Mrs. King's Class

Sorry for not getting things posted earlier in the week, but it has been crazy!! We are doing DIBLES Benchmark testing, assessments for report cards and trying to have a little fun with the holidays. We have finished the Alphabet!!! YEA!!! Everyone is now bringing home little books to read. This will now become a part of the nightly homework. Please try to read and sign off each night. Each book should be read at least 3 times and have the sheet signed before I will send a new book home. Don't forget to color in the reading calendar as you read. It's a free pizza from Personal Pan Pizza Hut for your child when they bring the calendar back to me at the end of the month filled with colored stars.

We are finishing up Chapter 3 in Math. We have really flown through this, but the children are really getting patterning and the graph part will be review again in first grade. We can even identify ABAB, ABCABC, AABBAABB, ABBABBA, and AABAAB patterns! We have enjoyed this chapter and having fun with the patterns.

The book order was sent last week; so it should be here at the beginning of the week. I know that most people are using it for Christmas presents, so I won't be sending them home with the children. I will just e-mail you and you can come get it whenever is convenient for each family.

A new homework packet went home today. The last one for the YEAR! No homework will be sent home over the break, but please keep reading each night. It scary how fast they will forget things if you don't keep them in the habit. Homework will actually take on a new look when we come back from break. It will focus on Reading and writing with math skills also included, but no more worksheets. It will be a two-week log that will be returned on the second and fourth Friday of each month. It will new homework will also be sent home that same day.

Several fliers went home in the folders today. One about our Polar Express Activity on Thursday, December 17th. We are asking that the children wear their pajamas and robes to school that day and we will be watching the G rated movie "The Polar Express" in our classrooms aboard our very own imaginary trains. It should be a fun day. Then on Friday December 18th we will be have our First Annual All-Day Kindergarten Holiday Concert. We are asking parents and anyone else who would like to attend to be in the music room at 9:15 am on Friday morning. Following the concert we will be going back to our rooms for our Holiday Celebration and parents are welcome to come back to class with us. School will be dismissed early that day at approximately 10:55 am.

Report Cards and DIBELS testing scores will be coming home the first week we are back from break. Also don't forget that the students DO NOT have school on Monday, January 4th. School begins on January 5th for the students.

Thanks so much for all your support and help through the first half of this year. I can't believe we are almost halfway done! It's been a crazy but fun filled year and I look forward to the second half!

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Christmas Season! Merry Christmas to ALL and to ALL a Happy New Year too!

Morning Recess

Parents, starting in January, kindergarten will no longer be playing outside on the playground in the morning due to the cold weather. Please have your child go directly to their classroom starting in January. If you have any questions about where your child should meet, please ask your child's teacher. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding of this new procedure.

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

We had a great week filled with fun holiday crafts. Next week we will continue to finish our holiday crafts including a surprise for our parents! We finished up the alphabet! Yay! Please continue to practice the letters at home if your child is still struggling.

A new homework packet went home today. Please let me know if you did not get one. These homework packets are due on Thursday for AM and Friday for PM.

In case you havent noticed, books have been put on hold. No books will be sent home until after the break. If you have not returned your little reader yet, please do so as soon as possible.

The upcoming week is filled with fun activities and events. On Thursday, we have our holiday parties. Please check the notes that have already gone home regarding supplies needed as well as helpers needed.

On Friday, only PM comes. Students need to meet on the kindergarten playground before 8am. We will also be having our polar express day on Friday for PM students. Students are invited to wear their Pajamas to celebrate the polar express. We will also be doing a fun craft this day. A reminder note about wearing PJs will go home next week.

I would like to thank everyone for a super first half of the year, I hope everyone has a great holiday break and I look forward to another great half of the year in 2010.

If you have any questions about anything, please email me.

ALL DAY KINDERGARTEN (not half day)

The All day Kindergarten classes have decided to perform their songs together in the music room. We are very excited to sing for you, so please meet us on Friday, December 18th at 9:15 in the music room which is room 214 (the yellow door next to the cafeteria). Class parties will follow the performance and we will begin releasing at 10:50. We are looking forward to seeing you!!

Thank you,

All Day Kindergarten Teachers

Ms. Wolters
Mrs. King
Mrs. Wright

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have been having a super week! Our class has been working on patterns and graphing in math, writing short sentences in Reading/Language Arts and have completed our second round of DIBELS testing. We have also been reading about different holidays celebrated in the United States during the month of December.

Today we had a visit from a Queen Creek children's author, Kathy Ferguson. The kids enjoyed hearing her story "The Extra-Ordinary Hat"! She is a retired teacher from our district and has been a substitute in our class. It was great having her here to share her book with us! The kids also enjoyed a fun craft. I am sure you probably noticed the cool hats they made with Kathy.

Next week is jam packed with fun. Thursday (12-17) we will be watching Polar Express and will take an imaginary ride on the train. Please send your kids in p.j.'s and slippers on Thursday. Friday (12-18) we will be having our holiday party. All parents are invited to attend. The first portion of the party will be a holiday singing concert with the all day kinder classes and the remainder of the time will be spent making gingerbread houses. Please join us for a great time.

Well, with 7 days left until our winter break we will be busy! I hope you all enjoy this time of year and find several reasons to celebrate the season!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

This week we are learning about our last letter! The letter U. In math we will be learning about positional words. I am hoping to breeze through this chapter since it seems to be super easy for everyone. We are also doing some fun holiday crafts and activities.

This week we are also starting our "I Can Do It" notebooks. These notebooks will be filled with all the fun songs and poems we do in class. Each month, starting in January, your child will bring home their "I Can Do It" notebooks to read with you. It is very important that you return the notebooks so we can continue to fill them up.

I have had several questions over the homework calendar and treasure bag. On the back of the behavior chart is a homework calendar. This is optional homework that your child can do to earn points towards getting to go to the treasure bag. This calendar is completely optional and only helps your student master the skills we have already learned. If they earn a certain number of points, they get to pick from the treasure bag.

Don't forget to be reading and filling in your reading charts! For every 15 minutes you read with your child they get to color in 1 snowman. If they read for a total of 4 hours this month, they get a coupon for a free pizza to Pizza Hut.

This Wednesday, December 9th, we are having an author come to our school to share her new book. Everyone is welcome to join us. Am is at 9:30 in the library and Pm is at 11:30 in our room. It is sure to be a fun and exciting day!

Keep up all the great work at home! If you have any questions, please contact me.

ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us

Mrs. Wright's Class

We had a wonderfully busy, but productive, week. The kids amisdt the holiday excitement were fantastic and continue to amaze me in their abilities. Keep up all of the hard work kiddos!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a super day and I must have recieved over 100 hugs from my sweet students. I appreciate all of your thoughfulness. The cards, gifts and well wishes were WONDERFUL!

I hope everyone has a restful weekend...see you back to school on Monday for another fun filled week!

Ms. Wolters' Class

Good Afternoon, We have been working hard on our songs so we can perform them for our families. All family members are welcome so please let them know. We would like to sing to you in our classroom on December 18th at 9:15. We will have a winter party following our performance. It is a short day so I hope you all can make it and then we will be dismissing about 10:50. Our wonderful room moms, Mrs. Broschinsky, Mrs. Baez and Mrs. Harris will be organizing our party again so thank you to them in advance!!!!
Ms. Wolters

Mrs. Wright's Class

This post is long overdue and I apoligize! These past few weeks have been busy. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break and were able to spend some quality time with family. My family traveled back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and had a great time. It was nice to have the change in weather too! Anyhow with only 3 weeks left until our Winter Break things might get even more busy...Watch Out!

We are finishing up the alphabet and are learning the last 2 letters (Q & U) this week. Please reveiw all of the letters at home and continue to play games in which your kindergarten student has to come up with words that start with a specific letter or sound. In math we finished Chapter 1 and are on to Chapter 2, Graphing and Patterns. This is a fun chapter for the kids, look for some fun math projects to come home soon. We will be learning about different holidays families celebrate throughout the month of December and started decorating our classroom this week. You will all have an opportunity to see the "Winter Wonderland" during an upcoming Holiday Party. There will be more information on the party to come soon.

Since the weather is cooling off and most mornings are quite chilly it is recommended that all students come with jackets or sweatshirts. We are still doing morning recess before school starts and the kids get cold without proper dress. Thanks for your help with this! Also, tonight is our school-wide curriculum night focusing on science. We hope to see you there.

A homework packet went home on Monday that is due Friday. If you need some extra time,feel free to keep the packet over the weekend and send it in on Monday. We did not have a homework packet last week. I am sorry that most of you saw very few books come home last week too. With me being out of town I did not get the chance to read with the kids. Everyone who brought a book back received a new one yesterday. The kids continue to be excited about reading so keep it up! Your children are doing wonderful and it is a pleasure to have each one of them in class. Thanks for all of your support and hard work!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Happy December! This week we will be learning about the letters Z and Q. We will also be doing some fun December and holiday projects. We have a busy three weeks coming up. Make sure you check the calendar for upcoming events. We will be having our holiday party on Thursday, December 17th if you are able to come and help at the party, please let me know. My fabulous room Moms are helping to plan the winter parties this time so please look for calls, emails, or notes home from them about what you can bring or help with.

Please continue to read those little readers. Everyone is flying through them, I cannot believe how well everyone is doing. If your child does not have a book yet, please continue to work on the letters and letter sounds at home.

In the next two weeks, everyone is going to be tested for the second time on DIBELS. To help your student get ready for this you can be practicing taking apart words hop h-o-p. As well as sounding out and decoding nonsense words like woc. I am confident that everyone will do a lot better from the first round of testing.

New homework packets went home on Monday. If you did not get one, please let me know. Another homework packet will go home on Friday.

Have a great week!