December 1, 2008

1st week of December

Hi Parents,

Christmas is in the air-outside and in the classroom! The class was so excited to see the snow today. We began our discussion of Advent and what it means to wait. During our circle time activities, I will be choosing 2 students a day to open the windows on our Advent calendars. For Religion, we made our own Advent wreaths with 4 paper candles. Today we "lit" (colored) our first candle and will continue "lighting" our candles every Monday morning. I would encourage you to take your child to mass on Sunday during this Advent season so your child can see the real wreath.

This week's happenings:

Rachel is our star-of-the-week and is celebrating her birthday on Thursday. Her grandma is also our first "Rocking chair reader" and will be coming to the class this Friday to read some of her favorite stories. If any other students want their grandmas,grandpas or other relative to visit our class and read, please let me know. I have had a few parents contact me. The students really enjoy this-its alot of fun for all involved.

Tuesday: Ii picture paper assigned for homework. As I mentioned in today's newsletter, we only learn the short i sound in Kindergarten. (ex:igloo, insect, indian). No long i words!

Please review the number words one, two, three, four, five, six.. Also,continue to have your child practice printing their numbers 1-10. I still see reversals of #'s 2, 3, and 5.

Thursday: Family pictures due. We are discussing how important our families are in Religion and I thought it would be nice if the class brought in a picture of their own family. I will be displaying these for a few days. If you do not have one, don't worry about it.

Well, thats about it for this week. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and the turkey recipes I sent home last week. They were quite amusing!

Have a good week, stay warm.

Mrs. Revis

November 25, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

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November 24, 2008

Thanksgiving Week

Hi Parents,

Well Thanksgiving is here again! This is always a fun week in Kindergarten. Here's the agenda:

Monday: Today we finished up letter book Ll. I decided to have the class sound out and print the words from one of the pages in their book. The results of your child's work is in their folder.
Please go over this. I will be doing this at the end of each remaining book.

A Scholastic book order went home. All orders must be in by next Monday, December 1st so I can get the books back in time.

Tuesday: A VERY busy day!
All school mass @ 8:30
Computers
Our annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Celebration . We have been very busy preparing for this.
P.M. Activity: A Surprise!
A Charlie Brown Thanksging will be on T.V @ 7:00.

*Please check your child's folder for some Thanksgiving art, and recipes(quite amusing!)

Wednesday: Thanksgiving fun worksheets and stories.
1/2 day-dismissal @ 11:30. I will be bringing the class out @ 11:25 to avoid the
rush.

*Make sure you check out my blog tomorrow night. I will be posting pictures from our "celebration" and our p.m. activity.

Finally, I want to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. I thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to teach your children. Have a safe trip to all of you who may be traveling. See you on Monday, December 1st.

Enjoy,
Mrs. Revis

November 17, 2008

Week of November 17th

Hi Parents,
The 3 day weekend was quite nice-hope you all enjoyed it. Winter weather sure arrived quickly! I was glad to see that all the students were dressed appropriately today. I took them out to the courtyard for about 10 minutes. It was cold, but the fresh air felt good. Please continue to have your child wear a hood/hat and gloves. When we are no longer able to play in the courtyard (due to snow), I usually take the class for a quick walk around the school.

This week's happenings:

Monday:

Ben is our star-of-the-week. Congratulations Ben! Due to the 3 day week next week, I will not be having a star-of-the-week. I will resume star-of-the-week after Thanksgiving.

We began letter book Ll.

In Religion we began discussing the bible story of Noah's Ark. We will be watching a video of the story on Wednesday.

Tuesday:
Ll picture paper assigned for homework. If your child chooses to draw pictures, please have him/her color them. It looks nicer.

Wednesday:
We will be completing chapter 3 in Math. If your child is reversing their numbers, keep practicing!

Thursday:
Mrs. Conn coming in to do a Thanksgiving craft.

We will begin chapter 4 in Math-printing of numbers 6-10. Please continue to have your child say the number poem to assist in the printing. It does help!

Ll printing paper with WORDS on back assigned for homework. With the remaining letters in our letter books, I will continue to assign the printing paper, AND words/sentences on the other side to practice reading and printing.

Friday:
Dress down day-bring 25 cents.
Ladies Guild hot lunch

*A small progress report will be coming home letting you know how your child is doing with letter/sound recognition and printing of the letters and numbers we have covered. A copy of their letter/number test will be included. Take some time to review the test with your child.

We began reading various Thanksgiving stories today. Ask your child about the one I read called Thanksgiving at the Tappletons. It is one of my favorite stories. Basically its message is that Thanksgiving is not all about the food, but who you are with on Thanksgiving. It really sends a nice message. I also began asking the class how to prepare a turkey and what will they be serving with their turkey. I have done this every year and its always one of my favorite activities. A copy of all their responses will be coming home next week. Share it with your family members on Thanksgiving-its a great conversation piece. I share it with my family every year and they love reading how Kindergarten children prepare a Thanksgiving meal.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here! The year as always, is flying by. I am pleased with the progress the class has made since the first day of school- 58 days ago! Please continue to work with your child-it really shows.

Well, thats about it for now. Stay warm!

Mrs. Revis

November 10, 2008

Junior Firefighters!

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November 10, 2008

Hi Parents,
Hope you all had a nice weekend. The cold weather certainly has arrived! I will try and take the class out as often as possible. They need the fresh air! Please make sure your child has a hood/hat and for the girls-please send them in tights or they may bring their St. Linus sweat pants to wear under their jumpers.

This weeks agenda:

Lauren Kokaska is our star-of-the-week. Congratulations Lauren!

Tuesday: Book fair. Our class will be going from 1:20-1:40. As stated in the newsletter, please send money in an envelope or feel free to come. Please be at the classroom by 1:15. If you do come and help your child purchase their books, remind him/her that you need to go home when we are done. In the past, many students have a hard time seeing their parents go home and will suddenly "feel sick" and want to go home too. Please tell your child you have to go, and you will see them when school is over. I would appreciate your help with this.
If you cannot make it, the book fair will be going on tomorrow night. I believe its from 6:30-8:00.

Wednesday: Icecream will be sold at lunch for $1.00.
Rest towels will be coming home to be cleaned.

Thursday: Dismissal @ 11:30. We will walk out @ 11;25 to avoid the rush.
Parent-teacher conferences. Feel free to stop in even if you have not made an appointment.

Friday: No school!!

Finally, last week on Election day, I asked each of the students what they thought the job of the president was and what would they do if they ever became the president. Here are the responses:

The job of the president is to:

-Keep the country safe
-Go to meetings
-Help people
-Fly airplanes
-Work for all the people
-Keep the earth clean
-Sit in his chair and tell the people what they have to do
-Be in charge of the whole city

If I were president some day I would...

-Buy a dog
-Help people who are poor to make money
-Eat alot of candy
-Make sure everyone is being nice to other people
-Talk to people
-Help people decorate their Christmas trees
-Make sure everybody in Afghanistan could go back to their homes
-Keep the world healthy
-Give people their jobs
-Work on papers
-Help anyone if they got hurt in my office
-Play baseball

There are some humorous,yet some very insightful responses. Kindergarteners know more than we think they do sometimes!!

Please e-mail me if you would still like to set up a specific time to see me on Thursday. I have several openings.

Have a relaxing evening and a good week. Stay warm!
Mrs. Revis

November 4, 2008

Halloween 2008

Halloween Memories

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November 3, 2008

November 3, 2008

Hi Parents,

Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween. What a beautiful day it was outside-we had perfect trick-or-treating weather!!! Thank you to all who showed up for the parade on Friday morning. What a great turn out. Also, thank you very much to Mrs. Vulich and all the other moms for a fun Halloween party. The students really seemed to enjoy themselves. Sorry about the warm temperature in the room. If I could make it any cooler, you know I would. I just keep telling the class that its nice and cozy in the winter.

You may have noticed or heard from your child that I was not in school today. I had oral surgery on Saturday that had been scheduled for 3 months. Everything went well and I am so glad its over with. I'll be back tomorrow with a little bit of a swollen mouth.

I hope you had the opportunity to review your child's report card with him/her. Please remember to pat your child on the back for all the positive remarks, and remind them how they can improve the areas that need attention.

Parent-teacher conferences will be next Thursday, November 13th. If I request a conference with you, you will receive a form in your child's folder tomorrow. If you do not receive a request form from me, but still want to meet with me, feel free to come during the open conference time. If you want to arrange a specific time to see me that day, please contact me and we can set up a time.

Here is the agenda for the rest of the week:

Jack Stifter is our star-of-the-week. Have fun with Baby Duck Jack! Last week Maggie had Baby Duck and dressed her up for Halloween. Baby Duck also came to the Halloween party. She looked so cute in her costume and had fun at the party. Thank you to all the families who have had Baby Duck at their homes so far. You have taken such good care of her.

We began letter book S today. The sound of S is ssssssssss(like a snake). A word list went home today in your child's folder. Now that we are blending more sounds, a word list will be coming home with each new letter. After the holidays, we will be covering a letter book a week.
When that starts, word lists will be coming home more frequently. As I said before, have your child sound out and read the words-not just memorize the list. In order for me to see if a student really knows their sounds/blends, I eventually will make up new words with the letters I have covered. If a student can read those words without hesitation, then I know he/she is on their way to reading.

Tomorrow we will vote!!

In Math, we will still be working on printing #'s 1-5. Please have your child continue to practice.
It really helps me out greatly when there is help from home. It shows!

For Religion we are discussing the Bible and I will be reading various stories from our children's bible.

The OakLawn Fire Dept. will be visiting us either Wednesday or Thursday to discuss fire safety with the class.

Have a good evening and see everyone tomorrow. Wow-can you believe its already November?
Christmas will be here before you know it-oh my!!

Mrs. Revis

October 29, 2008

Sweats Day

Hi Parents,
Dr. Stritch made an announcement at 2:30 today regarding tomorrow's sweat pants day.
Students may wear sweat pants but MUST wear their uniform shirts.

Have a good evening,

Mrs. Revis

October 28, 2008

October 28, 2008

Hi Parents,

Hope you are all getting excited for Halloween. The students certainly are! We are doing art activities, learning songs, and listening to Halloween stories. Here is the agenda for the rest of the week:

Maggie is our star-of-the-week!

Wednesday: Don't forget to wear your red ribbon and to coincide with the theme, wear your uniform shirt inside out. ( If your child does not feel comfortable doing so, he/she does not have to.)

Thursday: Wear your sweats to school. If your child does not wear sweats, uniforms must be worn.
- We will be carving and decorating pumpkins.
-In Reading, we will continue learning about words that have "d" as an ending sound (red, fed). We will be making a word poster, so please have your child know an ending d word.

Friday: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Costumes are to be worn to school. There will be a costume parade @ 8:30 outside school. Please come and bring your camera.

-Class party beginning at 10:15. Mrs. Vulich sent home a letter several weeks ago regarding the details. All parents are welcome to come. As you know, the room gets quite warm and with all the extra people, even warmer, so dress accordingly! (Take it from one who knows!!)

-Ladies Guild hot lunch
-Report cards coming home. 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, please discuss it with me on that day-not in the parking lot or school hallways.

We began learning to print numbers 1-5 yesterday. We focused on # 2 today and overall the class did pretty well. Tomorrow we will work on # 3, Thursday # 4, and Friday, # 5. Please have your child practice printing their numbers. Our catchy number poem was sent home yesterday in your child's folder. It does help! Remember-practice does make perfect.

As I mentioned above, the classroom gets quite warm, so if you want your child to change into more cool and comfortable clothing on Halloween after the party is over, please send in a change of clothes, or if you are attending the party, help your child change. The class will be going to gym class in the afternoon, so make sure your child can participate if he/she chooses to stay in their costume.

Have a happy and safe Halloween. Boo!

Mrs. Revis