End of the Year Fun!

We are enjoying our last week of school spending our last few days together as a class.  Here's a peek at what we are doing...

Playing math partner games with Mrs. Law (our wonderful gifted resource teacher). 

Having some special guest readers come into our classroom.

Picking our a summer book "buddy" to read with.

Picking out a chapter book to read over the summer.

This was my sixth year teaching kindergarten at John B. Dey Elementary and my seventh year teaching kindergarten.  Wow!  Time flies when you are having fun and I have the best job in the world.  Mrs. Greene and I have loved working with your children this summer and we will miss them greatly over the summer.  Parents- thank you so much for all your support and time, you have made a tremendous difference in your child's education and made my job much more enjoyable:)  Please feel free to contact us anytime if you ever need anything. 

Field Day is Coming!

Our kindergarten field day will be on Friday, June 8th and we are so excited!
Just a few reminders before this fun day-
JBD staff is not permitted to put suntan lotion on your child. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put suntan lotion on your child before coming to school on Friday!

Kindergarteners Heart Playaways

I've been trying to think of new ways to incorporate technology into my classroom and playaways were an excellent idea!  The John B. Dey elementary school has 78 playaways for students to check out (very impressive!) for students in fourth and fifth grade.  Recently, playaways have included beloved picture books for younger audiences and I was able to borrow 4 from the Chesapeake Library to use in my classroom.  All the playaways featured quality literature and I matched the playways with books from my classroom or the school library.  We were missing a few books and I just told the kiddos to visualize the story when that story came on because that is what older kids do (they loved that idea).  The best part were that many of the stories were familiar because we had watched them on Bookflix or read the books in class.  The students who tried the playaways love it!  It was simple to set up and use- kindergarteners can certainly do this activity independently.  Remember when you were a kid and listened to books on tape?  This is listening to books for 21st Century.  My first grader also loves to listen to playaways in the car (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Treasure Island are a few that have kept him busy listening for hours).

Our New Read Aloud

We have are now reading "Because of Winn Dixie". I have read this story every year to my kindergarteners and they love it! We do read a edited version of the story- all references about drinking, alcohol, and war are omitted. Please note that the movie version of the book is rate PG and you may need to preview it before showing your child. Thanks!

Thank you Parents!

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for all the treats, presents, and sweet sentiments that we received last week. It was so nice of you and your children to think of us. We had such a great week and we really appreciate everything. Thanks for making this a year to remember.

Thanks again!

Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Greene

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Secretaries Week!

April Fun!

We are just loving this weather!  It makes reading and writing so much more enjoyable:)

Junior Achievement

Thank you so much Mr. Will for visiting our class and teaching concepts from the Junior Achievement curriculum.  The kiddos love learning about economics!

April Hallway Display

We have been working hard on painting flowers for our hallway display. Mrs. Greene is the creative one in our classroom and she thought up all the ideas for this Spring scene that included flowers, a caterpillar, and grass. The students did such a great job working on this project together and I am so proud of them! If you come to JBD- make sure you check it out in!

Exploring Our Spring Tree

Spring is Here! Things are growing and changing in our class. We took our science notebooks outside to document what our tree looks like in Spring and how it is different from the winter tree, fall tree, and summer tree.

April Newsletter

Exploring Attributes and Using Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking

Today we used the IPads to play an attribute game that challenge our critical and creative thinking.

Community Helpers

We are studying community helpers and are so lucky to have so many members of the community come and talk to our classes about their jobs. We have had a firefighter, a dentist, and a soldier visit our class so far.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Our class watched this amazing animated short (about 15 minutes long) which celebrated the joy of reading. It was so good! If you would like to rewatch with your child, the video is on you tube. I believe the video just won an Oscar award.

March Newsletter

Happy Dr. Seuss Day!

Happy 100th Day!

Thank you parents and families for helping us to reach our goal of collecting 100 cans for the 100th day! We collectd 104 cans to donate to the local food pantry.

Science Fair is Coming!

Dear Parents,

The John B. Dey PTA Sponsored Science Fair is an exciting event that encourages students to think like young scientists. Conducting an experiment using the scientific method has many educational benefits. Students develop skills in creative thinking, problem solving, writing, and organizing a presentation. Though optional, we encourage every child to participate. After returning their registration sheets, students will be given specific instructions for the steps to be taken in preparing their science projects. Most of the work will be completed at home; however, some teachers may choose to work on projects in school as well.

We ask that you encourage your children and monitor their progress along the way. Your guidance is key to a successful project, but be careful that you don’t end up doing the experiment yourself, no matter how much fun it would be! Please complete and return the attached Science Fair Registration Sheet by Friday, February 24th so that your child’s scientific discoveries can begin!
Mandy McCall, Science Fair Chair
348-7609 or mandymccall@verizon.net

February Newsletter Update

Parent Connection Workshop!

Mark your calendar and plan to attend the fourth annual Parent Connection Saturday Conference! On January 28, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Landstown High School, Dr. Katharine Kersey will deliver a compelling keynote address followed by your choice of breakout sessions. Sessions will include a variety of choices for parents of gifted students along with workshops covering topics such as college planning, stress and the family, financial literacy, special education, and much more! Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit the Reading Bus and a variety of community resource tables.

Come join the fun! Registration is not required but more information can be requested by calling 263-1936.

January Newsletter