Mrs. J’s News

January 20^th, 2012

This SHORT week in Kindergarten

·      We worked on the letter K.

·      We learned new words, ARE and WE. 

·      Practiced the book WE ARE PAINTING.

·      We learned about Martin Luther King.

·      In Math we learned how to subtract, or “take away.”

·      We added a nickel to our Kindergarten bank.

·      We celebrated our 50^th day of school!

Upcoming Events

• Monday January 23^rd NO SCHOOL End of Quarter (Report cards coming soon)
• Wednesday February 1^st Winter trip to the Prairie Wetlands 12:30-2:00.  Helpers you may come to school at 12:15 (Mom’s of; Olivia, Crystal, Ahlea and Landon).
• Monday February 13^th Happy Valentine’s Day, Muffin’s for Mom Event 1:30pm – end of day.  If Mom’s are not able to attend please feel free to send another special adult with your child.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs. J’s News

January 13^th, 2012

• We worked on the letter J and our new word THE.
• We are learning about weight by balancing objects on the pan balance.  We are learning how to make things equal. 
• We are learning about the addition symbol and how to add numbers together. Next week we will learn about subtraction.
• We have been working hard on our MAP tests.  It is SO fun to see how much we have learned already and it is only January.  What smart Kindergarten Friends!!!

Happy Retirement to our gym teacher Mrs. Rogness.  Our new teacher Jamie Lill will be starting soon.

• Monday January 16^th NO SCHOOL Teacher Inservice
• Monday January 23^rd NO SCHOOL End of Quarter (Report cards coming soon)
• Friday January 27^th We will have 2 special visitors to our classroom.  A scientist in the morning to do experiments with us and Jess from the recycling center to make paper with us in the afternoon.
• Wednesday February 1^st Winter trip to the Prairie Wetlands 12:30-2:00 Helpers Needed.
• Monday February 13^th Happy Valentine’s Day, Muffin’s for Mom Event 1:30pm – end of day.  If Mom’s are not able to attend please feel free to send another special adult with your child.

Have a lovely weekend!  With this cold weather it’s a perfect opportunity to snuggle up with some good books!

Happy Reading! Love, Mrs. J

Mrs. J’s News

January 6^th, 2011

·      We worked on the letter I. 

·      We talked about vowels and how they have more than one sound. 

·      I am sending home a new book to practice titled, The Band.

·      We started learning about money and are adding a new coin to our Kindergarten bank everyday.  Today we learned about the penny.

·      Played sit down snowflake, counting by 10’s

• No School this Friday due to District Parent Teacher Conferences
• No School next Friday Due to MEA
• Box-tops and Grocery Receipts- PTO will be having a contest in November with these items so start collecting now!

Have a wonderful weekend! Love, Mrs. J

Author Derek Anderson came to McKinley School to visit today.  He is famous for the Little Quack Books and the book Gladys the Gorilla.

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Mrs. J's News

October 7^th, 2011

This week in Kindergarten...

• In Reading we worked on our new word LIKE.  A new practice book came home titled, Lunch.
• In Math we worked on making patterns and measuring our bodies.  How many blocks tall are you?
• We had such a great time learning about Fire Safety on Wednesday.  The firefighters reminded us to check all smoke detectors at home.  They also talked about families having a spot outside to meet if ever there is a fire.  Did you know that most house fires start in the kitchen?
• Today is the big homecoming football game!  We showed off our school spirit with a Kindergarten Pep-rally in the gym we loved meeting the otter mascot and high school band members.  Go Otters!
• Our Nursery Rhymes this week were;
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Baa Baa Black Sheep

We loved sharing another day with our new friend Mrs. S.  It won’t be long and she will be learning with us everyday!  Mrs. S will be checking Mrs. J’s email so feel free to contact her that way, or through the notebook if needed J

Looking ahead….

• Picture Day is Monday October 10^th.  Bring your best smile to school with you! 
• No School Friday October 14^th (This is a Conference day for the distict).
• No School Friday October 21^st MEA Break

Mrs. J's News

September 30^th 2011

This week in Kindergarten...

• In Reading we took home our very first High Frequency Reader titled, School.  Hopefully you and your child had a chance to practice this at home.  Please save these great books in a container by your childs’ bed and practice them often as a bed time routine.  You read to them and…how exciting, they are ready to read to you!!!  
• The words we are working on reading are; I, A, See and Am.
• In Math we continued to have such a wonderful time graphing.  We also started making magnificent patterns with our bodies (clap, snap, clap, snap) as well as with blocks (red, blue, red, blue).
• We started taking standardized tests on the computer this week, we will finish next Wednesday.  The name of the exam is a MAP test by NWEA, and your child will take this same test throughout his/her Elementary School career.  The results of these tests are used by teachers to see where your child is at with Reading and Math skills.  We will be taking these tests again in the winter and spring to monitor progress and look for ways to enhance learning.
• Our Nursery Rhymes this week were;
• Hickory Dickory Dock
• Little Miss Muffet

We celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday on Monday.  The K Friends wanted me to share with you our applesauce recipe.

         Peel and slice apples and place them into a crockpot.

         Let them cook on High for 4-5 hours.

         Add cinnamon and sugar to taste.

(You can place apples in without peeling, as most of the nutrients come from the skin.  Strain after cooking to remove left over or unwanted peelings).

The Kindergarten Friends also asked me to relay our play-dough recipe from last week.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

1 cup water
1 teaspoon cooking oil
7-8 drops of food coloring

Mix the flour and salt.  Add the cream of tartar, water, and oil, Mix well. Cook over medium heat until ingredients form a ball. This process almost automatically forms a ball of the dough on the stove and its not to hot to touch. Turn out and knead until smooth, about 1 minute, and let it cool. Add desired food coloring.This play-dough recipe will make play-dough that will keep for at least two months if kept in a sealed plastic bag or container and longer if you store it in the refrigerator.

Lunch Numbers- Please, please practice these at home.

Book It-  Each month I will be sending home a paper pizza for you to fill in with the titles of books that you have read at home.  Please send these back to school sometime in the month of October.  At the end of the month I will send home your free Pizza certificate from Pizza Hut.

Important Upcoming Events...

• Fire Station- We will be taking our first Field Trip to the Fire Station this Wednesday October 5^th. If you signed up to be a helper, please meet us at the fire station around 9:00am.  Thanks!

• Picture Day is Monday October 10^th.  Bring your best smile to school with you!  The picture order form is attached.

Mrs. J’s Friday News

September 9^th, 2011

• We had an assembly in the gym with all of the Kindergarten classes, we read a book with Mr. Colbeck about new school shoes, and sang funny songs.
• We had our first music class with Miss Lyseng.
• We played math games
• We learned all about our classroom stoplight. (Everyone has a clothespin with their name on it.  If you are a good listener it stays on green, if you make a bad choice you move to yellow which means uh-oh slow down, if you make more bad choices your clothespin moves to red and you take a time-out) Looking forward to many green light days of fun with these great listening friends!
• We had a super center time and did fun art projects and played with new toys.
• What a busy and fun 2 days of school!

• Monday- Wear Red to school.  We will learn Humpty Dumpty.
• Wednesday- Wear Blue to school.  We will learn Little Boy Blue.
• Friday- Wear Yellow to school.  We will learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Otter Pride Night

Lunch Money

Shoes

Email

Thanks for a great first week, we are off to a wonderful start!

Kindergarten Hugs,

Mrs. J

Mrs. J’s News

May 27^th, 2011

Kindergarten Graduation Edition

Before the school year ends please pay all lunch account balances, and return all library books J

Have a great long weekend!  We will celebrate with our last day on Wednesday June 1^st.

Love, Mrs J