SMITH'S LIL' PIRATES SCOOP AUGUST 11,2010

 

 We are off to a great start with five days of school behind us!  The boys and girls have adjusted well and are getting used to our routine.  We have been discussing our rules and how they make our school and classroom a safe and happy place for us to be.  We have been learning and practicing how we do things in our room and what the expectations are so they will know what is expected.  Next week, we will begin implementing our behavior plan.  I will share it with you at Open House. 

We have been working on print concepts, color words, letter and sound associations, sorting, counting, calendar skills, and learning a lot about animals.  We have also been learning our "where" words and what they mean so that we can better understand and follow directions.  This is a skill that will be evaluated on the kindergarten report.  We have read several books with lots of "where" words including:

  

You may want to practice using these positional words with your child:  beside, above, below, in front of, behind, inside, outside, over, under, in between, through, etc.

Our Zoo Phonics program covers one letter and sound association per day and we are following the order of the alphabet.  This week we will be working on Aa-Ee.  We are having fun learning our Zoo Phonics song and motions and will present them to you at our Zoo Phonics Parade.    

 

We also started Writer's Workshop this week.  The boys and girls are encouraged to listen to the sounds they hear in words and write the letters they hear.  This is called inventive spelling and is developmentally appropriate for this age.  As we learn sight words and post them on our word wall the children will be encouraged to spell those words correctly.  I've been telling them how lucky they are that they don't have to know how to spell perfectly yet and they won't have spelling tests until first grade!  Please encourage your child to write the letters for the sounds they hear in words even if it is only the first sound. 

Next week, we will continue to work on color words and phonics.  We will also spend time in math identifying and making patterns.  We will have our orientation to the Media Center on Tuesday. 

Open House will be on Tuesday night, August 17th, at 6:30 pm.  I hope you can join us!  I will have lots of information to share with you!

 

 

Parents please sign and return your Receipt of the Parent Information Guide that was in the Cobb Co. School folder your child brought home on the first day of school and the emergency/clinic card.  We must have these from every student.

 

Please put these dates on your calendar:

 

On Wednesday, August 25, 2010 and Wednesday, February 2, 2011 all Cobb County students will be dismissed two hours early for district-wide teacher training. Buses will begin their normal routes at the early dismissal time. After-School Programs for elementary schools will begin immediately after early dismissal. These early release dates are not included in the Parent Information Guide, so please update your calendars with these important dates. The school calendar is available to view or print on the District Web site at www.cobbk12.org.

 

 

 August 25th, Wednesday:

·     EARLY RELEASE DAY

· Hat Day (ASP fundraiser)  students are allowed to wear a hat to school for $1 to support our ASP program

August 26th, Thursday:

· WatchDOGS Pizza Night

August 31st, Tuesday:

Target Open House- this is an open meeting for any parent wanting to learn what our gifted program is about and how a student qualifies.  Students are not tested for Target until the middle of first grade.