Weekly+Newsletter

May 18, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

This week in kindergarten: Things to know/remember: May 11, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten
 * We started our Down by the Sea theme. This week we read fiction and non-fiction books about the ocean, shells, and fish.
 * In science, we observed shells, rocks, sand, coral and a starfish with magnifying glasses.
 * Our book focus was Pout Pout Fish. We learned made predictions and connections.
 * In math, we continued working on place value.
 * We learned the story of Lazarus. We learned that Jesus can always help us.
 * We enjoyed New Name Day, Octopus Day (Outside Reading was rained out.) and Play-doh and Painting Day (Popsicle Party was rained out.). The girls were treated like Queens and enjoyed being first for everything.
 * May 21st-Rainbow Day-Students may wear their favorite colors of the rainbow.
 * May 25th-Race for Education and Field Day
 * May 28th-No School-Memorial Day
 * On June 1st, the children would like to invite you to our House for Hermit Crab play at 10:30. Please don’t be late, as the play is short and will be over in a matter of minutes. (Unfortunately, siblings cannot attend.)
 * Also on June 1st-Last day for kindergarten-End of the year party, 10:35-11am. Students may leave with their parents at 11. All others will be dismissed at 12:30. (There will not be carpool 1, 2, and walkers, as everyone will leave at the same time.) There will be no kindergarten after care

<span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * We continued our Big Backyard theme. We learned about caterpillars, butterflies, and moths. We read book and learned a new poem about spiders. We compared and contrasted them to insects.
 * In math, we followed directions and used problem solving.
 * We continued to work with place value (tens and ones).
 * We did a wonderful job bringing flowers to and crowning our Blessed Mother, Mary, at our May Crowning.
 * We read the Bible story, Let the Little Children Come to Me. We learned that children are important to Jesus.
 * We read five different Pigeon books by one of our favorite authors, Mo Willems.
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We went for a behind the scenes tour of the church. We got to go into the sacristy and confessionals. We smelled oils and incense, looked at all of the stained glass windows and Stations of the Cross. Everyone received a book about the Blessed Mother, Mary.
 * We had some good laughs on Joke Day.
 * The boys were treated like Kings and enjoyed being first for everything.
 * We enjoyed tasty lollipops and tried making 3-D shapes with marshmallows and pretzels.
 * We worked hard to finish our Mothers’ Day gifts. (We hope you love them as much as we do!
 * We practiced for our play.

<span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thank you for all of the expressions of appreciation this week. It's a pleasure and a privilege to have you and your children in my life!
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">May 13th-Happy Mothers’ Day!
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">May 14th-No School-Pastor’s Holiday
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">May 25th-Race for Education and Field Day-12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">May 28th-No School-Memorial Day
 * <span style="color: #660066; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">June 1st- Last Day of Kindergarten-Play and End of the Year Party- 10:30 a.m.-All parents are invited to attend.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">May 4, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">This week in kindergarten: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We continued our Big Backyard theme. This week we learned about insects. We also learned that, like plants and other animals, insects have life cycles. We learned what makes a bug an insect and learned lots of facts about bees, ants, and ladybugs.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">Mr. Kelley showed a presentation about being a beekeeper. We enjoyed tasting pretzels dipped raw honey.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">Our ladybugs emerged! We were excited to watch them and then release them to nature.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We celebrated Doughnut, Exercise, Favorite Color, Game and Happiness Days. It was great fun!
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We read Hey, Ltitle Ant. We compared and contrasted humans and ants.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We learned about compound words.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We learned new songs, Stung and Icky, Icky Insects.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">In math, we worked with position words and also tens and ones.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We learned the Bible story, Let the Children Come to Me. We learned that Jesue loves children.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We worked on our crowns and prepared for the May Crowning.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We started practicing for our play!
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">May 7- May Crowning -10 a.m. in the church -Children should dress in their “Sunday best” and bring a fresh flower for Mary. Your child may bring a change of clothing for recess. Please provide a bag into which they can place their clothes.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">May 14th-No School-Pastor’s Holiday
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">May 25th-Race for Education and Field Day
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">May 28th-No School-Memorial Day
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">June 1st- Last Day of Kindergarten and End of the Year Play and Party- 10:30 a.m.-All parents are invited to attend.

<span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">April 27, 2018

<span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the parable of The Prodigal Son. We learned that Jesus always loves us.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read) time.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with the story __Tops and Bottoms__. We made predictions, character analyses, ordered events, and wrote opinions about the book.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about backyard animals.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned different ways we can help reduce our human impact on the environment: reduce, reuse, recycle.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We sorted (pictures of) items to recycle with 5thgrade buddies.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We observed our bean sprouts. This week, stems and leaves were observed.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We also observed our ladybug larvae. Some have attached themselves to the ceiling of our Ladybug Land and are now in the pupal stage. We can’t wait to see them emerge as ladybugs!
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We finished our unit on 3D shapes. Help your child identify items in their world that are cones, spheres, cubes, cylinders and rectangular prisms.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We enjoyed the first three days of our ABC Countdown!

<span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember: <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We will perform a short play (details to be announced soon) and conclude with an end of the year party. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">April 21, 2018
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thanks for all that came out for the BJ’s fundraiser on Monday!
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Please consider supporting our Race for Education. A packet about this went home before Easter break. Please contact the school if you need more information.
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Monday, May 7th-May Crowning-10 a.m. Look for information about this special celebration under the Letters to Parents tab..
 * <span style="color: #008040; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Looking ahead-June 1st-Last day of kindergarten-(WHAAT?)

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the parable of the Lost Sheep. We learned that Jesus takes care of us.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with words in the –un word family.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued to read different versions of The Little Red Hen. We enjoyed The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We made shape pizzas with 5thgrade buddies.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about seed, fruits and vegetables. We added the words germination and photosynthesis to our lexicon.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We planted bean seeds and are looking forward to seeing the sprouts emerge.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with 3D shapes.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We enjoyed SMS’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember: <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;"> We will perform a short play (details to be announced soon) and conclude with an end of the year party.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Monday, April 23rd-Spirit Night at BJ’s restaurant in Laurel-6-10 p.m. The class with the highest participation will win dress down passes. Other prizes will be awarded as well. I will be there at 6 and hope to see all of you!
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Please consider supporting our Race for Education. A packet about this went home before Easter break. Please contact the school if you need more information.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Children as Teachers was fabulous this week. Keep up the good work!
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">The children have been working so very hard on their sight words. So many of them are choosing to grab their ring of words and practice reading and spelling them whenever they have a minute or two of free time. Their reading is really coming along as a result. Way to go kindergartners!
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Monday, May 7th-May Crowning-10 a.m. Look for information about this special celebration under the Letters to Parents tab..
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Looking ahead-June 1st-Last day of kindergarten-(WHAAT?)

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">April 13, 2018

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the story of the Good Samaritan. We made blessing bags to fill at home for a ‘neighbor’ in need. See the note in the Friday folder for additional details.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with words in the –ug word family.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read and compared different versions of The Little Red Hen.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned that yeast is a tiny living organism. We observed yeast, sugar and water and determined the purpose of yeast in bread. We compared unleavened to leavened bread. (More students preferred the matzah.)
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our Down on the Farm theme. We learned about chickens and ducks. We compared and contrasted the two birds.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued to work with 2D shapes.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Animals of Maryland at our second nature program. We learned that mammals have fur, reptiles have dry scales, and birds have feathers. We sorted animals by covering.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Please consider supporting our Race for Education. A packet about this went home before Easter break. Please contact the school if you need more information.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Please continue to help your child prepare for their weekly Children as Teachers presentation. Write (or help your child write) the 3-5 facts.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Work that was completed on Thursday and Friday was not included in this week’s Friday folder.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 23, 2018

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Jesus’s ride into Jerusalem and Palm Sunday. We made a woven palm craft with our 5th grade buddies.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned triangles, circles, and hexagons. We create triangle and hexagons with pattern blocks.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We compared and contrasted different versions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with the OP word family.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our Down on the Farm theme. We learned about goats and pigs.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We totally rocked at the pep rally!!
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We had 2 more snow days. BOO!

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember: <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 16, 2018
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Because of the snow days on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday folders were not sent home. They will go home this Thursday.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 29th-12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 30-April 6 Easter Break

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the story of Jesus and the loaves and fishes. We made a basket of bread and fish with our 5th grade buddies.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about St. Patrick and the Holy Trinity. We had fun centers and a yummy snack on Friday.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about and compared capacity of objects.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started our geometry unit. We identified squares and rectangles and learned the new vocabulary word, vertices.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read more versions of Goldilocks. We compared story elements and identified the beginning, middle and end of different versions.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our Down on the Farm theme. We learned about cows and made butter and ice cream!
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We celebrated Grandparents’ Day by inviting them to our classroom. We played bingo and had a rehearsal of our YMCA dance. We were happy to have them join us for a prayer service.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 20th-10 a.m.- Pep Rally-Students may wear whatever you decide on for their “costumes”. Please follow tag day rules.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 23rd-Spring Pictures
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 29th-12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 30-April 6 Easter Break

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 9, 2018

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Jesus and His first miracle.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continue to learn about the Stations of the Cross. The children know most of them.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We celebrated Seuss Day. We made hats, played rhyming Jenga and Bingo, graphed fish, had a stacking cup STEM challenge and more!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We compared different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started our Down on the Farm theme.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our measurement in math. We used a bucket balance to compare weights.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 15th-Grandparents’ Day-Look for info in an email from school. Please let me if your child has grandparents who will attend. I look forward to meeting them!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 20th-Race for Education Pep Rally
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 23rd-Spring Picture Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 29th -12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 30-April 6-Easter Break
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">The Children as Teachers presentations have been awesome! Please try to limit the facts to five, to maintain the interest of the class.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">March 2, 2018

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We learned about Jesus choosing His disciples. We learned that we should follow Jesus, too.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We worked with measurement. We measured things with non-standard units. We learned the problem-solving technique, guess and check.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We continued with our daily math (word) problems. They are getting increasingly difficult, but with modeling, and a little help, we are able to solve them.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We read a lot of Dr. Seuss books. We played rhyming games at centers and together at circle.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We learned that Dr. Seuss made up some words for his books. We read words and determined if they were real or nonsense.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We practiced for the Race for Education pep rally.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">Thanks go to Kailee-Marie’s grandmother and Kaya’s aunt for being Mystery Readers this week.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">We will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Monday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">March 9th-No school-Spring Collaboration Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">March 20th-10 a.m.-Race for Education Pep Rally-Look for details under the Letters to Parents tab.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 14pt;">March 22nd-Echoes in Nature Program

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 23, 2018

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten: > We continued to review the Stations of the Cross each day.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Elijah and the prophets of Baal. We learned that there is only one God that we should follow.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Our focus book was Bat Loves the Night. We reviewed that non-fiction books give us information. We visualized a part of the story, wrote new information and our opinions of bats.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about nocturnal animals. We compared owls and bats. We learned about the characteristics that God gave each which allow them hunt at night. We dissected owl pellets with our 5th grade buddies. (You may have noticed a bag of rodent bones in your child’s backpack.)
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We composed and decomposed numbers. We also started our unit on measurement.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with words in the –og word family.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to Know/Remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">The date for the Race for Education Pep Rally may change. I will keep you posted.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Next week, we will read Dr. Seuss books as well as celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. If your child has any Dr. Seuss books that you wouldn’t mind us using during centers, please send them in with your child’s name clearly marked. We will do our best to ensure that the books are taken care of and we will return them on Friday.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 17, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned that Ash Wednesday starts the season of Lent. We went to Mass and received ashes. We discussed things that we can do during Lent to strengthen our relationship with God. We were introduced to the Stations of the Cross. We will review them and recite small prayers for each in the mornings from now until Easter.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We celebrated the 100th day of school. We made necklaces with 100 beads, built with 100 cups, 100 marshmallows and 100 Legos. We filled ‘gumball machines’ with 100 ‘gumballs’, linked together numbers from 1-100, and counted how many licks it takes to finish a Dum Dum pop. The best part of the day was when we popped 100 balloons! The children loved it and asked if we can do it all again on the 200th day of school!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We wrote friendly letters to classmates.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We decorated our Valentine’s bags and made Valentine angels.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We loved singing //Mail Myself to You//. We added a copy to the Valentines that we made for parents.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We celebrated Valentine’s Day with a party.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Ruby Bridges and discussed how she was courageous.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Presidents Washington and Lincoln. We discussed how they were responsible and honest.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued composing and decomposing numbers.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thank you, to all of the parents that contributed so generously to our Valentine’s Day party.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 19th-No School-Presidents’ Day.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">March 7-Race for Education pep rally-1 pm-Our class has chosen to perform YMCA. We follow the moves as seen on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SG16_kWpe0

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 9, 2018

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the parts of a friendly letter by singing a new song. We wrote our first friendly letter using a template.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with words in the –IT word family.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about the ‘silent e rule’.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We identified the Antarctic region on the globe. We read about animals that live in Antarctica, particularly penguins. We identified their features, habitats and food, as well as their gifts from God that help them survive in their environment.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We made predictions about __Tacky the Penguin__ based on pictures, then on text.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We composed and decomposed numbers 11-15 and continued working on subtraction.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about David and the King.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We had a STEM challenge in which we had 1-minute trials to create conversation heart towers. We determined which of our individual trials was best as well as compared our numbers to others in the class.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 12th-100th Day of School-We have lots of fun activities planned!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 13th-Valentines’ Day Card Exchange-Students should bring a Valentine card for each classmate. Please put them in alphabetical order to make distribution easier. The class list can be found under the Class List tab. We will open cards and enjoy a special treat.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 14th-Ash Wednesday-10 a.m. Mass
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 19th-No School-Presidents’ Day

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">February 2, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We enjoyed Catholic Schools’ Week. We celebrated our faith together at a liturgy, cheered on the 8th graders and teachers at the Students vs. Faculty dodge ball game, had fun at the school wide lip sync AND enjoyed lunch with parents and breakfast with the whole school! It was an exciting week, but we are ready to get back to our normal routine on Monday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We discussed going to a Catholic school and made thank you cards for a family member who sends them to St. Mary’s.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our Winter Wonderland theme. We identified the Arctic and Antarctic regions on the globe. We read about animals that live in these areas. We discussed how these animals differ from other animals as well as their gifts from God, which enable them to survive in the extreme cold. We learned about migration, hibernation and adaption. We made “ice caves” out of clear glasses for polar bears.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about St. Valentine. The students received their next saint challenge paper, which they can return by the end of the month for a sticker.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked on our subtraction skills, problem solving and mental math.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">February 9th-Class Picture Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">February **__13__**th-Valentines’ Day Card Exchange-Students should bring a Valentine card for each classmate. Please put them in alphabetical order to make distribution easier. The class list can be found under the Class List tab. We will open cards and enjoy a special treat.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">February 14th-Ash Wednesday-Liturgy
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">February 19th-No School
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you to the parents that came for lunch with their children on Tuesday. What a wonderful turnout. We all enjoyed seeing all of you!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 26, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the story of David and Goliath. We learned David was brave and, that with God on his side, he was able to save God’s people.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued subtraction in math.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read Snowmen at Night. We visualized, inferred and made connections. We ended the week with some hot cocoa and a snowman-shaped Peep.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read more books by one of our favorite authors, Jan Brett.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We compared and contrasted two versions of __The Mitten__.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We were introduced to the sight words: too, good, or, read, any, have, did, Tuesday
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with the –ip word family.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We were visited by ‘Ms. Echo’ and her animals. She introduced us to Animals in Winter. We learned a bit about migration, hibernation and adaption. We will continue this study next week. The children were able to touch a turtle, a millipede, a toad and a rabbit.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">The children did an excellent job with their Children as Teachers presentations. Please remember that toys should not be brought unless they are used as a prop for “teaching”.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Next week, we will continue working with last week’s words.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We moved back into our classroom!! YIPPEE!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Catholic Schools’ Week:
 * January 29-Schoolwide Liturgy 10 a.m.
 * January 30-Wacky Sock Day & Lunch with Your Child Day-If you are planning to attend lunch in our classroom, please send me a note or email so that I can have a chair available for you.
 * January 31-Crazy Hat Day & 8th Gr. vs. Faculty Game
 * February 1-Blue and White Spirit Day & Lip Sync (Kindergarten will not be in the competition, but will be rooting for the other classes!)
 * February 2-All School Breakfast & 12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 5-School Closed-Parent/Teacher Conferences

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 19, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned the story of Ruth in the Bible. We learned through her, that God wants us to be kind.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Dr. Martin Luther King and his determination.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started subtraction in math.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read The Snowy Day. We visualized, inferred and made connections with the main character.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read books about winter and learned winter weather vocabulary.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Worked with the sight words: keep, away, ran, can’t, on, if, this, Monday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with the –et word family.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Children as Teachers starts on Monday and will continue throughout the school year.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Next week, we will continue working with last week’s words and will also work with the sight words: too, good, or, read, any, have, did, Tuesday
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Students need to wear athletic shoes while in the classroom. Unfortunately, boots are not allowed.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We will remain in the ‘bat cave’ for another 3-5 days while we wait for the final inspections and finishing touches to our new heater in our classroom.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Catholic Schools’ Week:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 29-Schoolwide Liturgy 10 a.m.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 30-Wacky Sock Day & Lunch with Your Child Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 31-Crazy Hat Day & 8th Gr. vs. Faculty Game
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 1-Blue and White Spirit Day & Lip Sync (Kindergarten will not be in the competition, but will be rooting for the other classes!)
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">February 2-All School Breakfast & 12:30 Dismissal

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 12, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued to read many different versions of The Gingerbread Man. We compared and contrasted the books. We completed a Venn diagram with characters from Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Girl.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We made yummy gingerbread houses and made a gingerbread addition craft.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read books by one of our favorite authors, Jan Brett. We discussed elements that can be found in many of her books.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Worked with the sight words: help, ride, work, find, there, Sunday
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We made ‘ice mazes’ with Legos and tested them out.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued addition in math.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Monday, January 15th -No School-Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 19th-12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Next week's sight words are: keep, away, ran, can't, on, if, this, Monday
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Please look for the letter about Children as Teachers under the Letters to Parents tab.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Students need to wear athletic shoes while in the classroom. Unfortunately, boots are not allowed.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 5, 2018

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Happy New Year! It was great getting back to school, but our two snow days cut into our already short week. The students may have told you about our exciting news. We have temporarily moved to the “bat cave” as our heating/ac unit is being replaced. The children really seem to enjoy the change in scenery and are very good at going with the flow!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started our gingerbread theme. We read and compared two versions of this folk tale. We look forward to making gingerbread houses, reading more gingerbread books, and completing other fun gingerbread activities.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We are still receiving gingerbread pals and letters from states all around the country. We especially enjoy comparing our class sizes, learning about their state animals, flowers and flags, and locating the states on a map.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We started to work with the –et word family.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">In math, we continued to work on daily word problems and addition.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read about Samson and Delilah.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember: <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">December 21, 2018 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 15-No School-MLK Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">January 19-12:30 Dismissal
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Even though the weather is chilly (COOOOLD), students must wear athletic shoes in the classroom. Boots are not a part of the uniform; therefore, they are not allowed.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read books and learned about Christmas.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Our Advent elf, Eddie, left us more goodies. We made more ornaments, finished our nativity scenes, decorated breakfast and lunch bags for Winter Haven. He even left us hot chocolate and marshmallows for Polar Express Day.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We tried constructing two-story Santa’s workshops using gumdrops, toothpicks, and Popsicle sticks. Some of us did it and some made sprawling one-level ‘buildings’.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We had a Christmas party.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We enjoyed wearing our pajamas to school on Polar Express Day.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We sang beautifully at the Christmas program.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;"> Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">When we return, we will work with the sight words: help, ride, work, find, there, Sunday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Adele’s father was a mystery reader. Thank you!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thank you to all of you that helped at or contributed to our Christmas party. The children enjoyed it immensely.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thank you for the beautiful and generous Christmas gifts. Your child made one for you but might need reminded to put it under the tree. We hope you enjoy it!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">December 22-January 1-Christmas break-MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">December 15, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read books and learned about community helpers.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Officer Hayden, from Laurel City Police Department, visited our class and taught us how police officers keep our community safe. Nicholas’s mom, Dr. Raimondo, taught us about being a dentist and how to care for our teeth. Fr. Phil talked to us about his work as a priest.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued to talk about Advent. This week, we lit the candles of hope and faith on our wreath. Our Advent elf, Eddie, left us ideas of nice things to do prepare for Christmas. We colored and cut characters for a nativity scene, made treat filled stocking for the homeless, made lunches for those in need in our community, and made presents and cards for our parents. We love preparing for the coming of Jesus!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about the Christmas story.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about how people in England, Mexico, Brazil, and the Netherlands celebrate Christmas. We enjoyed discovering the similarities between our celebrations.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">In math, we started to use the + and = sign in addition problems. We continued to solve word problems each day on the whiteboard and in our math journals. We played math games at circle, too.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We practiced for our Christmas program.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued working with the -an word family and our sight words.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">December 20th -Christmas party 2:00 p.m.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">December 21st-12:30 Dismissal- Kindergarten’s Polar Express Day Students may wear their pajamas to school. It is also a school tag day, so please send $1 for those in need at Christmas.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thank you for the donations of juice boxes and cookies for the lunches that we made!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">There will not be homework the week of December 18th. Use this time to prepare for Christmas, read books, or whatever else you like to do as a family!

December 8, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

This week in kindergarten:
 * We started our Around our Town theme.
 * Michelle’s mom visited and taught us what a pharmacy tech does.
 * We learned that Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus. We light the 1st candle on our Advent wreath each day during religion.
 * Our Advent Elf, Eddie, left us baskets of ideas of things for us to do to help us prepare for Christmas. We made J for Jesus “candy cane” decorations for our room with our 5th grade buddies. We made beaded candy canes and silver bells for our tree.
 * We learned about St. Nicholas and made miter hats. He visited and left us treats in our shoes.
 * We learned about the Immaculate Conception and went to a Liturgy.
 * We learned the poem, Little Ole Elf.
 * We learned about how people in Germany, Australia, and Italy celebrate Christmas and compared our celebrations. We located these countries on the globe. The children were surprised to learn that in Australia it’s summer.
 * We continued to receive gingerbread men from all over the country. We located each state on a map. I believe that most children envy the students in Vermont. We learned that they go sledding, make snow forts and build snowmen at recess. They also get out early every Thursday to go skiing!!
 * In math, we worked on addition stories and used manipulatives to add.
 * We started to work with the –an word family and our new sight words, but will need to continue next week.

Things to know/remember:
 * Looking for a perfect Christmas gift for your child? The children love our Bible (The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories). Also, they very much enjoyed using therapy putty and letter stamps at morning work time. I found all of these items at Amazon.com.
 * December 15th-Christmas program. Please refer to the email from Ms. Casserly for details.
 * December 20th -Christmas party 2:00 p.m.
 * December 21st-12:30 Dismissal- Kindergarten’s Polar Express Day Students may wear their pajamas to school. It is also a school tag day, so please send $1 for those in need at Christmas.
 * Our class is in need of a gala basket coordinator. Please let me know if you can take care of this special project for us.
 * Strep throat and a tummy bug are going around. Please keep an eye on your little ones (and keep them home if they are sick).

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 1, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our Friendship theme. We read book about good friends.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. We also learned about the Jesse tree and made one from paper.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the –ap word family.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the sight words-what, us, call, my, see
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read __Peter’s Chair__. We made predictions about the book, sequenced picture cards, described how the character changed from the beginning of the book, and made connections. We also made chairs from paper and tape to see how much weight they could hold. The winning chair held 8 counting bears!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We found the United States and Maryland on a map and globe. We made (paper) gingerbread men to send to kindergartners in 47 different states. We received four in return so far. We enjoyed learning some facts about PA, RI, IN, and MI. We also found those states on a map.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued to compose (make) numbers in preparation for addition. We also added a “Problem of the Day” to our math meeting. Students can use mental math to solve, but also are being taught to draw a picture in order to solve. This will help prepare them for benchmark testing next year.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">In the mornings, we were excited to get new morning work bins. We can work on these activities that combine academic and fine motor skills after writing in our morning work journals.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 4- December15-Community Helper Days-Parents are invited to talk to the class about their careers. (See Letters to Parents.)
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 20th-Christmas party 2 p.m.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 21st-12:30 Dismissal-Polar Express Day-Students can wear pajamas to school. Please ensure that they do not have spaghetti straps. Also, nightgowns should have leggings, shorts, or pants underneath.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We enjoyed having Michelle’s mom as a Mystery Reader!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Check out some pictures from this week on Twitter (@BrantsKinders)

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 17, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our Friendship theme. We learned about and practiced manners, especially at the table.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about Moses and how he led God’s people out of Egypt.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our work with diagraphs and worked with the –ad word family.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the sight words-make, we, am, will, pretty
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about the lives of pilgrim children. We compared life then and now.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read __Turkey Trouble__. We made predictions about the book, sequenced picture cards with story details and retold the story.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We discussed how readers use their schema (background knowledge) to help them make sense of what they are reading. We wrote about what we already knew about turkeys, then read a non-fiction book about them. We wrote facts about turkeys.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned that air is a force. We blew feathers and measured the distance traveled in “turkey feet”.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned how to compose (make) numbers in preparation for addition.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 22-Tea Party- 10:30-11 a.m. If you have clearance from the Archdiocese, you can act as a parent volunteer. If your clearance hasn’t come in yet, you can be an observer. Unfortunately, siblings cannot attend. Our guests will help to serve the treats, watch the students practice their manners in an authentic situation, and sing a song and recite a poem or two. Parents may take their children at the conclusion of the tea party (11 a.m.).
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 23-24-No School-Happy Thanksgiving!!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 1-Picture Retake Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 4- December15-Community Helper Days-Parents are invited to talk to the class about their careers. (See Letters to Parents.)
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 20th-Christmas party 2 p.m.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">December 21st-12:30 Dismissal-Polar Express Day-Look for information about this in December.

November 10, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

This week in kindergarten:
 * We continued our Friendship theme.
 * We learned why we commemorate veterans. Mr. Kelley showed pictures of and told about his service in the Marine Corp.
 * We made well over 100 blessing bags for the patients and workers in the VA hospital. I didn’t know, but the VA hospital primarily hires veterans.
 * We learned a new poem, I’m a Little Scarecrow and a new song, I Will Not Be Afraid (the kids love this one).
 * We learned about Moses as a baby. We created foil boats and tested them to see if we could get baby Moses down the Nile River without getting wet.
 * We worked with –at word family.
 * Our focus book this week was Wemberly Worried. The children made predictions and connections to the main character, described how the character changed and wrote about their favorite part of the story.
 * We worked with the sight words: he, she, with, are, funny
 * We counted and identified numbers to 100. We counted to 100 by tens. We also worked with tens and ones using manipulatives and pictures.

Things to know/remember: <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 3, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten
 * Thank you so very much for attending parent/teacher conference. I enjoyed speaking with you about your wonderful children. I sincerely appreciate all of your kind comments. Every single family came for a conference. I don’t remember the last time that that happened. You are the rock stars of kindergarten parents!!
 * Starting next week, students’ ‘every day’ work will be scored using a rubric. They will receive a smile if their work is neat, complete, and correct. They will get a check mark, otherwise. These are not grades; I simply want the children to think about the work that they are doing.
 * Next week’s sight words are: make, we, am, will, pretty
 * November 22-Tea Party- Please know that all parents are welcome to attend the tea party (10:30). If you have clearance from the Archdiocese, you can act as a parent volunteer. If your clearance hasn’t come in yet, you can be an observer. Unfortunately, siblings cannot attend. Our guests will help to serve the treats, watch the students practice their manners in an authentic situation, and sing a song and recite a poem or two. Parents may take their children at the conclusion of the tea party (11 a.m.).
 * Our Tiny Saints sale will be wrapping up. Please send me a note or email indicating which Tiny Saints your child has or wants. I plan to give each student a Tiny Saint as a Christmas gift and don’t want anyone to be disappointed with a duplicate. Thank you for your help!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We started a new theme, Friendship. We read books and talked about being a friend to others.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about saints this week. We learned that the saints can help us in our prayers to God. We were fascinated to learn about the lives of St. Martin de Porres, St. Rose of Lima, and St. Vincent de Paul. We reviewed the life of St. Francis.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We went to mass to celebrate All Saints’ Day. The second graders dressed as and told about many saints.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued working with digraphs.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We reviewed our sight words and read books at each of our levels.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We reviewed numbers 11-20.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Our book focus was on __Pumpkin Jack__, which tells about a boy who watches his jack-o-lantern rot then start life anew the next year. We examined our jack-o-lantern, which was starting to decay and predicted what would happen if we put it in a garden.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">After learning about saints, our class will be doing various service projects over the coming months. First, we will make blessing bags for hospitalized veterans. We would appreciate donations of leftover Halloween candy. Thank you, Kailee-Marie, for sharing some of yours. We will also be selling “Tiny Saints” during the month of November. Look for a flyer about this in your child’s Friday folder. Our sale will start next Monday, during parent/teacher conferences, then continue in the mornings until Thanksgiving.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Also, your child brought home a St. Martin de Porres activity sheet with an explanation letter. Please help your child complete the tasks during the month of November. When they return the completed sheet, they will receive a St. Martin sticker.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Look for information about our tea party in the Friday folder or under the Letters to Parents tab.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 9th-12:30 Dismissal-Parent/Teacher Conferences
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 10th-No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We welcomed Olivia’s mom (mum) and Blake’s grandmother as Mystery Readers.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for the donations for our wreath for the church bazaar. I hope to see you all there on Saturday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Lastly, I want you to realize that many of the learning experiences that the children have each week are not pencil and paper tasks that are brought home. What you see in the Friday folders is just a small part of what the children do. Follow me on Twitter (@brantskinders); next week I will start posting pics of some of our learning opportunities. If you did not sign the media release, I will not post pictures of your child.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 27, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read books and learned about fall, pumpkins, and leaves.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We used a Venn diagram when comparing and contrasting pumpkins and apples.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We explored the inside and outside of pumpkins with Mr. Kelley.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned that digraphs are two (or more) letters that make one sound. We worked with /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We played games to review our sight words.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We discussed how we could help those in need in our parish and school community. With our 5th grade buddies, we made 50 saint posters that included biographies of saints to help advertise for our Tiny Saints fundraiser. We learned When the Saints Go Marching In in preparation for the All Saints’ Day liturgy.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We finished our lessons on Personal Safety as directed by the Archdiocese of Washington.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with numbers to 20.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read __Scaredy Squirrel__. We learned that readers ask themselves questions before, during and after they read in order to help them comprehend what they read. We compared how Scaredy Squirrel acted at the beginning of the book and the end.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the sight words: here, is, all, big, little. We have now introduced and worked with all of the ‘baseball’ words. Students were assessed on Friday. Parent letters will go home on Monday.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We enjoyed a spectacular Halloween party!!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for volunteering and donating to our Halloween party. The kids had a blast!!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Please review ‘baseball’ words with your child, if needed.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 3rd-School is closed
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 9th-12:30 dismissal-Parent/Teacher Conferences
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">November 10th-No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 20, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our Home is Where the Heart Is theme. We read books about grandparents, sisters and brothers. We learned that there are a lot of different names for Grandmother and Grandfather.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We found that there are many different pictures of the Holy Family. We identified Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in each.
 * We read __Knuffle Bunny__. We made predictions about the book, made connections with the main character, Trixie, and sequenced pictures from the story.
 * In math, we worked with numbers to 17. We made and matched these numbers to10-frames. We reviewed ordinal numbers to tenth.
 * We used a new math manipulative, geoboards. We tried making numerals 0-20. On Friday, we used pumpkins as geoboards. You might have to see the pictures to get the idea.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about fire safety when members of the City of Laurel Fire Department came. We learned a new poem/song, //Fire,Fire//
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We started our lessons in Personal Safety as directed by the Archdiocese of Washington.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the letters and sounds of W, Y, Z. We reviewed vowels and consonants.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the sight words: the, not, you, do, and want.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;"> Things to know/remember
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 27st-Walk to Help End Homelessness-Kindergarten walks on the playground. Please donate $5 and a non-perishable food item if possible. If you have multiple children in the school, you do not need to send $5 for each child. <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Halloween party-11:45-12:30. 12:30 dismissal Fall Festival-5:30-8pm. Please come! It’s so much fun!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We enjoyed having Kailee-Marie’s MawMaw, Alex’s mom, and Gregory’s mom as mystery readers this week. If you haven’t done so, check under the Mystery Reader tab and see if there is a day you can come to read a book to the class. Your children will love it.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for the donations to the Christmas wreath. If you haven’t done so yet, please look for an email from Mrs. Augustine for details.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for the many items that were on our wish list. I can’t wait to get the new morning work bins ready for November.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Kindergartners receive report cards twice a year. The first one will be at the end of the first semester, in January. The Plus Portal site will not have information pertaining to your kindergarten student.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 12, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our Home is Where the Heart Is theme. We read families. We discussed how our families are the same and different from others. We learned a new poem/song, //Families//.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned that we joined the Catholic Church family through baptism and that we become children of God. We made our teddy bears baptismal candles and gowns. We went to the church with our teddy bears and Fr. Phil taught us more about baptism.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the letters and sounds of K and V.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We reviewed our sight words. You child will have a sight word assessment in his/her daily folder. (If your child knows all 220 words or is still working on letter identification, s/he will not bring this assessment home.) Use this to determine which sight words your child needs to work on in order to “power up” to the next level.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read another book by favorite author, Kevin Henkes, __Chrysanthemum__.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Courier New&#39;;">o <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">In Math, we worked with ordinal numbers through tenth. Ask your child if s/he can sing the Ordinal Number song.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;"> Things to know/remember: <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">-12:30 dismissal -Fall Festival-5:30-8pm. Please come! It’s so much fun!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 13th-No School
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 13th-School Closed-Archdiocese Collaboration Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 18th-Picture Day-Students in kindergarten may dress out of uniform.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 27st-Halloween party-11:45-12:30. Look for an email about this from our Homeroom Mom-Mrs. Ferus
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">If needed, please review and work with your child on the following sight words from the first “baseball words” list: we, can, run, play, I, a (pronounced /u/ like umbrella), like, cat, dog, and, to, the, not, you, do, want.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">A letter/email went home about the kindergarten wreath for the church bazaar. Our theme is Halloween. Please send your donation for the wreath to school as soon as possible. Thank you so very much!

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 6, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We continued our Home is Where the Heart Is theme. We read more books about pets. We discussed the responsibilities of pet ownership and that all of God’s creation needs care.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned about St. Francis and went to a pet blessing.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We learned the story of Joseph and his brothers.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the letters and sounds of U, S, P, and X.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We worked with the sight words-like, to, cat, dog, and //<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">. //
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Courier New&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">o <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read __Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse__. We made predictions, sequenced the story using pictures, and shared our favorite part of the story.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Courier New&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">o <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">In math, we solved word problems, compared numbers to 10, and used “one more than” to identify a number that is one larger.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Courier New&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">o <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">We read __The Rollaway Pumpkin__ and did a Rolling Pumpkin S.T.E.M. project with Mr. Kelley. We rolled pumpkins on different surfaces (floor, rug, soft blanket) and inclines and determined how force, motion and gravity affected speed and distance.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;"> Things to know/remember: <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;"> -12:30 dismissal -Fall Festival-5:30-8pm. Please come! It’s so much fun! September 29, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 9th-Columbus Day-School Closed
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Please send your child’s “special project” (baptism paper) to school on Tuesday, October 10. Children will share these with their class next week.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 11th-All School Rosary 10 a.m.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 12th-All students should bring a teddy bear on this day.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 13th-School Closed-Archdiocese Collaboration Day
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 18th-Picture Day-Students may dress out of uniform.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">October 27st-Halloween party-11:45-12:30. Look for an email about this from our Homeroom Mom-Mrs. Ferus
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">If needed, please review and work with your child on the following sight words from the first “baseball words” list: we, can, run, play, I, a (pronounced /u/ like umbrella), like, cat, dog, and, to.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Each child will need (1) toilet paper roll (no t.p. needed) for an upcoming project.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">A letter/email went home about the kindergarten wreath for the church bazaar. Our theme is Halloween. Thanks go to the Page family for their donation. Please send your donation for the wreath to school as soon as possible. Thank you so very much!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">You may have noticed that your child’s weekly behavior log has been untouched in their daily folder. That is good news and means that there have been no problems. Woohoo! Instead of throwing it away and wasting paper, we will just keep it there, as long as it’s empty. At the end of the week, students have been receiving stickers for perfect behavior logs.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 12pt;">Book order forms were sent home in Friday folders. You can order online by clicking on the link in the Book Orders tab. Did you know that by purchasing books for your child in this way, you are helping to build our classroom library? Thank you!

This week in kindergarten:
 * We started our Home is Where the Heart Is theme. We read books about pets. We discussed the responsibilities of pet ownership and that all of God’s creation needs care.
 * We learned the story of Noah’s Ark. We sang Who Built the Ark and created beautiful rainbows that we will use to decorate our classroom windows.
 * We worked with the letters and sounds of J, E, O, and Q. We learned that E and O are vowels and makes two sounds.
 * We started working with with sight words-cat, dog, and, like, to. At home, your child can start working on BASEBALL words (under the sight word tab) unless you receive a note from me.
 * We read Recess Queen. We made predictions, sequenced the story using pictures, and analyzed the way the main character changed from the beginning of the story to the end. With Mr. Kelley, we planned and created a working slide. We predicted whether or not we different objects would slide on the incline.
 * In Math, we worked with numbers through 10.
 * On Tuesday, we celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day. We read books about Johnny Appleseed and apples. We made delicious applesauce and did some apple crafts.
 * We made a sneaky snake (from Adam and Eve) on Monday did a 5 Senses sort with 5th grade buddies. (We have buddies on Mondays, so we will often do a project related to a subject/topic from the previous week.)

Things to know/remember: <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">September 22, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten
 * October 4th-Pet Blessing-2 pm on the playground.
 * October 9th-Columbus Day-School closed
 * October 11th-All School Rosary 10 a.m.
 * October 13th-School Closed-Archdiocese Collaboration Day
 * October 18th-Picture Day-Students may dress out of uniform.
 * October 27th -12:30 dismissal
 * An email went home about the kindergarten Christmas wreath for the church bazaar. Our theme is Halloween. Please send donations for the wreath to school as soon as possible.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We continued our I Am Special theme. We discovered that God gave us our five senses so we can learn about the world. We went on a sight walk. We tasted and smelled different items and graphed whether or not we liked them. We analyzed the results. We listened to ourselves ‘read’ in whisper phones and we felt (and tasted) the cold goodness of a popsicle on our tongues.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read books with our 5th grade buddies.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned about Adam and Eve.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">In math, we worked with numbers to 8, more than, less than, and equal to.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We learned a poem called Back to School.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We worked with the letters and sounds of C, A, D, and G. We learned the proper path of motion and practiced with our best handwriting. We also worked with the letters and sounds.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read __Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon__. We listened to a part of the story without seeing the pictures so we could visualize what was happening. We used inference to help us decide whether or not we believe Molly Lou and Ronald will become friends in the future. We worked with partners (and Mr. Kelly) to stack pennies on a tongue depressor held between our teeth. We compared the number of pennies that each partner had.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We read The Dot and, using picture cards, we sequenced events and retold the story.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Next week we will start working with sight words. You can find them under the Sight Word tab. As a class, we will start with ‘baseball’ words, but students will be able to move to the next level by scoring a 100% on an identification assessment.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">We enjoyed having Alex’s dad, Mason’s mom, and Kailee-Marie’s Maw Maw and Nana as Mystery Readers. Thank you for coming to read to our class!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Thursday, September 28th-Tag Day to benefit those affected by the hurricanes. $1-Students may dress out of uniform.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">Friday, September 29th-Tag Day to benefit our parish pantry. Kindergarten students are requested to bring peanut butter and jelly or cereal. Students may dress out of uniform.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;;">I’m happy to be well and back at school. Thank you so very much for your messages, prayers, well wishes, and cards.

<span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">September 8, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;"> This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We learned a song and read about The Creation Story. We focused on the first three days and will continue to learn about this Bible story next week.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We read the “Morning Message” each day. We learned to “read” the message by noticing the predictable patterns.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We also practiced counting with one to one correspondence.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">At our math meetings, we are working on calendar concepts, patterns, and following directions.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We were introduced the math manipulatives: dice, dominoes, linking cubes, counting bears, pattern blocks
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We enjoyed our Color Days.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We learned about using clues from text and pictures to make predictions about what will happen. We learned to retell the story using picture cards. We made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom crown.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">This week, we learned songs about T, F, and B as these were our focus letters this week. We learned how to form the letters and to identify their sounds. We sorted pictures by beginning sound.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We did a sink/float experiment with a coconut. The children felt and described a coconut, then hypothesized whether or not it would sink or float. They were offered coconut to taste and made a graph of preferences.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We had more related arts this week: library, social skills (until Spanish starts)

<span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;"> Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">Color Days continue next week. Check the calendar dates for details.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">As many of you know, I fell ill this week. I want to say that it is VERY rare for me to get sick. In fact, I pride myself in the fact that I ‘never’ get sick. I was disappointed to miss this time with your children, but it is important for everyone, students and teachers, to stay home when they are sick. We don’t want illnesses to spread. With that said, the students were in the very capable hands of Ms. Rollins and Mr. Kelley. Mr. Kelley, a retired marine, really worked them, so the kids may have a few extra worksheets in their Friday folders. Ms. Rollins reports that the kids were real troopers!!
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">We still need several paper towel rolls (empty) for a project this week. Please send in what you have. Thank you.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">Remember, as discussed at Back to School Night, the first six weeks of school are used to establish rules and procedures. When you look at the work that the children bring home, know that we are working on skills such as, using scissors, glue, crayons, markers, and manipulatives properly, how to get and return supplies, how to share and how to appropriately handle conflicts. The 'work' is secondary. We will be starting sight words on September 25.
 * <span style="color: #e6011d; font-family: &#39;Comic Sans MS&#39;,cursive;">Homework will be place in your child’s folder. (There will be days where there is no written homework.) Please return homework in your child’s daily folder the following day. Twenty minutes of nightly reading is suggested, as is lots of play and snuggle time.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">September 1, 2017 Mrs. Brant’s and Mrs. Rollins’ Kindergarten

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">This week in kindergarten:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We had a wonderful first week together!!
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We shared our “Hopes” for the upcoming year.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">From our hopes, we began the process of creating our classroom rules.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We started each day by pledging allegiance to the flag and praying the Sign of the Cross and Hail Mary.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We learned new songs and a poem.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We learned how to properly use and care for crayons, scissors, glue sticks and books.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We learned how to line up, walk quietly in the hallway, and MANY other routines.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We practiced for a first fire drill.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We had some of our related arts classes: art, music, and P.E.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We started our I Am Special theme. We learned that we are all good at something(s) and will have to work hard at others.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We enjoyed the playground at recess. We learned how to safely use the equipment. On a rainy day, we got to use the loft and play with Legos.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We worked a bit with shapes. We went on a shape hunt through the school and made shapes with play-doh.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">We met our 5th grade buddies and went to our school’s opening Liturgy together.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;"> Things to know/remember:
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">Thank you for ensuring that your child had a snack and lunch each day. Most students like to have a drink with their snacks. Please try to send healthy snacks. Candy is not allowed at snack time. Please place snack in a separate bag so your child knows what is for lunch and what is for snack. Children that stay for aftercare will need an additional snack.
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">Please send in a paper towel tube with your child for a special activity.
 * **<span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">Next week will be our special Color Week. Please read the letter with details that is also included in this folder. **
 * <span style="font-family: &#39;Century Gothic&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">Monday, September 4th-School is closed-Labor Day