Hello Families:
We want to thank all the parents who volunteered for our Fall Festival! We appreciate all the assistance! The children participating in the special activities! Our week was filled with celebrations and fall-inspired activities. We made trail mix, painted pumpkins, decorated a class pumpkin and the Prek and kindergarten teachers performed a reenactment of the Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. We rounded out our week with pumpkin investigations and retelling of the Little Old Lady story. This coming week will be short and busy week. We will start working on our class book about things we are thankful for called "May There Always Be..." and learn about simple repeating patterns. We will go to the Chicago Children’s Theatre on Thursday, November 9th. If you want to attend this trip with us- you need to let mw know by email or in person and make sure you have completed the CPS volunteer process which involves a background check and TB test. We do not have school on Friday, November 10th, in observance of Veteran’s Day. Applications for Kindergarten are due Thursday, November 9th. Please go to https://www.cps.edu/gocps/elementary-school/ to complete the application. Please remember if you are not living within the Ray Elementary boundaries and you would like your child to apply to attend Ray for kindergarten you will need to apply via the website above. Please go to: https://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoollocator/index.html if you are not sure if you live in the boundaries. If you have questions, please let me know. Upcoming Events: November 9th- Trip to Chicago Children’s Theatre November 9th- Kindergarten applications are due. November 10th-No School in Observance of Veteran’s Day November 20th-24th- No School Thanksgiving Break Have a great week, Heather
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We have had another very busy, short, but fun week! We had a visit from the dentist. Some children had their teeth screened and cleaned. The children learned about the life cycles of the pumpkin and the apple and we read another book about that cycle called Pumpkin Jack. The children enjoyed making fall-inspired artwork with paint using the beautiful squash and pumpkins donated by families. We also enjoyed choosing our pumpkin from the Ray “Pumpkin Patch”. Next week we will decorate our pumpkin to enter the pumpkin decoration competition. This year preschool’s theme will be “Monsters”. We have chosen to decorate our pumpkin as the Big Green Monster, inspired by Rachel Bright’s children’s book.
We want to thank everyone for attending the Parent and Teacher Conferences. We always enjoy talking about all the great happenings in preschool! Here are the 2 ABC sound songs we listen to regularly: https://youtu.be/EhnKbLXW0qo?si=P2SudpKTCyVlSXQY https://youtu.be/1dNI74FZ6Vc?si=2ICsiP8p5SuLfRLU We are excited about our Fall Festival! We want to thank everyone who has made donations! We appreciate it! We have 60 preschoolers who will be making trail mix bags! We are still accepting donations! Our First Field Trip! We will go on our very 1st preschool field trip on November 9th! We will go to Chicago’s Children's Theatre to see Beatrix Potter's Holiday Tea Party. This will be a morning trip; details will be forthcoming. We will be needing volunteers to assist us on this trip. Please let me know if you can join us! Please remember to fill out the volunteer application via this link: https://chicagopublicschools.civicore.com/index.php?action=english Help Needed With the weather nice and brisk we are asking parents to help us out and please send your child in mittens (instead of gloves…especially if they can’t get their fingers in the holes). In addition, we need help keeping gloves/mittens with the correct kid. We are asking parents to attach mittens/gloves to outerwear to help keep up with everyone’s mittens/gloves. Here are some links to some options that may work for you: https://www.elasticbytheyard.com/see-how-to-attach-gloves-to-a-kids-jacket/ https://a.co/d/gw8WsyO https://a.co/d/9FEsCN7 https://onelittleproject.com/how-to-make-quick-3-minute-no-sew-mitten-strings/ Zip-up jackets are also easy to assist with! Buttons with tight holes are tough for children and teachers to maneuver! Have a great week! Hello Pre-K Families!
This week we had a wonderful time exploring all things fall! This past week we worked on learning about life cycles- both of pumpkins and apples. The students also worked on number and letter recognition (numbers 0-9 and beginning letters of their names). We acted out the finger play "5 Little Pumpkins" many times! The best part is when the kids "roll" away at the end of the poem. This week we will dig into pumpkins! We will explore different ways to measure q pumpkin and count the seeds inside. We will practice retelling one of our favorite stories There was an Old Lady who wasn't Afraid of Anything at All. We will use real leaves to make some art and paint the tiny pumpkins Jessica's mom donated for the class. Thank you to Christina, Addison, and Eliyah for donating other types of squash and pumpkins. Fall Festival-Tuesday, October 31st
Parent/Teacher Conferences Thank you for scheduling a 15 minute VIRTUAL time to meet with me on Thursday Ocotber 26th. There is no school on this day for students. Upcoming Events:
Hello Pre-K Families!
We want to thank everyone who has brought us apples! They have all been put to good use. This week we practiced looking at real apples like scientists do. We drew the apples and labeled the parts (stem and skin). We also opened the apple and counted the pips. The children had fun trying to balance a real apple on their heads and imagining and counting how many apples they could balance in Ms. Michelle’s small groups activity “10 Apples on Top.” Next Friday we'll make homemade applesauce. The children have an opportunity to turn the crank on the apple peeler, break apart the apple slices and help mash the apples. We will then have a taste test between our homemade apple sauce and the store bought applesauce. We will continue to explore the fall season in the next few weeks. We will be looking at leaves and pumpkins. The children have been enjoying our ongoing fall study. This week we will learn the routine "Wet, Dry, Try"- this routine introduces children to the proper formation of letters. Students will also play an apple picking game. We will work on counting numbers up to 10 and determining how many MORE to make 10. The Preschool Way Now that we are experiencing some Autumn weather, we are encouraging the children to become independent when putting on their outerwear. Please take a few extra minutes before venturing out to encourage your child to put on and button/zip/snap their clothes. Here is an example of the “preschool way” (AKA the Pre-K Flip) that we use at school. If your child is having difficulty this may be helpful. 1. Children put their coat on the floor in front of them with the hood/collar closest to them. 2. Children put arms in the sleeves. 3. Children flip the coat over their head and onto their body. 4. Zip/snap/button. Upcoming Events:
Have a great week! This week we finished up our All About Me Study. We counted the letters in our names and talked about the difference between letters and numbers. Can your child name the letters in their name? Can they write their name? We work on this everyday. This is a great skill to practice at home. We also created our mind maps. Each child thought about 3 things that were important to them and drew them in a bubble. We have also continued to work on using our words and solving conflicts during play.
We are now moving on to our Fall Study. This week we will be learning how to “take notes” by conducting observational drawings of apples. Children will explore by dissecting apples, learning all about the parts of the apples, and naturally we will conduct taste tests of the plethora of apples available. Please consider donating a few to the class especially if they yellow or green apples. We are also looking for cool/unique-looking gourds and baby pumpkins, we will appreciate any donations. We read Sophie's Squash this week. It is about a little girl who decides to keep a squash as a friend instead of letting her mom cook it for dinner. She names her Bernice. We have a Bernice in our class as well (see above). We will will watch her "change" and when she starts to get mushy we will put her in the garden and watch her decompose. Please keep an eye on the upcoming weather changes and be sure to switch out your child’s clothes as needed. We will also work on zipping, buttoning, and snapping our fall jackets/sweaters. Please keep this in mind when sending your child to school; we encourage independence! Kindergarten Enrollment 2024-2025 School Year Open enrollment has opened for the 2024-2025 school year. If you do not want your child to attend their neighborhood school for kindergarten (school in your neighborhood, you can apply at https://www.cps.edu/gocps. Your child does not automatically come to Ray for kindergarten next year. If you live outside of Ray school boundaries, you must apply through the lottery system at the website. If you are unsure of the boundaries, check by going to: https://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoollocator/index.html and typing in your home address to identify where your child’s neighborhood school is. Please be sure to make sure to read the descriptions closely. Some neighborhoods list 2 elementary schools; one for k-6th grade, and one for 7th and 8th grade (if your neighborhood school doesn’t serve middle schoolers). Please go to https://www.cps.edu/gocps/elementary-school/es-selection/ to learn more about the Chicago Public Schools lottery program. Reminders:
Have a great week! Hello Room 411 Families,
Thank you for your patience and flexibility this week in Ms. Michelle, Miles and my absences. We are all on the mend and hopefully next week will be back to normal. The children did a great job with routines as well and really did their best to remember classroom limits: we take care of ourselves, each other and our materials. We didn't have a chance to get to our small group activities this week, bit had a lot of great outside playtime, as well as playing with some new materials indoors. The children explored the crayon rocks, orbeez, painting at the easel, the "fancy" beads and the marble run. We also had a chance to learn how tamales were made, make our own tamales (using fabric, cotton balls and pipe cleaners) and taste real tamales. It was a great way to round out Hispanic Heritage month, welcome our new Spanish speaking friends and connect with the book "Too Many Tamales"- a book about a child who thinks she loses her mother's wedding ring in the masa used for the tamales. Next week we will catch up on small groups and start our apple study. Please sign your child up for the walk-a-thon. I wanted to follow up on a few questions I have received:
Hello Pre-K Families,
We had a very productive and short week. We worked on our fine motor skills by drawing Mat Man and practicing our proper writing utensil grip. We also continued to use our problem solving skills to work together, use our words and help clean up. And continued to learn about our friends and families. This week we will be winding down our All About Me study. We will conclude our study by creating personalized Mind Maps (Graphic Organizers). This is a tool often used in older grades to help students keep track of information. We will be using this tool throughout the school year to help keep track of what we know about a topic, character or person. Next week we will begin to transition into our Fall/Autumn study. We will begin by exploring the various types of apples, the parts of the apple, and the apple tree life cycle. We will then move on to a pumpkin, leaves, popcorn, and gourd exploration. Do you have a favorite fall recipe? For the month of October our food lessons will focus on Family Fall Favorites. I'd love to try some of the recipes with the children. If you have an idea you'd like to share, please send me an email or let me know at pick-up or drop-off. Interested in volunteering in the classroom? I will be asking for parent volunteers beginning the first week of October from 11am-1pm. I prefer to have parents volunteer weekly to develop consistency. If you are available on a weekly basis between 11am-1pm, please complete the CPS volunteer application and reach out to me by email at [email protected]. There will be additional volunteer opportunities in the future. Volunteer Application Reminders:
Have a great week! We had a very busy week with so much playing, creating and reading. We read "Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party" and discussed what our favorite pizza toppings were. We also talked about the sound that the letter p makes, since all of Pete's friends choose toppings that started with the letter p. Can your child remember any of the toppings from the books? We surveyed the class using the question of the day board and asked "do you like pizza?" We were surprised to learn that some children do not like pizza. We decided it would be fun to make our own pizzas next week and maybe make some savory and some sweet. Some of the children told me that their favorite topping on a pizza is chocolate....interesting.
The children also enjoyed creating their Family Math Stories, making number exhibits using different tools, finding new ways to play with play dough and strengthening fine motor skills, by using tweezers, pom-poms and pop-its. Next week we will finish up our All Abut Me Bags. It has been so fun getting to learn about each other. We have found out that we have many things in common with our new classmates. As we wind down our All About Me study in the next two weeks, we will continue to build and strengthen our classroom community as the year progresses. We have already established our own classroom limits, learned how to use the “Bugs and Wishes” conflict resolution tools, and are establishing new friendships. This week is only 4 days (No School Friday) and we will finish working on our Family Stories, finishing up our classroom book, Our Hands Can and building and drawing Mat Man. Make sure you ask your child about Mat Man! You can even ask them to draw him for you! Hello Room 411 Families! We have been having a great time getting to learn about each child as they share their "All About Me" bags. We have found out many fun facts about our friends and are also discovering that we have many things in common! If you have not gotten a bag yet, please look out for it at pick-up this week. Once you get a bag, return in to school the following day. This week during small groups the children worked on on age collages where they created different collections of 4, drew their self portrait, worked on sharing tools using magna tiles and increased their fine motor muscles by covering their entire name in small stickers. We are also becoming great problem solvers! This week we continued to use our Wheel of Choices. We have learned how to say, "Stop, I don't like that", take a balloon breath and take a break. Next week we will continue to uncover new choices on our wheel and practice using our ,"Bugs and Wishes" tool. "It bugs me when ___________." "I wish you would ___________." We will continue to model this language as well as model positive language to use when playing and interacting with others during playtime. We will talk about the members of our families this week and read the books "Five Creatures" and "Stella Brings the Family", Children will also work on visualizing numbers by creating number museums for the numbers three and four. We had a wonderful time making butter with our 7th grade buddies from Mr. Albrect's class. I am linking the video of Assisitant Principal, Ms. Garcia, so you can see our process. https://foodedu.pilotlightchefs.org/family_lesson_plans/homemade-butter-common-core-math/ Pre-K Playdate Attention parents/guardians of Pre-K students! The PTO is organizing a playdate for Ray preschool students and their grown ups. Meet us at Bixler playground (5641 S. Kenwood Ave) -- Saturday, September 23, 1-3 pm. We hope to see you there! Hello Room 411 Families:
We hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day Weekend! This past week we began our small group rotations. We have small groups 4 times a week. The children work in groups of five independently or with a teacher to practice a skill such as counting, story telling, letter naming, fine motor skills, etc. They rotate through each group throughout the week. Following small groups the children have self selected play time. During small groups this week the children learned the name writing and journal routine. The children practiced tracing their names, writing their names using a model and drawing a picture of their choice in their journals. They also made friendship paintings, explored play dough and pattern blocks. Next week we will practice our Work It Out Wheel. The Wheel is a tool that we use to help children figure out how to solve problems in the classroom. The six items on the Wheel are: 1. Talk It Out and Listen. 2. Say Stop! 3. Find a new friend or toy. 4. Take a Balloon Breath. 5. Take a break and cool down. 6. Walk or Move away. The children will participate in short skits with us in order to really take ownership and help engrain these techniques in their “toolboxes” Please review these with your child at the end of week and during the following weeks. We will also dive into our “All About Me” study, where the focus will be on ourselves and our families. We will be using the books Five Creatures by Emily Jenkins, We All Sing with the Same Voice by Phillip Miller and Sheppard M. Greene, A World of Families by Trish Holland, and One Love by Cedella Marley to lead our study. We will also be exploring various ways model our ages by making an age collage during teacher led small groups, and working on puzzles and exploring our names during independent groups. We will be creating self-portraits as part of our All About Me Identity Board. We can't wait to share these with you! On Friday we will make butter with some 7th grade buddies. I can't wait to hear what the preschoolers think of this process. If you DO NOT want your child to try the butter, please let me know- we will use organic dairy cream for this activity. All About Me Bags: We will be sending home a brown paper bag starting Tuesday in which we will ask you and your child to fill it with 3 special items they can share with the class. If you receive an All About Me Bag, please bring it back with your 3 items the following day, we will be sending home 2 per day so check your child's mailbox every afternoon! Parent Help Needed: Writing your child's name on everything helps us make sure the correct items are always getting sent home. Jean Jacket season is coming up! Please make sure you write your child's name on the label, we have many, many jean jackets and want everyone home with the correct one! Reminders:
Have a great week! |
Room 411
"Play is the work of children" -Vivian Paley |