Week 28: April 1-5, 2013 -- National Public Health and Safety Week

Backseat Drivers.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  The focus this week school-wide was healthy living.  Thanks to our nurse, Mrs. Christie-Maples, the week was full of healthy activities and events.  On Monday, local law enforcement was here to talk to the children about the importance of car safety.  They brought a “Roll-over” car which illustrates the value of wearing seat belts and what can happen if you don’t have one on.  They also were invited to see the inside of the state trooper’s car (thanks to Gavin’s dad) in Mrs. White’s class) and explored the rescue truck.  On Tuesday, the K-2 grades were presented with a puppet show by the Kids on the Block, which alerted them to the dangers of tobacco and taking someone else’s medicine. 

Goat Fans!

On Wednesday our class combined our one mile walk-keeping our bodies fit and healthy- with walking to Sherry Clarke’s goat farm, Bly Acres.    We enjoyed learning about her farm and how she cares for the goats. We learned that her goats yield 6 gallons a week! She enjoys her goats immensely, but she has three important jobs: she feeds them, milks them twice a day, and cleans them.  She also makes her own cheese.  It’s a lot of work, but a labor of love. 

During health class this week, two of our very own HES students, Molly & Josh, shared all about people’s differences and different abilities and answered questions about their own personal physical challenges.  

On Thursday, the children watched a special performance by Michael Zerphy, a performance artist and parent of Zophia Zerphy,  His focus was on healthy activities, eating good foods and making smart choices. 

On Friday we will visit the science fair exhibits put on by the 3 &4 grades.  We will have smoothies during lunch on Friday provided by the “Smooth Ride” a bicycle that makes smoothies and powered by the upper grades!

Tylor and Paige watercolor painting their drawings
from our Winter Field Trip to Mrs. White's house. 

ELA Phonics:  The children have been  making nice progress in their writing journals during the week. We have added two new entries. Please encourage your child to read their journal to you and ask them questions that come to mind.  Some children are enjoying creating their own writing topics at home. Feel free to have them do so.  With just 9 or 10 weeks left to the year, there should be room in the journal.  Unless I send home a writing prompt, do not feel that they must write in it at home. They are working hard during the day and should enjoy the fruits of their labor at home -- reading it to you! ;) You can write comments or ask them questions in the journal to add to my questions and comments. 

We are working to foster independence in our kindergarten classroom.  In preparation for first grade next year we are having conversations about being more self-reliant and independent.  For instance we are pairing up to get milk as a morning job to take on more independent tasks.  They are learning to pack their own backpacks at the end of the day.  Our conversations also focus on responsible behavior and learning how to apologize when we make a mistake.  These are all small but important steps to help our children become more successful. 

Share:  This week the children shared items for the sound /er/.  Here is a sampling: Easter chicks, tractor trailer, 16 wheeler, catapillar, 

Next week’s share: /ou/

Science/Math/ELA:  Now that March is over we tallied our calendar days and found that we had 16 lion days and 15 lamb days. March definitely came in like a lion and left like a lamb.  April feels a bit like winter, but we are looking forward to warmer days.  As King Winter and Lady Spring tousle over the daily weather, please be mindful of the changing weather.  We are enjoying recess outside and will be planning outdoor projects and activities. For instance today in conjunction with Jump Rope for your Heart, we brought our classroom jump rope outside to practice.  

Warming Time: We have had tea every morning.  The apple mint aroma has filled our room in the morning. It has such a pleasing scent. We finished our bag of fresh apple mint leaves on Thursday. I will try some chamomile on Friday. Not everyone liked the taste of apple mint, so perhaps chamomile will be more pleasing. Nevertheless it has been a nice relaxing way to start our day. 

We set a goal of earning 25 points based on good behavior to have a class party of pancakes and maple syrup. We achieved our goal in the nick of time and will have pancakes on Friday morning. 

Milk Helpers

CALENDAR:

• Thank you Mrs. Christie-Maples for a fun-filled National Public Health Week! 
• Parent Teacher Conferences: I am looking forward to meeting with you next week to talk about your child’s progress. 

• Group Snack: This week’s healthy snacks were provided Keira’s family.  We enjoyed tasty homemade muffins, peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks. Thank you!  Conner’s family will be providing snack next week. 

• Our classroom buddy George went home with Maeve this weekend.  We are enjoyed hearing about his adventures and hope he has a great weekend with her and her family! 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bodnar 

Week in Review: 

Lucia is a big jumper!

The Roll-over Car Demonstration 

Jumping Rope

Week 27: March 25-29, 2013

We were listening intently during the performance. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Spring has begun and we are enjoying warmer weather and more time outside. Kelly Meacham came on Monday to help the children start some spinach seeds indoors for Farm to School Trek To Taste Project. We will be planting spinach under different conditions indoors and using the spinach we planted last fall to use in the kitchen and for making spinach dip for Trek To Taste an event at the Marsh Billing Farm Museum on Saturday, June 1st. More information to follow.

This week we attended two performances. On Wednesday, the jazz band from Hanover High School came to perform and was absolutely amazing!  The children enjoyed the jazz music and singing.  On Friday we will saw highlights from 5/6th grade play Snow White. 

ELA Phonics:  We continue to gain experience writing in our journals and responding to writing prompts. Please take the time this weekend to read your child’s journal and respond in writing to their entries.  Providing a purpose to writing will go a long way to their enthusiasm.  I have collected the purple Sound Books and Tins to update for next week. Don’t worry if you don’t see them in your child’s folder. Thank you!

Share:  This week the children shared items for the sound /v/.  Here is a sampling: van,  Vermont Maple Syrup,  and Violet the squirrel,  Vermont Quarters. 

Next week’s share: /er/

Science/Math/ELA:  We have been tracking our Lion and Lamb days since the beginning of the month.  The children are seeing how the month is trending toward more lamb days. With the warmer days and no more snow on the playground we aren’t wearing our snow pants anymore, however, the ground is still damp and we are still wearing boots.  April will hopefully bring warmer weather.

Tea and Raisins. 

Warming Time: Thank you to everyone who was able to donate a mug and extra mugs for this special time that we are making in our day. On Thursday afternoon we had our first afternoon tea of organic apple mint.  We first discussed where tea comes from, how it is made and introduced vocabulary, “to steep.” We served it with some milk and a touch of honey.  This was a new and different experience for many.  

CALENDAR:

• Next Week: National Public Health Week. Mrs. Christie-Maples, our nurse, has organized a fun-filled, week of many activities. There will be a rollover car, State Trooper Cruiser and Rescue Truck to see. Also puppet shows from Kinds on the Block about Medical Safety and Anti-Tobacco Education.  Wednesday is National Walk to School Day.  We will also take walks around the schoolyard to add miles to the map that we have been adding to for the past two years (Distance travelled to a number of different Hartlands in the US), on Thursday we will have a fun healthy activity with Michael Zerphy, and a presentation by two of our very own HES classmates to share about differences between people.  We will have smoothies on Friday provided by the “Smooth Ride” a bicycle that makes smoothies!
  
  
• Parent Teacher Conferences: Please sign up for a first and second choice for Parent - Teacher Conference Dates, and return as soon as possible.

Kerridwyn constructs her marble tower for a race. 

• Bicycle Helmet Orders: If you child does not have a bike helmet, it is a great opportunity to order the helmet (Monday due date!) at such reduced prices. I’m going to order 2! 

• Walking Field Trip: We are still planning a walking field trip to Sherry Clarke’s farm around the corner from school to see her goats and chickens.  The date for the walking field trip is to be schedule soon! 

• Group Snack: This week’s healthy snacks were provided Chance’s family.  We enjoyed tasty pretzels,  applesauce and yogurt. Thank you! Keira’s family will be providing snack next week. 

• Our classroom buddy George went home with Tylor last weekend.  We are enjoyed hearing about his adventures and hope he has a great weekend with his next hosts! 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bodnar 

Week 26: March 18-22

Paige peeks into the bucket to see the sap drip, drip, drop!

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Our field trip on Friday was the biggest highlight this week.  We are used our senses to explore the changing seasons.  More on our trip in next week’s field trip Although officially in spring, our newly fallen snow has reminded us that Mother Nature likes to keep us guessing. We enjoyed a late in the year snow day on Tuesday and have been enjoying playing in the snow and making snow angels, snow men, and great big snow balls at recess! 

ELA Phonics: We continue to work with our magnetic letter boards to make words. First we clap the number of syllables, then tap the sounds, then make the word. By changing the first letter sound we can make rhyming words and use them in a sentence. Some words are real words and some are imaginary. We have discovered that Dr. Seuss likes to use imaginary words in his books. 

Math:   We continue to graph the Lion and Lamb days. So far, we have had many more lion days than lamb. We sure hope March goes out like a lamb! 

Social Studies: We presented our Family Tree projects to our class.  It was a delight to see the joy on their faces as they shared their family trees with their friends.

Share:  This week the children shared items with the sound /m/.  Here is a sampling: Iron Man, Metal Head, Money, Mask, Monster Tracker. Next week share sound will be /v/. 

Science/Math/ELA: As I mentioned we will be learning to use our senses not only on our field trip but also to learn about our environment and the world around us. 

Earlier in the month we made predictions about the weather in March.  We are charting, graphing and recording the weather patterns as either a “Lion” day or a “Lamb” day.  In science we have been focusing upon the weather and the changing nature of the seasons.  We continue to compare qualities of a lion and lamb to the weather we experience in March.  What fun! 

Warming Time: We need about 3 to 4 more mugs.  Please send in a mug your child can use to have tea.  We will keep it in their cubby.  I am looking forward to tea time!

Mrs. Moyer reads to a group of chidren.

CALENDAR:

• Wednesday, March 27, Early Dismissal. 

• Walking Field Trip: We will be planning a walking field trip to Sherry Clarke’s farm around the corner from school to see her goats and chickens. She will already have a baby goat and more are on the way. I will let you know when the date and time are finalized should you want to come along. 

• Group Snack: Next week’s healthy snacks will be provided by Chance’s family! 

• Our classroom buddy George went home with Keira last weekend. This weekend he went home with Tylor. We are looking forward to hearing about his adventures on Monday! 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bodnar

Week 24: March 4-8, 2013

Maeve and Bryant say "Cheese!"

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Our trip to the Lebanon Opera House was delightful. We saw Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  The children appeared to all enjoy the show and I hope they were able to share some of the highlights or their favorite parts with you when they got home.  

Mrs. Lancaster reads Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

The day before the play we read the book during rest time. The children were able to practice at not looking at the pictures and using their imagination as Mrs. Lancaster read to them.

ELA Phonics

Thank you for returning your child’s School to Home Journal. We will continue to write in them and send them home for you to read with your child and add comments. Feel free to ask them questions which they can respond to. :)

Math:  We continue to work with the concept of addition as we add days in our Morning Meeting and do more traditional math activity sheets that require counting and adding on. 

Next week we will be working with Ten-Frames worksheets which will help them understand the different ways to make ten as well as visually identify what numbers less than ten “look” like.  

6th Grade Buddies:  We have also revisited the term o’clock when telling time. What does 7:00 look like? How about 8:00? Our 6th Grade buddies helped us complete our o’clock worksheets. 

Conner adds the finishing touches
to his Lion.

Social Studies: We have finally gotten underway on our Family Trees. The children are enjoying the process of building their family tree. I have returned original photos after making copies of the originals so they can use them in their project. 

ELA: We are continuing to read Dr. Seuss books. This week we read The Lorax and discussed the ways that the “Oncelers” were not taking care of the land. They shared ways that they would take care of our world.  

Science: With the coming of spring we will be focusing on weather. This week we were introduced to the saying “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.”  We made lion pictures using craft materials and discussed ways in which early March weather can be like a lion.  As the month progresses we will make connections to weather that is like a lamb.  With the coming of spring we will be planting seeds, flying kites and even watching some indoor bulbs grow. 

Mrs. White and I are planning a Winter hike at her property. We will focus on maple sugaring.  If anyone has an old tap or two that we could borrow  so we can tap a tree in anticipation of our trip.  Further let us know if you would like to come on our trip as a chaperone. We do not have a date yet, but it will be the week of March 18th. 

Share:  This week the children shared items with the sound /w/.  We saw a cute whale, work machines and a wrecker,  We were also introduced to a character called “Water man” and many shares of dolls with the names that begin with /W/.  Next week share sound will be /h/. 

Warming Time: Mrs. White and I attended an early childhood/kindergarten conference last month.  At the conference we were introduced to the concept of “warming time.” It is a “tea time” which involves serving a mint tea or other herbal tea to the children.  The tea would be poured from a teapot and be served with something light like animal crackers.  The tea would be served at a luke warm temperature after it has cooled off somewhat.  Let me know if you have any concerns.  I have some extra mugs, but probably not enough for everyone. If you have some mugs you would like to donate even if just for the rest of the year, and then I can return, let me know.  The purpose of the “warming time” is to help foster community, build responsibility (as they will help serve each other, and offer an opportunity to settle in and settle down in a calming and relaxing way). Thank you! 

CALENDAR:

• No School: Tuesday, March 12, due to teacher  professional development
  
• After School Program Survey: Attached is a copy of the online link to the After School Program Principal from our Principal, Gary Wright.  You can find it online in the school-wide newsletter. If you do not have computer access, you may complete the attached survey and send it in. I will turn it into the office. Thank you for taking the time to help provide input. 

Computer Command: "Hey Dude look what I found!"

• Group Snack: Thank you to Tylor’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed tasty blueberry and chocolate muffins, lemonade, pretzels, pudding, animal crackers, Cheddar Cheese Goldfish and delicious Granny Smith apple slices.  Thank you Tylor’s family!  Kerridwyn’s family will be providing next week’s snack. Thank you!   
  Weekly Replay:

Lucia curls her lion's mane.

I  care  for  fish. (Tate)

Special Note:  Please remind your Kindees to keep their special toys, stuffies and dolls at home. We enjoyed them this week, but it has become a bit of a distraction during the day.  Many thanks!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bodnar

Week 23: March 1, 2013

Slip sliding away! 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

I hope your children all enjoyed a well-deserved break from school. The children came back on Monday full of energy and ready to learn. It has been a busy week with a snow day on Wednesday.  The slush is making our recess time quite messy, but we are continuing to go outside to get fresh air and exercise.  Please check your backpacks in the evening as snow pants, mittens and hats may be extra wet. 

ELA Phonics

The children are beginning to write in their School to Home Journals. They will go home on a weekly basis. Look for them in your child’s folder.  I am writing in their journals and want you to write comments as well. It is my hope to help the children develop more thoughtful writing through an ongoing written conversation between you and me. Thank you for your participation!  

Mr. Nixon came into our classroom on Thursday to read Green Eggs and Ham to Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ upcoming birthday on Saturday, March 2.  We read a variety of Dr. Seuss’ fun-filled books. As a writing prompt for a Bucket List of things we want to accomplish before we are 100, we read, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!.  The children enjoyed sharing their writing to the class.

Mr. Pangie helps the
children find their number.

Chance and Spencer
observe the Alevin.

Math:  The 100th day celebration paved the way for us to learn new math games and activities.  This week during explorations the 100s mat and dice game is helping children identify 2 digit numbers.  We will begin to play addition games using the dice after they gain more confidence and understanding of the 100 chart. We have been skip counting by 2s to 10 and , 5s, and 10s to 100.

6th Grade Buddies:  We resumed our weekly visits with our 6th grade buddies.  In addition to reading to each other we are working with them to learn about the lifecycle of salmon. Mrs. Ziegler’s class has a tank of baby salmon (alevin) and is keeping them in an aquarium. Over the next several weeks we will be watching them grow and recording their growth in a Buddy Salmon Journal. 

Share:  This week we had an open share. Next week share sound will be /w/. 

CALENDAR:

• Field Trip: March 6th Lebanon Opera House to see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Day. Please send in $5 to cover the cost of admission on Monday if you haven’t already done so. If you would like to be a parent chaperone let me know. We may have an extra ticket available! 

• Group Snack: Thank you to Maeve’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed tasty blueberry and chocolate muffins, pretzels, cheddar cheese goldfish, carrots and yogurt.  The children continue to be delighted to share a whole classroom snack with each other.  I am signed up for snack next week! 

• Weekly Replay:

Kerridwyn plays the 100s game.

Paige and Molly peek at the Alevin.

Mr. Nixon reads Green Eggs and Ham to the Kinderbees. 

Week 22: February 11-15, 2013

Lucia helps Mr. Pangie shovel a path.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

The weekend snowstorm created a flurry of activity at recess. We have been shoveling, building snowmen and are in the midst of building an outdoor classroom! Well, it might not be suitable for class but it will certainly suffice for some wonderful creative play!   

We enjoyed a fun-filled days with Spirit Week. The children enjoyed participating by dressing up according to the themes. 

ELA Phonics

Some children have begun completing their Jolly Phonics workbooks! To celebrate they will begin stitching a colored pencil case (felt) on their return from February break. I will send home workbooks so everyone will have an opportunity to complete theirs. Not to worry if your child still has a number of pages to complete. I would like to have them all completed by the end of February or Early March. Please encourage your child to complete at least two to three pages per week.  The last three pages are a bit more challenging as it asks them to tap out sounds and write words. I am happy to work with them at school if they find it difficult. 

             We are starting a Journal Writing Project. I hope to send home the journal (see enclosed) once a week. Please read your child’s work and comment on their their thoughts.  I will also add comments. I hope to use it as a way for the children to begin to see purpose behind their writing as a way to communicate their thoughts, feelings, wishes, etc. 

Math:  We will be working on the concept of addition or “bonding“ in the coming weeks.  We are starting out with the easiest of them all. One (1). One is made up of 1 and 0 or 0 and 1. Two is made up of 2 and 0, 0 and 2, and 1 and 1.  The concept of number bonds is an important foundation for understanding how numbers work. A whole thing is made up of parts. If you know the parts, you can put them together (add) to find the whole. If you know the whole and one of the parts, you take away the part you know (subtract) to find the other part.  We will be playing games and working together to learn how to find and learn the bonds for numbers between 0 and 10.

Share:  We enjoyed shares that included lots of /j/ shares:  The Joker, a jump rope, jewelry, gems, someone even shared that they made homemade Jello.!

Mrs. Lancaster reads during rest time.

CALENDAR:

Chance cuts the watermelon
into bite-size pieces.

• Group Snack: Thank you to Tanner’s family for contributing last week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed tasty blueberry muffins, crackers and cheddar cheese, Graham crackers, popcorn, watermelon and  Valentine’s Day cupcakes. Yum! The children enjoyed working to cut the watermelon into bite-size pieces. They really do love working in the kitchen. I encourage everyone to enlist your children at home if you already aren’t doing so! They are very industrious. You should be proud!  We are delighted that the children are enjoying a variety of delicious and nutritious snacks. Maeve’s family is signed up to contribute this week’s snack.
  
• Housekeeping note:  Last week I introduced in the newsletter that we have two new assistant teachers working in the classroom. Unfortunately Jesse Taft will not be joining us afterall, but we are happy to welcome Ben Pangie. Ben is a certified high school english teacher and he is currently looking to reposition himself as an elementary school teacher.   He is well-suited to work with our younger students.  Feel free to introduce yourself if you happen to be at school or dropping your child off in the morning.

Weekly Replay:

Hunter and his buddy.

Maeve reads to her buddy.

Week 21: February 4-8, 2013

Mr. Lamb introducing the computer lab to the Kinderbees.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Lucia navigates Starfall

What an exciting fun-filled week!  On Tuesday we met with our buddy classroom: Mrs. .Ziegler’s 6th grade.  They were each paired up with a sixth grade student who will be their buddy throughout the end of the year.  Not only will their buddy be reading to them, but now that our children are beginning to read we can be reading to them!  It will also allow us to work on a variety of projects throughout the rest of the year.  

This past week we added the computer lab to our classroom schedule: Thursdays at 12:05-12:30.  

Our first snow day left us plenty of snow to play in at recess. Wahoo! 

We are lucky to have two new assistants join our classroom. Ben Pangey will be with us Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays and Jesse Taft will be with our class on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

ELA Phonics

We continue to practice our sounds and  sight words.   Please practice at home with your child on a  daily basis.  The children enjoy making a guessing game out of the sounds by doing an actions in sequence and guessing the word.  For instance choose a word, such as “coat” do the actions: /c/, /oa/, /t/.  Your child guesses the word: coat!  

                I have challenged the children to finish their Jolly Phonics Workbooks.  When each child finishes they will begin a sewing project: to stitch a felt square into a colored pencil holder case. 

               Mrs. White, Mrs. Symancyk and I held a successful reading and writing workshop last week. I will be sending home materials later this week for you in case you were not able to attend. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Tylor shares his Memory Box

Social Studies:  We completed our Memory Boxes and everyone was able to share to the class! We have a busy week ahead of us, but we will try to begin work on our Family Trees. 

Math:  We will be working on the concept of addition or “bonding. “ More to come in next week’s newsletter. 

Share:  We enjoyed shares that included lots of /d/ shares:  Dan the Robot Man, duck, dump truck, dinosaurs, dachshund. dalmatian, Dori the fish.   This week’s share will be the sound /j/. 

Bryant and Conner play outside.

CALENDAR:

•  Group Snack: Thank you to Morgan’s family for contributing last week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed tasty muffins, crackers, goldfish, cheese sticks and applesauce. Thank you!  We are delighted that the children are enjoying a variety of delicious and nutritious snacks. Tanner’s  family is signed up to contribute this week’s snack. 
• Spirit Week: Student Council announced on Thursday that Spirit Week is this week. 
• Monday- Hat Day
• Tuesday- Pj / Stuffie Day
• Wednesday- Fashion Disaster Day
• Thursday- Twin Day
• Friday- Sport Day (dress as favorite team spirit)

We picked out of a hat the theme of Sleeping Beauty for our classroom, so we will be decorating our door accordingly. Please let me know if you have any ideas or time to help out! Thank you!

• Valentine’s Day: We will celebrate Valentines Day on Thursday. We will be celebrating and exchanging valentines during the day.  Tanner’s Family is doing snacks and is planning on having Valentines Day cupcakes.

• One Hundred Days. We will actually reach one hundred days of school mid-week, but will be celebrating on Friday. Please have your child count out 100 items (could be anything that fits into a ziplock baggie). We will be sharing them at our celebration on Friday.
  
• Report Cards: Please return your manilla envelope and sign on the line if you haven’t done so already. Thank you!