We're in the Home Stretch!

Wow!  So many things going on!  Here's a few notes to keep you updated.

LOST HOODIE
Attention Morning Class.  A student has lost his red hoodie.  There is one in the classroom but it does not belong to him.  We are thinking perhaps another student grabbed the wrong one by accident.  If your child owns a red hoodie could you check to see that you have the right one?  Thanks

MORNING PLAYTIME
Starting today, Mrs.McMullin will be supervising out on the playground at 8:10am.  If you arrive at school before 8:20am when the bell rings, students are invited to check in with her, then have some playtime before school!
This same plan does not unfortunately work for the afternoon class, so instead we have extended their regular recess time a bit so they don't miss out.

GRADE ONE SWITCH DAY
May 30 is Grade One switch day!  Students come to kindergarten as usual, but once the morning/afternoon has begun, they will be taken down to spend their half day in a Grade One classroom!  Students will not be paired with their "real" Grade One teacher, as class lists haven't been finalized yet, but it's a chance for us to get a sniff of how much fun next year is going to be!  (The Grade One students are clearing out and coming back to spend the day with me!)

IMPORTANT DATES
June 5: Pancake Breakfast at MMH
June 7: Farm Field Trip
June 19: Sports Day
June 21:  LAST DAY of Kindergarten and Kindergarten Graduation BBQ Come and Go 5-6:30pm

HOME READING
Students will hand in their home reading for the last time on June 7.  No books will be sent home after that day.

JUNE SNACK
If you are a snack parent in the month of June, we are asking that you please keep the snacks simple, and something that children can take outside and eat DURING recess time.  This is something they need to do in Grade One as well.  Thanks!

Hot Lunch for Kindergarten

One of the MANY exciting things you get to do as a Grade One student is participate in Hot Lunch once per month.

As a "Welcome to Grade One" gesture, the Parent Council puts on a FREE Hot Lunch for all kindergarten students each May.  

The free Hot Lunch this year will be THURSDAY, MAY 24.  Each child will receive pizza, (cheese or pepperoni), chocolate milk or water and a snack of either chips or veggies.  

Lunch for the morning class will begin at 11:10am, so dismissal will be at 11:30 as usual.  

Lunch for the afternoon class will begin at noon, so arrival time will be the same.  

Thanks to the parent council for such an exciting event!

(If your child does not want to eat the pizza lunch there will be other prepared activities for them until dismissal time.)

I have only had two parents confirm that they will accompany us on the Farm field trip in June.  If you are planning to come PLEASE let me know ASAP.  We need more helpers!  :)

May Updates

Here's a few things to update you on as we jump in to May!


1.  T-SHIRT ORDERS  We are placing the order this Friday, so that they arrive in time for all the kids to wear them to our end of the year BBQ.  If you are not planning to order a t-shirt please just mention it to me, so that I know I am not missing anyone.  If you have misplaced your form, please come and see me, I can get you a new one right away.

2.  FAMILY CELEBRATION  There are a few families that have not indicated that they are attending the family celebration on May 17^th.  This celebration is about 45 minutes (10:45am and 2:30pm), and is lieu of the Mother’s Day Tea/Father’s Day Social we used to do.  The kids love being able to give their special person the gifts they have made, and performing the songs we have learned.  Thanks for RSVPing as soon as you can.  

3.  FARM FIELD TRIP:  We are going to the farm on June 7.  (Corn Maze Petting Zoo)  All parents and siblings are welcome, but only students are paid for and permitted to ride the bus.  Families are welcome to follow us out in their own vehicles.  In the past we've created a big caravan and parents carpooled as well.  If you are planning to attend and would volunteer to supervise a small group of students, please let me know ASAP.  

4.  Year End BBQ:  A few families have been inquiring about a Year End graduation/celebration for kindergarten.  Our celebration at MMH takes the shape of a Come and Go Kindergarten Family BBQ on June 21 from 5-6:30pm.  Mark your calendars... more details to come!  (June 21 is also the last day of kindergarten for the 2012 school year).

5.  The May calendar is coming home in your child's backpack tomorrow.  Sorry for the delay!

6.  Please note the following details from the MMH Newsletter regarding teacher requests, student placements and staff placement for next year.  (No... it's not a typo... I'm hanging up my kindergarten hat after 11 wonderful years.  Looks like your child isn't the only one who gets to be excited to be moving to Grade One!)

Classroom Placement for 2012-2013

The following criteria will be used in setting class lists:

1. A balancing of boys and girls in each class.
   
2. A balancing of the learning and behavioral needs of children in each class. We want each class to be as heterogeneous as possible.
   
3. Recognition of the fact that there are some children who, for whatever reason, do not get along with one another and it is best to split them up.
   
4. Parental requests will be considered in the context of the above criteria. The Principal has the final say in deciding on placements.
   
5. Once established, it is recommended that the class lists be adhered to unless a situation emerges which is disruptive to the classroom setting and one which we have been una- ble to resolve. In this circumstance, the option of an inter-school transfer could occur.
   

STAFFING 2012-2013: (These assignments are subject to change at this time.)


KINDERGARTEN:  Mrs. Krista Seaman (a.m./p.m.), Mrs. Marnie Morton (a.m./p.m.), and TBD (a.m. only).

GRADE ONE:  Mrs. Jacquie Fleming, Mrs. Linda Payne, Mrs. Rita Johnston, Mrs. Angie Fallwell, and TBD
GRADE TWO:  Ms. Kelly Jo Craddock, Mrs. Megan McMillan, Mrs. Lori Nelson and Mrs. Lois Van Roon
GRADE THREE:  Mrs. Jennifer Burke, Mrs. Lisa Prawdzik, Ms. Corrina Barker, and Mr. Gary Pickering
GRADE FOUR:  Ms. Erin Horvey, Mr. Mike Wevers, Mrs. Angie Kubik, and Mrs. Marla Bloudoff
GRADE FIVE:  Ms. Karen Bourassa, Mrs. Sheanne Cox, Ms. Megan Peeke-Vout and TBD 
LEARNING SUPPORT:  Mrs. Nicole Baker
MUSIC GRADES 1-4:  Ms.ElizabethNevels
ADMINISTRATION:
Principal: Mr. Paul Bryant
Vice Principal: Mr. David Platt; TBD 


IMPORTANT:  If you are planning to request a particular teacher for your child for the upcoming year, a request must be sent to Mr. Bryant in writing, by JUNE 1.  


7.  UPCOMING FREE CLOTHING EXCHANGE 
WHEN: MONDAY, MAY 28

TIME: 3:30 to 7:30
WHERE: MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE SCHOOL GYM
PLEASE COME AND PICK OUT AS MANY CLOTHES AS YOU CAN CARRY. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DONATE ANY ITEMS TO RECEIVE ANY ITEMS.
ALL DONATIONS OF CLEAN CLOTHING AND SHOES NEED TO BE DROPPED OFF AT MMH BEFORE MAY 6. 


8.  IT'S A BLAST PROGRAM:  Registration for those families in need of before or after school care next year begins MAY 30.  Spaces are limited!


9.  PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Tuesday, June 5, 2012
7:00am to 8:15am
All MMH families are invited to celebrate a great year and to thank
you for your continued support.
Breakfast is free!
Come and enjoy pancakes, coffee and juice! 


10.  A HUGE shout out to Miss Seibel.  We miss her already!  If you'd like to see the book we had published as a farewell gift, it will be in the classroom for viewing tomorrow!

JUST A FEW COOL IDEAS FOR TEACHING SIGHT WORDS

One of the common themes from parents at interviews this time around was: "Do you have any fun or different ideas to help us teach our child sight words?" I'm going to list a few ideas in this post, but if you've come up with a great idea/game/website that you do at home with your child, please email it to me and I will add it to the post! Thanks!

WHAT'S THE PASSWORD? Hang a piece of dark paper on a door, the fridge etc. that says “What’s the password?” Underneath the construction paper flap is a sticky note (or multiple) with a sight word (or two) on it. The children have to tell you the sight words each time they enter the room. They get SO excited whenever there is a new sight word!

MAGNETS... Add the words in magnet letters to magnetic white boards, cookie sheets or your fridge. Throughout the day, mix up the letters and ask children to come up and fix the words.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF SIGHT WORD CHANTS

Make a word with glitter glue. Wait until the glue hardens, and have him/her trace the letters while saying the letter name and then the word (“t” “h” “e”- “the”).

Have your child use glue to make the word and then place yarn over the glue.

Use Playdoh to make a word.

Have your child trace words in sand. I use meat trays and craft sand.

Of course, shaving cream is a popular multi-sensory activity!

Incorporating movement into learning sight words is also fun. Try having your child jump, hop, clap or tap out the letters of a sight word.

Make an old fashioned hopscotch game with chalk in the driveway and write sight words in each box.

We also call Sight Words "popcorn words" because the "Pop Up" in reading ALL the time! Pick a common word and let your child colour the ones they find with a yellow crayon, highlighter or marker in an old magazine or newspaper.

Make a BINGO game! There are many free BINGO sheet generators online, or better yet, just make one out of paper and a marker!

ONLINE GAMES TO HELP REINFORCE LEARNING

Let me say once again, you can not use computer games to TEACH. However, they can be a great resource to mix things up a bit and to reinforce skills already learned. Here are just a few.

1. Learn To Read

Learn To Read has 15 individual activities listed within the “Play, Book, Skills” format. The play component had children making words with similar endings eg cot, pot, hot, dot. The Book format then focuses on a sound like the “short o” and children click on individual words on the book to listen to the word and read along. The Skills format is either a video reinforcing a skill required for reading like “chunking” or practicing blends.

2. Dub Cubs

From PBS Kids, Dub Cubs focuses on rhyming words through allowing kids to make their own little rap. Complete with record scratching sounds and throwing in words like “funky” and “alright”!!

3. Three Little Plays

Another game from the fab Starfall. Three Little Plays has two components, firstly familiarising the child with the key words to be read in the play and then they read the play, by pressing on each word individually. What I like about this part is that the audio comes up slowly, so allows the child time to decode the word themselves.

4. Word Reader

Word Reader requires the child to listen to a word then click on its written form. It has a base of approx 35 words that it runs through of the easier sight words. My only issue is that the audio could be a little clearer to make it easier for the children.

5. Star Words

From BBC, Star Words requires the child to identify the shape of the sight words and match them up to the shape by either dragging the word to the shape or clicking on the shape.

6. I Can Read

I Can Read requires the child to listen to a simple sentence and the associated question. To answer the question the child will need to click on one of the high frequency words. (You need to click on listen after each time you have answered a question.)

7. Sight Word Bingo

Listen to the word the BINGO bug speaks and click on the corresponding sight word on the screen. Get four words correct vertically, horizontally or diagonally to get BINGO and win!

8. Dinosaur Eggs

Similar to Word Reader, Dinosaur Eggs requires children to listen to the words and then click on the matching text. The words in this game are from the harder high frequency words.

9. Spelling Practice

Select a Dolch Word List and listen to the word the dragon speaks. Click and drag the letters to spell the word correctly.

10. Word Search Creator

Make your own Word Search Puzzle - Junior! Children can practice spelling by making a Word Search Puzzle to search for words! At home or in school children can make their own puzzles and have fun learning to spell. You can print or play the word search online.

I have a few things for you to add to your April calendar:

CRAZY HAIR / HAT DAY

April 5 is Crazy Hat or Hair Day at MMH.

BRING A ROCK TO SCHOOL

We are asking that each child bring a rock to school sometime during the week of April 16-19. We are using them to create one of our Family Day Celebration gifts. It should be about the size of your child's fist, the smoother the better.

Build Your Wild Self

We visited a fantastic website today. Many students were asking how to find it at home.
Here's the link. Have fun!

Build Your Wild Self

We've been doing research projects this week! I know it's sometimes difficult to get your children to talk about what they do at school, so ask them which Rainforest animal they have become an expert on! It will be one of the following:

Sloth, Blue Macaw, Python or Red Eyed Tree Frog.

We have learned some pretty cool stuff!

Your children also just completed a project based on the book:

The Best Part of Me: Children Talk About their Bodies in Pictures and Words

Wendy Ewald (Author, Illustrator)

After hearing the book read in class, each student chose the "best part" of them. We took a photo of their choosing and then they wrote about their choice. The end products are beautiful and are now lining the hallway. Be sure to come and check them out!

Please keep your eye on my hallway notice board in the coming week. Our 100th Day of school is coming soon and we will be asking families to please sign up to bring items for our One Hundred Things for Snack! Students will be counting 100 items to eat that day, including Cheerios, pretzels, raisins and popcorn. Thank you in advance for your support!

In a little over a week students will be coming home with a tiny (I don't want to scare anyone after the Leprechaun Traps!) homework project. We are going to make an entire bulletin board of our 100s. Students will be asked to count 100 things of their choosing and bring them to school in a sandwich sized Ziploc bag. Some ideas might be: 100 Legos, 100 cotton balls, popcorn seeds, toothpicks, gummy bears, cheerios... the options are endless! It's a pretty powerful thing for students, when they realize that one hundred of something can not only fit in a little bag, but that it really isn't that much! All 100 is, is 10, 10 times! Pretty cool when you're five!

We're Going to the RAINFOREST!

I am SO excited for the student's to see our classroom tomorrow morning! We are jumping head first into the Rainforest! Amongst other things, we are going to do research projects, learn new art concepts, delve into some incredible picture books and SO much more! Here are a few things to update you on!

Leprechaun Traps

I have to apologize to my morning families. A Homework Project sheet should have gone home in your child's backpack on Thursday. Because of this mistake, please disregard the due date of this Thursday. Anyone who would like to take next weekend as well to complete this project is more than welcome to do so! Please remember, this 'trap' can be something very simple and should stay small enough to fit inside a shopping sized bag. (It might sound crazy but in years past a few dads have gotten carried away and had to carry the traps in to the classroom themselves! Ha ha...) After we try to catch the Leprechaun on Monday night, on Tuesday, March 13 we will be having a Trap Fair, inviting other classes to see our creations! (and any photos we just might get of that sneaky guy! Shhhh...)

Show and Share

For the month of March, in place of our regular Show and Share, please help your child complete the research page that accompanied their snack calendar. (If you need a new sheet just let me know!) Research shows:

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”

Having your child become an expert and teach their friends is the BEST way to ensure their learning. It is going to be so exciting to compile this class book!

If your child has anything Rainforest related and they would like to bring it to school this month to share and/or display, please feel free to send it in at anytime!

Snack Time

Students are doing SUCH a great job of explaining the four food groups during snack time! Thanks for coaching them and for making an effort to bring healthy snacks to school. I really appreciate it. Please remember, these snacks do not need to be costly or elaborate. Healthy snacks help to ensure the best possible chance for great learning. (... it also makes treats so much more special when they don't happen every day!)

Petland

As you may have noticed from the MMH Kindergarten Calendar, PETLAND is coming to our kindergarten. If animal allergies are an issue for your child, please come and talk to me about this so we can make other arrangements for them during this time. Thanks so much!

Backpacks

Please encourage your child to empty their backpack of their mail each night. (I know there are exceptions to this... it happens in our home all the time!!) It is something they are completely capable of doing and will ensure that you are aware of important happenings. Thanks!

Parent Teacher Interviews

There is NO KINDERGARTEN Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 due to Parent Teacher Interviews. If you are interested in having an interview, or have been requested to sign up, please so do this week. Carly and I look forward to seeing you!

Spring Break Changes

It's hard to believe, but once Spring Break is over, we begin to make slow, small changes to our kindergarten routine in order to prepare students for success in Grade One. Here are a few things to look forward to. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

1. Recess: After Spring Break we will be beginning to go out for recess with the rest of the school. (A kindergarten teacher will ALWAYS accompany them) This is to help the students learn to listen to the bell and to line up and wait to be invited in to the school. We do this every year and find that the students are SO ready for it and have a GREAT time! (They are restricted to the playground equipment.)

2. Backpacks: We are going to start filling our own backpacks at the end of each day!

3. Grade One Day: In May we will be participating in a Grade One switch day in which students will get to spend a morning/afternoon in a Grade One classroom! This helps to rid much of the unknown that some students might otherwise spend their summers worrying about!

4. Snacks: In June we will be asking parents to bring snacks that can be taken out for recess. This is the expectation in Grade One, and gives students a chance to learn how long they have to eat if they want play time as well!

Kindergarten versus Grade One

Students with birthdays between September 1 and December 30 have the option of starting kindergarten when they are four, or when they are five. Maturity is the biggest indicator of academic readiness. If you have a child that began kindergarten at age four and are feeling that they could possibly benefit from one more year of kindergarten, or have questions about this, (and if I have not spoken to you about it already) please come and see me ASAP.

Usborne Book Fair

We are having an Usborne Book Fair at MMH on March 22 and 23. More details to come!