Ms. Spang

On Tuesday, October 7th, there will be a volunteer training directly after school in our room.  I will go over the procedures and schedule for our volunteer programs.  These programs will begin the following week after the Columbus Day weekend.

This week Guided Reading will begin in the classroom.  The children are doing well with our schedule and are beginning to be independent enough during centers for me to begin our reading groups.  Your child will be bringing home a blue "bookbag" each night.  The books in the bag should be either books we have read together or books they should be able to read.  Each night I will ask you to listen to your child read and fill out the form in their bookbag.  There is a note in  your child's bookbag explaining this process.  Please help your child remember to pack his bookbag every day.  Bookbags will not go home on the weekend.

We have begun our 2nd year long unit in the Science Companion program.  This unit is called Collecting and Examining Life.  We began by using magnifying glasses to try to determine two different substances.  We then placed each substance in water and observed for several days.  One of the substances was alive!  The children were so excited to see the brine shrimp in their containers.  We learned that one criteria of something that is alive is that it can move.

We also had two exciting days watching our butterflies come out of their chrysalis.  Two came out on Monday and the other two on Tuesday!  Thank you again to the Aker family for supplying the monarch caterpillars.

Mrs. Kugler took us outside for a spanish class this week.  We were able to go on a color hunt outside.  She took pictures of each of us pointing to a specific color.  She will make it into a book for our classroom!

This week is also Fire Safety Week.  We will discuss fire safety at home and at school.  Wednesday is an Early Release Day.  Remember to send me a note if your child is to do something other than their regular routine!

All for now

Dee

For the next several weeks, K.E.S. will be collecting NEW TOYS to donate to the Maine Children's Cancer Program and their Owie Box.  Due to health and safety standards, all toys must be NEW and UNUSED.  This precaution is necessary for the children in treatment whose immune systems may be weakened and are susceptible to germs and infection.  If you would like to contribute to this project, please have your child bring a new, unwrapped toy to K.E.S.  Any new toys would be greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow, Friday, October 17th is Team Spirit Day at KES!  Students are asked to support their favorite team by wearing clothing, hats etc. with team emblems or team colors.  It is sure to be a fun day!

In science we are back to studying weather.  This week we hope to find a spot for our rain gauge and to discuss several different types of clouds.  Although it will be fun to measure the rain, we hope it doesn't rain too often!  The weather has become much cooler.  Please send your child with a jacket or sweatshirt to school.  Our recess is at 9:30 in the morning and it is sometimes very cool at that time.  As the weather gets colder your child will be bringing more items to wear.  Please label as many items that you can with your child's name.  The Lost and Found at KES continues to grow.  

Our word study activities have been focused around digraphs.  A digraph is when two letters make one sound.  Some of the digraphs we know are:  wh, ch, th, sh, and ck.  The children are also trying to remember to spell their trick words correctly in their writing.  The new trick words for this week are:  as, his, has, play, I   Bonus words:  harvest, family

Wednesday, October 22 is an Early Release Day.  If  your child is going some place other than their usual stop, please send in a note stating where they are to go.

Our Volunteer programs began last week.  Thank you to all who are able to come in and help out with reading and handwriting. 

We continue to learn new vocabulary and to review the vocabulary already learned in spanish.  I am having so much fun learning a new language too!

Veo (I see)

Ayuda (Help)

Formen una línea (Form a line)

Formen un círculo (Form a circle)

Otoño  (fall)

Manzana (apple)

Calabaza (Pumpkin)

Murciélago (Bat)

Colors

Rojo (Red)

Amarillo (Yellow)

Verde (Green)

Marrón/ Café (Brown)

Blanco (White)

Naranja/ Anaranjado (Orange)

Negro (Black)

Azul (Blue)

Gris (Gray)

Morado (Purple)

Uno (1)

Dos (2)

Tres (3)

Cuatro (4)

Cinco (5)

Seis (6)

Siete (7)

Ocho (8)

Nueve (9)

Diez (10)

Have a wonderful week!

~Dee

 It is time to begin scheduling Parent Teacher Conferences.  Please look in your child's backpack tomorrow for a notice with times and dates.  Sign up for your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices.  I will send you a confirmation of the conference date and time.  It's hard to believe that it is that time already.  The days are just flying by!

We continue to study weather.  We have discussed rain and have placed our rain gauge outside our window.  The children are anxious to watch the rain gauge move up.  We know it will take a considerable amount of rain to make a change in the gauge.  We also discussed clouds and made several different types out of cotton. 

This week we will travel to York Historical Society.  It will be fun to go back in time and to participate in activities of long ago.  This is a great trip and we will have many discussions based on what we experience.

Wednesday is an Early Release Day.  Remember to let me know if your child's routine is different for that day.  The children are really doing well with their many routines.  The morning "working snack" seems to be a plus also!

We have completed Unit 2 in Everyday Math.  On Monday we will begin Unit 3.  I hope you are finding the family letter that I send home prior to beginning a unit helpful.  In the family letter you will find explanations along with answers to some of the Home Links.  Please keep these for your reference.  The children are doing well remembering to pass in their Home Link each morning.  Thank you for your help with this.

This will be an exciting week for the children with Halloween on Friday.  Several children have asked if they can wear their costumes to school.  We don't wear our costumes to school, but I hope they have a safe, happy Halloween!

All for now,

~Dee