K-3 Newsletter

                      Mrs. MacIntyre

Dear Families,

Happy Halloween! The children had fun this week creating some spooky decorations which we connected with math by creating 3-Dimensional ghosts and symmetrical jack-o-lanterns and symmetrical bats.

I want to thank all of you who were able to help out on our walk to the Jamestown Fire Station. I appreciated your time. The children had a really nice visit. I hope you were able to talk with your child about the importance of fire safety. It is important that your family have a meeting place somewhere outside your home in case of fire. Thank you in advance.

Our letter of the week was “Mm”. Our tongue twister was “Marcus and Michelle munch marshmallows.”

The class has been practicing coughing in their “cough spot”. They are all going to be receiving a tattoo today to bring home for doing a great job. The video should be up and running on the kindergarten website sometime next week.

On Monday, we will be starting 4^th grade buddies. They will come down to our classroom and read to their buddy for about 15 minutes every Monday.

In November, we will begin our unit on Native Americans. I have a feeling November is going to go by fast!!  As the weather gets cooler, please remember to label hats, coats and mittens with your child’s name on it. This way they can be returned to you if they are left outside or on the play ground.

I sent home a book order yesterday. I find that it is much easier to order on-line. The code is on the front of the Book order, if you can do that that would be great. It is a Holiday edition, I will get the books to you discretely if they are gifts, just let me know.Thanks!

REMEMBER THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4^TH DUE TO ELECTION DAY!

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Boo!

Mrs.MacIntyre

                                K-3 Newsletter

                               Mrs. MacIntyre

October 24, 2014

Dear families,

I can’t believe we are heading in to our last full week of October. The children are enjoying our fall unit. We have learned about the season of fall including foliage, apples, pumpkins and harvest as well as fire safety.

In Writer’s Workshop, the children continue to make individual strides. Please remember, all children develop different skills at different times. Some children may be writing words, while others are learning letters. What is important is that they are all progressing at their own pace, as they begin the writing process. I praise children for working their hardest and trusting their selves in what they know about letters and sounds, this is the way to become an independent writer

In Math, we introduced addition and the children did an amazing job!  They enjoy picture addition so much. Practice adding at home using cheerios, raisins or grapes. Anything your child likes. We also talked about 3-Dimensional and 2-D shapes. Vocabulary you can use at home would be 2_D is flat and 3-D is solid. Have your child sort for you at home!

Our letter of the week was “Nn”. Our tongue twister was “Nick and Natasha nibble nuts.”

I want to thank all of you who sent in Box Tops for K-3. I think I told you last year K-3 won and we earned an awesome scavenger hunt! Keep up the great work!

I sent home the blankets on Thursday because there were confirmed lice down the hall in 2^nd grade. I was being proactive and getting things out a day early to be safe. You may send in a beach towel ONLY on Monday. Please put it in a separate bag other than your child’s back pack so it can stay inside of it during the day. Please do not send in fluffy blankets, pillows or stuffed animals. Send in a couple of books in the bag also. Thank you so much in advance!

The first week of November, we will be starting 4^th grade buddies. We will partner with Mrs. Geary’s 4^th graders. They will come down once a week for about 20 minutes to read with their buddy. It is a great way to get to know the “big kids” in our school. Both 4^th graders and Kindergarteners look forward to it!

As I prepare this newsletter at 7:30 am on Friday morning, I am hoping that the rain will stop so we can go on our Fire station  fieldtrip… time will tell…

Please, if you have not signed up for a parent/teacher conference and you wish to do so, contact me via your child’s blue book. Conferences are very short this year (15 minutes). If there is something you are particularly concerned about or have questions about please feel free to e-mail me. I would be happy to talk with you in advance. I will be sending you a date and time reminder next week for when you are scheduled to come in.

Fondly,

Colleen MacIntyre

                      K-3 Newsletter

                           Mrs. MacIntyre

October 17, 2014

Dear Families,

The children are really enjoying the month of October. They are excited about the changing colors of the leaves outside of our window and of course that upcoming Holiday…. What is it?? I have saved some special crafts and literature to do and read for the last week of October to try to control their excitement! What a great time of year to be a kindergartener.

Melrose School is participating in the Conanicut Island Land Trust Annual Harvest Celebration. In collaboration with the Melrose School Improvement Team, each classroom will be making a scarecrow to display at Godena Farm on North Road in Jamestown on Halloween and November 1^st. The Kindergarten team will be making scarecrows based on Fairy Tales for the event. K-3 will be making Jack and the Beanstalk. I read the fairytale to the class. I explained to them it is a fairytale and the concept of a hero and a villain and how the little boy was the hero and the giant was a villain. I also explained that it is not real. If you have any questions about this please feel free to e-mail me.  I thought this was a good choice because each student is going to play a part and be represented in the scarecrow. I think you will love it when you see it!

  During Read Aloud, the class has listened to many non-fiction books about leaves, they have learned about the vocabulary words photosynthesis and foliage. Our fall table looks great! Thank you for sending items in to share.

On Wednesday, we went to a puppet show which talked about bullying. The children were given strategies on what to do if they saw bullying or ever were bullied. Hopefully they shared this with you

We also had discussions about problem solving with our friends. We talked about what we can do if a friend takes something that belongs to us or what to say to a friend if they hurt our feelings. I am encouraging the children to work our problems they may have with each other by communicating to each other rather that telling me first. I am hoping to foster independence and confidence as they resolve problems.

Our letter of the week was “Rr.” our tongue twister was “‘Ralph and Ramona rest and read.”

In Math, we are practicing counting and writing numbers and learning to identify and name 2-D and 3-D shapes. Continue to practice recognizing and writing numerals with your child at home.

Next week we will be learning about fire safety as we take a trip to our local fire station.

Our walking fieldtrip to the Jamestown Fire station is planned for Friday, October 24^th at 9:00am.  I have two parents walking down with us .If you would like to come please let me know. We are happy to have anyone walk with us or just meet us there. We should be arriving at the Jamestown Fire station at around 9:30.  We will be back in time for lunch at 11:00am.

Lastly, please remember to send in your child’s rest towel with them on Monday along with a book or two they can look at during rest time.

Thank you in advance.

Have a nice weekend,

Colleen MacIntyre

October 3,2014

                                    K-3 Newsletter

                                   Mrs. MacIntyre

October 3,2014

Dear families,

Happy October!  

Autumn is here. It’s hard to believe its autumn because of this past warm weekend and now this much needed rain. However, I am sure warm sunny days and cool dry night are on the way. The children are finding leaves and acorns to add to our science center, continue to do this over the weekend if you can. The class is very interested apples, apple picking, pumpkins and leaves. We have read some nice literature about autumn and have had some great classroom discussions, it sounds like many of you have been or are going apple picking….

This week our letter of the week was Pp. Our tongue twister was “Pat and Paul pick pickles and peppers.” The children practiced the upper and lower case P. They also made letter P mini books. I sent home a letter B homework sheet for practice. Thank you for returning the math homework, the children are proud to bring it back. Of course, the best homework you can do is play games with your child and read to them nightly. I assure you there will plenty of time in the years ahead for paper and pencil homework so I will assign very minimal amounts. During the month of November, I will begin sending home little weekly reading bags your child can share with you.

In Writer’s Workshop, the children continue to do a great job. I hope that you enjoyed going through their September Writing Folders. I keep one piece of writing from each month in a folder here at school. At the end of the year, you will receive the folder. It is amazing to see the progress they make and the great ideas that they write about.

In math, we practiced recognizing different signs, counting, and writing numerals. We also worked with 3 Dimensional and 2 Dimensional shapes.

Mrs. G., our school social worker, has started visiting our classroom. She will come in every Thursday morning for 30 minutes to help teach us social skills that can help us get along with others, solve problems and recognize feelings. We appreciate her time.

I am sending home a pretzel recipe by request of the class… enjoy if you have a chance.

 I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.

Fondly,

Colleen MacIntyre