Here is what we did today!

We had my birthday snack. (Daniel)

We had art. We painted our cakes. (Aidan)

We had our Kindergarten program. (Alex)

Outside we had a picnic. Some moms and dads came. (Emily)

We had writing. We wrote about how we bloomed in Kindergarten. (Izzy)

Tomorrow is Field Day and after Field Day we get to watch a movie. It is Frozen!!! (Ella McClary)

We had math. We added numbers. (John)

We had math workstations. (Anthony)

We had morning meeting. (Josselyn)

We are going to play games at Field Day. We need to wear tennis shoes and sunblock. One game we get to balance a cup of water on our head. (Kaela, Audrey, and Jenna)

Announcements!

Since I will not be here tomorrow, I am sending some important things home in the folders today. Make sure you check your child’s folder for their progress report and copies of some end of the year assessments. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you so much for attending the K program this morning! The kids were so excited to have you all there and they really enjoyed the picnic!

Tomorrow is Field Day! Please make sure your student has tennis shoes on and has applied sunscreen before coming to school. Students are welcome to wear hats or sunglasses outside. You may also pack a towel since there will be water games (no swimsuits please). If you need to change transportation for your child tomorrow please call the office tomorrow morning so they can inform the sub.

Thank you! Have a great weekend!!

Here is what we did today!

We had our Kindergarten program practice in the cafeteria. We stood on the stage. We practiced our songs. (Daniel, Alex, and Charley)

We had music. We watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Izzy and Ella McClary)

We had math. We measured a picture of scissors and of a crayon with cubes. We circled which one was the longest. (Ishaan)

We read a book called Leo the Late Bloomer. It was about a tiger. (Emily and Vedant)

We had writing. We started a book about how we bloomed this year. (Aidan)

We read a new series of books called Henry and Mudge. The boy’s name is Henry and Mudge is the dog. (John)

We are going to go outside to play. (Lauren)

Tomorrow is our Kindergarten program and after the program we are having a picnic! (Kaela and Nathan) Tomorrow is home lunch or school sack lunch only! No hot lunch options will can be taken outside for the picnic. I hope you can join us! The program starts tomorrow at 9:45 a.m.

It is almost Field Day!! (Charley) If it rains on Friday our rain date is Monday, June 2^nd.

Have a great night!!

Here is what we did today!

We had writing. We wrote about our weekend. (John)

We had P.E. We went outside. We played a game called Pac Man outside and a game called Mosquito Tag in the cafeteria. (Daniel and Alex)

We did our program practice. We practiced standing up in the music room. (Ella McClary)

We had math. We did subtracting. It was like a math test. (Audrey)

We got our Me Dolls, our pictures, and name posters to take home. (Ishaan)

We had Fundations. (Kaela)

We went to the cafeteria and we practiced where to stand for the program. (Emily)

We did read aloud. We read a book called How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You. Jenna brought a dinosaur tooth to show us. (Anthony)

We had Daily 5. (Izzy)

We had math workstations. (Lauren)

Mrs. Hotchkiss showed us pictures of her new car! She also showed us her medal for her race. (Nathan)

Announcements!!

Our Kindergarten Program is this Thursday at 9:45 a.m. in the cafeteria! I hope you can join us! After the program, please meet your child back in our classroom before joining him or her for the picnic lunch outside by the playground. If you ordered a sack lunch, you and your child will go through the lunch line together to pick it up before joining the rest of the group outside. I have informed the cafeteria if you ordered additional sack lunches for your group!

This Friday is Field Day! Please make sure your student has tennis shoes on and has applied sunscreen before coming to school. Students are welcome to wear hats or sunglasses outside. You may also pack a towel since there will be water games (no swimsuits please). I will not be here this Friday so please let me know if you have any changes in transportation planned. If you need to change transportation on that day please call the office on Friday morning so they can inform the sub. To rest from the busy morning, the students will be watching the movie Frozen in the afternoon. This is rated PG. Please let me know if you do not want your child watching a movie with this rating so I can make other arrangements. Thank you!

Today at 4:30 p.m. my email will change from vhotchki@columbia.k12.mo.us to VHotchkiss@columbia.k12.mo.us

Any emails sent to vhotchki@columbia.k12.mo.us will be forwarded to my new email.

Thanks!! Have a great night!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to the MU Dairy Farm and Bethel Park. (Lauren)

At the MU Dairy Farm we got to milk a cow! (Ella McClary)

At the MU Dairy Farm we got to see baby calves. (Audrey)

We saw cows and 2 cats at the MU Dairy Farm. (Emily and Charley)

We ate popsicles at Bethel Park. (Alex and Dominika)

At the MU Dairy Farm we had ice cream. (Daniel)

We got to see and touch what the cows ate. (Izzy)

We had lots of choices to play at the park. We got to stay there a really long time. (Christian)

We got to see Henry and Mr. Hotchkiss during lunch at the park! (Anthony)

We got to ride on the bus to the MU Dairy Farm and Bethel Park. It does not have any seat belts but we were safe! (Josselyn)

We climbed on the hay and took a group picture. (Alex)

It was fun!!! (Parker and Christian)

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! No School on Monday!

Thanks!

Here is what we did today!

We had art. (Dominika)

We had writing workshop. We built a dinosaur skeleton. We wrote a story about our skeleton. (Aidan)

We had read aloud. Alex brought a dinosaur book. (Daniel)

We did math. We did some adding. (Kaela)

We had Fundations. We tapped out words. (Ella McClary)

We played a Smart Board game. (John)

We had our Kindergarten program practice. (Alex)

We had Daily 5. (Izzy)

We are going outside to eat our snack. (Emily)

We are going on a field trip tomorrow. (Lauren) Please read the announcements below!!

We got our yearbooks. (Charley)

Announcements!!

The Kindergarten classes will be going on a field trip to the MU Dairy Farm tomorrow!!! We will be leaving the school at 9:00 a.m. and returning to school by 2:30 p.m. We will be eating lunch at Bethel Park so your child will need to bring a lunch from home or you have ordered a sack lunch from school. Make sure everything for the home lunch is disposable (no lunch boxes or reusable containers please) because everything will be thrown away. Please send your child in appropriate clothing. We would suggest jeans/pants/shorts, tennis shoes, and a jacket/coat (depending on the weather). NO Sandals or flip flops.  We are not permitted to apply sunscreen to the kids so you will need to do that in the morning.

Here is a list of students who have ordered school sack lunches for tomorrow: Charley, Christian, Izzy, Daniel, Ella McClary, Emily, Josselyn, Kaela, and Lauren.

Please let me know if your child is not on the list and he or she needs a school sack lunch for tomorrow.

Parents who are helping with the field trip

First of all, thank you SO much for helping!! If you can, please bring a blanket for the kids to eat on at the park!! There are very few tables and we need blankets!! I have down two parents bringing coolers for lunches (Mike Pierson and Laura Murray). Thank you so much!! Please be at school by 8:30 a.m. if you can to start loading the coolers.

If you are planning on taking your child with you from the park, please call the office ASAP and let them know. If you do not call, I will plan on your child riding the bus back to school with the rest of the class.

There will not be space on the buses for parents so you will need to drive. You will be able to follow the bus if you would like to attend. Also please note that this is a field trip for your Kindergarten student and having siblings along will distract you from helping out and giving your attention to your kindergarten student. Please make other arrangements for younger siblings.

Thank you so much! Let me know if you have any questions!!

Here is what we did today!

We had music. (Izzy)

High schoolers came to read to us! (Daniel) Some readers from Hickman High School read to us in small groups today!

We read a book called Terrible Tyrannosaurs. (Ella McClary)

We had writing. We wrote about dinosaur facts. (John)

We practiced our Kindergarten program in Mrs. Pandov’s class. (Ishaan)

We had math. We used blue and red crayons to make 10. (Claire, Anthony, and Alex) Students colored combinations of 10 crayons and put the information into addition number sentences!

Have a great night!

Here is what we did today!

We had P.E. (Ella McClary)

We had writing. We wrote about if we had a pet dinosaur. (Izzy)

We did read aloud. The Smart Board read us a book called How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? (Anthony)

We had Daily 5. (Ishaan)

We played an iPad game on the Smart Board for Fundations. (John)

We went to Miss Baxter’s class. We read to the 3rd graders. (Alex)

Here are some important dates coming up on the calendar!

This Friday, May 23rd: Field Trip to MU Dairy Farm

Monday, May 26th: NO school for Memorial Day

Thursday, May 29th: Kindergarten End of the Year Program

9:45 a.m. in Cafeteria with a picnic lunch to follow

Summer School Open House 4:15-6:30 p.m.

Friday, May 30th: Field Day (sub in classroom)

Thursday, June 5th: Last Day of Kindergarten and Early Release

Thank you SO much for all the emails yesterday. I appreciate that some many of you took the time to check on me. It really means a lot! I am feeling much better today. Taking it one day at a time!

Have a great night!

Here is what we did today!!

We had art and Mr. Gwinner gave us our medallions. We also drew lines and wrote what type of line it was. We also put glitter on it. (Aidan and Vedant)

We watched a movie about digging up dinosaur fossils. It taught us about how dinosaurs lived. (Josselyn)

We had our Kindergarten program practice with the other classes. (Audrey)

We had writing. We put our persuasive letters in envelopes. (Izzy and Charley)

We had Fundations. We wrote sentences with trick words. (Kaela and Jenna)

We spelled trick words on the easel. (Anthony)

We played a Smart Board game for math. It was called That’s a Fact! (Claire and Ella McClary) That's A Fact Link

We had Daily 5. Mrs. Hotchkiss read one on one with friends. (Daniel)

We are having a field trip in one week and we are going to Bethel Park and MU Dairy farm! (Lauren, John, and Alex)

Announcements!!

Monday will be the last day for the kids to check out library books. Please make sure they bring their books to school on Monday! They will be returning the books for the last time on Friday before the field trip.

Volunteers Needed for Field Day!

Friday, May 30th from 8:30-9:50 a.m.

I still need 3 parent volunteers to help out at Field Day. I have one parent who has volunteered so far (Thank you, Liz McClary!!) The students will move from station to station with the assistance of 2 parent helpers and 2 parent helpers will stay at the original station (Toss Up game).  Volunteers will need to be on the soccer field around 8:20 a.m. The games will be going on from 8:30-9:50 a.m.

Each station will last 7-8 minutes and a horn will start each session and will blow to signal the changing of stations.  All the materials will be ready for you at the station.  To those that volunteer, I will send you the directions for the Toss Up game to help you get it started (I will have a sub this day). You would also train the next group of parents to lead the game. Please let me know if you would like to help out!

Have a great weekend!

Here is what we did today!

We had music. Today was the last day we used the parachute. (Aidan)

We had math. We looked at the pictures to see if they are the same size, color, or shape. (Ella McClary)

We had writing. We did letters. They were persuasive letters (Kaela, Alex, Charley)

We did our Kindergarten program practice. (Anthony)

We had Fundations. We played an iPad game. (Jenna)

We had read aloud. We read about dinosaurs. (Audrey)

I am still in need of 2 field day volunteers for May 30^th! Please let me know if you would like to help! Thanks!!

Here is what we did today!

We had Mrs. Rawlings come to read us a book. We wore name tags when she came to help her remember our names. (Charley and Vedant)

Two first grade readers came to read to us. (Daniel)

We did writing. We are trying to convince someone to get something we want. We are working on persuading. (Jenna and Anthony) We are planning persuasive letters!

We had P.E. (Claire)

We got to go to the music room with Mrs. Pandov, Miss Overton, Miss Hanks, Mrs. Flanagin, and Mrs. Dixon’s friends. We practiced our 4 songs. (Kaela)

We had Fundations. (John)

We had math workstations. (Alex)

We sorted shapes by shape and color. We sorted by attributes. (Aidan and Ishaan)

We had morning meeting. (Audrey)

We had Daily 5. (Lauren)

Announcements!!

We have had 338 people RSVP for our end of the year program. We will have seating in the Cafeteria for 250 people. Please be aware that there will be standing room in the back of the cafeteria after all seats are filled. We are so excited to have so many people joining us! When filling in seats please use EVERY seat available so that all chairs are used. Thanks so much!

Volunteers Needed for Field Day!

Friday, May 30th from 8:30-9:50 a.m.

I will need 4 parent volunteers to help out at Field Day. The students will move from station to station with the assistance of 2 parent helpers and 2 parent helpers will stay at the original station (Toss Up game).  Volunteers will need to be on the soccer field around 8:20 a.m. The games will be going on from 8:30-9:50 a.m.

Each station will last 7-8 minutes and a horn will start each session and will blow to signal the changing of stations.  All the materials will be ready for you at the station.  To those that volunteer, I will send you the directions for the Toss Up game to help you get it started (I will have a sub this day). You would also train the next group of parents to lead the game. Please reply to this email if you would like to help out!

Thank you!!

Here is what we did today!

We had writing. We wrote about our favorite Mercy Watson book. (Ella Murray)

We also wrote about our weekend. (Claire)

The favorite book of the class was Mercy Watson Something Wonky This Way Comes. We thought it was funny that the little girl said “There is a monster eating my popcorn”! (Ella McClary and Christian)

We had hot buttered toast because we read all 6 Mercy Watson books. Mercy loves hot buttered toast! (Emily)

We had a Kindergarten program practice. All the Kindergarten classes practiced the songs. (Audrey)

We had a Mercy Watson celebration. (Ishaan) Check out our pictures on Twitter! @hotchkissmce

We had art. (Alex)

We had Fundations. (Kaela)

We graphed our favorite type of toast and the winner was buttered toast and the least favorite was jelly. (Josselyn)

Announcements

Tomorrow there will be a sub in every K classroom for district assessment work. I will still be in the building but please call the office with any questions or transportation changes!

Thank you again for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation week last week. I am still in awe in how much love and appreciation I received!! I am so very lucky!!

Have a great night!!

Here is what we did today!

We had music. We listened to Frozen. (Ella Murray)

We had Read Aloud. We finished Mercy Watson. Francine Poulet caught Officer Tomiello and Leroy Ninker caught Francine Poulet. (Vedant)

We had morning job. We made something special. (Audrey)

We did writing. We wrote something special. (Dominika)

Miss Hanks came over to do 4 songs with us. It was their last day to practice with us. (Ella McClary and Emily)

We had our pizza party and we had sugar cookies for snack. (Jenna and Aidan) Check out Twitter for pictures!! @hotchkissmce

On Monday we are going to have a Mercy Watson celebration. We are going to eat hot buttered toast with a great deal of butter on it because it is Mercy’s favorite thing to eat! (Anthony)

Or we can have jam on our toast. (Charley)

We had Fundations. (John)

We had Daily 5. (Lauren)

We added star beads to our necklaces because we got 100 Cougar Compliments. (Nathan)

We had morning meeting. (Kaela)

Thank you SO much for making my Teacher Appreciation Week so wonderful! All the gifts and cards really made me feel loved and appreciated! It was an awesome week!! 

 Here is what we did today!

We did P.E. (Chase)

We did writing. We wrote something special. It is a surprise. (Josselyn)

We had Daily 5. We read with Mrs. Hotchkiss one on one today! (Izzy and Audrey)

We made a craft. (Aidan)

We had our first grader readers, Catherine and Carly, come and read to us. They read to us the book Shoe La La. (Kaela, Ella McClary, and Anthony)

We had math. We sorted by one attribute. (Claire)

We had Fundations. We tapped out words. We did white boards. (John and Vedant)

Tomorrow we are going to have a pizza party! (Ishaan) 

Here is what we did today!

We had a Partners in Education presentation. There was a vet who brought a cat. We also had a TV anchor. We had an insurance lady come. (Audrey, Jenna, and Aidan) I took lots of pictures! Check them out on Twitter!

We had library. We went into the computer lab. (Daniel and Ella McClary)

We had writing. We wrote about our favorite special. (Claire)

We are going to go outside to play. (Kaela)

We had read aloud. We read Mercy Watson Something Wonky This Way Comes. (John)

We did Daily 5. (Emily)

We had morning meeting. (Izzy)

We had morning job. We wrote letters to Miss Pence and Miss Miller. Tomorrow is their last day. (Alex)

Some of us went to Grant for a field trip. (Charley)

Mrs. Hotchkiss got gift cards for the movie theater, Lucky’s, and coffee! (Josselyn) All my favorite things! Thank you so much!

Have a great night!!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We had art. We made our pots for our flowers. (Aidan)

We had Fundations. We wrote a whole sentence on the white boards. (Lauren)

We talked about our specialist teachers for writing time. We had to pick our favorite special. Choices were media lab, counselor, P.E., music, or art. (Chase and Anthony) This will be our final opinion writing!

We are going outside for extra recess. We are eating snack outside. (Daniel and Ella McClary)

We had Daily 5. For Daily 5, Mrs. Hotchkiss had friends read with her to see how much they have grown as readers. (Vedant)

We did math. We talked about same and different. (Jenna) We started our new unit on sorting and classifying data!

We read Mercy Watson Something Wonky This Way Comes. (Alex) This is the last book in the Mercy Watson series!

We had morning meeting. (Izzy)

We practiced 3 songs with Miss Hanks’ class. (Claire)

Announcements

Monday, May 12^th is the 14^th Annual Run/Wheel/Walk sponsored by Mill Creek Student Council! Permission slips are required and K-2 must have an adult to participate in the Run/Wheel/Walk! Money raised for the event will benefit Central Mo. Humane Society!

Please remember to return your child’s Dairy Farm permission slip and K program RSVP this week in their blue folder!

Friday is our pizza party! Please let me know if your student is planning on bringing their own lunch or will still be buying lunch on this day.

I am updating our classroom Twitter with Teacher Appreciation pictures and thank you’s! Thank you so much for all your have done for me! I feel so very loved and appreciated!

Have a great night!

Here is what we did today!

We did writing. We wrote about what we did this weekend. (Josselyn)

We had music. (Izzy)

We had read aloud. We finished Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig. (Aidan)

Miss Hanks’ friends came in to help us practice the songs for our program. (Kaela)

We had Fundations. We tapped out words. (Ella McClary)

We had math. We had to figure out if we were subtracting or adding. (Ishaan) We practicing solving story problems using counters. We talked about how we use addition when we are trying to figure out how many there are in all and we use subtraction if we are solving for how many are left over.

We had Daily 5. Mrs. Hotchkiss is reading one on one with friends. (Daniel and Anthony)

Our door has dogs with bones with our names on them. It has a dog house with a picture of Henry. It is Teacher Appreciation Week. (Jenna) Check out our class Twitter for some Teacher Appreciation pictures! Thank you SO much for all the lovely gifts and decorations! I feel so blessed!

Mrs. Hotchkiss got flowers from our class! (Emily)

Announcements!

Friday is our pizza party to celebrate earning 100 Cougar Compliments! If you would like your child to eat school lunch or they plan on still bringing their lunch on this day please let me know ASAP! I am looking for a parent volunteer who would be willing to pick up the pizzas for me on Friday and deliver the pizzas to school. If you would be willing to help, please reply to this email. Our party will be during our normal lunch time (10:30 a.m.- 11 a.m.). 

Thank you!

Here is what we did today!

We did Fundations. We did Bingo! (Jenna) We played sight word Bingo!

We had P.E. We started our soccer unit. (Lauren and Audrey)

We had writing. We wrote about our favorite zoo animals. (Izzy)

We had Daily 5. (Dominika)

We had my sister, Riley, came to read to us. (Claire)

The book was called The Seven Silly Eaters. (Anthony)

We read a book. We read Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig. (Ella McClary)

We had math. We played a game called 5 in a row. (Ishaan) This was an addition practice game! We rolled 2 dice and found the sum of the parts. We tried to find 5 sums in a row on our game board!

We did morning meeting. (Emily)

We practice our intruder drill. (Claire)

We practiced our songs. (Izzy)

Announcements!

No reading books coming home today. I am starting my reading assessments for the end of the year.

There are some very important papers in your child’s folder tonight! One is for our Kindergarten program/picnic and the other is for the field trip. Please make sure and look at these papers this weekend!!!

Thanks!

Here is what we did today!

We had Fundations. We did white boards. (Lauren)

We had writing. We started thinking about our favorite zoo animal. (Izzy) We will  be starting another opinion writing piece tomorrow!

We wrote letters to our principals, Mrs. Beeler and Mrs. Rawlings because we wanted them to be happy. Today is Principal’s Day. (Dominika, Anthony, and Nathan)

We had library. We went to the media lab. (Alex and Vedant)

We illustrated our color poems. It is for our Cat Tales book. (Ella Murray and John)

We did math. We counted cubes and we took some away. (Ishaan)

Mrs. Hotchkiss read 2 books. One was How Does Your Salad Grow and one was Seeds, Seeds, Seeds. (Claire)

We also read Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig. (Alex)

We learned a song called Parts of a Flower. (Emily) Here is a link to the song! The kids know the motions as well! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzuP8dR5yK0

Have a great night!