December 21, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We had an exciting week!  We talked a lot about traditions that we celebrate, especially around the holidays.  Each student had a chance to share what they celebrate and the fun things they do with their families.  I enjoyed listening to each one of them and hope you all enjoy the celebrations that will be going on this next week!

The students brought home a lot of stuff in brown paper bags today.  There are several art projects and even a holiday gift for you!  I apologize in advance for all the glitter that will soon be all throughout your homes!  On the other hand, the Francis Wyman custodians were super excited to see all the glittery projects going home!

I also sent home a packet of papers and a book in your child’s blue folder.  It contains a letter about guided reading instruction that will start next month, one book at your child’s reading level, the list of Kindergarten high frequency words, some name writing practice sheets, some lined writing paper, a blank January writing journal, a 100s chart, and a couple of math games.  All of the activities are OPTIONAL and none of the activities in the packet need to be returned but I would be happy to look at whatever your child completes and sends back in.  Feel free to copy any of the pages so you have extra sheets to use.  Your child can draw and/or write in their journals, practice the high frequency words, practice counting to 100, and have fun playing the math games!  I also included a sheet with instructions on how to access ST Math at home.

 We would also like to thank all of you for all the thoughtful and generous holiday gifts you have given to both of us and especially for all your support this year so far.  We look forward to working with your children more in 2019!  Have a fun-filled and safe holiday and a very Happy New Year!

Melanie Duncan and Mary Sullivan

Russian Peppermint Nutcracker Dance

Our classroom enjoyed reading "The Nutcracker" and learning about the characters!  Each student was traced as one of the characters and we also made a Nutcracker Characters book.  Students included special facts and details about all the characters and shared them with partners before taking the books home.  We also listened to a lot of the Nutcracker music and even did our own variation of several of the dances!  We enjoyed the Russian Peppermint dance so much that we decided to share it with you!  We did it twice.  Just click on the links below and enjoy!

The Russian Peppermint Dance #1

The Russian Peppermint Dance #2

December 14, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

It's hard to believe we only have one more week of school until our holiday break!  We have had a very exciting month of school and have learned so much.  The children have done amazingly well with all the excitement and changes in our schedule. 

We finished decorating our life-size Nutcracker characters this week!  I traced each student as a character from the Nutcracker story and then students worked together with a small group to decorate them.  They look great and are on display on our classroom walls.  Students have been writing about their characters and will think more about how to describe the characters next week in their Nutcracker Character books.

We have almost finished our first unit in Fundations and are looking forward to working with uppercase letters in January.  We have been busy working with some Kindergarten sight words, writing in our journals, and sorting objects in math. 

We will be sending a bag full of art projects home next Friday with your child.  We apologize in advance for all the glitter that you will be finding all over your house!  We hope the students will take great pride showing you all their special Nutcracker, Gingerbread, and holiday projects.  We are very proud of all they have accomplished so far this year!

Melanie Duncan

A Reminder:  School vacation will be December 24-January 1.  School will start up again on Wednesday, January 2, 2019!

Please be sure to send your child to school with hats and gloves.  We have a few extra pairs of gloves in the classroom for when students forget/lose theirs but we have been loaning them out every day and still run out.  It would also be really helpful to have students practice putting on and zipping jackets as well as putting on gloves, etc.  Thanks!

December 7, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We’ve had another great week in room 115!  Our exciting news for this week is that we got to welcome a new student to our classroom!  Alex started on Tuesday and the rest of the class has enjoyed getting to know him and teaching him all of our routines.

We accomplished quite a bit this week.  The students wrote about things they CAN do and completed two class books.  One is called “Room 115 Tried to Sleep” and the other is “The Mitten Book.” They also learned a little about Hanukkah this week.  We read a couple of Hanukkah stories, made menorahs with handprints, and learned how to play the dreidel game.

The students made “All About Me” posters this week.  They included pictures of their families as well as some of their favorite things.  I recorded their voices explaining their posters on Seesaw.  Please be sure to check it out!

We just started making our life-size Nutcracker characters that will soon be beautifully displayed on our classroom walls and in the hallway.  I trace each student as a Nutcracker character and then students work together with other students in their group to decorate them.  We have been very impressed with the students’ cooperation and hard work so far.

We read a few mitten stories this week.  We read “The Mitten” by Jan Brett, “The Mitten” by Alvin Tresselt, and “The Mitten” by Jim Aylesworth.  The students enjoyed comparing the characters and other details from the stories.  We had a special presentation from the Burlington Science Center.  Ms. P. taught us a lot of neat facts about the animals in Jan Brett’s “The Mitten” and even brought in a real hedgehog for us to see and touch!  You will have to ask your child how a hedgehog protects itself.

This certainly is a busy and exciting time of the year!

Have a great weekend!

Melanie Duncan

PS...We will be going to the library on Wednesday.  Please be sure to return your child’s library book by then.

The Francis Wyman Used Book Store is also going to be open Wednesday morning.  Students can bring either a quarter (25 cents) or a book from home to trade if they wish to participate.  It’s a great time to stock up on books for winter vacation or if students want to buy books for holiday gifts.  This is for students only...not parents.

Gingerbread Hunt

We have read several Gingerbread stories including the Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Pirates, Ninjabread Man and more!  Today we read "The Gingerbread Man Loose at School" and found a special clue at the back of the book.  The clue led us to other clues all over our school!  The students enjoyed solving the riddles and were very excited to find their gingerbread people spread out on the rug when we returned to the classroom!  These were the glyph projects we used to tell a little about ourselves.  I just wanted you to be aware in case your child was telling you about our exciting hunt for a gingerbread man at our school today!

November 30, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

It was a pleasure meeting with all of you for conferences.  If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  We don’t have to wait for progress reports to go home or for scheduled parent conferences.  We can talk any time!  You should all be very proud of your children.  We have certainly enjoyed the beginning of the year with each of them!

The students have been enjoying several gingerbread stories and gingerbread activities.  They decorated paper gingerbread cookies, made a classbook, and made gingerbread glyphs that tell about themselves.  They made another classbook about their Thanksgiving tables and started a “Can” book about things they can do.

We switched over our December calendar today and the students were excited to see how close we are to our holiday vacation!  I can’t believe 2019 is right around the corner!  We have three full weeks of school in December.  We will continue reading and comparing more gingerbread stories.  We will also be learning a little about Hanukkah and some other holiday traditions we celebrate.  We will not be doing a Nutcracker performance like Kindergarten has done in the past, but our class will be reading the Nutcracker story this coming week and will be doing some Nutcracker projects.

We will also be working on an All About Me Collage on Wednesday.  If you have any pictures you can send in before then, that would be great.  Pictures can include baby/toddler pictures, family pictures, pictures of pets, home, favorite toys etc.  All pictures will be returned but may have tape or glue on them.

A few other reminders:  It is definitely feeling more like winter outside and it is necessary for students to wear warm coats, hats, mittens/gloves, and boots (when there is snow).  It would also be very helpful if they could practice putting these items on and taking them off at home to make preparing for recess and dismissal a little less time-consuming.  Don’t forget to label all clothes items with your child’s name.

Our school’s Scholastic Book Fair was a huge success!  The books are in the process of being packed up but it’s not too late to shop if you didn’t get a chance.  You can shop the book fair online!  It will end on Friday, December 7th.  There is a separate blog post with instructions for the online book fair.  We will have our normal library visit on Wednesday to borrow books.

Have a great weekend!

Melanie Duncan