First Two Weeks of School

Can you believe we are going into our first FULL week of school?!  We have already been learning so much and have started building foundations for learning throughout the school year.  We have been working daily on various routines, letters, and social skills; and I'm going to briefly go through some for each to give you an idea of what you and your child can talk about at night when you are home!

1. Routines in School
1. Morning Routine
1. Hang up back pack and go outside for recess
2. After recess come inside, grab folder from backpack and stand patiently while Mrs. Giedd looks through folders.
3. After Mrs. Giedd looks through your folder, put it into mailbox.
4. Then go over and move name for what type of lunch you will be eating (pack or school)
5. Go to table and put Popsicle stick into container for what kind of milk you would like for snack (white, chocolate, or no milk)
6. Sit on letter on rug/pledge of allegiance/morning message from Ms. Resch (principal)
7. Greeting, calendar, weather, morning message from Mrs. Giedd
2. Line Basics
1. Stand in line facing forward
2. Hands to yourself/at your side
3. Leave a space between you and the person in front of you
4. Quiet mouth
3. Coming in from Recess
1. Use the bathroom and wash hands
2. Get a drink
3. Go sit quietly in classroom until all students get back
4. After lunch recess:  do the same, but grab rest mat, find your spot on the floor and begin resting
2. We have been working a lot on our letters by identifying them around the room and practicing writing them.  Last week we worked on Aa, Bb, and Cc.  This week we will be working on the following:
1. Monday-- Dd
2. Tuesday-- Ee
3. Wednesday-- Ff
4. Thursday-- Gg
5. Friday-- Hh
1. Please practice these with your child at home to help them become better writers AND readers :)  I will be sending home a packet (Monday) explaining how we are teaching your child how to write the letters in school.  Please watch for that in your child's folder.  I will also upload a copy onto our classroom website!
3. Social Skills
1. We are really starting to work on social skills with the students.  Our school wide monthly word we are working on is "Responsibility."  We will be starting to make a list today (Monday) by writing down what we are responsible for in Kindergarten.  Each day we will add a new idea.  Please talk about this with your child at home!
2. We have also been talking about what to do if another child is bullying or bothering you:
1. First ask that child to stop (and hopefully they will)
2. Ask them a second time
3. If they don't stop, find a teacher whether it is on the playground, in a special (gym, music, etc) or your classroom teacher (Mrs. Giedd). 
4. We talk about this daily and have the children model what it looks like

I know this is a lengthy message, but hopefully you will find it beneficial :)  Please look for posts of what the students think they are responsible for as well as the packet for writing!

Have a great week,

Mrs. Giedd

1st Day of School

Well today was the first day of school!  There are so many words that describe the day...fun, interesting, and hectic are just to name a few!  Today we worked a lot on how we sit on the carpet such as sitting criss-cross-applesauce, hands in lap, eyes on teacher or whoever is speaking, and mouths are quiet.  We call all of those things together sitting basics.  We also worked on standing in line (line basics) which include facing forward, hands to yourself, leave a space between you and the person in front of you, and stand quietly and respectfully.  Please review these two bascis with your child to help remind them in many ways!

Also, I asked the students at the end of the day to tell me their favorite part of their first day of Kindergarten and here are some of the responses (some kids had the same answer; but these are all written in the students' words)....

"Going on the bus."  --Gwyn, Megan, and Destini
"Playing Outside." -- Travis
"I liked the calendar." --Mya
"I liked being in line." --Zoey
"My favorite part was the scavenger hunt." --Keegan
"I liked when we got our food and played outside." --Logan
"I liked color tag." --Nonah, Braeden, Nash, and Nathan
"Playing on the swingwet." --Ian, Jaden, Kit and Ella
"I liked the fire drill and palying on the playground." --Andrew and Seneca
"Playing Inside." --James and Chase
"I liked palying on the little thing in hte sandbox." --Hunter

I'm looking forward to day 2 tomorrow!!!

Open House!!!

Open House!!!

Who:  Wittenberg Elementary Students and Families

What:  Come meet your school, teacher, and classroom!

When:  Wednesday, August 31, 2011 from 3:30-6:00pm

Where:  Wittenberg Elementary School (ROOM 103)


I'm so excited to meet all of you :)