What a BuSy Week we have had! Here's what we've been up to!

During December, we work very hard to master all letter sounds, write complete sentences, count and recognize numbers to 20, and learn to make our handwriting more uniform by using simple lined paper.  I am so pleased with how our students have learned most of these goals, and look forward to seeing the proof when we take our benchmark assessment the week before we get out for Christmas break! Please follow this link to redo the download of the Benchmark Powerpoint.  I have added another slide that will help you child to prepare for the Nonsense Word Fluency portion of the DIBELS assessment.   The slide has rows of nonsense words with arrows that pop up at five second intervals.  This should help your child build fluency and know how to respond to the assessment.  My students are so proud of themselves when they beat the arrow!
This is a private link.  Download, but please do not share.  Thanks!
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwugBzJawFTaVHN2VHVvRUZMX2c


Keep these dates in mind:
December 13-Elementary Music Program at the High School at 7:00 p.m.
December 20-Pajama Party/Class Christmas Party for students and teacher
December 20-High School Christmas Program at 7:00 p.m.
Christmas Break December 21-January 4
2nd Quarter Report Cards will be issued the second week of January

I am thoroughly enjoying your child, and look forward to amazing progress in the 2013 New Year!

Here are some things we have done!
We Love Letter Sound Land! http://thumbp16-bf1.thumb.mail.yahoo.com/tn?sid=1162963796&mid=ANvbi2IAATwNULlmRAiUX30IPfY&midoffset=2_0_0_21_46533&partid=1&f=1602&fid=Clip%20Art&w=717&h=401&httperr=1 http://thumbp16-bf1.thumb.mail.yahoo.com/tn?sid=1162963796&mid=AMnbi2IAAMcjULlmrwgjWUexSEI&midoffset=2_0_0_21_47161&partid=1&f=1602&fid=Clip%20Art&w=717&h=406&httperr=1 We are writing independently now! Woohoo! http://thumbp16-bf1.thumb.mail.yahoo.com/tn?sid=1162963796&mid=AOrbi2IAAUu9ULlkagD0pkqtVOc&midoffset=2_0_0_21_48411&partid=1&f=1602&fid=Clip%20Art&w=717&h=401&httperr=1

Mrs. H

Benchmark Assessment Powerpoint! Do this at home to help :)

In December, we will be doing a mid-year assessment to see how everyone is coming along in reading.  This powerpoint activity should help your child to master the components of the Benchmark Assessents.  Just go to this link to download:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0Ix53joUMyNZGczcE5rUTI5ajA

What a busy day! Christopher Columbus, the Fire Truck, and Pumpkin Craftivitiy...Whew!

What a beautiful day to be busy! We began by visiting the teacher's car to get a pumpkin from Mr. Hufstedler's pumpkin patch.  We found out that pumpkins are heavy, that they come in all shapes and sizes, and that some are different colors than others.  Here are our smiling faces as we picked out our pumpkins and carried them to class.

Mr. and Mrs. Worthy brought the BB Road Volunteer Fire Truck and taught us about Fire Safety!

We enjoyed their presentation!

 

This afternoon we learned about Christopher Columbus, King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, three ships, and that the world was not flat after all!!! Everyone thought it was funny that people used to think the

world was flat.  We are happy that it is round.  Would you want to sail your ship off the edge? Not us!

Pumpkin Patch 2012...What a sweet group! Fun day too!

A baby Scottish Highland calf...so sweet!

In the maze!

Watch your fingers...those geese are wild!

Riding the train!

Tunnel under the maze in the barn :)

 

 More pictures to come soon!

Such a sweet class! We had a great Pumpkin Patch Trip! Here are the pics!

Our September Song! So much is learned through music!

Just listen to us sing our September song! We can spell September :)

Assigned Number Word/Number Practice Test :) Practice makes Perfect!

We will be showing our understanding of number words and their relationship to numbers soon in our class. Here is a quiz to practice with your child to help ensure they know the information by test time. :) Mrs. H

Dear Parents, Have I told you lately that I LOVE your children? What a sweet class :)

Today was one of those just plain terrific days for students and teacher! I am so pleased with how everyone has settled in with our routines, and how they are ready to learn each and every time we gather for a lesson. Here is an example of listening and cooperation: I introduced our Scholastic News Let's Find Out newspaper for the very first time! We watched the story on our smartboard about all kinds of friends, then I explained how to do each activity (patterning, counting, and reading a little book). To my amazement, EVERY student gathered their materials in the order I asked them to, and went right to work! Can you spell "i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-c-e"? :) I was truly in awe as I watched these little people do exactly what I asked them to do. Of course, some of our little friends tried their best, and may have made a couple of itty-bitty errors...but everyone tried, and everyone felt successful! This is teacher heaven when something like this happens! :) Another thing we did was learn about matching letters to the picture whose sound they begin. Again, my little guys went right to work cutting out the letter tiles and gluing them to the correct pictures. What a fun Friday! Here are pictures of our letter sound activity. Enjoy! :)

 

 

 

Time to go home! Here we are at line-up time :) 

September Snack Calendar

Each month, I will post a snack calendar with a suggested date for you to send snacks for 18-20 students.  This is not required, but is very much appreciated if you choose to help out! Thank you in advance!

Mrs. Hufstedler

Here are some terrific videos to help your child learn basic concepts!

The following are videos your child will become familiar with as we progress through the year. Children learn well with music since music incorporates rhythm and sparks memory when presenting a concept. Visit these videos as often as you can! They really help! Mrs. Hufstedler Hey Now Kid, Whatcha Gonna Do? Count by 2s, 5s, and 10s! If You're a Kid! Chicken Count! 3-D Shapes I Know Barbara Milne's Alphabet Sound Song! This is great for sound and object recognition! Toonbo ABCs Hamsters!!! Toonbo Count to 11 Song Count to 100 Song!

Here is a copy of our schedule for this year!

Click on the picture to download and print, or view our schedule. You may contact me by email: margarethufstedler@alton.k12.mo.us, or you can call me at school and leave a message with Theresa. She will contact me, then I'll get back to you as soon as possible. :) If you need to contact me at home, call: 778-7809.

What a great beginning to our year!

I want to thank all of you parents for helping your child transition to kindergarten smoothly. We have such sweet little boys and girls, and they are doing so well with the rules in every place in our building, and at recess. I hope everyone got the note about the wonderful backpack donation for all of our students from Office Depot and our Alton School Foundation. Everyone was so excited to receive them! In today's Owl Pocket, students should have brought a note about snacks for the coming months. For August, we are going to stick with having everyone to donate one package of cookies (or other snack) with enough for 20 student (we currently have 16, but you never know when our group will grow). In September I will send home a snack calendar. Your child will only bring a snack once a month if you decide to participate in sending snacks. Thank you for whatever you can do :) Lastly, I will be sending homework two times a week at the most. This work will be very short activities that reinforce skills we are working on at school. If you sign any homework and have your child to bring it back to me, I will give them a small prize for returning the work finished. Stickers, or other small incentives will be given. Be sure to get them to bed earlier, and aim for perfect attendance! Kindergarten is work, and when a child misses, it makes a difference in progress. So far, our class attendance is really good. Let's aim for perfect 100% attendance this quarter!!! Stay tuned for more information! Mrs. Hufstedler If you allow your child to be on the computer, here is a great site to check out: http://seussville.com For lots of activities kinder kids need to practice!

Welcome! Please Read!

Hey moms and dads! Our first day was excellent! We have such nice little friends in our room, and everyone listened to the teacher and followed directions.  Even our special class teachers bragged on our class! We made a special little owl today, and we learned the rules about everything in our school.
I would like to thank you for preparing your child so well for kindergarten! We are going to have a very good year! Be sure to stop in at Open House tomorrow night!
Mrs. Hufstedler

Hello! Welcome to our Class Blog!

I am so glad you decided to check our class site.  I apologize for requiring a password as you go back and forth through the blog, but want you to know it is for the safety and privacy of our students. 

Here are a few things to check for on our blog:

1.  Monthly Snack Calendar
2.  Current Units of Study and links to online practice
3.  Printables you may have missed due to an absence.