Day 2!

We enjoyed a busy second day of Kindergarten!  For our greeting this morning we did a handshake practicing shaking hands with our right hand which I marked with a green stamp.  There was some debate on what sea animal the stamp was a walrus, manatee or crawfish were some ideas.  After morning meeting we ate snack and did some word work.  We practiced reading the names of our classmates and then wrote our names and drew a picture of ourselves!  After that it was supposed to be recess but due to rain we played for a bit in the classroom.  Some students chose to play with play-doh.  There was a break in the rain and we took a quick recess, followed by a read aloud, Wemberly Worried,  and then we met our music teacher Ms. Schwerin  We had a switch and our 30 minute music class will be at Thursday at 11:00 instead of Wednesday at 11:00.

Happy First Day!

It was truly a wonderful first day of Kindergarten!  We started our day by drawing a picture of ourselves and then posting it on a chart to share how we were feeling: nervous, happy, shy or excited.  Happily most students said that they were feeling excited!

Then we had Morning Meeting which will follow the same pattern every day:

1. Greeting
2. Share
3. Activity
4. Morning Message

We greeted the person next to us with a high five, shared one thing we are excited about, passed a ball around the circle and said our name and favorite animal and finally I read our morning message!  After Morning Meeting we had snack and listened to the book The Kissing Hand and then we went outside for Recess!  After Recess I read another book Countdown to Kindergarten, took a tour of the school and then had a little time to play in the classroom.  I look forward to another exciting day tomorrow!

Welcome!

Hello Families!

Welcome to Kindergarten in room C-8 at CP Smith!  I have been busy preparing for your arrival and look forward to meeting many of you at our Kindergarten Orientation this Thursday evening (August 24th) from 6:00-7:00PM.  This is an opportunity for you to meet the Kindergarten teachers, learn a little bit more about our year ahead and get a sneak peak into the classrooms.  Childcare will be provided.  Below you will find a little bit more information about the start of the year.

Kindergarten will begin with half-days from Wednesday, August 30th to Friday, September 1st. Dismissal will be at 11:30 (you are welcome and encouraged to re-enter school and have lunch with your child after dismissal). Full school days will begin after the Labor Day Weekend on Tuesday September 5th.

In preparation of the year:

• Please send in an extra pair of clothes, including underwear and socks.  Accidents will happen in Kindergarten, but that is easily fixed. These clothes will be kept in your child's cubby.
• Children should have sneakers everyday for P.E. (Tuesday and Thursday) and outdoor play daily. If you prefer, you can send in sneakers with your child to change into prior to PE and outdoor play.
• Each child will have a hook in the classroom for backpacks and coats as well as a cubby for additional belongings.
• Snack will be provided by the school.  If you are nervous about your child eating the provided snacks, you may send them in with a snack as well.
• School provides lunch for free to all students. Children will be offered an entree, with peanut butter and jelly or deli meat sandwiches as an alternative.
• Please label everything that your child brings to school, including clothing! We will do our best to keep everything together, however that will be increasingly tricky as the cold weather settles in.
• Toys are not allowed at school as they can not only be a distraction but oftentimes get misplaced or broken throughout the day.
• During drop-off and pick-up, please try to establish a consistent routine with your child to help ease the transition each day.

Please check into this blog regularly for more information and feel free to comment!  I will post updates on the happenings of our classroom Monday-Thursday and occasionally on Friday.

Below is a draft of our schedule (subject to some tweaks but specials Art/Music/PE/Library/Guidance will stay the same).  Know that this is also the schedule that we are working towards by the end of Kindergarten and our focus the first half of the school year will be on building a community and learning to work together - there will be lots of time to play, explore and wonder!   We have several social studies and science units that we will work on throughout the year and will be built into our reader's and writer's workshop times. 

TILLEY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:05-8:45	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Whole School Community Meeting
8:45-9:00	Morning Meeting (MM)	MM	MM	MM	MM
9:00-9:15	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
9:15-10:00	Writers Workshop (WW)	Guidance 9:30-10:00	WW/RW	Visit Ethan Allen Woods with Mrs. Slack's Class!	WW
10:00-11:00	Readers Workshop (RW)	RW	Music 11:05 (30)		RW
11:05-11:35	Lit Intervention	Lit Intervention		Woods Reflection	Lit Intervention
11:40-12:05	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:05-12:20	Quiet Time (OT)	QT	QT	QT	QT
12:20-12:30	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson
12:30-1:15	Art	PE	Library 12:15-1	PE	Music
1:20-1:50	Math Inter	Math Inter	1-1:45 Math Inter		Math Inter
1:50-2:20	Math Stations	Math Stations	(1:50 dismissal)	Math Stations	Math Stations
2:20-2:50	Pack Up/Outside	Pack Up/Outside		Pack Up/Outside	Pack Up/Outside