November 25, 2008

Thanksgiving Feast!

Our Thanksgiving Feast was a lot of fun and we all really enjoyed it. Mrs. Revis and her class, Mrs. Gute and Dr. Strich came and joined us to eat our feast...it was very yummy! I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving. It has been really nice talking with the kids over what we are thankful for, and I am very thankful for getting the chance to teach such wonderful children.
Here are some pictures from today ~
Thanksgiving%20001.jpg
Thanksgiving%20005.jpg
Thanksgiving%20006.jpg

November 21, 2008

November 21, 2008

What an exciting week, we are preparing for Thanksgiving, and we had two birthdays this week! I hope Jimmy & Nolan had a great birthday. Today in your child's folder you will find their progress reports. This is just a brief report showing their progress in Reading and Printing. Their test that they took is attached for you to see. Also, you will find their Turkey Recipe. The kids were really excited to bring these home, and they really wanted to know when each mom or dad was going to use their recipe! There is also a form from Music that went home regarding their Christmas Concert. The class picture is also in your child's folder, it seems like we were just back at the first day of school, and now we are already preparing for Thanksgiving...time flies!
Owen is taking Buddy home this weekend...have lots of fun!
We were very lucky today to have Sophia's Grandmother come to our class to read to us. She read two very nice stories and the class sang some of the Thanksgiving Day songs we have been learning. Sophia was very excited!
MVC-001S.JPG
MVC-005S.JPG
*Library books were checked out today and since we do not have school next Friday the books need to be returned by December 1st..
With next week being a shortened week, I have listed below some events that will be going on next week.
Monday:
We will finish up with letter Ll in Reading and work on the number 6.
Tuesday:
All School Mass at 8:30am.
Our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Feast will be today too, check out the blog on Tuesday, I'll be posting pictures!
Wednesday:
11:30am Dismissal
Thursday:
Happy Thanksgiving!
No School
Friday:
No School
Have a great weekend and a GREAT Thanksgiving!
Ms. Cotter

November 17, 2008

November 17, 2008

The weather is getting colder, and the kids were really excited to see the first "snow" last night! Please remember to bring your child to school with their hats, mittens, or gloves. We try to go outside for recess every day ~ the fresh air and exercise is great for them.
Thanks to all the parents that came to parent teacher conferences, it was great to talk with you.
We are working on the letter Ll this week in Reading. We are continuing to blend and read new words. The kids are so proud when they can say a new word!
We also have been doing a lot to prepare for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has had a chance to see our hallway display. It came out sooo good!
If you are getting worried about cooking for Thanksgiving...don't worry! Today each child came up with their own recipe on how to cook a turkey. It will be going home on Friday, just in time for you to prepare the ingredients :) Each child came up separately to my desk and told me the directions, and WOW, each recipe is truely unique! Some of the ingredients included ~ cheese, salt, water, mayo, chicken, and that's just to name a few. We have also been discussing what we are thankful for and here is a list of what the class had to say ~
Jimmy ~ the holidays
Emilia ~ Animals
Max ~ Andrew
Kailyn ~ School
Sophia ~ Mom & Dad
Meadow ~ Friends
Cara ~ Baby Cousin
Gabby ~ Air
Danny ~ God
Asher ~ Thanksgiving
Kaela ~ Nana's Dog
Matthew ~ Christmas
Nieve ~ Friends
Andrew ~ World
Nolan ~ Dad
Brendan ~ My Teddy
Owen ~ My House
Sarah ~ My Mom
Sean ~ My Family & my birthday
Jack ~ My House
Eddie ~ Santa
Scott ~ My House
Joey ~ My Table
Brigid ~ My Friends
The nice thing is that it was hard for them to think of just one thing to say, they are realizing how lucky they are and are showing their appreciation.
Our Star of the Week is Sophia! And thanks Nieve for taking such good care of Buddy over the long weekend, it looks like the two of you had a lot of fun! In my newsletter I mentioned that if any families are interested in taking Buddy home over Christmas Break/Easter Break/ or weekends in April or May, to please let me know.
For anyone who wants to get in the Christmas Spirit a little early, 93.9 has started playing Christmas Music! We listened to it today during snack time and rest time and everyone is excited!
A few reminders for this week:
~ Friday progress reports will be sent home.
~ Friday is also a $0.25 dress down day and Ladies Guild Hot Lunch
~ Please remember to keep sending your child with a snack/lunch mat.

November 12, 2008

Family Photos!

I sent a note home yesterday, asking for each child to bring in a picture fo their family. We have been discussing what we are thankful for, and everyone was very thankful for their families. These pictuers will be going in our hallway bulletin board display. The students have been working really hard on cutting out their hand prints, pictures from magazines, and more to show what we are truly thankful for, and how blessed we all are! The picture that you send to school will most likely be cut, so do not send a picture you do not want cut. You can continue to send these pictures in until next week. Thanks to those families who already sent them in ~ they are looking great!
Just a reminder that tomorrow is a half day and dismissal is at 11:30am. Feel free to come and see me for a conference, even if I did not schedule one with you. Once again, the open conferences are from 12:30pm to 3:30pm and then again from 4:30 to 6:00pm.
~Ms. Cotter

November 10, 2008

Week of November 3rd

After a long three days away at White Pines, I'm glad to be back! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it, but i am glad to be back at school, especially with the cold weather here! We were lucky to have really nice weather when we were there.
This week and last we are working on the letter Ss. We are making words, and please review the list of words that came home with your child. It is very important they understand these concepts before moving to the next. We are so proud when we make new words ~ like sad, gas, dog, God, etc...
Thanks to everyone that brought in a Bible last week, the kids really liked showing their own Bible to the class.
In Math we are continuing to work with numbers 0-5. We will start to look at numbers that are greater, or less on a number line using number 0-5.
On Thursday, your child will be bringing home lots of papers. Please take time to go over their work with them. It shows them the importance of taking their time and that I really do go back and look at every paper they do. They love to see the stickers and smiley faces on their page too!
This week is a short week, however a busy one :) I've listed by days some of the events we have going on in our room and the school:
Monday: 9:15am we had a Veteran's Assembly in the Church. It was very nice. Then at 10:40 we headed off to the book fair to preview books that the students will be able to purchase. Your child should have brought home their wish list today they made, which gives you an idea of what they would like to purchase. On Wednesday, we will be going back to the book fair to purchase books. There are two ways that your child can purchase books. The first, is you can send your child to school with money for the book fair and he/she can spend it when we go down at 10:40 to 11:00am, OR, you are more than welcome to attend the book fair with us from 10:40am to 11:00am, and help your child purchase books. Sometimes it is easier if you are able to attend the book fair with your child, so you can help them pick something out...for the right price :) Either way is fine, and if you do send your child to school with money for the book fair, please send it in an envelope with their name on it, so it doesn't get mixed up.
Tuesday: Veteran's Day
Wednesday: Ice Cream Day: $1.00 at lunch. It is also the day we go to purchase books from 10:40 to 11:00.
Thursday: 11:30am Dismissal. Parent teacher conferences are in the afternoon. Please remember that open conferences are from 12:00 to 3:30 and then again from 4:30 to 6:00pm. Scheduled conferences (by appointment only) are from 6:00 to 8:00pm.
Friday: No School!
Buddy went home with Danny this weekend, and is awaiting his next trip to Nieve's house this Friday! The kids are having such a great time with Buddy and are taking really good care of him. Thanks to everyone who has had him so far! The pictures and stories are great, and I love to read all about the fun you have with him and your child!

November 2, 2008

Week of October 27th

First of all, I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!! What great weather we had! I can't believe it is already November, this school year is flying by! Here are some pics from our great day we had ~
Halloween%20001.jpg
Halloween%20003.jpg
Halloween%20004.jpg
A BIG THANK YOU, to all the moms who came for the party! I know the kids had a great time and they loved all the games and the craft came out sooo cute! Thanks again!
We have completed the letter Dd this week, and it was a fun letter for us because we got to talk about dogs all week long! The kids loved seeing the pictures of everyone's dogs and also they loved having Buddy listen in on all of our Reading time :) We are continuing to blend in Reading, and please remember to continue working on this with your child. We have really gotten the hang of this and a lot of the students have started to read three letter words and even make some of their own. Next week we are starting with letter Ss. We are going to start blending with the "ssss" sound and come up with even more words we can read ~ how exciting.
In Math we worked on our Numerals 1 to 5. Printing some of these numbers can be very difficult at first, so we are going to be working on these numbers for another work.
In Religion this week we are going to be discussing the Bible. If your child has a Bible at home they would like to bring in to share with the class, that would be great. We have been reading out of my Precious Moments Bible, and they are really enjoying listening and discussing the readings afterwards.
Report cards came home on Friday. Please take time to sit down with your child and discuss each area so he/she knows what areas to continue doing well in and what areas need to improve. Parent/teacher conferences are on November 13th, so if you have concerns over your child's report card we can discuss it then. Conference invitations are being sent home by myself on Tuesday. If you do not receive one it means I did not "request" a conference with you, however please feel free to come in for a conference during the open times.
Also, just for your information...I will be attending White Pines with the 6th and 8th grade classes next week. We leave on Wednesday and return on Friday. There will be a substitute (Mrs. Conn) in my room for all three days. If you have any questions, feel free to ask her or Mrs. Gute, or you can drop me an email and I can respond on Friday afternoon.
Buddy was so excited to go home with Nolan this weekend, after having such a great time with Meadow last weekend. I just hope Buddy doesn't eat all of Nolan's candy... the kids warned him of this before we sent Buddy home :)
~Ms. Cotter

October 29, 2008

Sweat Pants Day Info

Just to clerify, tomorrow the students can wear sweat pants and gym shoes. They MUST wear their school shirt along with the sweat pants. If you have any questions, let me know.

October 24, 2008

Week of October 20th

What a great week! We finished a lot of work and did a lot of art this week! In Reading, we started the letter Dd, and continued to work with blending. A letter was sent home regarding blending, and please remember to work with your child at home. The class was also taken out of the room this week for testing with Mrs. Gute. They were tested on their letters, letter sounds, and blending. Overall, they did really well, and I am very pleased with the progress we have made so far in the school year.
In Math, we went over the terms, equal, fewer, and more. We will continue with this next week, while we also start with numerals 0-5.
In Religion, we discussed how God makes everyone, and everyone is special. It was very nice because as we talked about this in class, everyone was so eager to make their friends happy by sharing, and helping one another out. It was nice to hear it, and it was especially nice when I saw them doing this at play time.
On Wednesday and Thursday we made our pumpkins, and WOW they came out great! We have had so many compliments on them, teachers from other rooms have come to see them and the kids are so proud. On Halloween I will hold the raffle for these to be sent home.
painting%20pumpkins%20010.jpg
Today, we were supposed to be making our ghosts, but sadly three different stores were out of cheesecloth (the main ingredient in our ghost concoction). So, instead we made cat masks, which were a lot of fun! I will hopefully be able to track some down this weekend and we will make them next week, in time for Halloween.
There was an announcement today that Taffy Apple Sales will be accepted until Monday, so if you would still like to order some, please bring in your order by Monday. Also, the FTC cookie dough order forms are due by October 27th.
Our Halloween Party will be on Friday. We have a primary school parade at 8:30 and our party will be from 10:30 to 11:30. The kids will not be eating treats during this time. If you would like to bring a treat, that would be fine, just please have it prepackaged as they will go in their trick or treat bags we are making at school. If you would like to come and join the party, please feel free.
We had some very special visitors today, our very first rocking chair readers! Cara's Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, and Dad were visiting from Pennsylvania and were able to come to read a story to the class. It was so nice, and here is a picture below of Cara's Grandma reading the story to the class.
painting%20pumpkins%20009.jpg

Have a great weekend and stay warm, Fall is finally here to stay!
Miss Cotter

October 22, 2008

Painting Pumpkins

Today we started our pumpkins! Each table got to choose what they wanted to make their pumpkin into. They all worked together to paint and decorate the pumpkin together. Here are some pictures from today, while we painted them. Tomorrow we will add some finishing touches and our pumpkins, or should i say our "bat", "spider", "ghost", "witch", "frankenstein", and "candy corn" will be complete! I will post a picture of all the pumpkins together by Friday. On Halloween, I will have a raffle at each table to see which child will bring their pumpkin home.
painting%20pumpkins%20001.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20002.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20003.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20004.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20005.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20006.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20007.jpg
painting%20pumpkins%20008.jpg

October 20, 2008

Rocking Chair Reading!

I would like to invite any Grandmas or Grandpas that would like to come in and read a story to our Kindergarten Class. I will hold rocking chair reading every Friday from 2:00 to 2:30. Feel free to bring in your own story, or I have lots of stories for you to choose from. Please let me know atleast a week in advance (by email or note) so I can schedule you, and also so that we do not overlap any grandparents. I will let you know if the date is open and confirm it with you. If for some reason a grandparent can not make any Friday afternoon, please let me know of a time that would work, and I can be flexible. Thanks so much, I know that the kids really love when someone come in the room to them read stories, so we all appreciate it very much :)
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Miss Cotter