Mrs. Shaffer and Mrs. Bramber's Class

Happy Spring!

          (I am sorry it has taken so long for this posting. I kept trying to get on with my old computer and it would not let me on. I thought it was the site, but it was the computer.)

This is on of my favorite times of year. I love to see things blooming. Everything is so new and fresh. We have been very busy learning about American symbols and plants. Now, we are into our unit on animals, another of my favorites. We are learning how animals are similar and different. We are also matching up mothers with their babies. This unit will take us to the end of the year which is coming too quickly.

Our ABC countdown is always a fun way to end the year. We did the letter Bb today with bubbles, binoculars and blue, brown and black clothing. Each day is a new adventure as we review the letters and the sounds they make. 

Don't forget. Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day! Do something good for the earth - recycle, turn off the lights, don't use paper for the day - anything you can think of. We only have one earth. Let's take care of it!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

  We are starting out the month doing what I like best - Reading. We spent today listening to several guest readers and some time just relaxing and reading on our own.  I can never stress enough how important it is to read with your child. As we near the end of our school year, they will begin reading more and more, but these children still need to hear us read and SEE us reading. It is from our reading to them that they learn expression, tone and fluency. We need to let them know how important reading is to us.

Our unit of study this month will be plants - exploring the similarities and differences. We will be looking at the different plants around us here at school and at home.

Have a wonderful March!  Can you believe there are only 3 months of school remaining? Where has the time gone?                             

Happy Valentine's Day!

  Another month has come and gone - how fast the months are going by. February is alwys a busy month of learning. We have Black History Month, Dental Health Month (with presentations on the 18th and 20th), Pancake Day the 9th (with pancake stories and fresh warm pancakes to sample) and of course Valentine's Day.  Mt. Bethel 5th graders will be here on the 12th to help us celebrate then we will share our valentines on the 13th.

Add to all of that Living and Nonliving things and President's Day. Needless to say we are busy, busy this month learning and having fun. Hope you enjoy your month, too!

 

Happy New Year!

  I am so glad to have my students back in school. I enjoyed the time with my family and some time to just read and relax, but I really did miss this group.

This month our focus will be:  winter (changes in the weather, our clothes, plants and animals) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (how he affected our history and why we celebrate his life).

On January 22, we will celebrate the 100th day of school - a very BIG day in kindergarten. We will have special projects, stories, activities and snacks.   The week of January 26 will be Conference Week. I am looking forward to meeting with all my parents and bragging on the progress of each child!                                     

   

Happy Holidays!

 

Is it just me or is this year flying by? Here it is the second week of December and I am just writing to you. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you are ready for an equally wonderful two week winter break with your child.

This is going to be a busy time for kindergarten. Last week we talked about the day and night sky and were able to see the planets Jupiter and Venus in the night sky. For the next two weeks our focus will be on the countries where some of our holiday customs originated. 

Also planned for this month will be a kindergarten rotation of holiday activities on Friday, December 12. Thursday, December 18 will be our annual "Polar Express" Day when we all get to come in our pajamas and enjoy a "ride' on the Polar Express. Friday, December 19, at 8:30 we will have our annual "Sing-a-Long" where each class performs a holiday song and everyone joins in. Please come join us if you can. That afternoon at 1:15 will be our holiday party. A busy, but fun month and I plan to enjoy EVERY moment of it.

Have a great holiday. Merry Christmas! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I cannot believe how fast this school year is going. However, I am glad to be in November. It is always such a fun month. I have my tepee up and clothes out for both our Native Americans and our Early Settlers. We will be learning about the first Thanksgiving and why we celebrate. We will also be talking about our national bird, the bald eagle. There should be one flying home in the next three weeks.

Veteran's Day is now a kindergarten standard so we will be honoring our veterans. I have up pictures of my dad (WWII), my brother (Vietnam) and my son-in-law (Afghanistan and soon to be in Iraq) on our board. If you have pictures of veterans in your family, please send them in and we will add them to our wall.

I want to wish all of you a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving with your families!

                                        

                                

                                                    

                                        

I Love Fall!

I think this is my favorite time of year - leaves changing, jacket weather, Halloween and Thanksgiving. It is just a fun, memory making time of year.

So, what will we be doing in October?

Reading - We will be working more on letter sounds (s,m,d,p,a,h,t) since we have gone all the way through the alphabet. We will continue to add new words each week.

Math - We will be doing #'s 6 - 10 and shapes (triangle, circle, square, rectangle, cube and sphere)

Science - We will be covering motion, gravity and the growth of a pumpkin.

Social Studies - Next week is Fire Safety week. A fire fighter will be coming on October 8th to talk to kindergarten classes. We encourage each family to come up with an escape plan in case of a fire. We will also be talking about Christopher Columbus.

We will be taking our first field trip to Pettit Creek Farms in Cartersville on October 16. This will be our first time to wear our tie-dye shirts.

Report cards will be coming home October 17. This is a  rubric style report card letting you know exactly what your child needs to do to get a "3, 2 or 1"

Please continue to read with your child each night and practice their sight words. Thanks!

It's September!

I can't believe we are into a new month. Our class is growing! We now have 20 students. Mytavia Williams was our last to join on September 8th. We have been busy learning lots of new things. Here is what we will be doing this month. In Social Studies  we will be learning about our Community Helpers and Fall. In Math we are continuing with patterns and will soon start #'s 0 - 5 (counting sets and writing the numbers).  In Language Arts we are moving through the alphabet. We will finish up with all the letters on September 30th.

Continue to check in with us to see what we have going on in the classroom. Our two turtles, Franklin and Stewy are always fun to watch. The students always seem to think they are hungry and need more food. If we fed them on the students schedule I would need a new tank.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

     I am so excited to be starting another year. I love the first days of school - new school clothes, backpacks, lunch boxes, a few tears (from the parents) and a brand new class of kindergartners. I happen to believe this is the best grade level to teach. This is year 27 for me in kindergarten and I love this age. Everything is an adventure for them and I continue to learn right along with them.                                    My goal this year is for this class to have a happy and successful kindergarten experience. I want to build a firm foundation with the skills needed to progress to first grade and more. We will work together to make that happen.                                                            

Kindergarten Events

On Friday, December 14, the Kindergarten classes will be traveling around the globe (each K class) learning about holiday customs from each country. We will be learning about Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Holland and Israel.

On Thursday, December 20, we will be celebrating our 3rd annual "Polar Express Day". We will be wearing our pajamas and watching the movie on the school stage. Then we will come back to the room for hot cocoa and lots of activities.

On Friday, December 21, the Kindergarten classes will be having a "winter holidays" sing-along" This one will be a little different than the ones in the past. This time each class will present a song on stage while the others sing along from the floor. Our class is presenting "Must Be Santa" complete with props and costumes. If you have a chance, drop in the cafeteria around 8:15 and sing along. Our winter holidays party will start at 12:30.

WHAT AN EXCITING TIME!