Parent-Teacher conferences are this Friday, December 2nd and next Friday, December 9th. Please be prompt and know that I only have 20 minutes to conference with you. With 20 students and 2 half days, it doesn’t leave much time for long meetings. I will keep my clock handy and keep the conferences on schedule. At the conference, I will
review your child’s progress over the first 13 weeks, give you your child’s report card, and let you know where we are headed for the next 13 weeks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again and sharing about your child. I am sending home a reminder of when your conference is tomorrow with a copy of this newsletter.

Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with family last week. At school, last Tuesday, we enjoyed the Kindergarten Feast. The Feast was a chance for the entire grade of kindergarten to come together in the Café for snack. The students chose whether to attend the feast as a member of the Wompanoag tribe or come as a Pilgrim
boy or girl. The students made a hat to represent their character. On Monday, the students shook tubs of heavy cream until it turned into butter. Each classroom also mixed and baked their own cornbread. The butter, cornbread, and popcorn were shared at the feast. Each student also designed a patterned placemat that was given as a gift
to another student. The classes each sang a song to the group as well. 

Name Writing

Almost all the students can now write their first and last names neatly and quickly. If your child is still struggling with this, please practice at home. You can make it fun and practice with magnetic letters. Have your child build his/her name on the refrigerator and then write it quickly after.

Sight Words
Now that most students know the alphabet in both upper and lowercase and can match most sounds to those letters, we will be working harder on learning sight words. A good foundation of sight words is crucial for a child to unlock the key to reading and writing. You will begin to see more sight word activities come home. I also refer to these words 
as Popcorn Words, since they “pop” up all the time in reading and writing.

And some of the students already know at least 15 sight words and are ready for reading books (or are already reading books)! Everyone learns at a different pace and in kindergarten we have to work hard to accommodate the variety of learners.

Letter and Numeral Formation
Correct letter and numeral formation is very important and I try to correct it and work on it as much as possible. However, sometimes correcting every letter or number gets in the way of an activity (like journal writing or playing a math game) so you may see reversals or poorly formed letters. This is typical for five year olds. Proper handwriting
is important and is being addressed. You can also work with your child at home if you notice a letter or number that is a particular struggle for him/her.

Math
Most of the math we do in Kindergarten is through manipulatives and games. I am sure you have seen plenty of the dice roll game sheets come home. The children love to choose this activity in their free time. We also play a lot of board games and card games to learn about numbers and sets.

Our class is starting work on a unit in mathematics called What Comes Next? The focus of this unit is constructing and extending patterns. Throughout this unit, students will be working toward these goals: Copy, construct, and extend simple repeating patterns such as AB, ABC. The children have also been measuring and comparing their names to
their friends’ names with their Name Ruler. And we are always working on counting sets of objects.

I have included a few sheets with a more in-depth review of what we have been working on and how you can follow up at home.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know via a phone call, email or at our conference!

Sincerely,
Diane Alsup

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! 

Thank you to Mrs. Carrier, for taking most of the pictures and putting together the slideshow! I really appreciate it. I added a few more pictures from Mrs. Biery as well. Thank you to all the wonderful chaperones for your help! The children got to really experience life in the fire house! 

Here are some pictures from our Chase Farm's field trip. I hope to add more pictures to it from the other chaperones who were along.   Updated Pictures!!!

Hello Everybody,

Fundations
 We have spent the last two weeks practicing the “sky line” letters on white boards. t, l, b, k, h, and f. I have included an individualized sheet of the letters your child knows and the ones he/she still needs to practice. Please have your child practice writing these letters and identifying them around the house.  You can make the practice fun. Have your child draw the letters with his/her finger in flour or sugar or shaving cream. Invest in magnetic letters for your fridge. Name a letter and have your child pull it down out of the collection of letters. This is a fun way for your kinder to practice spelling out his/her name too. You can also write the letters on index cards and place them around your house. As your child walks by, he/she has to name the letter. 

We will be moving on to the “Plane Line Letters” this week. i, r, n, m, p, q, j.  I will keep reviewing the previous letters as well.

Name Writing
The name writing is looking better and better! Keep practicing at home. 

Writer’s Workshop
This week we kicked off our Writer’s Workshop. To get the Kindergartners to see themselves as writers, I launch the Workshop by following the steps in the book Teaching Writing in Kindergarten. The book's "First Six Weeks of School" chart breaks down writing instruction week by week with attention to specific literacy skills.  Analyzing the chart, one can see the gradual time shift from teacher-directed lessons to increased student autonomy.  Beginning with a method to teach sound-symbol relationships, the author addresses everything from pencil grasp, letter formation, and word spacing, to linking words and phrases and all the stages of spelling development.

Space Man  
Each child got to meet their own “SpaceMan” today. This clothespin astronaut is used to help the students put spaces between their words. We are writing sentences with the two sights words I and am.

Math
In math, the students are exploring all our manipulatives. They are also practicing writing the numerals 0-10 and counting out and drawing amounts to match those numerals.

We're Going on a Field Trip!
 Kindergartners will be going on a field trip to Chase Farms in Macedon in October.  Our class will be going on Thursday, October 6, 2011.  The bus departs at 9:00 AM and returns at 10:30 AM.  

We will be going on a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, picking a pumpkin & gourds, going through a corn maze, petting/feeding goats and picking/sampling some raspberries.  Please have your child dress appropriately for the weather and bring two plastic grocery bags inside each other labeled with your child's first and last name.  

Picture Day
School Picture Day is October 5th at 10:20AM.

Hello Everybody,

I hope the children had time to relax over the weekend. They learned a LOT of new things last week. We working on getting to know each other. We’re a family here at school and it is very important for the children to bond with each other and understand that we come to school to learn and to allow others to learn. Our classroom is a peaceful place without any yelling, name calling, hitting, or fighting. We spend a great deal of time building a comfortable environment for all through games, modeling, and practice. We are getting a new student on Monday. As soon as I have her information I will send home the Class Phone and Address Book.  I also make a book with the children’s pictures and names in it. You can read it with your child to help them learn their new friends’ names. 

Routines

We practiced lots of routines last week that are important in the school setting.  The students practiced walking quietly in a line. They are learning the routine for the cafeteria and how to ask for help in there with opening milk or packages.  The students are doing a great job playing together in the morning and cleaning up after themselves. The students learned how to take attendance, do the lunch order, and empty the backpack.  The kids got to meet Mrs. Dady and Mr. Falso our gym teacher at Phys. Ed. They walked all the way to the third floor for music with Mrs. Ricer, and we went to the art room with Mrs. Malay. This week, the children will visit the library and meet Mrs. HerrGesel.  They got to run around on the playground together and everyone enjoyed rest time. While they are resting, they watch books read aloud on the Smartboard from the website Bookflix. 

Fundations
We use the Fundations program (I have included an introductory letter) and we use paper with a “sky line, plane line, grass line, and worm line”. We just started practicing the lowercase letter l b t. 

Name Writing
The students are working on learning to write each child’s name “the kindergarten way” with the first letter, capitalized and the rest in lowercase. Please have your child practice writing his/her name as well. I will send home a name card and some practice paper.

Skills and Behavior
I am busy evaluating each child’s knowledge of the alphabet and numbers so I can tailor their kindergarten experience to what they are ready to learn.

Volunteers
I am looking for classroom volunteers for our morning centers. I could use help from 10:30-11:30. Could you consider giving your child’s class an hour a week or every other week or even just once a month? If you are interested, please email me and let me know what works for you. If you are a working mom or dad, please know that I understand, because I was too and couldn't volunteer either. Email me at diane.alsup@palmaccsd.org.

Welcome, Families! 

I love August!  The promise of a brand new school year with a brand new class. It is a very exciting time for families, especially of kindergartners. 

About Me 

 I just wanted to give you a little background on me. My name is Diane Alsup and  I’ve been a primary teacher (K, 1, 3, and reading) for over twenty years. This is my seventh year in kindergarten.  I am also the mother of teenage triplet sons.  Yes, I did have my hands full and do so even more now that they are almost sixteen years old! I am also a trustee at the Palmyra Community Library, I have been on the board since 2005. I'm up for reelection this year so don't forget to vote! :-)

Kindergarten Orientation 

I am looking forward to meeting all of you at our Kindergarten Orientation on Thursday, August 25th.  Please come! The children will get to meet their classmates, Mr. Brooks (the principal) and me.  It is a good time to bring in all the 
supplies, check out the room, and double check your child’s transportation needs and make a bus tag for your child’s backpack. 

Just to let you know.... 

Snack 

We share a community snack each day. Children do not need to bring their own individual snack. I will send home the snack list on the first day of school. I will also include a healthy list of snack ideas. Please also send in a box of 5oz. drinking cups and a small pack of napkins.  

This system has worked beautifully in the past. You are only responsible for two weeks out of the year rather than supplying your child with a daily snack. The list will also be on our website and I will send you a personal reminder before your week. If you have a problem fulfilling your week, let me know in advance so I can be sure we have a snack to share. 

Volunteers 

I am looking for classroom volunteers for our morning. Could you consider giving your child’s class an hour every week, every other week, or just once a month? I will have more information for you at the orientation. 

Responsibility 

Remember to help your child become responsible for unpacking his/her 3-ring notebook. We call this the BEE Book (Bring Everything Everyday) I send home all important papers and your child’s work in it. Any notes you have for me or lunch money should go in the binder (I will put a zipper pouch inside). This makes it easier for me to locate it. Thank you so much! 

Lunch 

Every morning we take a lunch count so the cafeteria makes the exact amount of food. You can help make the lunch order go more smoothly by highlighting the food choices your child should order on the lunch calendar that will be in your child’s notebook. Please talk to your child each morning about his/her choice. Explain what the food is to your child.  FYI, Deli Day is an assortment of various sub sandwiches. 

Your child will get a lunch account. You can put money on your child’s account online or by simply sending in a check made out to Palmyra-Macedon Primary School. Please note on the check that it is for lunch money. This saves having to scrounge up change everyday! 

Feeling overwhelmed? 

If you are feeling like you are on information overload because this is your first child in school, just relax. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Let me know. I want school to be a positive experience for your child and YOU! 

Email: diane.alsup@palmaccsd.org  or call 597-3475.