January Newsletter Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peek at the newsletter for January.

Mrs. Law is Ready for Vacation

Learning with IPADS

Today we did a phonics lesson using IPADS. The kiddos were so engaged and loved every minute of the lesson.

Cold Weather and Warm Hearts

Love for Our Website

http://www.onlineclasses.org/2010/12/19/50-best-blogs-for-brand-new-teachers/

Below is the nice email I received this morning.

Hi Becca,
We at “onlineclasses.org”, wanted to let you know that we featured your blog in one of our recent articles on our own blog. (50 Best Blogs for Brand New Teachers), is linked below and could be a fun way to share this announcement with your readers.

Either way, I hope you continue putting out great content through your blog. It has been a sincere pleasure to read.

Thanks
Jasmine Hall

Holiday Scenes

Snow!

For all my loyal followers living in other areas (a little shout-out to all those following our blog in Hawaii!) yesterday we had a snow day and today we had a 2 our delay. It is pretty unusual to receive snow in Virginia Beach and even more so in December. Thanks again for following us and keeping track of all of our activities.
(the photo above is from shabbyblogs.com)

Kwanzaa

Today we learned about Kwanzaa.

The Jolly Postman

Today I read this book using our smartdocument camera and the kiddos loved it! For all those who aren't familiar with this unique book, inside are real letters and deliveries from the postman including a puzzle, game, and other fun things. I purchased this book last year for 50 percent off at Barnes and Noble the day after Christmas.

Partner Reading

This week we are practicing reading to our partners. We have partners for calendar work, Becoming a Writer, Making Meaning and reading

Happy Holidays!

Learning About Hanukkah

Today we had a parent volunteer teach us about Hanukkuah. In the next two weeks we will also learn about Kwanzaa and Christmas.

Introducing EM Games

Today your child is bringing home information, login, and passwords to play EM games at home. Have fun!

Scholastic Online Ordering

Sign up at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "register" button in the "first time here?" section. Register for your own user name and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class activiation code shown below. This unique code ensures that your order is sent to Mrs. Rose.

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GNXHK

December Newsletter

Book Fair Coming Next Week!

The JBD scholastic book fair is coming next week! You may come and shop with your child each day at 8:25-8:40 (am class) or 11:15-11:30 (pm class). We will not be visiting the book fair as a whole class. If you are unable to attend the bookfair during these times, the book fair will also be open after school. If you have any questions, please call our library at 648-2440 ext 82460.

Spirit Night

Today we read this book because we love all the Knuffle Bunny stories. The original story of Knuffle Bunny is on bookflix.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations to Mr. McArdle for winning the canned food drive!

Trees in the Fall

The Power of Belief

As you reflect on all for which you are grateful this Thanksgiving holiday, we invite you to consider a submission for the school division’s upcoming book, tentatively entitled The Power of Belief. It is a project modeled on the National Public Radio (NPR) series, This I Believe, and prospective authors may write about any subject – nature, sports, children, parents, music, books, pets – virtually anything that has impacted their lives.

We have already received submissions from a wide array of authors – first graders to twelfth graders, VBCPS staff and alumni, parents and community members. As you can see from the list below, beliefs are as wide-ranging and unique as the contributors who wrote them. These authors believe….

…in common courtesy.
…in the power of words.
…in perspective.
…in kismet.
…in turning corners.
…in respect.
…that you can never have too much sky.
…in just being myself.
…in frosting.
…in higher education.
…in handwritten notes.
…in self control and integrity.
…in art and creativity.
…that we all have a purpose.
…in people.
…in the transformative power of dance.
…that life always looks better through the eyes of a four-year-old.
We hope that you will join this group by contributing your own brief essay about the beliefs and values that fuel your daily life. There is no template, but essays should be written in the first person and should range in length from 250 to 400 words. For our very youngest authors in kindergarten and first and second grades, essays of 150 to 200 words would be more than acceptable. Essays should be submitted to the school division via email – believe@vbschools.com – by January 14, 2011. Note that the deadline has been extended from the original date of December 1 so that prospective authors can make use of the winter holiday period.

Submissions should include the author’s name, address and affiliation to VBCPS (student, parent, teacher, alumnae, etc.). Alumni should identify the Virginia Beach school from which they graduated as well as the year in which they graduated. All submissions will be reviewed for possible inclusion in The Power of Belief which is slated for publication in late spring 2011.

Thank you for considering sharing your thoughts through your own Power of Belief submission. Listed below are links to a few sample NPR essays for inspiration, and you may contact the Department of Media and Communications Development at 263-1075 with any questions.

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families and friends.
Bonnie Fischer

Bonnie Fischer
Public Relations Coordinator
Department of Media and Communications Development
(757) 263-1949

Thanksgiving Cooking

Many thanks to our volunteers for helping our class make cornbread, a sweet potato dish, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie! We had so much fun and can't wait to sample the food tomorrow.

Unique Monique

Today we watched the book Unique Monique on reading rainbow and discussed how everyone is unique, even if they are a twin.

Money Poems

We are working hard on our money poems and also making change each day to match the date- today we made 19 cents for the 19th day. Please continue to work with your children on coin values and making change over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy Assistant Day!

Happy assistant day to all of our wonderful assistants especially Mrs. Greene!

School Spirit- Twin Day

Tomorrow is twin day- show your school spirit and dress like your friend or Mrs. Rose (I will be wearing jeans and a black shirt). Below are pics from last year.

Want More Information?

Do you like our kindergarten website? Don't forget to check out www.vbschools.com - our school system website for more information, updates, goals, and school news!

Teacher Note:
Do you like the picture above? I just downloaded a new program "jing" that will take a screenshot of whatever is on your computer and put it on a website. Love it! It is in my top five most useful website/blog tools. Below are the other things I use each year on my blog:

1.Voicethread
incorporate pictures and voice for free www.voicethread.com
2. Zamzar
convert any file to another type of file for free www.zamzar.com
3. Google Docs
upload documents and have other edit them (no more email!) www.google.com
4. Picasso
organizes all of my school pictures, creates slideshows instantly www.google.com

Happy Geography Day

Maine, Israel, Britain, The Universe, and a Wildlife Refuge- lots of geography!

Happy World Geography Week!

In honor of Geography Week, we are asking students and staff to wear a t-shirt or sweatshirt with the name of a place on earth on Wednesday, Nov. 17th. This is a whole school event!

We are Thankful!

Virginia Beach Education Foundation

Wednesday night was the celebration of all the grant receipents at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach. The food was prepared and served by the culinary students from the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center. The food was YUMMY and I was very excited to take pictures of the food. Jody Carroll, our computer resource teacher, Susan Hardesty, our librarian, Leslie Law, our gifted resource teacher, and Mrs. Capwell, our principal, and Mrs. Williamston, our assistant principal, and Amber Greene, our kindergarten assistant, also attended.

Parent Connection Workshop

Who's a Turkey?

This is a picture of Mrs. Capwell dressed as a turkey from last year. Each year our SCA sponsors the "turkey teacher" canned food drive. Teachers volunteer themselves to have a box in the cafeteria to collect donated canned food. The teacher with the most cans of food in there box will have to wear the famous turkey costume! Last year, Mrs. Capwell won the canned food drive and had to wear the costume. Guess what... this year I volunteered to be in the contest for "turkey teacher"(yikes!). Students can bring in cans from November 15th-November 19th to vote for the "turkey teacher". Our kindergarten friends are very excited and keep teasing me about how they can't wait to see me in the turkey costume... stay tuned to see who wins!

Becoming a Writer

Today we read the book Red is a Dragon which is also on tumblebooks. Each student then chose a color to write about in their writing notebooks and had to think of four things of that color and then label the items. We had some very creative work!

Germs Make Me Sick!

Today we watched the story Germs Make Me Sick! on Reading Rainbow. We learned about bacteria and viruses. We also saw what germs look like under a microscope in the video. After watching the video, everyone was very motivated to keep washing their hands (smile).

Community Resource Fair

2010 COMMUNITY RESOURCE FAIR (Free Admission)
When: Monday, November 8, 2010 6:0o p.m.—8:30 p.m.
Where: Landstown High School 2001 Concert Drive Virginia Beach, Virginia
Why:Receive information from 80+ vendors on: Children/Adult Disability Services, Recreational Programs, Vocational Information, Respite Services, Support/Advocacy Groups, Transition Services, Housing Information, Legal Services, Durable Medical Equipment Providers, Assistive Technology, Therapy Providers, and much more……….

******Lots of give-away and door prizes******

Sponsored by the Office of Programs for Exceptional Children and the Virginia Beach Special Education Advisory Committee.

Reflection Winners!

We are so excited that two of our students won in our PTA reflections contest in the photography category! Congratulations!

Spirit Night!

Word Study Homework

Parent Workshop

SMART DISCIPLINE
PROGRAM for PARENTS
Do you want to learn effective ways to help your children behave at home and at school? You are invited to attend this nationally acclaimed workshop which will provide you with ways to get your kids to listen the first time, cooperate with others, and build self-esteem in all of them. The program is presented by Burt Segal and it is known as America’s most well-attended seminar!!

WHO: Parents interested in gaining insight to maintain a happy, healthy, respectful family
WHAT: The most popular parenting program in America~~
SMART DISCIPLINE PROGRAM for PARENTS
WHEN: Thursday, November 18, 2010 6:30pm-8pm
WHERE: John B. Dey Elementary School Cafeteria

We will provide child care with games and activities for school-aged children during the presentation. Please mark your calendar, and plan to attend this fabulous workshop brought to you by our JBD guidance department. An RSVP opportunity will be coming soon!! We hope to see you there!

November Newsletter

Our November and December Reading Log

This letter will be sent home on Monday explaining our new reading log.

Teacher Note: If you are a teacher and want to post this letter on your website, I would suggest to save the pdf file off of the scholastic website and then have zamzar (www.zamzar.com) convert the file into a jpeg. Once the file is converted (zamzar will email it to you) then you can upload the new format up on the website like you would upload a picture.

Celery Science

This seems to be science week in our classroom. Today with Mrs. Law we explored how plants absorb water by using the classic celery experiment with food coloring. The students loved it and loved examining the celery pieces with a magnifying glass.

Music Class

Today in music we explored the tubano drum with Mrs. Gordon.

Our First Science Lab- Exploring our Five Senses

Fall Frolic

Great Neck Library Event

Make and Take Halloween Craft
Stop by between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and make a Halloween craft. We provide the supplies, you provide the creativity. No registration required. Event Type: Arts & Crafts. Location: Great Neck Area Library. Room: Meeting Room. Audience: Family all ages.
Contact Info: Great Neck (757) 385-2606. Saturday, October 23, 2010, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Great News!

I just found out from Mrs. Capwell that my grant was selected to receive funding which means we have Bookflix for another year. I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Mrs. Greene (our class assistant), Mrs. Hardesty (our librarian), Mrs. Carroll (our computer resource teacher), and Mrs. Capwell (our principal) for all of their help.

Pumpkin Patch

Learning About Trees

Learning about Symmetry

Today we learned about symmetry in nature, architecture, and letters.

Click here to view our lesson.

Our Class Won!

Our class won the for collecting the most box tops! YEAH!

As a reward we get to keep the seagull trophy- so much fun:)