Ms. Hayes

Hi all,

We are finishing up our work on the letter Ff and will begin the letter Hh

this week continuing through next week, as well as doing a review of our

first four letters, Mm, Ss, Ff, Hh. Ask your child about the French Fry

game...so much fun as we reinforce number identification skills and

counting. One of the activities that we do on a regular basis is to play

"Where is the Sound?". Phonemic awareness and sound placement in words

is an important skill. In this game, each child has a sound mat of 12 or

more pictures. Each picture has the featured sound in it. Under each

picture are three boxes to represent where the sound may be in the word.

Is the Mm sound at the beginning, middle or end of the word? Children

place a chip or the like, to mark where they hear the sound in the word

when it is orally presented. This skill transfers to spelling and

placement of sounds in words in written work. This week our sight word is

"is" and next week "has". We will be reading the big book "Helen" and the

word HAS is featured in the sentence pattern. For each of these big books

in our Phonics and Friends Program, children complete their own small book

following the sentence pattern. Please read and review these books with

your child at home.

In math we will be exploring the Penny, comparing lengths and working

with attribute and pattern blocks. We will be using Pattern Block cut

outs to cover Harry Horse. Throughout the year, your child will be

bringing home pictures where they have tried to place pattern blocks in a

puzzle to cover the animal that corresponds to the letter of the week. This is not an easy task and builds visual perceptual and mathematical skills. Over time, you will see a marked improvement in your child's ability to complete this task. We will introduce and experiment with the rocker balance, a tool that we use throughout the year for our math and science work.

In science we will be discussing "What is a scientist", our first official lesson in the Science Companion series. We are all scientists and discoverers at heart! We will be going to Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge in Wells on Tuesday, the 14th, for our first field experience. We will be using our five senses to notice fall and seasonal changes, following up with classroom experiences back at school which are aligned to one of our core units of study, "My Body".

We opened up some of the imaginative play props and dress up area within our class this week. This is a very popular center choice for the children (girls and boys). Speaking of clothes, if you have a pair or two of outgrown (size 5-8) stretch or sweat pants that you would donate to the classroom, they would be appreciated. Occasionally children have an accident or spill during the school day, or they find that puddle of water, needing a change of clothes. I know many of you have sent in an extra pair of clothes for your child, but it is always a good to have an extra set on hand for those who may have forgotten.

I will be sending in the book order on Friday....please send in your order if you plan to order this month.

The nurse will be conducting hearing and vision screenings with the children in the class on Friday. If there are any concerns as a result of the screening, the nurse will be in touch with you.

Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering in the classroom. If you plan to chaperone the field trip please come to the school by 8:50 Tuesday morning (or meet us at Rachel Carson). Volunteers will begin next week...see you soon!