We Love the Letter Factory

Have you heard about the Letter Factory DVD?  Has your child gone home singing the sounds of the letters?  For the past two years I have used this DVD near the beginning of the year, and my students absolutely love it. If you're looking for another fun way to review letters and sounds, this DVD will be sure to keep your child's attention.  Before long you'll be singing right along with them!  You can check out a short clip here: Letter Factory clip  

Ted Arnold Visit

On Friday, we had a terrific visit with the author Ted Arnold.  His presentation had everyone laughing as he entertained us with many of his popular books.  At the end, he left the kids sitting before him with two important messages...keep practicing your drawings and keep practicing your reading.  This year, we plan on following those words of advice in our classroom!  

We have been working on our drawings since the beginning of the year.  We have some great Kindergarten artists in our room. 

Tell Me About Your Day

How does your child respond when you ask them about their day?  Do you often hear them say,"I don't remember"?  I thought I would try posting a few pictures or prompts from time to time to help with these conversations.  I hope you find this helpful.

For this week, you may wish to use some of the following prompts and questions...

• How was your first fire drill?  What have you learned about fire drills at school?  
• Tell me about your drawings in your sketchbook.  When drawing people remember to use...
• What was the "brain break" for today?
• Who is the cartoon character that helps you with some of your math lessons on the SMART board?  
• The character, David, in David Shannon's books is helping us to think about good school rules.  What would be a good school rule?
• Reading isn't only about reading the words.  What is another way to read books when you don't know the words? 
• We are learning about our reading interests.  What have we learned about our friends?  What characters do we like?  What makes a book a favorite book? 

Our First Few Days

It's been three days since we started our year in kindergarten, and we have already accomplished so much.  Here's a glimpse at just a few of the things we have done over the past few days.

On the first day, we shared a little about ourselves.  Some shared how they love to play with their brothers and sisters, some shared about their trips to Great Escape, and one friend shared how his father caught a feisty snake this summer.  

We have been busy sharing my favorite books by Eric Litwin.

Our most exciting activity, since the start of school, began with our school tour. After reading Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes, we were led on a scavenger hunt around school following Pete's clues.  We never found him, but he still has us "rocking in our school shoes".

We didn't stop there.  Wait until you see our Pete the Cat display.  Here's a sneak peek.  Can you spot your child's shoes? 

We started this week with our traditional Kindergarten Olympics activities.  Each day, we will meet with the other Kindergarten classes to get to know each other through a variety of fun games and activities. We walked on tightropes yesterday, and we are looking forward to scooters later this week.  

We are learning how to use the SMART Board.  Today we moved our names on the board to match our pictures.  It was our way of taking attendance.

We are looking forward to a great end to our first full week!

Welcome

Welcome to our classroom blog.  I hope you find this to be a great communication tool throughout the year.  Be sure to check in for important news, updates, and classroom snapshots.  

To get started, please be sure to visit our district website.  You will find a link located on the sidebar on the right. Once you visit the site, please be aware of the news headlines, quick links menu, the district calendar, and of course Veeder Elementary's page.  Please be sure to check back throughout the year as the website posts important news and events happening in and around our district and school.