Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to P.E. (Emily)

We did math. We traced the shapes. We played Trace the Face. (Kate and Blair)

We got to see what a pumpkin looks like. (Riley)

We echoed new letters with Echo the Owl. They were c and o. (Lexi B.)

We did closing meeting. Mrs. Hotchkiss is typing for our parents. (Rilen)

We read a book about pumpkins. (Anna)

We did Fundations. We traced the letters with our fingers. (Zain)

We did the letters with Baby Echo. (Pritish)

We wrote about something we did over the weekend. (Livi)

We did an experiment. We saw which shapes could roll and which ones couldn’t. (Tristan)

The kids also had a creativity lesson with Mrs. Cardetti from the Gifted Department. She will be coming a few times this year to work with the students!

Preordered Cougar Fun Fest tickets are coming home today along with an October specials calendar (also on the website).

Tomorrow I will have a substitute because I will be at a conference along with some other teachers in the building. Please call the office with any changes in transportation. Today we talked about being “flexible” and “going with the flow” when there is a sub. There will not be a closing meeting email tomorrow.

Field Trip Volunteers: If you signed up to be a parent volunteer for the field trip this Friday please bring a blanket for the kids to eat on during our lunch picnic if you can! I am also looking for a cooler for school lunch milks and a wagon for pumpkins. If you have either of these things and can bring them please respond to this email! The cooler would need to be brought to school and the wagon could meet us there. I am also looking for a parent volunteer to transport the sack lunches to Peach Tree Farms in our lunch tub. Thank you!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We had cake pops for my birthday. (Livi)

We did music. (Brooke)

We did apple tasting. Out of all the apples Granny Smith won! (Emily)

We tried apple foods and the apple pie won! (Kate)

We did morning meeting and morning buzz time. (Pritish and Cordae)

We counted how many friends liked which kind of apple. (Lexi B.)

I got cooperating cougar. (Riley)

We saw a star in an apple. There were seeds inside. (Adeline)

We labeled apple parts. (Kamri)

We painted apples with our thumbs or Q-tips on a tree on our fall page. (Lexie T.)

We did Riley’s Me Bag. (Zain)

We did Riley’s name poster and name cheer. (Aidin and Cordae)

We built Riley’s name with magnetic letters. (Tristan)

Check out the great apple pictures on Twitter! Lots of important papers coming home today including a family homework project, Cougar Fun Fest info, Field Trip reminder, and fundraiser Passport books. I forgot to give out the fundraiser prizes so those will come home next week!

Thanks for all the apple tasting items! It was a fun day full of apple goodness!!

No School Monday! Have a great 3 day weekend!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We did the summer page of our apple tree book. We added leaves and small apples. (Emily)

We did our Spring page. We did flower blossoms. We used pink tissue paper. (Zain)

We learned about apples and Johnny Appleseed. (Blair)

We did Randy’s Me Bag. (Cordae)

We went to art class. We got to paint. (Pritish)

We had a special guest and her name was Miss Casey. She is a reporter for the Saint Louis Rams. She gave us STL Rams capes! (Kate, Adeline, Brock, and Aidin) One of our favorite things about fall: Football! I have a good friend that works for the STL Rams and taught the kids all about her job today! She brought each student a special gift! You will definitely want to check out Twitter today! Our tweets were even retweeted by the STL Rams!!! Very exciting!

https://twitter.com/hotchkissmce

https://twitter.com/caseyreporting

https://twitter.com/STLouisRams

Tomorrow is our apple tasting day! Your child will not need a snack!

Thanks!!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to library. (Livi)

We did Work On Writing for 6 minutes. (Adeline)

We did Read to Self for 7 minutes. (Cordae)

We drew our first page of our apple tree seasons book. It was winter. We worked on adding labels and details. (Kate, Aidin, and Zain)

We did Zain’s Me Bag. (Anna)

We wrote Zain’s name on the white boards. (Lexie T.)

We saw Ms. Mielke and Pepper. (Brooke)

We did morning meeting. We got to do something special. We got to write names on the white boards during morning meeting.  (Pritish)

We did magnet boards in Fundations. (Tristan)

We did math. We put the blocks in the right place. We were matching shapes. We matched the shape faces or sides. (Lexie T. and Tristan)

Have a great evening!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We did my birthday snack! (Cordae)

We wrote letters. We wrote u and i. We did Echo the Owl. (Randy, Lexi B. and Lexie T.)

We did P.E. (Anna)

We read Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. Today is the first day of fall and the author does labels and we do labels! (Adeline)

We did labels in writing. (Emily)

We did Tristan’s Me Bag. (Pritish and Tristan)

We got something new for our book box. We got Fall is Here. (Kate)

We did 3D shapes! (Zain)

We read a book about fall. (Livi)

We did Work on Writing for 5 minutes. (Zain and Brooke)

Thank you signing up to bring things for our Apple Tasting Day!! You filled the entire list! Yay!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to music. (Brooke)

We sorted 3D shapes. (Brock)

We learned about a sphere. (Kamri) We also talked about cylinder, cube, and cone!

We did Monday News. (Kate)

We read The Apple Pie Tree. (Randy)

We did Rilen’s Me Bag. (Adeline)

We did 2 new letters, i and u. (Livi)

We did Work on Writing. (Tristan)

We did Read to Self. (Zain)

We did the Mill Creek Pledge. (Anna)

Thank you for all the wonderful Lego basket donations! We have a great collection of items to raffle off at Cougar Fun Fest!

Thank you to all the parents who have signed up to help with items for our apple tasting day this Friday! If you would still like to help out, there are many items we still need. Please sign up on the Google Doc link! Thank you so much!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1INTYlXYAEztQHSL4jGJsNCrFchqk1_ZsQmzfTg858Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Have a great night!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We did art. (Zain)

We did a Brown Bear game. (Emily) Students rolled a dice and colored the corresponding book characters!

We read to our stuffed animals. (Pritish)

We did Rilen’s name. (Blair)

We finished our color book. (Kate) These are coming home today! Your child would love to read this book to you! They practiced with a partner today!

We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Brooke)

We did our Brown Bear poem. We highlighted the word “see”. We put it in our book box. (Crimson)

We echoed letters with baby echo. (Lexi B)

We retold the story of Brown Bear, Brown Bear with picture cards. (Adeline)

Announcements!

We had a great Cougar Compliment celebration in pajamas!! Check out all the pictures in this video montage! The kids have not seen it yet!! https://twitter.com/hotchkissmce/status/513066399262965761

Or you can go directly to the YouTube video! http://youtu.be/3zWipOy7f88

Our Cougar Fun Fest Basket is looking better and better! Please make sure to send in any final Lego donations by Monday! Thank you SOOO much for all the wonderful items!

Apple Tasting Day!! On Friday, September 26th,  we will be having an apple tasting day.  We will be trying all things apple and then graphing our favorites.  Please sign up for an item using the link below and send it in by Thursday, September 25th. Thank you so much for your support! The document will update and save in real time. Please let me know if you have any questions!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1INTYlXYAEztQHSL4jGJsNCrFchqk1_ZsQmzfTg858Fw/edit?usp=sharing

School pictures are coming home today!!

Have a great weekend!!

Hi Parents!

We went to library. (Brooke)

We learned Work On Writing. (Anna) This is the 2^nd part of the Daily 5!

For Fundations we did m and n. We wrote on the SmartBoard and on the whiteboards. (Cordae)

For math today we thought of 6 different ways to make hexagons. (Aidin)

We read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Adeline)

We did morning meeting. (Pritish)

We did lacing cards. (Kate)

We got a writing journal. (Zain) Students will keep these in their book boxes for Daily 5 Work on Writing time.

We did our 3rd page of our color book. (Kamri)

We practiced our letters. (Livi)

Tomorrow is PJ day!! (Crimson) We hit our goal of 100 Cougar Compliments!! To celebrate, we will be having a special Pajama Day Tomorrow!! Your child may wear his/her pajamas all day!  Please make sure that your child is wearing school-appropriate pajamas and tennis shoes, since we will have recess outside. Please do not send house slippers with your child to school, as they are not safe for playing on the playground.

Your child is welcome to bring a small stuffed animal as well (the toy must fit inside his or her backpack and have the ability to turn any noisemakers off).

If you have any questions, please contact me!

Announcements!

Only 2 days left to send in items for our Lego Lovers Cougar Fun Fest raffle basket!!!

On our specials schedule, B days is when the kids visit our Media Center. During this time, they will be checking out library books. Please make sure your child’s book is in their backpack on this day. Thank you!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We had P.E. (Brooke)

We practiced our letters with Echo the Owl. (Lexi B.)

We got to see lots of favorite books! (Anna)

We reached 100 Cougar Compliments!!! (Adeline) See details below!

We read a book with endangered species. It was called Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (Emily)

We voted on our celebration. We are having a pajama party. (Zain) See details below!

We had inside recess. (Kate)

We did shapes for math. We got to match which ones were which. (Crimson) The class sorted objects by shape!

We did another page for our color book. (Riley)

We got a special notebook with ABC’s for Fundations. (Tristan)

We learned about my name. (Pritish)

We read for 9 minutes. (Rilen)

Pajama Party!!!

We hit our goal of 100 Cougar Compliments!! To celebrate, we will be having a special Pajama Day Friday, September 19th. Your child may wear his/her pajamas all day!  Please make sure that your child is wearing school-appropriate pajamas and tennis shoes, since we will have recess outside. Please do not send house slippers with your child to school, as they are not safe for playing on the playground.

Your child is welcome to bring a small stuffed animal as well (the toy must fit inside his or her backpack and have the ability to turn any noisemakers off).

If you have any questions, please contact me!

Thank you!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to music. (Kate)

We are taking home our Shapes Book. (Cordae)

We did our oval page. (Anna)

We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. (Adeline)

We got to have Mrs. Rawlings for a substitute teacher. (Crimson) The students had our principal in our classroom for part of the morning while I was finishing up at a doctor’s appointment.

We got an ABC chart for our book box. (Emily)

We did “Read to Self” time for 8 minutes. (Zain)

We got our own Brown Bear, Brown Bear paper book. (Aidin)

We made a colors chart. (Riley)

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to art. (Brooke)

We got to add our Poetry Folder to our book box. (Blair)

We used a special tool called a highlighter to find words. We found “I” and “can”. I read the poem “I can”. (Adeline and Pritish)

We had some guest readers come over! (Kate)

We did writing. We wrote about what we did over the weekend. We did Monday News. (Zain and Cordae)

We did my Me Bag. (Livi)

We learned about ovals. (Crimson)

We read the book Jack’s Talent. We talked with a friend about our special talent. (Anna and Aidin)

We did the letters “m” and “n” for Fundations. (Emily and Rilen)

Announcements!!

Favorite book: This week we will be talking about favorite books during reading time. Please send in a favorite book from home for your child to keep in their book box by this Friday the 19^th! This needs to be a small book that will fit in an ice cube bin sized book box. Thank you!

Fundraiser packets are due this Wednesday!

Thank you for the Lego donations! We are still looking for more items to fill our Cougar Fun Fest basket! On Monday, September 22nd, PTA will come around and collect all of our items.  The committee will then assemble our "basket" and it will be on display all day and evening on Friday, October 3rd for the Fun Fest. 

Girls Scouts:  A couple moms (Jennifer Griffith & Talitha Broughton) wanted to have an informational meeting about possibly getting one or two daisy troops started this year. They are having a short informational meeting about Daisy's next Monday, September 22nd in the cafeteria at 6:30. They want to see who is interested, who wants to co-lead a troop, and also need a few people to help when cookie sale time comes. Please come if you are interested!

Thank you!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We did Lexie T’s Me Bag. (Pritish and Zain)

We went to library. (Emily)

We made Rainbow Fish. We talked about sharing. It makes other people feel good. (Kate and Cordae)

We read the book The Rainbow Fish. (Adeline and Livi)

We did the letters t, b, and f for Fundations. (Anna)

We shared our One and Only Me book with a partner. (Blair)

We echoed with Echo the Owl. (Lexi B.)

We finished our One and Only Me book. We added more to our writing. We added labels and details. (Riley, Zain, and Randy) These are coming home today!

We played games on the computer in the computer lab. (Aidin)

Have a great weekend!! Keep an eye out for Cougar Fun Fest information in the folder today!

Hi Parents!

We had P.E. (Zain)

We did our last page of our One and Only Me book. It was about our favorite toy. (Adeline)

We made shapes with pretzels and marshmallows. (Randy)

We did a test with Nurse Shannon. (Crimson) The Kindergarteners had their hearing and vision screenings today.

We did inside recess. (Pritish)

We read Baby Bear’s Books. (Livi) We talked about good fit books!

We did Lexi’s Me Bag. (Kate)

We made our rhombus into something new. Some of us made it into a kite. (Emily and Rilen)

We read for 7 minutes. (Aidin)

We got a new book for our book box. (Brock)

There has been some confusion about our Fundraiser due date. The final day to turn it in is next Wednesday the 17^th!

We are need of basket donations for Fun Fest! Please send in your Lego Lover contributions as soon as you can!

Our recess time is early in the day. As the weather gets cooler, please send your child with a light jacket to wear outside! If the temperature is below 60 degrees, I like to make sure they have some sort of light jacket.

Thanks!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to music. (Emily)

We learned about a rhombus. (Kamri)

We used play-doh to make shapes like triangles. (Randy)

We met Pepper, Ms. Mielke’s dog. (Adeline) Ms. Mielke is our school counselor!

We went shape hunting! (Anna)

We did Kate’s Me Bag. (Cordae)

We read a book called The Best Place to Read. (Crimson and Kate) We talked about good places to read for “Read to Self” time. We read for 6 whole minutes today!!

We wrote Kate’s name on the white boards. (Livi)

We wrote about our favorite color. (Lexi B)

Ms. Mielke read a book about manners at school. (Cordae)

Have a great evening!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to art. (Kate)

We went on a shape hunt for triangles. (Emily)

We went to recess outside. (Randy and Anna)

We did Kamri’s Me Bag. (Aidin)

We read a book called Too Much Glue. (Adeline)

We did a good and poor choices sort. (Crimson)

We did “b” and “f” with Echo the Owl. (Livi and Cordae)

We got to meet the new teachers. Their names were Ms. S and Ms. Glenn (Kamri and Brock) These are MU Early Childhood Education students who will be with our class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings!

Don’t forget to send in your Lego donations for our Cougar Fun Fest basket, your Peach Tree Farms form, and your Fundraiser packet (due on the 17^th).

Thanks! Have a great night!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to the library. We got to check out a book. (Livi and Anna)

We went to recess. (Randy)

We did our letter cards on the tree. (Rilen) This is part of our “Fun”dations word study time! We are working on letter names, sounds, and using keyword pictures to help us remember this information.

We did a circle hunt. (Kate)

We did Emily’s Me Bag. (Cordae)

We met Baby Echo. (Adeline) I use Baby Echo (a little owl on a pointer) during “Fun”dations time to have the kids echo and practice letters and sounds.

We practiced plane line, grass line, and sky line. (Emily) These are some of our “Fun”dations handwriting lines. We practiced “sky writing” b and f today. For example, b started at the sky line, went down to the grass line, then went back up to the plane line before going around to the grass line. This language structure is used to help with letter formation.

We did Daily 5. We were reading books. (Lexi B) Make sure to check out the “Our Classroom” page of my website to read more about our reading workshop routine, The Daily 5

For writing we wrote about what we did over the weekend. (Lexie T) We are continuing to work on drawing detailed pictures with realistic colors and started incorporating labels into our pictures this week!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!!

We went outside. (Brooke)

We got to make family trees with our grandparents. (Anna) Such a fun event! I created a video montage of the event! Check it out! Grandparent's Day Video on Twitter

Or go directly to the YouTube link! Grandparent's Day Video

We did Crimson’s Me Bag. (Randy)

We did morning meeting. (Pritish)

We did math. We did a shapes game. (Aidin)

We wrote about our families in our One and Only Me book. (Riley) We also read a book called Families are Different. This brought up a lot of questions about divorce, adoption, etc. This would be a great conversation to have with your student tonight! We talked about how all families stick together with a very special kind of glue…love!

We did P.E. We played Bocce ball. (Brock and Rilen)

Announcements

Today in your child’s folder you will find information about our field trip to Peach Tree Farms! Please read over this information carefully and fill out the bottom portion of the form!

Time to start thinking about our class raffle basket for the Cougar Fun Fest.  For those of you who are new to our school, each class decides on a theme for our class raffle basket.  The Fun Fest committee will be delivering boxes to all of the classrooms early next week and ask that we work with our class parents to help get donations brought in.  Then on Monday, September 22nd, PTA will come around and collect all of our items.  The committee will then assemble your "basket" and it will be on display all day and evening on Friday, October 3rd for the Fun Fest.  They sell raffle tickets and students and families will drop tickets in to the basket(s) that they want.  At the end of the evening, PTA draws out tickets and we have lots of winners!  Our class basket theme is “Lego Lovers”! Please feel free to donate items that fit with this theme! Examples would be The Lego movie, Lego books, Lego games, Lego sets and models, etc.

Thanks!!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to music. (Pritish)

We did my Me Bag and I let people see my B bear and Ninja Turtle. (Cordae)

We played outside and ate lunch. (Zain and Kate)

We read a shapes book. (Brooke)

Isabelle came over to read a book. It was First Day Jitters. (Kate and Anna)

We painted our hands to make something special for our grandparents. (Lexi B. and Rilen)

We read from our book boxes. (Livi) We are working on building our “Read to Self” stamina! Today we read for 3 minutes!

We drew pictures for our grandparents. (Riley)

Mrs. Hotchkiss read a book about being Bombaloo. (Kamri) In the book, a little girl named Katie loses her temper wants to use her feet and her fists instead of her words. She’s Bombaloo! Being Bombaloo can be scary! With a little time to calm down and think about why she’s mad and a little love from her mother, Katie feels like herself again! We used this book to talk about what we can do if we get angry or frustrated at school!

We did a shapes song. (Blair)

Announcements!

Tomorrow is Grandparent’s Day! This event will start with refreshments in the commons and special guests can come into the classroom starting at 9 a.m.! The event will last 1 hour. The class will be making a family tree project and will have a few minutes to show their special guest(s) around the classroom.

Looking for parent volunteers who would like to help with a class painting project the morning of September 12^th. We will be working on a Kindergarten cooperation banner to hang in the commons. Please let me know if you are interested in helping!

Time to start thinking about our class raffle basket for the Cougar Fun Fest.  For those of you who are new to our school, each class decides on a theme for our class raffle basket.  The Fun Fest committee will be delivering boxes to all of the classrooms early next week and ask that we work with our class parents to help get donations brought in.  Then on Monday, September 22nd, PTA will come around and collect all of our items.  The committee will then assemble your "basket" and it will be on display all day and evening on Friday, October 3rd for the Fun Fest.  They sell raffle tickets and students and families will drop tickets in to the basket(s) that they want.  At the end of the evening, PTA draws out tickets and we have lots of winners!  Our class basket theme is “Lego Lovers”! Please feel free to donate items that fit with this theme! Examples would be The Lego movie, Lego books, Lego games, Lego sets and models, etc.

Thanks!!!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to art class. (Pritish)

We played on the playground. We got to play in the trailer (Emily and Crimson) Inside recess because of rain.

We went to lunch. (Kate)

We looked around for squares. (Livi)

We made something out of a square. (Zain) We added another page to our Shape of Things book!

We drew our house in our One and Only me book. Crimson shared his drawing. (Kamri) For writing, we are working on books all about us! We are working on visualizing before drawing and using lots of realistic colors to make our work interesting (Goal: 5 or more colors)!

We read David Goes to School. (Cordae)

We sorted good choices and poor choices on the SmartBoard. (Lexie and Adeline) We talked about some of the things that David did in the book and talked about what a better choice would have been for school!

Brooke shared her Me Bag. (Riley)

The kids had great smiles for picture day today! They are looking forward to Grandparent’s Day this Friday! We will be making a special project and writing for our grandparents tomorrow at school.

Make sure to return your Me Doll project for our bulletin board ASAP! I would love to have some displayed for Grandparent’s Day!

Hi Parents!

Here is what we did today!

We went to the library and got a book! (Livi)

We had Riley’s birthday snack! (Emily)

We got to use an owl puppet. We echoed with Echo the owl. (Anna and Cordae) We will be using Echo the Owl during our “Fun”dations word study time as we start working on our letters, letter sounds, and letter handwriting formation!

We went outside! (Kate)

It was Brock’s Me Bag day. (Lexi B.)

We learned about rectangles. (Lexie)

We went for a rectangle shape hunt around the room. (Blair)

We did a shapes song. (Tristan) We also read The Shape of Things and began work on our own shapes book modeled after this book!!

Announcements!!

Tomorrow (September 3rd)  is our school picture day! Our class is first thing in the morning! Please put order forms or online receipts in your child’s folder! This is the only place I will check in the morning.

Don’t forget to tell me your plans for Grandparent’s/Special Friends and Family Day this Friday from 9-10 a.m.! Please fill out the short survey so I can plan accordingly. For example, if you are not able to have someone attend this event, I will know ahead of time so I can find someone to work with your child! Thanks so much if you have already filled this out! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JRHEyUDiHK5Ezly3Tqot0rigrJZS5yoEr3jW4zOFvJw/viewform?usp=send_form

We are still in need of a few supplies! For example, we could really use another class set of individual play-doh containers!! Please sign up if you would like to donate to our classroom! You can send these items in with your child at any time! Thank you so much to those parents who have already sent in items! I really appreciate it! They are so helpful!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i4Dkx0CZAWYDp-xzTEMQU0nxJ07YunR9Tk05i2ehI_I/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks! Have a great night!