Classroom 15 Connection

A fun activity that we will be doing throughout this year is learning about our class tree. We are learning about the different seasons and what happens during each one. We went outside and chose a tree to become our "class tree." At the beginning of each month we will stand under and take our picture and observe what has changed since our last picture. I am displaying the pictures (8x10s) in our classroom so that we can see the changes each month. We have already started prediciting what our tree will look like in October...we'll have to wait and see!
Here is our first picture ~
September 2009

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. What gorgeous weather we had! I can't believe this is only our third week of school, we are doing GREAT! We have already seemed to remember our routine and the progress we have made this far is wonderful. I can't wait to see what the rest of this year will bring :)
Here is a look at the week ahead...
Tuesday
Happy Birthday Blessed Virgin Mary! Today was the Blessed Virgin Mary's Birthday, so we celebrated! I baked a cake and we sang Happy Birthday, here are some pictures below.



Lucky had a great time with Tommy this weekend!! They both were excited to share their weekend with us today.

Wednesday
Scholastic Book Orders are due. You can order online or send in the order form and money tomorrow.
PICTURE DAY ~ individual pictures will be taken. The pictures will be taken from the waist up, so students are allowed to wear capris, jeans, etc... Please send your child's picture money with them to school tomorrow, in their folder.

Thursday
Computers...thanks to all the moms and grandmas that came to help last week in computers!! If you would like to help just come and check in at the office, our computer time is from 9:39 to 10:19am.
Art...the students will be needing glue bottles for art class. We use the glue sticks in our classroom almost every day, but in art class glue bottles do work best. If you could send one glue bottle with your child that would be great!! If you can bring it in this week that would be good, if not don't worry, you can bring it in next week...Thanks!!

Friday
Class Pictures IN UNIFORM
For an art project today (in class) we will be making an American Flag.
Lucky will be going home with Ryan!!

Color Words
We have been learning to recognize all the color words (red, blue, green, orange, yellow, black, brown, and purple). The students will be tested on these in two weeks. It would be great if you could practice at home too. You can make flash cards with the color word on them and ask your child once a night, it helps a lot!

If you have any questions, let me know!
Mrs. Dougherty

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend...we are supposed to have beautiful weather :)
Here are just a few reminders for Monday.
~ If your child forgot his/her library book today, please have them bring it on Monday to return. There were several students who were not able to check out a new book because they did not return one.
~ Rest towels and snack mats are coming home! Please remember to bring them back on Monday.
~ In your child's folder there is a large laminated crayon with a list of our color words on it. Please go through the list with your child, we will be testing soon...thanks!
~ Today for September 11th we listened to some patriotic music and made American Flags. They came out beautiful, everyone worked really hard on them and it shows!!
Once again have a great weekend...see you on Monday :)
Mrs. Dougherty

Making our Flags!

Well it still feels like Summer outside, today was hot! We are staying cool in the classroom, and we even got to paint outside with water today!
Here is a look at the week ahead...
Monday
Congratulations to Alejandro, he is our first Star of the Week! Just a reminder, that the week before your child has been chosen for Star of the Week you will be sent home a letter explaining what to bring on each day.
Today was an All School Mass. My class did very well, I was very happy to see how well behaved we were.
Tuesday
Letter Oo printing page assigned for homework, due on Wednesday. If you need extra printing paper, just send me a note and I would be more than happy to send more home.
Wednesday
Ice Cream Day! During lunch ice cream will be sold for $1.00. If your child would like to purchase ice cream, please put $1.00 in an envelope with their name on it, and place it in their folder. Ice Cream is usually sold once a month.
Thursday
We will be doing our color word review! I have a game that I will be playing with them to help reinforce recognizing each color word. The students will be tested next week. If your child can read each color word, a special certificate will be given out. Please remember to practice at home. Most of the color words are memory words, so practice really does help...Thanks! I can definitely tell who has been practicing at home :)
Computers, thanks again to the moms and grandma who come and help!
Friday (as our class likes to call it, "Fun Friday)
Fridays are a lot of fun in room 15! We are always very busy, and have lots of fun activities going on. We do Art in our classroom, and this week we will be doing Fruit Loops on Owls. We use fruit loops to reinforce the o shape.
Library books are due back.
Riddle of the Week for homework. It will be due back on Monday.
Mary will be taking home Lucky! Have fun :)
~Also, just a quick note...I have seen a great progress in printing our names, but some students still need extra practice. As I said above, if you would like extra printing paper let me know :)
~A BIG thank you to all the parents who have brought in snack so far this year! You have done a great job and the kids are enjoying all the treats. The October calendar will go home the week of October 5th. Remember if you DO NOT receive a calendar then you are not responsible for snack that month. You will only receive a calendar the month your child has been assigned snack.
If you have any questions, let me know. Have a great week!
~Mrs. Dougherty

What a busy and fun week we have ahead of us! This week is our Apple Unit, this is one of my favorite times of the year and I love all the exciting ways we get to incorporate apples into our day. Throughout the week we will be learning all about apples, and also about Johnny Appleseed, his birthday is Saturday. The apple unit will be incorporated into Math, and we have a special Johnny Appleseed packet that will help reinforce Left/Right, Top/Bottom, etc... We will also be graphing with apples, and Wednesday is our taste test! We will taste three different types of apples, and graph our favorite.
**Isabella is our Star of the Week**

Here is a look at the week ahead...
Monday
In School Field Trip permission slip is coming home. Mother Goose will be visiting us this year for Halloween! Last year she visited us and all the children loved her, she really is great! The permission slip and money is due Friday, Oct. 2nd.
Our Letter we are learning is Gg.
All of Letter Oo work was sent home on Friday. Please take a moment to look over this with your child. If the child looks at the corrections I have made, or they see what a great job they have done, it really helps them to see a purpose in doing their best :) Also, we are now starting to use our privacy folders! We usually use them for one or two pages in our reading book, and always for our Math chapter test. This gives me a better understanding of how well each student has grasped the concept. If your child receives a "100%" on a paper it means that we did use privacy folders. Or if your child missed one or two, etc... problems, then I pur a -1, -2, etc... I am very happy with everyone's progress so far, we are all adjusting so well to Kindergarten and having a lot of fun too!
Tuesday
Homework: Letter Gg picture page. This is due on Wednesday.
Wednesday
Apple Tasting! Check out my blog for pictures. We made placemats on Monday for this special treat!!
Thursday
Applesauce Time! Last year I made applesauce with my class and they loved it, and it tasted pretty good too. It was very messy, but fun, so I have decided to do it again :) If you have an apple you would like to donate to our class for the applesauce that would be great!! It takes a lot of them, but if you do not have any apples at home, don't worry, I will make sure I have enough for everyone to help prepare our applesauce.
Friday
In Religion we have been learning about our five senses, so today we will be having a taste test! The students will close their eyes and taste different food items (pretzels, crackers, goldfish, and animal crackers), they will have to guess what each food is using their sense of smell, taste, and touch.
Library books are due back!
Homecoming Pep Rally!
Ladie's Guild Hot Lunch!
Riddle of the Week for homework.

Have a fantastic weekend! Gooo Hawks!
Mrs. Dougherty

Here are some pictures from today's apple tasting! It was a lot of fun and quite delicious!! We tasted three types of apples, red delicious, golden delicious, and granny smith. We graphed our favorite and the winning apple was granny smith with a total of nine!

After making our applesauce on Thursday, many of the kids asked if they could try it at home. Here is the recipe, just in case you want to try it!
Ingredients:
Apples, Honey, Cinnamon, and Water

Directions:
STEP 1
Chop Apples

STEP 2
Pour Apples in Blender

STEP 3
Add Cinnamon

STEP 4
Add Honey

STEP 5
Add Water

STEP 6
BLEND

STEP 7
ENJOY!!

I hope everyone is enjoying this Fall weather! It has cooled down in our room :)
Last week was so much fun learning all about apples, I hope you enjoy looking through your child's apple work! We have two apple projects we did hanging in the hall, feel free to take a look.

A BIG thank you to Nicky Baker and his family!! They went apple picking this weekend and brought in enough apples for everyone and the best part was they also brought us caramel dip! It was delicious!!! The kids even said it was better than ice cream and candy!! So thanks for the special treat :)

Here is a look at this week...
Monday:
Brian is the Star of the Week!

Tuesday:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEBASTIAN!
Letter Gg printing page is assigned for homework, please have your child try his/her best and it is due back on Wednesday. Lower case g can be tricky, so have them take some time on this.
Apple Unit is coming home!

Wednesday:
We are starting our Math challenge packets. These packets will be done throughout the year, and are meant for a challenge. We use our privacy folders with them so that I can see those students who need that extra challenge. When they come home do not be concerned if your child did not answer any of the questions right, like I said these are meant to challenge them.
In Reading we are also starting to blend the letters we have learned together. This is one of our first steps to reading. It is amazing to see all the little light bulbs go off as they make the connection :)
October Scholastic Book Orders are coming home, they are due back October 9th.
After School Class Registration Forms are due if you would like your child to participate in one.

Thursday:
Art and Computers!
We will be taking our next picture with our class tree. Check out the blog for our next picture in front of it. I wonder if it has changed at all?? We have already made some predictions!

Friday:
All rest towels will be coming home to be cleaned!
Library books are due back.
The school will be having a prayer service we will attend.
All Mother Goose permission slips and $ is due.