Ms. Kirkpatrick’s Newsletter
October 26-29, 2009
Classroom News
It has been so rainy lately. I have postponed our field trip to the duck pond at Veteran’s Park until the weather forecast looks better. Hopefully it will be dry on our field trip to Mainstay Farms on Thursday. Each student needs a sack lunch. We will be eating an early lunch there. You can pack a separate snack to keep in his/her backpacks for your child to eat when we return back to the school. Check the weather and dress appropriately. We will spend a majority of the day outside. Please email me if you are attending and if you will be driving. I need to know by Tuesday so I can plan the driving arrangements.
We have a busy week this week. On Wednesday, each student gets to dress up as their favorite story book character. Please send the book to school with your child. We will decorate a pumpkin as another character from the story. It should be a day filled with fun fall activities.
Our Studies
We have been practicing telling time to the hour for the past several weeks. Last week, the students did time worksheets to assess this skill. Everyone has done amazing.
I will be sending home each student’s The Fifer pictures that were framed in the hallway. We walked over to Green’s Produce and each student got to pick out something for our still life. The arrangement is on the table in the hallway. Last week, each student began sketching the still life. This week, they will watercolor their sketch and I will display them on the table.
The students did their first illustration for The Little Mermaid. They colored their picture with crayons and then painted over it with blue paint to give it the underwater effect. All the illustrations came out really great. They will be hanging on the bulletin board.
Last week, we finished studying day two of creation in science by making a cloud in a bottle. The students were mesmerized. They sat so still to watch the experiment.
In Bible, we read the story of the Tower of Babel. The student then acted out the story in the centers room. They used block to begin building a tower. The students had a hard time making up their own language. This really surprised me. It was fun.
We continued our study on nouns. We made a list of all the places that we go. We also did a worksheet on the homophones to/two/too. We did it as a class and will finish it this week.
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 19-22, 2009
Ms. Kirkpatrick’s Newsletter
October 19-22, 2009
Classroom News
We will try to go to Veteran’s Park again this Thursday. I will send home another permission form. Please return it by Wednesday. We will leave for the park at 2:30. We will sketch the duck pond and return before 3:20. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week.
I need all permission forms and $7 per person as soon as possible for the field trip to Mainstay Farms. This field trip is open to all parents. If you are planning on attending and driving, please let me know so I can make arrangements.
There is a signup sheet outside the classroom door for any parents that would like to have a parent-teacher conference. You can also email me to make arrangements at nicolekirk@yahoo.com
Our Studies
The students’ illustrations of The Princess and the Pea will be hanging on the bulletin board. We began reading The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. It will take us several weeks to read this fairy tale.
The class continues to practice reciting I’m Glad. We focused on learning the second verse of the song Yankee Doodle.
In math, we practiced converting nickels and dimes to pennies and vice versa. The students make animals and other objects out of tangrams during learning stations. This helps student develop special awareness and early geometry skills.
Many of the students invert the letters b and d. We will be spending several weeks focusing on these letters during handwriting lessons. We began with the letter b last week and will continue with it this week.
In grammar, we practiced sorting person nouns as common or proper. Everyone did really well. We also studied the homophones to/two/too. We will continue that study these words.
We will begin a study on the fall season. We will walk over to Green’s Produce and get different fall items to make a still life. Then, each student will sketch the still life.
October 19-22, 2009
Classroom News
We will try to go to Veteran’s Park again this Thursday. I will send home another permission form. Please return it by Wednesday. We will leave for the park at 2:30. We will sketch the duck pond and return before 3:20. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week.
I need all permission forms and $7 per person as soon as possible for the field trip to Mainstay Farms. This field trip is open to all parents. If you are planning on attending and driving, please let me know so I can make arrangements.
There is a signup sheet outside the classroom door for any parents that would like to have a parent-teacher conference. You can also email me to make arrangements at nicolekirk@yahoo.com
Our Studies
The students’ illustrations of The Princess and the Pea will be hanging on the bulletin board. We began reading The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. It will take us several weeks to read this fairy tale.
The class continues to practice reciting I’m Glad. We focused on learning the second verse of the song Yankee Doodle.
In math, we practiced converting nickels and dimes to pennies and vice versa. The students make animals and other objects out of tangrams during learning stations. This helps student develop special awareness and early geometry skills.
Many of the students invert the letters b and d. We will be spending several weeks focusing on these letters during handwriting lessons. We began with the letter b last week and will continue with it this week.
In grammar, we practiced sorting person nouns as common or proper. Everyone did really well. We also studied the homophones to/two/too. We will continue that study these words.
We will begin a study on the fall season. We will walk over to Green’s Produce and get different fall items to make a still life. Then, each student will sketch the still life.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Newsletter October 5-8, 2009
Ms. Kirkpatrick’s Newsletter
October 5-8, 2009
Classroom News
We will be taking a short field trip, weather permitting, to Veteran’s Park this Thursday to sketch the pond in our nature journals. There is a permission form in your child’s folder. Please fill out and return by Wednesday. We will leave around 2:30 and return before 3:30. I will try to plan a nature walk at a local park once a month. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Our Studies
We welcomed October last week. The students practice a song every morning to help them remember how to spell October. We also have color songs that we sing to help them spell the color words. Last week, the students practiced the red song. This week, we will practice the color word orange.
All of the students are working in their individual phonic workbooks. I work with each student one-on-one everyday to teach individual phonic lessons.
We now have two math periods a day. During the first period, the students work in their individual workbooks. The second period consists of “life skills” math. For example, this week, we practiced telling time to the hour and ordinal number.
We continued to read Aesop’s Fables. This week we read The Wolf and the Kid. After reading, the students drew a picture and retold the fable. Their illustration and narration is hanging out on the bulletin board. We also read The Goose and the Golden Egg. The students made their very own golden egg. After reading The Bundle of Sticks, we went outside and collected sticks to reenact the fable. On Thursday, we read The Farmer and the Larks.
In Bible, we studied the story of Cain and Abel. The students continue to practice sequencing the days of creation.
We had a guest speaker for history this week. My dad, Mr. K, was able to come in and share the story of Paul Revere. The students colored a color sheet and I hung it up on the history timeline bulletin board.
Our science lessons have focused on water, created in day two of creation. Last week, we did experiments about floating and sinking.
The students did a picture study on Manet’s Still Life with Melon and Peaches. They had to spend a full five minutes looking at the print. This was very challenging for some of them. After the five minutes, they had to turn their print over and tell me everything they remember. The students remembered a lot!
October 5-8, 2009
Classroom News
We will be taking a short field trip, weather permitting, to Veteran’s Park this Thursday to sketch the pond in our nature journals. There is a permission form in your child’s folder. Please fill out and return by Wednesday. We will leave around 2:30 and return before 3:30. I will try to plan a nature walk at a local park once a month. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Our Studies
We welcomed October last week. The students practice a song every morning to help them remember how to spell October. We also have color songs that we sing to help them spell the color words. Last week, the students practiced the red song. This week, we will practice the color word orange.
All of the students are working in their individual phonic workbooks. I work with each student one-on-one everyday to teach individual phonic lessons.
We now have two math periods a day. During the first period, the students work in their individual workbooks. The second period consists of “life skills” math. For example, this week, we practiced telling time to the hour and ordinal number.
We continued to read Aesop’s Fables. This week we read The Wolf and the Kid. After reading, the students drew a picture and retold the fable. Their illustration and narration is hanging out on the bulletin board. We also read The Goose and the Golden Egg. The students made their very own golden egg. After reading The Bundle of Sticks, we went outside and collected sticks to reenact the fable. On Thursday, we read The Farmer and the Larks.
In Bible, we studied the story of Cain and Abel. The students continue to practice sequencing the days of creation.
We had a guest speaker for history this week. My dad, Mr. K, was able to come in and share the story of Paul Revere. The students colored a color sheet and I hung it up on the history timeline bulletin board.
Our science lessons have focused on water, created in day two of creation. Last week, we did experiments about floating and sinking.
The students did a picture study on Manet’s Still Life with Melon and Peaches. They had to spend a full five minutes looking at the print. This was very challenging for some of them. After the five minutes, they had to turn their print over and tell me everything they remember. The students remembered a lot!
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