A fun, Fall week!

 A look at our learning...

Field trip: We had a blast on our field trip to Peach Tree Farms and Bethel Park! It was the perfect Fall day! Thank you to everyone who donated supplies, transported things and assisted in any way with the field trip.  A HUGE thank you to our PTA for paying the $5 fee for all students.  This is why things like our circus and other fundraisers are so important.  They allow us to do fun things like this without asking families to pay a fee.  Be sure to tell a PTA member thank you.  Even better, join PTA! Only $5 to join and you can be as active as you prefer!

Here are a few pictures from our trip, but many more are in our class Facebook page.  If you aren't a member yet, please join!  Search Facebook for "Concannon's Kindergarten 2024-2025."  I post here often.

Fire Prevention Week: this week was Fire Prevention week and we had fun learning about all things firefighters, firetrucks and fire safety.  On Friday, we enjoyed a visit from the Columbia Fire Department.  We learned about their job, fire suits, equipment and more!  They encouraged the students to remind their families to practice two ways out of their house in case of emergency and discuss where their outdoor meeting spot is. Please take the time to talk about this with your family if you haven't.  You can find more pictures in our class Facebook page. 

Fundations: we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase a and g.  We learned there is a "funny a"  and "funny g" that we sometimes see in books, and the regular a and g that we write.  

Please use the following verbal prompts:

a-over, around, down (NOT circle and a stick)

g-over, around, dow....n, curve up

When their mouth says "over," their pencil should make a "hill."  Please watch for this at home and correct if they are not doing this. 

Shared Reading & Spelling: we are excited to begin our spelling routine in Kindergarten.  A detailed note came home about this on Monday, as well as another note today further explaining their spelling check and routines.  Please make sure you have read both of these notes, so you can help your child at home as well.  

I am very proud of their first spelling test.  I want to reiterate to you what I reiterated to them.  It is okay if you missed a word or two, that just tells your brain you need to practice it some more.  I am not upset with them and their parents aren't upset with them and we never will be.  That is part of learning!  When you make a mistake, you can learn from it!  Their spelling check is in their folder for you to review. The most up to date word wall list is also in their folder.  They will bring one home every Friday.

We will practice our spelling words/word wall words in various ways in the classroom: finding the words in books that we read, literacy workstations/centers, "high-fiving" the word and reading it every time we leave our classroom and more.  Practicing in various ways at home will also help set your child up for success with this new routine.  

I will introduce the new word of the week on Monday's (or the first day of the week if Monday is a no school day) to the students, but every Friday in the blog I will give families a sneak peek of next week's word.  I highly encourage you to check this blog every Friday to get a head start on practicing the words at home.

Next week's new spelling word:

can

Writing Workshop: we are working hard on learning how to sound out or stretch out words to help us spell.  In Kindergarten, phonetic spelling is what we mostly want to see, unless it is a word wall word/spelling word.  Those should be spelled correctly at all times. 

To help with this at home, when your child asks "how do I spell...?" please encourage them to "sound it out or stretch it out and write the sounds they hear."  They may ask "did I spell it right?" when finished.  Please try and refrain from telling them no, as this will discourage them and make them afraid to try.  They will start to think everything they do is wrong.  I just say "did you write the sounds you hear? Great! Looks good to me!"  especially if it is close.  At this point in the year, we are hoping for beginning and ending sounds.  So for "house" they may write "hs." If they get a middle sound in there too, great!  

Math:  this week we learned about circles, worked with 10 frames, counted objects and counted backwards from 10. Check the Friday Folder for ways to extend their learning at home. 

Friday Craft: we made these cute fire trucks to tie into Fire Prevention Week and our fire truck visit today! 

Lunch with the principal: Mr. Foulk and Mrs. Isenogle started "Lunch with the Principal."  This is a Beulah tradition that the kids love! Every month, one student from each classroom is chosen for this special time.  Ivvy was chosen from our class for the month of September!  Yay Ivvy! 

Counselor: this week the students learned about bullying and the difference between being unkind and bullying. This can be a tough concept to learn.  Unkind moments can happen, but that doesn't mean it is bullying.  Bullying is a repeated, targeted and intentional behavior.  

Ms. Steffins, a BEU learning specialist, was a guest teacher with Mrs. Alls for the lesson this week.  Mrs. Steffins is getting her Masters in Counseling and helped teach this important lesson as part of her coursework. 

BEU Pumpkin Patch: a reminder that our wonderful PTA is hosting a pumpkin patch at BEU on Sunday from 4-6.  This is a free event.  Every BEU family will be able to take home one pumpkin.  There will be a craft, yummy treats and more!  We still need volunteers to work a 30 minute shift. Sign up here if you are available. 

Heroes’ Day: Beulah Ralph’s annual Heroes’ Day celebration will be Friday, November 8^th. On this day we like to honor our students’ heroes whether they are veterans, grandparents, parents, or role models. Your child’s hero is invited to join us for the day’s events. Kindergarten’s assembly will take place from 9:00-9:30 and classroom activities will follow from 9:30-10:00. If you know a veteran and you’d like to give them a shout out, please use the Veteran Spotlight Form in your child’s Friday Folder to attach a photo, add their information, and return it to school. We love filling our hallway with these photos so our students and visitors can take a moment to honor them! There are extra copies in the main office if you’d like to recognize more than one veteran. 

More fun at school

Goodbye September, Hello October

A look at our learning...

September Reading Logs: September is coming to an end and reading logs are due on Tuesday, October 1st.  You still have 3 days left to post September's "Sneaky Reading Challenge" in our class Facebook Page.  September's challenge was to read in the car.  October Reading Logs are in your child's Friday Folder, along with a new "Sneaky Reading Challenge." I'd love to see more participation in this next month! You post the photo anytime you catch your child doing the challenge!  You don't need to wait for me to make a post. Beginning in October, students who complete their required monthly reading log will earn a free pizza coupon to Pizza Hut. 

Reading is required homework at BEU.  In K-1, the expectation is at least 4 days as week for 15 minutes at a time.  Reading TO your child is what is appropriate right now.  We DO NOT expect Kindergarteners to be readers at this point in the year. 

                                   

Fundations: this week we learned the letter name, sound and correct formation for lowercase c and o.  Please use the verbal prompts below to practice at home. Your child should be saying these prompts to themselves every time they write a letter on their homework to ensure they are doing it correctly.  Don’t forget about the weekly handwriting “homework” in the Friday Folder. The extra practice at home really does help your child in the classroom.

c: over, around, open

o: over, around, close

At school, we have learned that the "over" motion should look like a "hill" or a "rainbow." Watch for this when forming these letters. Please make sure that your child is going over to the left when forming these letters. 

On the handwriting homework, please make sure their pencil begins at the dot and goes over to the left. 

Handwriting Homework: please make sure your child's name is on their optional handwriting homework.  Many students are turning it in without a name and it takes up class time to figure out whose it is.  This is also a great opportunity for them to practice writing their name and forming letters learned correctly.  Please make sure the student is writing their name, not an adult or older sibling. 

Shared Reading & Word Wall Word: our new Word Wall Word this week was a.  Just like I, we learned that a can be a letter or a word. We read poems and books about Autumn that featured our Word Wall Word a. 

Writing: we continue to work on telling stories through pictures.  We are getting better at drawing people using shapes and have moved onto learning about settings.  A setting is where the story takes place.  We have been singing this song every day this week to help us with this learning. They were able to choose a character card to glue in their writing notebooks and draw a setting that matched that character. As you can see below, one child chose an alien character card, so drew a rocket ship in space.  Another child chose a farmer so they drew a farm and barn setting.  Next, we will transfer this knowledge over to writing about ourselves and including a setting based on what WE did.

Math:  this week we worked on counting in a variety of ways and representing numbers to 10 in various ways.

Craft: check out the cute bulletin board that all 5 kindergarten classrooms worked on.  Our class made the fall trees and butterflies.  It fits in nicely with our school theme of "Great Minds Grow Here."  If you attend the circus tonight, check it out!  It is the first bulletin board in the kindergarten hallway!

Today we also made these beautiful leaf sun catchers in our classroom! 

Science: we went on a nature walk on Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of Fall and to kick off our living organisms science unit.  It was a beautiful day!

Learning next week: I hate that we are missing 3 days of school together next week!  We are just getting into a good school routine with academics! While teachers are attending Professional Development, I hope you can enjoy a little family time together.  To help keep the students in routine I encourage you to read with your child daily and record on their October reading log, practice writing all the letters we have learned so far in Fundations (t, b, f, n, m, i, u, o, c), practice reading and writing our new Word Wall Words (to, me, I, a) and tie in math skills from the past few weeks.  The weather is going to be beautiful!  So many of these things can be done outside!  Reading, writing letters and words with chalk, etc.!  I hope they are outside daily! 

Packmate of the Month: Congratulations to Emery!  She was chosen, by her peers, as our September Packmate of the Month and honored at an assembly on Thursday.  Students will vote every month for one of their classmates that they believe follow our BEU expectation of the month.  It is a private vote and the winner is kept a secret until their name is announced during the assembly.  Be Safe was our character trait for September.  Be Respectful is our character trait in October.  It is a private vote and the winner is kept a secret until their name is announced during the assembly. 

Our class also won the attendance award for the month of September! We get to display this flag and banner outside our classroom for the entire month.  Every grade level will have a winner announced at the monthly Packmate of the Award assemblies.  Our goal at BEU is to have 90% of students at school 90% of the time.  How can you help with this? Ensure your child is at school unless sick.  Please try to make appointments after school or on days off.  Please take trips on scheduled breaks and days off, etc.  Please arrive to school on time.  I'm so proud of our class and YOU.  Kindergarteners can't drive, so you helping them get to school is key and definitely showed this month!  Let's have a repeat and win again next month!  

Walking Tickets: now that we have been in school for a few weeks, expectations taught and the students have had time to adjust, we are really focusing on the importance of making good choices and doing the right thing, even when no one is watching (integrity).  We use this phrase a lot.  I will always give the children many chances and reminders to do the right thing (they are 5-6 year old after all), however if the poor behavior choice continues we must follow through on consequences.

In CPS we follow these procedures for discipline:

1) Verbal reminder (in Kindergarten it is several reminders)

2) Safe Seat: a spot in our room away from others where they can sit and calm down and think about how to make better choices

3) Buddy Room: the safe seat in a teachers classroom across the hall.  We utilize this when the verbal reminders and classroom safe seat haven't seemed to work.  At times, the children may fill out a "think sheet" while here that explains their behavior and why they are there.  If they receive one of these, it will come home to you in their take home folder.  If their behavior is disruptive, we skip this step and call the office, as we don't want to disrupt another classroom while they are trying to learn.

4) Recovery Room/Principal's Office: when none of the above work, the child will be sent with an office referral to talk with administration and a phone call home may be made.

We also use walking tickets and it varies how these are used.  In my classroom, if a child is sent to the safe seat by a teacher, they will have an automatic 5 minute walking ticket.  This means at recess they will have to walk back and forth on our line up zipper spot/or sit depending on the situation for 5 minutes before they can play.  They are still getting exercise during this time and movement is being allowed, but their free play time is taken away as a consequence.  If they go to the buddy room, it is a 10 minute walking ticket consequence.  If they visit the office, admin will assign a consequence.

Sometimes we also give walking tickets even if they don't go to the safe seat.  Not all behaviors warrant the use of the safe seat.  Sometimes walking tickets can be given for a minute or two if they are having a hard time making good choices and have needed an excessive amount of reminders. 

Please know we do our best to avoid the above and if they receive one of the consequences it is because we have exhausted other options and they are taking away from the learning of their peers.  I am sure at home when they don't listen, follow directions or make good choices you have to take things away or have a consequence and this is how we handle it at school to be fair and consistent with every child. 

With all of that being said, if your child is consistently receiving walking tickets or any of the above, I will put their walking tickets in their Friday Folder each week for you to see.  I don't want to send them home daily because some children may "lose them" knowing they don't want you to see them.  If they are in the Friday Folder, which they know is for parents, they are less likely to be mis-placed before making it home.  However, if it is just a one time thing (or even two or three times...we all make mistakes) I probably won't communicate that with you.  I want the children to know that we all make mistakes and it is ok and they can trust me.  I don't need to run to mom and dad telling them about every mistake they make.  It is not necessary and causes unnecessary stress on the child.  Some problems are just school problems that we can work out here ourselves.  If it is something that is repetitive, you will see those tickets and it will be reflected on their Success Ready scores.  Thank you for understanding and supporting your child and their teachers.  It's a hard job raising little people and I'm here to help!

More fun at school below...