10-31-08

Boy have we had fun this week!!! I hope your child is telling you all about what we are learning about Native Americans. We have been focusing, so far, on the Ojibwe Tribe, because Kara, in my afternoon class has Ojibwe ancestors. Her father came to school to get us started and shared a lot of his heritage. He brought deer skins, drums, deer hooves, flutes, music and LOTS of information!!! This was a great incentive to get us started. We have been working with Mrs. Barb Greenlief and Jessie Owens from the computer lab this week. We have learned about smudge pots, Native American pictographs, medicine men, and we made medicine wheels!!! Ask your children about the meaning of the medicine wheel. (It is divided into 4 parts – the Native American magic of four- and represents many things: the 4 seasons, the 4 directions, the 4 winds, the 4 stages of life, the 4 groups of people (white skin, yellow skin, red skin and brown or black skin), and the 4 major parts of nature – animals, fish, birds and plants – where the Native Americans got everything they had!!!) Morgan’s grandfather shared many of his Native American artifacts with us, too! Thank you so much to Mr. Ostroske and Mr. Staton!!!

We will continue our study of Native Americans, leading to the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving through the month of November. Lots more to come!!!



TOMORROW: Don’t forget our career day parade!!! Children are to dress to show what they want to be when they grow up. This is NOT a HALLOWEEN parade!!! No HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, PLEASE!!! The parades will be in the gym at 10:30 and 2:30. Parents and cameras are welcome!

REPORT CARDS went home last week and I am getting lots of requests for conferences. Remember, my planning time is on Monday, Thursday and Friday at either 10:30 or 2:30. If you want to schedule a school conference, send me a note!!!


NEWS::: I am going to begin posting my newsletter on the class blog as soon as I have completed it. I am posting more items on the blog. Please read it. I give directions as to how you can subscribe automatically. Also check my website. www.carlaray.net I am not posting new entries to my website because it is just so much easier to blog!!! However, the website has lots of resources that I put there for parents to use!!! Have fun!!!

Remember, NO SCHOOL on Tuesday! Everyone, be sure to go vote!!!

Pictures are supposed to be here by November 7. Make-up picture day is Friday, November 21. This is for anyone who is dissatisfied with their pictures or who missed school on October 3. Re-takes may be done (free of charge) if families are not satisfied with the original picture. If you want pictures made on this day, let me know and I will send a new payment envelopes to you.
Sally Foster Fundraiser Items are here and ready to be picked up!!! They are in the computer lab.
HOLIDAY CENTRAL Applications have gone home. If your family needs assistance with Christmas this year, please let us know. I plan to draw a family for our class to help. I will let you know what is needed when I choose the family! If you are able to help, it would be greatly appreciated!!
HOMEWORK PACKETS: Completed October Homework packets are due tomorrow in order to receive the October Pizza Hut Book-it certificate. November packets are going home today!!
INDEPENDENT CHECK-OUT BOOKS: As we progress in our reading groups, I will be moving the class up in the level of their check-out books. A and B books are pretty much the same. If your child is moving into the C-D level, there is a lot of difference in the books. You may get an easier one then a more difficult one. Do your best and have fun with them. Praise your child for progressing in reading levels! I am very proud of the progress of ALL students!!!

Great Links

I am getting requests for websites to help with homework. Don't forget to go to my website!!! I am not updating the website since I started the blog! Blogging is much easier! BUT, the links on the website are extensive and are a good resource for you! Check it out!

www.carlaray.net

The most requested site is the handwriting help site:

http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/print-k/make-pk-all.htm

Right now, the kids would really love to be using the Native american abc flash cards. The link is on the site! Actually there are lots of different sets of flash cards!

www.kellyskindergarten.com is a wonderful site. Many of the games I use in the classroom come from this site. You can print out your own copy and use it at home.


Here's one more tip. I don't mean to push Google over any other site but this is just what I am familiar with. If you set www.google.com as your home page, you can create/design your own homepage with igoogle. You can add things of interest to you. One add-on is Google Reader. This is where you can put my blog address in. Then whenever I post a blog, it will show up in your googlereader box like "you have mail". I use this to keep up with the blogs I subscribe to. This way, whenever my friends post a new entry, it automatically notifies me. I'm sure other providers have something similar - I just use google.

Let me know how it works!

Fundraiser

Fundraiser items have arrived and may be picked up in the computer lab! Thanks for your help and support for our school!

Letters and Sounds

Today at home visits, I was asked by most all, "What is the one thing I should be working on with my child." If your child did not have all their letters and/or sounds, this is the answer. I want all students to have a firm foundation in sounds! Vocabulary will come!

If you have misplaced or lost the vocabulary cards I sent home, please let me know and I will send another set! The same goes for the Phonics Song Page. These are the two most important things for you to work on EVERY NIGHT until they have learned the letters and sounds. The report card told you the number of capitals out of 26, the number of lowercase and the number of sounds out of 31. ___/26 ___/26 ___/31

There are 31 sounds because vowels have two sounds!!! Check the number in front of the slash to see how many your child knew. Many of the children know all the names of the letters but really need to work on the sounds.

Remember, I gave the suggestion at Parent Orientation to get two lunch bags. Mark one with a smiley face. Put the letters/sounds your child knows in this bag. Go over this bag each night (for reinforcement). Then try to add 2-3 new letters from the 'don't know' bag. Keep this up until the smiley face bag is full!

Cut up the cards and put them in a bag or bowl. Have your child draw a card. If they draw a letter, have them tell you the name of the letter and the sound that letter makes. Then see if they can tell you something that begins with that sound. If they draw a picture, have them name the picture and tell you the letter that makes that sound.

Get an empty egg carton. With a magic marker, put the letters that your child needs to work on. Get M & Ms, Trix cereal, or something your child likes. Put one in the carton. Have your child shake the carton. If they tell you the name of the letter and something that starts with that letter, let them eat the treat. Then put in another!!

Work with the song sheet nightly. Don't just have your child sing the song. They all know the song. They need to be able to USE the sheet as a resource. After they have finished the song, give them a sound: /m/ make the sound and see if they can point to the picture/letter that makes the sound (Monkey). When playing the letter games, the first thing that should come to their mind is the song picture. Drill them on these pictures. Once they have these down (and many already do), they will be able to transfer to other objects : mouse, moon, etc. But 'monkey' should be where you would begin if they don't know.

I hope these suggestions have helped. Let me know if you need another set of flash cards or song sheets!

News and Updates

Dear Parents,

I have been a bit distracted by Fall Break and report cards. I haven't been very good with the blog. I have decided that I will start posting my newsletter on the blog every week as soon as I type it. That way, it will insure that everyone gets it.

About 2 weeks ago, I mentioned in my newsletter that today would be a half day and if anyone was interested in a homevisit this afternoon to let me know. I had a great response and had a full afternoon of visits. In the meantime, report cards came out and I have had a flood of new home visit/conference requests. I had some parents call to let me know they would not be available today for a home visit but I had not scheduled one! I promise, I will never 'drop in' on you without scheduling a visit with you in advance!!! If you have not talked or corresponded with me directly, don't worry about me just 'showing up'.

Now, just to remind you all, my planning times are Monday, Thursday and Friday at 10:30 and at 2:30. Any time you want to schedule a conference at these times, just let me know. This would be the easiest way to conference with me. There are so many of you who only indicated times after 6:00 at night for home visits. This is very difficult for me. I don't mind doing this on occasion but can't do it for all!

I want to keep my communication lines open and am here for you whatever your need - conference, home visit, e-mail, etc.

I hope that being more regular with the blog will help as well.