Shepherd's Flock

This week we began our Past and Present unit. This is a very challenging concept for kindergarteners to grasp, but Miss S has been doing a great job with it. The kids have been learning about how different their lives are compared to children of the past. They have been comparing school life, home life, and even hobbies of today and long ago. I am going to try to post a video later today to show you how the children are applying what they are learning. TGIF!!!

The school-wide cook out for Friday October 24th has been postponed. As soon as it is rescheduled, I will let you know!

A Few Notes:
*Please pay special attention to the note on the cook-out lunch schedule about the possible rain.

*Students will be rewarded for good behavior tomorrow during lunch by having a picnic in the cafeteria. IF you would like for your child to bring a blanket to school for this, you are welcome to. THIS WILL BE DURING LUNCH, SO DROPS AND SPILLS ARE POSSIBLE.

*If you do not have a computer at home and are in need of a refurbished one, please let me know.

Don't forget to wear your purple shirt tomorrow to Oak Grove!

Also, don't forget to send in items for goodie bags for Halloween (23 children).

Due to the state budget cuts and the district's dedication to keeping money in the classrooms, we are all attempting to cut costs on 'non-instructional' materials and resources. For this reason, I will be sending out newsletters monthly instead of weekly. Also, I will be sending a monthly homework sheet instead of a weekly. Keep an eye on the blog, it is the cheapest, most efficient way to get information. PLEASE leave comments if you have questions/comments or email me! Thanks for your patience and understanding.

I would like to thank Mrs. Bibb, Mrs. Phillips, and Mrs. Morgan for allowing me to observe their classrooms for an entire day each! I am definitely stealing some great ideas and resources they each have! I would also like to thank Mrs. Smith and Miss S: I was supposed to be in the classroom all day today since Miss S's full-time takeover ended Friday, but they were very kind and generous to allow me to visit the last classroom today. If you have a child who attends our school and is in kindergarten now or attended kindergarten in years past, you know what a great group of teachers I work with! I count each day a blessing to be a part of an awesome group of ladies who just so happen to be great teachers, too! Thanks again Mrs. Bibb, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Morgan, Miss S, and Mrs. Smith!!!

From Mrs. Bagwell (the school guidance counselor):
The Student Council/Service Club met yesterday after school. We have decided to sponsor a Food Drive for the Oconee A.I.D. Association here in Walhalla. I spoke with someone there and she said they are in dire need of food. Each 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade class has a buddy class from K, 1st, and 2nd. The Student Council/Service Club representatives from each 3rd – 5th grade class will be going to their buddy classroom in the next few days to tell your class about the food drive. They will also have a poster to put up in your room. We want to have a contest to see which “team” (buddy classrooms) can bring in the most food items. Mrs. Lanford suggested that we will need to use percentages to make it fair! Her students will work on this for us. We will collect food until Nov. 15th. If you have room, please keep the food items in your room and each Friday your SC/SC kids will count and record the # of food items collected for that week and move the food to another location. (my office or possibly to the front hallway so students can see how much we are getting).

We will be going on our field trip SOON! PLEASE be sure to send in permission and money if you have not yet done so. We are prepared to send home permission slips for our next field trip which is planned for the end of the month. We would like to have everything turned in for the first field trip before we begin collecting for the next one. Thanks!

Monday:
Draw a picture of something that begins with i and write the word.
Find a clock and talk about what you see with an adult.
Tuesday:
Write a sentence using the word see.
Count as high as you can for an adult. (Hopefully 100.)
Wednesday:
Draw pictures of words that start with l and label them.
Do the “Hokey Pokey” with your family.
Thursday:
Write a sentence using the word come.
Find (or make) something symmetrical-if you were to fold something in half and it’s the same on both sides- and bring it to school.

As always:
*Your child should read at least one book EVERY night. Record this on the reading log. This can be the take-home reader.
*For homework in which your child is told to write, allow them to try to write the words if they know some letter sounds. If not, you can write what they say and then have them copy what you wrote.
*Please do not allow homework to take too long. This is meant as review and practice. If the homework takes longer than 20 minutes, allow your child to stop working. Homework should be a fun way to help remind your child of what was done during the day and practice what was learned.