Parents, families, friends: please check here regularly for what is happening in our Kindergarten classrooms. We will do our best to update the page on a regular basis. Enjoy! Kaitie & Margo
Check back regularly to see what your friends are doing while they're working hard at home, just like you!
Tuesday - our last day
We sure are going to miss all our little leprechauns over the next few weeks. We will be in touch frequently and hope that everyone stays safe and healthy! Take care!
Thursday
Today we did a rainbow writing job.
Here's a look at our March calendar pieces. We've found two different patterns in the puzzle and are still discovering new things each day. This week has been all about teen numbers!
Tuesday
Today we enjoyed some extra time outside and got in a lot of steps on the track!
We also did a guided drawing of a leprechaun.
Monday
This morning pup came to visit and taught us how to name our feelings in order to help us calm down and solve the problem.
We did a big sight word review before we began our writing job this morning. We are great at reading almost all of our sight words and now we have to practice writing them correctly in our writing.
Welcome Back!
It was a great 3 days back from vacation and everyone enjoyed sharing about what they did. We heard about some exciting adventures!
This week we made our March calendars, turned our February calendar over to March,learned about double ten frames, added two new March poems to our Song and Poem binders, added new books to our book bags, stretched out and wrote words on white boards and saw our Book Buddies.
Friday!
It's the Friday before vacation and we kicked it off with an all school morning meeting where every class in the school shared a poster and some facts about amazing black women that we have been learning about over the last two weeks. Our classes learned and presented about Mae Jemison and Misty Copeland. Ask your child what they know about these incredible women. We had many eager volunteers who wanted to speak but Rose, Raishawn, Leni and Theodore got to speak. They were so brave and did a fantastic job!
We also got to see some very cool birds today. We saw two owls and a hawk.
We hope that everyone has a great vacation! We will return to school on Wednesday, March 4th!
Changes
The letter below will update you about a change in our classroom. All the children are aware, took it in stride and are more than accepting of this change.
February 20, 2020 Dear Families, Today we had a very important conversation in our classroom. When babies are born, doctors, moms and dads make their best guess based on a baby’s body about whether the baby is a girl or a boy. As the baby grows into a kid who can express their feelings, ideas and needs, things might change. Sometimes the best guess from birth is true and sometimes a person feels differently in their heart, body and brain. It is important to talk to caring people in your life about your feelings.
A friend in our classroom has been feeling for a while that the “girl” label that was given when she was born, doesn’t fit who he really is. Our friend, Destiny is now going to be our friend, Chance.
Our class was extremely understanding and accepting of this news and understand that Chance is trying to be true to his own feelings and needs. He talked with his family about this and they have been thinking about this for a long time. We will be helping each other get used to referring to Chance as a boy, instead of Destiny as a girl. We might make mistakes as we make the adjustment, but Chance knows that we are all doing our best!
I am sending home some handouts for you to read and use as you see fit with your own family. Mrs. Beeli, our guidance counselor, is available should you feel that you need/want more information. This morning we also read the book, When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff. In the story, Aidan was born a girl and didn’t feel like a girl. He really felt like a boy and he talked with his family and they helped make changes and he became a boy. Then his family is getting ready to welcome a new baby and he wants to be the best big brother and help the baby feel welcome and understood. He discovers that the most important thing is to love someone for exactly who they are. We are making sure that we are accepting everyone for who they are and caring about each other. We want everyone to be true to who they are and feel comfortable in their own skin. Thank you for your understanding. Margo Antonioli
Puppet Show
Today we got to watch a puppet show that taught us about friendship and children with autism. After the show we got to play with puppets and practice some of the different strategies we learned during their show.
Happy Valentine's Day!
It was a great day had by all! There were so many 'thank you's' and 'you're welcome's' flying all over the place.
Flynn Trip
This morning we went to the Flynn to see Rainbow Fish. It was a very cool blacklight show. We also got to sit up in the balcony which everyone thought was very cool. Ask your child what they thought about it!
Valentine's Day prep
The 100th Day!
100th Day!
100th Day of School This Friday, February 7, will be the 100th Day of Kindergarten! We will celebrate with many classroom activities throughout the day! Kids can wear pajamas or comfy clothes to celebrate too! If Friday ends up being a snow day, then we will have our 100th day on Monday instead!
Groundhog Day!
Last week we made groundhogs and made predictions about whether or not he would see his shadow. We made a large graph with them to show our predictions.
Today we watched a news clip and learned that he did not see his shadow and we will have an early spring, HA! We also illustrated a groundhog song for our song and poem binders.
Thursday
Flynn Field Trip - Thursday, February 13 Rainbow Fish - We will be going to the show in the morning. We will be back at school for lunch, so kids can get hot lunch as usual. If your child has an appointment or conflict with the field trip, please let us know! Unfortunately, we don’t have enough tickets to bring any chaperones. Sorry!
We are asking for donations to cover the cost of this trip. We are suggesting $10 per child, but please donate whatever you are comfortable with!
Thank you very much! You can pay with cash or a check made out to Orchard School PTO . Margo & Kaitie
Wednesday
Today we made our February calendars.
We've also been working on our sight words and correct letter formation, TOP DOWN!
Monday
This morning Mrs. Antonioli introduced three digraphs. Digraphs are two letters that together make a new sound.
We put on our scientists hat today and did an experiment with light. We tested 5 different objects to see which ones light could shine through. We used new words like translucent, transparent and opaque to help describe the amount of light shining through the various objects.
We are also very good at coming up with different number sentences that match our calendar pieces and are working on being flexible mathematicians and finding more than one way to say the same thing.
Peter Pan
Today we got to watch the Orchard production of Peter Pan!
MLK, Jr. day
This morning we had the social justice group from the high school come and teach us more about the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had on our world. Our saying from the morning assembly was "keep your eye on the prize".
Bee Bots
Mrs. Courcelle came in today with her Bee Bots. We played a mystery shape game and made them dance.
Wednesday
Our new sight word we added this week was 'said'. We discussed how there are often quotation marks or talking marks near this word because it shows up that someone is talking. We practiced writing this word in a book and placing quotation marks where the animals were speaking.
We have also been reading many books and talking about the important person Martin Luther King, Jr. was and what a significant impact he had on the world.
Monday
This morning Mrs. Walcott's friends had Farm to School. We made "squash mash". The squash was already cooked but we had to cut apples and lemons, turn a cinnamon stick into powder and grate some ginger. It was fun to use some new tools to do these jobs.
This week...
It has been a BUSY week!
This week: -building words with our magnet boards -writing sentences and stretching out the sounds to hear each sound in the word -added 3 new words to our word wall (he, she, this) -learned about 4 reading strategies we can use when reading new words/books -solving word problems -combinations of 3 (to match our calendar pieces) -started our social/emotional curriculum - Second Step (how to be a great learner and friend)
Friday
Welcome back! It was so nice to have two days to transition back and get back into our school routines. Today we introduced a new tool, magnet boards, that will be using frequently to work on letter/sound and building phonetic words.
Friyay!
We did it, we've made it to winter break! We had a great day starting with an assembly, specials, book buddies, math and got to end it with Toy Story, hot chocolate and popcorn!
Happy Winter!
Today everyone got personalized scarves from Mrs. Walcott and Mrs. Antonioli to keep them warm this winter!
Painting Day!
Woodworking!
This morning we got to do an AMAZING with Ms. Erica (Emry's mom). Everyone decided beforehand if they wanted to do a robot or a vase. Everyone worked so hard and had a lot of fun. Today was only step 1. On Thursday we will paint them and they will being home their final product sometime next week.
Thursday
This morning Mrs. Courcelle came back with her Bee Bots. We used an alphabet mat and programmed the Bee Bots to go the first letter of our names.
Our calendar this month is a bear who is positioned in various spots around a box. We've been using a lot of vocabulary to describe where the bear is in relationship to the box.
This week...
We've been busy since vacation! Here are some things we've been doing: -learning about Australia. Claire's Aunt and Grandmother were visiting from Australia so they came in, along with her dad, to teach us all about Australia. -working on our lower case letters. -making December calendars -saying goodbye to Miss Alexis and Miss Meg -working on segmenting syllables
Thursday
This morning we were letter detectives and found all the letters we needed to write 'HAPPY THANKSGIVING' which we turned into a place mat.
We've been talking a lot this week about things we are thankful for. Here's a list that Mrs. Walcott's class compiled this morning!
This morning, Mrs. Courcelle, came into our classroom and introduced us to Bee Bots. These are little programmable bees that we enter in a code to make do things. We had a lot of fun learning about them and experimenting with them today. Mrs. Courcelle will also be back a few Thursdays after break!
Wednesday
This week we have been working on tally marks.
Friday
We didn't have a morning assembly this morning because of our early release so we went out and enjoyed the snow!
**Please remember, everyone needs SHOES for inside the classroom**
Wednesday
We hope everyone enjoyed the snow day, we did!!!
Today we did our November self portraits, practiced some sight word writing and worked with ten frames building odd and even numbers.
Friday!
This morning we got out to enjoy some of the amazing snow that arrived overnight!
We finished our falling leaves project today.
We also have been talking about 'what is a scientist?' and added the list we created to our science notebooks.
The weather is changing!
It looks like the weather is going to begin changing which means winter clothes will be a necessity. Your child will need boots for outside and shoes for inside the classroom. They will also need coat, hat, snow pants and we're asking that you send in TWO pairs of gloves/mittens because we will continue to go out each morning along with their regular recess. We want everyone to have a dry pair as backup! Your child is welcome to leave their sneakers or snow pants at school if they're extra and not needed at home.
Wednesday
We've been talking a lot about the seasons, fall, and the different things that have been happening outside. Today we did an art project with tracing leaves and using oil pastels to make them look like real leaves.
Tuesday
Today we got out our white boards and practiced writing our sight words on them.
They are slowly figuring out more about our November calendar pattern. They know the background color of the pieces is a pattern and has something to do with what kind of shape is on them. Our new word today was 'sphere' and it was new word for everyone!
Monday
Thank you to families that returned their Parent/Teacher Conference sign up sheets, we really appreciate it! If you still have yours at home we would appreciate it ASAP and if you need another one please don't hesitate to ask! We will send home your conference time on Friday in your child's Friday Folder.
Our new letters today were 'S' and 'A'.
We got a new book and practiced reading it with a partner.
Pumpkin Sewing
Happy Halloween!
We had a great day and I will post a BUNCH of pumpkin sewing pictures tomorrow!
Have a great night and please, NO CANDY in school tomorrow!
Wednesday
We've been talking and reading a lot about fall and this morning everyone drew a scarecrow!
We also made our November calendars.
Tomorrow, 10/31, we will be doing a pumpkin sewing project at 11:00. We'd love to have you join us if you're available!
Tuesday
This morning Mrs. Walcott's friends played a fun, new pumpkin shape game during Math Menu with Ms. Kathy.
We made a 10 frame pumpkin book.
Monday
This morning we learned about two new letters, 'C' and 'O' and practiced our Partner Reading.
Mrs. Walcott's friends had Farm to School and we learned about apple and maple syrup and tried a maple applesauce, YUM! Mrs. Antonioli's friends will have Farm to School on Wednesday.
Wednesday
Today we worked on our combinations of 5 and added two new poems to our Song & Poem binders.
Tuesday
This morning we learned how to read with partners and practiced reading with a partner. We know we sit side-by-side, have the book in the middle and see-saw read (take turns reading).
We learned about self control and how it means having control of your body and sometimes having to wait for something you want. We read Lily's Purple Plastic Purse and watched a short Cookie Monster video.
We also worked on counting and having some organization to our counting.
Monday
This morning we were fortunate enough to go and see Kyle Dine, The Allergy Guy at Essex Cinemas. Kyle sang and used puppets to teach our children all about food allergies and the potential danger some people can be in if exposed to their allergens. He did a great job and everyone loved it!
Thursday
Our new letters today were 'X' and 'Y'.
Monday, 10/21, we will be going on a field trip to see Kyle Dine at the Essex Cinemas. Below is the link to his website if you'd like to learn a little more.
Today we read Ish and talked about how it's ok if something isn't "perfect". Everyone made their own 'ish' pictures and was so happy with their final product.
In math we're working on subitizing and recognizing dice patterns.
Monday, 10/21, we are going on a field trip. There will be more info about this in tomorrow's Friday Folder.
Fire Safety!
This morning we met with Firefighter Brad. He talked a lot about having a family plan and meeting place if there were ever a fire in the house.
We also did a firetruck guided drawing.
Fun Run!
Wednesday
This morning Ms. Faulkner led Mrs. Walcott's friends through some yoga poses. We practiced butterfly and shark.
We have been talking about empathy and finished reading Horton Hears a Who before we drew Horton this morning. We will color him and paint the background tomorrow.
We added the next page to our fall book.
In math we played "Roll for 5".
Can you believe we've been in Kindergarten for 31 days already?!
Tuesday
This morning Mrs. Walcott's friends played Kindergarten Yahtzee with Ms. Kathy. Mrs. Antonioli's class will get to play tomorrow.
We practiced writing our first names, using only 1 capital letter, we made the second page of our fall book and added a new book to our Book Bags.
We had a tricky shape coloring page in math!
Monday
Our new letters today were 'H' and 'K'.
This week is also Fire Safety week so we will be reading many books and doing some various activities around the topic. Next week, on 10/15, Firefighter Brad will be coming to visit and will teach us more about Fire Safety.
We also started a new fall book and completed the first page today.
In math we've figured out our calendar pattern and did a dice/10 frame job.
Thursday
Today is the last day to place a book order. I will place the order tomorrow. You can go to: www,scholastic.com/reading club and our class code is L44WY.
We made our October self portraits today and made a Franklin to help remind us how important it is to be responsible.
Wednesday
We had a great walk to school this morning. It was nice to start the day with everyone moving!
Mrs. Antonioli's frieonds had Farm to School this morning and made their kale and chard pesto.
Mrs. Walcott's friends made their Helping Hands poster and brainstormed many different ways of how we are helpful friends everyday.
Tuesday
Today we talked more about the Zones of Regulation and did some sorting of feelings into different zones. We also illustrated a zones poem for our song and poem binder.
We switched over our calendar and started making our own October calendars that will go home on Friday.
We also reached our first school wide apple goal and had an all school extra recess to day to celebrate!
Monday
Our new letters this week are 'M' and 'N'. They are the last of our frog jump capitals.
This morning we talked about the Zones of Regulation. There's the red zone (really mad, angry), the yellow zone (silly, excited, nervous) the blue zone (sad, tired) and the green zone (happy, calm and ready to learn and be a good friend).
Mrs. Walcott's friends had Farm to School. We made pesto with kale and chard. We also gathered some seeds from different plants which we will plant in the spring.
Mrs. Antonioli's friends did a cooperative project and made their helping hands poster.
Friday
This morning at our All School Morning Meeting we talked about KINDNESS. Some teachers read us a book about what it does and doesn't mean to be kind.
This morning we doctored up our applesauce, that was finally done cooking, with a little cinnamon and sugar. It was a big hit!
We also introduced white boards today!
APPLESAUCE!
Wednesday
Today... We made 10 frame houses to show who lives in our house with us.
We put together our Apple books that we've been making this week.
Tuesday
Our 'YET' posters are now hanging in the hallway!
Our Kindergarten readers couldn't get enough of their new books bags this morning!
Ms. Lamphier came for her weekly visit with Mrs. Walcott's friends and we got to have many math choices from all the different games she's taught us thus far.
We also read and drew Chrysanthemum this morning. We've been talking about assertion and Chrysanthemum was not assertive when people were making fun of her name.
Monday
This morning we got our our handwriting books. We worked on strokes and practiced 'E' and 'F'.
During snack we talked about responsibility and read "Franklin Forgets".
We introduced a few new words on the word wall, 'I', 'see' and 'a'. We got two books in our book bags that have our new words in them and worked on the first few pages of another apple book.
In math we got caught up on our calendar, worked on 1:1 counting and some 3 star coloring.
Friday
Happy Friday! Because it was an early release day we didn't have a morning assembly. We got a few minutes outside before specials and brought out the sidewalk chalk with us today.
We even got to go outside with our Buddies and play a game, 'What Time is it Mr. Fox?'
Thursday
The weather is getting colder, please make sure your child has appropriate extra clothes in their cubby.
This morning we did handwriting and introduced the letter 'E'. We also did '1' and '2'.
We learned more about the apple cycle and made our own version.
Hackett's
We had a FANTASTIC day at Hackett's Apple Orchard today! Here are some pictures from our great day!
Tuesday
This morning Ms. Lamphier came in to work with Mrs. Walcott's friends and taught them a new math game, 'Bump'. The object of the game is to close out as many numbers as you can so you have the most chips on the board when the game ends. You close out numbers by rolling a dice and marking that number with a chip. You can 'bump' your opponents chip if you roll the same number and there's only one chip on the space. The space is closed when you have two chips of the same color on it.
Mrs. Walcott's friends filled their class apple chart and earned a few minutes outside this afternoon! WOOHOO!
We also finished our apple book today by adding the last two pages. It will go home on Friday!
And don't forget... tomorrow we go to Hackett's so everyone will need to be dressed to be outside for the day and will need a lunch and drink from home!
Monday
We hope everyone had a great weekend!
We were busy. busy this morning! We've been talking about different types of lines that we use to make letters (big line, little line, big curve, little curve) and today we got out our small chalkboards to practice these line using what we call 'wet, dry, try'. We always start in the top corner and always work from top to bottom.
We introduced our first letter today, 'F' and practiced making it correctly on our chalkboards.
We added a new word to our word wall 'is' and started an apple book.
Friday
This morning at our all school morning meeting some fifth grade students help remind us what the expectations were at our assembly's.
This morning we also complete at 'yet' job which we will finish next week. We learned about our 'word wall' and the different lines that we are going to be using next week to make many letters and we did another dice job in math.
We also got to spend the last part of our day with our Book Buddies.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday
Our Geralds are finished, hanging in the hallway and they look great!
This morning we continued to work on our pencil grip and practice making different strokes that we need to use when writing.
We added a new song to our Song & Poem Binders, Way Up High.
In math this week we've been working with 5 frames. We've worked on building on our own frames to match one that's flashed, rolling a die and building that number and reading the 5 frame without having to count each square.
We also did our fist dice mandala today.
Wednesday
This morning we read Giraffes Can't Dance. Gerald was not a good dancer and everyone made fun of his dancing. Instead of giving up, Gerald stuck with it and learned how to be a good dancer with a little advice from a cricket.
Monday
We hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a very busy Monday! This morning we had school pictures, specials and Mrs. Walcott's friends had Farm to School. Farm to School is a monthly event at Orchard where we learn about a different fruit or vegetable that is highlighted each month. Today we learned about tomatoes. Mrs. Antonioli's friends will have Farm to School on Wednesday.
We also talked about '3 Star Coloring' this morning.
Friday
We started off our morning with a great all school assembly. Mrs. Klein taught us a new song and we got to play a game with our class, POP, and some of our Book Buddies.
After the playground, specials and snack we illustrated a Kissing Hand song and set up our song and poem binders.
Our Book Buddies also came to visit this afternoon! Everyone now has a fourth grade buddy that they've been paired with. We will work on remembering names over the next few weeks!
Thursday
This morning we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and everyone built their own coconut tree with the letters in his/her name.
During math we made a lists of what we know about: squares, rhombus' and trapezoids
We also did our first self portrait today. We will do one a month for the rest of kindergarten. They're hanging up above the cubbies in our classrooms.
We hope to see everyone at 6:00 tonight, 9/5, for Curriculum Night. We will meet in Mrs. Walcott's room!
Wednesday
This morning we talked about our Hopes and Dreams for Kindergarten. Together, we brainstormed a list and everyone drew a picture of what they hope we will learn about this year.
In math we got our September calendar up and running! We noticed that so far all our calendar pieces have had shapes on them.
This morning we also talked about 'the power of YET!' The word 'yet' is a powerful three letter word that makes anything possible. We watched a music video about it and illustrated a poem with the chorus on it.
Our Cliffords are finished and hanging in the hallway! Check them out tomorrow at Curriculum Night!
Picture Day is also coming up, it's next Monday, 9/9!
Tuesday
We hope everyone had a great long weekend!
This morning, Ms. Lamphier came into Mrs. Walcott's class and introduced dice. We talked about if you hold opposite sides of the dice it will always add up to 7 and that the dots are called 'pips'. She also brought us a game to play, Ladybug, Fly Home.
Mrs. Antonioli's friends will do this job tomorrow morning.
This morning we read about one of our favorite big red dogs, Clifford, and made our own Clifford's. Tomorrow everyone will get to decide what their Clifford likes about Orchard School.
We also finished coloring our Chester's we made on Friday. You will see them hanging in the hall when you come on Thursday for Curriculum Night at 6:00!
Happy Friday!
We did it! We all made it to Friday and we've had a great week.
This morning we had our first All School Morning Meeting. Every Friday morning the whole school gathers in the gym and we have an assembly. Today the fifth graders gave all of the kindergartners a bracelet to welcome them to Orchard School.
We also did our first guided drawing. We drew Chester the Raccoon but need to finish coloring him next week. You will see them hanging in the hall in our Artists Bags when you come to Curriculum Night.
Your child also has their Friday Folder in their backpack today. In it is notices from the school and papers from throughout the week.
PARENTS - there is a homework job in there for you! Please complete your child's "kissing hand" ASAP and return it to school in their Friday Folder.
Enjoy the long weekend and we will see everyone back at school on Tuesday, September 3!
Thursday
This morning we started a job that had to do with our names. Everyone got a long black paper with their name written on it in silver. They had to rip small pieces of colored paper and glue them down to cover the letters in their name. You will see these hanging when you come in for Curriculum Night next week (Thursday, 9/5, at 6:00)!
Day Two!
We were so excited everyone came back for day 2, that's always a good sign! This morning we got to play outside and it was great to see so many more kids connecting with each other today!
This morning Mrs. Antonioli's friends got to have math with Miss Lamphier!
This morning we also started building our Birthday Wall and did a job with The Kissing Hand which we've been reading each day.
Please let us know if there's anything we can help with (eating, bathrooms, etc.).
First Day!
We did it! We all made it through the first day and it was a great day!
This morning Miss Lamphier came into Mrs. Walcott's class and we did some pattern block puzzles!
We got to play outside, a lot!
We did some singing and dancing!
We read Listen Buddy, a story about a bunny who never listened, and made our own listening ears.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything we need to know about your child's first day! Thanks and we're looking forward to day 2!