Mrs. King's Class

I just wanted to thanks the Fosters for host that wonderful swimming party. The food was great and the pool was a big hit with the adults and children alike. It was a wonderful afternoon! I am sure all that attended had a great time. I know I did. It was great getting to talk to parents and students outside the school environment. Thanks again to all who came a brought food, I truly enjoyed myself as I am sure everyone did.

Fund Raising packets are being sent home today. Children were instructed not to go door to door but to only sell to people they know. This is a huge event for our PTO so please be as supportive as possible. I know not all families will chose to participate and that is o.k. just send me back your packet. If you chose to participate there are snowflakes that are to be filled out for each item sold-you may have to make extra copies if you are great salespeople. The packets are due back to me in two weeks along with all the money. We have a great PTO that is very supportive of the teachers and children in the classrooms. All the moneys earned come right back here to Simonton.

Also be on the lookout for some calendar markers-these are little square cardboard cutouts that have disappeared from my room. They are two sided with a green book on one side and a red apple on the other side and the numbers 25-31 have disappears from my board. I have turn the room upside down, so they accidentally made their way into a backpack at the end of the day and they ended up at home I would greatly appreciate them being returned. I use them for our calendar and the set is no good without the last few numbers.

We have had our first phonics test and will take our first math assessment this week. So make sure you are practicing those numbers, letters and sounds at home. Letters this week will be Cc and Aa (short sound only). We will move on to numbers 6-10 by the end of the week.


Thanks for all your support.

Kindergarten Parents

Dear Parents,

We are noticing that the playground is getting more and more congested in the morning. Since we do have so many kindergartners that have to fit on the playground in the morning it would make it a lot easier if you simply drop off your child at the gate. We are finding that having all of the kindergartners, plus parents and siblings, is making it very difficult for us to supervise. We are also having problems with siblings playing on the playground. For safety reasons, only kindergartners are to be playing on the playground. We appreciate your attention to this matter and understand that from time to time you will need to come into the playground area, but for the most part, please drop your child off at the gate going into the playground.

thank you,
kindergarten team

Ms. Wolters' class

We had perfect attendance at school on Friday. Way to go!!! A few students were out sick this past week so it was nice to have everyone back on Friday. I am sorry I didn't get the homework passed out on Friday; I will get it out tomorrow morning. We worked on the letters P and C this week and we had our math test on numbers 0-5 and ordinal numbers first through fifth. I was pleased with how well the kids did on it. We started the year on chapter 3 to try to follow a more logical sequence. We started with numbers 0-5 and then we will begin chapter 4 on Monday which will be reading, writing and counting up to number 10 and ordinal numbers to 10. We will also be working on the letter A and starting to form short words. Several of you signed up to be parent volunteers in our class. If you would like to volunteer, please send me an email as to when you are available. I would like to make a schedule so just let me know what works for you. Thanks so much!! I look forward to another great week!

Mrs. King's Class

We are already to Friday this week. We have been working hard on numbers 0-5 and the letters Tt and Pp. Next week we will work on Letters Cc and Aa and begin to put sounds together to form simple words. We will finish up Chapter 3 and take a test early in the week. We are also currently doing the DIBELS testing for Kindergarten and those results will be sent home with the first Progress Report.

Don't forget the Swimming Party on Saturday-Please RSVP today to Mrs. Foster. I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as that can come.

We did a guidance lesson with Mr. G our counselor about What Bugs Us. Ask your child to tell you about it.

Have a great weekend.

See you Saturday!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

As many of you might have heard, one of our kindergarteners, Rachel Allen, passed away over the weekend. She was in our afternoon class for a couple of weeks and then moved to our morning class for a while. The students have not been told about this event so please take it upon yourself if you feel that your child needs to know. The family is looking for donations to help pay for funeral expenses. They have an account set up at desert school credit union. Online transactions are not available at the time so you must visit the branch. Please put Rachel Allen Memorial Fund In the memo section and the account # - 3000014923

There will be a candle light vigil tomorrow, Thursday August 27th outside of the school from 7 – 8pm.

The funeral is on Saturday in Mesa 2220 N. Harris St. The viewing will be from 9:30-10:30 and the funeral is at 11am.

If you have any questions, please contact me ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us or our school counselor jgrafing@jocombs.k12.az.us

Mrs. King's Class

Just wanted to let you that we will have PE tomorrow, but we will not have it on Friday. The PE teacher will not be here on Friday so we won't be able to go. We had 100% attendance yesterday and today! YEA! Keep it up!!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

This week we are learning the letters P and C. We will also be finishing up our math chapter on numbers 0-5. We are learning how to compare numbers, more than or less than. Everyone understands more than but most are having a difficult time with less than. This would be a perfect concept to practice at home simply by asking the students who has less than who. Please continue to be practicing handwriting at home. Yesterday, we did our first handwriting assessment for a grade. Students are graded on how well they are able to form the letters, some students are great at it and some still need some help. Remember, www.handwritingworksheets.com is a super place to visit to help work on the formation of letters, just simply type in what letters they need to work on. For example, this week's assessment was Mm Rr Ss Tt, I just typed that into the maker using the D'nealian font and that was their writing assessment. Please use this website often and have your child write the letters we are learning weekly. This way everyone will get a good grade in the writing portion on the progress report. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Ms. Wolters' class

We had a good week this week. We had our first test Friday on the letters we have learned: m, s, t and r. Most of the kids seemed to do pretty well but a few struggled with following along and following the directions. This will improve with time. Next week we will be having a test on number 0-5 and ordinal numbers first - fifth. Try playing some games using the ordinal numbers such as lining things up or who goes first or second in a game. The kids are doing great with counting and writing their numbers and letters. We read the story rainbow fish for the letter r and the kids seemed to enjoy that. We made a rainbow fish with a glittery scale. The story is about sharing and making friends so it was a great lesson on character. Thanks for all you do and I look forward to a great week next week!! Enjoy the weekend.

Ms. Wolters

Mrs. Wright's Class

Dear Parents,

I have exciting news... You can now place your Scholastic Book Club orders online!
Browse all the great monthly Club selections at low prices and order online. Plus, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent orders online.

Here's how it works:
Use the information below to access the Scholastic Book Clubs Web site.
Browse the titles with your child, and place your order with your credit card.
Your order will come to me, and your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic's secure server. There's no need to send money to school.
After I submit the entire class's order to Scholastic, your order will be delivered to our classroom for your child to take home.

Go to: www.scholastic.com/clubsordering
Class User Name: twrightsimontonkinder
Password: Stallions

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. You'll also get instant access to over 500 additional titles plus online-only specials and discounts.
And don't forget: Every time a parent places an order online, we earn a FREE book for our classroom library!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Wright

Mrs. King's Class

Yea it's Friday!!! We have now made it through the first 15 days of school. Wow!! We visited the Treasure Box today-everyone who was here got to go. We will start tracking points for the Treasure Box-a sticker day gets a point and if they get caught being a kid of Character they will be able to earn extra points. They will need to earn 10 points for a trip to the treasure box.
We are going to start earning class points as well. We will set goals and rewards as a class next week and I will let you know what we come up with.

A new homework packet went home today-remember it is not due until next Friday. Thank you to all the parents who remembered to send the homework in. If you forgot just send it in on Monday-last weeks only.

I hope that the invitations all got home for the Pool Party next Saturday-there was a misprint on the date-it is Saturday, August 29, 2009-the original invitation had Saturday the 30th. I correction went home today, but I wanted to mention it just in case the papers don't make it all the way home.

You may have noticed that your child came home with a green or yellow this week. I have really cracked down on interrupting, talking while someone else is talking and keeping our hands and feet to ourselves. Those seem to be the biggest problems. We will continue to work hard on these and other social skills as we also grow our academic skills. I have to say really for having 25 children in the room they are doing a great job overall!

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Remember, homework is due tomorrow. If you need more time to complete the packet, please let me know. A new packet is going home tomorrow, please let me know if you do not get one. I would also like to thank all my parents helpers this week, you have really made the week go smoothly for me. If you did not get a chance to sign up to volunteer and would like to please let me know I still have a few spots open. We would like to welcome Ms. Laura to our classroom. She is our new aide who will be helping us out everyday in the afternoon session. Make sure you are checking and emptying your child's folder everyday. We have had a few yellow lights this week, please make sure you are talking with your child about how important it is to stay on green. If you have any questions, please email me!

Mrs. Wright's Class

WE HAVE 100% attendance again today.

Super job students and parents for making it a priority to be at school each day. I will be creating our Volunteer Calendar for the month of September soon. If you would like to be added, please let me know at least 2 days and times that work with your schedule. Thanks!

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have had 100% attendance the last two days of school. Way to go! This week we are learning about letters R and T. We are still practicing numbers 0-5 and your kids are getting better at writing the numbers and letters every day. Please remember to check your child's folder nightly and view the blog at least once a week. Thanks for your help and support!

Mrs. King's Class

We had another 100% attendance day today. Thanks for making an effort to make sure your children are here every day and on time. We are working on our number 0-5 and the letters Mm, Ss. I introduced the Letter R today so talk to your child about things that start with Rr! We are also still working on writing and recognizing our first names. Please remember when practicing names at home to form the letter using D'nealian Letters, with a capital letter at the beginning and all the other letters should be lower case. I have a lot still writing their name in all caps which we need to change. The website Ms. Trobridge listed is a great place to create worksheet to help them practice if your child needs more work in this area.
If you have a little girl who wants to wear dresses to school please encourage her to wear a pair of shorts under her dresses or skirts. Also we have had several bathroom related issues that I need parents help with. I understand that five year old have accidents-they will have them at school so PLEASE make sure that your child has a change of clothes here so that we can handle the accident with as little interruption and embarrassment as possible. If I don't have a change then they have to go to the nurse and you have to be called and it just brings way more attention to the situation than is necessary. Also, please talk with your children about what to do if they have an accident. Please tell them to come right to me and let me know. If we have clothes, I get them quickly and send them right into our bathroom and take care of it with little notice from everyone. I will never be angry or embarrass them, I will only help them fix the situation. It is unhealthy for all of us if they are sitting in soiled clothes.
We will begin DIBELS testing next week so our week may be a little strange as classes are combined and we get the testing done. The results of the DIBELS will be explained at parent teacher conference when we give each parent their child's scores. These scores help us to know where your child is on the Early Literacy Skills and what we as teachers can do to help move them along the spectrum. Also if you are following some of the other teacher's post you know that Ms. Wolters asked parents to set up account for student eating school lunch. I think most of you have done that, but if you haven't even if your child is only going to use it for milk or the occasional lunch, it makes it easier for us and the cafeteria staff if there is an account. You can even manage it and add money online so it is very convenient. Also look for the blog to change a little we have discovered how to post links to set up homework and other documents online. So then if something gets lost it will be available on the blog! We are just getting to smart!

Ms. Wolters' Class

Please consider setting up your child's lunch account online or in the cafeteria. This morning one of the students lost his lunch money on the playground and we never found it. I also had three students handing me lunch money during duty and it was hard to remember who gave me what. If you set the account up, it will ensure that the money won't be lost and it will make life easier. Thanks so much!!!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

This week we are learning about the letters R and T as well as continuing our numbers 0-5. We are also working very hard at learning the proper way to write first and last names. Please continue to work on writing at home. www.handwritingworksheets.com is a fabulous website that you can make your own handwriting worksheets from. If your child is having problems writing their first and last name please take advantage of this site. Make sure you are clicking D'nealian style of print since that is what we use in school.

Please make sure, if you are sending your girls to school in dresses, that they have shorts under them. We sit criss cross apple sauce on the floor and it is hard for them to sit like this if they do not have shorts under their dresses. Also, I still have a lot of items without names on them. We leave stuff behind everyday and it makes it a lot easier to find its owner if their name is on it.

Remember, homework packets are due on Friday! If you did not get one please let me know so I can send home another one. A new packet will go home Friday the 21st. If you have any questions on the homework packet please let me know.

Tomorrow is the PTO meeting in the cafeteria at 6:30pm. PTO is a great way to get involved in the school. They are a great organization and help the school out a lot especially in the last couple of weeks!

If you have any questions about anything please email me.

ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us

Ms. Wolters' Class

We will be working on the letters T and R this week and the numbers 0 to 5. The students are working really hard on their handwriting and their counting and they are doing great. We checked out books at the library on Friday but we will be keeping them in the classroom for the first month. I will try to read as many of them as possible to the class. If anyone would like to volunteer to come read a story to the class, that would be greatly appreciated. We have been singing a lot of songs including alphardy, the numeral song, color farm, the shape song and their favorite is the cool bear hunt. (You have probably heard them sing this at home.) Tomorrow is P.E. so don't forget the tennis shoes. The kids are doing awesome so far!!! Thanks for all of your support!!! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. mwolters@jocombs.k12.az.us or 480-987-5330 x4124

Mrs. Wright's Class

Hooray for the first 2 weeks of school. Your kids are doing amazing. Everyone is learning our routines, becoming an active member in class and following the six pillars of character. I am so proud of the progress each of them is making.
We started our math and reading curriculum this past week. As you probably noticed in the paperwork that came home we learned the letters Mm and Ss. Please talk daily with your child about the sound each letter we are learning makes, practice writing the upper and lower case letters and brainstorm words together that begin with our letter/s of the week.
In math we started Chapter 3 which covers number 0-5. This chapter should be a breeze! I ask that you also reinforce number writing at home, some of the numbers (2 and 5) are a bit tricky at this point in the year to write. The more your child practices the better they will get!
The first homework packet went home on Friday. Your child has an entire week to complete the activities assigned. If you should have any questions about the worksheets or activity sheet, please do not hesitate to contact me. Listed below is our specials schedule for your reference. Please remember to send your child to school in gym shoes on our P.E. days.
Monday- P.E.
Tuesday- Orchard Lab (computers)
Thursday- Library
Friday- NO Special
Wednesday specials will be on a rotation schedule.
1st Wednesday of the month- Music
2nd Wednesday of the month- P.E.
3rd Wednesday of the month- Library
4th Wednesday of the month- Technology
Thank you for all of your support and classroom donations. The year has started off wonderfully! Here is my contact information if you ever have any questions or concerns: twright@jocombs.k12.az.us
(480) 987-5330 ext. 4325
I look forward to seeing your kids on Monday. I anticipate another great week!

Mrs. King's Class

I wanted parents to be aware that I will not be at school tomorrow. I am taking my youngest son to college. Mrs. Banner will be our substitute and she is a great lady! We will still have P.E. so remember to make sure that children are wearing their tennis shoes. We did a great job last week so please remember. Our first homework packet will come home tomorrow. This packet is not due until next Friday. Please work on it slowly one or two pages per night and then pick one or two activities from the menu to do. You are welcome to keep it in the green folder-I will not pull it out until Friday. We are doing a great job in class. Yesterday we all finished the day with stickers!! Yea!! Remember a sticker means a great day. If your child should come home with nothing on their calendar it's probably because I accidentally missed them for that day. If they have had a problem I will usually always make sure that the dot is colored and a note is made.

We have had a very busy week. We have started our letters with the letter Mm and Math with numbers 0-5. Please make take every opportunity at home to reinforce these concepts. Count everything you can. Write letters and numbers in as many mediums as you can think of-plates of salt, outside in the dirt or sand, with chalk on the sidewalk, water and paint brushes and if you are really brave shaving cream or pudding are fun too! Think of words that start with the Mm sound-we will add Ss and Rr next week or look for those letters on signs as you travel!

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

We have almost made it through our second week of school! Everyone is doing a great job with learning the rules and staying on green all day. Please remember to check your child's folder every night and empty it out. As the year goes on, more and more papers will go home in the folders and it important to empty them every night. Also, please remember to continue to sign and praise your child for their green lights.

This week we learned M and S and were introduced to numbers 0-5. Remember to continue to enforce these concepts at home.

The first homework packet of year goes home tomorrow, Friday. These packets are due back to me next Friday, the 21st. Homework is a great way to spend time with your child and show them the importance of school. If you have any questions on the homework or don't understand the directions clearly, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I still have lots of backpacks, water bottles, and lunch bags without names on them. It is much easier to figure out who they belong to when they have a name on it. Please write your child's name somewhere on the item so I can find it.

Next week our parent helpers start, if you are interested in being a parent helper and coming in to help run centers, do prep work for me, or help students struggling in small groups, please let me know. I still have a couple of spots in the morning, and a lot of spots in the afternoon. If you would like to be a parent helper please email me or send a note in with your child.

Thank you to everyone for making these last 2 weeks as smooth as possible for everyone. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Email: ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us
Phone: 480-987-5330 X4327

Mrs. King's Class

Congratulations Parents we have had our first day of 100% attendance!!! Everyone is here and on time!!! Simonton is really stressing attendance this year. We are striving for 95% attendance school wide on a daily basis. This gives us our full funding formula, anything less cuts into our already shrinking budget. So you will be hearing and seeing lots of information about how we are doing on our attendance goal this year. Stay tuned!

Mrs. King's Class

We are off and running this week with lots of things to do. Yesterday I sent home our "Green" Folders. These folders need to be brought to school EVERY day. Please put any notes or lunch money inside this folder as I will check them every morning! You will also have noticed that there is a behavior chart in the folder. This goes with our school wide Character Always behavior management plan. I will be sending home a more in depth explanation along with a contract for you and your student to sign and return. We have discussed the plan several times over the past week, but I also want to make sure parents understand and have discussed it with their child. You will know the type of day your child has had by checking that chart daily. I will also make little notes for your on the chart. We have discovered that we can not attach files to our blog, so we are having to modify homework and other things that we were going to post on the blog. I will be creating an e-mail distribution list so that most things will still be available electronically. Homework will come home on Fridays and will be due the following Friday, just in case you need the weekend to work on it. We also made our first trip to the Library yesterday. Books are being kept in the classroom for the first month or so the children can learn to take care of them. I will let you know when we will start sending them home. We are working on the numbers 0-5 and the letter Mm along with continuing to learn to write our names correctly. Please take a few moments each night and reinforce these skills-regular homework will be sent home starting this Friday.
Thanks for all your support!
Mrs. King

Ms. Wolters' Class

Well, we made it through the first week and the kids are doing a great job. We had a fire drill on Friday and the students did great at walking in the line and waiting quietly which is hard to do for the first week!!! The first day a few kids ate their snack for lunch and I apologize for this. The rest of the week I went through each backpack and made a list of who brought a lunch and who was buying. Hopefully by now they will understand the routine. To make things easier, please don't send a snack in a lunchbox so it is easy to identify who is bringing lunch. We sang a lot of songs and read lots of stories. We read "The Little Red Hen" which ties into the character counts traits of fairness and caring. The students were also able to verbally retell the story back to me and they also understood the fairness lesson. They are really off to a great start. Friday was our first special at library. They did not get to check out books but they will be able to next week. Tuesday is our P.E. day so please remember the tennis shoes. Wednesday we will have a rotating special; technology, P.E., music and library so please send them in tennis shoes on Wednesdays as well. I want to extend a huge thank you for all the supplies!!! Many of you sent tissues, paper and markers which is greatly appreciated!!!! With all the budget cuts we have limited supplies so I can't thank you enough for your contributions. I would like the students to keep their extra set of clothes in their backpack so that in the event of an accident, they can just take their backpack to get changed and avoid any further attention to the situation. Monday their folders will come home with the red, yellow and green light system. We will be sending out more information soon, but I expect most students to just stay on green all the time. If they change their light to yellow, they will have a chance to earn their way back to green which is very positive for the kids. On Monday I will be sending a laminated copy of the handwriting sheet home along with some paper. Please just practice writing with your child and pay close attention to where to begin with the pencil. This will help your child's transition from printing to cursive writing. Again, thank you for all you do. It has been a great first week!!!

Kindergarten Reminders

We all had a great first week! The kids are so excited about learning and it has been so fun getting to know each of our new kinder kids. The following items are some helpful reminders to start our second week of school:

• Please put your child's name on everything! (Backpacks, water bottles, snacks)
• Make sure your child's teacher has an extra set of clothes to keep in the classroom in case of an accident or "art mess". Label the bag of clothes with your child's first and last name.
• Character Cards will be going home on Monday with your child. If you have questions about this program, contact your child's teacher.
• If you have not turned in your blue signature packet from "Meet the Teacher" night please do so ASAP. If you need another one, let your child's teacher know.
• Until the weather cools off we will continue to dismiss from Mrs. King's room. Please use the crosswalk and sidewalks when arriving/leaving the campus. We want all families to remain safe!
• The first homework packet of the year will go home on Friday (8-14-09). Please have your child complete the activities throughout the week and return the completed packet on the following Friday. Homework will be sent home weekly.
• Please follow the dress code that Simonton has in place. It is important that students are not wearing spagetti straps or backless shirts and dresses. Also, do not send your child in clothes that they cannot easily get on/off in order to use the restroom.
• Monday (8-10-09) we will start morning recess before school on the kindergarten playground. The kindergarten teachers will start supervision at 7:40 am. NO students should be on the playground before then.

Again thanks for a great start to the year.

Simonton Kindergarten Team

Mrs. King

We have had a great time in Kindergarten this week. We have had a great time exploring the different centers in the room. We have also played with play dough, painted a picture with water colors, drawn self-portraits and worked on our names. Please continue to work with your child at home on writing their first name. Please teach them to use a capital letter at the beginning and lower case letters for the rest of their name. I am sending home our first Snack Calendar today. I made a hard copy for everyone this time-if you lose it, you will be able to find it posted here on the blog-I hope-I have to learn how to do that! Next week we will start with our Character Always Counts charts which will come home every day in their "green" folders. Please initial each day that you looked at your child's chart each day. I will be sending the whole plan home along with a contract for you and your child to sign and return to me. Also if you haven't returned the blue packet from "Meet the Teacher Night?" Please do that this week. Also an address verification form will be sent home in folders on Monday-please review the information and correct anything that needs it before signing and returning it. Thanks to all our parents for sending their students in tennis shoes today! Everyone had a great time in PE. We will have PE every Friday and every third Wednesday so don't forget those tennis shoes. Homework will be posted next Friday. Thanks for all your support! We are off to a great start!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

We had a great day today! Everyone is getting into routines and we started our learning centers today. Parents, please work with your child on cutting skills. Let them cut everything and anything, paper, newspaper, magazines, construction paper. The more practice they get the better they will be. We also worked on letter writing and name writing Please continue to work at home with these two skills. With your help, we will get everyone where they need to be by winter break.

AM special schedules went home today, please let me know if you did not get one. PM special schedules will go home tomorrow. Remember, when we have PE, everyone needs to have tennis shoes on.

AM you have PE tomorrow! Wear those tennis shoes!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Everyone has been doing a super job of learning the routines of school. We are doing a great job of learning each others names and learning to follow the rules. We also have had all green lights so far. Great Job! Thank you for your patience as we work through the bus and pick up schedule. Please check your child's folder later this week for a note home about specials.

A note about snack: We only have 15-20 minutes to eat AND play. A lot of students choose not to eat and to only play and that is why they are coming home with snacks and are hungry later. Please encourage your students to eat quickly so they can eat AND play in our short recess time.
Thank you to everyone while we work out the bugs in the first few weeks of school.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Mrs. Wright's Class

A Note from Mrs. Wright
Well, we made it through our first day of kindergarten. Every student did a great job learning our classroom routines, meeting new friends and trying their best. We have a fun filled week ahead! Folders were sent home today and they were pretty empty, to say the least. As the week goes on I will be adding a reading log, character card and work samples that the kids have completed in class. Please remember to check and empty your child's folder nightly. I look forward to a great year and wanted to express thanks to all of my families for attending "Meet the Teacher". Our class had 100% attendance for our "Teacher Night" as well as at school today. Thank you for being an active participant in your child's education- together we can do great things!