Wednesday

We've been busy the past few days, despite our low attendance. I hope all of our friends are feeling better and will all return to school soon. Please try to call the school (560-5036) and let Connie know your child will not be here. If you call before 8:00am, you can leave a message.

Tomorrow is National Kazoo Day, so if your child has a kazoo at home, bring it to school! We'll take time out our morning to celebrate.

On our January/February F.Y.I. I requested 1 roll of paper towels and either a canister of Wet Ones or baby wipes. Big thank you to everyone who has sent them in already!

Also on our January/February F.Y.I., I requested a valentine be brought in for each classmate from your child by Feb. 12. However, our friend Andy will be leaving Community School. Andy is going to China and his last day with us will be Feb. 4. If your child has already made their valentines, please feel free to send in Andy's and your child can give it to him early. Thanks!

Scholastic Book orders are being sent home today to those who returned their forms requesting them. If you did not return your form to me, you will not be receiving one. Orders are due back to me on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Thursday

     Lynn tells me the children had a great day yesterday.  Pattie started them off by reading to them. Lynn then read Edwina - The Dinosaur that didn't Think she was Extinct. The children then did a journal prompt "If Edwina lived on my street, we would..." - I loved the responses the children chose. Some would walk her, some would eat with her and others would prefer to dance. 

     Today we started off with math workshop. We talked about sorting, colors, and patterns. The children quickly caught on to AB patterns. Some of them are even ready for ABC and ABB! I was impressed. Since math workshop, the children have been spotting patterns all around the room and campus. We discovered Alessandra's shirt today has a pattern on pink and gold on it. Jahanvi was also wearing a more complicated patterned sweater today. We skipped off to fruit break and recess, followed by buddies with Betsy's class. We took advantage of National Hugging Day today and just read with our buddies followed by lots of hugs. We had a great morning that was quickly lead into a sleepy afternoon with the cold rain.

     Make sure you celebrate National Hugging Day today by hugging someone! :)

     Tomorrow we will go to Hollins University and see the performance of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. The children will be transported by bus, and as always in five-point harnesses. The performance will begin at 11:00am. We should be back by 12:15pm.

     Please check the latest edition of QUICK NOTES for information regarding closings and delays for Community School.

**NEW - Follow us on Twitter for the quickest closing and delayed opening updates!**

Tuesday

Thank you to everyone who sent their conference form in to me by last Friday. If you still haven't sent yours in, please do so as soon as possible. Thanks!

We were busy this morning working on another chart during Math Workshop. They told me last week that they were pros at charts now, so I made this one harder by giving three options to pick from, not just two like before. It was a little tricky for some of our friends, but they soon caught on. We now have five charts hanging up in our room. Please stop in and take a look when you have time - your children have worked hard on them!

We then had drama, spanish, and music. Our enrichment classes led us straight to recess and lunch. We had a wonderful morning and start to our week.

Note : I will not be here tomorrow. Lynn, our After School Coordinator will be filling in for me. Lynn has  done several activities with our class and has subbed for me once before. Everyone in our class is familiar with Lynn. If you don't know Lynn, please introduce yourself!! :) I'll see you all on Thursday.

Tomorrow is Lunch-A-Month (pancake & sausage on a stick, syrup, cooked apples, cookie, lemonade). As always, parents are welcome to come!

Please take time to read today's QUICK NOTES and check out the flyer for the PANCAKE DINNER. Reserve your seats today!!

Thursday

     Although the majority of the snow has began to melt away (after 4 weeks!), we have been all about some snowflakes in our classroom today. We started out this morning reading a story, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow written by  Shirley Neitzel and illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker. In this story, rhyme follows rhyme as layer after layer of winter clothing ("bunchy and hot, wrinkled a lot, stiff in the knee, and too big for me!") is first put on and then taken off to the relief of the child bundled inside.We compared the clothing the children wear in the story to the outerwear we wear to play outside. Your observant children noticed I never wear a hat - I was never a hat girl - but that I always have a coat, scarf, and gloves. The conversation quickly turned into a discussion about snowflakes when one student asked me where they come from. We then did a journal page of where we think snow comes from. I must say, this is one creative group! There were a lot of thought processes that happened with this one, so watch out! From tall buildings to birds, I got all kinds of creative answers. I love the imagination of children at this age. 

     Later this morning, we had buddy time with Betsy's class. Again, the focus was on snowflakes. Their buddies helped them cut out snowflakes and color them with "watercolors". While teaching with Ruth Ann a couple of years ago, we discovered if you dipped old, dried out markers in water they make a beautiful picture, reminiscent of a watercolor painting. The ink on the paper is saturated enough the colors bleed together beautifully. Some of them are still drying and as soon as they're ready, they're going in our window. Snow buddies that are hanging in our window now will soon be coming home to make room for our colorful snowflakes.   

     After buddies, we did some creative movement and went on a bear hunt. We had some extra time, so we worked in some fine motor centers for a little while. The children rotated through different stations, some requiring transferring items using only tweezers(some stations had small items like lima beans and others had large items like cotton balls) and some included strengthening our pincer grip by using clothespins to "clip" things together. We had an awesome and productive morning!

I am still missing a couple conference forms. I need them by tomorrow, January 15th. Please refer to yesterday's post to see if I am waiting on yours. Thank you for the notes and forms sent in today!

Conference Forms

I have only received signed Conference Forms from the families crossed out below. If your name isn't crossed out, please be sure to return your form to me by this Friday, January 15th.

Aiello

Baldwin

Clinevell

Medina

Patel

Thomas

Wang

Wright

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the Conference Form.

email : katlync@communityschool.net

 phone : (540) 875-7977

or

your child's folder.

Thank you!! :)

Monday

Today we started off with our usual morning meeting, but then had Ashlynn's show & share. She brought in a guitar and let all of her classmates play it. Playing the guitar was a great way to move on to music class with Kim. We used a lot of different types of manipulatives in our classroom when we returned from music. We also practiced writing our names. I had the children trace their name, and then write it on their own below the traced one, using the traced one as a guide. They did an awesome job with it and I can't wait to show you!

F.Y.I.s for January/February came home today, please review it and let me know if you have any questions.

Several students were absent last Friday. I took sheets and blankets home and washed them for those students. Just wanted to let you all know. :)

Tomorrow we will celebrate Anna Grace's 4th birthday! The Aiellos are bringing in cupcakes in the morning to celebrate.

Thursday

     Happy Thursday! After morning meeting this morning, we had math workshop. In some spare time yesterday, we began talking about charts. I had a chart hanging up near my desk and one of our friends asked me to explain it. We then made our own chart. We tasted fresh cranberries and decided if we liked them or not. I then handed the children a picture of themselves and they had to decide if it went into the column that read "Does like cranberries" with a smiling face or "Does not like cranberries" with a frowning face. They also had to find the row that had their name on it. With this being said, they made an awesome chart and we extended this activity this morning. We made another chart. Today's chart had all of the children's names on it and two columns. The two columns read "Likes the warm weather better" with a sunshine and "Likes the cold weather better" with a snowflake. We also learned about the word "Total" at the bottom of the chart and counted those up. The results for the children were split right down the middle! Four of the children said they liked the warm weather better, and four of them said they liked the cold weather better. I too selected one and decided I like the cold weather better. Please come in some time and check out our charts! Both of them are hanging in our room.
     We also spent time with our buddies this morning. We made cards for the troops by using our hand prints to make angels. A couple children got paint on a sleeve or two, but don't worry - the paint is washable! The children had a great time seeing their big buddies again.

Thanks to everyone for sending in your child with hats, gloves, scarves, snow boots, etc. The children are having a blast outside and seem to forget it's so cold out!

Please don't forget to sign and return your conference form by next Friday. Unless I have spoken with you, I do not feel a conference is necessary. However, if you would like to have one it's no problem! Fill out your form for your preferred meeting time and we'll go from there. :)

Have a wonderful night, see you tomorrow unless the weather doesn't allow. Please check HERE for updates regarding closings and delays.

Also, Quick Notes came out yesterday. Don't forget to read them!

We had a busy day today with all three enrichment classes. We had Drama, Spanish, and Music this morning. We had recess indoors today, with a few of our friends from Ruth Ann's class. The children loved showing Ruth Ann's class where our toys were and how to use them. They were great leaders and I am proud of them for helping their friends so politely.

I'm in the process of uploading new pictures to our blog, but my computer here at school isn't being too cooperative. I may have to try uploading them from home. Hopefully they'll be on here soon!

Be on the lookout for important papers coming home. Today I've sent home important information about the upcoming conference in February. Please select your preference, sign, and return to me by January 15th (next Friday). Thanks in advance! Also, I will be sending home a F.Y.I. this week with more detailed information about the next couple of months.

We've had a great start to the new year and I can't wait to continue this journey with all of your wonderful children. :)

Welcome back!

     Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everybody had a peaceful break. The children all seemed happy to be back - I was too! I had missed my friends and was very excited to get started this morning. We went straight to work after morning meeting. I read Sledding by Elizabeth Winthrop. We then chatted a bit about what we did over Winter break. After we discussed what we did, we journaled about it. I heard about a lot of snowball fights and long trips in cars. The children were very excited to share their experiences in the snow with me. We then had fruit break and Music with Kim. So the children didn't have to travel in the blustery cold, Kim came to our room. We welcomed her with our big hugs and listening ears. The children sang several songs that they had to also listen to for directions. They also played rhythm sticks (and did a fabulous job!).
     When Kim left, we got out some fine motor centers. Play-doh, clay, and salt dough is wonderful for building hand strength.  As the child squeezes the clay or play-doh to soften it, the hand muscles get a good workout, and by pinching the clay and making tiny parts like ears and tails to add to their creations, the child is building fine motor skills. Why do we need them to develop fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the base for writing skills. All of this being said, one center had play-doh. Accompanying the play-doh were rolling pins and play-doh scissors. Another center had "snowballs" (small marshmallows) in a bowl, tweezers, and a small container. The children were to roll out and cut the play-doh while in the play-doh center. While in the "snowball" center, they were to pick up the snowballs one at a time and put them in the snowball bin with the tweezers. They then dumped them all back into their bowl and moved them one by one with their other hand using only the tweezers. Many of them didn't like doing it with their non-dominant hand, but they got the hang of it pretty quick! This activity worked on the Pincer grasp. The pincer grasp is the one needed to hold your pencil(or in their case crayons, markers, etc.) in the correct dynamic tripod position. Huh? That's just a fancy way to say holding a pencil between the thumb and index finger, resting on middle finger. :)


Notes :

• SHEETS: In the commotion of everything going on Dec. 18th, sheets were not sent home. I personally am taking all of the sheets and blankets home with me today and washing them this evening. A couple of you sent in new sheets/blankets for your child to have this week. If so, I sent home the sheet and/or blanket that was left here at school over break with your child today. Thank you and I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused you last night/this morning as you went to pack your child's bag!
• PLASTIC CAPS: Please continue to send in plastic caps. We're collecting them all year!
• SHOW & SHARE: Show & Share calendars for the month of January have been sent home today. We'll start this year with Charlie, tomorrow.