgiving.  However, these turkeys are holding up signs telling us to eat something different for Thanksgiving instead of turkey!  Some turkeys say pizza, mac & cheese, and ice cream.  Enjoy the Animoto video of the students holding up their turkeys.

Peek To Our Short Week

Communication Arts:

* Practice our star words- no new star words this week
* Write stories about our families and Thanksgiving
* Read Thanksgiving Stories

Math:

*Talk about Probability and learn vocabulary related to it.  Example: certain, impossible, possible, etc.
* A variety of number identification games

Special things happening:
Wednesday- PJ Day, Feast!, and half day

Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We would like to begin by thanking you for participating in the parent/teacher conferences this week. Sharing your child's accomplishments is such a fun time for us. We always appreciate the communication!

Com. Arts:

This week our theme is "Traveling Near and Far". Our big book is "On the Go" and describes different forms of transportation around the world. Our guided reading books include: "It Can Go Up", "Fast or Slow" and "The Train Trip". The letters are "T,t, i and p. The star words are "play" and "at" We continue to work on comprehension, classifying and recognizing text structure.  We will continue to work on all letter sounds and the star words. The Daily Five is working well and the stamina is building. The small Kindergarten books which the students are bringing home should reinforce their reading skills and concepts of print.

Thank you for your support!

Math:

We have been working on patterns, sequencing stories for Thanksgiving, and playing domino concentration to reinforce number counting and recognition. 

We look forward to our Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday morning. Thank you for contributing and making it a special time!

Have a great weekend in preparation for a very special holiday!

Any questions or concerns, please call or stop in!

Thank you,

The Kindergarten Teachers

Special Days Coming Up!

Please wear your Thorson Jaguar clothing tomorrow!  If you don't have Thorson Spirit Wear, please wear blue.  

NEXT Wednesday (November 21st- a half day)  Students may wear PJ's to school.  We won the Box Top contest for kindergarten.   The students chose to wear PJ's as their prize!  :)

A Peek to the Rest of Our Week

This week we will- (remember this is kindergarten-sometimes we can't get to everything!  Things are subject to change)

Communication Arts

• Practice sorting words with the /i/ sound.  
• Practice writing short vowel words
• Read the story On the Go
• Practice our star words play & at.  Continue working on past words
• Continue writing sentences on topics provided for us

Math:

• Work on measuring with non standard objects
• Review counting, number recognition, and sequencing numbers 0-20
• Develop understanding of addition and subtraction using concrete experiences

Science:

• Talk about the various seasons we experience.

Veteran's Day Assembly

Our Veteran's Day Assembly was a success!  

Our assembly started out with the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of our National Anthem by our 5th graders.  They did a fantastic job!  Then Mr. McFadden, an officer of the United States Air Force, talked about what is Veteran's Day and what it means to him.  He did a fantastic job!  After the speech was complete, it was time for us to sing.  Here are two videos of us singing "Yankee Doodle"

(I'm sorry I couldn't get everyone in the video.  The way we were seated, it was hard to get a good view without blocking other people)

Here is another view!  Thank you to Lauren's mom who taped it and sent it to us.  

When we were finished singing, it was time for us to listen to 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd, and 4th grade sing patriotic songs.  All of the kindergartners did a fantastic job being Positive Jaguars at the assembly.  Way to go!

It was a great morning!

Our Favorite Part of the Day

What is your favorite part of our day?

Luke: I like math.

Abby: I like centers.

Ethan: I like writing.

Ty: I like math.

Kason: I like rest and quiet time.

Ellie: I like reading.

Lauren: I like writing.

Charlie: I like math.

Sophia: I like rest and quiet time.

Bailey: I like doing the projects.

Tanner: I like free choice time.

Elaina: I like doing the projects. 

Kyle: I like math.

Ally: I like math.

Alex: I like free choice time.

Rose: I like free choice time.

Kellen: I like centers.

Ben: I like math.

Mrs. Lane: I like doing the projects.

Mrs. Rocky: I like center time.

Veteran's Day Assembly

On Monday, there will be a Veteran's Day Assembly at 10:30 am.  Our class will be singing a verse or two of Yankee Doodle.  They have been working really hard preparing for this during music class.  I will be sure create a video of this and add it to our classroom blog!  

Please wear red, white, and blue on Monday to help celebrate Veteran's Day!  

Pre-Conference Survey...again

Sorry to be a pest but I am still missing about half of the Pre-Conference Surveys.  I would appreciate a response BEFORE our scheduled conference date.  

If you have already filled this form out, I greatly appreciate you taking the time in doing so.  

Inside the Progress Report

Now that you've had the chance to look over the progress report, I'd like to talk about one of the standards your child is graded on.

First let's talk about phonemic awareness.  I found a great link that explains what phonemic awareness is in a very understandable way.  Check it out here: http://www.begintoread.com/articles/phonemic-awareness.html.

As that site says, Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes--in spoken words.  This skill combines with other reading skills like sight word recognition and listening comprehension to turn your child into a skilled reader.  There is no single skill that makes a child a reader.  It is only through a combination of these skills that a child becomes an accomplished reader.

Phonemic awareness is the primary skill your child probably uses when writing at school in kindergarten.  Being phonemically aware is what allows your child to "sound out" a word.

You can practice phonemic awareness skills anytime and anywhere.  In fact, phonemic awareness activities make great games in the car.  Here are some ideas:

• Say a word and let your child make a word that rhymes with it.  Go back and forth saying on rhyming word at a time until one of you can't go any further.
• Say a word and ask your child to say a word that starts with the same letter.  You could also have your child say as many words as possible that star with that word in a given amount of time (in the car, before the stop light changes or before the commercial ends, etc)
• Play a similar game but with ending sounds.  This is a more difficult skill.
• Use phonemes created by combining letters as your child's skills improve (example: use sh, ch, th)

Daily Schedule

A new page to our kindergarten blog has been added- our Daily Schedule!  We are certainly busy in kindergarten and you will see it when you check out the new page.  Please remember that times are subject to change and that assemblies, 3rd grade buddies, and testing may change things up a bit.  

Please check out the new page!  

Thanks!

Report Cards, Conference reminder, and Pre-Conference Survey

Please click on the Voki for a special message!

Book order?

Hi families,

A pack of books- gold medal pack- finally came in!  However, I can't seem to remember who they belong to.  Will you please email me and let me know if these books are yours?  Thanks so much!

Take care,
Mrs. Rocky

Roll and Record Dice Game

Today in math, we played the Roll and Record Dice game.  With this game students were asked to review counting and number recognition though a graphing activity.  Students needed to roll a single die and read which number came up.  They were then instructed to write that number on their graph.  Students continued to do this until a particular column was filled.  As a class we decided to turn our papers over and continue writing the numbers if they came up again.


Here is a video of Bailey showing us how to play the game.

Here are pictures of everyone enjoying the game!

Thanksgiving Feast in Kindergarten

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Kindergarten!  We will be having a small feast on Wednesday, November 21st in the morning.  If you are able to donate an item, please click on the VolunteerSpot button.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!