Cookies and Christmas Trees

This week our theme was cookies and Christmas trees. We made fun and gingerbread decorations, pretended to decorate cookies for our shape cookie books, and painted special Christmas trees. We also focused on the letter Cc and the number 5. 

For the next three weeks we will be having the theme of Christmas! Our days will be filled with making festive decorations and special gifts for your families. We will be having our Christmas party prior to our program on Dec. 21st and 22nd. Our class will be doing a $5 gift exchange-girls buy for girls, and boys buy for boys. In order to receive a gift your child needs to bring a gift by Dec. 16th or Dec. 17th. If this will be a hardship for your family this year, please let me know. 

Our program will Monday, Dec. 21st and Tuesday, Dec. 22nd beginning at 9:30. Refreshments will follow. Please send back the bottom portion of the program invite that was sent home this week so we can make plans for who is being picked up after the program and to have an idea of how many students will be staying afterward. Most students go home after the program, but are not required to do so. There will not be academics planned for the afternoon for those staying at school. 

Please continue to send your child with snow pants and boots. These are a requirement to go outside for recess until further notice. Be sure to label all of your child's winter gear. 

A reminder to those who signed up for the cookie decorating FBI event. This will begin at 9:00 on Friday, Dec. 11th. Be sure to bring a container to take your cookies home in, unless you plan on eating them while you are here. :-) 

We have a collection taking place to help out Huey's Hideaway Children's Museum being built here in Medford! During this coming week, students can bring in coins to help support their grade level in earning a pizza party for their classroom. Pennies will count as positive points in their own coin jar. Silver coins will count as negative points-so be sure to put those in a different grade level's coin jar!!! The fourth grade students who developed this idea will be in the lunch room each morning and afternoon this week to collect the coins. If you send coins with your student, we will take the students with coins down to the commons to distribute them into the jars. Thank you for helping support this great addition to our community!

Thanksgiving

This past week and next week our theme is Thanksgiving. We also focused on the number 4 and the letter Tt. We have already made a few cute turkeys for you to have as Thanksgiving decorations and this coming week we will be making pilgrims.

Thank you to those families who attended our bowling event this morning. The kids seemed to have a great time! Our next Families Being Involved event will be on Friday, Dec. 11th starting at 9:00 in the MAES commons/lunch room. The sign up slips are due back this coming Mon. and Tues. It is very important that you send this slip back on time if you want to be involved with the cookie decorating so we can be sure to have enough cookies ordered. 

As the weather turns more wintery, it is important to send warm clothes for recess. Snow pants are required for all students when there is snow on the ground in order to go outside to play. Please send these to school with your student in case it snows throughout the day. Please be sure to label your child's snow pants, boots, gloves/mittens, hats, and jackets. Just a reminder that stretchy gloves are ok when it is chilly but they are not warm enough for children when they are playing in the snow.

Reminders:
--early release on Tuesday, Nov. 24th-dismissal is at 1:52. Please send a note with your child if they are going to be going home differently than usual
--No school Nov. 25th-27th
--Christmas programs for Pre-K are scheduled for Dec. 21st and Dec. 22nd at 9:30. 
--No school for all grades Dec. 23rd - Jan. 1st

Scarecrows

This week we talked about scarecrows. We learned what their job is, who usually has them around, what they are made of, and the seasons we see them. We also focused on the letter Hh and the number 3. Report cards also went home this week, if you have any questions about them please contact me. 

I have had a few families ask about the giving tree and what might still be needed in our classrooms. The Pre-K staff use the giving tree as an alternative for obtaining supplies for projects and other helpful classroom items rather than asking for school supplies from each student at the start of the year. Things that we could still use are: non-coated 9 inch white paper plates, cotton balls, coarse sand paper, assorted stickers either theme related or just fun ones for the writing center, play dough, sidewalk chalk, bubbles (and bubble wands), Pre-k age board games, zip lock bags (gallon and sandwich), plain white cupcake liners, Clorox Anywhere spray. If any of these items seem like something you would like to donate, please send them with your student to school. Thank you!!!

Our theme for the next two weeks will be Thanksgiving. We will also focus on the letter Tt and number 4. 

Reminders: 
--For those who have signed up, our next Families Being Involved event is Friday, Nov. 20th at the Sports Page. 8:00 for Mon./Wed. and 9:30 for Tues./Thurs.
--Early Release for all students on Tuesday, Nov. 24th. Dismissal is at 1:52-if your student will be going home a different way than usual please let the school know. 
--No school Wednesday, Nov. 25th through Friday, Nov. 27th
--December's Families Being Involved event will be Friday, Dec. 11th. Cookie decorating! Information will be coming home this coming week. 
--Pre-K Christmas programs are Monday, Dec. 21st and Tuesday, Dec. 22nd at 9:30 in the gym. 
--No school for all students Wednesday, Dec. 23rd through Friday, Jan. 1st. 

Night Time

Last week we covered the theme night time and talked about different animals that come out when it is dark. We made owls and raccoon too! We focused on the letter Kk and the number 2. We also had a fun pajama day.

This week we will be talking about scarecrows, focusing on the letter Hh and the number 3. Report cards go home Wed. and Thurs. if you have any questions about them please contact me. The Scholastic books from the October order have arrived and will go home today and tomorrow for those that placed an order. Thank you!

Reminders:
--please be sure to label your child's jacket, hat, and gloves (boots and snowpants too when it gets snowy)
--If you still have not sent back the turkey feather family project, please do so we can add it to our hallway display
--The Families Being Involved event of bowling will be on the 20th for those that signed up. Monday's group at 8:00 and Tuesday's group at 9:30
--early release on Tuesday, November 24th-dismissal at 1:52
--no school Wed. the 25th through Fri. the 27th

Halloween 2

This week we continued with the Halloween theme. We focused on the letter Jj and the number 1. We had a visit from Mrs. Eloranta, our counselor, who talked with us about staying safe around guns, water, dogs, and sharp objects like knives. She will continue to visit a few times throughout the year to focus on other safety topics-a letter was sent home this past week. We had a lot of fun having our Halloween parade, trick-or-treating in our classroom, playing a bingo game and watching a fun Halloween video while we ate our "witch's brew" snack. MAES also had their Fall Festival last night! It was great to see so many families attend this fun event. 

Next week we will be talking about night time. Wednesday and Thursday will be Pajama Day! Be sure to have your child in warm pajamas (or send a change of clothes) as we will still be going out to recess twice. Your child can also have a stuffed animal on this day too. 

Reminders:

--Families Being Involved event slips are due back Nov. 2nd and 3rd-the event will be bowling on Friday Nov. 20th

--PJ day Wed. the 4th and Thurs. the 5th

--report cards will come home Nov. 11th and 12th

--early release on Nov. 24th

--no school Nov. 25th-27th  

Halloween 1

This has been our first week of Halloween fun. We made jack-o-lanterns with our hand prints, glittery bats, talked about the inside of pumpkins, made collages using cookie cutters, and focused on the letter Mm. Next week we will be focusing on the letter Jj and starting our number of the week series with the number 1.

Halloween parties will be Wed. and Thurs. afternoon. Please do not send your child already wearing their costume we will be changing into them after rest time and switching out of them prior to coming home. If you choose to send a treat for our classroom trick-or-treating please be aware we have allergies including: red dye #40, honey, cherries, strawberries, apples, and tomatoes. Please send prepackaged goodies that would be fine being placed in a bag (sorry no cupcakes!) as their treats will be sent home in their backpacks and we do not want a squishy mess.

Next week is also Red Ribbon Week. Pre-K students will have the chance to wear red on Mon/Tues and green on Wed/Thurs to show their support.

Thank you to everyone who purchased books at the Scholastic book fair during conference night. Your purchases helped make it possible to have books donated to our classroom. Also, thank you to those who have individually donated books to our room. Parent-Teacher conferences was a success and I am happy that so many families were able to meet. If you were unable to attend your scheduled time and would like to still meet please contact me to set up a day and time.

Our first families being involved event was this morning and was a lot of fun! There were so many great looking jack-o-lanterns heading home today.

Reminders:
-picture retake days are Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th in the morning. If you are having your student retake their photo, please send back the original packet of pictures.
-the next Families being involved event will be Friday, November 20th in the morning. More information is being sent home next week.
-Pajama day is Wednesday, Nov. 4th and Thursday, Nov. 5th. Please send additional clothes to wear for recess if needed. You may also send a stuffed animal to school on these days.

Hibernation and Migration

This week we talked about animals that migrate like birds and butterflies as well as those that hibernate like bear, squirrels, ladybugs, skunks, bees, and more!. We found out that there are some animals that are very hard to wake up and some that might wake up and eat a little during winter. This was a short week for the students so we did not have a letter to focus on but reviewed the ones that we have done so far. 

For the next two weeks we will be talking about Halloween and the letters Mm and Jj. 

With the colder weather, please be sure to send your child with a warm jacket, and possibly hat and gloves on those colder days. We are starting to work on zipping our coats by ourselves now too!

We have started working on the Reading Eggs and Math Seeds programs during our computer times. The login information I sent previously will work for both programs if you choose to utilize these at home. They are great game style programs that allow for the repetition of letters and numbers to help reinforce the sounds and appearance of them.

Reminders:
--Our first families being involved event will be Friday, Oct. 23rd at 9:00 for those families who have signed up.
--Picture retakes are Tuesday, Oct. 27th and Wednesday, Oct. 28th. If you want your child to have retakes done, please send in the original photo packet with them. Pictures will be taken right away in the morning. 
--Our Halloween parties will be on Wednesday, Oct. 28th and Thursday, Oct. 29th. Please do not have your child wear their costumes to school. We will be having our dress up and party time in the afternoon. If you choose to send a costume for your child to change into for the afternoon, please be sure it fits comfortably over their clothes. They will change out of the costume before going home. 
--There will be a pajama day on Wednesday, Nov. 4th and Thursday, Nov. 5th when we have our theme of "night time". They will be able to bring a stuffed animal this day if they choose to as well.