We are back to rainy weather, but will continue to have recess whenever possible!  I am now back in the classroom this week and I am excited to continue teaching the kindergartners.  Miss Diona will be back on Friday and we will team teach for the rest of the year.  I have begun assessing your child for our last report card and am thrilled with the academic growth each one has shown since last term.  This week the lead story for work time is called, Mayday! Mayday!, by Chris L. Demarest.  It is an exciting story about the Coast Guard rescuing people in a yacht during a storm.  We continue writing each day and are working on punctuation, transition words and adjectives.  During math time the children are using measuring skills, creating a birthday graph and reading it, and number sentence writing.  On Wednesday, Miss Julia will be taking children out into the garden to observe earthworms and their natural habitat.  We will also be observing worms in the classroom!  It will be a fun and exciting week.

Normal 0 0 1 148 846 Portland Public Schools 7 1 1038 11.1539 0 0 0

Greetings Parents,

          Last week students learned and discussed how to solve the same word problem in different ways.  They also created their very own word problem.  They drew and colored frogs and made a background out of painted paper. This week students will discuss how to solve each other’s word problems. For literacy, we will be finishing up are work-time for Max Takes the Train. Students are learning new vocabulary words dealing with transportation, such as tunnel, jetway, plane, subway, ferryboat, and sidecar. They also worked together to create a Venn diagram for the differences/similarities between a train and a boat.  For Science, we will continue to learn more fun facts about frogs.  For PE, we will stretch and play a game outdoors, weather permitting.

         I am very pleased with the progress your students are making. They are becoming great writers and readers.  I am also very impressed with their observations and explanations during math time. They are really doing an amazing job!

Sincerely,

Miss Diona

Normal 0 0 1 89 509 Portland Public Schools 4 1 625 11.1539 0 0 0

Greetings Parents,

Thank you for coming to Art Night last week. I am sure you were delighted to see all of the beautiful artwork on display.  The halls at Lewis Elementary truly look like an art gallery. The students really did an amazing job!  

This week in literacy, I will introduce a new story for work-time entitled Max Takes the Train.  Students will learn about different modes of transportation.  For math, we will be focusing on numbers, patterns, and word problems.  We will do aerobics, stretching, and learn a new game for PE.  Also, May is walk and bike month.  Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Miss Diona 

 Greetings Parents, 

       This week in kindergarten students will learn the definitions of the following words: harbor, airport, city, flock, adventure, and abuela (which means grandma in Spanish).  The lead story for work-time is entitled Abuela by Arthur Durros and illustrated by Elisa Kleven. It is about a young girl (Rosalba) and her abuela who go on an amazing adventure through the streets of New York.  They fly all around the city and see various places such as, factories, harbors, groceries stores, and even the Statue of Liberty. This book is very interesting and will really capture their imagination!

   In math we will have work-place games and continue focusing on numbers and patterns.  Students will also create their very own shape poem.

Reminders:  Please join us this Thursday for Art Night from 6-8pm.  Also, May is walk and bike month.  Let's hope for many sunny days ahead!

Sincerely, 

Miss Diona 

Normal 0 0 1 193 1103 Portland Public Schools 9 2 1354 11.1539 0 0 0

Greetings Parents,

         This week we are continuing on with writing about our senses.  The lovely sunny weather has given us the opportunity to explore outdoors.  Today students took on the role of great scientists and artists. With clipboards, worksheets, and pencils in hand, they wrote down observations/illustrations of a tree and various other objects they saw outside.  We also finished watching the video about Stellaluna and had a group discussion about whether they liked the play, video, or book best.  

         This week in literacy we will learn facts about Antarctica. The lead story for work-time centers is entitled If You Could Go to Antarctica. We will discuss what they would need if they lived in Antarctica, what animals they might see, etc. For math we will continue playing our math games in the math workplace stations.  Students will work with a partner.   This Friday we will meet with our third grade buddies for art.        

 A special thank you to all the parents who were able to attend the puppet play. The students worked very hard and did their personal best job creating their own puppets and rehearsing their specific line, with great success!  Also, I am looking forward to doing more outdoor lessons, if the weather permits; the students really enjoyed the experience!  

 Sincerely,

Miss Diona

Greetings Parents,

    This is a very exciting week for your students.   Tears of Joy will be here Monday-Thursday helping your students to make their very own puppets.  On Thursday from 1-1:30pm your students will enjoy performing in a puppet play.  Please join us if your schedule permits. 

    Students will learn about their five senses.  Although art, science, and math will be integrated into this unit, literacy will be the main focus.  The literacy component will entail students writing descriptive sentences about their five senses.  It will be hands-on and should be very engaging.  Students will have the opportunity to observe, touch, and smell different objects and textures. They will listen to familiar sound clips and collaborate with a partner (i.e. think-pair-share) to name the sound of what they hear.  They will also enjoy tasting sweet (organic) strawberries and crunchy cheese crackers. The 'tasting' day will be on Friday, April 20, 2012; Please let me know if your student has any allergies to the aforementioned foods.  For math, students will play (previously taught/learned) math games with a partner.  They will learn a new math game entitled Race you to 30 ¢ in the latter part of the week.  The format for this lesson will be taught whole group, class vs. teacher.  They will also work together to problem solve fun and personalized word problems. 

    A few reminders:  Wednesday is a two-hour late start day; school starts at 10:40 am that morning.   We have a field trip on Friday, April 20, 2012.  We will see the play Stellaluna.   We will be working with clay on Friday; if you have a garlic press we could borrow we would really appreciate it.  We will have strawberries and cheese crackers this Friday as part of the 'tasting' component of my five senses literacy unit.  Unless previously disclosed, please let Miss Cindy and I know if your student has any food allergies.  Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely, 

Miss Diona

Greetings Parents,

         After several months of preparation, observation, and co-teaching with Miss Cindy, I am very excited to inform you that I am taking on the lead teaching role in your student’s classroom.  Although Miss Cindy will not be present at all times in the classroom, please be assured that she will be present daily at Lewis should you have any questions and/or concerns.

          I will be focusing on building literacy development and sentence conventions.  Your students will be learning about various types of poems.  This week I am teaching them how to create their very own shape poem.  It should be very educational and a lot of fun! The lead story for work time centers is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Each day your students will enjoy listening to different versions of the story (i.e. Goldilocks and the Three Hares and Dusty Locks and the Three Bears).  The Bridges math curriculum is very effective in providing enriching, hands-on math activities that students have really enjoyed this year. This week we will focus on measurement. Students will learn how to measure various items in the classroom (i.e. tables, calendar, etc.) utilizing unifix cubes. They will work in pairs and help one another count and measure. 

A few reminders:  This Friday is a teacher planning day; there is no school for students.  Next Wednesday is a two hour late start day; the school day starts at 10:40 am.  Field trip permission slips have been sent home; please remember to return them as soon as you can. 

If you would like to volunteer and have not yet signed up, please feel free to do so.  We would love to have you.  Also, thank you to all the parents who volunteer on a weekly basis and/or when you can.  It is greatly appreciated!   

Although I believe I have met all of you wonderful parents, please feel free to stop in to say hello, and/or witness your students doing their personal best learning. 

Best,

Miss Diona

Welcome back from Spring Break!  I hope you all had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying family time.  We have a new calendar for the month of April, which focuses on probability, patterning and identifying some of the tools commonly used to measure time, weight, temperature and length.  We will also continue to work on telling time.  During whole group math students will continue to play different math games.  I will introduce a new one called, "5's up" that uses addition and subtraction strategies.  I hope that you are having fun playing the Home Connection games that are being sent home.  Our lead story for the week is "Little Mouse" about a mouse who is trying to find a home for the winter.  The are a number of characters in the book and the class loves the story.  Next week Miss Diona will be taking over the class as she begins her solo student teaching; she will also begin writing the classroom notes.  I will not be in the classroom much, but will be working with small groups of students in reading, writing and math outside the classroom.  I will always be available.  On Friday we will be meeting with our buddies to finish a watercolor project that will be shown on Art Night, which is held in May.  We will also have a field trip coming up on April 20 to see the play "Stellaluna".

This is our last week before Spring Break and it is a busy one.  On Thursday, we will be attending the play Busy Town at the Northwest Children's Theatre.  We will be eating lunch in the classroom at 10:30 and then loading the schoolbus at 11:10.  We should be back by 2:00.  The childrens are really excited about going; it will be a great time.  Last Friday our class was invited to watch Irish dancers, in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day.  The dancers did a wonderful job; one of the dancers is a Lewis student, Kyndell Thompson!  We are finishing up work time centers; I am so proud of the work students are showing-so much "personal best" work.  In Math, kindergartners are sorting sea creatures in a variety of ways.  It is fun to see how many different ways they can be placed and then the explanations.  Miss Diona is now in the classroom full time.  We are team teaching  this week and the week after Spring Break, then she will be solo teaching during the next six weeks.  I will not be in the classroom much; however, I will be taking different children out and working with them on reading, writing and math skills.  Diona and I will be in constant contact before and after school to discuss the day and the curriculum she will be teaching.  Volunteers are still needed in the classroom.  I hope you all have a safe, relaxing and fun holiday.

The rain continues to fall!  Please be sure to have warm coats for your child; we try to get outside if it is just sprinkling.  Our new work time story is My Lucky Day.  It is a fun story about a sly fox and a simple-minded pig--or a sly pig and a simple-minded fox.  The children love the story; its' ending is a great surprise.  Setting, characters, retelling, labeling, predicting and vocabulary are the main focus during centers.  In Math, students continue to play different math games and solve story problems in addition and subtraction.  Our new math game, Handfuls of Sea Creatures, involves estimation and recording predictions and actual correct answers.  Last week we created artwork based on the artist Paul Klee entitled Head Of A Man, which he completed in 1922.  It will be displayed in April on the bulletin board at the end of the primary hall.  On Wednesday, we are meeting with our third grade buddies to finish an art project based on the work of Henri Rousseau; we are so excited to see buddies again.  Beginning next week, Miss Diona will be in class every day for the rest of the year.  She will be completing her solo student teaching after Spring Break.  Parent helpers are still needed during this time.  Permission slips are going home this week for our field trip to the Northwest Children's Theatre.  Please send in slips and money soon.  A BIG thank you to all of the families who donated food for our food drive; it was so appreciated.