Kindergarten Corner

2012-01-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK January 24- 27
We are exploring what animals do in the winter. You will soon see the great book we are making with all the facts we have learned. For science, we will research tracks that animals make. Lots of interesting facts will be discovered this week and next! We will finish our unit learning about the groundhog and finding out if he will predict an early spring!

OUR YEAR IS HALF OVER
January 20th marked the end of the second quarter. I can hardly believe that the school year is half over. I am very proud of all the steps the children have taken. It is amazing to me to see how much they have improved and developed their skills. Report cards will be sent out January 27th. Thank you for all the support you have given your child. What a wonderful gift to give them!

I Love To Read Month
February has several wonderful holidays that we look forward to celebrating. But we plan on celebrating the whole month long! That’s because February is “I Love to Read” month! Will you consider joining in on the fun, by coming to our classroom and sharing your favorite story book with us? We would love to have you, an extended family member or special friend read to the class. Give me a call at school up until February 3rd. I will connect with you to confirm your date and time. I am looking forward to seeing you.

I00 DAYS OF SCHOOL
Can you believe February 14th marks our 100th day of school? The year is speeding by. Plans are being made to celebrate this special day too.

LOOKING AHEAD
Valentine’s Day, This Land is Your Land; This Land is My Land, 100 Days of Kindergarten

Mark Your Calendar
No School on Monday, February 20( If we cancel school due to inclement weather, this will be a make-up day)

2012-01-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

Bring your favorite Teddy Bear to school on Tuesday,
January 24.

NWEA TESTING
Wednesday, Jan. 25

NO SCHOOL
FOR STUDENTS ON MONDAY, JANUARY 23. (TEACHER WORKSHOP DAY)

2012-01-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT OUR WEEK
JANUARY 17-20

SPECIAL DATES
• No school for students Monday, January 23

The story, THE MITTEN by Jan Brett will be our focus for this week. We will chart the characters, setting, main idea, problem and solution of the story. We will also use the story idea to graph our favorite characters, chart if we wore mitten or gloves and even use mittens to make a pattern book. It is a short week but it will be packed with fun activities!

Wednesday, January 18, we will have a School Family gathering. Once again our school will have multi-age classrooms for part of the morning. Our kindergarten students will have the wonderful opportunity to join with older students and share special activities. This is a positive way to spread respect throughout our school.

NWEA TIME
This week and next week, the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the winter round of NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us updated data in reading and math. Please encourage your child to do their best. One way to help your child to do his or her best is by having them get an adequate amount of sleep.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week we will begin a winter unit learning about animal life in winter. We will conclude the unit by celebrating Groundhog Day and hoping for good news from him! If you are visiting school, stop and see our beautiful winter mural. It is outside our door. I’m sure it will bring a smile to your face!

February kicks off “I Love to Read” month. Be watching for a letter inviting you to read to our class. I hope you can participate in this fun activity.

Have a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2012-01-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
January 9 – 13

January Happenings
We will be exploring a number of different themes. We will continue the Jan Brett author study. The story, The Mitten, will help us review the important parts of a story. Our vocabulary words, that explain these parts are - title,characters, setting, problem and solution. Next week we will learn about being a leader as we discover why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is so special.

Mark Your Calendar
Monday, January 16 – No school Martin King Jr. Day
Monday, January 23 – No school Teacher workshop

JOURNAL WRITING
We have been busy writing and illustrating in our journals. I encourage each student to write as much as he/she is able to do on their own using inventive spelling. I do expect the children to spell our star words correctly. If you have a few moments to spare, this is a wonderful activity to do with your child. If your child isn’t able to hear all the sounds in the word he/she is trying to write, that’s ok. Ask if he/she knows the beginning, middle, and/or ending sounds then print that! This is great start to becoming a writer, so remember to praise all efforts!

NWEA TIME
Next week the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the winter round of NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us updated data in reading and math. Please encourage your child to do their best. One way to help your child to do his or her best is by having them get an adequate amount of sleep.

Looking forward to a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2011-12-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

The Kindergarten students are getting excited about making Gingerbread Houses on Friday, December 16th. We are so happy that you can join us on this special day! Please stop at the office to sign in, and then come to our room ready for fun! We will begin the decorating at 1:30. The children may go home with you when your gingerbread house is finished. We are looking forward to a great day! Thank you for all the amazing decorating items. Your generosity is so wonderful!

See you soon!
Julie Duberowski

2011-12-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents of Kindergarten Students,

This week we will continue our unit on folk tales. The story of the Gingerbread Man kicked off the unit. We will be reading many different versions of the book and discussing a variety of topics including character comparisons, and illustration and author differences between story versions. We will include several writing and reading activities telling of the joys of the holiday season. By incorporating science experiments throughout the unit, we will discover that our five senses help us enjoy the season. Sharing an afternoon with you as we decorate gingerbread houses will be a highlight of this unit.

December 16th is “Make a Gingerbread House” day. I am excited about it and so are the children! Each child will need a can of vanilla frosting and an ice cream pail with lid. If you can donate one or two decorating goodies it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your generosity! Please remember to return the slip stating if you or a guest are able to come to our gingerbread house decorating party or if we need to find a person to help your child make their house. We want each child to have a special friend beside them to create this special memory.

The children are working so hard, I see such amazing growth in all areas. It’s so exciting! We will be working on recognizing numbers up to 100, counting to 120, counting by 10’s, recognizing coins, and adding and subtracting through stories. A literacy goal is to recognize and read color words using guided reading stories. We will identify the last sound in words, learn how to make new words by changing the beginning letter of words, continue to practice high frequency words, print our first and last name accurately, and improve our reading and writing skills.

This month will fly by. Before we know it, it will be January 2012!

Julie Duberowski

2011-11-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT LAST WEEK
What a great week we had. A special thank you goes out to Val and Charlie Jahnke for sharing their vast knowledge of the Native American culture. They showed several of their unique artifacts, which the children were able to touch. What an amazing experience for all of us!

Our 50th day of school was a blast!! We enjoyed root beer floats, dancing, counting objects and making patterns, sounding out words, seeing the wonderful collection of 50 objects that the children brought to school, and searching for 50 candy kisses in the room. We also made a book called I Wish I had 50. The creativity of children always makes me smile! I will make a scrapbook of both of these events to share with you. It will work its way to each family. I hope you enjoy it.

CAN YOU GIVE 3-5 MINUTES PER DAY?
Please practice the high frequency words with your child each day. This will help your child be a strong reader. The children have them in their kiwi book bag. Please remember to send this back to school with their books. Thank you also for doing the 1 minute timings with your child. Keep up the great work! Together we make a strong support net for your child!

A PEEK AT NEXT MONTH
December will soon be here. We will be celebrating the season with fun themes and activities. We will be making a gingerbread house
as we learn about our 5 senses. We invite you to share this activity
with us. It will be on Friday, December 16, at 1:30 in our classroom. If you can not share this day with us due to a conflict, please ask a grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend to come instead. We hope to have a special someone for every child. Sorry, but we are requesting that each child have only 1 adult share this day with them due to room space.

Each child will need an ice cream pail with the cover and one can of white frosting. If you have 1 or more pails to share, send them to school as soon as possible so I can get a count of what we have. Further information will arrive next week.

Happy Thanksgiving
Julie Duberowski

2011-11-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14 -18

This week, as we think about Thanksgiving and gathering of family, we will begin a new unit celebrating this special time. We will be learning about our individual families as each student will make a picture of their family and tell a story about them. The children will write what they are thankful for. These thoughtful ideas will be bound into a book to pass on to you. Val and Charlie Jahnke will share their vast knowledge of Native American culture with our students as we journey into the past to discover their way of life. A cute turkey glyph will tell what your child likes about Thanksgiving. And that just takes us to Thursday!

What excitement waits for us on Friday! It is our 50th day of school! We will have a Rock and Roll day as we move to the music of the 50s and check out life in the days of hula hoops and poodle skirts! Our day will be filled with fun math activities along with some fun surprises!

THANK YOU!
Thank you for taking time to attend conferences this past week. If you have any questions or concerns since meeting, please give me a call or stop in after school.

As I told you at conferences, I will be sending home one minute timing sheets called Alphabet and Sound Race Sheets. Please do this once or twice a day as possible. Remember, the idea is to improve your child’s rate over the year. Together we can reach the goal of 50-60 letters /minute and 40-50 sounds/minute by the end of the year. Have fun doing this together and you will see growth soon!

THE HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS OF THE WEEK --- HE, WE, ME

Dates to Remember
November 18 – 50th day of school
November 24&25 – No School Thanksgiving break
December ??? We will be making Gingerbread Houses

Have a GREAT Week!
Julie

2011-11-03T05:14:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Bats and other nocturnal animals will be our theme for the week. We will make a book about this to share with you. You might have your child save these books in their Buddy Book bags so they can read them often. Rereading “Good Fit” books helps the children with fluency. It also reinforces sight words in an easy way. We will work all year to establish the required high frequency words for kindergarten. These words will be important in helping the children begin to read simple texts. Children use these known words as “anchors” to help them check on their reading.

We will also discuss what animals are doing to get ready for winter. Our high frequency words for this week are no, go, and so. We will learn how to make new words by changing the beginning letter of a word. It is so marvelous to watch the children as they comprehend this skill and grow in their reading skills.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday, November 4 –End of the First Quarter
I can hardly believe that school is ¼ over. The time is just flying by. I see so much growth already. Thank you for the time and effort you give your child, you will never regret it!

Monday November 7th
No school for students. We will be having a teacher workshop.

Wednesday, November 9th and Thursday November 10th
Fall Conferences will be held from 3:15 – 8:15. I look forward to visiting with you. I will try on keep on schedule. If it appears that we will run longer than the 20 minute slot allowed I may ask to continue the conference at another time to allow other parents to keep to their schedule. Thank you for understanding this. Thank you also for making the first quarter of our school year successful for your child.

Friday, November 11th
No school for students. I hope you enjoy the long weekend together.

November 18
It is our 50th day of school!
Boys and Girls - Grab your bobby socks and leather coats, roll up your blue jeans, slick back your hair or wear a pony tail! Come to school dressed in your favorite 50’s style. We plan to celebrate this day by focusing on math. I have several fun math activities planned. And of course, we will top off the day by having a sock hop!

Julie Duberowski

2011-10-16T17:39:00.001-07:00

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Apples crunchy,
Apples sweet,
Apples are so
Good to eat!

How many words can you think of to describe apples? That is one of our jobs this week. We will be reading about apples and making books about them too. Learning about Johnny Appleseed is a favorite. Making the recipe - apple smiles - is sure to make us smile too. Sequencing apples and discovering “core secrets” are just a few of the math and science activities planned for this week of October.

LUCKY US
We are fortunate to have a number of adults work with our kindergarten students throughout the year. They provide additional support in the areas of reading and math. We are lucky to have Charlie Klimek, Grandma Lillie, Ms. Welch, Mrs. Michelle Olson, and Mrs. Hoffman helping our students during the year. These adults will work in the classroom providing support with classroom activities. They may also pull small groups of children to other areas of the school to provide support in the area of literacy instruction. What an additional benefit for our children!

HIGH FREQUENCY FLASH CARDS
Each child has in his or her kiwi pack a bag containing the high frequency words we are learning. This week I will introduce the words an, can, and, at & am. Please review these words at home. It is just fine if your child doesn’t have these words down yet, just practice together for added support. They will see the words in the stories they bring home. Enjoy!

Please keep this packet in the kiwi pack as more words will be added as they are introduced.

UPCOMING DATES
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 & 21 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)
Friday, October 31 - Fall Party - You may send a treat for the party if you choose. 21 children are in our class

Julie Duberowski

2011-10-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE LAST WEEK
We finished our fire safety unit last week. The children know a lot about this topic and are eager to share their knowledge with you. Soon you will be seeing a book that we made about this topic. We ended this unit with a visit to the Parkers Prairie Fire Department on Friday. The fire fighters shared their knowledge of fire safety rules with us. The children loved seeing the fire trucks and equipment. Thank you fire fighters, for allowing us to visit us. We appreciate it so much!

UPCOMING DATES
• Just a reminder, book orders are due on October 15th.
• MEA is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 20 and 21.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA
I hope you have time to enjoy the beautiful fall days. Pumpkins, leaves, apples, harvest time and our beautiful fall weather are topics we will be discussing in the next few weeks, as we learn about this beautiful season.

FALL PARTY
We will be having a fall party on October 31. If you would like to send treats for the day that would be great! We have 16 children in our class. Please remember, if you send candy, it should be store bought and individually wrapped pieces.

Have a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2011-10-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK Oct 3 - 7

This week we will be learning about fire safety. How many fire safety rules can you think of? What do fire fighters wear to keep from being hurt? What equipment do fire fighters need? These are some of the questions we will be discussing this week. We will practice a fire drill and discuss why we go to a meeting spot. We will also practice fire safety drills like stop, drop, and roll. We will be singing songs about Smokey Bear and fire fighters. It will be a fun week. If possible, please practice a fire drill at home.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT
This week our high frequency word is like. As you read stories together see if you can spot the word in print. I, a, & see are other words your child should recognize.

"Where do I begin to read?" "What is a period for?" "What is a question mark for?" These are all questions to ask your child as you read to him/her.

ABC AND 1,2,3
We are working hard to learn the letters of the alphabet along with matching capital case letters to lower case letters. The consonant sounds are being taught as we practice the alphabet through writing and games. This week we will be clapping out syllables in words.

KIWI PACKS
Please remember to return kiwi packs on the following day that they are sent home. Even if you did not get time to read the story send it back as we will also be re-reading the stories. It will benefit your child to be able to have his/her story there. The books will be in the packs for an extended amount of time so you will be able to share “Book Time” together. Thanks.

BOOK ORDER FORM SENT TODAY
Take a look and see if you would like to order any books this month. The order will be due be October 15. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club. Thanks!

UPCOMING DATES
October 9- 15: Fire Prevention Week
Friday, October 15 – Book order due
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 & 21 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)
Monday, October 31 - Fall Party - You may send a treat for the party if you choose. 18 people are in our class

CLASS BOOKS

We have been so busy making class books. I hope you have been having a great time reading them together. Thank you for returning them the next day so another classmate can enjoy them.

Have a great week,

Julie

2011-09-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

This week we will be exploring colors and shapes. The shapes tested for our report card include circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval, diamond also called a rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagon. I know the children know most of the colors and shapes so I will be incorporating lots of reading and writing skills into this unit. We will be making more books for you and your child to read together. A fun science experiment will help us learn about mixing colors. Graphing data, singing songs and continuing to work together as a school family are all important lessons in this unit.

The children will have turns bringing books home that we have made. I include ideas to use with each book that will review skills being taught in our classroom. I hope you enjoy this time reading and learning together. Please remember to return the book the following school day so others can share the fun.

PEP FEST
This Friday we will join in the homecoming festivities by participating in the pep fest at 1:30. Hope for a sunny day so the event can be held outside.

KIWI PACKS

Kiwi packs will be coming home this week. It is a thrilling time for the children because they get to read the fun books tucked inside. These books have been read by the class a number of times and hopefully your child will be able to read most of it to you. Please enjoy this special moment together and share the excitement of reading. Don’t worry if your child knows only 1 word from the story, that’s ok. Just read, and re-read several times over. These books should stay in the kiwi pack and be sent back to school the next day as we will re-read them too. That repetition is a step to learning to recognize sight words and gain fluency in reading. Enjoy!

LOOKING AHEAD

We will be beginning a fall unit soon. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are planned for the first week of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead!

Julie Duberowski

2011-09-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is our theme for the week. This great book is guiding us along as we discover the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Singing the ABC song, matching capital case letters to lower case letter and reciting the letters in our names as well as our friend’s names are all activities we will be doing this week. I have a few surprises in store too! I hope your child enjoys our Chicka Chicka week.

If your child has energy left at the end of the day, you might search through papers, books, anywhere there is print to practice naming the letters. Otherwise, an alphabet story at bedtime would be a wonderful bonus to help your child learn this skill. My goal is for the children to know most of the capital and lower case letters by the beginning of November. I will send information soon telling which letters your child recognizes. Together we can accomplish this objective.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT!
We are readers! Children keep your eyes open - searching for the words “I” and “see” in books that are read to you. We will be making an easy reading book to share at home using these words.

NWEA TIME
This week and next week the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us data in the areas of reading and math. I do not call this a test as I have no desire to cause distress for the children. I just encourage children to do their best.

LOOKING AHEAD
We will be beginning a unit on shapes next week. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are also planned for the month of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead!

Upcoming Dates
September 26 –picture day
September 26 – 30 --- Homecoming week

2011-09-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I am Julie Duberowski, and I am excited to be your child’s teacher. We are so lucky to have paraprofessional Charlie Klimek working in our room. His desire to help children grow in their skills is evident through the ways in which he interacts with students. Charlie and I are eager to discover the special personality of each child who enters our room.

As the parent of a child in kindergarten, you will likely have many questions about our day. Please feel free contact me if you have any concerns. To form a strong home—school connection, I will continue to communicate with you through letters, phone calls and notes.

Schedule

Our day will run from 8:20 - 2:56. I will have a variety of activities planned throughout the day. A scheduled quiet time will be provided with several options to match the diverse development of the group. Please send a bath towel to be used as a resting mat. Remember to put your child’s name on it. If you would like to decorate it in your own special way that would be great!

When students arrive they will have the option of eating breakfast. I will follow the information you provided, if however, you want to change this routine please let me know.

We are very fortunate to have many other wonderful programs in our school. The children will have physical education with Mr. Noga everyday from 1:35-1:55. If they are wearing dress shoes to school they will need to have a pair of tennis shoes available for gym. Music and library times with Ms. Pearson and Mrs. Cronk will be on alternating days. The children will pick out a library book to enjoy at home. Please return the book by their next library time.

Bus Safety

Bus buddies will be helping me escort the children to their proper bus each afternoon. This buddy system offers valuable experiences for both the kindergarteners and the older students.

Absences or Change in Routine

If your child will be absent, please call the school office to inform them. The number is 338-4079. Also, please send a note if your child is going to be doing something other than the normal routine (such as riding a different bus, getting picked up by you or someone else or staying after school for daycare). This ensures the safety of your child and is a very important rule to me.

Snacks

The children will have an afternoon milk break. If you wish, you may send a nutritious snack for your child. Milk will be provided for the children.

Birthdays

Birthdays are a big day for us. If your child has a summer birthday we will celebrate his/her half birthday. If you want to send a treat for the celebration you may. Our school requires that it be something from a store or bakery, not homemade. Candy should be individually wrapped.

Together, we make a team. If you have any concerns or questions feel free to call me at school (338-4079). I look forward to a great year!

Sincerely,
Julie Duberowski

2011-08-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome!
Welcome to Kindergarten Corner!

I am very excited about our kindergarten blog. I expect it to become a great communication tool to unite families and students with our classroom learning activities. It should be a convenient way to stay connected and up to date with upcoming kindergarten events and happenings.

My newsletter is sent home with students. However, the same information will be shared on this blog.

Thank you for taking the time to view our new kindergarten blog. I look forward to keeping you connected to our classroom throughout the school year!

2010-12-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. I was able to spend time with family and friends, but it will be good to see my kindergarten family again. I am looking forward to a great January. I’m sure the month will fly by—just as all the past months have.

I cannot believe it, but our school year is almost half over. January 21st marks the end of the second quarter of school. I am excited about what the children have already achieved. I know when we all work together, great things will happen for these special children.

January Happenings
This month we will be exploring a number of different themes. We will have a Jan Brett author study. We will also be finding out why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is so special and also discovering the joys of winter. Hopefully, we will have time to use the sleds and enjoy all of this white fluffy snow!

Mark Your Calendar
We will not have school on January 17th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day.

Students will not have school on January 24th as we have a teacher workshop day.

Building Vocabulary
Our classroom will pick a reading and math vocabulary word to stress every week. This week our room will be using the words cover (title, author, illustrator, the cover helps you to predict information in the story) and more than & less than. As you read to your child and play games together, please take time to discuss these terms too.

NWEA TIME
Next week the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the winter round of NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us updated data in reading and math. I just encourage children to do their best. Please help your child to do his or her best by having them get an adequate amount of sleep.

Book Orders
Check out the book order sent home today. If you would like to place an order, return order slips by January 15. Thanks!

Summer Birthdays
We will be celebrating half birthdays for the children who have July birthdays. Check the dates marked on the calendar for their celebration. If you would like to send a snack or treat you may, but make sure it is a store brought, individually wrapped snack. We have 20 students in each class.

Story Books
The children have several books in their kiwi packs to share with you. These stories help practice fluency and the high frequency words we have learned. Please read the books together often. If your child is struggling with a book, read a page first then have your child read it back to you. Touch the words as you read and have fun with this wonderful step toward reading. We will need the books back the following day, so please return the pack even if you were unable to listen to your child read. Thanks!

Wishing you a great year filled with happiness and joy!

Julie

2010-12-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten and First Grade Field Trip

Dear Parents,

Our goal as teachers of Kindergarten and First grade is to foster a joy of reading for our students that goes on forever! With this belief in mind, we are planning a field trip to encourage our students to embark on a life-time desire of using a public library. The staff, at the Douglas County Library, is excited to provide some literacy activities for our students which will promote this goal.

Helping children recognize different coins and being able to make change are goals of our classrooms. Using real life experiences is a fun way for students to demonstrate their understanding of this math skill. What could be more exciting than giving children some money and allowing them to make a purchase at a store? To top off our field trip we will go to McDonald’s and let each child order a special, pre-selected (food allergies will be taken into consideration) treat. We are happy to give the money as a holiday gift to the children for their purchase. The children should not bring money for this field trip.

Our field trip will be on Friday, December 17. We will eat lunch at school, and then depart at noon. We will travel to Alexandria to the library and McDonald’s. There is no cost to students for this field trip.

Parkers Prairie Elementary School has a tradition of student gift exchange. This trip will replace the student gift exchange, so the students will NOT need to purchase gifts for each other. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Thank you,
Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers

2010-12-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents of Kindergarten Students,

This week we will continue our unit on folk tales. The story of the Gingerbread Man kicked off the unit. We will be reading many different versions of the book and discussing a variety of topics including character comparisons, and illustration and author differences between story versions. Sharing an afternoon with you as we decorate gingerbread houses will be a highlight of this unit. We will include several writing and reading activities telling of the joys of the holiday season. By incorporating science experiments throughout the unit, we will discover that our five senses help us enjoy the season.

December 10th is “Make a Gingerbread House” day. I am excited about it and so are the children! . Each child will need a can of vanilla frosting and an ice cream pail with lid. If you can donate one or two decorating goodies it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your generosity! Please remember to return the slip stating if you or a guest are able to come to our gingerbread house decorating party or if we need to find a person to help your child make their house. We want each child to have a special friend beside them to create this special memory.

To end our folk tale unit, we will be taking a field trip to the Douglas County Library and McDonald’s South on Friday, December 17th Check out the details on the newsletter also sent home today.

We will be working on recognizing numbers up to 100, counting to 110, counting by 10’s and 5’s, recognizing coins, and adding and subtracting through stories. A literacy goal is to recognize and read color words using guided reading stories. We will identify the last sound in words, learn how to make new words by changing the beginning letter of words, continue to practice high frequency words, print our first and last name accurately, and improve our reading and writing skills.

This month will fly by. Before we know it, it will be January 2010!

Julie Duberowski

2010-11-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8 – 12

Monday, November 8 – No school due to teacher
workshop.

Tuesday, November 9 –We begin a new unit, learning about our families. Each student will make a picture of their family and write a story about them. These beautiful family portraits will decorate our hall. I hope you check them out at conferences. Our high frequency word for the week is can. We will make symmetry pictures for math.

Wednesday, November 10 –We will graph the number of people in our family by creating a colorful glyph. I am looking forward to meeting with you at conferences after school.

Thursday, November 11 – We will make a book using our high frequency word. Conferences run from 3:15 to 8:15 after school.

Friday, November 12 –No School

LOOKING AHEAD
Friday, November 19 - It is our 50th day of school!
Boys and Girls - Grab your bobby socks and leather coats, roll up your blue jeans, slick back your hair or wear a pony tail! Come to school dressed in your favorite 50’s style. We plan to celebrate this day by focusing on math. I have several fun math activities planned. And of course, we will top off the day by having a sock hop!

Rock and Roll Times Ahead!!!
Julie Duberowski

2010-10-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Apples crunchy,
Apples sweet,
Apples are so
Good to eat!

How many words can you think of to describe apples? That is one of our jobs this week. We will be reading about apples and making books about them too. Learning about Johnny Appleseed is a favorite. Making the recipe - apple smiles - is sure to make us smile too. Sequencing apples and discovering “core secrets” are just a few of the math and science activities planned for this week of October.

LUCKY US
We are fortunate to have a number of adults work with our kindergarten students throughout the year. They provide additional support in the areas of reading and math. We are lucky to have Charlie Klimek, Grandma Lillie, Ms. Welch, Mrs. Michelle Olson, Lorrie Pomeranz, and Mrs. Hoffman helping our students during the year. These adults will work in the classroom providing support with classroom activities. They may also pull small groups of children to other areas of the school to provide support in the area of literacy instruction. What an additional benefit for our children!

UPCOMING DATES
Friday, October 15 – Book order due
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 & 22 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)
Friday, October 29 - Fall Party - You may send a treat for the party if you choose. 21 children are in our class

Julie Duberowski

2010-10-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK Oct 4 - 8

This week we will be learning about fire safety. How many fire safety rules can you think of? What do fire fighters wear to keep from being hurt? What equipment do fire fighters need? These are some of the questions we will be discussing this week. We will practice a fire drill and discuss why we go to a meeting spot. We will also practice fire safety drills like stop, drop, and roll. We will be singing songs about Smokey Bear and fire fighters. It will be a fun week. If possible, please practice a fire drill at home.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT
This week our high frequency word is like. As you read stories together see if you can spot the word in print. I, a, and see are other words your child should recognize.

"Where do I begin to read?" "What is a period for?" "What is a question mark for?" These are all questions to ask your child as you read to him/her.

ABC AND 1,2,3
We are working hard to learn the letters of the alphabet along with matching capital case letters to lower case letters. The consonant sounds are being taught as we practice the alphabet through writing and games. This week we will be clapping out syllables in words.

KIWI PACKS
Please remember to return kiwi packs on the following day that they are sent home. Even if you did not get time to read the story send it back as we will also be re-reading the stories. It will benefit your child to be able to have his/her story there. The books will be in the packs for an extended amount of time so you will be able to share “Book Time” together. Thanks.

BOOK ORDER FORM SENT TODAY
Take a look and see if you would like to order any books this month. The order will be due be October 15. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club. Thanks!

UPCOMING DATES
Friday, October 8 – Spirit Day - Wear panther colors to celebrate Homecoming festivities
Friday, October 15 – Book order due
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 & 22 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)
Friday, October 29 - Fall Party - You may send a treat for the party if you choose. 21 children are in our class

CLASS BOOKS

We have been so busy making class books. I hope you have been having a great time reading them together. Thank you for returning them the next day so another classmate can enjoy them.

Have a great week,

Julie

2010-09-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

This week we will be exploring colors and shapes. The shapes tested for our report card include circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval and diamond also called a rhombus. I know the children know most of the colors and shapes so I will be incorporating lots of reading and writing skills into this unit. We will be making more books for you and your child to read together. A fun science experiment will help us learn about mixing colors. Graphing data, singing songs and continuing to work together as a school family are all important lessons in this unit.

The children will have turns bringing books home that we have made. I include ideas to use with each book that will review skills being taught in our classroom. I hope you enjoy this time reading and learning together. Please remember to return the book the following school day so others can share the fun.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

It is so exciting to be able to celebrate 3 special birthdays this month. It brings such joy to all the children that they want to celebrate their birthdays this month too! Please check our monthly calendar to see who will celebrate their birthday that month. Children with summer birthdays get to share their special day with classmates by celebrating their ½ birthday! If you wish you may send a store bought treat for your child’s party day. We have 23 people in our class.

KIWI PACKS

Kiwi packs will be coming home this week. It is a thrilling time for the children because they get to read the fun books tucked inside. These books have been read by the class a number of times and hopefully your child will be able to read most of it to you. Please enjoy this special moment together and share the excitement of reading. Don’t worry if your child knows only 1 word from the story, that’s ok. Just read, and re-read several times over. These books should stay in the kiwi pack and be sent back to school the next day as we will re-read them too. That repetition is a step to learning to recognize sight words and gain fluency in reading. Enjoy!

LOOKING AHEAD

We will be beginning a fall unit soon. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are planned for the first week of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead!

2010-09-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is our theme for the week. This great book is guiding us along as we discover the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Singing the ABC song, matching capital case letters to lower case letter and reciting the letters in our names as well as our friend’s names are all activities we will be doing this week. I have a few surprises in store too! I hope your child enjoys our Chicka Chicka week.

If your child has energy left at the end of the day, you might search through papers, books, anywhere there is print to practice naming the letters. Otherwise, an alphabet story at bedtime would be a wonderful bonus to help your child learn this skill. My goal is for the children to know most of the capital and lower case letters by the beginning of November. I will send information soon telling which letters your child recognizes. Together we can accomplish this objective.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT!
We are readers! Children keep your eyes open - searching for the words “I” and “see” in books that are read to you. We will be making an easy reading book to share at home using these words.

NWEA TIME
This week the children will be going to the computer lab to finish the NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us data in the areas of reading and math. I do not call this a test as I have no desire to cause distress for the children. I just encourage children to do their best.

LOOKING AHEAD
We will be beginning a unit on shapes next week. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are also planned for the month of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead!

2010-09-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
This week we will start a new unit called “My Name is Special and So Am I.” We will be doing many fun activities to learn about ourselves and each other, as well as focusing on learning how to spell and print our own name and the names of our friends. To help with this we will learn a cheer, graph the number of letters in our name, and make two books to read with you. We will start off the week by practicing a bus evacuation. It will be a busy week full of learning and fun.

NWEA TESTING
This week and next the children will go to the computer lab to play some games which check their reading and math skills. I do not tell the children that they are taking a test, as I do not want to worry them. The computer activities are a favorite of the children and they beg to go back soon.
You can help your child do his/her best by having them get to bed early.

CLASS BOOKS
Sometime soon you will find a special classroom book in your child’s backpack. We make several of these books throughout the year. We are happy to share these wonderful classroom books with you, but request that you return them the following school day. We want to pass it on to another family to enjoy! All classroom books are marked Return next school day and have special work from all the students in our class.

HAPPY GRAMS
You will soon see “Happy Grams” arriving home. These tell of report card skills mastered. The children are very proud of these notes so please give a positive comment to your child about how he or she is doing. Sometimes a prize is given for a reward, so don’t be surprised if a toy arrives home with their special news.

WE ARE OFF TO A GREAT START
It is exciting getting to know all these special children. I hope everyone is feeling comfortable and welcomed in our room. The children are so gentle and thoughtful to each other. I am so proud of them! I hope to call each of you this week or next to check if all is going well.

2010-09-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

A Peek at our Day
Today and tomorrow in kindergarten we will be learning about pedestrian and bus safety. Thursday we will watch a movie which explains several safety rules in a fun and informative way. Graphing “How We Got to School” will be our math activity. Please check out our September calendar for special events. Friday, we will make traffic lights out of graham crackers, frosting and M&M’s and then eat them for a delicious snack. The children will practice a bus evacuation sometime in the future. Coming home Friday will be a traffic book which the children made. Please take time to read this over with your child, pointing to each word as you read.

Poetry Corner
Red light! Red light!
What do you say?
I say stop and stop right a way.
Yellow light! Yellow light!
What do you mean?
I mean wait till the light is green.
Green light! Green light!
What do you say?
I say cross but first look both ways.

ABC PRACTICE
Use the poem or the traffic book to name letters of the alphabet. If this is hard for your child show them a letter and ask them to find a matching letter. Practice naming all the letters in your first name.

BOOK ORDER
If you would like to order books from Scholastic Book Club please complete the order form and return by September 15. The book order slip was sent home at Back to School Night. It is in the information folder you received that night. Make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

SNACK TIME
Milk is offered to all students in our classroom. The milk break is one way we are responding to the growing concern about the health and nutrition of our students. If you wish, you may send a nutritious snack for your child.

REST TIME
I will be having a quiet time for the children after recess. This is a time for the children to relax and unwind. I am sure they will be tired for about 6 weeks until they adjust to this new schedule.

Please contact me if you have any concerns. My school number is 338-4079 ex. 334 after 3 p.m. or at home 338-2025. Your input is important.

Looking forward to a great year!

2010-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I am Julie Duberowski, and I am excited to be your child’s teacher. We are so lucky to have paraprofessional Charlie Klimek working in our room. His desire to help children grow in their skills is evident through the ways in which he interacts with students. Charlie and I are eager to discover the special personality of each child who enters our room.

As the parent of a child in kindergarten, you will likely have many questions about our day. Please feel free contact me if you have any concerns. To form a strong home—school connection, I will continue to communicate with you through letters, phone calls and notes.

Schedule

Our day will run from 8:20 - 2:56. I will have a variety of activities planned throughout the day. A scheduled quiet time will be provided with several options to match the diverse development of the group. Please send a bath towel to be used as a resting mat. Remember to put your child’s name on it. If you would like to decorate it in your own special way that would be great!

When students arrive they will have the option of eating breakfast. I will follow the information you provided, if however, you want to change this routine please let me know.

We are very lucky to have many other wonderful programs in our school. The children will have physical education with Mr. Noga everyday from 10:00 – 10:25. If they are wearing dress shoes to school they will need to have a pair of tennis shoes available for gym. Music and library times with Ms. Pearson and Mrs. Cronk will be on alternating days. The children will pick out a library book to enjoy at home. Please return the book by their next library time.

Bus Safety

Bus buddies will be helping me escort the children to their proper bus each afternoon. This buddy system offers valuable experiences for both the kindergarteners and the older students.

Absences or Change in Routine

If your child will be absent, please call the school office to inform them. The number is 338-4079. Also, please send a note if your child is going to be doing something other than the normal routine (such as riding a different bus, getting picked up by you or someone else or staying after school for daycare). This ensures the safety of your child and is a very important rule to me.

Snacks

The children will have an afternoon milk break. If you wish, you may send a nutritious snack for your child. Milk will be provided for the children.

Birthdays

Birthdays are a big day for us. If your child has a summer birthday we will celebrate his/her half birthday. If you want to send a treat for the celebration you may. Our school requires that it be something from a store or bakery, not homemade. Candy should be individually wrapped.

Together, we make a team. If you have any concerns or questions feel free to call me at school (338-4079) or at home (338-2025). I look forward to a great year!

Sincerely,
Julie Duberowski

2010-08-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten Corner!

I am very excited about our kindergarten blog. I expect it to become a great communication tool to unite families and students with our classroom learning activities. It should be a convenient way to stay connected and keep up to date with upcoming kindergarten events and happenings.

Each week a newsletter is sent home with students. The same information will be shared on this blog.

Thank you for taking the time to view our kindergarten blog. I look forward to keeping you connected to our classroom throughout the school yuear!

March 22, 2010

2010-03-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

Spring is here! Gone are the boots, mittens, snow pants and winter coats. Getting ready for outdoors only takes minutes. The children come in with smiling faces and thoughts of warm days ahead. Spring will bloom in our classroom too. We will be creating an acrostic poem telling of the joys of this season. Learning about the changes that take place during this wonderful time of year will be our new theme. This week, we will focus on weather, as we create a colorful book to share with you. The children enjoy all the interesting science activities that go along with this unit. Next week, we will continue this unit. I hope winter doesn’t make a return visit!

Spring is a very busy season for the children as we approach the last quarter of the school year. Here is a list of dates to mark on your calendar.

Monday, March 29 – No School for students. We will be having a teacher workshop day.

Friday, April 2 -- No School. Spring break

Monday, April 5 -- No School. Spring Break

Wednesday, April 7-- Conferences after school

Thursday, April 8--Conferences after school

Monday, April 26-- No school for our current kindergarteners. Mrs. Erickson and I will be having the Kindergarten Round-Up with the 2010-2011 students.

Friday, April 30--Our Kindergarten Music Program will be at 1:30 in the music room. Feel free to invite grandmas and grandpas, uncles and aunts, and brothers and sisters to this wonderful event.

Wow! The rest of the year will fly by.

Have a great week.

Julie Duberowski

2010-03-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

March 5

A PEEK AT THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK TOO
This week has just flown by. We finished our theme “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land” by learning about Minnesota and Parkers Prairie. A new book about our town will be making its way to your home soon. We celebrated Minnesota by making blueberry muffins, our state muffin and drinking milk, our state beverage. Our road trip was a hit with everyone arriving home, safe and sound.

Not only did we travel across the country, but we also “Read Across America” on Tuesday, March 2nd. We honored Dr. Seuss’ birthday by reading with students from Mrs. Carlson’s 1st grade class. What an amazing sight to see our room full of great readers sharing their joys of reading with each other.

BOOK FAIR DINER: ALL YOU CAN READ
Friday night will be the last night of the Scholastic Book Fair at the library. Come and enjoy Family Night from 6-7 p.m. There will be Shake, Rock & Roll games for children Drop in to see what is being cooked up! Then enjoy the Prairie Fire Children’s theatre performance of the Wizard of Oz at 7 p.m. in the new gym.

CONFERENCE TIME CHANGE
Conferences have been rescheduled to April 7 & 8 due to basketball hopes of being state bound!

KINDERGARTEN TEAM WORK
It is our goal to help our students grow with their literacy skills. Mrs. Erickson, our paraprofessionals, and I will be working together to provide specific procedures to reach this goal for each child. Some activities include putting on plays using reader’s theatre, partner reading, playing a variety of games to target specific skills and using the CCC computer lab to provide individual skill work for each child. I know this will be a wonderful reading adventure for the children!

LOOKING AHEAD
“Stories Old” is our theme for next week. We will read and discuss several folk tales. The Three Bears will be our focus next week. Lots of fun activities are planned for this unit. My favorite is having the children act out the story of the “Three Bears.” We will finish the week by making porridge and sampling it just like Goldilocks. We will also read several other folk tales throughout the day.

Have a Great Weekend!

Julie Duberowski

2010-02-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 22

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

We are going on a road trip! Our first stop is Detroit. We will make our car and decorate it with our new high frequency words. These new models will be displayed on our poetry bulletin board. Then off we go as we discover special sights and land forms. Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, rivers, lakes, deserts, and mountains are just a few sights in store for us. We will end our journey by discovering Minnesota and learning about our great state and town! I hope it is a smooth ride, full of learning and fun!

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT
February 22 ----Family Fun Night (Parents & all family members are invited)
A family fun night will be held at our school on February 22nd called Beans and Bingo! Toasty dogs and chili will be served from 5:30 to 6:15. A variety of math activities will be available to families beginning at 6:15. The play, Jack in the Beanstalk will be appearing in the gym—Don’t miss this wonderful event! Young and old will chuckle and smile as Jack sets off on an adventure! I am sure you will enjoy the time spent learning through play with your child! I hope you can make it!

LOOKING AHEAD
Healthy Habits will be our next theme. Taking care of our teeth and learning other healthy habits to keep our body fit will be the topic of our next class book. We will be in great shape and ready for March by the end of this unit!

Julie Duberowski

A PEEK AT NEXT WEEK

2010-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 11

A PEEK AT NEXT WEEK

North, South, East, West. This land is the best. Our theme for next week – This Land Is Our Land – is designed to make our class aware of our country’s great heritage. We will learn about our famous leaders, George Washington and Abe Lincoln. We will find out who our president is now, and study the jobs that the president has. We will discover the symbols of our country, the Statue of Liberty, the flag, the bald eagle, the White House and the Liberty Bell. We will also explore Minnesota! Do you know the symbols of our state? We will by the end of this unit! The children will make a book about Parkers Prairie to share will you. We will be playing some fun math games with coins, making graphs and making patterns. We will learn some songs from long ago. This theme will continue into next week. I hope the children enjoy this unit as much as they have in years past.

FUN FRIDAYS IN FEBRUARY
Each Friday during February all students in our school will drop everything and read for 15 minutes. Watching all the children with their noses in a book reading, during our “DEAR” time is such a joy. It helps the children grow in their reading skills along with building their confidence as an emerging reader. You might want to form a “DEAR” time with your family. It is a special time to share together.

SPECIAL DATES
February 12th ----- Valentine Party (I have attached a valentine list if still needed.)
February 15 ---- We will now have school to make up the snow day we had last Monday.
February 16 ----Multi-Age in-School Activity (Parents do not come to this)
We will be mixing up our classrooms to give it a family-like atmosphere and doing some fun activities together. The children loved the last get together. The purpose of this program is to reduce bullying by forming bonds between multi-aged students. Our theme for the gathering is Show Respect

February 18 ----It’s the 100th Day of School! Watch for further info in upcoming letters.
February 22 ----Family Fun Night (Parents & all family members are invited)
Food served at 6:30
Games begin @ 6:15
A family fun night will be held at our school on February 22nd called Beans and Bingo! A variety of math activities will be available to families. The play, Jack in the Beanstalk will be appearing in the gym—don’t miss this wonderful event! Young and old will chuckle and smile as Jack sets off on an adventure! I am sure you will enjoy the time spent learning through play with your child!

Have a great week!

Julie Duberowski

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T17:36:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

2009-11-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Bats and other nocturnal animals will be our theme for the week. We will make a book about this to share with you. You might have your child save these books in their Buddy Book bags so they can read them often. Rereading “Good Fit” books helps the children with fluency. It also reinforces sight words in an easy way. We will work all year to establish the required high frequency words for kindergarten. These words will be important in helping the children begin to read simple texts. Children use these known words as “anchors” to help them check on their reading.

We will also discuss what animals are doing to get ready for winter. Our high frequency words for this week are at, an and can. We will learn how to make new words by changing the beginning letter of a word. It is so marvelous to watch the children as they comprehend this skill and grow in their reading skills.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday, November 6 –End of the First Quarter
I can hardly believe that school is ¼ over. The time is just flying by. I see so much growth already. Thank you for the time and effort you give your child, you will never regret it!

Monday November 9th
No school for students. We will be having a teacher workshop.

Wednesday, November 11th and Thursday November 12th
Fall Conferences will be held from 3:15 – 8:15. I look forward to visiting with you. I will try on keep on schedule. The schedule is tight. If it appears that we will run longer than the 20 minute slot allowed I may ask to continue the conference at another time to allow other parents to keep to their schedule. Thank you for understanding this. Thank you also for making the first quarter of our school year successful for your child.

Friday, November 13th
No school for students. I hope you enjoy the long weekend together.

Thursday, November 23rd
It is our 50th day of school!
Boys and Girls - Grab your bobby socks and leather coats, roll up your blue jeans, slick back your hair or wear a pony tail! Come to school dressed in your favorite 50’s style. We plan to celebrate this day by focusing on math. I have several fun math activities planned. And of course, we will top off the day by having a sock hop!

2009-10-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
What an exciting week awaits us! We will make a book called; This is Jack-o-Happy. We will put on a play about a little old lady who wasn’t afraid of anything. Journaling a picture and labeling the objects with the beginning sound will be part of our writing block. We will make our own big, green monster after reading this delightful book. We will estimate the circumference of pumpkins and then measure them to determine if our guess was close. Friday, we will end the week, by celebrating our first holiday of the school year, with a fall party!

FALL PARTY
We will be having a fall party on October 30. If you would like to send treats for the day that would be great! We have 14 students in our class. Please remember we do have a food allergy to nuts. Please check labels to see if the food was made in a factory that processes foods containing nuts. Thank you ahead of time for your concern with this topic. If you send candy, it should be individually wrapped pieces and store bought. An alternative might be party favor treats or nothing at all. We will be making a treat for snack! No matter what, I’m sure there will be enough sugar for students this week! No costumes please.

PLEASE RETURN THE BUDDY BOOK BAGS AND BOOKS NEXT SCHOOL DAY
I hope your children are enjoying reading the books to you. I plan to send home another book soon. The children should use these strategies – Look at the illustration. Touch the words to get the one-to-one correspondence of word to print. Get your mouth ready to make the sounds in the word. Check to see if it makes sense. Enjoy this wonderful accomplishment together!

We will need these books and bag the following school day.

DATES TO REMEMBER
Wednesday, October 28 – Picture retake day
Friday, October 30 – Fall Party

HOMEWORK IDEAS
I will be sending a “sound bat” home with your child at the end of the week. Please help your child find an object that begins with the letter on its body. An example would be if your bat has a “b” on it you might send a balloon. Send your special object to school by next Monday, November 2nd, along with the bat! The objects will be staying at school for a bulletin board display for us to read, so please send something small and safe to keep at school for awhile.

AT SCHOOL WE WILL:
Continue to work on letter recognition,
Say words slowly to hear sounds,
Clap out syllables.
Introduce our new high frequency word - this.
Practice counting to 50.
Work on recognizing the numbers 0-31.

Have a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2009-10-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

This week we will be learning about fire safety. How many fire safety rules can you think of? What do fire fighters wear to keep from being hurt? What equipment do fire fighters need? These are some of the questions we will be discussing this week. We will practice a fire drill and discuss why we go to a meeting spot. We will also practice fire safety drills like stop, drop, and roll. We will be singing songs about Smokey Bear and fire fighters. If will be a fun week. If possible, please practice a fire drill at home.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT

This week our high frequency word is the. As you read stories together see if you can spot the word in print. I, a, and see are other words your child should recognize.

"Where do I begin to read?" "What is a period for?" "What is a question mark for?" These are all questions to ask your child as you read to him/her.

ABC AND 1,2,3

We are working hard to learn the letters of the alphabet along with matching capital case letters to lower case letters. The consonant sounds are being taught as we practice the alphabet through writing and games. This week we will be clapping out syllables in words.

BOOK ORDER FORM SENT TODAY

Take a look and see if you would like to order any books this month. The order will be due be October 14. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club. Thanks!

UPCOMING DATES
Thursday, October 8 – Hearing Screening for Kindergarten students
Thursday, October 14 – Book order due
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 & 16 - NO SCHOOL (MEA)
Wednesday, October 28 - Picture Retake Day

CLASS BOOKS

We have been so busy making class books. I hope you have been having a great time reading them together. Thank you for returning them the next day so another classmate can enjoy them.

Have a great week,

2009-09-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

2009-09-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is our theme for the week. This great book is guiding us along as we discover the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Singing the ABC song, matching capital case letters to lower case letter and reciting the letters in our names as well as our friend’s names are all activities we will be doing this week. I have a few surprises in store too! I hope your child enjoys our Chicka Chicka week.

If your child has energy left at the end of the day, you might search through papers, books, anywhere there is print to practice naming the letters. Otherwise, an alphabet story at bedtime would be a wonderful bonus to help your child learn this skill. My goal is for the children to know most of the capital and lower case letters by the beginning of November. I will send information soon telling which letters your child recognizes. Together we can accomplish this objective.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT!
We are readers! Children keep your eyes open - searching for the words “I” and “see” in books that are read to you. We will be making an easy reading book to share at home using these words.

NWEA TIME
This week the children will be going to the computer lab to finish the NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us data in the areas of reading and math. I do not call this a test as I have no desire to cause distress for the children. I just encourage children to do their best.

NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
PICTURE DAY – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Please mark your calendar! We will be having a workshop day on September 28. Enjoy the extra long weekend boys and girls, and then come back with a big smile for picture day!

LOOKING AHEAD
We will be beginning a unit on shapes next week. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are also planned for the month of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead!

2009-09-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

A Peek at our Day
Today and tomorrow in kindergarten we will be learning about pedestrian and bus safety. Thursday we will watch a movie which explains several safety rules in a fun and informative way. Graphing “How We Got to School” will be our math activity. Please check out our September calendar for special events. Friday, we will make traffic lights out of graham crackers, frosting and Skittles and then eat them for a delicious snack. The children will practice a bus evacuation that morning. Coming home Friday will be a traffic book which the children made. Please take time to read this over with your child, pointing to each word as you read.

Poetry Corner
Red light! Red light!
What do you say?
I say stop and stop right a way.
Yellow light! Yellow light!
What do you mean?
I mean wait till the light is green.
Green light! Green light!
What do you say?
I say cross but first look both ways.

ABC PRACTICE
Use the poem or the traffic book to name letters of the alphabet. If this is hard for your child show them a letter and ask them to find a matching letter. Practice naming all the letters in your first name.

BOOK ORDER
If you would like to order books from Scholastic Book Club please complete the order form and return by September 15. The book order slip was sent home at Back to School Night. It is in the information folder you received that night. Make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

SNACK TIME
Milk is offered to all students in our classroom. The milk break is one way we are responding to the growing concern about the health and nutrition of our students. If you wish, you may send a nutritious snack for your child.

REST TIME
I will be having a quiet time for the children after recess. This is a time for the children to relax and unwind. I am sure they will be tired for about 6 weeks until they adjust to this new schedule.

Please contact me if you have any concerns. My school number is 338-4079 ex. 334 after 3 p.m. or at home 338-2025. Your input is important.

FIRE DRILL
Sometime soon the school will be having a fire drill. We will practice the procedure soon so the children know what to do. I hope this will ease any fears they may have.

2009-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome!
Welcome to Kindergarten Corner!

I am very excited about our new kindergarten blog. I expect it to become a great communication tool to unite families and students with our classroom learning activities. It should be a convenient way to stay connected and up to date with upcoming kindergarten events and happenings.

Each week a newsletter is sent home with students. However, the same information will be shared on this blog.

Thank you for taking the time to view our new kindergarten blog. I look forward to keeping you connected to our classroom throughout the school year!

2009-05-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

A GRAND PREFORMANCE
What an outstanding job the children did with their music program! Thank you one and all for being there for them, for helping them learn their poems, and also for creating the marvelous costumes. They were adorable! I hope to post the picture on the web site soon.

A PEEK AT OUR WEEK
I am so impressed with the bug book the children are making! I think they are doing an excellent job with the stories they are writing. Looking back to the beginning of the school year most of the children’s writing skills consisted of some letters, some scribbles, and perhaps a few words. Now I see them confidently sounding out words to write sentences. I am proud of each author.

NWEA TIME
This week and next the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us data in the areas of reading and math. I do not call this a test as I have no desire to cause distress for the children. I just encourage children to do their best. Please help your child to do his/her best by getting them to bed early so they are well rested.

MEMORY BOOK
Mrs. Christian and I are working together to publish a memory book for our class. It will have some group pictures of the class, individual pictures of each child doing something in our classroom, and an “All About Me” page. We can issue books in color for a cost or print them in a black and white copy at no charge. The black and white book quality would be similar to other class books that we have copied and sent home. Being watching for more information to follow concerning this publication!

DATES TO REMEMBER
May 14 - We have been invited to St. William’s Living Center to go a carnival.
May 27 – It’s our field trip and picnic day! We will be walking to St. William’s Living Center to play bingo with the residents there. Next we head to the park for a picnic and play. The bus will pick us up there and we will travel to the Douglas County Library in Alexandria for a story. Bowling at Fat Daddy’s tops off our day. Please return the permission slips and $1.50 as soon as possible.
May 29 – Our last day. The children will be dismissed at 12:30.

Happy Mother’s Day!

2009-04-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

April 24

Our Week in Review

Monday - The Kindergarten Roundup was a successful outing. It’s hard to believe the end of this year is coming so quickly and that this class will soon advance to first grade.

Tuesday – We began a new book reviewing vowel sounds and rhyming words. We will finish it on Friday and look forward to sharing it with you! I love watching the art skills mature as the children grow.

Wednesday – Celebrating Earth Day was the theme of today. Learning about recycling, reducing, and reusing was taken to heart. The children told how they would help our world by shutting off water while brushing their teeth, recycling cans and plastic, turning off the television when leaving the room, and not wasting paper towels. We began a class book telling of our goals. We discovered how polluted lakes hurt plants and animals from our science experiment.

Thursday - We took part in the statewide tornado drill. The children had fun producing a tornado by twirling water in a bottle to make a funnel. Graphing the weather and then being a weather reporter was part of our math class today. I am so impressed how well the students can compare the totals. Vocabulary words used include most, least, equal, fewest, less, and how many more. Using a thermometer to test for hot and cold water was an exciting science experiment for the children today.

Friday- We end the week by making a math book practicing our subtraction skills.

Upcoming Events
Spring is a very busy season for the children as we approach the end of the school year. Here is a list of dates to mark on your calendar.

Tuesday, April 28 – Dress Rehearsal for our upcoming program. Please send clown costumes to school so the children can see each other and feel secure in their costumes.

April 30 – Our Kindergarten Music Program will be at 1:30 in the music room. Feel free to invite grandmas and grandpas, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters to this wonderful event.

May 4-15 – NWEA testing

May 14 – We have been invited to a carnival at St. Williams Living Center

Wednesday, May 27 - We will be having a field trip and picnic. We will be going to St. William’s Living Center to do an activity with the residents there. Next we will head to the park for lunch and some play. After that we travel to the Douglas County Library for a story, then end the day by bowling at Garden Center Bowling.

Friday, May 29 – School Family Picnic. Information concerning this will be forwarded to you as activities are established.

May 29 – Our last day.

Wow! The rest of the year will fly by.

2009-04-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

April 13 – April 17

Finally spring is here! Gone are the boots, mittens, snow pants and winter coats. Getting ready for outdoors only takes minutes. The children come in with smiling faces and thoughts of warm days ahead. Spring is blooming in our classroom too. We are creating an acrostic poem telling of the joys of this season. Learning about the changes that take place during this wonderful time of year will be our new theme. This week we will focus on weather, as we create a colorful book to share with you. The children enjoy all the interesting science activities that go along with this unit. Next week we will celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday as we continue this unit.

Spring is a very busy season for the children as we approach the end of the school year. Here is a list of dates to mark on your calendar.

Monday, April 20 – No school for our current kindergarteners. Mrs. Erickson and I will be having the Kindergarten Round-Up with the 2009-2010 students.

Wednesday, April 22 – Earth Day/Arbor Day Projects

Community tornado drill

April 30 – Our Kindergarten Music Program will be at 1:30 in the music room. Feel free to invite grandmas and grandpas, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters to this wonderful event.

Wednesday, May 27 - We will be having a field trip and picnic. We will be going to St. William’s Living Center to do an activity with the residents there. Next we will head to the park for lunch and some play. After that we travel to the Douglas County Library for a story, then end the day by bowling at Garden Center Bowling.

May 29 – Our last day.

Wow! The rest of the year will fly by.

Have a great week.

2009-03-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

March 23-April 3

A PEEK AT THIS WEEK AND NEXT
Most children are fascinated by dinosaurs and other forms of prehistoric life. This week we began our unit on dinosaurs. We will be learning about these monsters from the past and create some cute giggle monsters next week. We will also illustrate a book called If You Meet A Dragon… based on a book by Joy Cowley. Be prepared to be tickled by this story! Other highlights of this unit we will be going on a dinosaur dig, making fossils, creating a dinosaur glyph and enjoying a delightful dinosaur treat!

END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL PROJECT
The children have been working on a creating a special gift for you. It is a plate which they have decorated with their own beautiful art work. There is a cost of $6.50. The children and I discussed how they could earn this money to help pay for it. If possible could you pay this by Friday, March 27? Children who have parents living in two different houses will make a plate for each parent. If you are writing a check please make it payable to Parkers Prairie Public School.

DATES TO REMEMBER
March 27 Report cards will be sent home with your child
March 30 School pictures will be taken.
April 6&7 Parent/teacher conferences at 3 :15 -8:15 ( School will be held during the day)
April 8-12 Spring break
April 13 Make-up day – school will be held
April 20 No school for kindergarten students. Mrs. Erickson and I will be hosting the Kindergarten roundup for the 2009-2010 kindergarten class.
April 30 & May 1 Kindergarten music program

VOCABULARY WORDS FOR THE WEEK
List and date are the new words for the week. Monday the children
created some lists (with the help from older students) telling how all students
can be platinum with their behavior throughout the school day. This
school wide project produced wonderful data from our class. We will make several lists at school, if you can make some at home that would be great.

It will be a roaring good week!

2009-03-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

March 9 - 20

A PEEK AT THIS WEEK
Stories of old taught many good lessons such as telling the truth, learning about safety around strangers, being a hard worker and making good choices. As I share these wonderful stories, I hope to have the children discover the values hidden within these great stories.

A PEEK AT NEXT WEEK
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We will begin next week with some leprechaun mischief! A wee little fellow lost his fairy dust in our room along with his special recipe for a magical treat! We will mix up and taste test his treasure to see if we like it too! Counting gold by 2’s, then practicing adding and subtraction with the pieces will be part of our math activities on Monday. The rest of the week we will finish our unit on fairy tales.

NEED FOR SLEEP
Teachers attended a great workshop last year on brain development. I learned lots of interesting information. One message that I would like to pass on is that each child needs a good night of sleep (10 – 12 hours) so their brain can process the skills they have learned each day. With the change to daylight savings time it is hard to get children to bed on time, but nevertheless your child will benefit from being tucked in early.

DATES TO REMEMBER

March 13 Book order is due
March 20 School will be start at 11:20. Teachers will have a workshop in the morning.
March 30 School pictures will be taken.
April 6&7 Parent/teacher conferences at 3 :15 -8:15 ( School will be held during the day)
April 8-12 Spring break
April 13 Make-up day – school will be held

VOCABULARY WORDS FOR THE WEEK
Our words for this week are poem and circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond or rhombus, sphere, cone, rectangular box, cylinder and cube.

2009-03-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

March 2- 6

A PEEK AT THIS WEEK AND NEXT WEEK TOO

We will finish “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land” by learning about Minnesota and Parkers Prairie. We will be making the Minnesota muffin and enjoying the Minnesota beverage as a snack.

“Stories Old” is our theme for this week and next. We will read and discuss several fairy tales. The Three Bears will be our focus this week. Lots of fun activities are planned for this unit. My favorite is having the children act out the story of the Three Bears. We will finish the week by making porridge and sampling it just like Goldilocks. We will also read several other fairy tales throughout the day.

CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAY OF DR. SEUSS

Read Across America Day is Monday, March 2nd. This is the day when we celebrate the joy of reading with children in honor of the birthday of Dr. Seuss. We will have the honor of listening to a special guest reading the beloved story – The Cat in the Hat.

READING MAKES YOU A STAR
This week there will be a Scholastic book fair at the library. The theme of the fair is “Reading Will Make You a Star.” Each day has a special theme to help celebrate the stardom of reading. For more information, please check last week’s newsletter from Mrs. Cronk.

Have a great week!

Julie Duberowski

2009-02-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 17- 20

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

North, South, East, West. This land is the best. Our theme – This Land Is Our Land – is designed to make our class aware of our country’s great heritage. We will learn about our famous leaders, George Washington and Abe Lincoln. We will find out who our president is now, and study the jobs that the president has. We will discover the symbols of our country, the Statue of Liberty, the flag, the bald eagle, the White House and the Liberty Bell. We will also explore Minnesota! Do you know the symbols of our state? We will by the end of this unit! The children will make a book about Parkers Prairie to share will you. We will be playing some fun math games with coins, making graphs and making patterns. We learn some songs from long ago. This theme will continue into next week. I hope the children enjoy this unit as much as they have in years past.

FUN FRIDAYS IN FEBRUARY
Each Friday during February all students in our school will drop everything and read for 15 minutes. Watching all the children with their noses in a book reading, during our “DEAR” time is such a joy. It helps the children grow in their reading skills along with building their confidence as an emerging reader. You might want to form a “DEAR” time with your family. It is a special time to share together.

Each day the children will bring home a book to practice high frequency words. They have not read them with us so they may require some help with words,
Please read together and return this book for a new one the next day.

VOCABULARY WORDS FOR THE WEEK

The words half and characters are our words this week. We will be creating a flag using symmetry by folding a paper in half and just adding paint to one side. The children love to see what design they produced.

THANK YOU
Thank you to the parents who read a story to our class. The children so love having you visit. Thanks for sharing your love of reading with them.

2009-02-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 2-6

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Last Monday began the theme of No Name Calling week. Celebrating friendship and spreading kindness made for a wonderful week. Each day brought smiles to our faces as the children walked through the door dressed in their special day attire. What fun PJ day was!

Thanks parents for volunteering to read a book to our class. We are looking forward to your visit. I will contact you to confirm your date and time.

As we begin to welcome thoughts of spring, new themes involving Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, dental hygiene, I Love to Read, 100 days of school and This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land will begin.

Vocabulary words for the week are message and addition.

I00 DAYS OF SCHOOL

Can you believe February 11th marks our 100th day of school? The year is speeding by. Plans are being made to celebrate this special day too. Coming home with your child soon will be a giant 100. Have fun decorating this together anyway you would like. Send it back to school by February 11th so your child can share his/her creation with the class!

VALENTINE PARTY

Our party will be Friday, February 13. A class list has been sent home. The cards may be sent to school anytime through Valentine’s Day. Please make sure all candy/treats are individually wrapped.

PRESIDENT’S DAY

Students will not have school on February 16th. Enjoy the day off!

JOURNAL WRITING

We have been busy writing and illustrating in our journals. We are saving these for you to see the wonderful progress that they are making in printing and writing. We encourage each student to write as much as he/she is able to do on their own using inventive spelling. If you have a few moments to spare, this is a wonderful activity to do with your child. If your child isn’t able to hear all the sounds in the word he/she is trying to write, that’s ok. Ask if he/she knows the beginning, middle, and/or ending sounds then print that! This is great start to becoming a writer, so remember to praise all efforts!

Have a great week!

Julie Duberowski

2009-01-19T20:20:00.001-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

What a strange week we had last week—late starts and no school really mixed up our days. So this week we are making up lessons from last week and including new lessons about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and our new president! As we learn about Martin Luther King Jr., we will discuss ways we can show we care for each other. We will talk about being kind, being fair, and showing respect to everyone. It again will be a busy week.

January 26, from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. is Family Fun Night! We look forward to playing lots of games with you. We are excited to have you visit our room! There will be many fun events throughout the school for your family. Among them, Ms. Pearson will be hosting a dance class in the music room. More information will soon be sent home. The evening will end with ice cream being served in the gym. I hope you can make it!

February kicks off “I Love to Read” month. A letter was sent home inviting you to read to our class. If possible, I hope you can participate in this fun activity.

OUR YEAR IS HALF OVER
January 19 marked the end of the second quarter. I can hardly believe that the school year is half over. I am very proud of all the steps the children have taken. It is amazing to me to see how much they have improved and developed their skills. Report cards will be sent out on January 26th. Thank you for all the support you have given your child. What a wonderful gift to give them!

I00 DAYS OF SCHOOL
Our 100th day of school is quickly approaching. Plans are being made to celebrate this special day.

Vocabulary Words For The Week
List and corner

Have a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2009-01-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. I was able to spend time with family and friends, but it will be good to see my kindergarten family again. I am looking forward to a great January. I’m sure the month will fly by—just as all the past months have.

I cannot believe it, but our school year is almost half over. January 16th marks the end of the second quarter of school. I am excited about what the children have already achieved. I know when we all work together, great things will happen for these special children.

January Happenings
This month we will be exploring a number of different themes. We will have a Jan Brett author study. We will also be finding out why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is so special and also discovering the joys of winter. Hopefully we will have some sleds so the children will be able to enjoy all of this white fluffy snow!

Thursday, January 8 we will have a School Family gathering. Once again our school will have multi-age classrooms for part of the afternoon. Our kindergarten students will have the wonderful opportunity to join with older students and share special activities. This is a positive way to spread respect throughout our school.

Mark Your Calendar
Students will be dismissed at 12:30 on January 16th. We will be having a workshop in the afternoon.

Building Vocabulary
School wide, we are working together to develop student vocabulary. Each classroom will pick a reading and math vocabulary word to stress every week. This week our room will be using the words cover (title, author, illustrator, the cover helps you to predict information in the story) and less than. As you read to your child and play games together, please take time to discuss these terms too.

NWEA TIME
Next week the children will be going to the computer lab to begin the winter round of NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us updated data in reading and math. I do not call this a test because I have no desire to cause distress for the children. I just encourage children to do their best. Please help your child to do his or her best by having them get an adequate amount of sleep.

Book Orders
Check out the book order sent home today. If you would like to place an order, return order slips by January 15. Thanks!

Summer Birthdays
We will be celebrating half birthdays for the children who have July birthdays. Check the dates marked on the calendar for their celebration. If you would like to send a snack or treat you may, but make sure it is a store brought, individually wrapped snack. We have 20 students in each class.

Story Books
The children have several books in their kiwi packs to share with you. These stories help practice fluency and the high frequency words we have learned. Please read the books together often. If your child is struggling with a book, read a page first then have your child read it back to you. Touch the words as you read and have fun with this wonderful step toward reading. We will need the books back the following day, so please return the pack even if you were unable to listen to your child read. Thanks!

Wishing you a great year filled with happiness and joy!

Julie

2008-11-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents of Kindergarten Students,

Our next unit will take us through the month of December. The story of the Gingerbread Man will kick off the unit. We will be reading many different versions of the book and discussing a variety of topics including character comparisons, and illustration and author differences between story versions. Sharing an afternoon with you as we decorate gingerbread houses will be a highlight of this unit. We will include several writing and reading activities telling of the joys of the holiday season. By incorporating science experiments throughout the unit, we will discover that our five senses help us enjoy the season. Reading the Polar Express will conclude our theme for the month.

December 12th is “Make a Gingerbread House” day. I am excited about it and so are the children! We need seven more ice cream pails. Each child will need a can of vanilla frosting. If you can donate two decorating goodies it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your generosity! Please remember to return the slip stating if you or a guest are able to come to our gingerbread house decorating party or if we need to find a person to help your child make their house. We want each child to have a special friend beside them to create this special memory.

We will be having a gift exchange at our holiday party on December 19th. Boys should bring a gift for a boy and girls should bring a gift for a girl. The cost of the gift should be no more than $2.50. Please label the gift, “For a Girl” or “For a Boy”. Remind your child to bring the gift to me - not to a child. Please note that the children will be dismissed at 12:30 on this date. We will have a faculty workshop in the afternoon.

We will be working on recognizing numbers up to 31, counting to 110, counting by 10’s and 5’s, and adding and subtracting through stories. A literacy goal is to recognize and read color words using guided reading stories. We will identify the last sound in words, learn how to make new words by changing the beginning letter of words, continue to practice high frequency words, print our first and last name accurately, and improve our reading and writing skills.

This month will fly by. Before we know it, it will be January 2009!

Julie Duberowski

2008-11-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

GINGERBREAD HOUSES

Dear Parents,

On Friday, December 12th our kindergartners will be decorating gingerbread houses! Please look over the attached supply list and send in your child’s supplies by Tuesday, December 9th. Each child may invite one special guest to join us. All are welcome-parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, neighbors or other special adults! The festivities will begin at 1:30 in the afternoon in our room. It should last approximately an hour. You will be able to take your child with you at the end of the day. If you are unable to find someone for your child, please let us know so we can make other arrangements.

Thank you,
Julie Duberowski

----------------------------------------------------------------

Student’s name ___________________________

_____ Yes, my child will have a special adult

_____ No, please find my child a special adult

The Kindergarten students are getting excited about making Gingerbread Houses on Friday, December 12! We would appreciate your help, by donating two or more of the following items listed below, along with your can of vanilla frosting and ice cream pail with the lid. Please send items to school by Tuesday, December 9th.

*One can of vanilla frosting (each child needs one)
* One ice cream pail with cover (each child needs one)
* Ice cream cones (pointy ones) for trees
* Colored marshmallows
* Colorful cereal such as Fruit Loops
* Gumdrops (hedges and roof tops)
* Mini candy canes
* Chocolate chips
* Sprinkles
* Hard candies
* Colored sugars
* M&M’s
* Any thing else that might be a fun surprise
But no coconut please due to allergies

I will donate the boxes of graham crackers. I look forward to sharing this special day with you!

Thanks for your help!
Julie Duberowski

2008-11-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK NOVEMBER 10, 2008

We have a week full of wonderful activities that are not in our usual schedule.

Monday, November 10
We will have our first School Family Time. We will be mixing up our classrooms to give it a family-like atmosphere and doing some fun activities together. The children loved this last year. The purpose of this program is to reduce bullying by forming bonds between multi-aged students.

Tuesday, November 11th
Remember to wear red, white and blue as we celebrate Veterans Day with a school-wide program honoring those who have served our country.

Thursday, November 13th
It is our 50th day of school!
Boys and Girls - Grab your bobby socks and leather coats, roll up your blue jeans, slick back your hair or wear a pony tail! Come to school dressed in your favorite 50’s style. We plan to celebrate this day by focusing on math. I have several fun math activities planned. And of course, we will top off the day by having a sock hop!

Friday, November 14th
Len Quinn and his dog Ginger will visit our school. Len is legally blind. Ginger is his Leader Dog. Len has done over 300 presentations at various schools explaining the Leader Dog program. Thank you to Lions International for making this program possible for us.

100% Attendance at Conferences
Thank you for coming to conferences last week. If you ever want an update or have a concern just give me a call. Together we make a strong team!

Have a great week!
Julie

2008-11-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

Bats and other nocturnal animals will be our theme for the week. We will make a book about this to share with you. You might have your child save these books in their Buddy Book bags so they can read them often. Rereading “Good Fit” books helps the children with fluency. It also reinforces sight words in an easy way. We will work all year to establish the required high frequency words for kindergarten. These words will be important in helping the children begin to read simple texts. Children use these known words as “anchors” to help them check on their reading.

Tuesday we will take time to discuss our great privilege to vote for a new president. I encourage you to remember to vote not only for a president but also on the school referendum.

IMPORTANT DATES

Wednesday, November 5th and Thursday November 6th
Fall Conferences will be held from 3:15 – 8:15. I look forward to visiting with you. I will try on keep on schedule. I am scheduled every 20 minutes. If it appears that we will run longer than the 20 minute slot allowed I may ask to continue the conference at another time to allow other parents to keep to their schedule. Thank you for understanding this. Thank you also for making the first quarter of our school year successful for your child.

Friday, November 7th
No school for students. I hope you enjoy the long weekend together.

Thursday, November 13th
It is our 50th day of school! Boys and Girls - Grab your bobby socks and leather coats, roll up your blue jeans, slick back your hair or wear a pony tail! Come to school dressed in your favorite 50’s style. We plan to celebrate this day by focusing on math. I have several fun math activities planned. And of course, we will top off the day by having a sock hop!

Weekly News from October 13-15

2008-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK
This week we will be finishing our fire safety unit. The children know a lot about this topic and are eager to share their knowledge with you. Expect to see special fire safety book made by the students this week. Weather permitting, we will end this unit with a visit from the Parkers Prairie fire fighters. They will share their knowledge of fire safety rules with us. I know the children will love to see the fire trucks and equipment.

Thank you, fire fighters, for taking the time to visit us. We appreciate it so much!

UPCOMING DATES
Just a reminder, book orders are due on October 15th.
MEA is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 16 and 17.

SPECIAL MEETING BEING HELD ON OCTOBER 20TH
On October 20th, at 7:00 P.M. in the elementary school gym the school board and administration will be hosting an informative meeting focusing on the “STRONG SCHOOLS FORM OUR FUTURE” campaign. The board and administration will be presenting information regarding the November 4th referendum vote. Please mark your calendar! Be informed about the need for this action.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA
I hope you have time to enjoy the beautiful fall days. Pumpkins, leaves, harvest time and our beautiful fall weather are topics we will be discussing as we continue to learn about this beautiful season. We will end the month learning about how animals are preparing for colder weather.

FALL PARTY
We will be having a fall party on October 31. If you would like to send treats for the day that would be great! We have 20 students in our class. Please remember, if you send candy, it should be individually wrapped pieces and store bought.

Have a great week!
Julie Duberowski

2008-10-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

This week we will be learning about fire safety. How many fire safety rules can you think of? What do fire fighters wear to keep from being hurt? What equipment do fire fighters need? These are some of the questions we will be discussing this week. We will practice a fire drill and discuss why we go to a meeting spot. We will also practice fire safety drills like stop, drop, and roll. We will be singing songs about Smokey Bear and fire fighters. If will be a fun week. If possible, please practice a fire drill at home.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT

This week our high frequency word is like. As you read stories together see if you can spot the word in print. I, a, and see are other words your child should recognize.

"Where do I begin to read?" "What is a period for?" "What is a question mark for?" These are all questions to ask your child as you read to him/her.

ABC AND 1,2,3

We are working hard to learn the letters of the alphabet along with matching capital case letters to lower case letters. The consonant sounds are being taught as we practice the alphabet through writing and games. This week we will be clapping out syllables in words.

CLASS BOOKS

We have been so busy making class books. I hope you have been having a great time reading them together. Thank you for returning them the next day so another classmate can enjoy them.

Have a great week,

Julie

2008-09-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

A PEEK AT OUR WEEK

APPLE TIME

Apples crunchy,
Apples sweet,

Apples are so
Good to eat!

How many words can you think of to describe apples? That is one of our jobs this week. We will
be reading about apples and making books about them too. Learning about Johnny Appleseed is a favorite. Sequencing apples and using apples on a balance scale are just a few of the math and science activities planned for this first week of October. Making the recipe, Apple Smiles, is sure to make us smile--what great preparation for school pictures!

BOOK ORDER FORM SENT TODAY

Take a look and see if you would like to order any books this month. The order will be due be October 15. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club. Thanks!

UPCOMING DATES

Friday, October 3 We will attend the homecoming parade. The children will walk back to school after the parade. They will be dismissed from there. Students will be home 20 -30 minutes early.

October 16 and 17 No school due to MEA
October 28 Picture retake day
October 31 We will have a late start at 11:20. It is also the end of the first quarter.
October 31 Fall Party

2008-09-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

A PEEK AT THE WEEK

This week we will be exploring colors and shapes. The shapes tested for our report card include circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval and diamond also called a rhombus. I know the children know most of the colors and shapes so I will be incorporating lots of reading and writing skills into this unit. We will be making more books for you and your child to read together. A fun science experiment will help us learn about mixing colors. Graphing data, singing songs and continuing to work together as a school family are all important lessons in this unit.

NWEA TIME

This week the children will be going to the computer lab to finish the NWEA testing. This fun computer activity will give us data in the areas of math. Results of this testing will be shared with you at conferences.

UPCOMING EVENTS

School pictures will be taken next Monday, September 29. I am sure you will receive information about this soon. We will attend the homecoming parade on Friday, October 3. The children will walk back to school after the parade. They will be dismissed from there.

LOOKING AHEAD

We will be beginning a fall unit next week. Topics for the next month include apples, leaves, pumpkins, bats and nocturnal animals. Fire safety lessons are also planned for the month of October. Looks like lots of learning ahead.

Have a great week!
Julie

Welcome!

2008-08-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kindergarten Corner!

I am very excited about our new kindergarten blog. I expect it to become a great communication tool to unite families and students with our classroom learning activities. It should be a convenient way to stay connected and up to date with upcoming kindergarten events and happenings.

Each week a newsletter is sent home with students. However, the same information will be shared on this blog. In addition, I hope to post a daily news entry.

Thank you for taking the time to view our new kindergarten blog. I look forward to keeping you connected to our classroom throughout the school year!