Gropp's Greatest Group

KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM

Dear Parents,

Don't forget tomorrow evening is our kindergarten program.  Please have your student at school at 6:15 p.m. and have them report to our classroom.  The PTA meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by an outstanding singing program!  We have been working very hard on our class song and as a grade level to wrap up our year in song!  Our class will have the stage first.  When we sing as a grade level our class will be on the left side of the main stage.  Plan on coming early to get a seat.  If you arrive before 6:15 please hold your child until 6:15 and then escort them to our room.  For the program our student need to wear their orange class shirt and nice jeans.  Look for a writing we completed today will simple directions on how to get ready for the program.

THURSDAY IS A BIG DAY!

We have Field Day and the Reading Celebration!  Wear tennis shoes and orange class shirts.  Please make sure you put sun screen on your child!  We will have activities all day long outdoors!

MUFFINS FOR M'LADY
Friday 7:30 - 8:00 a.m.  in our classroom. We look forward to seeing our students and their favorite lady on that day.  I hope all our special mothers have a great weekend!  You deserve it!

We are winding down but still learning and reinforcing our standards in math, reading and writing!  We will continue learning about plants and reviewing all we have learned in social studies, science and health!  We have grown so much!

Have a great week!
Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C

Upcoming Events for the week of March 31st

Dear Parents,

 This week we will continue to talk about baby animals.  In math, we will use our math centers to practice making fair trades using pennies, nickels and dimes and use manipulatives to add two sets together. 

 We will discontinue the use of our Daily Bragging Behavior Sheets.  Please check our blog for upcoming events and changes.  We will either write a letter or call you if your child is having a difficult time making good choices at school.  NO NEWS, is GOOD NEWS!

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 Monday, March 30th is Rita's Italian Ice Night - Rita's is now one of our partners in education.  Please come out and have dessert to support our new partner and our PTA!  

 Wednesday, April 1st - NO FOOLING it's KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION for upcoming K students.  Please inform any parents in your neighborhood with Pre-K about registration!   They do not have to bring their child to register.  Orientation for new K students will be on May 6th!  It's hard to believe that we only have 34 more days of learning together.

 Thursday, April 2nd - SKATE NIGHT at Hot Wheels from 6:00 - 8:00

 Friday, April 3rd - Spirit Day and Relay for Life HAT DAY - pay $1.00 to wear a hat and support our Relay for Life fundraising!  

 APRIL 6th - April 10th SPRING BREAK - NO SCHOOL!   See you back at school on April 13th

 

Have a safe vacation!

 

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C

 

Goodbye March, Hello April

Dear Parents,

Have you been walking?  March is almost over and Walking Wellness complete.  Please record miles for your family on the record sheet we sent home and return it to us by FRIDAY.  You may record all miles walked by every member of your family!  I have heard that some of our students have some very active grandparents that walk daily too!  We encourage you to attend the Straw Walk on Friday at 1:00 p.m.  Please have your child wear their orange class shirt on Friday.  See you on the track!

MONEY... MONEY... MONEY!!!  We have learned about the value of each coin and the dollar bill.  Now it is time to count money up to 30 cents by pennies, nickels and dimes!  We will begin a new incentive program in April after spring break to promote great behavior and counting money.  For good behavior we will be earning pennies then learn to trade them in for nickels, dimes and quarters!  Our class will have the option on Friday's to buy items from our classroom store or save up for following week for better merchandise.  Our students in the past love saving, spending and buying goods and services from us! 

We have started working with number combinations to 10.  The math language that we use with our students is 2 and 3 is 5.  We also have introduced the symbols + and = to expose our learners to the next step.  We like to play the game "How Many Are Hiding" to reinforce our standards.  Ask your child how to play this game to help us learn our addition facts.  

Please support our wonderful Keheley PTA.  Our silent auction basket has very little in it!  Our class theme is "Stationary and Wrapping Paper".  We will keep the basket in our room until next Friday.  Please send in items to fill our basket for this upcoming event.  Thanks so much for your support!

Don't forget to send a book order form or stop by the Book Fair.  The Book Fair will end on Friday morning.  

Have a great week!

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C

February 24th - March 6th

Dear Parents,

It's almost time to change the month on our class calendar to March!  We have had such a great time learning about the presidents and American Symbols.  This week we will talk about Dental Health and continue to talk about germs and proper hand washing.

Our letter this week is Ww.  The sight words are we and where.  Next week the letter is Xx.  Next week we don't have any sight words so we will review all the words we have learned.  Please use the list of 40 words we gave you at the beginning of the year and at conference time for review.

Spring is a busy time of year and we have many students participating in spring activities in the evenings.  We are making homework changes for the end of the year!  We will only have "We Are Writing" on Wednesdays.  We will begin a new reading log in March.  You will be receiving this homework information in your child's folder this week.   The reading responses that we usually complete at home on Tuesday nights will be completed in class instead.  We also would like for each student to get out and walk in the afternoon with their family to support "Walking Wellness Month".  COOL!!!   Walking is a homework assignment!  A green information sheet will be coming home today from the P.E. department.  In your child's folder we have provided you with a mileage chart.  Please record the miles your family walked each day.  You may include any family member.  GRANDPARENTS receive double the points!!!!

Original Art magnets will be coming home today!  Please take a look at the beautiful magnet your young artist has created.  If you would like to make a purchase please return the form and money for the items you would like to purchase.  If you are not interested in buying a magnet please return it to school.

We are low on some of the following supplies.  If you can donate any of these items we would greatly appreciate your help.

1.  anti-bacterial wipes
2.  dry erase markers
3.  number 2 yellow pencils (no characters)
4.  treasure box items for our upcoming Classroom Store
 
UPCOMING EVENTS

3/2 - Picture Day

3/3 - Early Release 12:30

3/12 - SKATE NIGHT

3/13 and 3/27  - Spirit Day

3/23 - 3/27  BOOK FAIR

3/23 - Mrs. C's BIRTHDAY!

3/27 - STRAW WALK 1:00-1:45 (INVITE EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO WALK WITH US)

Thanks for all you do!

Keep walking!!!!

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C

UPDATES!

Dear  Parents,

We will send home "We Are Writing" homework tomorrow.  We couldn't fit it in with the short day today.  

Friday is the Sock Hop from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m for Kindergarten!

Our silent auction basket is low on materials.  Our class theme is Wrapping Paper and Stationary.  Please send in these items to support our PTA fundraiser.  

Thanks,

Mrs. Gropp

Dear Parents,

We had an amazing conference week!  It was a pleasure meeting with you last week to discuss the progress your child has made in kindergarten along with setting goals for future learning.  Your support was greatly appreciated!  Please take a good look at the Conference Packet I gave you.  It is full of helpful hints on what you can do at home with your child.  The math standards for the next nine weeks will keep you updated on what we will be learning in math!

WE WON AGAIN!!!!  Our class had the most participation at Chick-Fil-A  We have won another ice cream party!  We will celebrate on Friday afternoon! 

This week we will study the letter Qq and review Nn from last week.  We will start Drops In a Bucket for homework on Monday.  Wednesday we will have another "We Are Writing" about germs and proper hand washing.  We have had excellent attendance and we want to keep everyone happy and healthy the rest of the year.  We will discuss ways to keep germs away so we can stay in school!

Wednesday is Early Release!  Dismissal will be at 12:30 p.m. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C

January 20th - A Week of Celebration!

Dear Parents,

 

We have had an exciting day!  We had lunch in our classroom so we could watch the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama.  We received a call from Washington D.C. from Madison Gropp who is one of the 3 million watching history being made.  She told us about some of the sights she has seen like the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.  She told us that she has lost count of the number of American Flags she has seen today.   We got out our floor map of the United States of American.  We asked her to name three friends that she has met that live the farthest away from Georgia.  She has made friends from Washington State, California and Pennsylvania.  It was great being together while history was being made, looking for American Symbols that match our kindergarten standards and talking first hand to someone who is actually there today.  Most importantly we talked about the peaceful exchange of leadership and how lucky we are to live in the United States of America!

 

We will be celebrating the 100th Day of School on Thursday!  YIPEE....  100 wonderful days of learning! We will have some fun activities on Thursday!  Don't forget to ask your child what they learned on this day.

 

We are learning about the letter Ll.  Our sight words are like, love, little and look!  We will also learn about l blends.  

 

We will continue to talk about Martin Luther King this week.  We honored Dr. King last week with a story about his birthday and his dream of peace.  Our literacy folders will have a special song and a worksheet about laws, peace and dreams. 

 

Money is our learning topic in Math.  We will be working on making fair trades of pennies for nickels and dimes.  Sometimes it is hard for kindergarteners to understand a nickel is less than a dime.  I think the size of the coin confuses them.  We will be working with real and play money to better understand fair trades.  Please continue to work at home on the names, amount, and fair trades.

 

CONFERENCES ARE NEXT WEEK!!!!  I so look forward to meeting with you!  We have much to discuss in such a short time.  Please be on time and be looking for a notice next week as a reminder of your date and time. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C. 

Green Gloves Alert!!!

Dear Parent,

Our class song for the program is awesome!  I am so proud of how quickly we have learned the motions and words.  On the day of the performance we will wear white long sleeve shirts, jeans and red and green gloves.  I have found red gloves galore!  We are in need of 3 pairs of green (Kelly green/Christmas green) knit, stretchy gloves.  If you have this color at home please send me and e-mail ASAP.  If you’re out shopping and you find them please purchase them and I will gladly pay for them. 

We are planning a great Holiday Party this year!  Please don't forget to send in the donation for this fun event!  Our room moms are working like little elves getting ready for our party! 

Thanks for your help!

Mrs. Gropp

 

December 02nd - December 19th

Dear Parents,

It's beginning to look a lot like the holidays!  We have so many exciting things planned this month.  We are working on our Kindergarten Holiday Program.  Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 10th 8:30 a.m. in the cafeteria.  Everyone is invited to attend so plan on coming early to get a seat!  Please dress your child that day in a white long sleeve shirt and jeans.  Our class will be wearing Santa hats for the program as well.  Please send in a Santa hat for your child on or before December 8th for dress rehearsal.   We will keep them at school and return them after the program.

It's such a busy time of year.  This blog entry will cover what we are learning in the next 3 weeks.  This week we will learn about the soft and hard sound for the letter Gg.  Next week, we will learn the long and short sound for the letter Uu.  The last week of December we will review the letters we have covered in 2008.  Over the holidays please remember to work on all 40 sight words.  We look forward to learning about maps, globes and cardinal directions too!  What goes up must come down!  We will talk about the force of gravity to.  In math we will begin measuring with non-standard units and weighing objects with scales!  

WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER 17th  -  ALL ABOARD for the POLAR EXPRESS!! 

We will be boarding the Polar Express in our classroom on 12/17 for an exciting ride to the North Pole We will be participating in many learning opportunities as we read and watch the movie "The Polar Express."  We will talk about the day and night sky, gravity, maps, globes and cardinal directions as we speed down the track!  This day is Pajama Day too!  Please send your child to school in warm PJ's and their imagination turned on.  

We hope that you have a wonderful winter break!

Happy Holidays!!!

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

12/5   -   Spirit Day

12/6   -   Breakfast with Santa  9:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m.  

12/8   -   Send in a Santa hat for rehearsal.

12/10  -   Kindergarten Holiday Program  8:30 a.m.   (wear white long sleeve shirt and jeans)

12/12  -   Holiday Dinner  

12/16  -   Brusters Ice Cream Night    6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

12/17  -   Polar Express  -  (wear warm pajamas)

12/18  -   Holiday Party -  10:00 - 11:15

12/20  -   01/05    Winter Break

01/06     See you at school!!!!

November 10th - November 21st

Dear Parents,

Today was the beginning of our study on the first Thanksgiving!  We will talk about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and all the things that we are thankful for.  We will compare and contrast the days of long ago to life today.  We read a book today entitled "Oh, What a Thanksgiving" by Steve Kroll, illustrated by S. D. Schindler. The story is about a boy named David.  David imagines what it would be like living as a pilgrim boy.   Through the story line and illustrations we were amazed at how different and difficult life was long ago.   We will enrich or learning when we go on a field trip to the Cherokee YMCA on Friday.  We will make butter, candles, and listen to stories about what it was like in the days of the pilgrims. 

 

Please dress your child in their orange shirt on Friday for our field trip.  The trip is rain or shine!  The weather report at this time is rainy.  Please dress warm and for wet weather.  

 

Our class took a pre-test on shapes.  Almost all of my students knew square, triangle, circle, and rectangle!  This week we will use each shape to transform them into something unique and different.  We will be making real world connections and take a deeper look at how shapes are all around us.  We will be sending home a book with the connections we made this week.  We will work on sphere and cube next week.  We will continue to work on numbers and will begin using non-standard object to measure and weight object in our classroom.  

 

What does GKIDS stand for?  Answer:  Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills  

 

The purpose of GKIDS is to provide ongoing diagnostic information about kindergarten students' developing skills in English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Personal/Social Development, and Approaches to Learning.  Each assessment correlates with the standards that I am teaching each day and the kindergarten report card.  For more information about GKIDS please visit the web address listed below.  

 

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/GKIDS Parent Brochure.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F653806984B80E6E9D58D905742F3A1461C9C58361E315C7BE&Type=D

 

We have many prizes for boys in our treasure box but we are running low on treasures for girls.  Please send in donations with your child.   Thanks a bunch!

 

We are so blessed to have great kids!  We hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. C.