December 19, 2014

Hi!

Just a few quick updates from the fish class:

• You may have seen a teddy bear picture come home this week. The children practiced "teddy bear breathing" during OT to help us get our engines just right. Your child might be able to teach you this technique to help reduce holiday stress! :)

• We baked our gingerbread cookies today in preparation for Monday's decorating party at 2:05. We are excited to sing some songs for you and celebrate the season.

• We went to "Winter Wonderland" during our PE class today. I have put some pictures on our FLICKR page. The tab to link you to these photos is at the top of our blog homepage.

• Tuesday is Wear Your PJs to School Day for the fish class!

I hope this covers everything! A special thank you for contributing to the mission gifts. Your generosity will surely make a little girl's holiday very merry!

Kristen

Dear Fish Families:

Thank you for all of the cookie decorating donations coming in. The fish class is lucky to have such supportive parents!

Here is a glimpse of our week:

Writers' Workshop:  We are wrapping up our "writing like scientists" unit. The children picked a piece to publish and we talked about how writers find the big idea before giving their book a title. We will be writing our covers and editing next week.

Readers' Workshop:  Your readers learned that readers re-read books using a storytellers voice. This is how young readers work to develop fluency and expression. 

Literacy: We have learned how to properly form all uppercase letters during our handwriting time. We will begin lowercase letter formation after our December vacation. Using our gingerbread stories, the children are working on sequencing stories. They know that the beginning of the story takes place during the first couple of pages and the end is the last couple. The middle is everything else in between. This is helping them develop re-telling skills.

Math:  We have been working on teen numbers this week. The children know that a teen number is 2 digits starting with a 1 in the tens place. They were surprised to learn that some teen numbers (10,11, and 12) don't have "teen" in their names. That is why we sometimes call teens tricky teens. With the introduction to teen numbers, the children are now using ten frames. We are doing quick looks where the children quickly see a group of dots and need to name the number. They are being given 2-3 quick glances at this point in the year to help them become more comfortable with these larger numbers and groups of dots. I introduced the children to the calculator as a math tool. They enjoyed exploring with the solar panel and reading the numbers on the display screen. They also can find the clear key. 

Visual Arts:  The children have been busy creating gingerkids and gingerbread houses this week. They are really enjoying this unit!  Our winter quilt is up and looks beautiful.

Book of the Week:  The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Song of the Week: "10 Little Gingerkids" 


Up Coming Events:

• Early Release-12/17
• Monday, 12/22 at 2:05 Gingerbread decorating party (families welcome)
• Tuesday, 12/23 Wear your pjs to school day!
• Winter Break- 12/24-1/2
• Word of Week- am
• Handwriting- Uppercase letter review
• Phonics- sh

Happy Weekend,

Kristen

December 5

Dear Fish Families:

Here is a glimpse of our busy week together:

Writers' Workshop:  We are writing like scientists! The children are working on taking their observations and writing/drawing/labeling across more than one page. The are stretching out words to write the sounds they hear and are being reminded to leave a 2 finger space between each word they write.

Readers' Workshop:  Your readers learned that readers go back and re-read when they get stuck on a word, fix a mistake, or if something doesn't make sense. They are learning to use all the strategies (superpowers) they have learned when they come to a word they don't know. We have been talking about the sequence of stories using various gingerbread stories. The children are talking about similarities and differences with different variations of this tale. We had a book talk using The Napping House. We focused on what happened at the beginning and ending of the story. The children then discussed the events in the middle of the story. They were making great personal connections, talking about parts we liked or found funny, and lots of  predicting was happening!

Math:  Through the use of attribute blocks, the children classified and sorted by shape, size, and color. The also counted the number of blocks in each group. We talked about sorting rules. As an extension of this lesson, the children identified missing blocks from sorted sets. A challenging activity for the children this week was identifying shapes using touch and not sight. Shapes were placed in a "feely box" and the children had to pick out shapes by attribute (ie. a 3 sided shape with 3 vertices, or a 4 sided shape with all 4 sides being equal length). We made a class bar graph of our favorite colors and compared numbers. 

Visual Arts:  We made winter trees and snowpeople this week. We will be using them to make a class winter quilt on our bulletin board. We are also making gingerkids!

Book of the Week:  The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt

Song of the Week: "The Gingerbread Man" by Jack Hartmann

Donation Requests:

• rick rack
• small craft buttons
• ribbon
• foam stickers

Up Coming Events:

• Gingerbread stories unit
• Early Release-12/17
• Monday, 12/22 at 2:05 Gingerbread decorating party (families welcome)
• Winter Break- 12/24-1/2
• Word of Week- the
• Handwriting- I, T, & J
• Phonics- s and z

Fondly,

Kristen

November 21

Dear Fish Families:

Thank you so much for all the donations that have been coming in. We appreciate it!

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Writers' Workshop:  We have begun our "Writing Like Scientists" unit!  We learned that scientists observe and notice details. I modeled how to make technical drawings like a scientist. We use colored pencils to help with this. The children are being encouraged to label and write what they observe or any wondering they might have.  We continue to have science talks. The children seem to enjoy this time of the day. 

Readers' Workshop:  We worked on 2 new strategies (superpowers) this week. The children are beginning to put the first sound in their mouth when they come to a word they are trying to read. They also learned that our sight words are in books and those are words we read in a snap because we know them and don't need to sound them out.

Math:  We completed our "All About Numbers" booklets and sent them home this week. They children have been ordering number cards 0-10 and representing those numbers using objects. We played roll and record to practice numeral formation and subitizing. We also learned to play Monster Squeeze. It can be played as a game or on the app. I will be completing the end-of-unit assessment next week.

Visual Arts:  The children have been busy making Thanksgiving headbands, owls, and lots of turkeys. They will all be on display for our breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Book of the Week:  Various Thanksgiving books

App of the Week:   Every Day Math Monster Squeeze

Donation Requests:

• rick rack
• small craft buttons
• ribbon
• foam stickers

Up Coming Events:

• Family Breakfast- 11/25 from 8-8:30 *siblings are welcome! 
• Thanksgiving break- 11/26-11/28
• Gingerbread stories unit
• Early Release-12/17
• Monday, 12/22 at 2:05 Gingerbread decorating party (families welcome)
• Winter Break- 12/24-1/2

Happy Thanksgiving,

Kristen

November 14,2014

Dear  Fish Families:

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: We practiced writing X, Y and Z. The children drove Matchbox cars along these letters and formed them in journals. We have been working on the sight word so and made an old lady to go along with the book I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. 

Writers' Workshop:  This week we chose our small moment piece to fancy up.  The children edited for details in their picture by adding more color. They also added text and some chose to make a cover for their stories. We will celebrate our published pieces next week with the Panda class.

Readers' Workshop:  We spent some time talking about super heroes and their super powers. I told the children that they have reading super powers and when they read, they will use them all. We reviewed how readers touch under each word as they read making sure they have 1-1 correspondence. We also learned that readers look at the pictures. This is an important strategy for young readers! They are also working on putting the first sound of a word in their mouth to get ready to read it.

Math:  We have been working on positional words (on, below, above, in, under, up, down) and writing numerals. The children are also creating a variety of representations for the same number (four can be 4 dice dots, 4 tallies, the numeral 4, or 4 dots filled in on a 10 frame). The seem to be grasping the concept that a number can be shown different ways, but when you count them it is still the same number.  We are also playing math games using a spinner to practice naming the numerals, counting the sequence, and counting the number of objects (or spaces) on the game board.

Book of the Week:   I Know An Old Lady That Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

Song of the Week:  The Numeral Song by Dr. Jean 

Donation Requests:

• tissues
• small white paper plates
• sandwich-sized  'ziploc' baggies
• foam hand soap

Up Coming Events:

• Handwriting- C, O & Q
• Phonics- l & r 
• Word of the Week- and
• Family Breakfast- 11/25 from 8-8:30 *siblings are welcome! 

Fondly,

Kristen

Hello Fish Families!

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Ella Rogers. She joined the fish class today. Please add her to your class directory.

Jeanette and David Rogers
3 Hemlock Way
407-232-0220


Thank you!
Kristen

October 31

Happy Halloween,  Fish Families:

Thank you for all the donations and help this week! The children told us that the Halloween celebration yesterday was AWESOME. I couldn't have done it without you! There are photos on our FLICKR page.  The link has a tab at the top of our home page

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: We practiced writing V and W. The children found "I" in our shared reading book, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle. We made bats for our bulletin board and have begun to practice saying our names in chunks, or syllables. We played tic- tack-toe and other fun Halloween games.

Writers' Workshop:  This week we learned that writers can go back and add sentences to their stories. We worked in partnerships to talk about our stories before writing. We also know that writers re-read their stories and add details.

Readers' Workshop:  This week, we reviewed that readers point under the words as they read. We know that readers use the pictures to help them read the stories. We also began to put the first sound in our mouth to get ready to read a word.  The children are getting better at selecting interest books independently. 

Math:  We have been working with 10 frames this week. The children did a bean spill activity where they record the different combinations of 10. 

Social Stories:   Various fire fighters from Stratham and neighboring towns came to teach us all about fire safety. Be sure to check out the pictures on our FLICKR link and ask your child what s/he learned. 

Book of the Week:   Various Halloween stories

Song of the Week:  Wizard's Brew by Joanne Hammil 

Donation Requests:

• small white paper plates
• large white paper plates

Up Coming Events:

• Handwriting- X, Y & Z
• Phonics- m & n 
• Word of the Week- so
• Early Release for Parent Conference- 11/7
• Family Breakfast- 11/25 from 8-8:30 *more info to follow

Happy turn-the-clocks-back weekend.

Kristen

October 24, 2014

Dear Fish Families:

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: We practiced writing L and U on the Letterschool app and on our easels. The children found "an" in a word search after reading Huggles Can Juggle by Joy Cowley. They have also been working on labeling all the sounds they hear in words.  We continue to work on fine motor art projects to strengthen our writing muscles.

Writers' Workshop:  Kindergarten writers continue to write small moment stories. This week we learned that authors/illustrators add details to character faces to show feelings and emotions. Many of the students applied this skill to their own pieces. We continue to talk about what small moments are and plan our stories.

Readers' Workshop:  This week, we spent a lot of time reading in partnerships. The children are learning how to; take turns, work together, solve problems while the teachers are conferencing with other readers, and talk about stories.  They were introduced to Post-It notes as a reading tool. During independent reading the children are marking pages that they want to talk about with their partners when they get together. 

Math:  We have been counting by 1s and 10s this week. The children have been acting out addition and subtraction stories and representing the stories using manipulatives and pictures. We have been doing this math work in groups. I also completed the assessment for unit #2 and will be sending the letters home on Monday along with the unit #3 introduction letter.

Social Stories:  Mrs. Griffith showed a video and taught the children about personal body safety. Some key points made were:

• You own your body
• If someone tries to touch you in a spot that would be covered by your bathing suit you should yell no, get away, and tell an adult
• Secrets that make you feel uncomfortable aren't good secrets and you should tell an adult right away

Officer Mike came in to talk to us about trick-or-treat safety. We also got to sit in his police vehicle.
I have put the pictures on FLICKR.

Book of the Week:  Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington

Song of the Week:  Shapes by Hap Palmer 

Up Coming Events:

• Handwriting- V & W
• Phonics- o (another "superstar")
• Word of the Week- I
• Picture re-takes- 10/28
• Halloween celebration- 10/30
• Early Release for Parent Conference- 10/29 and 11/7 *Please email me to schedule if you haven't already.

Fondly,

Kristen

October 17, 2014

Dear Fish Families:

Your amazing children have been making great choices and have filled our fish jar! They brainstormed a list of celebrations and voted to be allowed to chew gum in class on Monday. If you don't want your child participating in this, please send me an email. I will provide sugarless bubblegum for this reward! 

School pictures have arrived! They were sent home today. Re-takes are scheduled for Tuesday,10/28. If you would like a re-take, just send the pictures back to school on that day and we will bring the students down.

We will be having Mrs. Griffith, our school guidance counselor, in on Thursday, 10/23 to talk to the children about personal body safety at 12:30. We will be joining the Panda class for this talk. You are welcome to join us.


Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: The children have been working on properly forming the letters H and "karate kick" K. We have been building our sight words, finding the word see hidden in our rice table and in cinnamon sugar.  

Writers' Workshop:  Our writers are beginning to grasp the idea of a small moment and are writing great stories with 3 parts. Before writing, the children tell their story to a friend and tap out their plan on 3 fingers or on the 3 pages of the booklets. They were very excited to have books to write in instead of single sheets of paper. We continue to remind them to label pictures or attempt to write words. (Beginning sounds are our starting point with this.)  Some small moment mentor texts from this week include; When Sophie Gets Angry...Really, Really Angry and Kittens First Full Moon.  I have been doing lots of modeling with small moments from my life as well. 

Readers' Workshop:  The fish children practiced reading in self-selected spots this week. They continue to read independently and with partners. One day, they had alphabet books and found items that were the same and different in their books. We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle focusing on our word of the week. We also used Silly Sally by Audrey Wood to review rhyming and to look at details in the pictures to give us hints about characters. 

Math:  We continue to represent numbers 0-10 using ten frames. We have been counting to tell the number of objects and learned that lined up objects are easier to count than scattered ones or ones arranged in a circle.  We learned about the rectangle and how it has 4 straight sides where the ones across from each other are the same length. The children noticed that a rectangle is a rectangle no matter which way it is rotated or how wide/thin it is.

Science:  We have begun science talks. The children sit in a circle and don't have to raise their hands. We established norms (rules) to help us be successful. We will be doing lots of practice with this.

Book of the Week:  Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

Song of the Week:  Nursery Rhyme Rap by Dr. Jean 

Up Coming Events:

• Handwriting- L & U
• Phonics- a (Our first vowel! Now we can start to sound out words!)
• Word of the Week- an
• Field Trip to the Portsmouth Music Hall- 10/21
• Personal Body Awareness- 10/23 at 12:30
• Halloween celebration- 10/30
• Early Release for Parent Conference- 10/29 and 11/7 *Please email me to schedule if you haven't already.

Happy weekend!

Kristen

Dear Fish Families:

Directory update- Please change James Halepis' address to 7 Lamington Hill Road

Here are some highlights of our week together:

Literacy Centers: The children have been working on properly forming the letters N and M. These are our last 2 "frog jump" letters. Our Shared Reading book of the week was Yuck Soup by Joy Cowley. The children found the word in, learned about how readers read top to bottom, left to right, and take a breath when they see a period at the end of a sentence.  We made a class version of Yuck Soup and wrote another version of the story, Yum Soup. 

Writers' Workshop:  We chose our favorite writing piece from our first unit and did some revising. At this age, the children might add more color, label a picture, or add a detail to their picture. We made picture frames and hung the stories in the hall. We have begun our "Small Moments" unit by reading some mentor texts demonstrating when an author zooms in on a part of a day. A Moment in Time by Jennifer Butenas was one of the texts we used to learn how to do this.

Readers' Workshop:  Your readers have begun "shopping" from our classroom library for their interest books. Instead of reading from baskets that I have filled, they are choosing books on their own to have in their independent reading boxes. Mr. Fosher was in to observe me this week and enjoyed the conversations he had with your children about books.

Math:  We have been doing lots of sorting this week! We sorted by different attributes and noticed how things are the same and different. The children have moved from using 5 frames to ten frames during math. They are representing numbers with objects and looking at dot arrangements and naming the numeral.

Visual Arts:  The fish class made awesome (and creepy) spiders this week. They are on display (climbing a web) in our classroom.

Book of the Week:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider (book version)

Song of the Week:  Itsy Bitsy Spider by Dr. Jean (Be sure to have your child sing the funny lyrics) 

Donation Requests: AA batteries for our camera and foam soap

Up Coming Events:

• No School Monday
• Handwriting- H & K
• Phonics- th (voiced and un-voiced)
• Word of the Week- see
• Field Trip to the Portsmouth Music Hall- 10/21
• Halloween celebration- 10/30
• Early Release for Parent Conference- 10/29 and 11/7 *Please email me to schedule if you haven't already.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Kristen

May 23, 2014

Dear Fish Families:

Thanks so much to the parent chaperones who helped us at the Music Hall this week. The children seemed to enjoy the plays!

We had an awesome field day today! The "Fish" loved many of the stations and the 5th grade helpers were AMAZING!

Up-Coming Events: 

• No School- 5/26 Memorial Day
• Grandparent Luncheon-Monday, 6/2
• Last Day of K- 6/11 at 9:30. This date is earlier than the rest of SMS to allow time to screen in-coming kindergarten students. Please save the date because you are invited in for a celebration at 9:30 a.m. Dismissal will be by 11:00. If this is a problem for your family, please let me know!

Wishing you a safe and relaxing holiday weekend,

Kristen

Newsletter 5/16

Dear Fish Families:

The Stratham Teachers' Association would like to invite all of our amazing parent volunteers to an appreciation morning meeting on Thursday, May 22. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 8:10 in the library. At 8:45 there will be a whole school morning meeting in the gym where each grade level will sing a song or recite a poem thanking you for all you do. Hope you can make it!

Here is a glimpse of our week and the busy weeks to come:

Readers' Workshop: The children are building lots of theories about Eric Carle as an author and illustrator. We are filling out and using a synthesis chart as week read his many books. We continue to read independently and in partnerships.  

Writers' Workshop:  The children have been busy writing "All About" books these past 2 weeks. Next week they will be picking an animal or insect to write about for their published "All About" book. These books will include roughly 4 facts about the animal/insect. 

Math: We have been composing and decomposing numbers this week. The children practiced taking a larger number and adding on. We also played some adding and subtracting games.  

Visual Arts:  We have been exploring painting techniques inspired by Eric Carle. We made grouchy ladybugs and wrote speech bubbles about what makes us grouchy.

Song of the Week:  Head to Toe Dance by Literacy in Motion

Book of the Week:  From Head to Toe  by Eric Carle

Donation Requests:

• Band aids for our dramatic play hospital

Up-Coming Events:

• Music Hall Field Trip- 5/21
• Volunteer Appreciation Morning Meeting- 5/22 
• No School- 5/26 Memorial Day
• Kindergarten Field Day- 5/23 *We welcome parent help on field day. Let me know if you are interested in helping out!
• Grandparent Luncheon-Monday, 6/2
• Last Day of K- 6/11 at 9:30. This date is earlier than the rest of SMS to allow time to screen in-coming kindergarten students. Please save the date because you are invited in for a celebration at 9:30 a.m. Dismissal will be by 11:00. If this is a problem for your family, please let me know!

Fondly,

Kristen

May 2, 2014

Fish Families:

Our first Full Wednesday was a success. The children seemed to enjoy the extra time in class. These 3:00 Wednesdays will continue until the end of the year, except for the already scheduled early release days. 

I would like to welcome Carter Sygowski to the fish class! 

Here is a glimpse of our week and the busy weeks to come:

Literacy: We have begun an "All About" non-fiction writing unit. I have been reading many "All About" books and modeling how to write one. Your children know lots of things and are excited to put their knowledge to paper. During Readers' Workshop, we began our author study. We will be studying Eric Carle and his style of illustrating and writing. The children are beginning to develop theories about him. If you have any Eric Carle books at home that you can send it for independent reading time, we would love it! 

Math: The children have been working on subtraction this week. We played games reinforcing addition and subtraction symbols. We also played POP for Numbers which reinforced 2 digit numbers and the concept of fewest/most. 

Up-Coming Events:

• Early Release- 5/14
• Music Hall Field Trip- 5/21 *Last call for chaperones! Let me know if you are interested.
• May Day/Wellness Walk- 5/7 (Weather Permitting.) You are welcome to join us. We will meet in front of the school at 1:20. We plan to walk with our 5th grade buddies as well.
• No School- 5/26
• Kindergarten Field Day- 5/23 *We welcome parent help on field day. Let me know if you are interested in helping out!
• Grandparent Luncheon-Monday, 6/2
• Last Day of K- 6/11 at 9:30. This date is earlier than the rest of SMS to allow time to screen in-coming kindergarten students. Please save the date because you are invited in for a celebration at 9:30 a.m. Dismissal will be by 11:00. If this is a problem for your family, please let me know!

Fondly,

Kristen

Dear Fish Families:

• I have uploaded some great Jump Rope for Heart photos to our Flickr page. Be sure to check them out!

• The Fish Teachers plan to take part in the Action For Aidan race in June and would love to run/jog/walk with any of the children from our class who are interested and able to make it. Participation is optional.  

           https://sites.google.com/site/actionforaidan/home 

•  Progress Reports were sent home today to report attendance. Conferences replaced grades for kindergarten this quarter. It was a pleasure to meet with each of you to discuss the growth these amazing students have made. Thank you for your time. I know how busy schedules are!

• We are able to take 5 chaperones to the Music Hall with us in May. If you are interested in joining us and weren't able to go last time, please let me know. The cost for chaperones is $6.

• Wish List:       Band-aids for our dramatic play hospital in May.

UP-COMING EVENTS:

• Full Day Wednesdays begin- 4/30
• Early Release- 5/14
• Music Hall Field Trip- 5/21
• May Day/Wellness Walk- 5/7 (*More information to follow)
• No School- 5/26
• Kindergarten Field Day- 5/23 *We welcome parent help on field day. Let me know if you are interested in helping out!
• Grandparent Luncheon-Monday, 6/2
• Last Day of K- 6/11 at 9:30. This date is earlier than the rest of SMS to allow time to screen in-coming kindergarten students. Please save the date because you are invited in for a celebration at 9:30 a.m. Dismissal will be by 11:00. If this is a problem for your family, please let me know!

Thank you and I hope you all have a safe and restful April vacation!

Kristen

April 4, 2014

Hi Fish Families!

Dramatic Play will become a restaurant next week. If anyone has any server aprons, order slips or menus, would would love to borrow them to supplement what we have here at school. Thanks!

Here is a glimpse of our week in the fish class:

Language Arts: During Readers' Workshop we have been learning about some characteristics of non-fiction books. The children have learned about the Table of Contents, Glossary, and Headings. They love learning information from these texts.  The children continue to make nice progress with our "How To" writing. 

Math: We have been busy completing the 3rd quarter math assessments. I will be sharing this information at conferences. The progress is amazing to see! The children played Race to 50 on the Promethean this week. We made a fruit graph with all the fruit the children brought in on Monday. Thank you for your support with this!

Science:  We continue to count down the days until the chicks hatch. We are hoping to have chicks by Wednesday (or Thursday).   

Donation Requests:

• Tissues
• Bags of flour for our texture table

Up-coming Events:  

• First Full Wednesday begins- 4/30
• Early Releases For April Conferences- 4/9 & 4/16
• April Vacation- 4/21-4/25

Fondly,

Kristen