Dear Families,
We are already at our 32nd day of kindergarten! Time flies when you are having fun!
Fall has just started with its chilly mornings and rainy days. Please, send your child to school in clothes that will make their recess time warm, dry, comfy, and more enjoyable despite rain or wind.
Now, our students have made a lot of new friends. They learned about their daily routines. They know what to do and how to do it, which makes our transition times shorter and allows more time for learning and exploring of new things.
What happens in our classroom? During our literacy lessons, we learn and play with letters and sounds. We also learn how to make letters out of Play-Doh and write them on the lines. We started our literacy centers this week where even more hands on learning is taking place.
In Language Arts, we are almost in the middle of Module 1 “Five Senses” of our district adopted curriculum “Wit & Wisdom”. We read and learned from the books “My Five Senses” by M. Miller and “My Five Senses” by Aliki. We will also read “Last Stop on Market Street” by M. Pena, “Rap a Tap, Tap” by D. and L. Dillon, and “The Snowy Day” by E. J. Keats. During our lessons, we work on building good reading habits and strategies that help us to learn from our reading. We pay attention to the words we don’t know and talk about their meanings.
In Math, we learned what numbers are, as well as how to represent and write them on paper. We just finished Unit 1 “Position, Height, Length, and Sorting” of I-Ready Math (district adopted curriculum), and will start Unit 2 “Numbers to 5, Shapes, and Weight” next week. We are on week 2 of our hands on math centers and this week they had a good time reviewing all the concepts we have learned so far.
We have a lot of fun, too! We dance and sing during our Wiggle Breaks. So far, for most of our students, their favorite parts of their day are recess and play time. Every other Wednesday, we have a special treat. Mr. Jesse brings his guitar, and we have our Sing Along with Mr. Jesse.
Our students LOVE it!
Mark your calendar:
10/18/25 - Courtyard Clean-up and Cider Press Event- I HIGHLY reccommend coming to this! It is really fun!
10/22/25 - Early Release @11:50 (Teacher PD)
10/27-29/25 - School Spirit Week
10/30-31/25 - Planning and Grading Days (no school days for students)
11/11/25 - Veterans Day (no school day)
11/24-25/25 - Parent Teacher Conferences (no school days for students) Please sign up here: Conferences will be taking place on 11/24 and 11/25. They are a 20 minute time slot to come (with your child if you can) to check in about how your little one is doing so far. Pleases sign up for conferences here: https://calendar.app.google/RPtvm9sZLDetkFCX6
11/26-28/25 - Thanksgiving Break (no school days for students)
The Pumpkin Patch Field Trip
We will go to Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island on October 29th.
Please complete a parent permission form and return it to school. I have not gotten a lot of them back so please send them home if you have not already.
The total cost of the field trip is $18 per student. It includes transportation ($12) and the farm admission ticket ($6). Please, send the money - cash or check to Peninsula Elementary, with specific directions to give the money to the teacher. You also have an option to pay online. Use this link: https://pps.schoolpay.com/pay/for/Peninsula-Kindergarten-Field-Trips-/SchTkRr.
Email or text me via Parent Square so that we keep track of the money in case your child forgets about it.
If you have financial hardship, please let us know privately, and we will help. If you are willing to donate more money than the cost per child, we will be very grateful for your generosity.
Volunteers
If you want to volunteer in the class and/or come to our field trip as a chaperone (We need 4 chaperones minimum- I already have 3 chaperones) please be sure to sign up to be a volunteer ASAP. It takes some time for it to clear. Visit the PPS Volunteer page and follow the steps to “Becoming a Volunteer”
Parent Volunteering Opportunities: Parent volunteers are invited to come in and join our class. Some available times we would love the support are: 10:00-10:45 for our math centers (you would be at one table helping the kids do that center), 11:50-12:30 for our Literacy centers (you would be at one table helping the kids do that center), and from 1:45-2:15 for our Guided Play time. Last year we had a parent who would bring in a train set to play with the kids. If you would like you can just join us and or bring in something you would like to play with the kids! Please make sure you have volunteer clearance before you come in and always check in at the front desk in the office. Thank you so much. We look forward to having you join us!
Please let me and the office know if your child misses school. Call the office or email Sara Solomon ssolomon@pps.net
Please see below for pictures and also Spirit Week dress up!