Blenda Smith

SMITH'S LIL' PIRATES SCOOP SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
 
So, the first day of autumn is behind us and I'm still waiting for cooler weather!!! I think we might get to enjoy some this next week!! I hope everyone had a nice fall break!  We made two trips to Athens and accomplished a lot of tasks around the house....even painted our bedroom!! It was nice to have a laid back week.

We have two weeks left in the first quarter and you will receive your child's first kindergarten report during your child's conference.  I will be sending home conference letters with a date and time at the end of this next week.  Please return your confirmation ASAP so that I can work on any rescheduling necessary.

We will begin guided reading groups and literacy centers this week!  We will have guided reading and centers on Monday through Thursday each week.  Your child will go to a different literacy center each of these days to complete a specified activity.  I will meet with each reading group twice a week (either Mon./Tues. or Wed./Thur.).  If your child brings home a guided reading  zip-loc book bag, please have your child read the book to you then sign the signature sheet next to the title and return it with the book and signature sheet inside of the bag. This is considered a homework assignment when it comes home.  If the book is a paper book or xeroxed copy your child may keep the book at home.  If the book is a color, purchased classroom copy please return the book in the bag.  If your child does not return a classroom book then I will not be able to send another book home until it is returned. 

 Thank you for supporting our Zoo Phonics parade!!  All of the costumes were creative and adorable.  The boys and girls had so much fun and did a super job performing.  Thanks to all who were able to come!

 

 

 
 
 
Next week's curriculum focus:

Language Arts:  Building Reading Stamina; intro. Realistic fiction- The Seasons ofArnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons

 
Skills:  rhyming words and blending words with –at and –an; introduce vowels and practice blending and reading short and long a words

Phonics Focus: 

 
Aa letter/sound associations- short a as in apple, long a as in made

Sight Words:  and, can

Handwriting:  Aa

Writer’s Workshop:  Practice writing a sentence using sight words and spacing after each word and using inventive spelling

Math:  Matching numerals to sets for numbers 0-10; ordinals 1^st-10^th; penny and nickel and their values; fair trades; sorting by size; patterns; making and interpreting a graph

Science:  comparing and contrasting animals; matching mother animals to her babies; sequencing the seasons of an apple tree and the growth of an apple tree; using and comparing our five senses with apples and making and tasting applesauce

Social Studies:  US and Georgia flags; Pledge of Allegiance; **where we live – continent (North America), country (United States of America) and state(Georgia);

*students need to be able to recite their address this week for an extra  sticker on their cheer chart

Johnny Appleseed    

Christopher Columbus    *students will need to be able to identify and explain who Christopher Columbus was for the 2nd quarter kindergarten report

 

Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, September 30th- Media Center book check out

Friday, October 1st- bring in your favorite kind of apple- we will sort, graph and taste our apples

Friday, October 1st- PTA movie and pizza night

See you on Monday!!! :)

 

PICKETT'S MILL FOUNDATION "TREASURE TROT 5K" & COW DROP!

Don't Miss the OCTOBER 1st DEADLINE!

Be sure to send in your forms for Pickett's Mill Elementary Foundation's 1st annual

Treasure Trot 5K and Operation Cow Drop!!!

To be held on Saturday, October 9th

 

Don't miss the 1st Annual "Treasure Trot 5K" and "Operation Cow Drop" to benefit the Pickett's Mill Foundation!

 Click here for more info.

Click here to download the "Operation Cow Drop Form"

MRS. SMITH'S LIL' PIRATES SCOOP SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

This week we packed a lot into four days.  The week's highlights included completing four more zoo phonics letters, hearing some great picture books and completing follow-up activities to practice ordinal numbers and the days of the week.  We also had our pictures taken for the yearbook (retakes Thursday, 10/14), made an m&m graph, wrote about our feelings in Writer's Workshop, played an ordinal number game, and learned that a bat is not a bird!  Ask your child why a bat isn't a bird!  Mr. Nunez was our class WatchDOG on Thursday and he shared a great story that depicted two of our 7 Habits! (synergize and think win-win) On Friday, our Mystery Reader was Doug's mom!

Thank you to all who participated in our school fundraiser.  We have raised over $10,000 for Pickett's Mill!!!

 
Please remember to put your child's name in a visible place on his/her belongings.  Sometimes if a child checks out of school early and they are at specials we have no way of knowing which items belong to your child.  This will also help when items are left behing in the room or in another area of the school.

Next week's curriculum focus:

Language Arts:  Knowing Yourself as a Reader; introduce poems as a genre

Skills:  rhyming words; segmenting syllables in words; listening comprehension; sequencing story events and retelling

Phonics Focus:  Bb letter/sound association and Zoo Phonics Yy and Zz  letter/sound associations (We will finish Zoo Phonics and can't wait for our parade on Friday!!!)

Books:

Sight Words:  is, it

Handwriting:  Bb

Writer’s Workshop:  Practice writing a sentence using sight words and spacing after each word and using inventive spelling

Math:  Matching numerals to sets for numbers 0-10; ordinals 1^st-10^th; penny and nickel and their values; fair trades; sorting by size; patterns

Health:  Guidance lesson with Mrs. Richardson on the topic of feelings

Science:  comparing and contrasting animals; matching mother animals to her babies

Social Studies:  Labor Day; US and Georgia flags; Pledge of Allegiance; **where we live – continent (North America), country (United States of America) and state(Georgia)

*We will be learning to identify our continent, country (nation), state, city, county and street address throughout the year.  I will begin evaluating these for the 3^rd and 4^th quarter reports.  Please begin reinforcing these terms with your child as we work on them in class.  These terms can be very abstract and confusing to a kindergartner!

Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, September 16th- Media Center story and check out

Friday, September 17^th- Zoo Phonics Parade 8-9am in the cafeteria

Friday, September 17^th- guidance with Mrs. Richardson

September 20th-24th- FALL BREAK!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!  Mrs. Smith  :) and Mrs. Dillon  :)

 

 

SMITH'S LIL' PIRATES SCOOP SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

  

 

 

 

 
 
 


I can't believe September is here and fall is on the way!!!  This has been a fun week!  On Tuesday, we got to have Corey Snake in our room and take him with with us everywhere we went! On Wednesday, we finished our Brown Bear, Brown Bear booklets and then practiced reading them in class on Thursday.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Then today we got to share our favorite stuffed animal with the class!  We labeled, sorted and graphed our stuffed animals.  Ask your child which animal we had the most and least of in class.

 
Next week, we will begin a weekly phonics focus letter or the "famous letter of the week".  Next week's famous letter and sound focus will be M,m.  We will practice the correct writing formation of Mm and we will complete phonics activities and read books relating to the letter Mm.  We will read some great books about mice including Mouse Paint and Mouse Count by Ellen Walsh and Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young.  We will also read Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow and Today is Monday by Eric Carle.  We will follow-up these stories with reading, writing, and or math activities.

 

Next week's curriculum focus:

Language Arts:  Choosing Books; introduce poems as a genre

Skills:  rhyming words; segmenting syllables in words

Phonics Focus:  Mm letter/sound association and Zoo Phonics Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx letter/sound associations

Sight Words:  my, am

Handwriting:  Mm

Writer’s Workshop:  Practice writing a sentence using sight words and spacing after each word and using inventive spelling

Math:  Matching numerals to sets for numbers 0-10; ordinals 1^st-10^th; penny and nickel and their values; fair trades; making and interpreting a graph

Health:  feelings

Science:  animals

Social Studies:  Labor Day; US and Georgia flags; Pledge of Allegiance; **where we live – continent (North America), country (United States of America) and state(Georgia)

 
*We will be learning to identify our continent, country (nation), state, city, county and street address throughout the year.  I will begin evaluating these for the 3^rd and 4^th quarter reports.  Please begin reinforcing these terms with your child as we work on them in class.  These terms can be very abstract and confusing to a kindergartner!

Upcoming Dates:

Monday, September 6^th- Labor Day holiday

Tuesday, September 7th- Fundraiser Packets are due- Thank you for supporting our school!!!!!

Wednesday, September 8^th- Picture Day

Friday, September 10th- Media Center story and check out

Friday, September 17^th- Zoo Phonics Parade 8-9am in the cafeteria **If you need help getting a costume together please let me know!!  We have a couple of moms who are willing to help and we don't want anyone to be without!!

Saturday, October 9th-SAVE THE DATE

 Treasure Trot 5K

Saturday, October 9, 2010

8:00am - 12:00pm

Benefitting Pickett's Mill Foundation

Race begins at Pickett's Mill and ends at Allatoona High School with a Chick-fil-A cow drop, free kids obstacle course and inflatables. Look for information coming home with your child or on Pickett's Mill website.

National PTA Reflections Program

At Pickett’s Mill Elementary

National PTA believes all children deserve a quality arts education and encourages students to pursue artistic expression through participation in its annual arts Reflections Program. The program offers students the opportunity to create works of art for fun and recognition. Students in preschool through grade 12 are encouraged to create and submit works of art in one or more of six areas: literature, musical composition, photography, visual arts (which includes art forms such as drawing, painting, print making, and collage), dance choreography and film/video production. In its more than 30-year history, the program has encouraged millions of students across the nation and in American schools overseas to create works of art.

EVERYONE IS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE!

Last year Pickett’s Mill Student John Chapman earned Honorable Mention in Visual Arts at the National Level!

Download a Student Entry Form at the following link

http://www.georgiapta.org/documents/Reflections_Entry_Form.pdf

 

Download Rules for Participation at

http://www.georgiapta.org/leadership-reflections.html

 

Submissions are due in the media center on the following dates:                 

September 30, 7:30-8:30     k-2

October 1, 7:30-8:30             3-5

 

ENJOY YOUR LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!!

MRS. SMITH AND MRS. DILLON