Happy Summer!

It is hard to believe the school year is over.  We have really enjoyed working with such a great group of children and families this year.  We are sad to see you all go, but are so proud of how much the children have grown since August.  Can you believe that they are no longer Kindergarteners?  We'll always consider your children "ours" too  and we hope that you all find time to check in with us & let us know how things are going.  We will miss seeing your little ones every day!

We also want to thank everyone for the cards, gift cards, yummy treats, gifts, and kind words we received.  We really appreciate all your thoughtfulness & generosity! 

Take care & have a great summer!!
Mrs. Piner & Mrs. Ward

End Of Year Schedule

End of Year

Kindergarten Schedule

There is a lot happening during these last weeks of Kindergarten!  Please make note of the following dates.  We are collecting $5.00 from each child to pay for a pizza lunch on Beach Day and we are in need of help from parents to make the following events a success.  Please sign up on the blog to volunteer for Beach Day and to donate items for upcoming activities.  Also, please send in $5.00 by Friday, May 29.

Friday, May 29 – Field Trip to Marbles

*Send in a snack, separate from lunch. 

*Send in a bagged lunch with drink in disposal containers.

Monday, June 1 – Daily 5 Celebration:  Look at Us - We’re Readers!

*Wear pajamas to school.

*Bring 2-3 of your favorite books to school.

*Bring a towel or small blanket.

*Bring a flashlight for flashlight reading!

Tuesday, June 2 – Friendship Day

*Bring a bagged lunch and a towel to school.  We will be eating outside with all the K classes.

*Parents are invited to join us in our classroom for an End of Year Ice Cream Celebration at 1:00pm.

Thursday, June 4 – JYJ’s 60^th Anniversary

*Pack a bagged lunch to enjoy in Kiwanis Park to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of JYJ! 

Friday, June 5 – Kindergarten Beach Day

We need volunteers to help from 8:45 until 10:45.  Anyone can help:  moms, dads, grandparents, older/responsible siblings.  But we ask that younger siblings stay at home so our volunteers can focus their attention on the kindergartners.

On Beach Day, children should: 

*Wear bathing suit, t-shirt, and water shoes or flip flops to school

*Bring a towel

*Apply sunscreen before school

*Send in a complete change of clothing including underwear, socks, and shoes

*Do not bring any lunch that day…we’ll order pizza!  Don't forget to send in $5.00!!

Monday, June 8 – Game Day- Last Day of School!

*Bring your favorite game from home to play at school (please label game with child’s name)

Please let us know if you have any questions and thanks for your help with these activities!

April 27

--Final Stretch--

It’s hard to believe but we are fast approaching the end of Kindergarten.  As many of you know, May is one of the busiest months here at JYJ.  We have a lot of activities and events going on that you may be interested in helping with or attending. 

Friday, May 1:  Kindergarten Orientation- the current Kindergarten classes will put on a quick performance in the gym to welcome the rising JYJ Kindergartners.  This performance will start shortly after 8:30 and it is not very long at all, so if you want to see your child perform, please be in the gym by 8:30.  Kindergartners should wear jeans and their tie-dye Kindergarten Rocks t-shirt.

Wednesday, May 6:  Mother’s Day Tea-Moms are invited to come and enjoy tea and cookies and listen to a book the class has made in honor of all the great Moms we have!  This event starts at 8:30am & will last maybe 30 minutes-more details to come home tomorrow!

Friday, May 15:  Field Day-This is a school wide event that is always a lot of fun.  Volunteers and some supplies will be needed.  Mr. Poyer will send more details as we get closer to the date.

Friday, May 22:  Animal Parade-Kindergartners get to showcase some of what they have learned during our Animal Unit.  The parade will start shortly after the tardy bell and the parade route will take us through the halls of JYJ.

Monday, May 25:  Memorial Day-No School

Friday, May 29: Marbles Museum Field Trip-We will need lots of chaperones to help out with this fun field trip.  Please let me know if you are able to chaperone!

Tuesday, June 2:  Friendship Day-This will be our End of the Year Celebration- more details to follow!

Friday, June 5: Kindergarten Beach Day-Our last big event!  We will need parent volunteers and supplies-details to come.

Monday, June 8:  Last Day of Kindergarten!!!

Parent Teacher Conferences

If you have not yet had a 3^rd quarter conference and are interested in meeting, please let me know and I will schedule a time to meet.

  

*Code RED Lockdown-

Your child may have told you about the Code Red lockdown drill that we had last week.  We reviewed the procedure earlier and talked about that depending where you might be if/when there is a lockdown, the procedure might be a little different.  Well, that conversation paid off as the class was with Mr. Poyer in PE when the lockdown started.  The class stayed with him during the lockdown and did a good job!  We talked about it afterwards, and stressed that safety is our #1 concern, so following lockdown procedures is very important.  Please talk to your child about the drill and reiterate the importance of staying safe during lockdowns.

*Keep your eye out for letters coming home from classmates.  We have started writing letters during our writing time and the class is very excited to use them to communicate with their friends.  We are using our mailbox to “mail” our letters and even have a Mail Carrier to collect and deliver the mail.  It has definitely been their favorite type of writing we have done this year!

Hope everyone was able to enjoy the weather the last couple of days.  Hopefully Spring Weather is here to stay!  Spring is always a fun (and BUSY!) time in Kindergarten.  We are preparing for some upcoming activities and need your help! 

Spring Scavenger Hunt

We are planning for a spring scavenger hunt on Wednesday, April 1 at 12:45pm.

We will need LOTS of plastic eggs prepared ahead of time.  I have attached a classroom link on the blog for you to sign up and send in needed items.  The way that we have this scavenger hunt planned is to have children “hunt” for specific eggs.  For instance, they are all given a checklist and they have to find an egg that has a circle drawn on it and another egg with a triangle.  They’ll need to find eggs that spell out the word S-p-r-i-n-g, and so forth.   Please click on the Spring Scavenger Hunt sign-up sheet under Important Classroom Links to see what you can donate for this fun event!  You can pick a letter or symbol and write that symbol on each of the 21 eggs and then fill the egg with a small piece of candy or trinket (tattoo, sticker, etc.). 

  

I am asking that all items be sent back to school by

           Monday, March 30^st.      

THANK YOU so much for your help!!

In addition to the items listed on the sign up sheet, we also need 3 bags of basic jellybeans-no fancy colors or gourmet flavors.  We need this by Friday, March 20.  Please email me if you can send these in!  Thanks!!

What’s Going On In the Classroom?

In reading, we have been talking about becoming “strategic readers”.  This means that when we come to an unknown word, we “work” to solve the word by using our reading strategies carefully, flexibly, and independently. 

Strategic readers solve words by decoding them phonetically, by thinking about the meaning of what they are reading, and by knowing the structure of the English language (grammar).  If a reader only uses only one of these to solve words, then solving the words becomes a struggle, often resulting in NOT solving the unknown word correctly and ultimately comprehension will break down.  If a reader is able to solve unknown words by using a multitude of reading strategies, then their efforts to solve the word becomes more automatic, more independent, & more accurate, and their comprehension increases. 

So, how do we help these budding readers…..

First, we become acquainted with early reading behavior strategies.  I have included a page on the top of the blog which includes ALL of the strategies that we have gone over so far during our Daily 5 time. (I will update it as we go along.)  You will notice that your child automatically does some of these without even thinking about it.  They are building the foundation of good reading habits with these strategies- which will help them as they continue to grow as readers.

Secondly, I think it is important to give the kids WAIT TIME.  Wait a minute before you jump in and give them the correct word.

One thing that we have taught the kids when they Read to Someone (Partner Read) during the Daily 5 and their partner gets stuck on a word is to ask this question….

“Do you want more time?  Or do you want coaching?”

If they say wait time, then they count to 10. 

If they say coaching, then we are working with the kids to help each other pick a good “reading strategy” to try and to not just “give” the word to their partner.

So at home when your child gets stuck on a word,

ask your child…..

“Do you want more time?  Or do you want coaching?”

If they say coaching, then help guide them by using the prompts that I've provided or guide them by mentioning one of the reading strategies.

MATH: 

We have continued to work with addition within 5.  The objective is to build fluency in knowing that 3+2, 4+1, etc. add up to 5.  We are working to build a good working knowledge of this and to move toward being about to solve this without the use of manipulatives or our fingers.

As we move into the 4^th quarter, we will begin practicing addition within 10. 

We are introducing word problems and working to solve various types of problems such as:

4+2=?

4+?=6

?+2=6

10-3=?

10-?=7

?-3=7

Also, we are learning the reciprocity between addition and subtraction. 

Such as…

10=7+3

10-7=3

7+3=10

March Madness!

The Healthy Choice Marathon was a huge success!  Thank you to everyone who donated to the fundraiser-over $15,000 was earned in classroom donations alone!  Also thanks to everyone who donated books-we collected over 3,000 books!  It was great to see everyone at the 5K race on Sunday too.  What a beautiful day to finish our Healthy Choice Marathon! 

Literacy:  I have added a Target Word page & Retelling Question page to the blog.  These are found by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page. 

*The Target Word page includes all the sight words that we have learned and those we are currently learning.  These are words your child should learn to recognize on sight.  I have also listed some ways that you can practice with your child at home. 

*The Retelling questions are the same type of questions that are used for assessment.  After reading a book, practice asking your child some of these questions.  You can even have them retell a movie or show they have seen!

Afterschool Enrichment Clubs-Joyner will now be offering a variety of afterschool clubs led by JYJ teachers.  I am very excited that I will be running the “Shake Hands with Science” club for Kindergartners through 2^nd graders.  We will get to explore scientific concepts and perform lots of hands-on experiments.  We will be extending the science your child is learning in his/her classroom and having fun at the same time!  Look for the orange registration form in OTIS for a description of all the clubs.  There are only 15 available spots in each club, so if your child is interested, register quick! 

We have Book ‘n Bite next week!  Thanks to those who have signed up! We still have some spots open for Book ‘n Bite in April and May.

February 9 Update

There are many things that are coming up during the next month!

Healthy Choice Marathon:  Joyner will be celebrating healthy minds and bodies for 26 days.  The marathon begins February 9^th and lasts through March 6^th.  Students, teachers, and parents will join together in stepping up their efforts  in reading, eating well, and exercising!  The Healthy Choice Marathon is our BIGGEST fundraiser!  We are hoping to use the funds to have a turf soccer field installed, but we need everyone's help.  I hope you all can participate in the race on March 8, but please know that the entry fee for the race only covers the cost of the race, none of this goes to Joyner.  All of the money we raise will be from race sponsorships from businesses and donations from families.  If you know of a business that would like to help our school provide a better place for our kids to stay healthy & active, please encourage them to be a race sponsor.  We are also collecting money in our classroom to help raise the money for the new field.  The class that earns the most money will be recognized, so the children's competitive spirit has kicked in and they are very excited to start contributing.  Any amount is appreciated!  Someone found a nickel on the sidewalk so we have our first donation already!!

Students are invited to join the Running Club!   This club will meet each Thursday to prepare for the Annual JYJ 5K Fun Run on March 8^th at 2 PM.  Your child must be registered to attend Running Club.  Go online at    http://tinyurl.com/JYJRunningClub  to sign up your child for running club. 

Book Drive and Wake Up and Read Initiative: In conjunction with the Healthy Choice Marathon, JYJ is participating again this year in the Wake Up and Read Book Drive!  We are trying to collect 100 books each day for the duration of the Healthy Choice Marathon.  That’s 2,600 boks!  Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Childress have agreed to dress as a book character on the day of the 5K if we meet our goal.  So bring in gently used or new books.  Also, if the school meets our goal then we’ll all be able to dress as our favorite book character on March 6^th!

 

A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who has contributed supplies for 100 day and Valentine’s Day!  We do NOT need anymore cereal boxes, but we always need tissues.  Also, if you have any brown paper grocery bags, we'd love to take them off your hands.

Our class will celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday, but because it is an Early Release, our day will be packed with activities.  We encourage the children to make or bring Valentine's cards or treats for their classmates, but we ask that you do not address them to specific children in the class.  Instead please leave the "TO:" field blank, or address it TO: my friend.  This cuts down on the amount of time it takes to pass out Valentines, so we can use our time to work on the fun activities planned.  Just remember we have 21 students in our class.  We want everyone to be included!

Important Dates:

Early Release – February 13^th  School dismisses at 12:30pm

Running  Club Dates:  Thursdays, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26, 3/5

Book Drive and Marathon Dates:  February 9^th –March 6^th

5K Fun Run/Walk – Sunday, March 8^th at 2:00

Deadline for Ordering JYJ Yearbook – March 16th

Hello 2015!

Mrs. Ward & I want to thank you all for the cards, gifts, treats, & gift cards we received for the holidays!  It was so thoughtful & generous of you all and we truly appreciate it.  We hope you all have a had a Merry Christmas and an enjoyable break.  It's hard to believe it's almost over!  Just a reminder that our first day back at school is Monday, January 5, 2015.  Enjoy your last couple of days and we will see you soon!