Thankful Tuesday

Some upcoming things to think about:

• Please return the bottom portion of the cookie social letter even if you are not coming.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return next week on Wednesday, December 3.
• As we get into the spirit of giving this month, we are looking for donations of a non-perishable food item for the food pantry this month as our Kindergarten community service project.  Thank you for giving in this time of need for many families!  Last day to donate: Friday, Dec. 12^th.  

K02 spent the day being thankful for all we have.  We made pictures for a friend and told that person how thankful we are. We read books about Thanksgiving. We practiced our beginning sounds and are thankful for how easy it is starting to come to all of us. We also watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and had library, art, and gym.

We also spent some time cleaning out all of our areas.  I am sending home rest blankets.  I hope you can find time to clean them and send them back next week.  This way everything will be clean and ready for Mrs. Cota's return!

As my time in K02 is coming to a close, I think today is a great day to say thank you to all of you for allowing me to be here with your kids.  It will be very hard to say goodbye to these kids with how special they have all become to me.  I am so proud of how much each of them has learned and how much they have grown.  As a substitute teacher, I get the great opportunity to work with many students over many years.  So hopefully, I will see these kiddos again and as they grow.

Thank you to all the parents who came to parent teacher conferences and allowed me to brag about how well your child is going.  Also, a big thank you to Mr. D. and Mrs. Cota for choosing me to join this wonderful class.  While I do have two more days here at Pettigrew in K02, I have never been one for long goodbyes so I will end it here.

I hope to see all again very soon.

Mrs. Vollan

Monday Fun

Some upcoming things to think about:

• Please return the bottom portion of the cookie social letter even if you are not coming.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return next week on Wednesday, December 3.
• As we get into the spirit of giving this month, we are looking for donations of a non-perishable food item for the food pantry this month as our Kindergarten community service project.  Thank you for giving in this time of need for many families!  Last day to donate: Friday, Dec. 12^th.  

It is hard to believe how fast time has gone.  Another week and this one is short here.

In math today we talked about how important the number zero is.  It helps us make larger numbers.  We also worked on putting together the number with the word.  For example, we put together 1 with the word one.

In reading we read the book Fredrick.  Fredrick is a mouse who instead of collecting food for the winter, collects sun beams and words.  Unlike many of the other books I have read, Fredrick ends with knowing words and feelings are also important.

We also talked about what we are thankful for.  I asked each child what they were thankful for and then created a Wordle with what they said.  If you are unfamiliar with a Wordle, it is a work of art where the bigger the word, the more times it is used.  Below is the Wordle that the kids made:

What K02 is Thankful for

I know I am thankful for all the joy these kids bring to me every day.  Enjoy your night!

Fabulous Friday

Some upcoming things to think about:

• Please return the bottom portion of the cookie social letter that was sent last Friday.
• Midterm grades are out on Infinite Campus.  Let me know if you need any more information or if I can be any help.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return on Wednesday, December 3.
• As we get into the spirit of giving this month, we are looking for donations of a non-perishable food item for the food pantry this month as our Kindergarten community service project.  Thank you for giving in this time of need for many families!  Last day to donate: Friday, Dec. 12^th.  
• The kiddos will be decorating sugar cookies for the holiday party on December 19th.  We will need donations  of cookies, frosting and decorations for this.  More information will be coming soon.

Wasn't it great to have a warm day back?  Well, the wind was cold this morning but the thermometer says it is warmer than it has been.  Today was gum day in the morning, candy day in art, pizza day in the afternoon, and 2 birthday treats were sent home.  It was a day of fun.

Today, Isaac was star student of the week.  We made a book of pictures of him.  These kiddos are getting so very good at making people.  They are also getting good at coming up with a background picture that fits with each student.

In math we looked at more patterns.

Today we were able to celebrate Autumn's birthday.  Here is her opening up a new book for our classroom.  It is so wonderful to have such caring parents help us celebrate.

We also made hats for our upcoming party next week.  But I will take pictures of the kids then. :)  

Have a great weekend!

Windy Wednesday

Some upcoming things to think about:

• Please return the bottom portion of the cookie social letter that was sent in the Friday folders.
• The kiddos will be decorating sugar cookies for the holiday party on December 19th.  We will need donations  of cookies, frosting and decorations for this.  More information will be coming soon.
• Midterm grades come out after this week.  You will be able to see on  Parent View how your child is doing.
• You can order Go, FIght Quinn T-Shirts.  These are due by November 20th.  Please let me know if you want a form emailed.
• Gum Day is Friday, November 21st.  A donation of $1 (for the new playground equipment) will allow your child to chew gum during the day.  Every month will have one special day to help raise money.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return on Wednesday, December 3.

In math, we are breaking apart patterns.  The kiddos are starting to get very good at it.

In reading, we are learning about all the thoughts, ideas, words, and pictures that go into reading.  It is not an easy task to read!  We looked at a spider web.  If one strand is broken or missing, the web might not hold together.  The same thing happens when we read.  For instance, if we don't look at the pictures, we might miss important information to help us understand the pictures.  Or if we don't use our schema (our previous experiences) we might not understand either.

In writing, we continue to write about fall.

Cold Monday

Some upcoming things to think about:

• Please return the bottom portion of the cookie social letter that was sent in the Friday folders.
• The kiddos will be decorating sugar cookies for the holiday party on December 19th.  We will need donations  of cookies, frosting and decorations for this.  More information will be coming soon.
• Midterm grades come out after this week.  You will be able to see on  Parent View how your child is doing.
• You can order Go, FIght Quinn T-Shirts.  These are due by November 20th.  Please let me know if you want a form emailed.
• Gum Day is Friday, November 21st.  A donation of $1 (for the new playground equipment) will allow your child to chew gum during the day.  Every month will have one special day to help raise money.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return on Wednesday, December 3.

It has been a very cold day today!  Which also meant indoor recess all day.  The kiddos definitely have pent up energy just waiting to come out.

In reading we are starting to look at connections.  We looked at some good connections such as remote control car and the controller.  We also looked at some bad connections such as a puppy carrying his own leash or a puzzle piece that doesn't fit.  By the end of the week, we will put this knowledge to some of the connections we have to stories we read.  We will work at finding good connections to help us better understand and enjoy our reading.

In math, the pattern today was based on numbers.  The kiddos came up with an AAAB pattern. Isaac did one using 6, 6, 6, 1.

Even though the weather has turned cold, in writing we are writing about Fall.  We talked about blowing leaves.

Fabulous Friday

Another week of Kindergarten is complete!  Today was Day 61 in school.  It is going by so fast.

Some upcoming things to think about:

• A letter will be sent home this Friday about a cookie social in December.
• The kiddos will be decorating sugar cookies for the holiday party on December 19th.  We will need donations  of cookies, frosting and decorations for this.  More information will be coming soon.
• Midterm grades come out after next week.  You will be able to see on  Parent View how your child is doing.
• Mrs. Cota is set to return on Wednesday, December 3.

Today we did a bunch of finish work.  Some still had to finish writing stories, coloring pictures and some testing.

In math we made snakes out of patterns.  We used hexagons, triangles, rhombus, and a parallelogram. No, the kiddos did not need to know what each of these shapes were.  All they did was pick two shapes and make a pattern with it.  Some even got creative and made a mouth and grass around their finished snake.

Truly Thursday

Another cold day today!  At least the kiddos got to go out for a while.

Some upcoming things to think about:

• A letter will be sent home this Friday about a cookie social in December.
• The kiddos will be decorating sugar cookies for the holiday party on December 19th.  We will need donations  of cookies, frosting and decorations for this.  More information will be coming soon.
• Midterm grades come out after next week.  You will be able to see on  Parent View how your child is doing.

With midterms coming next week, we have been doing some testing.  It is amazing how much the kiddos have learned since the last time!  We have quite a few kids who can write all their letters, both upper and lower case.  I am so proud of what their have accomplished.

In math we worked on a pattern problem and worked with 5 frames.  Today's problem was about a garden.  

In reading we are learning about connections.  We used a connect the dots page to remind us that everything connects, just like our worksheet.

In writing we are finishing up our How to Cook a Turkey book.  I am surprised how many kids want to butter their turkey.  I guess I have heard people doing it, but have never tried it myself.

Acrtic Cold Wednesday

Wow did it get cold!  With this wonderful winter weather, comes a few reminders.  Please send hats, gloves, and snow boots to school every day.  The kiddos also need another pair of shoes to change into to wear in the classroom.  We are trying to get the wet stuff out in the hallways.

If the wind chill and/or temperature is below zero, we will be inside for recess.

Has your child read to you lately?  if not, you might be surprised at how well their reading is coming along.  We work every day on this and it is starting to show.

We have also begun testing for second quarter.  This too is going amazing well.

Kindergarten Happenings

It has been one busy week!  It seems like I have been keeping up with the blog and then I figure that it has been a few days.

We have been working on learning, writing, and creating turkeys this week.  Our biggest project is a stuffed turkey which took us 3 days to complete.

In writing we have been thinking of how to cook a turkey.  I hope you all get a chance to look at how these kiddos think a turkey should be cooked.  So far, my favorite one was: "Let the house fill up with smoke.  Then open the windows."  Needless to say I can't wait to see the final project.

We have also been working very hard at rhyming words, the alphabet, and our snap words.  If you get a chance, be sure to practice writing upper and lower case letters.  They need to be able to write all of them in order this quarter.

In math we are finishing up patterns.  The kids are getting very good at finding patterns in everything we do.

Remember that there is no school next Tuesday.  So we will have one day of school and then another day off for Veterans Day.

Hopefully next week I can get some more great pics of our kids!