Get the Scoop Night and weekly news

A BIG thank you to everyone who came to "Get the Scoop" night!  We had a great turnout and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with each and every one of you and learning more about your sweet children. Your love and support means so much to me. Thank you for sharing them with me this school year!  

A few notes:
*If you would like a Beulah Ralph t-shirt for your child or family, they are $10 each.  While we don't have official order forms at this time, you can stop by the office at any time and pick one up while they are in stock.  We would love for every child to have a t-shirt to wear on Spirit Monday's!

*Beginning on Thursday (September 1st) make sure you are logging your child's reading.  A yellow September reading log was sent home in last week's Friday Folder.  Please let me know if you mis-placed yours and need a new copy.  Every child at Beulah Ralph (grades K-5) will be encouraged to read/be read to by an adult Monday-Thursday night and record at least one book per night on the reading log.  In Kindergarten the expectation is 15 minutes per night.  Please keep the reading log in your child's daily take home folder or in a safe place at home.  I will collect them at the end of each month and send home a new reading log for the following month. 

*Don't forget to send in a family photo for your child to keep on the shelf above their cubby as soon as possible.  Please make sure the photo and frame are 4x6 in size and no larger, as they will not fit in the space.  

Check out some photos from the last few days in Kindergarten!

Every child has their own poetry folder.  At this point we are learning a poem or two a week that ties in with their learning.  At the end of the week, when they are "experts" at reading the poem, it is added to their poetry folder for them to keep and re-read.  Below the children are partner reading their poems to one another.  Ask your child about the following poems they have learned: Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee, Shape Song, The Color Song.

Lydia was the first friend in our class to lose a tooth during the school day!  It just fell right out during snack time!!  The kids were so excited for her!

Tuesday was our first time checking out a book from the library.  Mrs. Fitch taught us all about how to select a book and take care of them while in our possession.  Our library check-out day will always be on Tuesday's.  Please make sure your child keeps their library book in their backpack when they are not reading it at home.  This will prevent it from getting lost.  Every Tuesday they will return the book and pick out a new one!  They were so excited!

Jude typing in his student id number to check out his book

 Reading their books with a friend in the comfy library chairs!

Weekly Friday Update

We have had a great first week and a half of school! The kids have done a wonderful job. We have begun to set the tone for an awesome Kindergarten year packed with learning!

We have been working on establishing a community of learners this week.  This includes setting routines and expectations.  This will be our focus for several weeks and continue throughout the year. Children are much more willing to take a risk in a comfortable, supporting environment where expectations are clear.

Cute kiddos!!

David Goes to School by: David Shannon helps us with rules and expectations at school

We are also working on many social skills such as looking at the person talking, taking turns, actively listening to peers, participating in discussions/conversations and raising their hand to speak.

Many of our lessons/activities have revolved around our names: how they are all special and unique, spelling them, recognizing them and learning our friends and teachers names. 

 Torn paper name craft focuses on learning our names and fine motor skills

 Look how we can write our name!!

Friday Folders will come home each week with important papers and a behavior checklist. We don’t start the behavior checklist in Kindergarten until September 16th because it takes awhile for the children to learn school rules and expectations.  Kindergarten, however, has chosen to do behavior checklists online with Google Docs.  We will send them to you via email once this begins, rather than a paper copy.  Look for more information on this closer to that time.  

Please look through the folder each weekend, clean the papers out and return every Monday.

Have a great weekend!  Don't forget to send the kiddos to school in their Beulah shirts for Spirit Monday and remind them to go straight to the gym, rather than the classroom on those days!  

Halfway through our first full week of school and I'm continually impressed with how smoothly everything is going. The kiddos come to school excited to learn and be with their classroom family every day!  I can already tell it's going to be a great school year!

A few highlights from our week....

We had a fun first Monday Morning Meeting. We will do this every Monday and encourage the kiddos to wear their Beulah shirts on this day.  What a great community building activity for all 504 kiddos attending Beulah Ralph Elementary!

Our 5th grade friends who are the announcers for "Radio BEU" are in the picture below with Dr. Majerus. "Radio BEU" is our daily announcements via the intercom.  They give special announcements each day.  Things such as birthday's, what's for lunch, what letter day it is in the specialist rotation and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Every day this week during Math we are exploring math manipulatives.

Ember making patterns with shapes

Kiran sorting by color

Ty sorting by shape

Kenzi working on a pattern

3-D shapes are perfect for building castles and towers

Sorting square tiles

Creating designs with pattern blocks

Snap cube fun

More snap cube fun

Check back soon for more pictures from our week!  

Spirit Monday's!!! 

Monday's are spirit days at Beulah Ralph Elementary.  We invite all students to wear their Beulah Ralph t-shirt every Monday.  If your child does not have one, please stop in at the office to find out how you can order one from the PTA. There will also be a morning assembly in the gym every Monday morning.  Please remind your child to go straight to the gym, rather than the classroom, every Monday.  The students will sit in their assigned class line spots.  Looking forward to our first one tomorrow!!

First Two Days of Fun!

What a great first 2 days of school we have had!  Our classroom is full of sweet, loving children who are ready to learn and have fun!  
I am blown away at how quickly they have fallen into a routine, can remember their student id numbers, line order, etc. I am excited for the school year ahead!  
To help build independence with the children, beginning on Monday, we kindly ask that you drop your child off at the door (front or classroom), say your good-byes and let them enter the classroom on their own.  It is important that they begin to hang up their own backpack, get out the things they need and feel comfortable doing so.  I will always be here to help them if needed! They always feel so much pride when they realize they are big kids and can do it themselves!  Thank you so much, in advance, for understanding and helping with this.  

A few reminders:
*send a light jacket/sweater with your child daily as the rooms can get chilly
*send one healthy snack every day (peanut/nut free)
*empty out their take home folder every night and return to school the following day
*help your child practice their student id number at home 

Below are pictures from daily center time (play time)

 Art center

 Kitchen center

 Kitchen/workshop center

 Littlest Pet Shop center

 Dollhouse center

 Car center

Lego center

Beulah Ralph Boo-Hoo Breakfast

Welcome to Kindergarten

Hello Kindergarten families and welcome to our classroom blog! I loved meeting all of you at "Meet the Teacher night" last week and am so ready to get started learning on Thursday!  All teachers at Beulah Ralph Elementary will have a blog and update it at least twice a week.  This will take place of a weekly newsletter, so please check back often for updates on what is happening at school, in our classroom, etc. 
Feel free to contact me anytime at dconcannon@cpsk12.org.

Click on the link to view our school website:
BEU website