ECO on Friday

Our ECO lesson at Harrison Field has been changed to Friday.
We anticipate drier weather on Friday.

Please let me know if you will be able to join us for this lesson. I know that Toni, Dave, and Dan can come. We would welcome another parent if possible.

We also could use some parents for our "Pumpkin Day" activities tomorrow. If you could come in from 12:45-2:45, please let me know.

Thanks for all you do to support kindergarten learning.

Good Choices in Kindergarten

Our class has been working hard to follow our three classroom rules.
1. We take care of ourselves.
2. We take care of our friends.
3. We take care of the Earth.

We have been earning hoots, a visit from Screetch, and a visit from a Mammoth pumpkin.

Way to go, kindergarten kids!

Learning about Paul Cezanne

Our KindArt program at Union School encourages students to look carefully at a classic piece of art. We study the piece, appreciate it's attributes, then replicate the style of the artist.

The first piece we will look at as by Paul Cezanne. It is entitled " Still Life with Apples and Oranges".
We have replicated the still life in our classroom, and will be exploring Paul Cezanne, and his style this week. Don't be surprised if your kindergarten kids comes home and begins to talk about perspective, color use, and looking closely at a still life.

Pumpkin Request

Pumpkin Day 2010!!

We need real pumpkins for our upcoming pumpkin unit. You can help make our learning fun by donating a miniature (ornamental), small or medium-sized pumpkin. We will be doing many fun learning activities using these pumpkins.
 If you would like to donate a pumpkin (or two!), please send to school by: Monday,October 29th.

Please make sure that the pumpkin is no bigger than your kindergarten kid's head!

      PUMPKIN DAY IS  OCTOBER 31st!

Conferences

Many of you have scheduled conferences in the next few days, and others have requested alternate times. I look forward to discussing your child's first six weeks of kindergarten with you.
Please check for your time, and contact me if a change needs to be made.
Thursday
7:30- Mallory
7:50- Soren
9:00- Ari
9:50- Elvis
10:10- Hannah
11:20- Russell
11:50 Joseph
2:10- Owen

Friday
11:20- Ruby
11:50-Chi-Chi
12:10-Chen- Chen
 Isabel and Grace will have conferences in late October.
Carson and Amelia had conferences last week.

Parent-Teacher Conference Checklist

Before the conference

Ask your child how she feels about school.

Ask your child if there is anything that he wants you to talk about with his teacher.

Tell your child that you and the teacher are meeting to help her.

Make a list of topics that you want to talk about with the teacher.

During the conference

Be on time (or early) for the meeting.

End the meeting on time. Other parents will probably have a conference after yours.

Relax and be yourself.

Stay calm during the conference.

Ask the most important questions first.

After the conference

Talk about the conference with your child.

Talk about the positive points, and be direct about problems. 


All About Grass

Our 4 Winds lesson for this month was all about grass. Kids had a chance to learn about different types of grass, to actually touch and explore tall grasses, and to eat some snack that was made from grass(grain). A big thank you to Emma and Angela for this excellent lesson on grasses.

 

 
Everyone also got to make a "grass head" to see how quickly grass seeds will grow. Maybe we will be able to do grass haircuts too!

 
 
 
 
 

Everyone also got to make a "grass head" to see how quickly grass seeds will grow. Maybe we will be able to do grass haircuts too!

Responsibility

Now that the morning weather is quite cold, our school's main location for Lost and Found items has grown exponentially.  Our school's main Lost and Found area is at the top left side of the auditorium.    Please encourage your child(ren) to stop to find any lost item anytime between now and Wed. Oct 17. Then, on the days of Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences we will  move the items out in the main lobby/ foyer in order that parents may also assist in finding items.  Items range from lunch boxes, plastic-ware, water bottles, shirts, sweaters, fleeces, hats, gloves, scarves, boots and coats. Any recently found items will be separated from the items that have been accumulating since the beginning of the school year.  Any of these older items that are not claimed will be bagged up and sent to various local agencies on Oct. 26th. 

If you're routinely at school or can stop by on occasion, please do. The auditorium is the first door on the left.  As you can see above from the message from Mrs. Giffin, the whole school is working on responsibility and taking care of our own belongings!  Of course, there is always room for improvement!

A New Month, and New Friends

 We have changed our calendar to October, and started a new pattern. Our Bridges math program encourages thematic learning, and our focus right now is insects and spiders. We are busy using insects to count with, and make groups of ten. We are also playing a game at math time called"Which bug will win?Our pattern this month is called an A,B,B, pattern, because it goes, ladybug, spider, spider.






We have also been recording the weather each day, making a graph, and also adding a link for each school day we spend together.

Two classmates joined us this week. It was beautiful to see how the class enveloped these new learners, and showed them a lovely welcome.

 We are all learning how to help each other, and how each person is special.We have been working on our classroom rules, and have pretty much settled on these three.
1. We take care of ourselves.
2. We take care of each other.
3. We take care of the Earth.

As we continue to discuss the meaning of community, we may decide modify our rules.

I Am Special

We watched this video today, and discussed the ways that each person is special. The kids loved learning the words, and the refrain ........ We also looked closely at self portraits, and "Getting to Know You" books to see how much we have already learned about each other.

Walk to School Day

 UES is participating in Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 3rd. Join children and grownups around the world to celebrate the benefits of walking and bicycling. 

Come to the Welcome Table in front of the School to sign the "I Walked" poster and get prizes! 

Can't walk to school? Then walk AT school – walk the walk around the building. 5 laps = 1 mile!

Click for the full flyer.

Self Portrait Fun