10.14.11

Kaitlyn and Brady work together on a Columbus Day Project.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

The rhythm of the school week and the beat of the day are becoming more familiar as we conclude our 6^th week of school.  Some of the routines may appear to be “old hat” and boring, but they are the foundation of our time together.  For instance, choosing snack milk and lunch, checking in with attendance and doing the morning table task at first glance might appear to be a straightforward, but it is easy to become distracted. Reminders to stay on task continue to be a valuable tool.

Morning Message is more challenging, however, they are becoming more attuned to the details of print, its conventions and even its peculiarities.  They enjoy reading to me, to their friends and to themselves.  When creating the Question of the Day my goal is to engage their mind and their senses. I also believe it opens doors for conversations and for creativity. 

Learning to tune their ear to hear rhyme as well as be able to generate their own rhymes is a precursor to reading.  Aspects of our Morning Meeting include rhyming activities and games.

This week I introduced /c/ and /k/. Thank you for continuing to support your child on an ongoing basis as we introduce new sounds.   I plan on introducing /e/ on Friday so that altogether they will have 9 letters/sounds to practice. Look for the Jolly Phonics workbooks in your child’s folder, which will be sent home for writing practice as we introduce new sounds/letters.  You can check how far they should work in the workbook based on what letters have been introduced in their Sound Book. It is a good idea not to let them go ahead. If they want more letter writing practice for the letters that have been introduced, send me a note and I can create packets for them to work on at home.

Finn, Ava and Andrew take turns finding objects in the I Spy Book.

The children are working at sharing and taking turns. After snack if there is extra time, students are dismissed to the rug to look at books.  At first they had difficulty sharing books between them without a disagreement surfacing between 2 or 3 students. Now with more practice they are doing a much better job.  We are also working on manners, saying, “Excuse me” and apologizing.  Children at this age have a tendency to forget all that they have learned at home when they are at school amongst their friends. As a result, we work on reminding them to create a warm, inviting and friendly community.  Taking responsibility for their behavior and making smart choices is also a daily practice.

Social Studies and Science:

We have been learning about cycles the past few weeks.  First the butterfly lifecycle, then the lifecycle of the Apple Tree and now we have begun discussions about the seasons. Summer is well behind us and fall has more recently progressed with the brilliant colors of autumn’s leaves we are learning about the yearly cycles of the seasons. From these discussions we will also learn about how the seasons affect our lives and other living things.

Share: The Share theme this past week was /p/. What a plentiful and productive week we had at share! Some of the creative /p/ shares were:  pumpkin, pink unicorn, puppy, pink pig, Lego policeman, a description of last night’s dinner (pasta, peas, plate, pudding), pictures, Leap Frog, pink jacket, purple, and vampire teeth! I was very pleased!

Next Week’s Share Theme:  Something that begins with the sound /n/, (or has /n/ within the word).

·      Monday: Ava, Hunter, Ian

·      Tuesday: Kaitlyn, Andrew, Keira

·      Wed.: Cashton, Finn, Maple

·      Thursday; Brady, Kayla, Ryan

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Thank you to Kaitlyn’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snacks! Next week’s snack will be provided by  Ava's  family. 

• Note: No school on Tuesday, October 18 due to Teacher In-service.

• Homework is limited at the time to the Jolly Phonics workbook and reading the sound book. However, please practice shoetieing and zipping jackets as we settle into our school year. Also, some laces have a tendency to unlace themselves more easily than others, and if they know how to tie their own shoes it will be a big help!

• The days are beginning to get a bit chillier.  Make sure your child has proper footwear and layers for recess.

•  Reminder: Please send in a water bottle with your child’s name on it. We will try to send it home on Fridays to get washed. Please return it on Monday.  Thank you.

•  Kinderbees News are now available online via the staff pages link on the Hartland Elementary School Website: www.hartland.k12.vt.us.  Just click on Staff Pages and then click on my name: Jennifer Bodnar.  In the right hand column is a growing list of helpful links. Finn’s family provided a link to the HOP, which has some free events on weekends. Check it out!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Bodnar

10/7/11

Mike demonstrates how the "Magic Bucket" works.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

Our field trip to Wellwood Orchards was on a rainy day, however, we were fortunate that most of the time we were outside we experienced only a light drizzle.  Thank you to Anna Spaulding, Carrie LaBounty, and Mimi, (Ava’s visiting Grandmother). The children enjoyed a nice (albeit soggy) wagon ride to pick the apples and eat one right off the tree. Among many interesting facts about apples, we learned the secret to picking them without bruising them (cup it in your hand and twist it off!). So enlightening was the experience that some children were even inspired to eat the skin of the apple! 

Ryan carefully picks apples.

After returning from the wagon ride we toured the cider press and went in the storage area where all the apples are kept cool and crisp. We enjoyed eating our lunches at the covered picnic tables and made a quick dash to the bus just before it began to shower again.

Upon returning from our field trip our chaperones stayed for an extra hour and a half to help with apple learning centers. The children rotated among 4 stations listening to a read aloud about the lifecycle of the apple tree and making a life-cycle wheel, making apple prints (tempera paint) after cutting the apple in half and seeing the star, hearing a story about Johnny Appleseed, peeling apples using an apple peeler/corer and discussing ways to measure apples. We used two different pan scales. One which allowed us to compare two different sized apples: heavier and lighter, bigger and smaller. We used weights to balance the scale to determine the weight of a specific apple (210 grams).  The other pan scale helped us measure the weight in grams, which we read on the dial.   The children enjoyed their homemade applesauce with a cup of cider at the end of the day. 

We reached our first big milestone in Jolly Phonics this week by finishing up our first set of 6 letter sounds, (s, a, t, i, p, n).  The Sound Books are going home every night for practice. I hope you are able to find time to have your child practice the sounds with you regularly. Today and yesterday we began to blend these sounds into 3 letter words! This weekend you will find a new addition to the materials being sent home: a letter-writing workbook for at-home practice.  Throughout the last two weeks at morning table tasks we have been working on correct lower case letter formation. Although many children are able to write some upper case letters the primary focus for this activity is to begin to learn how to form the lower case letters.  Children have a tendency to want to rush through this practice, but we are working on slowing down and doing our best work.  Please help encourage your child to work slowly and to do the best they can. Habits are being formed at this stage and if they begin by practicing correctly they won’t have to relearn or reshape their muscle memory for letter writing later on.

Hunter demonstrates how the tambourine works. A musical /t/!

In calendar we have 2 bundles of 10 straws with 2 in the ones pocket signaling 22 days of school.  We are beginning to investigate the concept of number by thinking about one. What is one?  We are learning a poem about One. One is the Sun and One is the Moon. We will begin to think about two and what that means. These may appear simple at first glance, but a firm understanding of these basic concepts is critical as we begin to build on them to larger numbers. We will also be working to learn how to correctly form numbers in writing – another valuable skill.

Share: The Share theme this past week was /t/.  Although several children forgot (don’t worry!) a nice treasure trove of /t/ was still shared.  A few items were: a Toy Tractor, a very large stuffed Tiger, a football helmet, and a beautiful Tambourine.  Although the job of finding something that begins with the sound of the week can be challenging, this at-home activity provides an opportunity for you and your child to explore the sounds in words around your home that have (or may not have) the targeted sound. This is an important skill to have when children are ready to read. Look around the house and find items that don’t have the sound. The process of checking if it has the sound is an important. Try it!

Next Week’s Share Theme:  Something that begins with the sound /p/, (or has /p/ within the word).

Monday: Ava, Hunter, Ian

Tuesday: Kaitlyn, Andrew, Keira

Wednesday: Cashton, Finn, Maple

Thursday; Brady, Kayla, Ryan

If your child misses share day for any reason, he or she can share on that Friday

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Thank you to Cashton’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snacks! Next week’s snack will be provided by  Kaitlyn’s  family. 

• Please send in a water bottle with your child’s name on it. We will try to send it home on Fridays to get washed. Please return it on Monday.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Bodnar

9/30/11

Looking at the spiders up close through a magnifying glass. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

On Wednesday our Painted Lady butterflies began to emerge from their chrysalises. We will be setting our butterflies free from the confines of our butterfly pavilion on Friday. Some children have found caterpillars of their own and have brought them into the classroom to share with their friends. Our terrarium is now filled with a variety of caterpillars. In addition another woolly bear made his way into our classroom and is now a resident as well. Throughout the week we read both fiction and non-fiction books to learn more about the butterfly. The children loved Eric Carle’s classic The Hungry Caterpillar. We also read a big book Butterflies to learn more about the specifics of its life-cycle.  The students are in the process of making a life-cycle wheel, which they will bring home by the end of next week.  I wrote a rhyming story about a woolly bear, which I will read aloud on Friday. Woolly Bears turn into the Isabella Tiger moth, so they will have a chance to think about how moths are different and/or the same as butterflies. Another concept discussed throughout the year is Same/Different. At home you can explore this theme with just about any subject.

Recreating an orb web and how spiders catch their prey. 

        

We had our first ELF lesson on Thursday, which was co-taught by Maple’s mom, Leah Gartner, Hunter’s dad, Tom Haley, and Finn’s grandmother, Judy Hills. They did a fabulous job with the exciting world of spiders. ELF’s theme this year is Designs in Nature. The focus was not only about spiders but also how and why they are different than insects. Another Same/Different learning opportunity in the making!

Jolly Phonics: The children are excited about the new letters as they are being introduced. This week we introduced three new sounds: /a/, /t/, and /i/. The Sound Books are going home every night for practice. Inside the sound book envelope will be a reference sheet so you can practice the “action” with your child. Your child will most likely be excited to share what they have been learning with you and to be the “teacher” showing you how to make the actions. Feel free to ask your child questions (and don’t be shy to ask me!).

We continue to work with math concepts during Calendar time working with the date, the weather (graphing) and tracking the number of days we’ve attended school. We are building a color-coded number line on the wall with each day at school.

The children are still learning to settle into their morning routines. They are learning to go from their table task to the Morning Message board without taking detours. It is still early in the year and I will be working with them to help them follow through on their “jobs.”  Morning Message is a challenging activity for them, but they are stepping up and doing a great job. They enjoy the process of reading the predictable words as well as using context clues to others. They have been practicing new sight words: I, is, what, & we. Others more recently introduced are: and & the.  

We started basic handwriting activities learning about straight and curved lines both big and small. We explored the use of small chalkboards and will be using these tools more in the next few weeks.

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

•  Thank you to Finn’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snacks! Next week’s snack will be provided by  Cashton’s  family.
• Upcoming field Trip to Wellwood Orchard on Tuesday, October 4^th. Please pack a bag lunch. We will eat at the orchard. 
• Please send in a water bottle with your child’s name on it.  It will help make our transitions more efficient. Thank you.
•   Please note share schedule on reverse side.
• We will not have Library on this coming Monday due to the Spelling Bee. We will try to get to the library at another time during the week to take out new books. Please return your books as scheduled.  Thank you!

Kinderbees News are now available online via the staff pages link on the Hartland Elementary School Website: www.hartland.k12.vt.us.  Just click on Staff Pages and then click on my name: Jennifer Bodnar.

Share: The Share theme this past week was /s/.  The children brought in a variety of creative and fun connections to the sound /s/. A scuba diver toy, silly glasses, a slinky, a skid truck toy, a rubber snake, and even a life-like baby doll named Sophie. This at-home activity provides an opportunity for you and your child to explore the sounds in words which are an important skill (phonological awareness) when learning to read.

Next Week’s Share Theme:  Something that begins with the sound /t/, (or has /t/ within the word).

Monday: Ava, Hunter, Ian

Tuesday: Kaitlyn, Andrew, Keira

Wednesday: Cashton, Finn, Maple

Thursday; Brady, Kayla, Ryan

If you miss your share day for any reason, you can share on that Friday. J

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bodnar

9/23/11

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

               The children are being exposed to many wonderful treasures that I hope they will hold close to their hearts throughout their kindergarten year as well as their life. One being the beauty of patience. For example on Monday we opened up the box that held two plastic jars with 8 caterpillars inside. Over the course of the week we watched them slowly weave themselves into chrysalises. They are now in the pupa stage and we must wait for the day when they emerge from their cocoons.  In the meantime, the children have drawn pictures and have dictated their observations to me to write on their journal pages.  We are looking forward to their next metamorphic stage!

               We also are learning to sort and count individual items into egg cartons. They worked in pairs as they sorted the items from small boxes and counted out the correct number of pieces written in each egg cup.  Learning to take turns, share and assisting others is embedded in the lesson.

               On Thursday I introduced our first letter and sound: /s/. We identified several words that begin with /s/. When a word was suggested we checked by repeating the word and making the “action,” (hand motion in the s shape). Some words had it in the beginning, some in the middle and some in the end. We made a chart on the white board of the words and where the sound was located. Some of our beginning /s/ words were:

Spot, Stick, Snake, Seven, Sixty, Spider, Sun, and see. Every time we said a word that began with the /s/ sound we slowed down to repeat it and made the “action.”

As the sounds are introduced they will be put into a Sound Book that will be sent home daily for practice. Please practice these sounds with your child. It is a wonderful time for your child to share with you what they are learning in the classroom! Daily practice will be important as more sounds are introduced. There will be a total of 44 when the book is complete. Attached is an information sheet on Jolly Phonics for your reference. Let me know if you have any questions.

The children are learning to maneuver the ins and outs of the cafeteria: standing in line, choosing from the variety of healthy offerings, carrying their trays, as well as sorting out their compost foods, their dishes and utensils, throwing away their garbage, and putting away their trays. They are working hard to learn proper lunchroom etiquette, as well as safe ways to move in such a busy arena. Kudos to the Kinderbees!

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Thank you to Keira’s family for contributing this week’s snack! We enjoyed a variety of healthy snacks throughout the week. Next week’s snack will be provided by Finn’s family.
• Open House was great fun. Thanks for coming!
• Picture Day is next week: Tuesday, Sept. 27^th.
•  Please send in a water bottle with your child’s name on it.  It will help make our transitions more efficient. Thank you.
• Scholastic Book orders are due Monday, September 26^th. Attached is an information letter to help you place your online orders. Let me know if you have any problems or questions.
• Field Trip: Wellwood Orchards on Tuesday, October 4^th. Please let me know if you would like to chaperone! We’d love to have you join us!  

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bodnar 

9/9/11

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

               This has been a very exciting week. Along with meeting new friends and teachers, learning new tasks, and getting accustomed to a new school the students have been settling in and learning some new songs and activities during our Morning Meeting and Closing Circle. As new songs are introduced they will be added to your child’s binder.  The binder will be kept here at school during the week and will be go home monthly so they can share their songs with you at home. To start Morning Meeting we are singing: “Good Morning Dear Earth...” At closing we are singing, “Yellow the bracken...”  At morning circle we are learning fun new activities such as “Oliver Twist” and a game called “Toe to toe.”

               This week the children observed some woolly bears that I recently caught and put in our class terrarium. They drew a picture of their observations and dictated a sentence to describe what they saw. This will become the first page in their September Journal. The pictures are currently posted on the bulletin board above their cubbies. If you have time in the morning during drop-off, come and view their work!

               Centers have been “opening” as we are able to instruct the children in the use and care of the materials found in them.  I am using guided discovery lessons to introduce a variety of classroom materials such as pattern blocks. Next week we will begin to create our Hopes and Dreams while also thinking about how to create an inviting and friendly classroom community that will support each of our Hopes and Dreams.

No homework thus far, except please remember to make time every day or night to read aloud to your kinder before bedtime.  10 – 15 minutes is perfect!

                

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Thank you to Maple’s family for contributing this week’s snack! We enjoyed a variety of healthy choices like cheese sticks, apples, peanut butter, clementines and pretzel sticks throughout the week. It has really made snack an enjoyable community event as well as simplified the coordination of lunch boxes and clean-up, with less wrappers and packaging going into the garbage.  Next week’s snack will be provided by Ryan’s family.  The following week is available for sign up.
• Specials: An updated “Specials” schedule is posted separately. Please help your child remember to return their library book on Friday (so they can take out another one the following Monday). They should also wear (or bring) sneakers Wednesdays and Fridays for PE.  We go outside for recess everyday unless it is raining. If your child has an extra pair of sneakers it is a good idea to keep a pair at school. If in the case that they are wearing sandals or dress shoes on a given day, they can easily change into sneakers to play.
• Please send in a water bottle with your child’s name on it. It will help cut down on time spent at the water fountain. 
• Scholastic Book orders are due Monday, September 26^th. You can order directly online at: www.scholastic.com and click on Book Clubs, then click on the purple button (Parent Sign In).  Create your personal username and password.  You will be asked for our class code so our class will be able to earn points. It is H9K3R. Let me know if you have any problems or questions. If you don’t have internet access and would like to place an order let me know. Thank you!
• The fundraiser (look for the large white envelope in your child’s backpack) helps provide money for special craft projects, parties, field trips, and magazine subscriptions.  Please don’t be shy when promoting Hartland Elementary School to your family and friends!
• We will be planning a variety of field trips throughout the year. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us as a chaperone. 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bodnar & Nanette Andrews

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I truly enjoyed our Open House on Friday. Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoyed meeting your classmates and fellow parents. I look forward to working with you throughout the year.  We will have lots of fun together!