Today we put the last caring rock in the bucket so we all got a prize. Today's prize was 2 Skittles. The prizes will vary from small treats, small toys, extra gym turns, etc. Then we all got our own bucket to decorate with fun foam shapes. Just before dismissal I "filled their buckets" with a few more Skittles! Have a great weekend.
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This week we read a wonderful book called, "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" It tells of how we can help others feel good by filling their bucket with kind words and actions. In the classroom we have our own class "Caring Bucket". I also have a basket of "Caring Rocks". When a child does something helpful and kind, they are asked to put a caring rock in our bucket. When the bucket gets filled, we will all get a prize. It looks like the bucket might be filled tomorrow!
Today we welcomed six kindergarten students to our class for their first full day at school. They had a great day and I was very proud of how the grade one's showed them around and helped them on the playground. We all had fun playing Starfall on the Smartboard. There is a link to the Starfall game on the "Links" page of this website. There is also a free app for Starfall available for mobile devices. It's a great way to reinforce those literacy skills.
Welcome to my class and thanks for visiting our website. Today our classes were finalized and a notice was sent home with every child informing parents of class assignments. Children in my class were given a newsletter today. I have copied the content of that newsletter below for your reference. I am excited to get started and look forward to getting to know your child! Kindergarten/Grade One NewsDear Parents: I am pleased to have your child in my class this year. Your child’s education is an interest we share. I look forward to a rewarding and interesting school year. I have over 35 years of teaching experience and have taught grade one or kindergarten for the last several years. As with any combined grade classroom, be assured that the kindergarten children will receive all of the kindergarten curriculum and the grade one children will receive all of the grade one curriculum. Our room number is 104 and the students enter and exit through the outside classroom door. The first bell rings at 8:30 with instruction beginning at 8:35. Lunch is from 11:40-12:25 and dismissal is at 2:30. It is important to have your child at school on time each day and make sure he/she is picked up on time after school. Children can become anxious if no one is there to pick them up after school. At Dogwood, we use folder style planners for children this age. This is where I will place a monthly up-date each month outlining both school-wide and classroom activities along with any other notices for the day. The planner is also where your child will be placing his Home Reading books to travel back and forth to school. I am collecting a planner fee of $5 for grade one children only. Kindergarten planners are included in their supply fee. I will send a separate notice about the Home Reading program in the next few days. Your child will require a backpack large enough to hold the planner as well as a separate, re-useable, lunch bag to keep food away from the books. During the first weeks of school it is common for children to have difficulty eating their whole lunch with the excitement of eating with their friends and the thought of getting out to play. I will ask the children to try to eat their entire lunch and not throw food away. Anything that they cannot possibly eat will be put back in their lunch bag so that you will know exactly what was eaten. I will not permit them to trade or give away food. There is no time limit on eating, but I will encourage them to eat their lunch in 15 or 20 minutes. While they are eating, they are supervised by two lunch monitors from grades six and seven and our adult supervisory aides. When they are finished eating, they will go outside to play and will be supervised by the supervisory aides. It is appreciated if your child has their lunch with them when they come to school, as we choose a healthy snack (fruit) from their lunch to eat at recess. If you send a piece of fruit in their lunch, I will do my very best to have them eat it for their recess snack. Our school has adopted a “litterless lunch and snack” program. This is a Surrey School District initiative designed to reduce waste in our landfills and to reduce costs related to garbage removal from schools. Please pack your child’s food in re-useable containers. We have bins at school for organic waste such as banana peels and apple cores. Any wrappers you do send, will be placed back in your child’s lunch bag. I would prefer that children not bring pop, chips or candy to school for their lunch or snack. Gum is also not allowed at school. If you would like to take your child home for lunch, please sign them out at the office. I have a class website/blog that I will update daily. Please get in the habit of checking the blog to find out what is going on at school. My website is www.mrswattclass.weebly.com . There is also a link to my class page on the Dogwood School page. Your child will have access to computers and iPads at school and I also have a Smartboard in the room. I will also be creating a digital portfolio for your child using the FreshGrade program. A separate note about FreshGrade will be sent home soon. Please be sure to sign and return the Technology Access form and Media Release forms (office will be sending these out this week) so that your child can be included in the many tech opportunities at school. Sharing is part of our daily routine each morning. Children are encouraged to share a newsworthy story or one special object from home. I will be using reusable “sharing bags” to take turns. When your child brings home the empty “sharing bag”, that means that the next school day he/she may bring one object from home to show and tell about. This year fine arts will be taught by Mrs. Mitchell two times per week and we will be going to the gym two times per week. Your child will need a labeled pair of clean running shoes they can put on themselves for in-school use. These shoes are to be kept at school and are worn for gym and when the children wear boots to school. School supplies for kindergarten students will be purchased for them once we receive your cheque for $35. For grade one children, parents are responsible for purchasing school supplies. If you ordered school supplies last spring for your grade one child, they are at school and will be given to them today. Some grade one parents chose to purchase their own supplies and have already sent them in along $5 planner fee (grade one only – kindergarten planners are included in the $35). If you haven’t done so yet, please send these things in as soon as possible. One additional project I like to do for all the children is a class t-shirt. A separate notice will be coming home soon about the t-shirts and the cost. Our class will have Music twice a week and we will visit the school library on Fridays. We have several field studies planned throughout the year and will often require the assistance of volunteer parent drivers. If you think you may be driving on any of our trips, please fill out the volunteer driver form and send it to school along with a photocopy of your driver’s license and insurance as soon as possible. These forms will be kept on file at the office so that a new form does not need to filled out for every trip. Part of my language arts program is an individualized reading and writing time in which the children will be drafting their own stories and publishing their own books on the computer, Alphasmart, iPad, Smartboard or manual typewriter. To enable me to implement this program I will require the assistance of parent volunteers to help with editing, typing, etc. If you are able to assist in this way or in some other way, please indicate below. |
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