June 15, 2013

Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with me this year.  They have grown enormously and have learned a great deal.  I look forward to seeing them in the hallways in the fall and hearing about their first grade accomplishments.  

Have a safe and fun summer!

Our first class picture!

Our last class picture!

June 9, 2013

Dear Families,

Thank you for attending Friday's music program.  We were the only class with 100% attendance.  It meant a great deal to your children to look out at the audience and see your faces.  It is also a testament to how supportive you are of your children and our school. 

Thank you for all of your support during a school year which had it's share of challenges.  I appreciate the excellent teaching and nurturing presence provided by Mrs. Eddy, Mrs. Lamphere and Mrs. Harding during my extended medical absence.  Thank you also to our dedicated parent volunteers:  Sandy Schlegel, Tara Trapasso and Samantha Little.  

Our last week of school will include some fun events along with some regular learning days. 

Monday, June 10:  Library today.  We will not be signing out books.

Tuesday, June 11:  Shelburne Museum Field Trip.  Wear sneakers.  Bring a snack and a lunch with at least two drinks.  DRESS FOR THE WEATHER!  All children will be riding the bus to Shelburne Museum. If you are chaperoning, you will be with your own child and possibly one other friend.   If you are meeting us there and wish to drive your child home, please make sure you sign him or her out so that we know where your child is.  

Wednesday, June 12:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.

Thursday, June 13:  Music today.  PBIS year-end celebration.  Grades K-2 will be dancing and playing games for the last 30 minutes of school so please wear sneakers.

Friday, June 14:  Last Day of School.  Students will be dismissed at 12:30.  A brief "Move-Up Day" will be held for students.  They will meet their new teachers and see the students who will be in their classes.  We will be eating lunch at school.  Report cards will be sent home today and will include the name of next year's teacher.  We will not have PE today.

June 2, 2013

We are approaching the end of the school year.  We will be practicing daily for Friday afternoon's music presentation.  We will also be completing some year-end assessments.  I will be observing some of the reading specialists on Monday and Wednesday.  Mrs. Eddy has some fun activities planned for those two days.

If you have not returned field trip money, please send it in ASAP.  If you are planning on joining us, background check paperwork MUST be on file with the office.

Monday, June 3:  Mrs. Maurer observing today.  Mrs. Eddy teaching all day.

Library today.

7:00-Public Hearing on Revised School District Budget @ Milton High School Library

Tuesday, June 4:  Art today.

School Budget Vote - 7:00am - 7:00pm at the town offices.

Wednesday, June 5:  Mrs. Maurer observing today.  Mrs. Eddy teaching all day.  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers!

Thursday, June 6:  Music today.

Friday, June 7:  Kindergarten Year End Music Presentation @ 2:00.
Parents may arrive at 1:45 but might not be admitted into the gym until closer to 1:55 as classes will be held in the gym until 1:45.  Parents must sign in at the K-3 office.  If you wish to bring your child home after the presentation, please sign him or her out in the cafeteria at our sign out sheet.  Each class will be eating a simple snack at their own table in the cafeteria after the show is over.

Monday, June 10:  Library today.  We will not be signing out books.

Tuesday, June 11:  Shelburne Museum Field Trip.  Wear sneakers.  Bring a snack and a lunch with at least two drinks.  All children will be riding the bus to Shelburne Museum.  If you are meeting us there and wish to drive your child home, please make sure you sign him or her out so that we know where your child is.

Wednesday, June 12:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.

Thursday, June 13:  Music today.

Friday, June 14:  Last Day of School.  Students will be dismissed at 12:30.  A brief "Move-Up Day" will be held for students.  They will meet their new teachers and see the students who will be in their classes.  Report cards will be sent home today and will include the name of next year's teacher.

May 27, 2013

My daughter before the prom this weekend.

Silly faces during our Fun Run

Ice Cream after the Fun Run

More ice cream eaters.

Making bread with Mrs. Eddy

Walk at Lunch Day

Choice Time

Losing a tooth at school is SO exciting!

Our family's latest addition:  Mikey, a one year old
rescue dog and awesome ball fetcher!

People of the Week
Every week two people from our classroom are our "People of the Week".  They have a special responsibility each day.  This is a fun way for everyone to get to know one another better.  If you are unable to participate, it is not a problem.  The schedule and responsibilities are listed below.  If I have chosen an inconvenient week, please let me know.

Monday:  Share some family photos.  (If you would prefer to email them to me, that is fine. Children may also be prints that we can project using our document camera.)
Tuesday:   Show us a favorite toy.  (It must be non-violent and silent.)  Picture Day.
Wednesday:  Bring in a favorite story.  (A story that can be read in one sitting.  No chapter books please.)
Thursday:  Fill our estimating jar.  (Our estimating jar is a one quart glass jar.  Be creative.  Legos, shells, marshmallows, hair ties, etc.)  Send the items in a bag and we will fill the jar in the classroom.  Your items will be returned to you unless you tell me otherwise.  Please make sure there are fewer than 110 items.  
Friday:  Bring a healthy snack to share with the class.  We have 21 students.  Please try to avoid red dye as a student is allergic.  

May 28 - May 31:  Rayne and Matthew and Neveah (No school Monday.  Photos AND toys on Tuesday)
June 3 - 7:  Ms. Kittell and Izabelle B.

Updates:  I have been approved to resume teaching full time.  Thank you to Stephanie Eddy for her tireless devotion to our students.  She is an amazing teacher!  She will probably be back in our classroom as I have a few professional days coming up.

Also, I would like to let you all know about a new position I will be assuming at our school next year, pending school board approval.  I have applied for, interviewed for and been offered a position as a Reading Specialist.  I will be providing reading interventions for students in grades one and two.  While I will miss kindergarten, I am very excited about this new opportunity.  I won't be in room 406, but I will be in the building and will see your children in the hallways.

Coming Events:

Tuesday, May 28:  Art today

Wednesday, May 29: PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.

Thursday, May 30:   Music today. (Mrs. Maurer scheduled to be at a science meeting.)
ALL LIBRARY BOOKS MUST BE RETURNED BY THURSDAY, MAY 30!

Friday, May 31:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  All K-2 classes will attend an anti-bullying presentation today.

Friday, June 7:  Kindergarten Year End Music Presentation @ 1:45

Tuesday, June 11:  Shelburne Museum Field Trip

Friday, June 14:  Last Day of School.  Students will be dismissed at 12:30.

May 11, 2013

Literacy
We will begin our last Houghton Mifflin unit of the year, "A World of Animals".  We will continue practicing our reading strategies and reviewing sight words.

People of the Week
Every week two people from our classroom are our "People of the Week".  They have a special responsibility each day.  This is a fun way for everyone to get to know one another better.  If you are unable to participate, it is not a problem.  The schedule and responsibilities are listed below.  If I have chosen an inconvenient week, please let me know.

Monday:  Share some family photos.  (If you would prefer to email them to me, that is fine. Children may also be prints that we can project using our document camera.)
Tuesday:   Show us a favorite toy.  (It must be non-violent and silent.)  Picture Day.
Wednesday:  Bring in a favorite story.  (A story that can be read in one sitting.  No chapter books please.)
Thursday:  Fill our estimating jar.  (Our estimating jar is a one quart glass jar.  Be creative.  Legos, shells, marshmallows, hair ties, etc.)  Send the items in a bag and we will fill the jar in the classroom.  Your items will be returned to you unless you tell me otherwise.  Please make sure there are fewer than 110 items.  
Friday:  Bring a healthy snack to share with the class.  We have 21 students.  Please try to avoid red dye as a student is allergic.  

May 13 - 17:  Kaitlyn and Olivia
May 20 - 24:  Lucian and Paige
May 28 - May 31:  Rayne and Matthew and Neveah (No school Monday.  Photos AND toys on Tuesday)
June 3 - 7:  Ms. Kittell and Izabelle B.

Coming Events:

Monday, May 13:  Library today.  Please return your book.  (Mrs. Maurer in a science meeting, Mrs. Eddy all day)
Tuesday, May 14:  Art today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Wednesday, May 15:  "National Walk at Lunch Day" at 11:45am.  PE today. Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Eddy all day)
Thursday, May 16:  Music today.  (Mrs. Eddy teaching all day.  Mrs. Maurer assessing all day.)
Friday, May 17:  "Kindergarten Fun Run" today!  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Maurer in an all day literacy meeting.)

Monday, May 20:  Library today.  Please return your book.  LAST DAY TO SIGN OUT A LIBRARY BOOK THIS SCHOOL YEAR!  (Mrs. Maurer all day)

4:00 - 7:00pm:   The theme of the last community dinner of this school year is “Let’s Move!” and it is a barbecue. Entrance is free but donations are appreciated. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s Milton Walking Maps will be available, along with lots of well-being activities for kids and adults at our partner tables, raffle give-a-ways and hourly movement classes! Bring a camera to snap a shot with Champ, who will be onsite selling tickets to this years’ Milton Night at the ballpark.  Milton Elementary School cafeteria, Herrick Ave.
Tuesday, May 21:  Art today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
12:30 - 6:00:  Milton Community Blood Drive at the Milton Fire Station.  Appointments can be made by contacting www.redcrossblood.org or by emailing Dawn Bordeau at dbordeau29@myfairpoint.net
Wednesday, May 22:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Eddy all day)
Thursday, May 23:  Music today.  (Mrs. Eddy teaching all day.  Mrs. Maurer assessing all day.)
Friday, May 24:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)

No school on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day).  We will see you on Tuesday, May 28!

ALL LIBRARY BOOKS MUST BE RETURNED BY THURSDAY, MAY 30!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL:  Friday, June 14

Tentative "Step Up Day".  Students will be dismissed at 12:30.

May 5, 2013

Excellent Bee-havior
On Tuesday we had a kindergarten/grade one assembly.  Ms. Scheidt, our dean of students, told us about our next behavior challenge.  If every student can add a hexagon for good behavior to our giant beehive, we will have a big dance! Later Tuesday morning, our friend the bee visited to deliver our yellow hexagons for the beehive.

Progress Reports
A quick kindergarten progress report will be sent home on Monday.  It will be a brief checklist of skills your child should still be practicing at home.  Our end-of-year assessments will begin in another week.  

End of Year Skills
Here is a brief list of skill expectations for the end of kindergarten.

Literacy:
Identify upper and lower case letters by name.
Say the sound of each letter.
Read at least 25 sight words.
Identify the first and last sounds in spoken words.
Sound out CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant) such as:  big, fat, fox, red, bug
Write down the letters that make the sounds heard in dictated words.
Use first and last sounds in words when writing stories.
Write a simply sentence that tells about a picture.
Form most letters correctly.
Identify the character in one of the stories they have written.
Read books at a text level of B or higher.

Math:
Count to 100 by 1's and 10's
Recognize numbers to 50 and higher
Write numerals to 50 or higher.  (Reversing a digit is okay as long as the place value is correct.  ex.  A student cannot write 31 when they mean 13.  But if a 3 is formed backwards, it is not marked down.)
Addition facts to 5.
Subtraction facts to 5.
Equivalent expressions to 10.  (Understanding that 2+3 equals the same as 4+1)


Sunscreen
If your child needs sunscreen, it is a good idea to apply it before your child leaves for school. That way, if we are able to enjoy a late morning break, your child will be all set.  We have our daily scheduled recess from 2:40 - 3:00.  If you want your child to reapply sunscreen before recess, please send sunscreen in your child's backpack and teach them how to apply it.  We have less than ten minutes to walk back from our unified arts class and be on the playground for recess.  I'm sorry but it is impossible for my to apply sunscreen to all children.  We are not allowing children to bring their sunscreen outdoors because many are sharing it with friends.  As sunscreen is so costly and some children have allergies, we are not allowing the children to share sunscreen.

Farm Animal Homework
Just in case your child forgot which animal s/he is researching...

cat:  RW, MT
sheep:  NMc, AW
horse:  IW
goose:  SP
pig:  PP
dog:  DS-B
chicken:  IB
duck:  GM, GL
worm:  JL, LL
(If I have already received your child's homework, I did not include him/her on this list.)

Measurement
We will be finishing up our math unit on measurement this week.  We measured how many blocks we could fit in our shoes.  We also worked with partners to trace our bodies and measure them.

It took 92 snap blocks to fill one of these boots!
It's much easier to count big numbers when we create
tens and ones.

Our paper was so big that some of us had the
responsibility to work in the hallway.

Shoes
Thank you for your support in sending your children to school in safe footwear.  Some children have been wearing one pair of shoes to school and then want to change into sneakers at recess time.  As I mentioned above, we have a short time period before recess.  We do not have time to help children change their shoes before recess.  The children have been told that they should wear their comfy playground shoes all day.  A few children have not worn socks and then have complained of chafing and blisters by late morning.  Trips to the nurse really disrupt our learning.  Socks should be worn and a spare pair should be in your child's backpack so that we can keep everyone's feet comfortable.  

Assessments
Our kindergarten assessment period will be starting soon.  There will be two days (May 16 and May 23) when Mrs. Eddy will be teaching and I will be working with students on individual reading assessments.  I will also be working on assessments during my teaching days over the next few weeks.  The data from these assessments will be used for our last report card of the year.

People of the Week
Every week two people from our classroom are our "People of the Week".  They have a special responsibility each day.  This is a fun way for everyone to get to know one another better.  If you are unable to participate, it is not a problem.  The schedule and responsibilities are listed below.  If I have chosen an inconvenient week, please let me know.

Monday:  Share some family photos.  (If you would prefer to email them to me, that is fine. Children may also be prints that we can project using our document camera.)
Tuesday:   Show us a favorite toy.  (It must be non-violent and silent.)  Picture Day.
Wednesday:  Bring in a favorite story.  (A story that can be read in one sitting.  No chapter books please.)
Thursday:  Fill our estimating jar.  (Our estimating jar is a one quart glass jar.  Be creative.  Legos, shells, marshmallows, hair ties, etc.)  Send the items in a bag and we will fill the jar in the classroom.  Your items will be returned to you unless you tell me otherwise.  Please make sure there are fewer than 110 items.  
Friday:  Bring a healthy snack to share with the class.  We have 21 students.  Please try to avoid red dye as a student is allergic.  

May 6 - 10:  Gavin and Jazmyn
May 13 - 17:  Kaitlyn and Olivia
May 20 - 24:  Lucian and Paige
May 28 - May 31:  Rayne and Matthew and Neveah (No school Monday.  Photos AND toys on Tuesday)
June 3 - 7:  Ms. Kittell and Izabelle B.

Coming Events:

Monday, May 6:  Farm Animal homework due!  Library today.  Please return your book.  Kindergarten progress reports will be sent home today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Tuesday, May 7:  Art today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Wednesday, May 8:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Eddy all day)
Thursday, May 9:  Music today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Friday, May 10:  PE today.  Sh-h-h-h-h...Mother's Day surprises coming home today. (Mrs. Maurer all day)

Monday, May 13:  Library today.  Please return your book.  (Mrs. Maurer AM, Mrs. Eddy PM)
Tuesday, May 14:  Art today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Wednesday, May 15:  PE today. Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Eddy all day)
Thursday, May 16:  Music today.  (Mrs. Eddy teaching all day.  Mrs. Maurer assessing all day.)
Friday, May 17:  "Kindergarten Fun Run" today!  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Maurer in an all day literacy meeting.)

Monday, May 20, 4:00 - 7:00pm:   The theme of the last community dinner of this school year is “Let’s Move!” and it is a barbecue. Entrance is free but donations are appreciated. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s Milton Walking Maps will be available, along with lots of well-being activities for kids and adults at our partner tables, raffle give-a-ways and hourly movement classes! Bring a camera to snap a shot with Champ, who will be onsite selling tickets to this years’ Milton Night at the ballpark.  Milton Elementary School cafeteria, Herrick Ave.

April 28, 2013

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation.

Flip Flops and Sandals:  Spring is (finally!) here.  No more reminders about snow pants and boots.  Instead, PLEASE make sure your children do NOT wear flips flops or other types of sandals that slide off the foot.  Every year children injure themselves when they trip on a flip flop when playing on the playground equipment.  ALL kindergarten teachers ask that children wear "Teva-style" sandals that have elastics or velcro around the foot or sneakers.  

Dressing in Layers:  The mornings will be chilly this week but the afternoons will be warm.  Our classroom gets plenty of sun so it tends to warm up also.  It is helpful if the children have layers so they can stay comfortable.


People of the Week
Every week two people from our classroom are our "People of the Week".  They have a special responsibility each day.  This is a fun way for everyone to get to know one another better.  If you are unable to participate, it is not a problem.  The schedule and responsibilities are listed below.  If I have chosen an inconvenient week, please let me know.

Monday:  Share some family photos.  (If you would prefer to email them to me, that is fine. They can also be prints that we can project using our document camera.)
Tuesday:   Show us a favorite toy.  (It must be non-violent and silent.)  Picture Day.
Wednesday:  Bring in a favorite story.  (A story that can be read in one sitting.  No chapter books please.)
Thursday:  Fill our estimating jar.  (Our estimating jar is a one quart glass jar.  Be creative.  Legos, shells, marshmallows, hair ties, etc.)  Send the items in a bag and we will fill the jar in the classroom.  Your items will be returned to you unless you tell me otherwise.  Please make sure there are fewer than 110 items.  
Friday:  Bring a healthy snack to share with the class.  Please try to avoid red dye as a student is allergic.  

April 29 - May 3:  Mrs. Lamphere and Sam
May 6 - 10:  Gavin and Jazmyn
May 13 - 17:  Kaitlyn and Olivia
May 20 - 24:  Lucian and Paige
May 28 - May 31:  Rayne and Matthew and Neveah (No school Monday.  Photos AND toys on Tuesday)
June 3 - 7:  Ms. Kittell and Izabelle B.

Staffing Notes:  I have been cleared to return to teaching full days on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  Mrs. Eddy will continue to teach on Wednesdays.  Mrs. Lamphere will continue to be our full time classroom assistant.

Coming Events:  We will continue with our planting unit in science and our measurement unit in math when we return from vacation.  During May we will work with maps and begin a new math unit about "Bunk Beds".  In literacy, we will be reading and writing about farm animals.

Monday, April 29:  Welcome back!  Library today.  Please return your books. (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Tuesday, April 30:  Art today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Wednesday, May 1:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Eddy all day)
Thursday, May 2:  Music today.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)
Friday, May 3:  PE today.  Please wear your sneakers.  (Mrs. Maurer all day)