"The Day a Monster Came to School" Unit

     This week, as we finished up our Kindergarten "Phase-In" and began our first few full days of school, we focused a majority of our attention on routines, procedures and expectations.  We centered a lot of our instruction pertaining to these concepts around a picture-less story entitled "The Day a Monster Came to School".  This story tells of a Monster attending school and wreaking havoc in his classroom (a.e. not following directions, using manners, or being respectful, etc.)  As it turns out, the Monster had simply never been to school before and did not know how to act.  In the end, his new classmates and teacher promise to help him learn how to behave at school.  We used this story to discuss the difference between "Above the Line" and "Below the Line"  behavior and to classify specific behaviors in an interactive activity.  We then made a Common Core-friendly Monster of our own, and enjoyed some fun Monster cupcakes as a treat.  We also did a Monster glyph and made a Monster mask during the week, as well.

First Day of School Class Pic!

2012 -2013 Watt Hardison Student Handbook

Student Handbook -

First Day of School...Finally!

After a week and a half delay, we are finally able to start our school year! Remember that Kindergarten begins with 5 days of "Phase-In" before coming for a full day. Refer to the schedule below, for updates to the dates and times of this "Phase-In" process. I am looking forward to an awesome school year with a great bunch of kiddos!

Changes to "Phase-In" Schedule:
If your child was originally scheduled to come on Monday and Wednesday from 7:40-12:00, and Friday from 7:40-1:00, your new schedule is as follows: Thursday (16th) and Monday (20th) from 7:40-12:00, and Wednesday (22nd) from 7:40-1:00. The first full day of Kindergarten will now be next Thursday (23rd); the students will begin attending school from 7:40-2:40 from that day forward.

If your child was originally scheduled to come on Tuesday and Thursday from 7:40-12:00, and Friday from 7:40-1:00, your new schedule is as follows: Friday (17th) and Tuesday (21st) from 7:40-12:00, and Wednesday (22nd) from 7:40-1:00. The first full day of Kindergarten will now be next Thursday (23rd); the students will begin attending school from 7:40-2:40 from that day forward.

Governor's Wife Encourages Family Reading

     Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam has started a statewide campaign--First Lady's READ20 Book Club--to encourage family togetherness through reading.  Each month she will select a different book and, with each selection, encourages families to read together for at least 20 minutes a day.  Weekly activities that correlate with each month's book selection theme will also be provided on the website.  The program's goals are to promote reading efficiency and school readiness, as well as to encourage reading for enjoyment and comprehension.  Visit http://tn.gov/firstlady/read20/ for more information and to see this month's book selection!

2012 - 2013 Kindergarten Supply List

2012-2013 Kindergarten Supply List -

Barnes and Noble Online Storytime

I just found this, also via Pinterest, and I absolutely love it!  On their website, Barnes and Noble is offering free online stories read by authors and celebrities.  You can enjoy all sorts of popular characters and titles, such as Green Eggs and Ham, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and this month's featured story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, read by the author himself, Eric Carle.  Click the picture below to visit the Online Storytime portion of Barnes and Noble's website!

Reading With Your Child

Found this on an Australian teaching website (http://topteacher.com/au) via Pinterest--love it!!! 

Click here to view the document on their site!

What Kindergarten Teachers Wish Parents Knew

Here's another great article--this one is from Scholastic.  It is relatively short, and I think I might print it out for Registration Night/Open House, as well.  Click the picture above to view the article!

71 Things Your Child Needs to Know Before Entering Kindergarten

Below is a link to a great article on www.icanteachmychild.com that lists various concepts your child should have some knowledge of prior to entering Kindergarten.  The list is broken up into specific areas of development and you can find ideas for helping your child with these concepts on the site as well.  Click the link below to go straight to the article, or the button (the Etch-A-Sketch) to peruse the site.  It is a wonderful website for parents of children aged 0 to 6!  

71 Things Your Child Needs To Know Before Kindergarten

They're All Grown Up!

Here are the students on the day of their Kindergarten Graduation...  Sad day! 

End of the Year Party Pics

Here are some pics from our End of the Year Party--a series of different outdoor stations, including bubbles, sponge relays, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, limbo, water fun, walking stilts, face painting, putt-putting, and throwing wet sponges at the teachers faces.  The kiddos truly had a blast!  However, as I was having sponges thrown at me a majority of the time, I was only able to take a handful of pictures.

Slideshow of Field Day Pics

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Newsletter for the Week of May 14 - 18, 2012

Newsletter for May 14 - 18_ 2012 -

The Marriage of Q and U - May 11, 2012

     A wedding was held in our classroom yesterday--we joined the letters "Q" and "U" in matrimony, as "Q" is rarely seen without "U" by its side in words of the English language.  The mother and father of both the bride and groom were present for the service, as well as a flower girl, a ring bearer, 4 bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, and 4 ushers.  Cake and refreshments were served after the service.  The kiddos thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully, this will help them to remember the concept!

The Bride and Groom

Kindergarten Music Program - May 10, 2012

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Newsletter for the Week of May 7 - 11, 2012

Newsletter for May 7 - 11_ 2012 -

Unit 5, Week 6 - This is the Way We Go to School

     This week our Focus Story will be This is the Way We Go to School: A Book About Children Around the World.  Through this book we will explore different regions of the world, their climates and physical attributes, and how these characteristics effect the way that children get to school each day.  We will discuss how this compares to the way/s that we get to school.  

     Our Target Skill this week is learning to draw conclusions from evidence within the book (use to clues that the pictures and text give us).  We will also continue to make predictions, retell a story, and identify the main idea of a story.  We will work to identify, form, and match the letters 'Qq' and 'Yy' to their phonemes--/kw/ and /y/, respectively.  

Amazing Words: cable car, trolley, horse-and-buggy, skis, Metro line, vaporetto 

High-Frequency Words: where, come  (Please continue to practice all of our "Popcorn Words" at home!)

Letters: Qq and Yy

Thank you to http://blog.richmond.edu for the cover image!

Grandparents Lunch Pictures - May 4, 2012

Here are some pictures of the kiddos eating lunch with their grandparents on Friday, May 4, 2012. They were so excited to spend this time with their grandparents!

Montarius and his grandmother

Kaylonnie, her older brother Grant, and their grandmother

Evan, mom, and grandma

Amaya, little brother Camden, and their grandparents

Chloe, little brother Spencer, and their grandmother

Ryliegh and her grandmother

Bryson and his grandparents

Brady and his grandmother

May 2012 Calendar

May 2012 Calendar -