Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Run, run as fast as you can!


Time has flown by! October and November have come and gone in the blink of an eye! We've enjoyed many activities! From the Pumpkin Patch to the Thanksgiving Feast...we've been busy! Here's a link to my online photos from September-November. (Click Here!) I hope you enjoy looking at them with your child! Ask them about the activities you see pictured!

We just finished our unit on the Gingerbread Man. In addition to reading the traditional story we read: "The Gingerbread Boy", "The Gingerbread Baby", "The Gingerbread Girl", and "The Gingerbread Cowboy"! We compared the characters, settings, problems, and solutions of all books. We enjoyed many activities that centered around gingerbread. Our favorite was tasting gingerbread!

We've been reassessing sounds, letter recognition, and sight words. We've been setting sight word goals and many students are very close to learning all 31 kindergarten sight words! Thank you for all the work you do at home! Remember when your child brings their reading folder/words home to help them figure tricky words out by: reminding them to get their mouth ready (say the beginning sound), look at the picture, think about what makes sense, and look for parts of the word they know (going...they know go and ing...blend it together!)

When writing make sure they're clapping syllables (but-ter-fly) and stretching the syllables slowly to hear each sound. At this point they should just be writing the sounds that they hear. It doesn't have to be perfect! When writing their first and last names only the first letter should be uppercase!

We're enjoying many math games! Continue counting by 1's to 20, by 10's to 100, and by 5's to100. Use fun holiday objects to make growing and repeating patterns (red bow, green bow, green bow, red bow, green bow, green bow).

Our field trip to the Science Museum is tomorrow! I'll be sure to take a lot of photos and videos while at the museum. We will be enjoying a holiday treat and crafts on Friday afternoon.

I hope your families have a wonderful winter break!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Success!

Thank you so much for coming to Parent/Teacher conference day! It was great to see all of you again and share the progress your child is making!

If you were unable to attend I'd love to set up another date and time to meet with you. Contact me @ school (743-3665) or send a note with your child to school. I am available most days from 8-9am and after school.

Thanks again!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Parent/Teacher Conference Day!


Next Tuesday, November 3rd is Parent/Teacher Conference day! I would love to sit down with each of you to discuss your child’s progress. We've completed PALS testing (see http://pals.virginia.edu/ for more info!) and I'm anxious to share how your children are adjusting to kindergarten! Look for a conference time request sheet that went home today. The sooner you get it in, the better your chance is for your first choice in times! I look forward to meeting with you!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Sneeze in Your Sleeve!

We are practicing safe sneezing in kindergarten! We've been extra cautious about sneezing in our sleeve and washing our hands often to keep healthy! Check out this cute, quick video about safe sneezing! http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DiseasePrevention/H1N1/Video/PSAs/Sneezing101.htm


Don't forget that Hopkins is hosting a FREE H1N1 vaccination clinic tomorrow, Tuesday the 20th after school. Stay and enjoy Hopkins Family Health & Fitness night, too! Hope to see you there!

Friday, October 16, 2009

The letter Pp!

We learned about the letter Pp by making pumpkin play-doh, popping popcorn, going to the pumpkin patch and eating pumpkin seeds! We love fall!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Scholastic Book Orders! Due by Oct 23rd!

I have exciting news. You can now place your Scholastic Book Clubs orders online!

Here's how it works:
Use the information below to access the Scholastic Book Clubs Web site.
Browse the titles with your child and place your order with your credit card.
Your order will come to me, and your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic's secure server. There's no need to send money to school.
After I submit the entire class order to Scholastic, your order will be delivered to our classroom for your child to take home.
To get started, go to the Web address below and enter our class’s personalized user name and password in the sign-in fields on the right side of the page. Note: You do not need to create your own user name and password.

www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
User Name: Lankey
Password: Hopkins

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. You'll also get instant access to over 500 additional titles plus online-only specials and discounts.And don't forget: Every time a parent places an order online, we earn a FREE book for our classroom library!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Monday, October 12, 2009

We are writers!





Kindergarten authors are learning to use their writing tools: Pencils, Journals, "Space Men", and their Word Wall Words! They're also becoming fantastic illustrators using their crayons and drawing many masterpieces! After writing time, four students share their writing daily. Here, Rois shares his writing and his classmates give him two "I like" statements. We're becoming great at complimenting our friends on their hard work!

Patterns, Patterns, Everywhere!

In math we've been exploring repeating patterns. We made human patterns...take a look!


Pink, Black, Pink, Black, Pink, Black


Short Sleeves, Long Sleeves, Short Sleeves, Long Sleeves


Boy,Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl



The kindergartners are having so much fun with patterns in math. They are finding patterns everywhere we go. We continued to practice making patterns independently with Froot Loops and Pasta!

We're loving kindergarten!


We've been busy making patterns, having fun in the beautiful weather, and observing the changes that fall is bringing!
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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Colors, and Letters, and Numbers! Oh my!

What a busy week we had!

On Monday we had a visit from Betsy Ross! She showed us the first flag and taught us about the history of the flag, too. We continued to learn the Pledge of Allegiance throughtout the week.

In math we learned how to sort groups of objects by color, shape, and size! Look for opportunities to continue to practice sorting things at home.

Our “Second Step” curriculum will help the students practice social skills, such as cooperation, emotion management, problem solving, and empathy. These life skills will be taught through child-friendly, hands-on lessons.

We'll be sending napmats home this week! No need to send them back, nap time is over!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Our First Two Weeks of School


Wow! It's been a quick two weeks! I've enjoyed getting to know all of your children. We've been playing fun games to get to know each other better. We've been reviewing colors, shapes, and completing activities with our names! One of our favorites is "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" Thank you to the parents who came out for back to school night! It was great to see you! As always, please email me if you have any questions. (ashley_lankey@ccpsnet.net)

We hope you'll enjoy some pictures from our first two weeks of school!

Welcome!


Welcome to the Wonderful World of Kindergarten!

I have designed this blog to help keep you informed of events and activities taking place in our classroom. Please remember to check back frequently to get a glimpse of all the fun and learning your kindergartner will experience this year.



Here's to an Exciting Year!

Miss Lankey