Note du mercredi: Kindergarten - English Teacher's Note
June 14, 2017
Dear Parents,
Where has the time gone? Kindergarten has come to an end and as always, it seems to have gone by quickly. We can't thank you enough for the wonderful year. Your children have learned so much and each student is now ready for First Grade!
We hope that you will continue to read with your child on a daily basis throughout the summer. The local libraries have so many great programs during the summer months and it's a great opportunity for you to relax and show your child how much fun books can be!
We will be sending home a summer packet full of activities for the months of July and August. If your child does complete this package, please return it in the beginning of the school year for a special surprise!
As always, please be in touch with us with any questions or concerns throughout the summer. We wish you a great break.
See you in September!
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
May 31, 2017
We are enjoying ‘the beach,’ thanks to the theme of our show. It's been fun to learn about sharks. We look forward to measuring this week with the two classes together. How many children to equal the length of a shark?!! After that, we will be safely out of the sea and onto the beach! We are working with shells for different math activities.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 8:45 for our Spring Show. Please join us afterwards to celebrate with a snack in the classroom.
On Monday the PK3, Pk4 and K classes will have a game day. This will take place outside and involves fun games, such as obstacle courses, dances and water games! Please dress for the weather and wear sneakers. Hats and sunscreen could be a great idea!
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
Le 24 mai 2017
Bonjour chers parents
Cette semaine, nous continuons notre travail autour de l’album “La chenille qui fait des trous” ainsi que les activités autour de cet album
Nous nous préparons pour notre spectacle qui aura lieu le jeudi 1er juin à 8h45 dans la MPR. Le spectacle sera autour du thème de la mer. Les enfants chanteront les chansons préparées par Christiana et Miss Karen. Chaque classe présentera également une danse préparée par les maîtresses de français. Comme pour le premier spectacle les parents seront invités à se joindre aux enfants pour un goûter dans la classe. Nous avons vraiment hâte de vous présenter notre travail!
Nous vous rappelons que le congé de Memorial Day sera du vendredi 26 mai à midi au lundi 29 mai inclus. Aucun déjeuner ne sera servi le vendredi 26 mai. Merci.
Cette semaine était la dernière semaine d’emprunts de livres pour la bibliothèque. Tous les livres doivent être retournés pour le 2 juin au plus tard. Merci de votre aide. Si vous ne retrouvez plus un livre, veuillez contacter l’enseignante de la classe.
Nous ferons notre dernière sortie de l’année le jeudi 8 juin. Nous irons visiter la ferme Milky Way http://milkywayfarm.com. Nous partirons dans la matinée et nous pique-niquerons sur place. Si vous souhaitez nous accompagner, veuillez nous le faire savoir.
Nous vous souhaitons un bon week-end prolongé.
May 24, 2017
This week, we are continuing our work on the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and the activities around that book.
We are getting ready for our show that will take place on Thursday June 1st at 8:45 in the MPR. The theme for the show will be the ocean. The children will sing the songs prepared by Christiana and Miss Karen. Each class will present a danse prepared by the French teachers. The Kindergarten will also be part of the show. As for the first show, parents will be invited to join the children for a snack in the class. We are looking forward to presenting our show to you!
We are reminding you that for the Memorial day weekend, school will end at noon on the 26 and will reopen on Tuesday May 30. No lunch will be served on Friday May 26. Thank you.
This week was the last week to borrow a book from the library. All the books need to be returned by June 2nd at the latest. Thank you for your cooperation. If you can’t find a book, please contact the teacher.
We will have a last field trip for this year on Thursday June 8. We will visit the Milky Way Farm http://milkywayfarm.com. We will leave in the morning and we will have a picnic there. If you want to come along, please let us know.
We wish you a relaxing long week-end,
Bonne semaine
Anne, Jacinthe, Keltoum et Sonia
May 17, 2017
This week during English class we are studying insects. The students are identifying the characteristics of insects and sorting animals that belong in the insect category and those that do not. (Insects have 3 basic body parts, a head, a thorax and an abdomen. Also, insects have 6 legs, antennae to smell and feel with, and some have wings to fly.) The insect unit is a great follow up to our study of spiders, since spiders are arachnids and not an insect. We are also illustrating our own book about insects which will include what they eat and where they live. If the weather is nice at the end of the week we hope to get outside to do an insect scavenger hunt.
We are also learning a song to help everyone remember the insect's’ body parts. The song is sung to the tune of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”.
Head and thorax, abdomen; abdomen,
Head and thorax, abdomen; abdomen,
Antennae, wings and six legs too,
Head, thorax, abdomen, abdomen.
The two Kindergarten classes will also take turns over the next two weeks using the computer labs’ Smart Board. This is a fun interactive tool we use in small groups to work on concepts such as rhyming words. The children really enjoy utilizing this wonderful piece of technology our school has.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
KIndergarten English Teacher
May 10, 2017
On Monday the Kindergarten children and teachers really enjoyed their field trip to Riverbend Park. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend with us. The field trip was a wonderful hands-on experience to finish our pond and stream unit. On Tuesday we began our study of Spiders. We are learning about the differences between spiders and insects and why a spider is considered an arachnid and not an insect. Throughout the week we will learn about different spiders and how they are helpful to our environment. We will incorporate our study by spinning our own spider webs using yarn and making spiders out of clay. We are also continuing to observe and journal the life cycle of our ladybugs. Most of our Larva have transformed into Pupa and we will anxiously wait to see our first ladybugs appear in the next few weeks.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
Kindergarten English Teacher
May 3, 2017
We are excited for our field trip on Monday to Riverbend Environmental Center. We will be eating lunch there, so please pack a lunch that is disposable and easy to eat. Make sure your child is dressed appropriately. We will be walking on trails and walking near the pond and stream. If you are meeting us there, please note that the lesson will start promptly at 10:30.
We have been spending the past couple of weeks learning about pond life and the many creatures we may see at Riverbend.
The children are enjoying the ladybug larvae and how quickly they are growing. We are discussing the life cycle and the different stages we will observe,
As the spring continues, we will learn about insects and other bugs. What makes something an insect? Why isn't a spider an insect? What is an arachnid? These are some of the questions that you can be asking your child in the next few weeks!
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese
Tracy Dutton
April 26, 2017
This week in Kindergarten we are continuing our unit about ponds and streams.We are discussing what an amphibian is and learning about different kinds of amphibians (newts, frogs, etc). Ms. Vanessa brought in tadpoles last week and the children are really enjoying observing them. This has been a perfect addition to our study of the frog’s life cycle using the microscopes. It is really fun to watch the children with their magnifying glasses watching them at different times of the day.
This week we will receive live ladybug larvae and we will begin to discuss and observe the life cycle of ladybugs in our classroom over the next two weeks. When the cycle is complete and we have our ladybugs we will release them outside in our school’s ladybug tree.
***Just a reminder that our field trip to Riverbend is coming up on May 8th. If you would like to attend please let us know.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
Kindergarten English Teacher
April 19, 2017
We are excited to start our unit on the pond and stream. We will learn about amphibians, specifically newts and frogs. Ms. Vanessa brought her newt from home, to share with both classes! It was fun to get a personal look at this little creature!
The children will really enjoy looking in microscopes at the life cycle of a frog, from egg to adult. They will draw what they see in the slides.
We are also talking about our Earth in celebration of Earth Day, which is this Saturday. There are many different activities throughout Philadelphia area this coming weekend, if you are interested. You can simply do a search for Earth Day activities in Philadelphia, and you will see many events taking place!
Please have your child wear our school t-shirt this Friday for a whole school community picnic. Children are welcome to bring blankets, if interested. Lunch boxes are fine, although you may want to think about something easy to eat outside.
Our field trip to Riverbend will take place on Monday, May 8th. If you are interested in joining us, please let us know.
Thanks,
Vanessa Marchese
Tracy Dutton
April 5, 2017
We will take a field trip to Riverbend Environmental Center on MONDAY, MAY 8th. We will be participating in their pond/stream lesson. If you would like to join us from 9:45-1:30, please send us an email. There will only be limited space on the bus. If you would prefer to meet us there at 10:30, we would love to have you join us! As this trip is designed for our Kindergarteners, we ask that you please leave younger siblings at home.
Spring is in the air! It was really fun to go outside on our playground and do a nature scavenger hunt with both classes. We paired the each student up with someone from the other Kindergarten class. We searched for many spring items outside and checked the boxes when we found them. We will do this same activity towards the end of April to see the difference one month can make in nature!
We are discussing eggs and animals that hatch from eggs. We will continue to discuss eggs and reptiles/amphibians, as we get closer to our field trip to Riverbend Environmental Center. It was very interesting to see the real egg of an Emu, which Ms. Vanessa brought in to share with the classes.
The children will also be looking at the process from egg to chick under microscopes. Each child, in small group centers will have his/her own microscope to look at slides of an egg embryo that take place over a period of 21 days.
Enjoy your Spring Vacation, which begins after school on Friday. We will return to school on Tuesday, April 18.
Vanessa Marchese KA
marchese@frenchschoolphila.org
Tracy Dutton KB
dutton@frenchschoolphila.org
March 29, 2017
Last week the Kindergarten classes enjoyed celebrating the school’s 25th Birthday with a dance party and cupcakes afterward. Thank you to the parents who supplied the cupcakes for the classes. The children also enjoyed making necklaces with 25 beads in groups of 5 different colors. We read a fun story called “The Secret Birthday Message” and then we had our own secret code scavenger hunt around the classroom. The children loved following the clues and then making their own for a friend.
This week we will continue to practice measuring using different manipulatives such as unifix cubes, blocks or small beans. We will first predict how many cubes it will take to measure a certain object before we measure it and tally our results. We will also continue to read stories about Spring and if the weather is nice, we will do a nature scavenger hunt outside to see the first signs of Spring.
We hope your child is enjoying the Book Buddy Bag! If you feel as if the books are not at the best level for your child to read independently, please send in a note in the bag or email us directly. The children seem excited in the classrooms to be exchanging books on a regular basis!
Vanessa Marchese
KIndergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
KIndergarten English Teacher
March 22, 2017
We had so much fun in Kindergarten trying to catch a leprechaun. Unfortunately another year has come and gone, without a leprechaun in a trap!
Now that Spring has arrived we are talking about the many things we will see outside. We are making a chart of what will start to happen and whether it will happen in the early spring or closer to summer.
The children seem to be excited about their Book Buddy Bags. Each child should have come home with one or two books inside a ziploc bag. We are encouraging the children to read books at their own level, so it increases their confidence and feeling successful in reading by themselves. There is a paper in the bag describing how you should use the books, encouraging your child to point to each word as he/she is reading.
We are beginning a measurement unit this week, which will continue for the next couple of weeks. We are beginning by using a popsicle stick and finding things in the room that are shorter than/ longer than or the same length. Each student will write these objects in his/her writing journal, drawing a picture of the item and trying to write the word using phonetic spelling.
All of you should have received an email about a free summer camp opportunity that is being held at our school June 19-23. If you did not receive this information by email, please be in touch as soon as possible.
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
March 15, 2017
Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend the conferences. It was really nice to discuss and share your child’s progress and some of the wonderful things we are doing in Kindergarten this year. If you were not able to meet last Friday, please email us so we can set up another time to meet.
This week in Kindergarten we are learning about the Irish holiday St Patrick’s Day. We are reading several stories about the holiday and discussing some of its symbols...clovers, the color green and leprechauns. On Monday we planned out how we would “trap” a leprechaun and each child drew their plan. We look forward to building our traps later this week. Please dress your child in green on Friday in celebration of St. Patrick's Day!
Have a great week and stay warm!
Vanessa Marchese
KIndergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
Kindergarten English Teacher
March 8, 2017
The Science Fair is this coming Monday. It may not have been clear in previous notes, but parents are invited and encouraged to attend! It will begin just after the start of school, around 8:30 and should last until about 9:15. We look forward to seeing many of you on this day. There will be teachers in the gym ready to help each student set up the projects in the correct space. If you could arrive closer to 8:00, it would be really helpful, so that the children all have the project set up before the fair begins around 8:30.
We had a great time celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday last week! Some of the highlights were Wacky Wednesday, wearing our ‘Cat in the Hat’ hats home, and making/eating our own version of green eggs and ham, which were not made out of eggs or ham!!!
This week we will continue with rhymes and activities based around Dr. Seuss.
St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th. We have a tradition in Kindergarten of trying to catch a leprechaun in our classrooms. We have never succeeded! Next week we will be making leprechaun traps in school. We will begin on Monday March 13th and use items from the classroom and things brought from home. If you would like to bring any items to bring in to share with the class, you are more than welcome. Some ideas are toilet and paper towel rolls, wrapping paper (especially gold and green), stickers, shoeboxes, yarn, empty egg cartons, cereal boxes, etc. We will read some books this week to learn more about leprechauns and how we might catch one!
Conferences are this Friday, March 10th. Please be sure to sign up for a Parent-Teacher conference. It will be great to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress since September. Please come prepared with any questions or concerns that you may have.
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
marchese@frenchschoolphila.org
Tracy Dutton KB
dutton@frenchschoolphila.org
March 1, 2017
Today was ‘Wacky Wednesday!’ It was really fun to come to school dressed in something wacky. This week we are honoring Dr. Seuss by reading some of his most famous books. Tomorrow the children are welcome to bring a favorite Dr. Seuss book from home. Please make sure that their name is written somewhere on the book. We will spend some time looking at the books and sharing favorite parts of the stories.
Dr. Seuss is known for his rhymes, so of course we are playing many games based around rhyming. The sillier the rhymes, the more fun we seem to have. The children are beginning to read the rhyming words and find the patterns.
We are also tracing our feet and measuring with different items, such as unifix cubes, pennies and quarters. We will read The Foot Book, to follow up with this activity.
TWO IMPORTANT DATES:
Friday March 10th is Parent-Teacher conferences, You should have received an email from the school so that you can sign up online. As a reminder, please sign up for both the French teacher and English teacher at two separate times. We look forward to sharing the progress of your child on this day.
Monday March 13th is the Science Fair. The children should come to school in the morning with their project. The science fair will begin around 8:30, so please be on time for school! Your child will really want to be on time for this event and not miss out!!!
If you have any questions or concerns about the project, please be in touch. We are happy to share ideas of how to best help your child at home with this project. We really appreciate your support!
Have a good week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
February 15, 2017
This week in Kindergarten the children really enjoyed giving and receiving Valentine’s cards and gifts. It was nice to have a holiday focused around being kind to one another and friendship. The school as a whole on Tuesday seemed to be in good spirits and happy. On Monday, we also began discussing money and how much each coin is worth. We will continue to sort, add and use money in a variety of ways in the weeks to come.
The month of February is also Black History month and both Kindergarten classes will be reading several books throughout the month about famous African Americans’ who have made a positive impact on our lives. We will also listen and compare music from famous Jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Our first grade friends will come and teach us what they have learned about the evolution of Jazz and the great musicians! This will be a month long unit and we look forward to celebrating Black History in several different ways.
The children have been working really hard and deserve their February break. As a reminder we don’t have school from Friday February 17th through Wednesday the 22nd.
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
Kindergarten English Teacher
February 8, 2017
We are busy getting ready for Valentine’s Day! We will celebrate in the classroom on Tuesday, February 14th. If your child would like to bring Valentine cards, please make sure there is one for each child in the class. Last week there was an attachment to the Wednesday note, with the names of the children in the class. If you need this list, please be in touch with us.
We had fun with Groundhog Day activities last week. The children predicted whether or not Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow on February 2nd. He did, which tells us there should be six more weeks of winter! With the weather being so warm right now, this is hard to believe!
It was fun to watch the video of the celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. If you are interested in learning more about this tradition of Groundhog Day, you can visit www.groundhog.org.
Next week we will begin learning about US coins, specifically the names of the penny, nickel, dime, quarter. We will count and add with pennies and differentiate by using other coins for counting for those that might be ready.
We continue to work with sight words; playing games, writing them individually and reading them in sentences. If you would like more information on sight words or some ideas of how to use them at home, please contact us and we would be happy to share ideas.
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese
Tracy Dutton
February 1, 2017
Next week we will be getting ready for Valentine’s Day, which we will celebrate in school on Tuesday February 14th. If your child would like to bring Valentine cards, either handmade or store bought, he/she will make them at home and can begin bringing them to school on Thursday, February 9th. When you make the cards at home, please write the name NEATLY on the envelope. Your child can write the names or you may help, but please PRINT so that your child can deliver the cards independently. You may also cut and glue the names that you received via email if you wish.
Please try to send the cards into school by Monday, February 13th so they can all be delivered before Valentine’s Day. Please send the cards in a plastic or paper bag with your child’s name on the outside of the bag.
Please remember that every child in the class needs to have a card, IF you are making them. On the next two pages you will find both K classes. Please find your child’s class list! You DO NOT need to make cards for both classes.
Have a great week.
Tracy and Vanessa
January 25, 2017
Dear Families,
This week in both Kindergarten classes we will continue to do a unit study on the books “The Mitten” by Jan Brett and “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. We will do many activities such as discussing the characters, the setting, and doing a story retell. The children will explore these topics through various math, sensory, and art centers. We will also do a comparison of a different version of “The Mitten” by Alvin Tresselt. We are continuing to introduce new sight words weekly to the children and have a center focused around reading, building and writing our words.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
Kindergarten English Teacher
January 18, 2017
It was so nice to see many of you on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day of service. We are following up this week with learning more about him and the many good things he did for others.
We had a fun time last Friday with our Teddy Bear Day. The children did a great job moving through the activities and enjoyed sharing their special guests with the group. It was fun to mix the classes together!
We also had a great trip to St. Joe’s University for the show of Alice in Wonderland!
This week and next, we will follow up on activities based around bears, Martin Luther King Day, Alice in Wonderland, and the story of The Mitten.
We hope you received the video that Ms. Vanessa put together, of our Teddy Bear Day. It was sent via email. If you did not receive it, please let us know!
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
January 11, 2017
We are excited to tell you about our Teddy Bear Party! This Friday please have your child bring to school a favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal! We will spend Friday afternoon having a party with both Kindergarten classes. We will play games and have a little snack together!
This Friday we are also visiting the Bluette Theatre at St. Joe’s University to see the show of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ We are learning about the characters of the story and the setting. Next week we will continue to discuss the show.
We are also learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and talking about what we will do on Monday to honor him. We are discussing the idea of ‘giving service’ and whom we will be helping on Monday. Through our cooking activities and arts/crafts, we as a school, will be helping others’ in the community. We look forward to seeing many of you on this special day!!!
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
January 4, 2017
Dear Families,
I hope everyone had a nice restful holiday break. The children were excited to get back to school with their friends. This week in Kindergarten we are jumping right back into our school routine with our unit on Bears. We are reading fiction and nonfiction books about bears and will discuss why bears hibernate during the Winter. We will do some fun Math games using our colorful bear counters as well as sort them by size, color and will graph the results. We will continue to work on color words using the book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” and we will make a class book that the children will illustrate and write about their illustrations too. This should be another great addition to our class library.
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese
Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton
KIndergarten English Teacher
December 14, 2016
It’s hard to believe that we are close to half way through the school year! We hope that you all enjoy a great vacation away from school. Friday will be the last day of school before we return on Tuesday, January 3rd!
For the last week of school we have been finishing up some last minute gingerbread activities and thinking about snow! I’m sure January will find us with some snowy days, so we are happy to get in the spirit now!
We are really happy to have the fourth grade students come to Kindergarten this week! They prepared some great activities for us to do in small groups, including some games on the IPad and reading books with us, as well as interactive games! They visited KB yesterday and will visit KA tomorrow.
We wish you all a wonderful New year!
December 7, 2016
Dear Families,
This week have been busy continuing to practice for the Winter show. The show is this Thursday at 8:45am. We hope everyone is able to attend. After the show we will meet in the classroom for some light refreshments.
We are continuing our unit on the Gingerbread Man through the week. The children have really enjoyed comparing the different characters in the stories and discussing the different endings as well. We have also been measuring our gingerbread men using some fun manipulatives. We also voted on our favorite gingerbread stories and graphed the results. We are continuing to work on our sight words every week. If you click this link it will give you the first list of words. http://www.sightwords.com/pdfs/word_lists/dolch_prek.pdf If you are interested in practicing them at home you can write the words on index cards. Punch a hole in each card and attach a word ring (from Staples) and use them as flashcards to review. Choose about 5 words to begin with and add more as your child memorizes them. These words are to be memorized by sight rather than sounding them out. If you feel your child knows this list and would like the next list of sight words, please let me know. Here are a few websites for more information:
http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htm
http://www.dolchsightwords.org/
Thank you and have a great week!
November 30, 2016
Dear Parents,
We are busy getting ready for our Winter Show, which will take place next Thursday, December 8th at 8:45 am. The show is about one hour long and then we would love to have you join us in the classroom afterwards for a snack!
This week, we are excited to decorate the gym in preparation for our school celebration this Sunday, December 4th. All families and friends of the school are invited to come together and celebrate our wonderful school! If you haven’t received an invitation, please let the office know. Invitations were sent via email a couple of weeks ago. We have been talking about the ways that our school is so special and we can’t wait to show you our projects that represent us!
We started reading different versions of “The Gingerbread Man.” We are busy measuring with gingerbread men and finding objects all around the room that are smaller, the same size and bigger than each cutout. We are also rolling dice for number recognition and addition games. Of course we are reciting fun parts of the story and re-telling!
Have a great week,
Vanessa Marchese
Tracy Dutton
November 23, 2016
Dear families,
We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Break. We have been discussing this holiday in English class and sharing what each of us is thankful for. We have talked about the Pilgrims and their journey on The Mayflower from England.
On Monday both classes got together for a puppet show about Thanksgiving. We also gathered with the whole school on Tuesday to hear songs presented by the Upper School. It was fun to take part in the 'Turkey Hokey-Pokey' dance! We also had a great presentation by The Franklin Institute today.
After the break we will be beginning a unit based on the story of 'The Gingerbread Man.' We look forward to fun activities, including a scavenger hunt for the missing men!
Enjoy your break,
Vanessa Marchese
Tracy Dutton
November 16, 2016
Dear families,
I can hardly believe we have already reached the final full week before Thanksgiving break! Thank you to everyone who came for conferences last week. It was wonderful to speak with all of you about your children. I look forward to continuing to work with all of you to make our year even better! If you have any further questions or concerns which you feel were not addressed in conferences please email or speak with me this week. If you did not get the chance to come in for a conference and would still like to speak with me, please let me know and we will work something out.
For the next week and a half we will be focusing on Thanksgiving. We will be learning about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and discuss the very first Thanksgiving. We will learn about the long journey the Pilgrims made on the Mayflower and we will also discuss the pictograph symbols the Native Americans used and make our own using dyed corn kernels. We will first dye the corn kernels on Monday and let them dry out before making our own pictographs.
This week we will also introduce our first sight word “see” and create our own books about turkeys.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese (Kindergarten English Teacher)
Tracy Dutton (Kindergarten English Teacher)
November 9, 2016
Dear parents,
Thank you again to the parents who were able to join us last week on our walk in the neighborhood. The children had a great time looking for safety signs and graphing the results.
This week we continued to discuss the election and focused on the President’s job. We watched a short informational video about the President and did a journal entry titled “If I were President I would…” It was really funny to see some of the responses the children came up with.
Both Kindergarten classes are taking turns visiting the computer lab and the Bala Cynwyd Library too. We are so lucky to have this wonderful resource next to our school!
Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday for parent/teacher conferences. We look forward to meeting with each of you and there will be childcare available during your conference time in the cafeteria.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton Kindergarten English Teacher
November 2, 2016
Our first parent teacher conferences will be held next Friday, November 11th. Please sign up online. There is more information on the office note. Just a reminder that you need to sign up for two separate times, as the French and English conference is NOT at the same time. We look forward to meeting you and discussing your child's progress!
We had a great trip to the Art Museum last Friday. The children were very engaged in the lesson and were on their best behavior! Thanks to the parents who joined us. The Halloween parade was a success. Another year of nice weather! In the morning the children were treated to a great presentation by ‘Mother Goose.’ She brought magic to the Pk3-K students!
This week we are taking our neighborhood walks, looking for signs throughout. We will find stop signs, one way, do not enter, etc.
In preparation for the election next week, we will introduce a weekly reader magazine focusing on age appropriate material. We will work on some pages at school and then send the magazine home.
Have a great week,
Vanessa marchese KA
Tracy Dutton KB
October 26, 2016
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the last full week of October! Halloween is approaching fast and so that is our theme this week! We will be completing lots of Halloween literacy activities and investigating pumpkins with a science experiment. We will measure our pumpkins and we will also learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Halloween will be the theme in our books for storytime this week and our Math activities. We will also discuss opposites this week in preparation for our field trip to the Philadelphia Art Museum on Friday.
We will celebrate Halloween on the 31st with a parade beginning at 8:45. Children should come dressed in costume. Parents are welcome and encouraged to stay and watch the parade. There will be refreshments served for parents afterwards in the multi purpose room, while children enjoy a snack with their friends in the classroom!
In Second Step we are discussing the feelings of surprised and scared, which tie in nicely with the theme of Halloween. Last Friday the fire department was supposed to visit our school, but was called for an emergency. We will reschedule for another day.
Last week we watched a video about safety signs. www.brainpopjr.com is a great website for educational videos, games and lessons for ages K-3. There are plenty of free videos and games that your child may have fun playing at home! They also have an app for the ipad.
Another great website is www.starfall.com. This is a free website to teach the basics of reading and beyond. It’s a favorite among teachers! They have a limited program on the ipad.
Have a great week!
Vanessa Marchese, Kindergarten English Teacher
Tracy Dutton, Kindergarten English Teacher
October 19, 2016
We are moving on to Fire safety and safety in the neighborhood. We will study road signs and learn what many of them mean. We will talk about fire drills at school and why it is so important. The local fire department is coming to visit our school this Friday! It will be exciting to see the firefighters and get to see the truck up close!
This week in centers the children will be using acorns that they have gathered to play counting and addition games. There will be different activities to meet the needs of each child. Some children will be counting and working on one to one correspondence, others will be doing addition at different levels.
We look forward to our first field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Friday, November 28th. In the next two weeks we will study opposites in preparation for our lesson at the museum entitled, ‘Art Museum Opposites.’ The students will take part in fun looking, finding, and describing activities as they find “opposites” in the Museum’s collection. We will return to school in time for lunch.
Have a great week,
KA Vanessa Marchese
KB Tracy Dutton
October 5, 2016
This week we will be wrapping up our apple unit with everyone’s favorite part...tasting the apples. Each child will be able to try three different types of apples and we will discuss which one we like the most and or least and then we will graph our results.
Last week we discussed the concept of what makes an object float or sink. Then children were fascinated with the fun science experiment where we predicted if the apple would float or sink in water. We then tried other objects and predicted what we thought they would do before trying it.
KA: Vanessa Marchese
KB: Tracy Dutton
September 28, 2016
Our class has enjoyed learning about apples and this week and we are continuing our apple unit with the book “Ten Apples on Top” by Dr. Seuss. We will do many reading and extension activities focused around this book. In addition, each child is working on their own page for our class book “Apples on Top.” Last year we did a similar book and it was a favorite for the children and a wonderful addition to our class library.
This week we also had the pleasure of taking a class trip to the Bala Cynwyd Library. The librarian read a story and gave the children a tour of the library. It was really fun to see how excited the kids were about some of the genres of books that they had.
Both Kindergarten classes will be taking their first field trip to the Philadelphia Art Museum on October 28th. We will send home details as the date approaches. If any parents/guardians are interested in chaperoning, please contact your classroom teacher. We will take two chaperones per class.
Have a great week!
KA: Vanessa Marchese
KB: Tracy Dutton
September 21, 2016
This week we will begin a unit on apples. In the next few weeks we will learn about how an apple grows and use our senses to describe apples (tasting is the best part!). We will sort, pattern and add apples. We will learn about the cycle of an apple from seed to tree.
This week we will introduce the poem entitled “The Apple Tree” for reading and working with numbers and feelings.
Way up high in the apple tree,
___(#) little apples were smiling at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples,
And m-m-m, were they good!
We vary the poem by choosing different feelings such as angry, worried, scared, surprised, etc. we change line #2 to fit the poem…10 little apples were angry today…as an example. The children then show this expression with faces, voices and actions throughout the poem.
In Second Step we have discussed the rules of the classroom and making good choices. This week we will work with the feeling of happy. We will discuss how our face and body looks when we are feeling happy. We all know that one of our most important jobs at school is to make everyone feel happy! We will continue to reinforce this each week in our lessons.
Have a great week,
KA: Vanessa Marchese
KB: Tracy Dutton
September 14, 2016
We look forward to seeing many of you tonight at Back to school Night. In this note, we would like to share with you some of the important information that we will discuss, which will be helpful to you in the upcoming months.
VIP: Each child will have one day to be the Very Important Person (VIP) of the class. The week before your child’s day, we will send home a blank poster board and a note giving you more information and the exact date of his/her VIP day. On the poster board, you and your child can put photos, drawings, stickers…basically anything that tells the class more about the VIP. On this day, your child will share the poster. Your child may also bring to school FIVE special items from home to show the class. We will send the poster home for the VIP in alphabetical order by last name, about three per month, so you can get an idea of where your child may fall. This is a fun, special day that the children look forward to. Look for the posters in the hallway!
Reading in the Morning at 8:25: To help show the children how important reading is and how much fun it is, we would love your help by coming into school and reading to the children. If you would like to read one story (in any language) to the class at 8:25 am. please let us know by email. You can email the French or English teacher to plan for this.
Second Step: Each week the French and English teacher give a Second Step lesson together in the classroom. Second Step is a program taught throughout the school from PK3-Grade 8. It is a program related to social awareness and provides units based on skills for learning, empathy, emotion management and problem solving. It teaches children new skills, such as how to control impulses, stay focused, and follow rules.
The first week of school went well. We have been playing games and singing songs to get to know each other! We will begin to work in centers this week.
Have a great week,
KA:Vanessa Marchese marchese@frenchschoolphila.org
KB:Tracy Dutton dutton@frenchschoolphila.org