Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Families:
Thank you to all of you who came with the class last week to Prospect Park to pick up leaves, rocks and acorns for our Scientific Unit of Study. It was such a nice day – one of the few that we may have left – and the kids just loved picking out unusual objects to write about. Believe me…they do love to write and love Writing Workshop.

When working in Kindergarten classrooms, it is easy to buy into the idea that little children cannot really articulate what they are trying to do as writers, and that they cannot really make plans and have intentions as writers. But that simply is not true! Five and six year old children absolutely want the chance to think about what they have already done, to imagine what they want to do, and to make deliberate choices and plans for how they will proceed. A good way to teach writing is to have the children think about their writing. This means, teaching kids how they can answer questions such as, "What are you working on as a writer?" and "What have you tried so far?" "How did it go?' "What were you thinking of doing next?" I love the scientific writing unit. We look at objects very very closely – even with magnifying glasses – and describe in detail what the object looks like and feels like. It is very distinct. I think it is important to show children how to go from KNOWING ABOUT to USING letters to communicate their stories. From their writing pieces so far, I know that they are ready to do this. After all, the only reason to learn about letters in the first place is because you have something to say. You know as well as I do how much they have to say!!!

I know that you can help them with this unit by looking at objects – such a leaves, shells, rocks and asking the children what they notice about the object. Is the rock bumpy? Is the shell swirly? What does the leaf look like? How big is the rock? Talk to the children so that they can really look and notice the various attributes of the objects and have something to write about when they are in Writing Workshop. By doing this it will make the children comfortable in knowing what to write about when the time comes for them to write. They will have several new adjectives in their repertoire.

I want to thank the parents who came into our class last Wednesday and participated in our Cooking with Our Buddies Project. The children made pumpkin cake with our Fourth Grade Buddies and absolutely loved it. They loved making the pumpkin cake (?), talking to their buddies and eating the pumpkin cake. It did not look appetizing at the time but when I tasted it, it was actually very good. The Fourth Graders were wonderful teachers and really helped the kids learn about measuring, cleaning up, etc. The kids really didn’t need us at all – RIGHT? Yet, it was so fun to watch them.

I also want to thank everyone for joining us to the trip to Prospect Park Zoo. We really had a ball. I am trying to upload the pictures that we took on our website and hopefully the pictures will be on soon. Even though the weather was a little daunting….I know the children loved the trip and looking at all the animals - as did all the parents who came with us. We have been really busy in Class K-207!!!

On Friday, one of our classmates – Sasha – left for a month long trip to Russia to pick up her new brother – Misha. We are sad that Sasha is not going to be with us for a month but we will be so excited to see Sasha and Misha when they return on December 22nd. I am sure that she will have many stories to tell us!

This week is our long Thanksgiving weekend. Our last day of school is Wednesday. We all have so much to be thankful for so I would like to celebrate Wednesday afternoon in Class K-207. The children and I have been discussing what we are thankful for. Some of our comments are "I am thankful for my mom," "I am thankful for my dad." "I am thankful for love," "I am thankful for my teachers.” Each child has something unique to say. I just love listening to each one. So I am making a Thanksgiving tree and will have each child put their own leaf (their handprint) on the tree and tell the class what they are thankful for. If you would like to come to our class at 1:30 on Wednesday afternoon to help us celebrate, you are more than welcome.

I am listing some of the things that we need to make this a wonderful celebration. Please send me a comment on this blog or e-mail - www.kindergarten.k207@gmail.com to let me know if you are able to come and participate in our celebration. If you notice that someone is not on the e-mail list, please make sure to spread the word.

I am taking this opportunity to thank all of you for the wonderful support you have given to me and to Class K-207. I want to thank you especially for the books purchased for our class from the Book Fair. It has been a wonderful three months. Happy Thanksgiving!
Fondly,
Ms. Graham

List of things needed:
cups and plates
forks
sliced turkey
cranberry sauce
juice
stuffing (?)
fruit
pies
any dessert

PS: The kindergarten teachers have a couple of theatre trips scheduled for December. More on this later.

Do you believe that we are at the 36th Day of School!!!

Dear K-207 Families,

We had a great trip to Green Meadows Farm on Friday! Thanks to all the parents and babysitters who joined us! We saw so many different types of animals and enjoyed the hayride so much.

I hope you and your children enjoyed Halloween this past weekend. I attended the Park Slope Halloween Parade on Saturday night and as the children always say: “It was AWESOME.”

Also on Saturday, as part of Community Board 6 – of which I am a member – I went on a 4-hour tour of all the playgrounds/parks in the Park Slope/Windsor Terrace/Red Hook/Dumbo areas. I got a lot of ideas that we can use for new trips with our class. It was very exciting to see the work being done – and the work that needs to be done - to our playgrounds throughout Brooklyn. On this trip, we also went to the Red Hook farm where volunteers work a “real” farm to get fresh produce. I was surprised that a farm like this is in our own backyard. I would like to take a trip with our class and the other Kindergarten classes to see this farm.

I hope to see many of you this Friday for Parents As Enrichment Partners. At the PAEP, you will have a chance to read, and comment on the children’s published stories from our most recent Personal Narratives Unit in Writing Workshop!

Here is the news for this week:

Report Cards & Conferences

Report Cards will be sent home next Monday. As you may know, kindergarteners get narrative reports for this first marking period.

Parent Teacher conferences will be held next Tuesday, November 10th from 1-3pm and from 5:30 – 8pm.
Please be sure to return the preference sheet so I can schedule your conference.

• School closures & ½ Day: There is no school tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4th as it is a Professional Development Day for faculty and Election Day. Please be sure to vote! Next Tuesday, November 10th will be a ½ day for children to allow time for Parent Teacher Conferences. Next Wednesday, November 11th school is closed for Veteran’s Day.

• Walk to the Park
Stay tuned! I would like to take the children on a walk to Prospect Park to collect more leaves for our Writing like Scientists Unit of study. I will confirm the day based on when parents are able to volunteer.

• Book Fair visit scheduled for this Thursday: The school’s Scholastic Book Fair is opening this week in the MMR. Our class will likely be visiting the school book fair this Thursday. (If there is any change I’ll let you know. I scheduled our visit 9:50. If you would like your child to be able to make any purchases at the Book Fair, please send money in a sealed envelope with your child’s name written on the outside. A flyer was sent home in your child’s homework folder that shows some of the books that will be for sale. If there are specific titles you want your child to purchase, please write them down on the envelope you send in. Also, I discourage the purchase of the toys and trinkets for sale. I would like the children to only purchase book since all children cannot afford “toys.” It really tends to be a problem. If your child wants to purchase toys, please feel free to come back with your child after school since the fair will be going on at that time also.

Please note: I find the Book Fair is both exciting and challenging for kindergarteners, as some children’s families are able to send in spending money and others are not. In an effort to ensure a harmonious excursion for the whole class, I will accept donations from families who would like to contribute some spending money for children in the class whose families may not be in a financial position to send in spending money at the moment.

As for how much you send in for your child, while it’s great that Scholastic is offering quality books at decent prices, it is difficult when the range of money children come with, is excessively wide. For that reason, though it truly is up to you, I recommend sending in $5 to a maximum of $10 for your child for our class trip to the book fair. If you want spend more, you and your child can always stop by the book fair afterschool.

Mark Your Calendars
o Tonight, Monday, November 2nd is Parents’ Night Out, sponsored by the PTA.
o Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3rd is Election Day. School is closed for Professional Development.
o This Friday, November 6th is our next Parents As Enrichment Partners. Parents and friends are invited into the classroom at 8:55 or so, and you will be welcome to stay until about 9:20 to allow us sufficient time to transition for Ms. Rosen who begins Science at 9:30. You will have a chance to read the children’s published story from our most recent Personal Narratives Unit in Writing Workshop!
o Next Tuesday, November 10th is a ½ day. We will dismiss at 12noon. Conferences begin at 1pm.
o Next, Wednesday, November 11th. School is closed for Veteran’s Day.

PLEASE NOTE: Gym has been changed from Tuesday morning at 8:40 to Thursdays at 1:20. Children should have sneakers on at that time. Science with Ms Rosen is now scheduled for Tuesday morning at 8:40. Ms. Rosen will be picking the children up at that time from the schoolyard.

Thank you! I also want to thank my wonderful families for inviting me (and my husband) to the Parents Night Out. We really appreciate it and look forward to seeing you there.

As always, if you have any questions you can email, leave a message for me by calling the main office, or send me a note in your child’s homework folder.

Thank you all for your support.

Sincerely,
Ms. Graham