Welcome to our 2017-2018 Kindergarten Class Blog!
This will be used as a primary source of communication between home and school. Please get into the habit of checking the blog at the start of each week. I will do my best to have my weekly update posted before each Monday morning. :)
The following information was also sent home as a paper newsletter on October 2nd:
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST TWO WEEKS:
- Brainstorming class expectations together and painting a poster
- Playing name game songs, "Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar" and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” and making a class books
- Visit from Constable Winkles - WITS program presentation
- Terry Fox Run and Presentation from Mr. Abbley
- Having a visit from “Zero The Hero” (who comes to school each time there is a zero in our “How many days have we been in Kindergarten” chart- 10, 20, 30, etc). The kids learned about the importance of the number zero. Zero The Hero brought the students #10 trees to colour, put 10 apples in, and glue fruit loops into a 10-frame! The kids also made their own Zero the Hero puppets.
- Having our first COLOUR WEEK – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue Show and Share (students are continuing to work on being good listeners and waiting patiently for their turn to speak).
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
It is COLOUR WEEK #2! Students are really enjoying wearing clothing of the day's colour and bringing a small object of that colour to school (reminder object MUST FIT IN BACKPACK). We will continue categorizing and sorting these items each day. Please note, Rainbow Day is the LAST DAY OF WHOLE-CLASS SHOW AND SHARE. We will begin our regular “one-person-a-day” Show and Share at the end of October or in November. Please do not send toys to school after Rainbow Day.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday - PURPLE DAY
Tuesday –PINK DAY
Wednesday –RAINBOW DAY! (last day for whole-class show and share)
- Library with Mrs. Bond @ 9:30am (this will be the kids 1st time bringing home a book! Please return the book and the plastic book bag BEFORE each Weds. Library visit)
- P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Thursday – P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Friday - P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
CLASS EXPECTATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR:
The students have been in full-day Kindergarten for nearly a month! The children and I discussed the behaviours, words, and feelings they would like to experience in Kindergarten. We created 5 class expectations together. When we follow these expectations we are in the GREEN ZONE (see more below)! J Please review these expectations with your child and ask him/her to tell you or act out a positive example of “expected behaviour” choices that follow the class expectations.
In Kindergarten we...
- Treat others with kindness (hands and feet to self, use manners and polite words)
- Listen carefully and follow directions
- Cooperate (share, take turns, wait patiently, respect each others’ space)
- Are responsible for what we say and do (apologize, take care of our classroom, be safe/careful)
- Try our best every day
Behaviour “Traffic Light” and “How Was My Day?” Behaviour Calendars
We have been using a large “Traffic Light” display in class to help the children monitor their own behaviour and promote self-regulation. This class-wide positive behaviour reinforcement system encourages students to make “Green” choices (follow the class expectations above). Every child has a nametag on our Behaviour Traffic Light. Each day, the Kindergarten students’ nametags begin the day in the “white/blank” space and get moved into the “green zone” as we review our daily expectations. If a child shows behaviour that exceed expectations, his/her name may be moved to “Brilliant Blue”. If children are having difficulty following class or school expectations, warnings will be given and their name will be changed to YELLOW. If unsafe or undesired behaviour escalates and further consequences are necessary, a child will be moved to RED. This is a reminder for the child to rethink his/her behaviour. RED behaviour may result in a break or “chill out time,” (in an area of the classroom away from the class group) or another consequence related to his/her behaviour. Here is the language the kids know for each colour:
- Brilliant BLUE - “Wow” behaviour. “I follow the rules and expectations. I lead by example to help others understand the expectations.
- Go GREEN- “Go” behaviour. “I follow the rules and expectations to the best of my ability”
- Yikes YELLOW - “Be careful” behaviour. “I need reminders about how to follow the rules and expectations”
- Redo RED - “Stop” behaviour. “I made poor choices when following the rules and expectations. I need to try again.
At the end of each day, the Kindergarten students and I talk about their overall day and the choices they have made. Your child will record his/her behaviour by colouring in the “How Was My Day?” Calendar sheet that are kept in the Back and Forth folders. This will be a quick reference to how your child's day was. If there is something I would like to share with you about your child's day, I will write a quick note on the back of the calendar. PLEASE INITIAL your child’s calendar each day and take time to discuss and ask your child if he/she can recall specific examples of his/her “blue”, “green”, “yellow” or “red” choices.
Every day is a fresh start and a chance to do our best! :)
MONTHLY HOMEWORK CALENDARS: These calendars are sent home each month in order to encourage families to begin the habit of sitting down for a few minutes each day and completing a daily homework task on the calendar (e.g., How many letter As can you see?) and reading at home. Children who have had books read to them have a big advantage in school. The daily homework “jobs” are meant as a suggestion. If your child finds the daily work too difficult to do on his/her own, have fun doing it together. If it is too easy for your child, add to the task. For example, if you are doing a letter hunt, practice saying or printing words with the letter as well. Check off or put a sticker on each completed day. At the end of the month, children return their completed homework calendar to Ms. Gartrell and are entered in the prize-draw where 2 students win each month! (Note: if a few days are incomplete on the calendar it can still be handed in). Make homework time a happy time! If it is something the child enjoys, the benefits are much greater. :)
BUSY BEE CALENDAR: We have a “Busy Bee” (aka: Special Helper) each day in Kindergarten. When your child is the Busy Bee, he/she will be kept busy with lots of special responsibilities like being the “teacher’s assistant”, leading calendar time, sitting in the Busy Bee chair, leading line-ups, holding the doors open for classmates, washing hands first before eating, picking a centre activity first, taking messages to the office, and much more.
A monthly Busy Bee calendar will be posted in the hallway bulletin board. Please do not send your child to school if he/she is ill on her Busy Bee day. Students have 1-2 turns as the Busy Bee each month.
PARENT/GUARDIAN VOLUNTEERS: we are still working on establishing routines and expectations in the classroom. However, in mid-late October I will be requesting adult volunteers for Pumpkin/Halloween events. Please keep checking the weekly blog for volunteer dates. If you are able to help, please send a note in your child’s Back and Forth folder.
SNACK/LUNCH: Each day, Kindies in our classroom are given 15-20 minutes to eat snack and another 15-20 minutes for lunch (with Gr. 5/6 lunch monitors). Please know I do my best to see that the kids eat; however, this is also my own lunch break so there are times when I am not in the room ensuring they eat everything in their lunch. For the past few weeks, we have had a “snack table” as an afternoon center choice if the kids are still hungry later in the day.
REMINDERS:
- Complete and sign orange STUDENT VERIFICATION FORMS and return to school ASAP
- Return pink SCHOOL FEES forms and payment. Parkcrest purchases school supplies in bulk, this is a cost-effective and simple way to equip kids for the year (and all children have the same supplies which makes things much easier in Kindergarten).
- Return Back and Forth folder to school each day (students job is to hand it in each morning)
- Indoor Running Shoes- velcro or slip-on shoes preferably. Please refrain from sending shoes with laces, unless your child can tie them independently. Remember to write your child's name somewhere on the shoes
- Send extra pair of clothes (pants, shirt, underwear, socks) with your child or have a bag of clothing that he/she can leave on his/her school coat hook
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- Oct. 9th - Happy Thanksgiving - NO SCHOOL
- Oct. 12th - Picture Day (original Oct.4th date was incorrect)
- Oct. 18th –PAC Lunch Pizza Day (this was pre-ordered from orange online order newsletter)
- Oct. 19th - Early Dismissal for Parent-Teacher interviews (schedule/sign-up sheet TBA)
- Oct. 20th – Professional Development Day (No school)
- Oct. 23rd –Halloween Safety Talk with Constable Winkels
- Oct. 25th –PAC Lunch Subway Day
- Oct. 31st –Halloween (more info. about class activities/parent volunteers TBA)
Please note that I will now be posting all our weekly updates on the class blog (msgartrell.weebly.com). This will be used as a primary source of information between home and school. Please get into the habit of checking the blog at the start of each week. I will do my best to have my weekly update posted before each Monday morning. :) I do not use any student names on the blog for privacy reasons; thus, there may still be some paper newsletters that come home.
If you are more likely to check your email than read the blog, please send me your current email address and I am willing to send you the weekly updates via email (most important thing is that families are reading the info. each week J).
Let’s have a great first week of October!
-Ms. Gartrell