Mornings in K-1

Time flies when you're having fun!

2010-06-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

This is my last Friday blog- my chance to update you on the upcoming events of our class.

Monday: Our buddy class will be coming to visit us for one last time before the are promoted to sixth grade! We are going to surprise them with a send them off ice cream sundae party. I have the ice cream covered but if you would be willing to send in toppings of any kind that would be great.

Tuesday: We are going to the multi- purpose room to watch a play by Mrs. Sorba's second grade class. We are very excited for the opportunity to watch their dramatic debut.

Wednesday: We will be participating in Field Day from 8:45 until 10:15. This is a lot of activity jammed into one day. The afternoon kinders will be with us as well. This will be the last day for back packs and we will send home a final Friday Folder so please be sure to send it back on Monday.

Thursday: Our last day of kindergarten. Once again we will be with both classes together. We invited you to join us for some end of the year fun during our last hour. There will be snacks provided that day so please do not send a back pack with your child. They will however be coming home with their report card so keep an eye out for it.

Remember to unsubscribe to the blog by the end of the summer. Otherwise you'll be stuck reading my newsletter to the new batch of kindergarten parents.

Another Rainy Day in May...

2010-05-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like singing that old song- Rain Rain go away, come again another day. But on the other hand I don't really want the rain to go away because I am afraid that it may not come back. I am of the philosophy that as long as it's not flooding I'd rather get more rain then not enough.

We had a a great assembly provided by our box top earnings. Yeah! We watched BMX riders do tricks and stunts. One man by then name of Sean jumped his bike over three other teachers and me. I might add that he didn't even need to use a ramp! WOW! He made it look so easy and impressed us all!

We have continued our work with money. Thank you so much for all of the kids who have gone above and beyond to research money on the internet and bring the information back to class. I think we are personally keeping the US Mint website in business! There are a lot of great resources out there.

I sent home the sunflower plants the kids were growing in class. If they didn't arrive home- well I don't know what to tell you. Their plant journals were also in their back packs.

I worn you ahead of time that this week's Friday Folder is going to be HUGE! We have started taking down our walls and getting things ready for the summer/next year.

Tomorrow is crazy hair day. I told the kids they could do anything as long as it was okay with you and they had your permission.

Monday is Memorial Day and there will be no closed. We have been talking about why we celebrate or acknowledge this holiday or special day.

Next week will be OUR LAST WEEK OF CENTERS!

The year end picnic is on Friday, June 4th from 5:30 to 8:30.

May 20th

2010-05-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be a fabulous day for a picnic! I want to say thank you again to our fabulous room parents Nicole and Donna. I know I couldn't have gotten through this year without you!

So we're down to 14 days of school. Did you hear that sound? It's the school year flying by. This week you will find the kids Open Court workbooks in your child's Friday Folder.

We have been working on money this week. Tonight I told them that if they brought information back about the quarter from the internet they could get an eagle card. Thank you to all of the kids, Ryan, Lily, and Genevieve who brought in research on the dime. We discovered that FDR is on the front or head of the coin. On the back or tail of the coin are three pictures: a torch representing liberty, olive leaves representing peace, and oak leaves representing strength. Below the picture are the words e pluribus unum meaning, "United we stand." We also learned that the word dime is derived from the Latin word decimus meaning one tenth. Today in our review of the dime many kids were able to earn an eagle card for being a "smarty pants" and remembering some of this information about a dime.

We also learned a song about money in order to remember which coin is which. I remember that many of my second graders had a hard time remembering which coin was which so I thought I would make up a little song to remind them and give them clues. That way when they needed to identify coins they could recall this song.

Money Song
(to the tune of the Farmer in the Dell)

A penny's worth one cent!
A penny's worth one cent!
It's small and brown
and smooth around
A penny's worth one cent!

A nickel's worth five cents!
A nickel's worth five cents!
It's a silver coin
and smooth around
A nickel's worth five cents!

A dime is worth ten cents!
A dime is worth ten cents!
It's small and silver
with bumps around
A dime is worth ten cents!

A quarter's twenty-five cents!
A quarter's twenty-five cents!
It's large and round
with bumps around
A quarter's twenty-five cents!

I also introduced some of the parts of speech this week. We talked about a noun being a person, place, or thing, an adjective being a describing word, a verb being an action word, and a prepositional phrase being where everything took place. After introducing the terms the kids brainstormed words to fit into each category. Then using this pattern

adj, adj, noun
adj, adj, noun
adj, adj, adj, noun, verb, prepositional phrase.

We then sang it to the tune of Farmer in the Dell (I really like that tune). You might have heard songs about ladybugs and butterflies. We wrote a song for Officer Anton for career day yesterday.

The brave, friendly police officer
The brave, friendly police officer
The brave, friendly, caring police officer rode a motorcycle on the road.

You can use this model and have your child make up all kinds of cool sentences. I got all of these great ideas from the GLAD conference I went to last Thursday and Friday. It's always so great when you can apply the strategies you learned right away!

This week was our last library check out. Please return the books on Monday!

Then end is coming...

2010-05-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

The end is coming... of the school year that is. It is with bittersweet feelings that I report to you that as of this moment there are only 24 days of school left. 24 days until our kindergartners are in first grade. May I say the best part in that fact is, is that they're ready. They are ready for a longer day, new kids, a new classroom, a new teacher, and a new learning adventure. They are getting to that place we have all worked so hard to get them to. They are ready for first grade and I am so proud of each and every one of them.

I will give you this advice- keep practicing over the summer. Summer comes and automatically pulls us backwards before going on to the next challenge. Let us all make it an easier transition by practicing our reader, sight words, and math facts a little each week. I will help in the effort by sending a packet and a paper for a reading list. Plus I will give an added bonus of an eagle card at the start of the next school year if you bring the packet and the list back to me.

As the school year ends we are winding up all of our business and getting ready for summer. Today was our last movement class with Mrs. Comfort. I have to report that your children wrote beautiful and heartfelt letters of their love for Mrs. Comfort and her curriculum. We ended the class with the parachute- something we all love to do and will treasure in our kindergarten memories.

I know as the days warm up we tend to slow down and take a little more time to get to school. I find myself rushing most mornings these days more then I did in the beginning of the year. We are really trying to enforce and reinforce getting to school on time and ready to learn. That means not rolling in after the bell rings and instruction is already started. If your child is late to school please take them to the office and get them a tardy slip. We are trying to tell them what to do for next year. If your child forgets there backpack please leave it on the bench or take it to the office.

In the Friday Folder many of you will find a volunteer luncheon form. Please fill it out and return it if you are coming- don't tell me verbally or send me an e-mail. I have to turn the form into the committee so that they can do an accurate head count.

As the weather warms up we break out those oh so cute summer clothes. Please remember our school dress code policy. If you are unfamiliar with it you can refresh your memory by reading it in the school handbook portion attached to the directory. Basically please remember no flip flops open back or toes sandals. Also tank top straps need to be one inch in width. Tank tops can not be oversized with large are holes.

I would like to thank all of you and your children for the beautiful flowers and the wonderful cards. They were such a bright spot in my day.

Our last library book check out will be on Wednesday, May 19th and all of the books will need to be turned in the following Monday, May 24th.

We will be ending our classroom reader program on June 2nd. I will send reminders and let you know your child's reader level so that you can find appropriate books at the library this summer. The rule of thumb I like to use for a just right reader is if your child struggles with five or more words on a page that are NOT proper nouns then the book is too hard and they should look for another one. When we read for pleasure we choose books that are easier then our reading level. Remember that as you help your child dive into the world of reading adventures. It doesn't have to be a traditional book in order for them to be getting something out of it- it just matters that they are reading, and doing it by choice.

Correction!

2010-04-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

I sent home a notice about my Spring Fling Teacher time- it should have been $30 per child not $20 per child. Sorry about the confusion! I will send home a new flier in the homework folder on Monday.

April 30

2010-04-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Parent Survey:
Please turn your parent surveys in as soon as possible. One survey needs to be filled out for each child not just per family. Please hand it in ASAP!

Teacher Time:
You can still sign up for teacher time with me even if you didn't go to Spring Fling. I placed a flier in the Friday Folder. Please return it ASAP!

Thank you for coming to Open House

2010-04-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

I just want to thank everyone who made it to Open House! It was a fabulous evening! I hope you all found your child's work in their back packs today. I tried to save our fabulous Friday Folder Moms from over stuffing envelopes for hours!

In the Friday Folder you will find the kids first independent writing piece about their mom. It's in the format of four square writing. The topic sentence is written in the center box and four sentences having to do with the topic are written around it. We are still doing sound spelling and focusing on capitals and periods. Please give praise, praise, praise, for a job well done. All of the kids wrote a topic sentence with me " I love my mom." The next four sentences were completely independent. I am so impressed! Look for more writing to come home in the coming weeks.

If you haven't already returned the report card envelope I do need those back. I am only missing a few. It needs to be signed and returned so I know that you received it.

You will find a new April Centers Calendar in the Friday Folder. If you haven't been able to make it in please come by even just once. It's a great opportunity that shouldn't be missed.

Wednesday

2010-03-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow the PM kinders will be with us duiring our class time. You may want to get an earlier start because there will be 80 kinders at drop off instead of 40.

We will still be having library at our regular time. The following kids still have to turn in their library books.
Ryan, Roman, Tessa, Haroute, Michael, Genevieve, Kai, Firas, Lavinia, Sebastian, Diego, Lily, and Nik.

I can't wait to see you all at Open House on Wednesday night.

Photos

2010-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

If you have taken any pictures this year in the classroom our at any class events would you please send them in on a disk, flash drive, or e-mail them by Wednesday AM. I was hoping to have a slide show going on the new lap top through the new projector to display our kids and use our new technology.

March 29th ( I am late...again!)

2010-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Open House is this Wednesday. This is a really big deal for your kids. They have been working very hard and Open House is a chance for them to be your tour guides around the classroom. I understand other things come up but there is only one kindergarten Open House- it's from 6pm to 7pm and it really shouldn't take an hour.

The book fair is also this week. We visited as a class today but I encourage you to go in with your child and purchase books if you would like. It will be open Wednesday night but it can be a zoo. The book fair ends on Thursday.

Our field trip on Friday was fantastic. I hope you will go back to the Richardson Bay Audobon Center with your family. There are lots of great programs and many of them are free.

Spring Break for NUSD is April 12-16 NOT next week. It is typically sic weeks from our mid-winter break regardless of when Easter falls. If you have to miss for a religious reason please send a note to the office explaining.

Spring Fling is coming up. Every year many of the teachers auction off teacher time. This is a chance for your child to do something with their teacher outside of the classroom. I open my teacher time to anyone who would like to come regardless if you sign up at Spring Fling or not. I will be sending out a flier on the Monday after Spring Fling if you were not able to attend and would like to sign your child up. It will be in on a Friday in May. Those who signed up will walk over to the park at 11:30 after school and we will have pizza, juice, snacks and play. I will bring some bubbles and chalk with me too to play with. I ask that if your child is attending that the parent attends too. If you are not able to attend just make arrangements with another parent to look after your child. If your child goes to the YMCA and would like to attend please see if another parent can walk them over and I will walk them back to the YMCA at 12:30 when we are done. The cost of the event is $20 per child, and the check can be made out to Rancho PTA. There is no cost for non-school aged siblings and they are welcome to join in the fun. If however you would like to sign your school aged child out for lunch and have them join us I would encourage you to pay the $20 for them to PTA as well. This is a great fundraiser and I hope you and your child will join in the fun.

A Dog in the Classroom

2010-03-24T14:59:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow morning Lily will be bring her puppy to the very beginning of class for her star student sharing. We won't be doing a regular sharing this week because of the field trip. It is our policy to let the parents know if there will a dog in the classroom. We will be visiting with the puppy outside on the playground. If your child is afraid or very allergic to dogs they will be able to stay inside the classroom and do a quiet activity while we are outside. If you would like to e-mail me please let me know.

Long time gone...

2010-03-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

My apologies in not having posted in a very long time.

Classroom Updates:

We have finished the alphabet and are now on to diagraphs - th, ch, sh and will be begin blends as well.

We have a field trip this Friday to Richardson Bay Audobon in Tiburon. Please send your child in layers, long pants, and clothes that you are okay with getting dirty. Rancho sweatshirts are great for this day as are your sturdiest pair of tennis shoes. Please send your child with a bag lunch. Our class hours will be the same. WE will be going by bus with Mrs. Bondanza's Class.

There will be no centers this Friday due to the field trip.

Open House is Wednesday, March 31st. We will have the PM Kinders with us that day- and be on a regular AM schedule.

Author's Day is this Wednesday so we will have to reschedule our library time for another day this week. We will be in the multi purpose room with our back packs until the bell rings. We will dismiss there so please wait for your child in front of the school that day.

Report Cards went out on Friday. They were in the Friday Folder. If you would like to conference about how your child is doing please e-mail me at your earliest convenience. There are not regularly scheduled spring conferences like there are in the fall.

The book fair is coming to Rancho next week! This is a fabulous time to find some great readers with your child for the summer vacation.

We are in need of glued sticks and gallon plastic bags for the classroom.

Week 21

2010-01-29T11:16:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day:
There is a note in the Friday Folder about Valentine's Day. I included all of the kids' names who will be participating in Valentine's. I would appreciate it if you steered clear from buying the Valentine's that are attached to candy. We will be including a couple of goodies in the bag so they won't need any extra treats. I understand that not everyone has time to make Valentines but instead of just having your child write their name I encourage you to write something nice on the Valentine about the child who is receiving it. I get that this is a lot for a kindergartner so perhaps they can do the names and they can dictate a line to you. An example might be:

To Susie
You have nice handwriting.
From Jane

It doesn't have to be something different for each child, there are no rules but I hope we can get back to what Valentine's used to be like and encourage kind words to one another. The kids love going through the bag and seeing all of the nice message the other kids have written to them. Please remember to send one Valentine for every student on the list. Valentines are due on Tuesday, February 9th. I will make up the bags on the 10th in the afternoon. I think this will be a great tradition to start!

Thank you:
I want to commend your students on what a great week it was. They have worked so hard and I am so thankful to be their teacher! It's always nice to hear that you have fabulous kids and I just can't tell you enough how true it is.

Centers:
This week in centers the kids dove into a book about penguins. The phonetic writing is really coming along and something to be proud of. They also learned about Ground Hog's Day and made a ground hog puppet/scene that should have been sent home in the back-pack. They learned about holidays and made a dragon puppet for Chinese New Year which is on February 14th this year. They also made their February calendar and 100 thumb prints getting ready for the 100th day of school.

We finished another four pages of addition problem and will introduce subtraction next week and continue with addition.

Daily News will come home in the homework folder on Monday so don't worry when you don't see it today.

Thank you to Molly Griffin for leading us in a great art docent lesson in class. Thanks again to all of our parent volunteers this week.

Reading Dates

2010-01-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

It was another rainy Tuesday, but of course it was more like a Monday. The kids came to school in their usual cheery- I've just had a 3 day weekend way, going about putting down chairs, and taking out readers. As I went to join them on the rug I found much to my surprise that 13 of them had brought along readers and five of them had brought sight word lists! Yikes I thought there has got to be a better way! So I thought by the seat of my pants and I posted a sticky note into your child's reading log with a reading "date." Then I made a little schedule for myself about who was going to bring back their reader on what date. I gave them each about a week, some longer, and some less. It just seems that lately I get a majority of readers on Friday and Monday. If perhaps your child isn't read to read on your assigned date just shoot me an e-mail. If they are ready to go before then just let me know. I hope this works a little better for everyone.

Week 20

2010-01-22T12:49:00.000-08:00

Sharing:
Today in sharing Ryan performed a science experiment. In case your child is interested in doing it at home here is what you'll need.
1 small plastic soda bottle
1 balloon
1/4 vinegar
2T baking soda

Put the vinegar in the bottle, and the baking soda in the balloon. Fit the balloon over the mouth of the bottle, lift the balloon upright so that the baking soda falls into the bottle. The water will fizz and cause the balloon to expand.

Centers:
Listening Center: Happy Birthday Martin Luther King. You should find your child's listening center writing in the Friday folder. Most of the kids are writing their sentences using sound spelling.

Yellow Table: Science/Art
The kids made penguin habitats out of construction paper and paper plates.

Green Table: Science/Writing
The kids worked on their weather books.

Red Table: Math/Art
The kids made addition problems with mittens.

Writing:
This week we implemented daily news. Please check the Friday Folder. There is a note attached to this week's writing.

Math:
We continued with addition. Some of it is in the Friday Folder this week. Please encourage your child to use manipulatives to help them solve the problems.

Readers:
The at home reading program is designed to be 3 to 7 days with the reader. If your child is not ready to go on after 7 days of reading 2x daily then just send me a note.

Please remember that next week there is no school on Monday. Enjoy the long weekend.

Week 19

2010-01-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sharing:

I forgot to mention it to the kids but this Friday is sharing. It must be something educational and they must be able to speak about it.

Tell what it is
Where they got it
What makes it special

If they are student of the week they may bring anything. I would like it to not be a toy or something that might break. Some ideas for student of the week sharing might be:

A family member
A pet
a project
something yummy

It was a terrific week and I am so glad to be back. The kids welcomed me with open arms! I missed them very much. This week we talked a lot about Martin Luther King and why he changed the world. I hope that on Monday when they are not in school that they will be able to recognize why we celebrate this day.

Interactive Writing:
Interactive writing is an introduction to writing. We do this three times a week and we write a couple of sentences each day. They kids take turns sounding out the words and writing them on the paper. This week we wrote about Martin Luther King. All of the sentences are kid created. This is a great time for me to teach them about diagraphs (sh,ch,th,ck) and blends (bl,st, cr). We talk a lot about sound spelling too. The finished project will be on our wall so please make sure you check it out when you are in the classroom again.

Centers:

Listening Center- Reading
Many of the kids are writing some part of their sentence on their own. These are hanging in the classroom if you want to check them out. When your child is writing at home have them sound out the words to the best of their ability.

Orange Table- Science
The kids read an article in National Geographic Kids about Penguins. They did a penguin work sheet and they made a penguin. The penguins are in the front window on icebergs or in the water.

Yellow Table- Computer

Green Table- Math
Snowman estimation with cotton balls.

Red Table- Science
Weather Books

Readers:
We've started an in class reading system much like the books at home but designed to be mostly independent. The kids read the books and when they are ready they come and read to me. This is a self paced program and differentiated to meet their reading needs. We do this every day in class.

Math:
We have started addition in our math series. The kids really enjoyed it this week and were really excited about the topic.

Greetings

2010-01-08T08:44:00.001-08:00

Update:
I know many of you have been asking Mrs. Bondanza and Ms. Becker about my returning to school. I will be back on Monday. I apologize for being out for so long but I was doing my best to take care of myself so that when I did return I could be the best teacher possible for your child. I am very excited to see your children and to get back into the classroom. I have really missed all of them and it was with a heavy heart that I have been out so long. I appreciate your support through this whole ordeal. I cannot say thank you enough.

Readers/Sight Word Lists:
We do our very best for the kids to be listened to everyday. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen that way. If that's the case we will do our very best to listen to them the following day. Typically we allow them to take the book/list home again if they would like to continue to practice again, but that too doesn't always happen. Please understand we are doing our best to see to the needs of all 20 children.

Student of the Week:
I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our student of the week/star student program. Up until now we have done a student of the day. Everyone has gotten several turns. Now we do a student of the week where they are interviewed, they get to be teacher's helper, and line leader for an entire week. Everyone gets a turn so please assure your child that their turn will come. We really want to have an opportunity to celebrate and learn more about your child. We do try to coordinate the week to fall around their birthday if they were born at this time of year. It also helps those kids who might have a birthday that falls during the summer time. If they choose they can bring a treat in at the end of their week. I will give you plenty of warning if this is the case.

Thank you:
I just wanted to say thank you again for all the wonderful holiday goodies. I really appreciate all your support this year. It is such a joy to be your child's teacher. I love my job and I so look forward to coming back on Monday.

Thursday Centers

2010-01-05T10:08:00.001-08:00

We are in need of a parent to come in on Thursdays for centers. It could be every other week or it could be weekly it is up to you. Please e-mail me at: swhite@nusd.org if you are interested!

Monday

2010-01-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

Okay folks here it is- I won't be back this Monday. I did my best to be ready for K but I am just not there yet. I hope you all had a wonderful break and I will see you soon.

A Visit

2009-12-15T19:15:00.001-08:00

Many of you have asked if I will be coming into class on Friday. I don't want to cause minimal disruption so I will be coming around snack time- about 9:30ish for about a half hour. Please feel free to let your kids know that I will be stopping by and I can't wait to see them!

Checking In

2009-12-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

I just returned from the doctor and I will be out for the rest of this week but I will be doing my very best to heal over the break and be back in January. I have torn cartilage in my L5 and it is creating a small bulge which is why I am in so much pain. There is no fast cure or remedy it just takes time, rest, exercise, and medicine. All of which I am actively pursuing.

If you need anything please talk to Mrs. Bondanza or our substitute teacher Dorthy Laurila. Mrs. Laurila will be in the class for the rest of the week. As always I am available by e-mail at swhite@nusd.org

Have a wonderful break and I will see you next year!

Out Again!

2009-12-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to keep you all up to date. As many of you know I have injured my back and was out all last week. I did come back on Monday but I wasn't given the all clear by my orthopedist so I am out again until next Monday. As always Mrs. Bondanza will be on hand. I am always available by e-mail! My NUSD e-mail is up and running again so please feel free to contact me even if you and your student just want to say hi.

swhite@nusd.org

Week 13

2009-11-13T07:11:00.000-08:00

First- I have no district e-mail and haven't the last few weeks. I don't know when I will get it so please e-mail me at sarahrichrancho@gmail.com
I am sorry if I haven't responded to you- I am not ignoring you. Send them again using the other e-mail.

Next Friday (November 20th) we are going to be decorating sugar cookies with our fifth grade buddies and then the fifth graders will deliver them as a "thank you" to people around the school. We have done this a number of times as a way to show the Rancho community that we appreciate them.
We are splitting the supply list with Mrs. Dees' class.
We need 5 dozen plain sugar cookies (approx. 60)
3 containers of white frosting
sprinkles, colored sugar etc. to decorate the cookies with.
We also need 2 to 4 parents to help with the actual event. We will be going to Mrs. Dees' classroom at 10:45 next Friday morning.
Please e-mail me if you can come sarahrichrancho@gmail.com

If you find that you cannot make your conference please leave a message with the office. Not on my voice mail. I can't see if there are messages during the day. Thank you!

At this time of year we take the time to reflect on what we are thankful for. I am thankful everyday for being a kindergarten teacher. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! You make Rancho a fantastic school community.

Please send your book orders in as soon as possible. I would like to get it out so that I can get it back in time for the holiday. If they are gifts let me know and I will keep them until I can give them to you personally.

Week 12

2009-11-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

This week in class-

We worked on the letter Ff. Many of you saw the practice page come home. They really should be practicing their best handwriting when doing these pages. We practice it many times throughout the week and in the homework. This is a great time to monitor and see if your child is forming the letter correctly and the letter is sitting on the appropriate lines. The kindergartners are now responsible for nearly half of the alphabet: Aa, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ii, Jj, Ll, Oo, Tt. That's eleven letters. We expect them to write carefully and correctly. Next week's letter is Ss.

Homework:
Please oversee the completion of homework and constantly remind them to do their very best work. All homework worksheets should be colored and when applicable they should use the five color rule. An example of this would be that a person shouldn't be colored all blue but a rock can be colored all gray. Of course a handwriting worksheet won't be colored. We are really trying to focus on fine motor development and attention to detail. Homework is a great way to practice both of these skills.

Star Word Lists:
Many kids have already learned List 1. As I think I have told you before there are seven sight word lists with a total of 70 words. When they can read all 70 words they awarded an Eagle Card. From there, they will be asked to write sentences using those words. Please practice the star words every night with your child. This will help set the foundation of reading and writing.

Stone Soup:
On Monday you will find a note from me about making Stone Soup in class next Friday. We will be reading different versions of the book all week. Each child will be asked to bring in one ingredient. I just assigned the ingredients at random. The items need to be pre-washed and chopped to go in the pot.

Volunteers:
Please look at your November calendar to see when you are due to volunteer. There were a couple of mix ups this week. I changed the schedule in order to make it the most efficient for the classroom and to let everyone have a turn. These next few months are tricky with so many days off. Please check the calendar don't assume it's every other week!
Next week:
Monday: Jacki G and John G
Tuesday: Briana M and Jessica H
Wednesday: NO SCHOOL
Thursday: Albert G and Norma H
Friday: Alicia B and Catherine O

Thank you all for your hard work and dedication in the classroom! Remember conferences begin next Thursday! The conference schedule is as follows:

Thurs., Nov. 12

7:30 Kushi
12:30 Ryan
1:00 Keira
2:45 Haroute

Fri., Nov. 13
7:30 Sebastian
12:30 Andrew
1:00 Tessa
2:45 Brigid
3:15 Michael

Mon., Nov. 16
7:30 Genevieve
12:30 Roman
1:00 Lavinia
2:45 Jeff

Tues., Nov. 17
7:30 Nik
12:30 Diego
1:00 Firas
2:45 Kayla

Wed., Nov. 18
7:30 Neha
12:30 Kai
1:00 Samuel

Book Orders:
The books have arrived and you should have received them in the Friday Folder if you hadn't gotten them earlier in the week. There are new order forms in the Friday Folder. There are some amazing deals if you are looking for gifts for kids. The next set of book orders is due on Friday, November 13th. Please look them over this week. I want them to get back to you in time for the holidays.

Library Books

2009-10-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

The following students still have a library book checked out. Please return it tomorrow so they can check out a new book!

Ryan
Roman
Tessa
Genevieve
Firas
Sebastian
Diego
Neha
Nikolas
Kayla

Week 10

2009-10-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

A trip to the library, a hearing and vision screening, and a field trip- that about sums up our week! Whew and what a great one it was.

Centers:
Since we are on a field trip on Friday we only had four days of centers which made for five kids in a group. We didn't use the yellow table this week. Those students were very flexible and blended right in with a different center group this week.

Listening Center:
Harriet's Halloween Candy
Harriett is a dog. This concept of understanding the dog was a she and named Harriet was very hard for many of the students. Great pictures were drawn and even better sentences were written.

Orange Table: Science
Students were read two non-fiction books about owls. They cut and glued their own owl and then did a direct instruction drawing of an owl. The owls are hanging in the window. We hope you will all check them out as you pick up or drop off.

Green Table: Science
The students worked with a parent to make a book about spiders. They first listened to a non fiction book about spiders. They next cut,colored, and pasted their own information book about a spider. You should have found the book in your child's back pack this week.

Red Table: Math
There were lots of things going on at this table. Students did a connect the dot ghost, colored it and brought it home. They also had their foot painted to make a picture of a ghost. It will be in the Friday Folder. Lastly they took a dive into the world of estimation. They estimated how many cotton balls would go into a ghost form. they glued the cotton balls and then counted them with an adult. Those too should be in the back pack.

Letter of the Week:

This week's letter was Jj. Please remind your student that the dot on the lowercase j is just that a dot not a big lollipop.

Library:
Library was canceled on Wednesday so we made up today. Your child's book should be in their back pack. It is still due on Monday. Please make sure all of the books get back on time. I hate to see them just look around because their book wasn't returned.

Homework/Friday Folder:
Homework is still due tomorrow and you will still receive a Friday Folder. The school directory comes home tomorrow in the Friday Folder. Your appointment time for conferences will also come home tomorrow. Please let me know ASAP if that time doesn't work for you.

Your child came home with an orange half sheet about the field trip. School still starts at 8:05am. They need a lunch in a brown paper bag and everything in it needs to be disposable. They should dress in layers and have a sweatshirt that can be tied around their waste. Please send them in tennis shoes as it may be pretty muddy. We will return at 11:30 am!!!! Normal pickup time!

Homework tonight

2009-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Every Monday before the kids go home we go through every page of homework. Some of the directions I give them are not written down. Like color all of the pictures or only write five letters on each line. Lately it seems the kids aren't following all of these directions. I thought for this week only so that "we"- parents/teacher can be on the same page I would give you a heads up of what I told them to do on the pages. In the homework folder tonight some of you might see last week's homework with the word finish on it. Just have it done by Friday.

Cover Page- Read/record four nights.
Letters and Sounds- Trace the J's and write the capital and lowercase j's five times.
Circle the letter sound of the picture and then color in the pictures.

Alphabet Skills-
Color in the uppercase and lowercase Jj letters.

Math Page #1
Color the number of animals that directions tell you to.

Math Page #2
Circle the number that matches the number of flowers in the basket.

Sequencing Page
Color the pictures. The colors should be the same in each picture.
Cut them out.
Paste them on in order.

Just a reminder we will not have centers this Friday because we are going to the pumpkin patch. Please send your child with a disposable lunch box. Nothing in the lunch box should need to be returned home. We will not have centers on Friday, October 30th.

Week 8

2009-10-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in my living room last night and thinking about the day at school. I thought I might tell you again just how much I love being your kids' teacher. They are an amazing group of people. I am lucky to know them and to work with them at this stage in their lives. Thank you!

Needless to say the weeks just get better and better. There were lots of great centers this week and the introduction of computers! Woo Hoo!

Listening Center: The kids listened to the story Pumpkin,Pumpkin! They wrote the beginning of the sentence from the wall: I liked when- then with a yellow pen an adult wrote the rest of the words. Everyone started to write the star words in their sentences. Some students are starting to write their own sentences phonetically. We don't worry about spelling with the kids when they begin writing. We sit with them and count out the words in the sentence they want to write. In the beginning we draw a yellow line for each word and have the kids sound out the sounds they hear in the word. Again we are not worried about spelling. We still talk about capital letters and periods. The listening center responses are being hung up in the classroom and will be sent home in a book at the end of the year.

Orange Center: This is the most exciting center of the week! Computers! The kids learned to click on the icon of the activity and to really listen to the directions. A lot of the kids had a heard time remembering to listen to what the computer directed them to do. They used the Open Court computer program which goes along side our language arts program we use in the classroom. Mostly they worked on alphabet work and letter sounds.

Yellow Center: This was a parent run center discussing pumpkins from seed to jack-o-lantern. The final project was in the back pack. This center covered science, fine motor skills, and sequencing.

Green Center: A great art project and some fine motor practice was done by all. The kids made a black cat with a very curvy tail. Check out the windows in the next few weeks to see the final projects.

Red Center: The kids took a sail into history along the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria! The kids heard a story about Christopher Columbus, painted a sunset, and made one of his ships. They traced the poem- In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. The final project is hanging in the classroom.

Letter of the Week:
The letter of our week was Ee. A capital E was fairly simple. A straight line from the sky to the ground, and then three smaller lines- top, middle, bottom. The lowercase e proved and still proves to be more challenging. It's hard making a letter that starts below the dot dot line. The kids did lots of Ee practice on the worksheets and on the white boards. They wrote in their alphabet books and there sentence books. Our letter next week will be Oo.

Open Court:
More rhyming! We sang songs and made rhyming sentences. I encourage you to sing Down by the Bay with your child and have them make up the rhymes. Also have them pick out the rhyming words if you read rhyming stories or nursery rhymes. We worked on making complete sentences orally. We talked about how each sentence had to have a naming part (subject) and a telling part (predicate). We started a new unit in Open Court on Shadows. We read two stories about shadows and discussed what it took to make a shadow. Our letters of the day this week were Qq, Rr, Ss, and Tt. We should finish up the alphabet next week. On Monday you should have found the pre-decodable readers in the homework folder. Please keep these in a special place. They will be bringing home more books and they too should go into the bag. I will send them in groups of four. Our new star words this week were it and like. We also started the star word journal this week where as a class we write a sentence using the star words. They underline the star words and draw a picture.

Math:
We started a new unit this week having to do with spacial awareness, direction, and sorting. We have been doing a problem a day during the morning meeting. WE are working on identifying the numbers. Most of the kids can do the numbers 1-10 and count out ten objects. We are now working on identifying the numbers 1-20 out of order. Please practice this at home too. We have also been practicing the days of the week. We are still practicing writing the numbers and drawing that number of objects.

Book Orders:
I have changed the end date on the book orders on line so if you would like to order still you can. I decided that although this is a public blog all someone can do is order books so I am putting the password information on the blog.
Go to scholastic.com/bookclubs
user name: ranchok1am
password:kindergarten

Field Trip:
Permission slips for our October 23rd field trip to the pumpkin patch have been sent out. Please return those as soon as you can. If there is not written permission they can not attend. We will be riding buses and attending with all of the other kindergarten class. I already have four parent volunteers. Thank you in advance for your interest in volunteering. We have another field trip in the spring and I will ask for five new volunteers then. Please do not come in your private car to the field trip location. Having parents there that are not chaperones distracts and confuses the children. This a great place to go with your child on a weekend. I know you will all understand. Thank you!

Crazy Helmet Day

2009-10-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is crazy helmet day! Please remember to decorate your helmet and wear it!

Sarah

Reminder

2009-09-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

I have two reminders! There is a stomach bug going around our school. If your child throws up they must not get sick for 24 hours before they can return to school. The same goes for a fever. They have to be fever free for 24 hours before they can come back to class. I know many times they feel fine but to make sure the least number of students are sick we like to take these precautions.

Also tomorrow is Movement class. Please send your child to school in running and jumping shoes. Crocs or boots are not good PE shoes.

Thanks!

Scholastic Book Orders

2009-09-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

I sent a mass e-mail via my g-mail account to the class today about scholastic book orders. I gave directions on how you can order scholastic books online. I sent our user name and our password. If you do not receive the e-mail please e-mail me directly and I will forward it to you. If you would still like to order the old fashioned way and not online you may do that too. Whatever works for your family!

E-mail me at sarahrichrancho@gmail.com or srich@nusd.org

Week 6

2009-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are into almost October and it looks like next week might be a little cooler! Soon we will be wishing for warmer days again once winter is fully upon us.

The weeks seem to be flying by. I can't believe that we have finished the sixth week of school. They have already matured and learned so much in such a short period of time. I am very proud of them and know that much of it is a testament to their wonderful parents. Thank you for your continuous support both in and outside of the classroom.

Overview of this week:

Centers:
Orange Table: Math! Math! Math... and gummi bears? After listening to a tasty counting story about gummi bears, the kids sorted gummi bears by color, counted them, recorded the results and then graphed the results. Oh yes and the best part they ate 5 gummi bears after they were finished! Who knew math could be so tasty and fun. You should have found their results in the backpack.

Yellow Table: Art! Art! Art! All of you have seen their paper plate faces by now. The kids worked on coloring a plate with a "people" colored crayon, cutting hair, a nose, and a smile. They sorted through buttons to find two that were the color of their eyes.

Green Table: Math! Math! Math... ten apples up on top! After listening to the story Ten Apples On Top, the kids drew a picture of themselves. Then they traced numbers on apples and colored them in an ab pattern. They glued the apples on top of their heads. The work will be hung up in the classroom so come by and check it out!

Red Table: Handwriting! Handwriting! Handwriting! The kids worked with the salt boxes to work on review their letter and numbers.

Handwriting: Our letter of the week was Aa. Please remind your child that the capital A always starts from the top to the bottom and then they make a bridge to connect the two lines. For a lower case a remind your child to make a magic c from the belt line (or the dot dot line) go up to the belt line and dive back down to the grass.
Monday: Aa white board practice and an Aa worksheet
Tuesday: Alphabet Books- read an Aa story, brainstormed Aa words, wrote Aa words in their alphabet book, illustrated their Aa words and did Aa practice in their alphabet book.
Thursday: Sentence Book- wrote an Aa sentence in their best handwriting.
Friday: Drew a directed draw picture of an A word using the letter a
Worked on the A cut and paste page for their own ABC book.
Next weeks letter of the week is Dd.

Open Court:
Rhyming: Put rhyming picture puzzles together as a class
Letter of the Day: Worked on the letter of the day-Gg,Hh,Ii,Jj,Kk, and Ll. We practice the letters on white boards and in the handwriting work book to give the kids more experience with the letters before we get to the letter of the week.
Alphabet Work: Worked on letter sounds and the ABC book. The kids were given a plastic bag with the letters A-G in them.They had to put them in alphabetical order from left to right.
Sight Words: We introduced our first three "star words" to the kids. The words are the, a, I. You should find small white books that they made. Please keep them so that the kids can read them and work with them. We call these words star words because the kids are expected to be able to read and write them by the end of the year.

Math:
The kids started in the math books this week. We continued working on patterns and shapes. Some of the kids are still having difficulty with the different kinds of patterns. Everyone seems to AB,ABC, AAB, or ABB patterns with colors and shapes but they are having some real difficulties with size patterns. The standard for patterning in identifying, extending, and creating their own.

Homework Next Week:
In the homework folder is a letter with the first star word list. This is a self paced program between now and the end of the year. Your child is expected to complete all 7 lists between now and June. Don't worry if they are not ready right now we have plenty of time. On the other hand if your child is ready to read the first list of sight words please send them back and we will read them together in class. They need to know them on sight not sounding them out, and you should mix up the words to make sure the kids know them and don't just have them memorized in order. Every time your child brings in a new list they will have to read all the old lists as well so keep practicing all of the words. Save your half of the star word sheet.

Please sign-up to volunteer for the Rancho Round-Up if you haven't. It would be sad if games had to be pulled because their weren't enough volunteers.

Also you may send one check no matter which order forms you order from. Please send them in by Friday.

I will be at the Novato Rotaract booth at Blues by the Lake all day if you are going tomorrow. Please stop by and say hello!

Sarah

Rancho Roundup!

2009-09-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is a letter from PTA asking for more volunteers for games etc. Please look at the note below! If you haven't donated for the gift basket and you still want to please send in your donation ASAP! We hope you are able to volunteer! I will be at check in and can't wait to see all of you!

Hello Rancho Families,

Our Rancho Round-Up Family Dinner is fast approaching, and we hope you have your calendars marked and your RSVPs turned in for the shindig on Friday, October 2nd. This event is an annual favorite where our families come out to have fun and support our school.

The Round-Up team thanks those of you who have already stepped up to volunteer for the night. However, we are currently still short many volunteers.

Please consider sparing an hour of the evening to help us make this a successful event. If we don't get enough volunteers, we will have to cut some of the games, which would be a shame for our kids.

Below are the volunteer slots we need filled. To volunteer, please email the Round-Up Volunteer Coordinator, Monica Thompson, at momicathompson@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much for helping out. The Round-Up team looks forward to your support (and a great night)!

Games
8 volunteers from 6 PM - 7 PM
9 volunteers from 7 PM - 8 PM

Prize Table
1 volunteer from 6 PM - 7 PM
2 volunteers from 7 PM - 8 PM

Food Clean-Up
3 volunteers from 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Decorations Clean-Up (move hay bales to breezeway, etc.)
6 volunteers from 8 PM - 9 PM

Picture Day

2009-09-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Say Cheese! Tomorrow is picture day! Please remember to send your child to school with their picture money. We will be taking pictures first thing so please don't be late!

Week 5

2009-09-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just another reminder about Pajama Day tomorrow. Please leave all stuffed friends at home! I know it's tempting but all blankies and stuffed animals need to stay at home.

Another great week of learning! Here is an overview what has been going on in the classroom.

Centers:

Orange Table: Bear Books
Kids learned about bears and made their own bear book with a parent or teacher. The kid learned facts about bears and then wrote them in their book under the guidance of an adult. They illustrated a picture on each page to go with the sentence. The kids learned about mammals, what they eat, where they live, and about how the animals change during the seasons. The bear book went home in the backpack!

Yellow Table: Shape Patterns
Kids worked fairly independently on choosing two shapes and creating an ab pattern strip. They colored them, cut the shape out, and then glued it down. It should have been in the backpack.

Green Table:
Kids worked with Mrs. Bondanza on alphabet board where they matched letters tiles with pictures. The second step was to match the letter tiles to the a picture with a word written underneath. The first letter was missing so they had to figure it out based on the picture which tile went in the slot.

Red Table:
Kids worked with a parent to one to one number correspondence for the numbers 1-6 with noodles or buttons. They also did a patterning page and practiced writing the number 6.

Open Court:
We began working on the letter of the day this week. This is an overview of the sound and form of the letters in the alphabet. We also go through the alphabet doing a letter of the week and that goes into more detail then the letter of the day does. This week we covered Bb,Cc,Dd,Ee, and Ff. Rarely will our letter of the week and our letter of the day overlap but this week it did.

We practiced the whisper game again where the kids worked on listening skills. They hear a word whispered in their ear and they have to pass it around the circle like in operator. Only they can't ask for someone to repeat it.

Handwriting:
We continued with the letter of the week. This week it is Cc. We refer to it as a magic Cc because it's the foundation of other letters. Please remind your child to always start at the top. We are really working on best handwriting practices but are only really looking at the letters we have covered in the letter of the week. So far we have covered Ll, Ii, Tt, and Cc. Next weeek our letter will be the letter Aa.

Science:
We discussed what a person needs to live and grow. Then we talked about what a tree would need to live and grow. We will be going on a walk next week to collect leaves. Please have your child bring in things from the trees in your yard (fruit, leaves, nuts, acorns, bark, roots, sticks, etc) for our science discovery center.

Next Tuesday is Picture Day. We are having our picture taken first thing so please don't be late. There are makeups for the individual pictures but not the class picture.

Wednesday is a minimum day which does not do anything to our schedule but it does mean the afternoon kindergarten will be with us all day.

Spirit Day Friday!

2009-09-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

FYI- Friday is Pajama Day! Kids can wear pajamas with their sneakers. Please no slippers! The dress code is still being enforced so please no spaghetti straps!

Week 4

2009-09-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Four day weeks are harder then regular ones. You still have the same amount to do but less time to do it in. Yikes!

I have to tell you again how much I love being your students' teacher. It is such a great honor and they are wonderful people to get to know. As I tell them often they are great kids!

Here is a review of our wonderful week in kindergarten

Centers:

Listening Center:
The story was The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall. The kids drew a picture of their favorite part using five different colors. A teacher wrote the words and the kids practiced tracing over them. We read other versions of the story through out the week.

Orange Table:
The kids worked with Mrs. Bondanza to practice writing a T sentence: "Tilly Turtle came to tea." in their sentence writing book. This is a place to practice handwriting and for a teacher to help direct the proper grip and writing direction. The kids worked on Ii, Ll, and Tt practice before getting a quiet activity.

Yellow Table:
This was a parent directed table where the kids did a directed drawing portrait of themselves and made a pattern picture frame. This will be laminated and hung in the classroom to put the kids work on. After the kids were done the worked on a rectangle page before doing a quiet activity.

Green Table:
This table was the high light of the week for both kids and adults alike! The kids worked on primary colors. First they dripped red, yellow and blue food color into karo syrup and they mixed it together. They talked about the colors that were being made as the syrup mixed together. Once they through it away they got white frosting with two colors of their choice. They mixed it up and frosted a graham cracker with their "new color" on it. It was a very tasty way to learn about the colors! You should have found the worksheets to go with this center in their backpacks!

Handwriting:
Our letter of the week was Tt. We make the capital T by going down for the stem first and over from the left for the top. For a lower case t they start just below the sky line and make the line down to the grass. Then just about the dot dot line they make a line or they cross their t.
The kids did Tt practice on the white boards, a Tt practice page, a Tt alphabet book with Tt words and pictures, a Tt sentence, a directed drawing using the letter Tt, and they will do a cut and paste picture on Friday. The letter of the week next week will be Cc.

Science:
The kids started their science journal this week where the kids drew a picture of a tree. Tomorrow they will be drawing a picture of a tree that gives us food. We had a great teachable moment when we visited the garden earlier this week and found an apple. The kids were able to each eat a piece of it! Yum!

Math:
Practicing numbers can be hard work but your students are working hard! We worked on four and five this week in class.

Movement: Today in movement the kids played with the parachute.

If you are signed up for centers and your child is sick please let me know that you're not coming. I would appreciate it if you would find your own substitute but I understand that is not always possible. Don't leave a voice mail! Call the office and speak to someone directly.

Check the blog for any upcoming events!

Week 3

2009-09-04T07:35:00.001-07:00

School is officially in full swing and we are loving every minute of it! Another great week with your kids and I am looking forward to what the rest of the year has to bring.

Here is a brief overview of the week!

Centers:

Listening Center:
The kids listened to Clifford the Big Red Dog, drew a picture of their favorite part of the story, and then dictated a sentence to a teacher about the picture.

Orange Table:
The kids worked with a parent to make a Corduroy puppet that will be coming home in the Friday Folder. Your child worked on their fine motor skills.

Yellow Table:
The kids worked with Mrs.Bondanza on handwriting and the letter of the week. They wrote a sentence using the letter Ii in their alphabet sentence book. This was an opportunity to work on penmanship, practice listening skills, and following directions. The kids also practiced writing their names in "kindergarten handwriting".

Green Table:
The kids work with me making animal patterns. They used the animals that are found in the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear. This center worked on math skills, motor skills, and direction following. They also practiced tracing the numbers two and three. Most of this center was done independently.

Red Table:
With a parent the kids painted a picture using watercolors of an animal from the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear. They also colored a bear the color of their choice and practiced tracing their name in kindergarten handwriting.

Handwriting:
Our letter of the week this week was Ii. The kids are experts on writing the letter Ii and are expected to do it all the time in their best kindergarten handwriting. Sometime your child will need extra practice so you will find a practice sheet in their homework folder. We are working on writing our names using only one upper case letter and the rest lower case. We call this "kindergarten handwriting". Your child will be expected to write their name in "kindergarten handwriting" from now on. It won't be perfect and we don't expect it to be. There will probably be a mix of letters from time to time but we would like them to "try" it and do there best at it from now on. Please practice this at home.

Social Studies:
You should have found a newspaper in the back pack this week about classroom rules. Those are what we use to guide our social studies lessons. We talked about why we need rules both in and outside of the classroom.

Science:
Today we kicked off our science lesson about trees. We will begin studying trees next week. We took a walk and looked at different trees and their leaves. Your child is more then welcome to bring things in from trees around their house. We will be talking about what we use trees for and what grows on trees. They can bring in things that aren't just leaves such as acorns, fruit, nuts, etc.

Math:
We continued to work on patterning making AB patterns (red,blue,red,blue) and making AAB (red, red,blue,red,red,blue) or ABB patterns (red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue).
We also worked on identifying shapes and drawing shapes. We worked on number writing practice as well.

Language Arts:
In Open Court your child has been working on finding rhyming words. We have been doing this through games and song. We have been singing "Down by the Bay" all week. We have also been working on sorting things. We have been listening to stories about being in school and starting kindergarten.

Movement:
On Thursday Winnie Comfort came to lead a PE class for the kindergartners. It was a great time. It will be every Thursday from 10:55 to 11:25. Please remember to send your child in sneakers on Thursday.

Buddy Classes:
On Wednesday we met with our buddy class. We are paired up with Mrs.Dees fifth grade class. Your child was assigned to a buddy for the year. This week we read stories together and then played.

Classroom Announcements:
The Rancho Roundup is on October 2nd. Each year the classes collect items to put in a basket. Our basket theme is Boys Box of Fun. We hope everyone will donate to the basket. The baskets will be sold at the Family Dinner.

Every Friday is Rancho Spirit Day. Your child can wear a Rancho shirt (order forms were sent out today) or blue and white!

Thank you to all the families who volunteered in the classroom. The kids loved seeing you! Keep up the great work!

Upcoming Events:

Please check out the calendar of upcoming events on the actual blog!
ranchok-1am.blogspot.com

Have a wonderful weekend! If you haven't gotten all your paper work in please do it by Tuesday.

OOPS

2009-08-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read the blog last night- when I said "today" for Friday Folders I meant on Friday. I am sorry for the mixup there was only a piece of paper in your child's bag about the first day. Nothing else. Friday Folder will be in the bag or their hand today!

Week 1

2009-08-20T12:25:00.001-07:00

What a great first day! All of the kids made a great transition into kindergarten and we had a wonderful day together. They had a very busy day and worked on learning lots of new procedures and routines. In the back-pack you should have found a paper about your child's favorite part of the first day.

This is our class blog. Now that you have found I hope you continue to use it all year long. Please subscribe to the blog by filling in the box in the upper left hand corner. Remember to check in every once in awhile to the actual blog to check out the calendar. Our blog can also be accessed by go to the ranch website as well. On this blog there are links to the district, the school web page and to a couple of other great sites where you can get work for your kids, reading activities.

Today you will receive the Friday Folder. This will be sent home every Friday with your child's work from the week and any fliers or other information being sent home. Obviously this week it's pretty light. Please read the note about the Friday Folder that was included in it.

Homework is in packet form and sent home on Monday. The entire packet is due on Friday. Homework will begin this coming Monday. If there are problems please let me know as soon as possible so that we can work it out together. I am very flexible and I want to meet the needs of your child as best I can.

Snacks: Please remember to not pack any snacks with nuts in it. We do have a nut allergy in class. Snacks should be healthy and something your child can open on their own. It does not need to be an entire lunch. We are a no juice box classroom. Please do not pack them in the lunch boxes. They may have a water bottle or milk. If you are sending a water bottle please have it be reusable and easy for your child to close. If your child has food allergies please let me know as soon as possible. Also please make sure if your child has a food allergy that they are aware of what they are not supposed to eat.

Absences: Just a note about this. If your child is sick with chicken pox (you can still get it-very mild even with the vaccine), strep throat, Fifth's disease, mono, hepatitis, pink eye, or has head lice you must notify the school immediately. We are required to notify the rest of our class by note as soon as possible.

Birthday Treats: We have a couple of birthdays before back to school night. I wanted to let you know that we are a no frosting classroom. A homemade cupcake with a little frosting is okay but the huge store bought cupcakes with tons of frosting stain the pavement when they fall on the ground. Thank you for understanding.

If you need to contact me by e-mail please feel free to e-mail me for now at srich@nusd.org
I will notify you when it changes to swhite@nusd.org

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