Making Tamales

Eating real tamales after making our play-doh tamales. 

Finished tamales

Rolling out the "masa" dough for our tamales.

 Rolling up and tying our tamales.

Our tamales in the big pot ready to be "cooked"

Placing our rolled up tamales on the plate when they were completed.

Making the dough flat before placing on the corn husks.

Week of December 16-19, 2014

Week of December 16-19, 2013

Theme: Holidays and Christmas Around the World

No letter of the week of show and share

Dear Families,

Thank you for your help at our Holiday party. I think both parties went really well and all of the children had a great time. 

This week we will be doing some Holiday inspired activities. On Monday we will be doing activities inspired by the Polar Express. We will be working on writing, finding letters to make holiday words, listening to holiday stories and working on listening for syllables in words. Last week we worked on measuring objects using traditional and non traditional activities. On Monday we will continue by using the balance scale to weigh objects and compare the weights of different objects. On Wednesday we will be celebrating Christmas Around the World with the whole preschool. The children will have the opportunity to visit the different preschool classrooms and learn about how different countries and cultures celebrate the holidays. On Thursday it will be Polar Express Day at school. We invite all of the children to either wear or bring their pajamas to school for a fun-filled day before the holiday break. 

Reminders:

December 18-Christmas around the world

December 19-Polar Express Day, wear or bring your pajamas to school.

December 21-January 5th-Holiday Break

January 6th-Return to School

I am in the process of transferring the pictures to the class blog site, so as soon as I am able to successfully transfer them all I will let you know they are posted.

Week of December 9-12

Week of December 9-12, 2013

Theme: My Detective's Tools

Letter: R

Dear Families,

This week, as children continue to think and act like detectives, they will learn about tools that detectives use to gather information. Children will use a balance scale to compare the weights of objects, using the words lighter and heavier. they will use connecting cubes to compare the lengths of items, using the words shorter and longer. And using containers of various sizes will learn to use the words more, less, empty, and full. 

Learning Together:

• Together, explore the capacity of kitchen containers of various shapes and sizes. Fill two containers with water or rice, and ask your child to guess which container holds more. Then measure the contents of each one.
• Read to your child "the Three Billy Goats Gruff," "the Gingerbread Man," or a similar story in which the characters solve a problem. Talk about the problem in each story and how it was solved. 
• Cook or bake a food item together, and invite your child to help you measure the ingredients.

Special Activities:

December 10-we will have a special visitor that will show us how to make tamales. This correlates to our story which talks about how to make a recipe using different types of measurement: "I Like Making Tamales." She has a Mexican heritage and will share some artifacts from her culture. We will also have a special Mexican inspired snack at snack time that day.

December 11-Special Letter Snack-Sean

December 12-Class Holiday party-all parents are welcome to attend and participate in the festive events. The a.m. party will be 10:00-11:00 and the p.m. party will be 1:15-2:15.

Week of December 2-5, 2013

Week of December 2-5, 2013

Theme: I'm A Detective

Letter: G

Dear Families,

This week, as we begin a unit titled "Let's Investigate," children will learn to think and act like detectives. This week's lessons will provide children with opportunities to learn about and use their senses. Children will use their senses of sight, hearing, touch and smell to gather information and answer questions. They will also be introduced to tools, such as scales and magnifying lenses, that help detectives gather information.

Learning Together

• Place a variety of items, such as a marble, a cotton ball, a lemon, and a crayon, in a paper bag. Have your child use his or sense of touch an smell to identify the items without looking in the bag.
• Together, play games of "I Spy." Say clues such as "I spy something in this room. It is red and soft. What is it?" Take turns giving clues.

Before the Thanksgiving Break the afternoon class got the opportunity to watch the third graders practice their holiday concert. This week on December 3 the a.m. class will also have the opportunity to watch the third grade production of their holiday concert.

Special Activities:

Letter of the Week Snack G: Dylan Heestand

Star of the Week: Myrrah Shaw

Holiday Break: December 23-January 5.

December 6, 5-8 Holiday Shoppe and Book Fair-Hilton Elementary

Week of November 18-21, 2013

Week of November 18-21, 2013

Theme: Helping My Community

Letter of the Week: E

Dear Family,

During the past few weeks, children have been exploring the concept of community. They have learned about the various parts of a community, the places that are common to most communities, and the people who help within them. This week, children will learn about how they can help in their community. They will talk about how they can be efficient classroom helpers and how they can help on a regular basis at home. Additionally, they will explore ways in which recycling helps a community.

Learning Together

• Ask your child to tell you about one way in which he or she helped a teacher or a classmate at school. Then talk about additional ways that he or she can help in the classroom, such as by cleaning up, sharing, helping with pets, listening politely, and following directions.
• Together, plan a project such as baking, planting or cleaning, and have your child think of ways in which he or she can help you complete it.
• Talk with your child about ways to reuse or recycle items in your home. Have your child help you recycle appropriate items such as newspapers or bottles.

At the end of last week we talked about how our moms and dads help us and these are some of the responses I got:

Moms help:

• play with us
• make us dinner
•  us stay safe
•  us fall asleep
• us wash dishes
• drive to the grocery store
• us stay healthy
• take us to the doctor to get a shot
• us close the curtains
• us fix the TV

Dads help:

• us play catch
• practice activities
• us play baseball
• us get a band aid
• us buy toys
• us buy soccer cleats
• us clean the basement
• us clean the garage
• us ride a motorcycle.

This week we will be focusing on what the children can do to help at school and at home. Each child will complete a book page about what they can go to help at school and at home. We will also be completing some recycling sorting activities and thinking of different uses for items.

Next week will be the Thanksgiving Feast. The morning class will have their feast from 10:15-11:00 and the p.m. class will have their feast at 1:30. We will be on Thanksgiving break starting November 27-December 1.

 

Have a great week.

Week of November 11-14, 2013

Week of November 11-14, 2013

Theme: My Community

Letter of the Week: T

Dear Families,

During the upcoming week, children will explore the activities in their community and how the people within it help and assist them. they will talk about community helpers, such as the school nurse. They will learn about "rush hour," when people travel in vehicle to and from work and school. They will learn to recognize buildings in which people go to work. 

Learning Together

• Tell your child about where you and/or other members of your family go to work. If possible, visit that place.
• Ask your child to tell you the name of his or her bus driver.
• Take your child along when you go to the grocery store, gas station or other locations in your community. Talk about how the workers  help you, your family and others in the community.

This week we will continue to have the community post office at preschool as well as a restaurant. We are continuing to work cooperatively to build communities with in the classroom as a mural as well as using the materials that have been brought in to make buildings for the communities.

Special Events:

Special Letter Snack: Madison Letter T

Star of the Week:  Madeline

Show and Share November 14 Letter T

November 25th-Picture retake day, if you are planning to have your child's picture retaken please send me an email so I know to be looking for pictures that are being returned.

November 25th-Classroom Thanksgiving Feast, parents and siblings welcome. You will be receiving more information from the room parents.

No School November 27-December 1

Week of November 4-7, 2013

Week of November 4-7, 2013

Theme: In the Community

Letter of the Week: L

Dear Families,

Thank you so much for your contributions to our Halloween Party. I think everyone had a great time on our trick or treating trip to the Board of Education and around our school building.

This week, children will begin to explore the concept of a community. They will learn that a community is a place where people live and work. Children will talk about the parts of a community, such as places to live, places to play, places to work, and the community members who work in those places. they will also learn to recognize the common needs of all members of a community and discuss good practices for playing and working safely in the community.

Learning Together

• Take a walk in your neighborhood with your child. Point out buildings such as houses and apartment, stores, schools, the public library, hospitals or medical centers, the post office, and the police and fire stations. Talk with your child about what goes onion each building and who works there.
• Plan to visit an elderly neighbor with your child. Talk with your child about something fun the two of you might do with your neighbor.

If you have any empty containers or boxes at home please send them to school this week we are going to be using the containers for a painting project and the boxes we are going to use in our block center to build a community. We will also be working together to make a community mural. 

STAR reports went home on Thursday. The STAR program was used to benchmark where your child is at in regards to his/her early literacy skills. The reports lists things your child may be doing and things that you can do to help facilitate their learning in other skills. If you have any questions regarding the report please contact Mr. Martin, the principal at Hilton Elementary. 

Special Activities:

November 7: Show and Share Letter L

November 27-December 1-No School

Week of October 28-31, 2013

Week of October 28-31, 2013

Theme: Fall Fun

No Letter this week

This week we will be celebrating the wonders of fall. We will be doing several activities with pumpkins which includes some fine motor tasks as well as some counting. We will be reading several books about fall and Halloween including: Big Pumpkin and Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Following these books we will be expanding our creative thinking to include creating our own Spookley the Pumpkin and retelling the Big Pumpkin story with our own characters and theme. If you have not read these books it may be time for a trip to the library to borrow them. 

On Thursday we will have our Halloween party. Your child can either wear their costume to school or they can pack it in their backpack and we will help them get dressed. Please remember that if your child's costume includes anything that resembles a weapon that part of their costume may not come to school. We will have some fun games and activities including Trick or Treating around Hilton as well as a short walk up the hill to the Board of Education office to show off our costumes.

Next week we are going to be doing an activity that requires a variety of containers. If you have containers (plastic or aluminum) that have a lid on them that you are going to recycle such as a coffee container, old butter tub, etc. please send them in for us to use next week. We are going to be experimenting in a variety of ways with these containers and the more variety we have the better.

Last week the p.m. class was introduced to their book boxes as part of the Daily 5. They were able to choose 5 books to keep in their books boxes for Read to Self time. They were very excited about choosing books that would be their very own to keep in their book boxes.

Upcoming dates:

No School November 27-Dec. 1-Return to school Dec. 2

Week of October 21-24, 2013

Week of October 21-24, 2013

Theme: My Family

Letter of the Week: O

Dear Families,

During the week, the children will be learning about families. Children will learn the names of family members, such as father, mother, grandfather, sister, and uncle. They will describe their own families and read about a storybook family. They will also learn that families can be different; they can be made up of different family members can do together.

Learning Together

• If you have a family album, look at the photographs with your child. Together, name the family members. Point out and name any family members that children have not met or who have passed away. If photographs aren't available, draw a family picture and name the pictured individuals.
• Plan a whole family activity, such as cooking a meal, playing a game, or having a picnic.
• Talk about ways family members help and support each other, such as by cheering at a fame or celebrating a birthday. Discuss with your child how he or she can help other family members.

We will be discussing our families this week. On Tuesday please send in a photograph of your family with the family members labeled so that we can discuss and share them with the class group. We will then graph the number of brothers and sisters and compare the number of these two groups. We can then compare numbers of brothers and sisters in the a.m. class to those in the p.m. class. 

Upcoming events:
Star of the Week: Gabe, a.m. class
October 24-Show and Share, Letter O
October 31-Halloween party for the children only. Your children can either bring or wear their costume to school that day. We will do some fun Halloween activities in the classroom and then go trick or treating throughout the school.

Week of October 14-17, 2013

Week of October 14-17, 2013

Theme: My Body

Letter of the Week: F

Dear Families,

During the week, the children will learn the names of parts of their bodies. They will explore the different actions that they can do with each of these body parts. They will listen to a story about children using parts of their bodies to yawn, blink, reach, wiggle, and so on. Through stories, songs, and activities, children will practice identifying and using different body parts. They will become more aware of their own bodies, sense and personal boundaries.

Learning Together

• Visit the playground together. Have your child show you actions or activities he or she can perform. Ask your child to name the body parts he or she uses to do each one.
• Explore things together you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Have your child identify which body parts help them use these senses.
• Sing the "Hokey Pokey" with your child and perform the actions together:

            You put your right hand in. You take your right hand out. You put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey (Holds hands in the air and shake them.) And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about.

Repeat using other body parts, such as feet, knees, head, and "whole self."

Special Dates/Events:

October 15th: Picture day. If you are planning on purchasing pictures please return your picture envelope with payment on or before this date.

October 16th: Special letter of the week snack letter F: Casey Svozil.

October 16th: District wide Early Literacy inservice for PK-2nd grade teachers, substitute teachers will be in the classroom that day. Please be sure to have your numbers prominently displayed in your car window during pick-up times, this will be helpful for those who helping get the children into the cars.

October 17th: Show and Share letter F

October 31st-Halloween party at school. This party will be for the children only. 

Week of October 7-10, 2013

Week of October 7-10, 2013

Theme: My Feelings

Letter of the Week: P

Dear Families,

During the week, the children will identify and talk about feelings that are common to everyone. They will learn words that name feelings, such as happy, sad, serious, and excited. they will also learn that how they feel affects the way they behave. For example, they are likely to smile when they are happy and frown when they are angry or unhappy. Additionally, children will talk about recognizing and responding to the feelings of others. 

Learning Together:

• Ask how your child is feeling when he/she comes home from school. Encourage your child to share reasons for these feelings.
• Look through picture books and have your child try to identify characters' feelings. Ask your child what clues helped him or her determine each character's feelings.
• Tell your child what makes you happy. Talk about things that make you both happy. Play a guessing game with your child. Take turns using facial expressions and other forms of body language to pantomime a feeling for the other to guess.

This week while we concentrate on feelings we will be discussing times when we had those same emotions. We will be identifying feelings that others may be having. We will identify how our bodies feel, look and what we can do to help our bodies calm down when they need. to.We will also identify strategies we can use when we are having certain feelings and how we can deal with them in an appropriate manner. 

Special Activities:

Star of the Week: Samantha Amick, P.M.

Special Letter Snack on Wednesday: Peyton Coyne, A.M.

Preschool Picture Day: October 15th, more information closer to the date.

Week of September 30-October 3, 2013

Theme: All About Me

Letter of the Week: D

Dear Parents,

During this week, the children will be introduced to the idea that each person is unique and special. They will explore things they can do and things they want to learn to do. They will talk about how being able to do things makes them feel proud. Additionally, children will explore ways in which they are similar to and different from their friends and classmates. They will also compare themselves as they are today and with how they looked and acted when they were younger. 

Learning Together

• Look at magazines together. Have your child point out activities or actions that he or she can do. Ask how being able to do these things makes your child feel.
• The children will also be learning about shapes during the week. Point out things around your home that are different shapes.
• If you have photographs of your child as a baby, look at them together. Talk about what your child did as a baby, and what he or she can do now. If the child has older siblings, talk about things they can do and ask which of those things your child would like to do, too. 

Next week at snack time we are going to have the opportunity to taste a variety of apples. Please have your child bring their favorite type of apple to school on Monday. We will cut them up and share them in class on Tuesday and decide which ones we liked the best. 

Important information and dates:

October 3-Show and Share one thing that begins with the letter D.

October 15-Preschool picture day, more information will come home closer to the date.

October 16-the Brecksville library will visit the preschool for story time. 
Please make sure to display the number for your car at pick up time, we take turns with dismissal so it makes the process work most efficiently if the number if prominently displayed in your car or on your dashboard. 

Week of September 23-26, 2013

Theme: Getting Along with One Another

Letter of the Week: M

Dear Family,

This week's activities and discussions focus on children's learning to get along with one another while they play and learn together. Children will read about a character named Amelia who goes to a new school, and they will compare part of their day at preschool with hers. They will explore activities they undertake in the classroom, such as reading books and playing musical instruments, and outdoor activities they participate in on the playground. Children will learn about effective ways to help each other play and learn and ways in which their teacher helps each of them.

Learning Together:

• Ask your child to tell you the story of the gingerbread man. Make gingerbread cookies, or cut out figures of gingerbread men, and act out the story together.
• Take turns saying and guessing riddles with your child. Remind your child to listen when it's your turn to speak.
• Help your child undertake something he or she wants to learn to do, such as printing letters, catching or throwing a ball and so on.
• After school each day talk with your child about what he or she did during the day. Begin by sharing what you did during the day and then pose questions designed to elicit more than "yes or no" answers. For example, ask: What songs did you sing today? What new things did you learn? Which activity was the most fun for you today? Why? What stories did your teacher read aloud? What new friends did you make? what have you brought home from school to share?

Other exciting activities include:

• Making a mouse for the letter M
• Reading additional stories: If You Give a Moose a Muffin and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.
• We will be sorting shapes, describing shapes, labeling shapes, and going on a shape search at the end of the week.
• This week I will introduce the tag readers for the students to use, they have already been introduced to the listening center and have been listening to books weekly.

I am excited to tell you a little bit about our literacy block in preschool, what it may look and sound like. It won't be long until your child may be talking about the "Daily Five." The Daily Five is a way of structuring the language and literacy time so that every student is engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. these research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and are beginning tow rite. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and work with words while we provide focused instruction to individuals and small groups of students.

When it is up and running smoothly the students will be engaged in the Daily Five which are comprised of:

• Read to Self (Read words or read pictures or retell stories
• Work on Writing
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading 
• Word Work

There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We will begin working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. We will also spend time learning about your child's strengths and greatest needs as a reader/pre-reader in order to best plan for each student's instructions. The activities may look different for each class as well as each student but they will be receiving research based pre-reading and reading instruction that will help improve their literacy skills. 

The two components we will be working on to begin with are Read to Self and Word Work. As we begin working on these components I will share with you some of the activities that your children are participating in.

Star of the Week: Jack Knestrick
Letter of the Week Snack M: Gabe Carpenter ( A letter will go home on Monday with directions)
Show and Share: Sept. 26-Letter M

Week of September 16-19, 2013

Theme: Let's Be Friends

Letter of the Week: S

Star of the Week: Asher Chaplin, P.M. class

This week we will continue to focus on classroom rules and routines. We will also be focusing on building friendships and qualities that make a good friend. The children will explore ways that friends help each other and show that they care about each other. They will read stories in which unlikely characters, such as a goose and a bear, and a lion and a mouse, become friends. In addition, children will talk about how sharing toys, listening, and sharing their feelings are important not only to a friendship, but also to creating a friendly, cooperative classroom environment.

Learning together:

• Have your child invite a friend over to play. After the visit, discuss things that your child and his or her friend did that were fun.
• Talk with your child about your friends. Explain why these people are your friends and describe the kinds of things you enjoy doing with them.
• Get one of the Frog and Toad books from the local library and read it with your child. Talk about what makes these characters good friends.
• After school each day, talk with your child about what he or she did during the day. Begin by sharing what you did during the day and then pose questions designed to elicit more than "yes or no" answers. For example, ask: What songs did you sing today? What new things did you learn? Which activity was the most fun for you today? Why? What stories did your teacher read aloud? What new friends did you make? What have you brought home from school to share?

This week the children will also be participating in STARS assessment which helps benchmark their language and literacy level so that we are able to measure their growth over the course of the school year. For the children it will seem like a game that they will be playing on the IPads.

This week I will also email home a copy of the class roster so that you are able to connect with the parents and children in your child's classroom.

Show and Share this week (September 19) will be an item that starts with the letter S. For Show and Share please make sure that the item is able to fit inside of your child's Show and Share bag and that they bring only one item for Show and Share.

We will have a special S snack on Wednesday.

Week of September 9-12, 2013

All About Preschool

Letter of the Week: A

Last week was short but good week. We have been focusing on classroom routines and rules. We will continue to explore preschool next week and develop classroom rules together. Some stories we will read include: Super Friends and Being a Friend. We will review these stories again and use them to help us develop classroom rules together.

This week the children will continue to learn about what happens in a preschool classroom. In the book, Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School, children are introduced to the activities that happen in a Yellowbelly's classroom, such as painting, blocks, and singing songs. The two characters learn about classroom rules and jobs, such as those pertaining to clean up. Additionally, they learn the names of classmates and begin to learn the names of letters, numbers, and days of the week.

Learning Together

• Ask your child to tell you the names of some of the children in her or her class. Each day, ask your child to name on child he or she played with.
• Talk about your name and your child's name. Help your child identify the first letter of each name. Look through books or magazines and see how many examples of those letters you can find.
• Take a walk with your child and count the number of people, cars, buses, trees, and other things you see.
• Talk about the rules you have in your home. Have your child help clean up after playing with toys or having a snack.
• After school each day, talk with your child about what he or she did during the day. Begin by sharing what you did during the day and then pose questions designed to elicit more than "yes or no" answers. For example, ask: What songs did you sing today? What new things did you learn? Which activity was the most fun for you today? Why? What stories did your teacher read aloud? What have your brought home from  school to share?

Upcoming Events:

Star of the Week: Sean Dougherty, A.M. class

Birthdays: Asher Chaplin and Sean Dougherty

Show and Share: Thursday, Sept. 12-Something that starts with the letter A

Special Snack: Something that starts with letter A, Marko Laszlo

September 11-Wear red, white and blue to school.

Weeks of August 28-29 & Sept. 4 & 5

Welcome to School!

Dear Families,

            Welcome to preschool! This year will be an exciting one for you and your child. By staying involved in what your child is doing at school and by working on activities together, you can ensure that this year will be a successful one.

            During the next two weeks, children will be introduced to the school, their classroom, and to the daily routines that will shape their days over the course of the school year. Understanding their environment and how the school day is structured will help to calm any fears the children may have and begin to develop their self-confidence. Additionally, children will be introduced to some fundamental skills and strategies that will lay the foundation for their continuing growth in the following areas of curriculum:

• listening, speaking, and vocabulary
• sounds and letters
• listening comprehension
• language arts, reading and writing
• social and emotional development
• mathematics
• science and social studies
• health and safety
• physical development
• art, music and drama
• technology

Learning Together

• Share special memories you have of school including special teachers, friends and activities.
• After each school day, talk with your child about what he or she did during the day. Begin by sharing what you did during the day and then pose questions designed to elicit more than "yes or no" answers. For example, ask: What songs did you sing today? What new things did you learn? Which activity was the most fun for you today? Why? What stories did your teacher read aloud? What new friends did you make? What have you brought home from school to share?

Some stories that we will be reading include: Spot Goes to School, A Teacher for Bear, Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes, Henry T. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. The focus over the next several weeks will be learning the classroom rules and routine and the school rules. Being at preschool is an important time for children to learn social skills with their peers as well as learning in the curricular areas.

The preschool parent handbook is on line and you can view it at http://www.bbhcsd.org/hilton/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/PS-Family-Handbook-13-14.pdf.

We had a great first day of school and I have to say 100% no tears from the children today, I know that probably can't be said for the parents but all of them did fantastic.

Parent Orientation

Parent Orientation

August 26th, 2013

6:00 p.m.

Introduction: Teaching 20 years all in preschool, 12 years in Brecksville. Married husband teacher in Mayfield, children 11 & 8. Bachelor and Master’s degrees from Ashland University.

Setting: This is an integrated preschool setting a.m. session for younger children 8:30-11:00 and p.m. session for older children 12:00-2:30 or those that may be going to kindergarten during 2013-14 school year. The teacher’s are at school from 7:30-3:30 daily.

Parent handbook: Can be located online through the Hilton page on the district website. This includes information regarding the program.

Drop off location is at the second side door at the end of the awning beginning at 8:20 and 11:50. Please stay in your car and a teacher will come out to the car and take help your child out of the car and at the end of the day we will bring them out of the building and put them in the car for you. Every parent pickup will have a number to keep in your car, this number is what tells us what child belongs to which parent. We have given you an extra one if someone else may also be picking up your child on different days. If you are late dropping off or picking up you will need to park and come into the office to sign your child in or out.  Please be aware that school starts at 8:30 & 12:00 and we will be closing the doors at that time. Please be prompt picking up your child.

If your child will be absent please call the Hilton office 740-4600 and if riding the bus call transportation. If you do not call the office they will call you to verify why the child is not in school.

Communication: The preschool has a portal page that you can access at any time the web address is www.protopage.com/ssip2012. I have a tab on this page which includes contact information, educational websites, it will have posted show and Share for the week and also provides a link to my classroom blog. The classroom blog will be updated at least weekly and will include special announcements as well as the newsletter for the week. My blog address is http://mrsshieldspk.blogspot.com. I will send out an email when it is ready to access.

If you have a question or concern please feel free to call or email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I try to return emails and phone calls the same day but sometimes depending on how the day goes you may not get a response until the next day.

You will receive report cards twice a year at the end of January and at the end of the school year. The preschool is piloting 2 new curriculums in an effort to find one that works best with the new content standards and is able to provide a continuous curriculum preschool to kindergarten. The curriculum has an assessment piece as part of it that we will be utilizing to collect data for report cards. We will continue to use Handwriting Without Tears.

Forms:

InfoSnap new program district is using to gather registration information. Please use the attached code and follow the instructions to update your child’s information. If you do not have this sheet is simply means that you are a newer registration and that as soon as the system is updated more they will send codes over.

These are all of the papers that need to be returned to me:

Parent survey

ASQ-SE

Emergency Contact Card

Index card

Classroom photo and email on roster

Scholastic order if you are interested

Bookbag tag fill out and placed on backpack

Transportation-Transportation was updated this afternoon and updates will not be on the website tomorrow

Parent surveys

Show and Share-weekly usually around the letter of the week. Tote bags will be arriving soon, until then just place your child’s show and share in a Ziploc bag with their name on it. When the bags come in we will send them home, please help your child decorate their tote bag and that is what they will bring their show and share to school in each week. Special Snack sign up to bring in a snack that corresponds to the letter of the week on Wednesday of that week.

Star of the Week- Every child will have the opportunity to be star of the week and a calendar is in the packet. Please check to make sure your child’s name is on it, if you don’t see if please let me know.

Calendar of special preschool events.

Class schedule

Parent Sign ups

Room parent sign up

Sign up for conference in February for Peer Models

Tomorrow visitation A.M. class 10:00-10:20, 10:20-10:40 and P.M. class 11:00-11:20; 11:20-11:

40. A bus will be available if for anyone who wants to take a quick ride.

Weeks of May 20-23 & May 28-30

Weeks of May 20-23 & 28-30

Theme: Beach & Summer

No Show and Share

Last week was a fun filled week of ice cream. We counted ice cream, made ice cream cones and graphed and counted our favorite flavors of ice cream. On Thursday we made ice cream sundaes with our favorite flavors of ice cream and toppings.

Over the next two week, the last weeks of preschool for this school year, we will be talking about the Beach and Summertime activities.  We will be making some beach sea creatures and reading many stories about the beach. We will be doing some rhyming, following a maze and sorting of beach and land animals. We will also be making a beaching snack to eat at school. 

Looking back over the school year it is amazing to see where all of the children started and how much they have grown. I am hoping that everyone has a safe summer. For those who will be returning next school year we are looking forward to seeing you in the fall and for those moving on to kindergarten we wish everyone a great kindergarten year.

Reminders:

May 22nd class parties: a.m. 10:00-10:45, p.m. 1:30-2:15.

May 23rd district wide literacy training-preschool teachers will not be there at arrival and drop off for car riders so please make sure you have your car number displayed in your car.

May 30th-last day of preschool

Week of May 13-16, 2012

Week of May 13-16, 2013

Theme: Ice Cream

Show and Share: Choose an item and bring in 11-20 of the same item

Last week we learned about insects. We know that all insects have six legs and they crawl or fly. We read several different stories including "The Very Lonely Firefly," "The Very Grouchy Ladybug," and "The Very Quiet Cricket." We made bug fingerprints in a garden scene, played an an letter sound matching game and played a firefly counting game. This week all of the children were introduced to the newest curriculum materials in our classroom: Tag Readers. All the children were taught how to use the equipment, how to use the Tag Reader to read a book and how to put the materials away when they are finished. The Tag Readers are part of our literacy program.

This week we will begin celebrating ice cream. We will spell ice cream flavors with letter tiles and dry erase markers. We will also do a variety of counting activities. We will also do some sorting of our favorite flavors of ice cream (chocolate or vanilla) which will lead to tasting our favorite flavors of ice cream. We will make a sticky, puffy ice cream craft.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day! Next week is our transition conference week for those student's who are currently on IEP's and are going to kindergarten next school year. Parents who are attending these conferences, which would be parents in the p.m. class whose children are currently on IEP's and will be going to kindergarten next school year, please check you invitation for the time of your IEP conference and we will see you then.

Upcoming events:

End of Year Party: May 22

Last day of Preschool: May 30

Week of May 6-9

Week of May 6-9, 2013

Theme: Bugs

Show and Share: May 9th Choose a number 1-10 then bring in that many of the same object

Last week we talked about plants and how they grow. We read a story called, "Up, Down and Around," we talked about how different plants grow up, down and around. We used our body to tell the story, we grew up when we talked about plants growing up, we went down when we talked about plants growing down and we turned around when we talked about plants growing around. We also made a picture and placed pictures of plants up if they grew up and down if they grew down. We had dirt in the sensory table with shovels, pots and seeds. We also planted our own sunflower seeds and we are watching for them to spout. 

This week we will be talking about bugs. We are going to play a firefly game and practice counting. We are going to read the stories, "The Very Lonely Firefly," and "Sam the Firefly." We are also going to plant an ant game matching letters on ants to the beginning sounds of different foods. We will be adding bugs and making foam bees. We will also be making fingerprint bugs.

On Thursday May 9, all of the preschool teachers have to attend a district wide transition meeting. There will be substitutes in our classrooms who will also be putting the children into cars at the end of the day. We will be leaving a list for the substitutes with the students name, car number and the color/type of car that typically picks them up on that day. Please remember to place your car number in your window, this will facilitate the process. Please be patient, Thursday dismissal may take a little longer than usual as they are not familiar with the cars. They may need assistance with buckling children into car seats as well.

At this point of the school year unless you have specifically heard from me I do not have any concerns about your child, however, if you would like to have a conference please let me know and we can schedule a time to meet.

Upcoming dates:

End of school party: May 22 a.m. 10:15-11:00; p.m. 1:30-2:15

May 30th-Last day of preschool

Week of April 29-May 2, 2013

Week of April 29-May 2, 2013

 Theme: Seeds

Letter of the Week: Z

Show and Share May 2-something that starts with letter Z

Last week we had fun with Earth Day and caterpillars. We did an Earth Day sort of recyclable materials both real items and with pictures of items. We made the earth with paint and  beans. Each class also made a caterpillar, the morning class spelled their name in the circles of the caterpillar and the p.m. class made a chain caterpillar which will be coming home on Monday. We read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," and "Ten Little Caterpillars." We made a bag story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" so that we could retell the story using the pictures. In the sensory table we made cloud dough which was a fun texture to play with (two boxes cornstarch and 1 can shaving cream). On Friday we made a bird feeder which came home in backpacks.

This week we will be talking about seeds and what they need to grow. We will also be talking about the parts of the plant after the seed spouts. This week will be a messy week in the sensory table, we will have dirt, gardening gloves, shovels and pots. We will also talk about plants that grow up (like corn) and plants that grown down (like potatoes), in our story "Up, Down and Around." We will be able to act out this story as we read it by moving up, down and around. We will also be planting seeds, watching them change and grow. Another story we will read is "Growing Vegetable Soup."

Upcoming dates:

End of the year party May 22- a.m. class 10:15-11:00 and p.m. class 1:30-2:15.

No School May 29-Memorial Day

Last day of Preschool-May 30

Week of April 22-25, 2013

Week of April 22-25, 2013

Theme: Earth Day & Everything Changes

Letter of the Week: Y

Show and Share: Something that starts with letter Y

Last week we explored how things grow. We measured ourselves and found out how much we have grown since the beginning of the school year. We colored couscous and used it in the middle of our toilet tube print flowers. We worked on ordering objects by size and counting the objects and finding the number that goes with the set. We also used our detective eyes to find the picture that was different in a given set. 

This week we will be talking about how everything changes and Earth Day. We will be sorting recyclable materials. We will also be making a picture of our Earth. We will be learning about caterpillars and butterflies and the transformation they go through. We are going to make two different types of caterpillars one for the a.m. and one for the p.m. We will also be reading the books "Love the Earth, " and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We are going to make a paper bag story to retell the story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We are going to use some recyclable materials to make a bird feeder that you can hang outside at your house.

Due to a scheduled district wide literacy assessment inservice  that will be held on May 23rd we will need to change the date for our end of the year party. The end of the year party will now be held on May 22nd, the a.m. class party will be 10:15-11:00 and the p.m. class party will be 1:30-2:15. 

Upcoming dates:

May 27th-No School-Memorial Day

May 30th-Last day of preschool

Week of April 15-18, 2013

Week of April 15-18, 2013

Theme: I'm Growing Everyday

Letter of the Week: X

Show and Share: Something that begins or ends with the letter X

Last week the kids had so much fun with our worm habitat, they could hardly wait until Thursday to reveal the tunnels the worms had made in their habitat. Lucky for us the worms were successful and we were able to see some tunnels as well as some worms in the tunnels in our habitats. We also talked about changes that occur during the spring such as the changes in the weather, the clothes we wear and in the plants and animals outside.

Next week we continue to talk about change when we discuss how we grow everyday. We will discuss what we need to grow as well as plants and animals in the spring. We will compare how big the children were when they started school and how big they are now, you will be surprised at how much they have all grown. We will several books about growing such as "Planting a Rainbow," Farfellina and Marcel," and "Leo the Late Bloomer." We will be making a flower garden with painted flowers and making pipe cleaner bird feeders. We will compare the sizes of objects and count objects. We will working on putting together two groups of objects to make a whole group and determine what that new number is (adding).

Next week we are going to make another type of bird feeder using a water bottle. Please have your child send in one empty water bottle this week so that we can prepare them for next week's activity.

The end of the school party was scheduled for May 23rd, however, we have been informed that there will be a district wide literacy and assessment in service that I must attend. The preschool staff will be meeting to determine an alternate date for the end of school party.

Upcoming dates:

No School: May 27th Memorial Day

Week of April 8-11, 2013

April 8-11, 2013

Theme: Season's Change

Letter of the Week: W

Show and Share: April 11-W

I hope everyone had a relaxing and safe spring break. We are nearing the stretch for the last 9 weeks of the school year.

This week we will be talking about season's changing specifically the change from winter to spring. We will be discussing the growth of new plants and flowers. We will be talking about the characteristics of spring including: rain, warmer temperatures, seeing the sun more often and how these are needed for new plants to grow. We will be making a kite and talking about the wind in nature. We will also be talking about worms and the benefits they have in making the soil rich for plants to grow in. We will be making a worm habitat at school and watching how the worms make tunnels through the dirt and sand.

We will be looking at the characteristics of objects and which ones are the same and different. We will also be working on patterning and some visual motor skills of putting a variety of puzzles together.

Two of the books we will be reading include: "Diary of a Worm," and "The Wind Blew."

If your child is going to kindergarten this coming school year 2013-14 please make sure you have signed them up for a screening time and date at their home school.

Upcoming dates: No School May 27th-Memorial Day

May 30th Last day of preschool

Week of March 25-28, 2013

Week of March 25-28, 2013

Theme: Bunnies and chicks

No letter this week

Our last week of dinosaurs was so much fun. The children made some fossils which are drying in the classroom and will be sent home next week. We matched upper and lowercase dinosaur eggs and baby dinosaurs. The children followed a maze to have the dinosaur find the bones and completed a dot-to-dot dinosaur. We had fun using finger paint to paint a dinosaur and we made dinosaur headbands. We wore our dinosaur headbands to do some dinosaur movement activities. All week was Right to Read week and the theme was Reading Laboratory so we did several science experiments. We placed gobstoppers in water and watched the color soak up, however, the colors stayed separate and did not mix in the water. We placed a half of a bar of soap in the microwave and saw how it changed form but there was no chemical change. We watched a color absorption experiment that made color water travel up a paper towel to another cup and then mixed colors. 

Next week we will be talking about bunnies and chicks as we get ready for spring. We will be counting jellybeans into numbered plastic eggs and using plastic bunny scissors to pick up plastic eggs. We are going to do an egg matching egg hunt and will also do an egg relay. We are going are going to make an decorate egg using shaving cream and paint which should be fun. We will also be following directions to put together either a bunny or a chicken foam frame.  Both a.m. and p.m. classes will be getting together with their third grade buddies to read a bunny story and make a bunny craft. We will read several books including: The Easter Egg, The Easter Bunny's Assistant and The Runaway Bunny.

We have adjusted our letter of the week schedule because we have decided not to do a letter of the week next week. Instead, Show and Share next week will be something that represents spring. The letter of the week will begin again on the week of April 11th with the letter W. A revised schedule of Show and Share will come home with your child on Monday.

Upcoming important dates: March 29-April 7th Spring Break. School resumes April 8th.

Week of March 18-21, 2013

Week of March 18-21, 2013

Themes: Dinosaurs and Rhyming Words

Letter of the Week: N

Show and Share Letter: N

Last week we had fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day. We used a little science to mix the right colors to dye choo-choo wheel noodles. We then used the pasta and matched them by color to a rainbow. We also made a sparkly shamrock with Karo syrup paint and glitter. We did some shamrock patterning and counting throughout the week. The sensory table had water that was colored green in it. We also began using our listening center to listen to a variety of stories. I am sure you heard that the trick leprechaun also visited preschool. Not only did he lead us on a shamrock trail to the bathroom where he used one toilet (ask you children how we know) when we got back to the room he had clearly made a big mess. The leprechaun did make up for it though because he left behind a pot of coins that we shared with the whole class.

Next week we will finish our study of dinosaurs and work on identifying rhyming words. The children will be finger painting a dinosaur and will be making a dinosaur headband to wear during some dinosaur movement activities. We are also going to have a science experiment about volcanoes and how they erupt. We watch a volcano erupt in our classroom. We will work individually and in small groups to identify rhyming words.

Next week is also Right to Read week at school. There will be many fun activities school wide including daily read alouds and science experiments. We have some buddy reading sessions scheduled with two third grade classrooms. Each day we are having a coin challenge to earn money to buy books for the school, we can also earn an ice cream party for bringing in the most coins. There are special themes each day as well. All of this is explained in a newsletter that came home on Thursday with your child. 

Upcoming events: March29-April 7 Spring Break-No School

Week of March 11-14, 2013

March 11-14, 2012

Theme: St. Patrick's Day & Rainbows

Letter of the Week: M

Last week we learned quite a bit about dinosaurs. We learned about what fossils are and we made some in the classroom. We went on a dinosaur dig in the sensory table and uncovered dinosaurs bones. We created colorful dinosaurs which are being proudly displayed in the classroom. We counted dinosaurs and matched the correct number to them.

Next week we are going to take a week long break from dinosaurs to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Next week we will create a St. Patrick's day shamrock from a sticky, glittery substance. We will also experiment with colors and make some colorful noodles that we will use to make a rainbow. We will be matching letters and using our fine motor skills to pick up coins and place them in a shamrock box. 

On Tuesday the morning class will get the opportunity to attend a musical concert put on by the 2nd grade classes.

On Wednesday we will celebrate green by having a Green Feast. Please bring in a green snack to share with the class. Some snack ideas include: green grapes, cucumbers, green jello, cookies, Apple Jacks cereal, etc.

On Thursday we will be going on a Leprechaun hunt so please wear green to school. If you don't have something green to wear at home don't worry we  have shamrocks at school your child can wear. We are going to set a trap to catch that tricky leprechaun while we go on an adventure around the school to try and find him. Hopefully we will have caught him when we get back or I think there may be some mischief in our classroom. 

Show and Share this week is something that starts with the letter M. 

Happy Birthday to Lauren Havranek!