Exciting news

Today one of our butterflies emerged from a chrysalis.   The students thought it was beyond amazing. I will post pictures of our new classroom friend tomorrow when we leave it go. 

3rd week

What a busy week we had in K4. 

We explored the following this week:

- Environmental print. This is print we see around us all the time. It might be restaurant logos, store logos, movie titles, or even street signs. 

-  Nursery Rhymes. We learned and recited Wee Willie Winkie, we even got to act it out. 

- Vocabulary. We explored the following words:  wink, stretch, wrapping (as in knocking), skip, stomp and wiggle. 

-  Caterpillars. I brought in three monarch caterpillars and two of them turned into chrysalis (what a butterfly cocoon is called). We are waiting patiently for them to change in butterflies. 

 

Have a great weekend!

K4 is famous

If you didn't get to see yesterday's paper, check this out. Our class was featured in a story about Fulton's renovations. 

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/890682_Students--parents--staff-thrilled-with-Fulton-school-renovations.html

2nd week

Wow, I can't believe the second week is almost over here in K4. We have been very busy in room 122. 

A few things we have done or are learning. 

1.  Learning classroom routines. 

2.  Practicing our fire drill exit. 

3.  Learning to get along and how to play with others. 

4.  Learning our colors (great skill to work on at home). 

5.  Practicing writing our names (another great thing to practice at home)

6.  Learning about classroom voice levels. 

Next week I will continue to assess students and they will start to bring books home from our lending library. 

Successful First Day!

We had a wonderful first day in K4. 

We are learning how to walk in a single file line in the hall (a very hard concept to master) and steps, have been practicing our fire drill and we are learning how to take care of our room. 

We read the book. David goes to School, by David Shannon and discussed our classroom expectations. 

We also got a chance to play, which they all loved. 

Welcome

Welcome to K4!  My name is Mrs. Aleisha Brixius and I will be your child’s K4 teacher.  Ms. Cookie will also be working with your child as our Para-educator.  This is an exciting time for you and your child.  It will be a time of change and new beginnings, new surroundings, new friends, new skills and new challenges.  By working together, we can make it a happy and rewarding experience.  I am looking forward to working with all of you. 

Family orientation will take place Monday, August 26^th.  There will be no class for your child that day, but please bring them along to orientation.  Please see the time assigned to you below.  If the time does not work, please contact me at 291-6110.  This will take about an hour.  Also, please bring 3-5 pictures (ones you don’t mind cutting and gluing) to use in a family project to be completed during orientation to hang in our classroom. 

Regular class will begin Tuesday, August 27^th.  Class hours are 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, doors open at 8:40.  On the 2^nd Wednesday of each month we will be dismissing at 12:25 p.m.   Please be prompt when dropping off/picking up your child.  If your child is not picked up on time, they will be waiting for you at the front desk and you must sign them out.  It is very important to be on time. 

Students are expected to wear a uniform to school every day.  Please send in an extra set of clothing, including socks and underwear, in case of accidents. 

The following is a list of items your child needs. Make sure you write their name on everything:

J  Book Bag (the size that a folder can fit in)

J  Small blanket for rest time.

J  1 box of tissues for the classroom (name does not need to be written on).

J  Hand Sanitizer (name does not need to be written on)

J  4 pack of chisel pointed dry erase markers

J  $5 snack money each month.

Items your child DOES NOT need

L  Toys or trading cards

L  Pillow Pets

L  Candy and gum

L  Pencils – they are provided by the school

L  Tablets/paper – provided by the school

L  Pens

L  Pencil sharpeners

L  Cell phones

If you have any questions you may contact me at the school at 291-6110, between the hours of 3:15-4:00 or email me at albrixius@lancaster.k12.pa.us.  Make sure to follow our classroom blog at http://mrsbrixius.blogspot.com .  Classroom news will be posted on the site soon.  Enjoy!

                                                                                                Thanks,

                                                                                                Mrs. Aleisha Brixius

The Read Aloud Handbook - Chapter 2 (When to Begin (and End) Read-Aloud

I enjoyed reading this chapter. I always try to express my beliefs to new parents and parents in my classroom about reading aloud to their child. Some of the points discussed in the chapter I have experienced with my own children (8 and 6).

 My 8 year old is a natural reader, we never sat down with him and “taught” him to read (he was reading before he started kindergarten). I remember him sitting on the floor in front of a book shelf when he was 18 months old and looking through books and “reading” them. It wasn’t actual reading of the words, but he had the rhythm of reading down and was talking about what he saw in the pictures and what he remembered us reading to him. 

As for my 6 year old, we are letting her learn to read at her own pace. She loves to sit with a book and read by using the pictures. She is now starting to look at the words and try to read the sentences in the book and does a great job, but I don’t push her. I know all of the sudden, she will get it. 

As for vocabulary, both of my kids have a wonderful vocabulary and I give credit to books and of course us, the parents. We have always read to them, since day one and have talked to them, not at them.

I also like how Jim described learning to read and comparing it to a baby understanding his/her home language. How he said that we were talking in a “foreign language” to the baby is so true.

Another section I liked in this chapter was comparing fiction to nonfiction.

I found this link to some great brochures that you can use with parents.  They come in Spanish and English.
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/brochures.html