A is Awesome

Happy Friday!

I am so happy I got the chance to meet many of you and spend more time letting you know about this years adventure your child is about to go on. If you were unable to attend, no worries!  I am always here for you and feel free to ask or comment on anything.  I am working on getting my slide show printed out for those who could not attend.

This week was busy.  We attempted to take the kids down to the computer lab to take part in the STAR online assessment.  STAR to them seems like a listening game where they select answers based on what they see and hear.  Unfortunately the district was having some technical difficulties and the computers were not working.  Your child will be going down to attempt STAR again next week.  Unlike the older children the scores your child gets from STAR do not count.  This is more for exposure to the STAR assessment and the computer.

This was our first week of letter learning.

When we learn about our letter daily I start with "see it, say it, hear it".

I have a large pocket chart that contains

• large capital and lowercase letter
• poem using rhyme and main words that start with the letter
• dry erase portion to demonstrate how to write the letter
• four picture flash cards that start with the letter

I point to the letter and ask:

~Can you see it? (kids nod their head, yes)

~Can you say it? (kids shout the letter name)

~Can you hear it? (kids make the sound the letter makes)

We then proceed to read a story about the letter and a poem.  We play and I spy game to come up with words by looking at the books pictures that start with the letter sound.  On Friday we do our letter of the week show and tell where the kids can bring in something that starts with our letter.  Every other day the kids complete either a writing, highlighting search, bingo dabber letter search or letter craft.

During snack time I play them a play list of videos that typically cover our letter and something math related for the whole week.  On Friday we have a special video be it something like Curious George, Leap Frog or some other popular short video that also revolves around our theme.  This keeps them engaged during snack time and learning.

Here are some videos from this week:
Please keep in mind I cannot control the commercials that play on my blog feed but I do prepare the videos in class prior to the children viewing to avoid anything inappropriate.

Today was Mrs. Pohls last day in our classroom but she is only moving right across the hall! Congratulations to her on stepping up to be a lead classroom teacher!  On October 6th I will get a new aide, until then I will have a substitute aide in my class.  Afternoon families, this does not affect you except for now instead of them going across to the other class for half the day they will now stay with me from 12:00-2:30 in our classroom!  Mrs. Pohl will come over and spend the full class period with her class in our room!


I must have jinxed the kiddos last night when I talked about illness, they all seemed to come in with runny noses and coughs!  Tis' the season!  Please do not feel you need to keep your child home for a runny nose.  You can tell when they are not feeling well enough to come, use your judgement.  For now, remind them to use their chicken wing to cough and sneeze (arm and elbow) and plenty of hand washing and germ juice (hand sanitizer).

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

~Mrs. Miller

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

This past week your child may have started to come home singing songs you have never heard them sing before.  They may be telling you how much we sing and dance in class and it is true, we do a lot of both!

Every day your child participates in circle where we sing about the days in the week, the months in the year and the weather.  We do not sing your average ABC song either!  The kids turn into my "little rock stars" and we rock out singing the ABC and Number Rock!  After snack each day we get our wiggles out by dancing to songs displayed on the smart board for them to listen, watch and follow along to.

***Please note that YouTube has commercials that may show up when you play the video on my blog.  Each day I prepare the videos in advance to avoid the risk of any commercials not appropriate for kids, I just cannot control that on my blog posts***

We have continued on learning about our names. Right now your child is focusing on what letter their name starts with, the sound that letter makes, recognizing the letter and that the first letter is always a capital letter (big letter).  We have been working on prewriting skills to prepare them for writing.  This week the kids will start learning about the alphabet.  Each week we focus on one letter from the alphabet, what the capital and lowercase looks like, the sound it makes  and words that start with that letter.  On Friday the kids are allowed to bring in show and tell BUT it must start with our letter of the week.  For example, our letter this week is A so in order to bring in show and tell on Friday the object needs to start with the Letter A (alligator, apple...).

Do not forget that this week we are going to host Open House on the 25th at 6:00, room 125.  Come on in and learn more about your child's upcoming year and adventures in Pre-K!

~Mrs. Miller

Lots of learning

Happy weekend!

I can't say enough about how proud I am of this years class. Only 9 days into coming to school and the listening and following rules are beyond amazing! I hope they keep it up!

The kids have been learning and trying many new things this week.

Responsibility:

-Each child has their own bin, all of their supplies that were dropped in the bins are there along with a jar of play-doh. The kids have learned that when it's writing or craft time they need to listen to what I tell them they need for the activity, go get their bin, take out what they need and put the bin under their chair.  After they complete the activity they clean up their materials and return their bin to the shelf.

-When coming into class they go to their cubbies and hang up coats and backpacks. They need to check their backpacks and put their folders in the folder basket.

-When going home they receive their folders and any papers or work going home and stuff their own folders. They pack thier backpacks and get dressed to come home.

-Snack time: they clean their hands, get their snack and clean up their mess afterwards (throw away garbage and put snack bags away).

What they have been learning:

-Rules

"Give me 5"

When I shout "give me 5" the kids raise their hand and they know it means five things:

1. Eyes are watching me

2. Ears are listening

3. Mouths are quiet

4. Hands are still

5. Heart that cares

Bubbles mean no talking!

We pretended to catch a bubble in our mouth, you can't talk with the bubble in or it flys away! When I need their attnetion and it's a bit too chatty I say "bubbles in" and the kids puff their cheeks to resemble a mouth of bubbles and they know it means time to be quiet.

Routines such as when to go to rug and when to rotate with their group to different centers (and to stay with their group).

Lining up and walking in a straigh line plus rules to keeping a nice quiet line.

Skills they are learning:

-Capital letters (the big letter), first letter of their name and name recognition through games and crafts

-Exposure to printing lines, shapes and their name. My go to for name practice for kids who do not yet know how to print their name on their own is to write it with a light marker and have them trace it, eventually they will get it! For those who are printing their name we are working on proper letter formation, only the first letter is capital and the rest are lowercase.

-cutting (thumbs up & safety/rules), use of Elmer's glue (dot, dot not a lot), glue sticks (no smoothing or twisting all the way up).

-caring for library books

-listening games which are dance videos from YouTube on the smart board

-colors and shapes 

*describing shapes*

~And much, much more~

Your child is constantly learning whether it is through teacher guided or play. I promise you will be amazed at what they learned when the year is over. We even started a very big, special project that will show their growth...but you don't get to see it until June!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Miller

Find out Friday!

CONGRATULATIONS!
YOUR CHILD HAS MADE IT THROUGH THEIR
1st WEEK OF PRE-K!

 

Through sweat, smile and some tears all of my students are making very wonderful and very normal transitions into school!  I am so excited to finally put faces to names and learn about each of their little/big personalities.

 

One thing I like to tell parents off the bat that is 100% truth is that if your child comes in upset, hesitant and/or crying within moments they calm down and start to settle in.  Some children come in ready to go and some take more time to warm up to the whole idea of school and their parents leaving, it is all normal and something I am used to dealing with.  I promise they are in good hands.

 

I have been working in the education field for nearly fourteen years and have two small children of my own.  Teaching Pre-K has been by far my favorite job.  I love this age and I would like to think I have the patience to go with it.  Please do not hesitate to talk to me anytime about  anything!  I am here for your child and I am here for you.

 

This blog was something one of my former parents suggested two school years ago.  I have gotten some positive feedback and decided to continue on with it even after her child left my class.  I used to write in the blog everyday but with working, a husband who travels a lot for work and two small children it was hard.  I decided this year my blog would be nicknamed "Find Out Friday".  Every Friday I will post an entry that talks about what we did that week along with any special videos, links and photographs (NONE of the students faces) from my classroom.

 

This blog is not mandatory and any important information will also be sent home in their folders as well.  This blog is for those interested in finding out more about what your child did at school other than "nothing"...because lets face it, you have or will hear that from them.  I promise we do far from nothing ;o)

 

This week your child learned that school is not so scary and lots of fun.  We have been talking about the classroom rules, following a routine and learning each others names.  The kids have gotten a chance to become a part of small groups and rotate through various learning centers and imaginary play centers, enjoy the nice weather while we still have it out on the playground, learn how to walk in line, play name recognition games, gain independence and responsibility for snack, cleaning up, folders and their backpacks.  We have only been in school for four days and I can honestly say I am amazed at how well my students are adjusting already.  I am so proud of them and can't wait to watch them grow the rest of this year.

 

Please consider attending open house on September 25th so I can tell and show you so much more!

 

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Miller