I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out for our parent-teacher conferences a few weeks ago. I appreciate you taking the time to come in and meet with me to discuss your child's learning.
I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend.
We are jumping in to December and Benchmark testing at the same time. It's going to be a busy week, and it is important that your child arrives on time after getting a good night's rest and a good breakfast. It's much easier to learn when you aren't tired and hungry!
Tomorrow, I will be sending home a Family Traditions Journal for you to complete WITH your child. Please return it by MONDAY, DECEMBER 15th at the very latest. We will be sharing them in class and your child will be responsible for explaining the information in his/her journal. We will be using these traditions to discuss differences in families and customs, as is part of our social studies curriculum this year.
We are also going to begin our holiday unit, which is going to be centered on the book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. We will be reading it in class, and completing math, writing and social studies activities that all tie together with the storybook. Watch for more information to come!
I am looking forward to another wonderful month of learning with your kiddos. Thanks for supporting your child's learning!!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Monday, December 1, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Too Fast
Wow! That break sure went fast!
Well, back to work it is.
We have parent teacher conferences coming up soon, so we are going to be busy, busy for the next week or so. I look forward to meeting with you all.
I will be sending home a newsletter with some great information on Monday, so watch for that.
I sure hope you enjoyed your break and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Well, back to work it is.
We have parent teacher conferences coming up soon, so we are going to be busy, busy for the next week or so. I look forward to meeting with you all.
I will be sending home a newsletter with some great information on Monday, so watch for that.
I sure hope you enjoyed your break and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Monday, October 13, 2014
It's a short week!
Wow! What a whirlwind this first track time has been! I can't believe we have been in school for nearly 8 weeks.
So far, here are the sight words we have learned:
a, and, for, go, here, have, I, is, like, my, play, see, said, to, the
You child should be able to read the sight words on command, without having to think about it for very long. That's why we call them sight words, so they can read them "on sight."
This week is a short week. Remember WEDNESDAY is early-day and we have no school on Thursday or Friday.
I have noticed a vast improvement in the excitement of our students since I last wrote about changing some things in class. We have been reviewing the rules each day and have started working on some new activities that the class seems to really enjoy.
I do want you to be aware that parent-teacher conferences will be coming up shortly after we return from our off-track time. I will be working with the students at school to learn about what we call our "data notebook" so that they will be able to lead our conferences when the time comes. It is important for our children to see the progress they are making in order to encourage them to continue to work hard. If you hear about this at home and have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Thank you all for all of your support of your child's learning!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
So far, here are the sight words we have learned:
a, and, for, go, here, have, I, is, like, my, play, see, said, to, the
You child should be able to read the sight words on command, without having to think about it for very long. That's why we call them sight words, so they can read them "on sight."
This week is a short week. Remember WEDNESDAY is early-day and we have no school on Thursday or Friday.
I have noticed a vast improvement in the excitement of our students since I last wrote about changing some things in class. We have been reviewing the rules each day and have started working on some new activities that the class seems to really enjoy.
I do want you to be aware that parent-teacher conferences will be coming up shortly after we return from our off-track time. I will be working with the students at school to learn about what we call our "data notebook" so that they will be able to lead our conferences when the time comes. It is important for our children to see the progress they are making in order to encourage them to continue to work hard. If you hear about this at home and have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Thank you all for all of your support of your child's learning!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Thursday, October 2, 2014
The BIG Three
I can't believe I missed getting a post up this week. Wow! It's been busy!!
We have had all kinds of stuff going on. We completed our 1st Literacy Benchmark this week in addition to our first Math benchmark. We had lots of testing going on and things may not have felt like a typical week at school. I am looking forward to getting things all back in order next week, as I'm sure the kids will be too.
I am sure many of you are aware of Oquirrh Elementary's "Big Three," but just in case you aren't, I wanted to share them with you.
1. Be Safe
2. Be Respectful
3. Be Responsible
Today, we had a class "Pow-wow" to discuss how we thought we were doing in these three areas. Many of the students mentioned being "distracted" at school by too much talking going on around them. We discussed being "responsible" for our own choices, and taking care of ourselves by keeping our voices off during work time. Please follow-up on this discussion at home with your child.
I still need some extra hands during our power-hour time. If you are able to come in once a week from 8:45-9:45 and help students practice sight words, letters, writing, etc., please let me know ASAP!
We are going to start our sight words testing next week. Each Friday, I will have the students read the sight words from the week to me. PLEASE, remember to practice with them at home.
We have watched "The Letter Factory" in parts over the past few weeks to learn our letters and sounds. We are nearing the end of the alphabet introduction, and will have learned the entire alphabet by the end of next week. You can watch part of the movie here to see how we have been learning and practicing at school. Have your child show you the actions that go with each letter of the alphabet!
We have had all kinds of stuff going on. We completed our 1st Literacy Benchmark this week in addition to our first Math benchmark. We had lots of testing going on and things may not have felt like a typical week at school. I am looking forward to getting things all back in order next week, as I'm sure the kids will be too.
I am sure many of you are aware of Oquirrh Elementary's "Big Three," but just in case you aren't, I wanted to share them with you.
1. Be Safe
2. Be Respectful
3. Be Responsible
Today, we had a class "Pow-wow" to discuss how we thought we were doing in these three areas. Many of the students mentioned being "distracted" at school by too much talking going on around them. We discussed being "responsible" for our own choices, and taking care of ourselves by keeping our voices off during work time. Please follow-up on this discussion at home with your child.
I still need some extra hands during our power-hour time. If you are able to come in once a week from 8:45-9:45 and help students practice sight words, letters, writing, etc., please let me know ASAP!
We are going to start our sight words testing next week. Each Friday, I will have the students read the sight words from the week to me. PLEASE, remember to practice with them at home.
We have watched "The Letter Factory" in parts over the past few weeks to learn our letters and sounds. We are nearing the end of the alphabet introduction, and will have learned the entire alphabet by the end of next week. You can watch part of the movie here to see how we have been learning and practicing at school. Have your child show you the actions that go with each letter of the alphabet!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Underway
Yes, it's true, our year in Kindergarten is up and going! We have started to get into the groove of things too!
I could really use some extra volunteers from 8:45-9:45 each day for our power hour time. It would help immensely if you would be able to come work with students and help students complete activities during this hour.
Thank you to all who have returned the BRIGHT green information sheet. It has made my job MUCH easier.
Also don't forget to wear the "walk tall" shirts on Fridays.
This week we will be jumping headfirst into our math program, since we now should know what the numbers 1-10 look like AND how to write them and count them. Please continue to practice writing numbers and letters at home!
Speaking of practice, we have been using a wonderful app in class called Letter School. The kids love it and it helps them remember where to start when writing the letters and numbers (which is a really hard thing for us right now). You can go check it out here. If you happen to be letting your little ones play on your phone or tablet, this would be a great investment into their education that they can play AND LEARN at the same time. :)
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
I could really use some extra volunteers from 8:45-9:45 each day for our power hour time. It would help immensely if you would be able to come work with students and help students complete activities during this hour.
Thank you to all who have returned the BRIGHT green information sheet. It has made my job MUCH easier.
Also don't forget to wear the "walk tall" shirts on Fridays.
This week we will be jumping headfirst into our math program, since we now should know what the numbers 1-10 look like AND how to write them and count them. Please continue to practice writing numbers and letters at home!
Speaking of practice, we have been using a wonderful app in class called Letter School. The kids love it and it helps them remember where to start when writing the letters and numbers (which is a really hard thing for us right now). You can go check it out here. If you happen to be letting your little ones play on your phone or tablet, this would be a great investment into their education that they can play AND LEARN at the same time. :)
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Help!
I know, I know, you have filled out more than your share of information documents already this year. Unfortunately, I have several discrepancies between the documents I have on file and I need a final, for sure, solid paper with certain information. PLEASE, fill out and return the lime green information sheet AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This is the document I will use to contact you with any questions or concerns I have during the year. Thank you so much for your understanding and patience with this situation.
This week we begin our Power Hour rotations from 8:45 to 9:45. I am in need of some parent volunteers that would be willing to come in and help with a group during this time on a regular basis. If you would be willing to help with this please let me know quickly.
We are also going to be reviewing the rules and consequences as our class has been having a difficult time with keeping our hands and feet to ourselves and focusing on our own work. These are hard skills to learn and in kindergarten it is of vital importance. I am looking for some donations for our prize box to use as a motivation tool for our class. If you have anything you wouldn't mind donating to that prize box, that would be wonderful. Please know this is NOT something that you have to do, but only if you want to and your child will still be allowed to choose from the prize box even if you do not send in a donation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help and support already this year. I appreciate all that you do for your children.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
This week we begin our Power Hour rotations from 8:45 to 9:45. I am in need of some parent volunteers that would be willing to come in and help with a group during this time on a regular basis. If you would be willing to help with this please let me know quickly.
We are also going to be reviewing the rules and consequences as our class has been having a difficult time with keeping our hands and feet to ourselves and focusing on our own work. These are hard skills to learn and in kindergarten it is of vital importance. I am looking for some donations for our prize box to use as a motivation tool for our class. If you have anything you wouldn't mind donating to that prize box, that would be wonderful. Please know this is NOT something that you have to do, but only if you want to and your child will still be allowed to choose from the prize box even if you do not send in a donation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help and support already this year. I appreciate all that you do for your children.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Monday, September 8, 2014
Frog Folders
Attention Parents:
I have noticed that there is a lot of confusion about Frog Folders and homework, and I would like to clarify.
Please keep the homework packet and reading calendar AT HOME until the end of the month. Then, you can return the entire packet at the same time. This makes grading and collecting papers much more efficient for me.
The red folders with a frog sticker is your child's homework folder. It should be coming home DAILY. It also needs to be returned to school DAILY. Since your child loads his/her own folder, many of the papers will often not be placed in the "keep" or "return" pockets properly. This is ok. Please check your child's folder each night and keep any papers that we have done that day at home.
If there is a paper that you need to fill out and return, please place it back in your child's frog folder. If papers that are meant to stay at home are left in the frog folder, it becomes confusing for the students to know which papers are for me, and which ones are for them. This makes loading our backpacks at the end of the day much more difficult and time consuming.
Also, if your child has other activities from daycare or home, please help them to place those activities into a separate pocket on his/her backpack. Many of the students are bringing notebooks from home that they like to draw in and they try to turn them in to me each day. It is very frustrating for them, when I ask them to put the activities back in their bags.
Thank you so much for your help in this. I know there is a lot of information coming home at this point and a lot of it you get several times over again, but I appreciate your patience and support in helping your child learn.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
I have noticed that there is a lot of confusion about Frog Folders and homework, and I would like to clarify.
Please keep the homework packet and reading calendar AT HOME until the end of the month. Then, you can return the entire packet at the same time. This makes grading and collecting papers much more efficient for me.
The red folders with a frog sticker is your child's homework folder. It should be coming home DAILY. It also needs to be returned to school DAILY. Since your child loads his/her own folder, many of the papers will often not be placed in the "keep" or "return" pockets properly. This is ok. Please check your child's folder each night and keep any papers that we have done that day at home.
If there is a paper that you need to fill out and return, please place it back in your child's frog folder. If papers that are meant to stay at home are left in the frog folder, it becomes confusing for the students to know which papers are for me, and which ones are for them. This makes loading our backpacks at the end of the day much more difficult and time consuming.
Also, if your child has other activities from daycare or home, please help them to place those activities into a separate pocket on his/her backpack. Many of the students are bringing notebooks from home that they like to draw in and they try to turn them in to me each day. It is very frustrating for them, when I ask them to put the activities back in their bags.
Thank you so much for your help in this. I know there is a lot of information coming home at this point and a lot of it you get several times over again, but I appreciate your patience and support in helping your child learn.
Love,
Mrs. Newman
Howard B. Wigglebottom
Meet Howard B. Wigglebottom!
He is a friend of ours, both in Kindergarten and soon-to-be preschool as well. You may have heard from your child that we have been struggling in Kindergarten, to remember to use our listening ears, and so we met Howard.
We made listening ears to be just like him and got to wear them home today.
If you would like to learn more about Howard, please come visit him here! Click on the first picture and watch the story for yourself. Talk about why rules are important with your children (to keep them safe) and why we need to follow them at school.
Thanks so much for your help and support!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
P.S. Enjoy Howard's other books too! I sure do!! :D
He is a friend of ours, both in Kindergarten and soon-to-be preschool as well. You may have heard from your child that we have been struggling in Kindergarten, to remember to use our listening ears, and so we met Howard.
We made listening ears to be just like him and got to wear them home today.
If you would like to learn more about Howard, please come visit him here! Click on the first picture and watch the story for yourself. Talk about why rules are important with your children (to keep them safe) and why we need to follow them at school.
Thanks so much for your help and support!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
P.S. Enjoy Howard's other books too! I sure do!! :D
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Oquirrh Elementary
Hello Parents and Students!
I am so excited to be joining the Oquirrh Elementary Kindergarten team, and am so excited to be able to work with you!
I love teaching Kindergarten and I am looking forward to a wonderful year of growth and learning!
Our first two days of school went very well. We learned what our name looks like, practiced writing it with different tools and even got to decorate our name to hang in the hallway at school! We also learned about rules and how to follow directions in class. Ask your child about "happy monster" and "grumpy monster" choices!! (Don't forget to have them make the faces for you too! We had a lot of fun learning about our class rules.)
Next week will be full of new learning opportunities for our class. We will start learning the alphabet, learn some new poems and begin learning about numbers. We will also be reviewing our rules EVERY DAY, just to make sure we have them memorized.
We also have back-to-school night on Wednesday at 6:00, so mark your calendars now! Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
I am so excited to be joining the Oquirrh Elementary Kindergarten team, and am so excited to be able to work with you!
I love teaching Kindergarten and I am looking forward to a wonderful year of growth and learning!
Our first two days of school went very well. We learned what our name looks like, practiced writing it with different tools and even got to decorate our name to hang in the hallway at school! We also learned about rules and how to follow directions in class. Ask your child about "happy monster" and "grumpy monster" choices!! (Don't forget to have them make the faces for you too! We had a lot of fun learning about our class rules.)
Next week will be full of new learning opportunities for our class. We will start learning the alphabet, learn some new poems and begin learning about numbers. We will also be reviewing our rules EVERY DAY, just to make sure we have them memorized.
We also have back-to-school night on Wednesday at 6:00, so mark your calendars now! Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday!
Love,
Mrs. Newman
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