Hello From My House To Yours!

Hello Families,
     As I play around with some new technology so that I can connect with you and students from afar in the next few weeks, I tried out taking photos and video from my computer.  Plus, I wanted the Kindergartners to see my face and know that I am thinking of them and that I miss them.  My students know that I am an emotional person...they have seen me shed tears over sad things and happy things.  Making this video for them was a bit hard for me...it took several tries because I teared up just thinking about my students.  Sending virtual hugs, fist bumps, high fives and friendly handshakes from afar.....


This is my beagle, Izzy.  She has a lot of energy, just like Kindergartners!


This is my big chocolate lab, Frisco.   He was pushing my glasses right off my head when he jumped on me for the photo!

March Weather...Lion or Lamb?

Hello Families,
     On the calendar this month in Kindergarten, we are tracking the weather.  Is the day mild and sunny (a lamb day) or cloudy and chilly (a lion day)?  Already, we are noticing that March brings both kinds of weather!  This Wednesday the 11th is our skiing at Rikert day.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately and if you are volunteering to help us out, we ask that you drive and meet us up there.  I hope it is a lamb-like weather day!  There is also going to be an All School Meeting on Thursday the 12th so it's a great day to to wear the Mary Hogan shirts as we gather together.
     I have a lot of photos to share with you.  You will see some samples of a Cat in the Hat rhyming activity, some children working on their Who We Are self portraits examining their outer traits, kids playing math games together, Robyn and Lydia helping with morning announcements in the office, classmates building structures at Choice Time, and students peeling their green hard boiled eggs and trying the green ham (which was a big success...lots of risk takers realized they liked green eggs and ham!). 
    Lastly, I will be sending home information soon about signing up for the spring parent conference.  Like in the fall, I will include mostly after school times, but will also have some slots available during the day when the students are at recess or a special.  Please remember to choose several different slots that could work for you.  Thanks! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

100th Day and Valentine's Day in Kindergarten

Hello Families,
     As I was preparing lessons for the week coming up after break, I realized I hadn't posted any of the fantastic photos of our activities and fun we had on the 100th Day of School and Valentine's Day.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy February

Happy February!
     I have lots of pictures to share of the children enjoying building and playing together, Crazy Hair and Hat Day, a melting snowman writing project and more....
     We will have an Early Release Day on Wednesday this week, February 5th.  Please remember if your child has different after school plans that day to send a note.  Also, there are 2 special days coming up in Kindergarten.  Tuesday, February 11th will be the 100th Day of School and we will celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th.  I will be sending home a newsletter early this week to share details about those exciting days.  Then we have a week off from school February 17-21.
     We are diving into our next unit, Who We Are.  "Community" has been our focus to start us off.  We are investigating the many different kinds of communities that we belong to and we will be connecting that to discovering our inner traits and values.  There will be a new Mystery Bag focus coming up to fit into this unit, as well as a fun project about each student's name.  Here's to a new month of learning and exploring together.

   

Hello Families,
     Here are some pics from our busy classroom and a visit from the local poet, Ted Scheu.  The students loved his humor and the poems that he read to them.  They sang with him, showed off their rhyming skills and wrote a poem with him, too!   There are photos of the children working on their reading strategies and building and game playing at Math Workplaces.

The Heath Quartet

Hello! 
     Our class had the opportunity to walk to Middlebury College today and listen to the Heath Quartet play music for us.  Yesterday, we prepared for our visit by watching video of them playing music on their website.  Not only did they play wonderful music on their violins, viola and cello, they also talked to us about the instruments and the music they were playing.  It was very interesting and lovely and the Kindergartners were a fabulous audience.  In the afternoon, the students drew and wrote about the experience.  We were so surprised to hear that one of the violins that was being played was 280 years old!