Our New Class Pet

Maisey, the Cornsnake arrived this afternoon!  The students wrote persuasive letters to Miss P. from the Burlington Science Center in February trying to persuade her to give us a snake for our class pet.  Students did some research about snakes and wrote letters that included an attention grabber and great reasons why she should give us a snake.  Students also drew and labeled pictures that showed Miss P. all that we would need to help us take care of the snake.  

The students enjoyed learning about snakes and what makes them reptiles, as well as other neat facts such as how snakes use their senses, how they protect themselves, and what we need to do to keep it safe in our classroom.  Miss P. even allowed the students to touch and hold Maisey!  We are looking forward to watching a snake feeding sometime during the next week or so and being able to observe Maisey over the next few weeks!

March 2, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a wonderful week for winter break.  It felt more like spring vacation!  The break always comes at just the right time but it's always nice to get back into a routine.  The students are already back to working hard and learning lots!

As soon as we returned to school, we started working on our fine arts unit.  The children are learning about various kinds of art and have mostly finished their self-portraits.  They have been learning how to mix their own colors.  I think you will be very impressed with their portraits and self-portraits when you come to the Kindergarten Museum.  The students also learned about still life paintings and have started creating some contemporary art!  We are planning on having the Kindergarten Museum on Tuesday, April 10th, probably from about 8:30-9:15am. More information will be sent home next week.  Creating the artwork for the Kindergarten Museum is a lot of work, but worth every minute of it!  We hope you will be able to visit our Museum!

The students have worked on a class book about what they want to do when they are older and they are beginning an individual book all about who they are.  They have also been enjoying reading books in small groups for guided reading.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday today!  Mr. Duncan was our guest reader.  He read “Green Eggs and Ham,” which is a favorite at the Duncan house!  He also brought Micah in to meet the class!

We started a new topic in math working with teen numbers.  The numbers 11-20 are some of the most difficult numbers from 0-100!  If possible, please encourage your child to practice counting these numbers often.  Have them count peas on their plate, snack items (popcorn, grapes, berries), etc. and practice looking for and writing the numbers.

We will be conferencing again towards the end of March and beginning of April.  I will send a questionnaire home next week for you to fill out about the best time to have a conference and I will send out the actual schedule by the beginning of the following week.  I am looking forward to meeting with you all to discuss your child’s progress and show you some of their work.

Please be sure to practice the Kindergarten sight words and addition and subtraction fluency facts as often as possible.  It will be a huge help!  I will be assessing the students soon!  Thanks!

Have a good weekend!

Melanie Duncan

PS...We will be going to the library on Wednesday.  Please be sure to return your child’s library book by then.  Thanks!

February 16, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

I can't believe that winter break is already upon us!  The last month and a half went by very fast!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Valentine’s Day on Wednesday.  We have enjoyed making our special Valentines projects and everyone certainly enjoyed opening all the valentines.  Thank you for all the valentines!

We celebrated our 100th day of school today.  We did a lot of counting!  We made 100th day hats with 100 dots and did some math activities with a hundreds chart.  We also wrote a class book about what we would do with $100.  The students have accomplished so much in 100 days and should be very proud of how far they have come!

After vacation we will begin our fine arts unit where the children will creatively paint, draw, sculpt, and build works of art for our Kindergarten Museum.  Our Museum will be open for parents to visit on Tuesday, April 10th.  You won’t want to miss it!  More information will be going home later on but I want to make sure you mark it on your calendars!  I think you will be amazed at the artwork your children will produce!

The students spent a lot of time during the past couple of weeks learning about persuasive writing.  I put all their persuasive writing together and sent it home in their blue folders today.  Included are the letters they wrote to Ms. P. about getting a class pet and the letters they wrote to you along with a few other things!  I would encourage you to sit down with your children and have them read their writing to you.  They worked very hard on it and should be proud of their work!  

We will be transitioning to narrative writing after the break.  Students will be writing about themselves and things/events that have happened in their lives (birthdays, field trips, new experiences, etc.).  I am anxious to see how their writing will evolve over the next couple of months!

I would also encourage you to continue working on the sight words and addition fluency facts with your children.  We will be checking on their progress in the coming weeks after vacation.

Have a wonderful winter break!

Melanie Duncan

P.S...Please be sure to check the students’ backpacks and folders.  Vacation is a great time to clean them all out! 

February 9, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We have been doing A LOT of writing this week!  The students finished writing their persuasive letters to Ms. P. at the Burlington Science Center.  They are hoping to persuade her to give us a snake for a class pet!  We have been learning a lot about animal needs so we can also let Ms. P. know that we will be able to take good care of a class pet.  The students also have started writing persuasive letters to their parents!  Just to give you a heads up….some students are writing to persuade parents to go on a special trip, get a pet, buy a new house, or buy a new toy.  They are doing very well.  I will try to make sure they realize before the letters go home, that they may not get what they are asking for!

We’ve also been doing a lot of decomposing numbers in math and writing number sentences for numbers up to ten.  We have been making “Magic Bean” books to help us do this.  The students really seem to enjoy making these and have been doing a great job writing the equations and symbols.  Students are also excited that we have completed 55% of the ST Math program so far.  They are welcome to use ST Math at home.  If they do, please make sure older siblings and parents aren’t helping.  It should be an independent activity. 

Our 100th day of school should be on Friday, February 16th, unless we have a snow day before then.  We have some fun 100th day activities we will do on that day.  I would like to encourage students to bring in a collection of 100 non-edible items that we can use to practice counting to 100 on our 100th day.  Collections could be made from toothpicks, buttons, pennies, crayons, or other small items.  They should be counted at home and put in a labeled baggie with the student’s name on it.  These will be returned afterwards.

We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, February 14th.  Students are welcome to bring an extra snack to eat while we open our valentines.  Just a reminder...Valentine’s need to be food/candy free.  Stickers, tattoos, pencils, etc. make nice alternatives.  Students are welcome to bring their valentines in any time next week up until Wednesday.

I just want to remind everyone to talk with their children about washing hands really well and keeping fingers and hands away from their faces.  The nurse told me again today that there is a lot of sickness going around.  I’m hoping we all are healthy going into February vacation!

Other reminders:

February vacation will be February 19-23.

Please don’t forget to return the blue progress report folder if you haven’t already.

Please let us know if you want your child to bring home any winter gear they have been leaving at school before vacation.

Have a great weekend!

Melanie Duncan

FW Family Math Night

Francis Wyman is trying something new for our Math Night this year!  It is sure to be a fun night full of fun games and giveaways!  I hope you will consider attending!

Francis Wyman Carnival Info

The Francis Wyman 17th Annual Carnival is coming!!
Saturday, March 10, 2018
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
 

Starting Monday 2/5 there will be collection bins in the office for items that can go into a raffle basket. You are able to donate to ANY basket but each grade does have a theme (listed below). If you have any questions please email raffles@franciswymanpto.org.

K- Arts and Crafts
1- Game Night
2- Movie Night
3- Books
4- Coffee and Tea
5- Baking

We are also looking for family raffle donations and gift baskets, no donation is too small!
If you can help or have any questions please contact FWoodbury@FrancisWymanPTO.org

 

Please contact carnival@franciswymanpto.org with any other questions.

We greatly appreciate all of your help and generosity!