Colors for the week!

KD had a lot of fun celebrating and learning about the colors last week.  We have one more week of colors!
Monday-Green
Tuesday-Blue
Wednesday-Black
Thursday-Brown
Friday-Pink

Smile, Picture Day!

Don't forget tomorrow, September 10th is picture day!

Celebrating Colors

We are learning about colors!

We are learning to recognize them, identify them, and spell their names.  In the next two weeks, we will celebrate one color each day.  Help us by letting your child wear clothes that match the color of the day!

Tuesday, September 11                Red
Wednesday, September 12          Orange
Thursday, September 13             Yellow
Friday, September 14                 Purple
Monday, September 17              Green
Tuesday, September 18              Blue
Wednesday, September 19         Black
Thursday, September 20            Brown
Friday, September 21                 Pink

Getting to know me!

August 2012
Dear Kindergarten Parents,

I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Diana Dongarra.  I am happy to say that I will be your child’s kindergarten teacher this year!  I look forward to meeting many of you on the first day of school.

As I look through the class rosters, I recognize some family names!  Welcome back to those families who are bringing another kindergartener to Owen!  For those families who do not know me and are curious about the person who will be spending so much time with your kiddo…I graduated from Bradley University with an Elementary Education degree.  I also have a master’s degree as a Reading Specialist.  This is my sixth year at Owen!. 

For some of you the transition to kindergarten will be smooth and uneventful.  You may have older children or just know that both of you and your child are ready for kindergarten!  For others, this transition may cause worries and anxiety.  Parents are often more fearful of the first day of kindergarten than the children.  Be brave!  The first day is the hardest, but it will get easier!  Your child is in a safe and fun environment where he/she will grove and learn more than you can imagine.

Your child’s education is important to us all.  Let’s work together to make this a most memorable experience, a building stone to the joy of learning!  Should you have any questions or concerns, the best way to reach me is through email- Diana_dongarra@ipsd.org- or a written note. You a may also leave me a voicemail at

630-428-6332.

I look forward to working with you and your child!  Welcome to Kindergarten!

Miss Dongarra

And so it begins...

Today I spent most of the day unpacking and setting up the classroom. If I must say so myself, I think I was pretty productive!

Slow Down Summer!

I can't believe as I type this post it is already June 20th.  I am enjoying my summer and hope you are too.  I've spent a lot of time outside, running, walking Mario, and riding my bike.  In July I am taking a road trip to Arizona and I'm very excited.  I have never been to Arizona and look forward to seeing the Grand Canyon.  Although, I'm not sure if I'm ready for the heat.  I hear it is hot, hot, hot there with an average temperature of 120.

Hiking through the Arboretum!

Last week Kindergarten went to the Arboretum to learn about seeds, plants, trees, and nature.  A volunteer from the Arboretum took us around as we hiked and explored.  KD had a lot of fun and learned some fun facts!  We even saw a toad!!

Art Awareness

Using a marble and paint to make art pieces like Jackson Pollock

Yesterday Mrs. Theiss came in and taught KD  about the artist Jackson Pollock.  This is the second artist we have learned about through the Art Awareness program.  Last month Mrs. Hawrysz came in and taught us about the artist Mary Cassatt.  After we learned about the artist and looked at their art KD became artists and explored how to make art pieces the way those artists did.  KD has been having a great time learning about the different artists! 

Using chalk to color in a picture drawn by Mary Cassatt

Community Helpers

For the past few weeks kindergarten has been learning about community helpers.  We first explored what a community helper.  Now we have been learning about a different community helper each day.  So far we have learned about construction workers, doctors, nurses, police officers and veterinarians. Next up, paramedics! 

Tomorrow is Baseball Day!

Tomorrow is baseball day at Owen, students can wear jerseys, hats, or t-shirts to support their favorite team!

LabRats come to Owen!

On Wednesdsay the Lab Rats from the Children's Museum came to Owen for an inschool field trip for all kindergarten classes.  During this time students had the chance to explore magnets.  Here are some pictures below of KD in action. 

KD learns about different countries

Yesterday KD participated in World Kaleidoscope at Owen.  We learned about two different countries Costa Rica and Nigeria.  The volunteers came to the classroom and talked about their country.  KD learned a lot of new facts.  This event fit perfectly with our map skills unit we are currently doing in Social Studies!

        

Leprechauns!

Last week we read a story about a leprechaun and practiced retelling the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  Then we created a "how to" list of how to catch a leprechaun.  Students helped me sound out the words and write the letters onto the sentence strips.  Then, they created their own leprechauns and wrote a sentence describing their leprechaun. Some examples included, "______________'s leprechaun loves gold." "___________'s leprechaun likes to share his gold with friends."

Valentines

KD will pass out valentines. Please have your child write his/her name on their valentine. We have 24 students in our class. Please no candy. Thank you!

100 Days of School!

KD had a fun time celebrating 100 days of school. We shared our 100 collections, wrote 100 words, searched for 100 on a number grid, sang Zero the Hero, read 100 day books.  It was a fun day!Thank you for all the help during the party!

Check Your Work!

During writing we have been talking about how important it is to check your work.  I created this poster to help them see a checklist they can refer to as they are writing.  At this point I am looking for uppercase to start, finger spaces, and punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.  When we do share chair I ask students who are sharing if they have these three components in their writing.  I want them to get into the habit of checking their work before they move on to the next activity.

* graphics from D.J. Inkers

Measuring and Magnets

This week in KD students are using a paper cutout of their foot to measure things around the room. We also started our science unit on magnets. Students will explore what a magnet is and test different objects to find out what magnets are attracted to.