Open House - Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Hi Everyone,

I just received the schedule for the Open House tomorrow night and wanted to pass it along to you.

6:00 - 6:25  Principal Welcome/PTO in the Auditorium

                 

6:30 - 7:00  Teacher Presentations in the classroom (round 1)

                 

7:05 - 7:15 Confidentiality Meeting with Parent Volunteers

                 *with Mrs. McDonald in the cafeteria

7:20 - 7:50 Teacher Presentations (round 2-same as the first presentation...just in case you have a sibling in a different grade)

7:50 - 8:00 Wrap up

I'm not sure if I will be here tomorrow night but Kerry and I both hope you are able to make it.  It will be a great opportunity to learn more about the Kindergarten curriculum and our daily schedule.  The Open House is for parents only and isn't a time for conferencing about how your child is doing.  We do have a special project we would like for you to complete.  We hope to see you there!

Have a great day!

Melanie

September 18, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We can safely say that we had a wonderful second week in Kindergarten!  The children are learning to listen to and follow directions.  They are learning to use materials and put them away.  The children walk in a safe and caring line and are learning one another’s names as we greet one another at meeting time.

The students have begun their first of many innovations.  This one is following the predictable words of Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr.  The children have also taken part in interactive writing with our daily news and announcements.  They have also learned poems, participated in shared reading, and have listened to many stories.  They are doing a great job rotating around to their daily work centers and have been enjoying all the painting, gluing, and clay!

In math, the children are practicing counting, representing, and writing numbers 1-5.  I hope the math papers that are coming home are helpful for you to see what they are doing in math.  I would encourage you to practice writing the numbers 1-5 during the next couple of weeks to make sure your child is getting lots of practice with them.  Feel free to get creative with it...they can write the numbers in sand, salt, or shaving cream!  During calendar time, the students follow patterns and practice counting and have been working on learning the days of the week.

Our first field trip will be Tuesday, September 29th.  We are going apple picking at Parlee Farms.  Another notice will go home with more details right before the trip.  Payment is due soon, though.  Please make checks payable to Francis Wyman Kindergarten or send $14 in cash as soon as possible.  Please also let us know if you are interested in chaperoning for the trip.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at our Open House this coming Tuesday night, September 22nd.  The evening will start in the auditorium with our principal, Mrs. McDonald, and then you will be invited to our classroom for a presentation to learn more about our curriculum and to view student artwork.  The Open House is for parents only and isn’t a time to conference with us on how your child is doing.  We will be more than happy to answer general questions about the curriculum and daily schedule, though.  We also have a special project we would like you to complete!  Mrs. McDonald will end the evening with a Confidentiality Meeting, which is one of the requirements for volunteering in the classroom and on field trips.  We hope you can make it!

Have a great weekend!

Melanie Duncan

Please label your child’s jackets, sweatshirts, hats, etc. with his/her name.  It will be much easier to find out what belongs to everybody that way!

PS… The online password for the Scholastic Let’s Find Out Weekly Readers is Duncan2015.  Enjoy!

Student Artwork

We have been busy getting student artwork up on our empty walls!  The room and hallway look much more colorful and creative now!  We hope you can make it to our Open House on Tuesday, September 22nd to see even more artwork and to learn more about what we are doing every day in Room 115!

September 11, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

The first week of school has come and gone and your children seem to have adjusted well. We have spent the week doing "guided discoveries" which are focused, purposeful, and playful ways to introduce materials, areas, and activities in the classroom.  This helps in the use and care of the materials and also promotes independence at cleanup time.  Our expectations are clear and encourage students to keep a kind, caring, and safe classroom.  This is all part of Responsive Classroom and will be continued next week.  

We have read many stories, which we call "read alouds".  The children have read our news and announcements and have answered questions in morning meeting.  We have sung songs, done activities, and read poetry.  We are also getting to know one another better every day.  Monday will be our first day of work centers.  The students will have a job list to complete each morning and will rotate through their jobs independently (although with quite a bit of support at the beginning of the year).  I know they will do great!

The nurse would like to remind parents to make sure all medical forms are turned in ASAP.  Please send them to school with your child in his/her blue folder and we will make sure they get to the nurse.  

Our first field trip will be to Parlee Farms on Tuesday, September 29th to pick apples and pumpkins. More information will go home soon, including the cost of the trip and what the students will need to bring.   If you are interested in chaperoning for this field trip, please contact me by early next week.  Also, please make sure you have a CORI form on file at the Central Administration Office at the High School.

Just a reminder that Open House is Tuesday, September 22 from 6-7:30pm for Kindergarten.  The principal will talk in the auditorium for the first half hour and then you are invited to come to our classroom for the remainder of the time.  Either Mrs. Marsh or I (probably Mrs. Marsh) will do a presentation to go over our daily schedule and talk a little about the curriculum.  You will also be able to see some of the students’ artwork they have completed so far!  We also have a special project for parents to complete so you won’t want to miss it!  The principal will have a confidentiality meeting afterwards, which is one of the requirements for volunteering.

Have a great weekend!

Melanie Duncan and Kerry Marsh

Please don’t forget to send in the $5 to cover the cost of the field trip t-shirt.  You can send either cash or a check made out to Francis Wyman Kindergarten.  Thank you!

First Week Pictures

We've gotten off to a great start!  Here are just a few pictures showing some of the things we have been doing so far this week!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Room 115!  Our names are Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Marsh and we are excited to start our year with you in Kindergarten!  Take a peek at the pictures below to see different parts of our classroom!