Gropp's Greatest Group

November

We have been working on so much in the classroom!  Math centers, literacy work, group work, glyphs; WE ARE BUSY LEARNING! 

There is a lot of information included below, so please be sure to read to the end.

Math

Each day, we do group work on our SmartBoard calendar. Students learn how to properly say the date (i.e. Today is Monday, November 7, 2011) and how to read the calendar in order to get this information. We also learn patterning, ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc) and fair trades.  We learn a lot of information in a short period of time! 

When we do our math centers, we are learning through games. Students are in small groups and are currently playing games that include graphing, counting, ordering numbers, and fair trades with pennies and nickels. 

Problem solving is a group activity which we do once a week. We are learning how to show what our brains are thinking by using pictures, numbers and words.  It is a long process to learn, but our students love to show us what they already know!

As we move into the second nine weeks of school, we will add the following to our learning:  planes and solid figures and analysis of data (using the calendar and our problem solving skills).

Please continue to work at home on counting one-to-one, fair trades, and ordering.  We appreciate all you do with your children!

Literacy

The month of October was a blur as we learned more letter sounds and how to begin to blend those sounds together to make words!  We are beginning to read!  We read books out loud each day and work on character, setting, problems and solutions in our books.  Our students really, really enjoy being read to each day! 

We began guided reading groups in October and work with your students in a small group once or twice a week, reading books on their levels.  Look for these books to begin to come home for you to read with them! 

Social Studies

We are learning about our American Symbols and what they mean to us. The American symbols we learn are: the Statue of Liberty, the American flag, the Georgia flag and the Bald Eagle.  Your child will need to be able to recognize these by sight and tell us what they are.  Please work on this at home; when you are out, look for flags around you and see if your child can tell you what flag they see! 

We also are learning about Veteran's Day and what it means to be a veteran.  All Keheley students have been given the opportunity to bring a veteran adult to lunch with them on Friday, November 11. If you would like to include someone, please let us know so we can make a reservation in the cafeteria. 

Science

If you have not already done so, please turn in your Field trip permission form. Your child will not be able to attend the field trip without the permission! These were all due by Friday, November 4.  This will be an in-school field trip in our Media Center put on by Nature in a Nutshell and will cover force, gravity and friction. It should be exciting!

Classroom needs

We need t-shirts!  We will be tie-dying our shirts on Wednesday, November 9.  If your child does not have a t-shirt, they will not receive one. We use these for field trips and class events like field day.  Please send in a shirt on Wednesday and make sure it is big enough for your child to fit into all year.  You will be amazed at how much your child grows this year!!!

Math Standards

Literacy Standards

Social Studies Standards

Science Standards

Week of April 11, 2011

 

Welcome back to school!  We hope you had a wonderful spring break.  We have seven weeks of school remaining, and we will be working hard to cover lots of information.  Please make sure your child gets lots of rest each night and has a good breakfast before school each day.  Remember, you can get breakfast at school every day for just $1.00/day!

Mrs. Jackson,  our principal at Keheley Elementary School, was one of 6 educators nominated for an Education Impact award in Parent to Parent of Georgia's Impact Award program.  Online voting takes place April 1 through April 22.  Statewide winners will be announced on May 2, 2011. To see the video and vote, please go here, which is the Parent to Parent of Georgia web site.  Please help our fabulous principal win this award!

This week

Because of the CRCT in the upper grades, our specials time will change for this week and next Monday, April 18. We will have specials (art, PE and music) from 8:05-8:50 each day.  Our lunch time will not change. Next Tuesday, we will return to our regular schedule.

 This week we are talking about maps and what they do for us.  We have learned what a compass rose is and how we can use it to help us find our way.  We are using fairy tales to discuss how maps are used and how our favorite fairy tale characters get around in their settings! 

In literacy, we are still working on sight words. Please go over the sight words with your child this week. We are all covering color words (green,red,pink,black, orange, white, purple, brown, yellow,, gray, and blue.  We are also working on number words zero through ten.  Please work on these at home with your child as well!

In math, we are working on problem solving and numbers.  As your child what it means to be a math detective!

 

March 21 - April 1st

 

March 21 - April 1st

Dear Parents,

Spring has sprung!  Report cards will be arriving in your child's red folder on Thursday, March 24th!  Like the flowers growing so are we!  Please take a look at the comment sheet.  It will let you know your students strengths and some of the things we need to work on in the next 8 weeks.  Yes... only 8 more weeks to nail down all those Kindergarten standards we have been working on all year long.  Please sign the signature card and return it on Friday.  Each student will receive a special treat on Friday only if they deliver the report card to you and have the card signed.

That Leprechaun tricked us again!  We almost had him/her.  We had him/her caught in one of our traps and as soon as I opened the box he jumped out, I saw a rainbow and out the window he/she flew!   Mr. O'Connell was out of his office on St. Patrick's Day.  We set a trap in his office the night before!  We were so surprised the next day when we looked in his office and it was a mess!  Mr. Plower was our Mystery Reader and he shared a great power point about his home in Ireland.   Mrs. Dupuis was kidnapped and taken to Ireland and I was captured and tied upside down in a chair! 

The events that occurred leading up to St. Patrick's Day and the day of, stirred up some excellent writing from our kindergarten class.  We learned about how to start our stories with a BOLD BEGINNING.  We also, learned how to write JUICY DETAILS and EXCITING ENDINGS!  We used the editing process to write a rough draft, edit with our teacher, and then use first grade paper to re-write!  We are working on using transition words like, first, then, next, and finally to build a good story for our readers.  We will be using these writing strategies in the next 8 weeks to produce some really good stories! 

Our fieldtrip to the Nature Center is on Friday!  Please have your child wear his/her purple shirt and sneakers!  We will have a very busy day on our field trip then we will return just in time for the Straw Walk!  PLEASE JOIN US for the STRAW WALK!  My class hasn't won the Golden Shoe Award in years and I just know that this will be the year we will win it all!   Please send in all miles walked at home by Thursday so we can include it in our class totals!

In Math we will begin using what we know about numbers to begin number combinations (addition)!  We will continue problems solving too!  Did you see the kindergarten bulletin board outside the cafeteria?  Our class rocks!  We are using pictures, numbers and words to explain our thinking! 

SIGHT WORDS!!!  Please continue to work on sight words at home.  We really need to know all 40 by the end of the year.  I am looking for the kids to use these sight words correctly in their writing as well.  When we see the spellings transferring into their writing it is another indication that we are truly learning these words and using them! 

We planted in our K Garden on Friday.  We have all kinds of veggies we will take care of and watch grow.  Our gardens teach us so much about caring for our environment!  We will also use our garden to meet our measuring math and science standards.  

We will have by the end of this week 3 class books for circulation at home.  We just finished a book on counting money and this week we will finish one on American Symbols.  Enjoy the reading and activities at home.  We are very proud of these books!

Have a wonderful Spring Break! 

 

February 1-14, 2011

 
 

We have had a really busy two weeks!  We celebrated the 100th day of school on February 1 with the wedding of Zero the Hero and Zelda Darling.  They united to make a new number..100!  It was a very exciting day and the students really enjoyed watching and participating. 

Sight Words

Thank you for working on sight words each week with your child!  As we work toward the end of the year, your child will need to know 40 kindergarten sight words. These words were on the sheet that came with their report card.  If you need another copy, please let us know and we will send one home. 

Math

In math, we have been busily working on counting, patterning and working together.  We do math centers several times a week.  Students work independently or in pairs and have been using games to count, to make fair trades, and to sequence. It is wonderful to see them begin to work independently! 

Correspondence Notebooks

 Today, we are beginning something new and exciting.  Your child wrote a letter home and will do so each Friday for the next few weeks.  Please write back on the reverse side of the page and send it in the following Monday.  We read these in class on Mondays and your child loves to share the letter you wrote.

Donuts for Dudes

Thank you for coming to Donuts for Dudes!  We had a great time this morning and enjoyed seeing all the dads and dudes here.  You really filled up our room! We hope you enjoyed coming and spending the time with your child, as well.

Media Center

We go to the Media Center once a week as a class.  Between visits, students can return their books and check out new ones.  We encourage them to go as often as they would like.  They get the independence of doing this alone and the excitement of picking out a book.  The Media Center is a great place to visit!

Next week we have a visting author who will share some of the books she has written.  These books are available for purchase/autograph by sending in the form that went home earlier this week.

Coming Up

Next week we will talk about the Presidents, the letter Qq.  Qq is for quarter and our past president George Washington, who is on the quarter.

Monday is Valentine's Day. Please remember to send in your valentines by Monday to share with every child in the class.  We have made bags for our valentines at school and they will be waiting here for them. It is so exciting for them to exchange their cards with each other.

 Have a great weekend!

January 24-28, 2011

 

I hope you all enjoyed the week off with your family and got to enjoy the snow.  Your children have returned to school refreshed and ready to learn!

What we're working on:

MLK

Martin Luther King, Jr was a very important part of American history. He is a famous American leader who promoted peace and harmony. We have done a good bit of work surrounding his life this week and the students have been excited to know and learn more about him. 

Sight Words

As we work toward knowing 40 sight words by the end of the kindergarten year, your child will be given 3 or 4 words to learn each week. Please make sure you look on the behavior chart each week to see the words your child needs to know.  We will work on them at school and also ask that you work on them at home; make flashcards, read together pointing out the sight words.

Guided Reading 

Your child will work in a guided reading group one day a week. Please read the book with your child, sign the reading log and return the book and the log the next day.

100th day 

February 1 is the 100th day of school!  Zero the Hero will marry Miss Zelda.  We will have a wedding celebration and a reception.  This is a dress up day. Wear your best!  On the 100th day, please send in a small ziplock bag with 100 snack items (ex., Cheerios, M&Ms).  We will make a trail mix to enjoy at our wedding reception.

Calendar:

1/27-Media Center

2/1-100th day of school

2/3-Media Center

2/7-Family Math Night (more information to come)

 

Week of November 29-December 3, 2010

 
What a week we've had!  We were very, very busy this week doing all sorts of educational and fun activities. 

Character Kid

 

Rachael Woolf is our character kid for the month of November. Our character words are Democracy, Patriotism, Service to Others, and Citizenship.  Rachael always stands quickly when we say the Pledge of Allegiance and is very proud of her dad, who serves in the Armed Forces.  Way to go Rachael!

Mystery Readers

 

We had two mystery readers this week!  They arrived and read together, which was especially fun.  They taught us all about airline travel and read to us about different types of transportation. Thanks to Brady's aunts for coming to see us.

    

We did a lot of work this week on computers, finding hidden winter words in our room and writing.  Look at us all working hard!

 

Happy Hanukah!

Mrs. Fallick came in to teach us all about Hanukah.  She brought a beautiful Menorah to share with us, told us how we would light each candle and how Hanukah began.  Then, she taught us how to play dreidel. The best part?  We got to eat M&Ms!  Thank you Mrs. Fallick; we really enjoyed having you here.

 

   

The Rain

 

Boy, did it rain earlier in the week!  Right as we were ready to be dismissed, the skies opened up and down came the rain.  We were all ready to go home, so we had to wait until the rain slowed a bit before we could leave.  While we were waiting, we had Samantha read to us.
 

Important Reminders

• Our kindergarten performance is Wednesday, December 8 at 8:15am.  Please note the time change!  We will be on stage ready to go at 8:15 sharp.  Please arrive early to get a seat, but not before 8am as students are sometimes still finishing their breakfast(s) at that time.   
• Your child will need to wear a plain white, long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans or a denim skirt for the performance.   Plese send in a Santa hat before Wednesday for them to wear, as well. Picture opportunities will be available, so remember to bring your camera.
• A field trip form was sent home earlier this week. Please return it, signed, along with your field trip money as soon as possible. 

Coming up

• We are beginning a unit on our five senses and how we use them.     We will learn about each of our senses individually, and also learn how they work together.
• Family lunches are next week. We invite you to eat lunch with your child on Friday, December 10. Our lunch time is 10:40-11:10am.  Please wait for your child in the atrium at the front of the school.  We will pick you  up on our way by!  Lunch is $2.50 and will be, as always, delicious.  Hope to see you there!
• As a culmination to this unit, we will be using our sight, hearing, taste, touch and noses for our Polar Express day on December 17. Please have your child wear his/her pajamas to school that day.  It is always a really fun day! 
• Next week, December 5-9, will be another busy week.  We are: learning about the letter Gg and the sounds it makes, doing math centers, practicing for and having our performance, and having lunch with our parents. ALSO, we will be doing math assessments, assessing the numbers 1-20, sight words and letters.  It will be a busy and tiring week, so please make sure your child gets enough sleep!
  
  Have a great weekend,
  Mrs. Gropp and Mrs. Dupuis

 

Week of November 29-December 3, 2010

 

Welcome back to school!  I hope you all had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving break.  We will be very busy this week getting ready for our Kindergarten performance and learning, learning, learning.. Our performance is December 8, 2010 at 8:30.

• Please send in a Santa hat for your child to wear during the performance. 
• Your child will need to wear a white shirt and blue jeans or a denim skirt for our performance.

Our Holiday party will be on December 16, 11:15-12:30.  Our room moms will be contacting you soon to ask for your help with the party.

Over the next three weeks, we will be assessing numbers 0-20 and sight words.  Please continue to work on these with your child.  If you need another copy of the sight words, let me know and we will send it home. Our grading period ends on December 17 and report cards will be coming home after the winter break.

On Friday of this week we will be visiting our media center to preview the book fair.  The book fair is a wonderful opportunity for you to do some shopping for your child.  All levels of books are available, even items for adults!  Visit this book fair link to see the hours.

Did you know your child can visit the media center as much as they would like? We go to the media center as a group once a week or so, but we have earned the privilege of going as much as we would like!  All you need to do is return your book and you can get a new one.  Go once a day, once a week, or however much you choose.  Wow, what a privilege!

As always, if you have questions, please let me know!

Mrs. Gropp

 

 

What is this mystery vegetable?   
 Hint:  The kids in our class pulled it out of the garden today and actually liked it!  15/16 loved it and asked for seconds.

The mystery vegetable is....Kohlrabi.  Kohlrabi, Kohlrabi, Yummy!  Yummy! 

We had a great time harvesting our snack like the pilgrims!  We had a big salad with ranch dressing.  It was a fun day and we learned so much about times of long ago.  We ate our snack by candle light as we learned about the voyage of the Mayflower and the first homes built by the Pilgrims and the  Wampanoag Indians.  We look forward to new centers and activities next week that will enrich our learning about the first settlers and their friendship with the Native Americans.  We will be learning a song next week that will ask the question, "Did the Pilgrims eat pizza on Thanksgiving Day?"     

Next week we will be learning the letter C.   We look forward to making the Statue of Liberty from shapes to support our math and social studies standards.   

Don't forget about the book exchange next week!

Picture retakes will be on November 17th.  If you are unhappy with your child's pictures just return the whole package before retake day.

 Family Bingo Night is Friday night!

Don't forget to turn your clock back 1 hour!  Enjoy some extra sleep this weekend!

 

November 1-5

 

 

Dear Parents,

November is here!  We will begin a unit on the first Thanksgiving!  We will learn about the Pilgrims and Native Americans.  It will be exciting to make connections by comparing and contrasting what life was like long ago to how we live today.  On Friday, the lighting in our classroom will be a little different and we will visit our class garden outside to harvest our snack. Please do not send in snack with your child on Friday. 

The letter of the week is O.  We will be working on CVC (consonant-vowel- consonant) words with the letter O in the middle. 

In math we will continue matching numbers to sets for 0-20.  On Monday, we will fill in a November calendar with numbers 1-30.  Please place the November calendar in a place where your child can mark each day off.  We really need work on saying the day, the month, number, and year.  (Monday, November 1^st, 2010).  On Thursday, we will go to our detective spots to work on a problem independently.  Detective badges will be presented to our cadets who use pictures, numbers and attempt to write words to back up their thinking.  

Shapes are so cool!  At school we will be making connections to objects in our world that are solid (cubes, spheres) and flat (triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles) shapes.   Can you say, “quadrilateral?”  It’s a difficult word for a 5 or 6 year old to say but we can tell anyone that it is a shape with four sides or four angles. 

GREAT NEWS!

We have announced another character kid for the month of October!  Responsibility was the focus for the month.  Samantha Carlsen is a fine young lady that takes care of herself and her friends on a daily basis.  She has a positive attitude, is dependable and is proud of her school.  ROCK ON SISTER!!!!

SAMANTHA CARLSEN - CHARACTER KID FOR OCTOBER!

 

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

October 25-29, 2010

Thank you all for attending your child's conference!  I was so happy to talk with each of you about the progress your child is making. Kindergarten is so exciting!

Math

In math we are learning about 3D shapes. Today we talked about cubes and where we see them in the world.  We talked about the difference between squares and cubes and about the similarities. Then, we made a cube!  We continue to learn about numbers and work on problem solving. Ask your child about the tall teens and what they do.

Literacy

This week we are working on the letter Bb and the sound it makes.  We will be writing in our journals and doing author's share.  Our students love sharing their writing!  They will bring home a rubric about their writing each time they share. Ask them to explain how sentences begin, how they end and how many sentences we should write.  Kindergarten words should be spelled correctly and other words are sounded out. 

Reminders!                        

• T-shirts are due by Friday, October 29, 2010. We will be tie-dying them in class and sending them home with washing instructions. It is important that each child have a white t-shirt so that we can wear them on Field Trips.  Please send in a shirt that is big enough for your child to grow into during the year. Kindergartners grow a lot!

• This is Red Ribbon Week.  We will be talking about keeping ourselves healthy and what good things we can do to accomplish this.  We will have some activities on Friday about Red Ribbon Week.Your child will bring home a red ribbon on Friday.

• Keep working on letters, numbers to 30 and sight words!