Snowflakes

Mrs. Leach's class joined us today and we made snowflakes for the Sandy Hook students.  We will be sending them to the PTA in Connecticut next week.  The PTA will be decorating the school with snowflakes so when students attend school it looks like a winter wonderland.  We are hoping it puts lots of smiles on the students faces!

Friday

During Morning Meeting, we brought our class together on the carpet to discuss the events that occurred on Friday in CT.  We started by asking the students if they knew what happened and then directed our conversations from that.  We talked about our practice drills that we have done this year and how they will help prepare us incase a dangerous stranger were ever to get in the building.  We told students that we were here for them and that we cared for them very much and would keep them safe when they came to school.  The students compared the lockdown drill to hide-n-seek.  We kept the conversation very short and did not add any details.  We were very careful about using kindergarten appropriate language so that students would not be frightened.  We really just wanted to know they are safe at school.

Coin Contest

Thanks to everyone who participated in Coins for Books!!!  The kindergarten team won and each kindergarten class received $85.21 to spend in books for their classroom.  WOW - how exciting! The students were SUPER excited to see all of the new books that they will get to read. 

Halloween Party

Success Wall

As students successfully complete a skill, their name is added to our Kindergarten Success Wall!

 

We will be introducing iPods in kindergarten soon! Please send headphones for your child to use for Listen to Reading time.  Thanks!

Social Skills

Mrs. Nielsen, our school social worker, has been visiting our room once a week to work with the kindergarteners on social skills.  This week she came and talked to us about conflict and resolution.  Mrs. Nielsen and I role played about a student getting upset at another student for not wanting to play their game.  Students learned that a conflict is when there is a problem and the resolution is how we fix the problem.  Mrs. Nielsen taught the students the acronym STP.  S stands for STOP, T stands for THINK, and P stands for PICK A PLAN.  We can't wait for Mrs. Nielsen to come back next week and work with us some more!

Homecoming Week!

Dress Up Days for Homecoming

Wednesday: Dress for Success (Picture Day)

Thursday: Pajama Day/Comfy Clothes

Friday: Tiger Colors (Red/Blue)

 

  

Don't forget tomorrow is picture day!

Dress pretty! We have pictures at 8:40. Please send your picture order form back if you have not already.

Just Right Book Lesson

The kindergarteners from Mrs. Leach's room and our room learned how to choose a "just right" book today. They are now allowed to choose no more than three "just right" books to read during Daily 5 read to self time. Mrs. Leach and I went back and forth trying on shoes that were just right for us and what we were doing. We talked about how it is just like books. All the books are different and all readers are different. We talked about how we are all at different reading levels just like we all have different size shoes and we wear them for different occasions (we wouldn’t wear rollerblades to kindergarten). We explained to students that when they read they want to read "just right" books. If a shoe is too big or too small then it is not "just right" and a book that is too easy or too hard is not going to help us become a better reader. Kindergarteners need to choose "just right" books for them. They need to be a PERFECT FIT just like the shoes they wear! Students decided that if a book had more than 5 words on a page that they could not read then the book was too hard for them and they should choose another book.

Thanks to Mrs. Zwolenski for coming and helping us teach the students about "just right" books.

 

 

Snack

Snack cart started today! If you have not signed up and would still like to please let me know and I will send a form home. If you have decided not to participate in snack cart please send a snack with your child. We eat lunch at 10:55 so by 1:30 students are pretty hungry.

Thank you!

Open House

We will be having an Open House on Wednesday, August 29th from 3:00-6:00 pm.  The Kindergarten grade level presentation will be in the Media Center at 4:00 pm.  We will also have a school picnic from 5:00-7:00 Wednesday evening.  Hope to see you there!

Feel free to bring classroom supplies to the open house or Parent-Teacher Interviews (please bring your child) on Thursday, August 30th. 

You should have received a letter in the mail with your Parent-Teacher Interview time. Please feel free to e-mail me at krowland@albertlea.k12.mn.us if you have any questions prior to Open House or Parent-Teacher Interviews. 

I look forward to meeting you and your child very soon!

Welcome!

Welcome to Kindergarten!! I hope everyone had a great summer! We are going to have a wonderful year! Hope to see you at the open house and your scheduled interview!

Early Out

Students will be dismissed at 12:05 tomorrow Tuesday, April 17.

Yearbook

Yearbooks have been sent home with students who have purchased them! If you are still interested in purchasing one they are $11.00. You can write a check to Hawthorne PTO.

Spring Pictures

Your child should have brought their Spring pictures home yesterday. Please look them over. If you would like to purchase any please send the money to school. If not, please send back the pictures with your child.
They all turned out so cute!!!

Reading Rocks/Math Rolls

Tomorrow is Reading Rocks/Math Rolls!
Don't forget to wear your Reading Rocks shirt
or a black shirt!!!

Parent Education Opportunities

Here are a couple of parent education opportunities that you could take advantage of if you are interested:

First is a free presentation by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, author of Raising Your Spirited Child and Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles.  It is called – We Are a Problem-Solving Family; Winning Cooperation Even During the Tough Times.  

The second are the School Age Family Education Classes that are being held during the noon hour at the CareAboutU Café at Brookside.  Topics include:  Tests and Stress, World of Social Media, Catching Kids Being Good, and Summertime Schedules.  There is a $5 fee for these that includes lunch. 

More information, including dates and times, can be found following this link:

http://sibleykindergarten.wikispaces.com/file/view/Parent+Education+Opportunities.pdf

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Our St. Patricks Day visitor

 We came to school to find our room very messy. Over night we had a visitor!

 Students followed the shamrocks in a hunt to find the treats Lucky hid for us.

 After a few minutes, students found cookies hiding in the kitchen!

Save, Save, Save!!!!

We are collecting box tops, Milk Moola caps and Soup Labels. The class that collects the most will win a party. We are doing an awesome job! Our class has brought in about $100 so far. Let's try and win this pary!

Celebrate Dr. Seuss

We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss this week! We will be reading many Dr. Seuss books. This is a great time to talk about real and nonsense words because Dr. Seuss uses such fun rhyming words. Students will be doing some fun activities and will write about their favorite Dr. Seuss book.

Reminder….no school on Monday, February 20^th.

See you on Tuesday, February 21^st. Enjoy your long weekend!

My New Hat!

                                      Thank you Juan!

Monday, February 6th - Hawaiian shirt day

Tuesday, February 7th - Flip flop day (bring your favorite pair of flip flops to school in your bookbag and wear them inside during the day)

Wednesday, February 8th - Sunglasses day

Thursday, February 9th - Bring a beach towel and curl up with a favorite book

Book Fair Hours:

Thursday, February 9th from 3:00-7:00 pm

Friday, February 10th from 8:00-3:30 pm

Thursday, February 16th from 3:00-7:00 pm