Hello!

We are off to a great start to our week.  Yesterday we went to The Wharton Center to see Are You My Mother?  The students loved the story and have been talking about it since we left.  Today we did some writing about our trip and they will be posted in the wall by the end of the week.  Stop by and see our hard work. 

In reading this week we are learning about the letter O.  We are also comparing what life was like when I was a kid to their life.  They are so amused with the things I didn't have when I was a kid.  We have been looking on line and in books to see pictures of things like record players, corded phones, as well as other things that they think are ancient.  :)  Wait until I tell them about my Atari games.  Frogger never looked better!

The 100th day of school is quickly approaching. (February 16, 2012) A special homework assignment will be in next week's homework folder.  We are making a classroom book about our day.  More information will come home next Monday.

Library is EVERY Thursday.  Your child's books come home on Thursday nights and should return the following week by Thursday morning.  If your child has a book out they may not take another one out until that book is returned.  If you cannot find your book please contact Mrs. Nagy in the Discovery Library.

This week in their homework folders you received a note from me.  It was two sheets stapled together.  The front sheet was purple.  I am working on a research project in our classroom and I need your acknowledgement of the project before I can begin it.  Please look it over and if you have questions, let me know and I will answer them as best as I can. 

Lastly, report cards will be mailed tomorrow from school.  You should receive your child's report card in the mail on Thursday or Friday at the latest.  If after reading all of the enclosed information you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact me about your concerns.

As many of you know, I left early with a stomach bug on Thursday and was not at school on Friday.  Because of this unexpected occurrence, I did not send home Friday Folders with your weekly information in them.  All of that will come home on Tuesday the 24th along with new stories for book bags.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

I have heard from Mrs. Fields that The Crew had a good day, and I am anxious to be back at school on Tuesday.  Remember that there is no school on Monday.  This is Records Day and teachers will be working on report cards and getting them started and ready to mail home on February 1st.  I will be at school on Monday if you need to get a hold of me.  I will check my mail and messages often.

Have a GREAT weekend and I hope you

A new week has begun and we are well on our way.  Over the last several weeks I have been doing assessments on students and gaining knowledge about what I need to re-teach.  The remainder of this week will be spent on final assessments before report cards.  The growth I have seen so far is very impressive!

In reading this week we are working on learning the letters K and D.  We have looked for things around us that begin with those letters or have those sounds in them.  We have shared our findings and will continue through the rest of the week.  We are also reading a story about George Washington.  The Crew loves non fiction!  They look for "real" stories in the library and in the classroom.  This is a big deal!

In Math we are working on "addition" using  story problems, counters, and number cards.  The games we learned this week are Racing Bears, Double and Compare, and Build It/Change It.  Ask your child to tell you about these games.  We have also been drawing pictures and writing a number sentence for the picture.  The Crew is loving "Big Kid Math!" 

In Science, we are continueing to work on Movement.  The students will head to the science lab tomorrow to work in groups to explore movement further.

As many of you know our field trip to the Wharton Center is coming up on January 30th.  We will leave here at about 8:15 and return at about 11:30.  Students need a sack lunch that day.  If they normally order a hot lunch, they will be able to order a box lunch from the cafeteria to eat when they return.  An order form will come home on Thursday, January 19 with more details.  The order must be to the kitchen by January 27th so that they can prepare the lunches for our students who need one.

Let's Celebrate!  In December, Ms. Durling and I applied for a grant to purchase MP3 players, headphones and stories for all Kindergarten classrooms.  We were awarded $2100 to fund this project through the Williamston Schools Foundation.  The MP3 players have arrived and Ms. Durling and I will be adding stories to the players as well as music for students to use during reading time.  The students are so excited to begin using this technology.  In the future we may be looking for parents to record a reading of their child's favorite book for use in the classroom. 

Lastly, if you have any questions or concerns about anything you read in my blog, please let me know.  I love feedback!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I am so excited to be back!  Last week we struggled to adapt back to our normal routines and even Mrs. Kopper had her moments.  BUT we are back on track and doing fabulous!  Last week we talked about how we spent our winter break and shared stories of our adventures.  We learned new games and new centers.  We had such fun getting back into the swing of things. 

This week we are learning all sorts of new things.  We are learning what sound the letter r makes in new words.   We are searching for the letter in our daily reading and writing.  We are making the sound and writing the letter often so that we commit it to our memory.  Come by the room any day this week in the morning and you will think that we have been over run by pirates.  Arrrrrrrrrrr!  I love my job and what I do!

This week we also learned some new math skills.  We read some story problems and thought of ways to solve them.  When I wrote the number sentence on the board for what we had just done one student exclaimed "Mrs. Kopper we are doing REAL math!"  For the last two math sessions the students have hung on  my every word, very eager to do "real" math!  For now this will only be done in a whole group setting, but in the coming months students will be exploring addition and subtraction on their own and in small groups. 

Until next time!  Arrrrrrrrrrr Matey!  :)
Mrs. Kopper