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May 18, 2007 We have been working on the sounds we hear at the end of words. We are becoming great readers! We've been learning about plants .... how they grow, their parts and the job of all the parts. We are going to start a plant journal to keep track of our plant's growth. We are continuing to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus. We prayed a decade of the rosary this week. We also wrote about our own Moms in our journals, telling why they are special to us! We said a special prayer for our moms. Last week's scientist was Noah. He taught us about primary and secondary colors with his experiment. Great job, Noah! We are working in our journals. Many of us are using sound spelling to write sentences. Very impressive! Thanks to all who donated cups for our water cooler!
Memorial Day Weekend: Reminder: Reading charts due Wed 5/31. Don't forget to return them for a visit to our classroom treasure chest!! Spelling test will be on Thursday, 5/24 next week. It is time to celebrate summer birthdays in school! If your child's birthday is in the summer and he/she would like to celebrate in school, please let me know. Treats can be sent in whenever is convenient for you...just write me a note with the date you have in mind. Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.
May 11, 2007 Some groups have finished the Reading book. The other groups are very close to finishing. Now we are reviewing with our Phonics books and writing in our Journals during group time. Scotia Glenville Museum was here on Wednesday. We learned about life in the 1800s. They did a day in the life of a pioneer and we found out how easy we have it today! Nick did a mini volcano in a zip-lock bag for his experiment. The mixture of vinegar and baking soda blew the bag open! We are looking for donations of Dixie cups for our water cooler in the classroom. Anyone who can help, it would be greatly appreciated. Just a reminder that re-registration packets for 2007-2008 are due by May 15th. If you haven't sent it to school, please do so as soon as possible. Thanks! Looking ahead ....Kindergarten graduation will be held on Monday, 6/18/07, 9:00 a.m. in the Parish Center. See you there!
May 3, 2007 In our reading groups we have been learning about story structure (every story has a beginning, a middle and end). We have also been talking about cause and effect, naming words and action words. In printing group we are printing spring poems. We have great printers in K1 and K2. We are on the last chapter in Math. It is called Geometry and Fractions and we are only in Kindergarten! Wait til we hit First Grade!! We have had a few more science experiments: Keegan did a "fantasy fossil", Cydney did some magic with salt, pepper, soft cloth and a balloon. Marissa did a tornado in a bottle and John showed us "exploding colors". Great job!
April 27, 2007 We have been playing subtraction BINGO! It's so much fun! Today we worked on addition facts to 18! It was a challenge .... many were able to complete. So many of us are becoming very good readers! It is so exciting to see such progress. Please encourage your child to bring books from home to read to the class. We had reading buddies on Wednesday with Grade 2! We look forward to this each week. Our scientist last week was Ainsley. She showed us scattering pepper. Very cool! This week Aiden showed us a tornado in a bottle. If you haven't done so already, please return your child's report card to school. Thanks! Next Friday, 5/4, dismissal @ 11:00. Have a great weekend!!!
April 20, 2007 Reading: Now that we are nearly finished with our workbooks, we will be working more on phonics and writing in our journals. Reading Buddy time is each Wednesday. We pair us with a second grader to listen to a story. The kindergarteners have also been reading to them! Then we draw pictures and write sentences to tell about our favorite part. Math: We just finished the addition chapter and are starting subtraction. We reviewed writing numbers to 100. We wrote numbers that come before, in between and after. We reviewed shapes. Wow! Are we getting smart! Please keep practicing time and money at home. This will keep them ready for 1st grade. Printing: There are a few children finishing the last of the ABC's and all of the rest are doing newstime. We have a wonderful group of printers!! We have been writing sentences using our spelling words each week. The students dictate the sentence to me then copy it from the board. We are becoming great spellers! Report Cards are being sent home today. Please review them with your child and return to school. Don't forget Sunday the 22nd - a fund ay for St. Ambrose. Silent Auction - raffles, talent show, games, food, fashion show in our school gym 12 noon to 3pm. We hope to see you then!
Skye and Amanda were our scientists this week. They showed us a tornado in a bottle and eruped a volcano! Great job! We've completed our Math books!! All books were sent home this week. We will be doing review or enrichment activities for the remainder of the school year. Please continue to review sight words, color words, number words, etc at home each day for just a few minutes.
This week we worked hard on letter sounds. We are trying to recognize the beginning, middle and ending sounds of words. We talked about vowels and their sounds. In our journals, we have been trying to write words to go with our pictures. Our focus is on sound spelling. We're becoming writers! We used our letter people puppets and spelled out Happy Birthday Sr. James Marie when we went down to the office to sing to her on Monday. Hannah did her science experiment Sparkle Bottle using corn syrup and glitter in water and shaking it well. A beautiful sparkling bottle results! Sophia and her Dad showed us what happens when you drop Mentos into diet coke. Wow....it was exciting! Carissa did an experiment with water, oil, salt and glitter. Ask your kids...it was neat. I think we may have some future scientists! Now that the warmer weather is coming, we will be outside more for recess. Please - no toys! This will prevent any from getting lost.
Have a great weekend!
March 9, 2007 We've been trying to remember our good deeds each day during Lent! We also talked about St. Patrick this week. We are continuing subtraction in Math. This week we also learned about solving math problems and deciding when to use + (put together) or - (take away). First grade is quickly approaching! Please encourage independence in your child.... zipping, buttoning, dressing, tying shoes, etc. Thanks :-) We are beginning spelling tests next week. Please look for a note in your child's folder with details. On Monday, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday! We read lots of his stories. Many of us brought in some books from home. We wore silly hats just like the one in "The Cat in the Hat". K-2 decorated the bulletin board in the hall with Dr. Seuss hats an lots of rhyming words. Take a look! This week's science bag experiment was by Peppy. She showed us how white flowers change colors. She put them in colored water and the flowers "drank" the water and changed colors! Have a nice weekend!
March 2, 2007 In Reading groups we have been learning about opposites, the sound of /u/, and comparing two things saying how they are the same and different. Monday we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. If your child would like to, he/she may bring their favorite Dr. Seuss book to school on Monday. Please make sure your child's name is in the book. The Science Bag experiments have been great. Zachary showed us how static electricity works. We're looking forward to Peppy's experiment. This week we started subtraction in our Math books. I am so impressed with everyone's math skills. We have been having fun with "Fast Math" at the board. Playing in the snow at school was a lot of fun. The boys and girls had fun building snowmen with their friends! March Reading Charts were sent home today. They are due March 20th. This will be the last month for the pizza certificates. January 26, 2007 Catholic Schools week is January 29 - Feb 2! Wednesday is "Special Hat Day". Your child can wear their favorite hat for the whole day on Wednesday, January 31st. K1&K2 also have a "Dental Demo" with "Clyde". K-2 will be at 9:00am and K-1 around 9:45. Friday is Grandparents (or Special Person's Day). We hope you all come. We are even going to entertain you! See you then! Report cards were given out today. Please check your child's folder. Sign them and return to school. If you have any questions or concerns, send in a note with your child. I will answer it or call you. Thank you! Saturday, January 27 there will be an important parent informational meeting at school from 10-11:30 a.m. Please try to attend - we feel it will be of value for you.
This is the list of all of the vocabulary
words for year:
Ms. Lance wishes to thank everyone for all your help during her time substituting for Mrs. Estep. Mrs. Estep will be returning from maternity leave on Monday, January 30th. Thank you, Ms. Lance, you were wonderful! January 5, 2007 Welcome Back! I hope everyone had a great holiday and vacation! Hello 2007!! In Math we have been working on measurement. We have discussed long vs. short, estimating length, different measurement tools, and we have been using cubes to measure! Next week: more vs. less, heavy vs. light, and temperature. I will be sending home sheets for extra practice. In Religion this week we discussed going through hard times and the choices we can make. We also celebrated the Feast of St. Elizabeth Seton and 3 Kings Day! Starting next week we will begin using our "Traveling Science Bag". Please see the handout for more details. We have been working in our journals a lot. We have a lot to say!!
As a supplement to our curriculum and for the enrichment and enjoyment of our students, we would like to begin a Science project called the "traveling science bag". Here is how it works: Inside the bag will be a large white shirt resembling a lab coat, a pair of clear safety goggles and an index card for directions. At home the student and parent research (through the Internet, library or Science book) and select a science experiment to practice at home. The student then brings in all of the ingredients/materials needed for the experiment in the bag, along with written directions from the parents. The student gets to demonstrate the experiment in school (without parents present) wearing the lab coat and glasses. This should be a fun family project so keep it simple and have fun! If you would like your child to bring home the traveling bag and share a science experiment with our class please complete the form below and return it to school on Monday, 1/8/07. Each child will get to keep the bag at home for one week (Friday to Friday) and you will be notified when it is your child's turn to bring home the bag. This is a great way for your child to gain confidence as well as learn something new!
We are already half way through Advent. Tuesday was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We watched the video story of Our Lady appearing to Juan Diego in Mexico. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the Americas. In Math we continue working with numbers 1 to 20. In Reading we are working on beginning sounds. We have also been working with $! We have looked at the penny, the nickel, and the dime. This is a hard concept and we will continue with it next week. Please use the sheets that are coming home as extra practice. Our Christmas ornaments will be coming home today. Check the children's folders. The Christmas show is Tuesday evening at 6:15. Please have your child in the classroom by 6 dressed as an Angel (K1) or in their Santa Hat and holiday clothes (K2). The class parties will be on Thursday December 21st at 1:00 p.m. See notice in child's folder. See you at at the show!!!
This was a week of celebrations! We began with the celebration of Advent and discussed that we are waiting for the birth of Jesus, as well as what we can do to prepare for His coming. We also learned about St. Francis Xavier and celebrated the feast of Saint Ambrose! Along with these exciting events we had a visit from Saint Nicholas on the day of his feast! Make sure to ask your child what they received from Saint Nicholas and WHERE he left it!! In our Math books this week we have been working on numbers to 100. We worked very hard on grouping numbers by 10 and learning how to count by 5's and 10's! We have also been practicing counting all the way to 100 - please continue to practice at home!! Next week: MONEY!! Our K2 friends enjoyed reading a variety of winter books, including Snowmen at Christmas, and There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bell. We also talked about what we wanted most for Christmas and made a class book with all of our drawings and wishes inside!
We have been continuing to practice with the
letters, /A/, /D/, /M/, /N/, and /S/ and have also added /I/, /T/, and
/C/! Our friends are feeling very letter smart! We are looking for these
sounds in words and are very good detectives at finding where they are
hidden! December 1, 2006 Be sure to see Sr. Vivian's November 2006 Art Gallery photos- some of us had our pictures taken during Art Class! Religion: This week is the last week of the church year. Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King. This Sunday is the beginning of Advent. The children will learn how to prepare and get ready for the birthday of Jesus in their hears and lives! Reading: These are the vocabulary words so far: the, a, my, that, and, I, is, said and we. The letter sounds are Nn, Aa, Dd, Ss, Mm, Ii and Tt. Keep practicing at home please. This is the exciting time when the children start to READ! Social Studies: We just celebrated Thanksgiving. The Weekly Reader taught us about the pilgrims leaving England and coming to America for freedom. We learned many songs and poems during this month. We learned about the Indians and how much they helped the early settlers. We saw pictures of Indian homes in different parts of our country and how carefully they used the animals for all their needs. Printing: This children who already finished printing the numbers to 20 are now doing the ABCs. When all 26 upper and lower case letters are completed they start Newstime! Science: We have been lucky having a mild Fall. We are watching for changes in the weather. We are watching animal behavior and how they are storing up food for winter. We are anxiously waiting for SNOW! In Math we are working with numbers up to 20. Please keep going over number recognition and counting 1 to 1 up to 20. Have a GREAT weekend! ______________________________________________________________________ November 17, 2006 This week for Religion we celebrated the feast days of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Elizabeth Hungary. We also talked about good and bad choices and how Jesus wants us to make good choices. Just a reminder that we are collecting canned fruit for the poor. The food will be offered up at mass on Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. If you haven't done so yet, please send in your canned good as soon as possible. Thank you! Eileen Lance will be the K-2 substitute teacher during Mrs. Estep's maternity leave. She has been in to meet the kids. She is planning on coming in again soon. She will be taking over in the next couple of weeks. Mrs. Howe will be here as well. Mrs. Estep plans on returning at the end of January/the beginning of February. Christmas is quickly approaching! Our annual Christmas entertainment will be held in December. The date and time will be on the December calendar. We will be singing "Jolly Old St. Nicholas". Each child will need to wear a Santa hat for the show. Chapter 7 in our Math books is Numbers to 20. Please complete the family guide at home. No newsletter next week. Wednesday, 11/22 is a 1/2 day. Dismissal at 11:00 am. Thursday and Friday - NO SCHOOL. Happy Thanksgiving! ________________________________________________ November 3, 2006 We celebrated All Saints Day on Wednesday, November 1st. We went to Mass in the morning. We had our party in the afternoon. We played pin the tail on the scarecrow! Then we had some delicious snacks. Thanks to our homeroom Mom for organizing and to all of you who helped out! It was lots of fun! In our Math books, we're continuing to work on counting and number recognition. Please practice at home with your child. By June your child should recognize numbers to 30 and count to 100. We read "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat". After, we created a class book. Each child completed the sentence: "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a _______ ". Then we drew a picture to go with it. We had fun reading our version of the story! Letter sounds we have been focusing on so far: Aa, Dd, Mm, Nn, Ss. We try to listen for the sounds at the beginning and at the end of words. Sometimes in the middle, too! Reminder: Tomorrow is a 1/2 day. Dismissal at 11:00. After school program is available. Please send a lunch with your child. There will be no hot lunch tomorrow.
Parent/Teacher conferences - Tuesday,
November 7th. _________________________________________________________ October 27, 2006 This week was St. Isaac's feast day. We learned that St. Isaac taught the Indians about God. We've also been talking about ways we can show God's love and how we can act as friends at home and at school. Officer Katie from the Colonie Police Department visited our school and came to our classroom to talk to us about staying safe on Halloween. Please review sight words on a daily basis. Flash cards work great! Just spend 5 minutes or less each night practicing them with your child. Words covered so far: the, a, that, my, and, I and color words. We are sending home the Chapter 6 Math family guide for you to complete with your child. We will be continuing to work on numbers to 10. Also we are learning about graphs. Please add the number words (zero-ten) to your flashcards for daily review. Just a reminder that we will be celebrating All Saints Day on Wednesday, November 1st. If your child wishes, he/she may come to school dressed as a saint. We will be going to 9:00 mass that day. We will be visiting the residents of Our Lady of Hope, too. They look forward to seeing all the Little Saints marching in! Reminder: Friday, November 3rd 1/2 day - dismissal at 11:00 am. Tuesday November 7th - Parent/Teacher conferences. __________________________________________________________ October 20, 2006 We learned about St. Teresa of Avila this week and also St. Luke. We read a Bible story about Jonah and the whale. We try to remember each day to treat others the way we want to be treated and What Would Jesus Do?
So far in our reading books we have covered
the following sounds: Aa, Nn, Dd, Ss Chapter 5 in Math is counting and number recognition. We are also learning the number words zero thru ten. Please add these words to your flashcards for practice this month. October is Fire Safety Month. We watched a video about firefighters. We also learned how to prevent fires and what to do if there is a fire at our school or at home. Please continue to read at home with your child each night! October reading charts are due October 31st. Be sure to send them in for a free pizza at Pizza Hut! ______________________________________________________________ October 6, 2006 There are many October Saints that we study about: St. Therese, the "Little Flower", St. Francis of Assisi, Our Guardian Angels and Saturday is the Feast of Mary - Queen of the Holy Rosary. Today, for our whole school prayer service, we said the rosary together in church. The children are settling into the daily routine. We are trying to teach the children to be as independent as possible. They come into the classroom, take out their folders, remove the behavior charts and any notes and set them on the teacher's desk. Next, they put the folders in boxes on the window ledge, put their lunch box on their cubby step and hang their book bag in the cubby with sweaters/jackets inside the book bag. Wow! Are they getting good! In Math we finished Chapter 2 and took the test. We do very well sorting by color and size. It gets a little tougher when we match objects to find the set with more, fewer or the same. In Reading, we have started the letter sounds. The first letter is n and we are listening for it in the beginning and at the end of words. It is getting exciting! Have a great holiday weekend! ____________________________________________________________ September 29, 2006 This week we learned about the sacrament of Baptism. We talked about showing love and care for our friends. We also learned about St. Vincent de Paul whose feast day was September 27th. We have just completed Chapter 2 in Math. I'm sending home the family guide for Chapters 2 & 3. We will begin Chapter 3 next week. We will be learning about graphs in this Chapter.
Reading Groups: Please continue to practice the following skills at home: partner letters, letter sounds, sight words, counting and recognition of numbers. Thank you! We are sending home the October Reading chart. Thanks to all who sent in the chart for September. Pizza coupons cannot be sent home until October. Special prizes were handed out for September from our class treasure chest! Reminder: No school Monday, 10/2 (Teacher workshop)
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