May 31, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!!! WOW, it's the last week of school. I am not sure if I want to say HOORAY or BOO-HOO, it's certainly bitter-sweet. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your child's early education experience. It has been an honor. Have a safe and wonderful summer.
Last Week of School Highlights
⦁ Caps and Gowns came home with students last week. Please return them to school on a hanger on Tuesday 05/31.
⦁ After the graduation our room parents have a small reception planned for families and students in fellowship hall. You are welcome to take students home with you after, but please make sure that Mrs. Brayton or I know that you are leaving with your child.
⦁ On Tuesday the final folders will come home for the year. They DO NOT need to be returned. In this week's folders, students Father's Day/Parent's Day gifts will be inside the folders. They are addressed and ready for Father's Day. Dad's turn off your ears (LOL). Mom's please help your student find a safe place to put their gift until Father's Day.
⦁ Friday is a half day of school. Dismissal is at 11:30.
Important Date
06/02- Kindergarten Graduation @11:30 in the Church
06/02- Kindergarten Reception following graduation in fellowship hall. Students are welcome to leave with you after.
06/03- Last day of school 11:30 dismissal
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 23, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the changing weather.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are working on the long /e/ vowel sounds. Our high frequency words are /come & does/. We will also continue to work on pronouns.
Math: This week we will continue to work on our step up to 1st grade lessons. This week our lessons include counting to 120 by 10's and by 1's. We will also continue to learn about the attributes of measurement.
Science: Last Friday the Senior Kindergarten class planted a mini garden in our classroom. This week we will begin to chart the growth progress we see and learn how and why our plants grow.
Social Studies: This week we are learning why we celebrate Memorial Day.
Other Items.
⦁ As we begin to close up the school year Mrs. Bramwell is trying to get any outstanding library books back ASAP. Please contact Mrs. Bramwell directly about any lost books.
⦁ Caps and gowns will be sent home on Wednesday Please remove all the items from the packaging and steam any wrinkles out of the gowns. Please return the cap and gown to school on a hanger by Tuesday 05/31.
Important Dates
05/27- Final Pizza Lunch of the year (please contact Mrs. Maggio about ordering information)
05/30- Memorial Day (No School)
06/02- Kindergarten Graduation
06/03- Last day of school
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_________________________________________________________________
May 16, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. We are on the summer vacation count down with only 14 days of school left. Wow!!!!
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are starting unit 10, the final unit in our reading curriculum. Over the next 2 weeks we will continue to work on reading, writing, phonics and other language arts areas. This week we are working on the long /u/ vowel sounds. Our high frequency words are /good & who/. I will also introduce the concept of pronouns to students this week.
Math: Last week we started working on the step up to 1st grade lessons in our math curriculum. These lessons provide students with an introduction to 1st grade math and teach students to use the additon and subtraction skills we have learned this year to solve story problems. We will continue to work on these lessons this week and also have an introduction to measurement. This week's Tuesday folders have copies on several of the lessons for last week, please take a few minutes to look at the lessons. It will give you an idea of some of the things students will work on next year.
Science: This week the Oak Park police department will come in to talk to early childhood students about summer safety. We will also learn why wearing helmets are important to our safety as we ride bikes, scooters and other fun things over the summer.
Social Studies: This week we learning about martial artist/actor Bruce Lee.
Other Items.
⦁ We will be attending all school chapel with our chapel buddies for the remaining chapel services this year. All school chapel begins at 8:25 sharp and we normally leave the classroom around 8:20. Please make every effort possible to have your students at school by 8:15, so we can all get into the church before the service begins.
⦁ On Wednesday 05/18 I will place our final scholastic book order of the year. I am not sure if there will be flyers sent home, but you can use the link below to look for any available books. Thank you for supporting Scholastic reading and our classroom library this year. https://clubs.scholastic.com/kindergarten
⦁ As we begin to close up the school year Mrs. Bramwell is trying to get any outstanding library books back ASAP. I am including overdue notices for books in this week's Tuesday folders. Please send any books you have at home back to school, it would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Mrs. Bramwell regarding any books that are lost.
⦁ On Friday 05/20 our 1st-4th grade students are performing the musical "Rats". This is a great opportunity to see our students sing, dance and share a great story. It is also a great time to see other Grace friends and Families. I believe 8th grade is hosting an ice cream fundraiser after the show. Please look at the principal's notes or contact Mrs. Maggio for time and other information about the show. I hope to see you there.
⦁ Our caps and gowns for graduation have arrived. I will be sending them home next week. Please remove them from the packaging and steam out the wrinkles. Please return them to school on a hanger on Tuesday 05/31.
Important Dates
05/18- Final Scholastic book order of the year
05/20- Rat's Musical
05/30- Memorial Day (No School)
06/02- Kindergarten Graduation
06/03- Last day of school
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 09, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mom's I hope you all had a wonderful day and loved the precious painting the students made for you. They worked really hard to make them so special. I want to say thank you for the generousity you showed Mrs. Brayton and I during teacher's appreciation week. We both feel so blessed by your kindness.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are working on week 3 in unit 9 in reading. We will be working on the long /o/ vowel sound this week. Our high frequency words are /where & look/. We also continue to work on adjectives in grammar this week.
Math: This week we will begin to work on our step up to 1st grade lessons in math. These lessons will include operations like addition and subtraction, but will also focus on more complex word and story problems that will require students to utilize the skills we have already learned to solve higher thinking concepts. It also provides students an opportunity to get familiar with the layout of next year's math lessons.
Science: This week we are learning how kites fly. We are also going to try to build our own kites.
Social Studies: This week we are learning more about Steve Chen computer engineer and one of the co-founders of Youtube. We will also learn more about the job of a book illustrator.
Other Items.
⦁ I will be reaching out to the parents of my students who have summer birthdays later this week, to schedule days we have available to celebrate those birthdays that happen during vacation.
⦁ Just a reminder that on Thursday 05/12 Aubrey and Savanna are celebrating their birthdays with the class. Their parents are providing a pizza lunch, with juice and cupcakes. Students will not need to bring lunch on Thursday unless they have health restrictions or do not like pizza. Thank you to Crystal Pettus and Antoinette Urzua for letting us celebrate with Aubrey and Savanna. Students will need to bring in a morning snack that day. If you have any questions and/or concerns about Thursday's lunch please contact Ms. Pettus or Ms. Urzua directly.
Important Dates:
05/12-Aubrey and Savanna's birthday lunch
05/13- Firehouse sub Lunch
05/18- Final Scholastic book order of the year
05/30- Memorial Day (No School)
06/02- Kindergarten Graduation
06/03- Last day of school
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 02, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
Happy May Day!!! I hope everyone had a great weekend despite the unpredictable weather. It's hard to believe but we only have about 5 weeks left in the school year.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are working on week 2 in unit 9 in reading. We will be working on the long /i/ vowel sound this week. Our high frequency words are /has & play/.
Math: This week we are are finishing up our unit on counting to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's. We are also continuing our work on shapes and understanding the differences in flat and solid figures. Next week we will start working on our step up to 1st grade lessons.
Science: Hooray, our butterflies started to emerge from their chrysalis last week. We will continue to house and study our butterflies over the next few days. If the weather permits we will release them on Thursday or Friday.
Social Studies: This month we will be celebrating and honoring Asian and Pacific heritage month. We will learn about retired olympian Michelle Kwan this week.
Religion: This week our bible story will be about Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Our lesson and discussion will focus on what it means to be faithful and trusting in the word of the Lord.
Other Items
⦁ If you have not paid your students cap and gown fee ($21.00) please do so ASAP. If you have questions or concerns please let me know.
⦁ I will be reaching out to the parents of my students who have summer birthdays later this week to schedule days we have available to celebrate those birthdays that happen during vacation.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
April 25, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather on Saturday.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are starting unit 9 in reading. We will be working on the long /a/ vowel sound this week. Although I introduced long vowels to students before Christmas this will be the first time we will focus on long vowel sounds in reading. I am also introducing the high frequency words /help & too/. We will learn how to use to, too and two in our reading and writing.
Math: This week we are going to jump around between topics 11 and 12. In topic 11 we will work on counting numbers in patterns of 5's and 10's to 100. Topic 12 will be our introduction to geometric shapes, in this unit we will focus on understanding the difference between flat and solid objects.
Science: Last week we saw our caterpillars form their chrysalis. This week we will continue to observe the metamorphosis. We will also spend some time studying matter in science this week.
Social Studies: This week we will be learning about some of the patriotic symbols in our country.
Religion: This week we will talk about the meaning of Galatians 5 verses 22-23 "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness." The fruits of the spirit is our school theme this year, it is also a great reminder that we just celebrated Easter and Jesus dying on the cross for us.
Other Items
⦁ The cap and gown fee of $21.00 is due on April 29th. If you have not sent in your payment please do so by Friday. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know ASAP.
⦁ Mrs. Brayton and I sent home extra clothes before Spring break so that you had an opportunity to make seasonal clothing changes and to launder anything needing to be washed. Please send a full set (including socks and underwear) back to school ASAP. Not only is this important for bathroom emergencies, but Spring brings rainy weather. I want students to be dry and comfortable throughout the day.
⦁ There will be Scholastic flyers in this week's Tuesday folders. The order will be due on 04/29. We will have one final order for the year in mid May.
Important Dates:
04/29-Slice Factory Lunch
04/29- Scholastic Book Order
04/29- Cap and Gown Fee Due
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
April 18, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter break.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are finishing up unit 8 with a review week. Instead of working on new letter sounds and high frequency words we will work on letter sounds and high frequency words we have previously worked on from units 7 and 8. As of last week we completed 30 high frequency words. I am including a list of the words we have covered and will cover through the rest of the year. Having students practice the words is good practice.
Math: This week we will work on several lessons in unit 10. This unit builds student fluency with adding numbers starting at 10 and equaling the sums of 18, 19 & 20.
Science: This week we continue to study our caterpillars as they complete their metamorphosis into butterflies. Friday 04/22 is Earth Day, so we will learn about the importance of recycling and other ways to protect our Earth.
Religion: This week we will read about Jonah and learn how he tried not listening to the message God had for him. We will also learn that God can show forgiveness for everyone.
Other Items
⦁ Last week I emailed everyone with information about the senior kindergarten graduation. Just a reminder that the fee for the cap and gown is $21.00 and is due by 04/29. If you have any questions and/or concerns please let me know.
⦁ Mrs. Brayton and I sent home extra clothes before Spring break so that you had an opportunity to make seasonal clothing changes and to launder anything needing to be washed. Please send a full set (including socks and underwear) back to school ASAP. Not only is this important for bathroom emergencies, but Spring brings rainy weather. I want students to be dry and comfortable throughout the day.
⦁ On Tuesday 04/18 Ms. Hickey (our school social worker) will be teaching a lesson to kindergarten focusing on Erin's Law. Erin's Law (Illinois Public Act 097-1147) requires schools to provide child sexual abuse prevention education for children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Of course this lesson will be age approriate and worded in language young learners understand.
⦁ There will be Scholastic flyers in this week's Tuesday folders. The order will be due on 04/29. We will have one final order for the year in mid May.
Important Dates:
04/22-Slice Factory Lunch
04/29- Scholastic Book Order
04/29- Cap and Gown Fee Due
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
April 11, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
Happy Holy Week!!! I hope everyone had a great weekend. This week we will celebrate Holy Week through stories, art and fellowship daily. Students will learn how in just a few days people went from praising Jesus with Hosanna, Hosanna, to cries of crucify him. We will also hear the good news that he rose again after the 3rd day, Easter is a glorious time.
Kindergaten Quote of the Week: Anonymous interaction between two students. 1st student: Have you seen the gas prices? 2nd student: I don't know what your talking about. (LOL) I love their conversations.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are working on week 2 in unit 8. Our focus letters this week are (y & z) and our high frequency words are /this & what/. We will also work on reading and writing an Easter theme.
Math: This week we are finishing topic 9 and will continue to work in topic 10 (composing and decomposing numbers 11-19). We will work on adding numbers starting at 10 and practicing counting groups starting at 10.
Social Studies: This week we are practicing writing and memorizing phone numbers. If you did not send back the phone sheet that came home in folders a few weeks ago, please send it back ASAP.
Science: This week as we continue to study the signs of Spring, we will be learning about the lifecycle of a butterfly. We have caterpillars in our class that we will watch and study as they complete the metamorphosis and change into butterflies. Once our butterflies emerge we will release them. We will have several lessons on this miracle of nature over the next few weeks.
Religion: In addition to the stories, crafts and fellowship I mentioned earlier this week we will complete our lent journals. This week our big idea is "ways to pray". We will use the following questions to help us find ways to incorporate praying into our daily lives.
⦁ This is where I pray to Jesus at home
⦁ This is where I pray to Jesus at school
⦁ I pray to Jesus about
Other Items
⦁ Last week I emailed everyone with information about the senior kindergarten graduation. Just a reminder that the fee for the cap and gown is $21.00 and is due by 04/30. If you have any questions and/or concerns please let me know.
⦁ Mrs. Brayton and I sent home extra clothes before Spring break so that you had an opportunity to make seasonal clothing changes and to launder anything needing to be washed. Please send a full set (including socks and underwear) back to school ASAP. Not only is this important for bathroom emergencies, but the Spring brings rainy weather. I want students to be dry and comfortable throughout the day.
⦁ On Tuesday 04/18 Ms. Hickey (our school social worker) will be teaching a lesson to kindergarten focusing on Erin's Law. Erin's Law (Illinois Public Act 097-1147) requires schools to provide child sexual abuse prevention education for children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Of course this lesson will be age approriate and worded in language young learners understand.
Important Dates:
04/11-04/14- Holy Week
04/14-Kindergarten Easter Celebration
04/15- Good Friday (No School)
04/18- Easter Monday (No School)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
April 04, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
I hope everyone had a great week despite the weather (if you stayed in town). We move into the final weeks of school (WOW) and it will be full speed ahead with fun and learning.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are starting unit 8 in reading. Our letters of the week are /J & Qu/, we will also focus on the high frequency words /here & me/. Before we left for break we started working on grammar activities. This includes recognizing when sentences don't begin with a captial letter, end with a period and other errors. I will be incorporating these activities into our weekly reading/language arts sessions along with more writing and spelling activities. We will also continue to work on the phonics and phomenmic activities that have been a part of our learning throughout the year.
Math: This week we are starting Topic 9 (Counting Numbers 9 to 20). This topic covers writing, reading and using larger numbers to add, subtract and reason. Throughout these last weeks of school, we will also move throughout the book to ensure we cover as many areas as possible before the end of the year. I will combine some of the easier units (like number writing with units that include more fluency and support in areas like addition and subtraction).
Social Studies: This week we are learning about the pledge of alligiance. We will learn that a pledge is a promise and the reasons many Americans recite the pledge of alligiance.
Science: This week we will continue to look for signs of Spring. If weather permits we will do a Spring walk around the building to see some of these changes up close.
Religion: This week we will continue to work in our lent journals. This week our big idea is ways to thank God. We will use the following questions to help us find ways to incorporate being thankful into our lives every day.
⦁ This is what I am thankful for at home
⦁ This is what I am thankful for at school
⦁ I think Jesus was thankful for:
We will also continue to have a daily lent devotion each morning as a part of our morning prayer.
Important Dates:
04/11-04/14- Holy Week
04/14-Kindergarten Easter Celebration
04/15- Good Friday (No School)
04/18- Easter Monday (No School)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 21, 2022
Hello Kindergarten Friends and Families,
Happy first day of Spring!!! I hope you had a great weekend and found a bit of time to enjoy family and our ever changing weather. This is our last week before Spring break, so I am hoping to get a lot of reading and math activities completed this week.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are finishing up unit 7. We will focus on the letter sounds /Xx & Vv/ and the high frequency words /said & want/. We will also continue to work on our rhyming, blending and writing activities this week. I am very happy to say the I am seeing daily reading improvements in the majority of the class. The guided reading groups and the at home reading is paying off for many. Keep up the good work.
Math: This week we are finishing up Topic 8 in math. We will have a review on Tuesday and Wednesday and end the week with our unit assessment.
Social Studies: This week we are reviewing several key women who have made great accomplishments both past and present. We will end the lesson talking about and acknowledging those amazing women who live in our homes and do so many amazing things daily. We call her MOM (smile).
Science: With the arrival of Spring we are seeing a lot of changes in the weather. This week we will be looking at some of the differences we are seeing daily.
Religion: This week we will continue to work in our lent journals. This week our big idea is ways to talk to God when we are afraid. We will use the following questions to help us find ways to incorporate sharing into our lives every day.
⦁ This is how God helps me feel brave at home
⦁ This is how God helps me feel brave at school
⦁ Jesus was brave when he:
We will also continue to have a daily lent devotion each morning as a part of our morning prayer.
Other Items:
⦁ Now that many of the students are unmasked we are relearning many basic hygiene rules that were not issues when we were masked. Over the last few weeks we have discussed using our cough and sneese catchers (coughing and sneezing into elbows), unnecessary burping and why it is also inapporiate to cough and sneeze in someone's face. I am also reminding students that although some of us are not wearing masks we still need to keep distance between each other (especially at snack and lunch time). Because this is happening across the whole class, I am addressing this issue in my newsletter today. Please speak with your student about any or all of the above concerns. If I see individual students continue to participate in these actions I will reach out to you indivdually. Thanks in advance for your help!!!
Important Dates:
03/25- Slice Factory Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio for ordering information)
03/28-04/01- Spring Break
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
March 14, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope you had a great weekend. Last week was filled with fun activities for Lutheran schools week and ended with an awesome concert where all the Grace students got to honor grandparents with music and song. Senior Kindergarten did an amazing job!!! Grandparents should be receiving those letters written by the students this week. We are back to a normal routine this week.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: Amazingly even with all the festivies we were able to complete a lot of reading activities. So this week we will begin the 2nd week of unit 7. The letters we are focusing on this week are /Ww & Gg/ and our high frequency words are /they & of/. We will continue to work on reading fluency and comprehension in both small and whole group reading.
Math: This week we will continue our work in Topic 8 "More Addition and Subtraction". Our lessons this week will continue to focus on reasoning and fluency.
Social Studies: This week we are learning more about Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Last week we began practicing writing our addresses. This will continue throughout the remainder of the school year. In this week's folder I will have an information form for phone numbers. I am hoping to begin working on those before Spring Break.
Science: As we move closer to the beginning of Spring (it officially begins on March 20th) we will focus on new life and rebirth (also a theme we are looking at for lent). This week we are learning about animals who hatch from eggs.
Religion: This week we will continue to work in our lent journals. Last week our big idea was helping others. This week our big idea is sharing. We will use the following questions to help us find ways to incorporate sharing into our lives every day.
⦁ How can we practice sharing at home
⦁ How can we practice sharing at school
⦁ How did Jesus practice sharing in his life
We will also continue to have a daily lent devotion each morning as a part of our morning prayer.
Important Dates:
03/18- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio for ordering information)
03/28-04/01- Spring Break
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
March 08, 2022,
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was great to speak with you at conferences on Thursday. This week we are celebrating Lutheran Schools Week with a lot of fun activities for students and ending with a virtual Grandparents Day concert. We are also going to be writing special letters to grandparents this week. Please use this link to complete mailing information for grandparents. If you could complete this form and return it by Monday 03/07 it would be great.
https://forms.gle/HZ7utegT3fisFNC78
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This week we are starting unit 7 in reading. We will focus on the letter /Uu/ and high frequency words /for & have/. Because of the activities scheduled for Lutheran schools week we may need to modify lesson times this week. Our lessons this week will continue into next week.
Math: This week we will continue our work in Topic 8 "More Addition and Subtraction". Our lessons this week will continue to focus on reasoning and fluency.
Social Studies: This week we are learning more about Vice President Kamala Harris. We will also begin practicing learning and writing our addresses.
Religion: Last Wednesday we begin the season of Lent. As a class we learned how Lent is a season for reflection, growth and rebirth. In kindergarten we are working on ways to reach out to others with kindness and how to continue to be our best selves. As we move into our 1st full week of Lent we are starting lent journals. The journals cover 5 weeks and the lessons focus on helping others, sharing, kindness, talking to God when we are afraid, thanking God and praying. We will work on a page each week during religion and answer the following questions with words and pictures
⦁ How can we practice this lesson at home
⦁ How can we practice this lesson at school
⦁ How did Jesus practice this lesson in his life
In addition to the journals we will have a daily devotion for each day of Lent. The book I am using is called 40 days of devotions for children. I am including a copy of the book for each family in this week's Tuesday folders. I am hoping that you can reiterate the daily themes at home and continue to read the devotions on weekends or any days we are not in school. I also hope the devotions can provide families a way to share a complex subject with young learners.
Other Items:
⦁ During conferences I spoke to you about the discussions we had last week about masks becoming optional beginning on Monday. We begin each of our school days last week with a discussion on why some families may continue to wear masks and why some families may choice to not wear them. My words to kindergarten included the message that this was a choice and did not include a right or wrong decision. I also told my kinder-babies that our classroom is a safe space for everyone and there would be zero tolerance for anyone who are talking to others about their families choice in negative ways. Please talk to your student over the weekend about the coming week and reiterate our dicussions at school. My parting words to my kiddos were that we will be the same people on Monday who left on Thursday. The only difference will be some of us will continue to wear a mask and some will not. Thanks in advance for your support!!!
⦁ Lutheran Schools Week also leads to our Graceful Evening Event on Saturday 03/12 and students will be particpanting in a class coin collection to support our fund-a-need initiative. Each class has a jar that we will be filling with coins daily. At the end of the week the class who collects the most money will get a special treat next week. I am attching the flyer that provides all the information.
mportant Dates:
03/07-03/11- Lutheran School's Week (the information flyer was in last week's Tuesday folder)
03/11- School Dismisses at 11:30
03/12 Graceful Evening (hope to see you there)
03/18- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio for ordering information)
03/28-04/01- Spring Break
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
February 28, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I am looking forward to speaking to everyone at conferences on Thursday.
Highlights of our Week: .
Reading: This 3rd week of unit 6 will be a review week. Instead of introducing new letter sounds and high frequency words we will revisit the the letters /E,F & H/ and concentrate on the words /with,he is, little, my, she,was/. We will also read several high frequency word stories this week that we missed over the last few weeks due to days off or celebrations. Last week we restarted small group afternoon reading . As I explained before, these groups are based on simlar reading levels and skills. I will meet with each group once a week and focus on reading fluency and comprehension.
Math: This week we will continue our work in Topic 8 "More Addition and Subtraction". Our lessons this week focus on understanding the concept of related facts, reasoning and problem solving.
Social Studies: This week we are studying the life and legacy of Rosa Parks.
Science: National children's dental awareness month is in February, so this week in science we will be learning about good dental hygiene with Dr. Rabbit and the tooth defenders. This is a program sponsored by Colgate and designed to engage and educate young children on the importance of eating healthy foods, practcing good dental hygiene and visiting their dentist.
Religion: Last week we finished our final dicussion on the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Students also completed their indiviual Lord's Prayer books. They will come home in this week's Tuesday folder. Our final assignment on this lesson will be this week. We are decorating Lord's Prayer posters and each student will recite the prayer to me verbally this week. We say the Lord's Prayer daily as a part of our morning devotions as a class.
Other Items:
⦁ OOPS!!! Last week I told you I was sending home a form for you to complete student address and phone information. I realized after sending them home that I only copied the address side. Sorry, for any confusion that caused. We will begin working on addresses next week ( I am still missing a few, please send them back ASAP). After we work on address information we will work on phone numbers, so I will send that form out in a few weeks.
⦁ I totally understand that life gets in the way of things and Tuesday folders do not take priority in our lives. However, if you could just remember to remove any items on Tuesday night and return the folders it would be a tremendous help to me.
⦁ Special thank you's to all the parents who sent in extra money so everyone could have chips and lemonade at the 4th grade fund-raiser last week. It was a huge success and over $200.00 was raised to help a family.
⦁ Thank you for all your contributions to the Senior Kindergarten Graceful Evening book crate. The kiddos did a great job painting it, and Kudos to Peter and Sabrina Maggio for putting it together. What are great auction item!!!
Important Dates:
03/03- School Dismisses at 11:30 (parent -teacher conferences)
03/04- No School (teacher's professional development day)
03/07-03/11- Lutheran School's Week (the information flyer was in last week's Tuesday folder)
03/11- School Dimisses at 11:30
03/12 Graceful Evening (hope to see you there)
03/28-04/01- Spring Break
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
February 21, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed the extra day off.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are moving into the 2nd week of unit 6. This week we are focusing on the letter /k/. We will concentrate not only on /k/ as a begining sound but also words that end with /ck/. We will also learn how to tell when you use the letter c or k and when to use the ck ending.
Math: This week we will begin topic 8 in math. The unit is called more addition and subtraction. This unit will provide students with more practice in both concepts. It also provides activities to help students understand what words help them know when to add or subtract with word problems.
Social Studies: Last week we spent some time learning about the origin of Presidents' day, and learning about both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This week we will learn more about our 16th president of the United States.
Religion: This week we are finishing up our study on the Lord's prayer and complete our prayer books. Next week we will have a review of the whole prayer, this will include having students say the prayer to me.
Other Items:
⦁ Next week we will start working on learning our addresses and phone numbers. This is an on-going activity that some students will learn quickly and others will need time to master. Students will learn at the pace that is best for them indvidually. Because we live in the age of the cell-phone, there are often several phone numbers associated with each student. In this week's Tuesday folder you will find a form for address and phone information. If you could print out your address and phone number you want your student to concentrate on for our lessons it would be great. If possible I would like to get these forms back by the end of the week.
Important Dates:
02/25- Slice Factory Pizza Lunch (check with Mrs. Maggio about ordering)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
February 14, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. It is hard to believe that we have been in school for over 100 days. Last week we did a lot of celebrating with our 100th day of school celebration and early Valentine's day party. We will start the week with a bit more Valentine's day festivities and then get back into our normal routine. Thanks to parents who hosted Friday's party and everyone who contributed. I am including a really cute picture of our 100th day celebration.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we will begin unit 6 in reading. This week we are focusing on letters /Bb/ & / Ll/, and our high frequency words this week are /is & little/. Now that I have completed winter assessments we will begin afternoon reading groups again later this week. Students will be grouped with other students who have similar skill and reading levels. This will give me time to work on more specific learning opportunities with students. I will meet with each group once a week. We will also continue to have our morning mixed skill reading groups on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and whole group reading on Wednesday and Friday's.
Math: This week we will be finishing our lessons on subtraction. We will have a review of the materials covered in the unit on Tuesday and Wednesday and our assessment will be on Thursday and Friday. Both addition and subtraction are subjects we will continue to practice through the year in addition to other math concepts.
Science: This week we will complete our penguin fact books. It has been fun learning about penguins. It has also been great to see how concerned the students are about endangered animals. These guys are going to do some great things to help make our world stronger!!!
Religion: This week we will be learning and discuss another petition of the Lord's Prayer "And lead us not into tempatation, but deliver us from evil".
Other Items:
⦁ Although had our party last week, we still have some fun planned for tomorrow. We will have a pizza lunch tomorrrow, a special art project and popcorn with a cartoon. Students will not need to bring lunch tomorrow unless they don't like pizza or have dietary restrictions. Audbrey and Savanna's mother's have been kind enough to donate popcorn for our cartoon. Thanks so much!!!
⦁ Unfortunately I am sad to report we are still having a lot of incidents where students are playing rough and using unkind words. I have spoken to the class about our actions and explained that if it continues there will be class and individual consequences for our actions. This could include things like losing time at recess, losing time during special classes (library and P.E.), classroom game time and even visits to Mr. Koehne. Please continue to speak with your child about things like physical interactions and unkind words.
Important Dates:
02/21- President's Day- No School
02/25- Slice Factory Pizza Lunch (check with Mrs. Maggio about ordering)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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February 07, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed warm and dry. This week is a celebration week in Senior Kindergarten, we will be celebrating 100 days of school and having our Valentine's day party this week. I an including details in the other sections of this week's newsletter.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are working on week 3 in unit 5. This week we are focusing on letters /Ff & Rr/, and our high frequency words are /he & with/. We will also do some reading and writing activites with 100 days of school and valentines day themes.
Math: This week we will continued to work on our subtraction. Our lessons will include using the minus (-) sign and understanding the order of operation for subtraction equations. On Thursday our math lesson will focus on counting to 100 in a variety of ways. This will include counting to 100 usings pennies, counting by 10's and skip counting by 2's.
Social Studies: In kindergarten we learn about people in history throughout the year, but I always use official designated times to focus on important events and indivduals who have made an impact on our world. During the month of February we will learn about several African-American men and women who's stories have inspired others throughout American history. One of those people is "Henry Box Brown" his story is told in a book named "Henry's Freedom Box. This book won the Caldecott award in 2008. It tells the true story of a man who escapes slavery through the underground railroad, and the central message tells how Henry risks everything to show what is right.
Science: In science this week our science experiment will focus on the conversation hearts candy that are so popular during valentines day. We will make predictions on whether the hearts sink or float in different types of liquids and then record our observations by drawing what we see.
Religion: This week we will be learning and discuss another petition of the Lord's Prayer "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." This was actually last week's lesson that we didn't get to because of the snowday.
Other Items:
⦁ The 100th day of school is a HUGE milestone in senior kindergarten. During our 1st 100 days we have learned so many things both academcially and socially. To celebrate this event (Thursday 02/10) we will be focusing on counting, writing and creating projects to celebrate. Traditionally each kindergarten student would bring in 100 pieces of some edible food that we would first count them mix together for a special trail mix type of snack. Unfortunately, this is another thing that Covid has put a halt to. So instead, as I mentioned earlier, we will count pennies. Mrs. Brayton has very generously donated enough rolls of pennies to our class so that each student will have 100 to count (Mrs. Brayton is AWESOME)!!! After counting them, students will decorate boxes with 100th day stickers to hold the pennies and bring them home. I was hoping to have banks for students to put their coins in but there was a shipping delay. Although we can't do the class snack, a few parents have asked if they can still send in a special treat to share (for example one parent send in dum-dum lollipops for students to share). If you would like to send in a wrapped treat that students can bring home in their special 100 day treat boxes, it would be great, but optional. (FYI the original date changed by 1 day because of the snowday.)
⦁ On Friday we will be celebrating Valentine's Day in Senior Kindergarten. I know it is a bit early but I think it is a great way to end our week. Students can bring in valentines for their friends (they need to bring one for each student). These treats will come home in treat boxes. After lunch students will have games and crafts with the party chaperones. I believe one of our room parents Sabrina Maggio sent you information about the treats that we will have for the party.
⦁ On Monday which is actually Valentine's Day, I am hosting a pizza party for students. We will also have a Valentine's day art project and possibly a cartoon and popcorn. The pizza will be cheese and come from Dominos. Unless your student does not eat or has other dietary restrictions you will not need to send a lunch on Monday 2/14.
⦁ Last week several students did not have snowpants, boots and other outside accessories for outdoor play . Please make sure your student has everyting needed to play outside. When the snow is high students can not play in snow without these items.
Important Dates:
02/10- 100th day Celebration
02/11- Firehouse sub sandwich lunch (check with Mrs. Maggio for ordering details)
02/11- Valentine's Day Party for Senior Kindergarten
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
January 31, 2022,
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and families. I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are working on week 2 in unit 5. Our focus letter this week will be /Ee/ and our high frequency word is /are/. I am close to completing the winter reading assessments for students and will be reorganzing afternoon reading groups by students with the same of similar reading levels.
Math: Last week we completed our assessment practice on our unit in addition. Most students have a solid understanding of beginning addition concepts and practices, but there are still a few areas where we need some additional practice. We will begin our topic on subtraction this week, but continue working on addition concepts like patterns in addition and finding the missing addend.
Social Studies: This week we are learning about Chinese New Year.
Science: In science this week we will add more facts to our penguin books and find out if the groundhog will see his shadow.
Religion: This week we will be learning and discuss another petition of the Lord's Prayer "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Other Items:
⦁ Henry Baptist is celebrating a Birthday on Wednesday 2/2 and the Baptist family would like to buy senior kindergarten students lunch to help him celebrate. Mrs. Baptist will be ordering a turkey sub and chips for students from Jimmy Johns. Please let Sabrina Maggio know if your child will be participating in the lunch by Monday, so the order can be placed. If you child is not having the birthday lunch they will need to bring lunch like they would normally. There will also be cupcakes for dessert. If you have any additonal questions please contact Mrs. Baptist directly at 618-529-7356. Thanks Baptist Family!!!
⦁ If you have not sent in extra clothes for your student please do so ASAP!!! With the changes in weather, outside play often results in wet clothes (even with winter gear) and discomfort. I have some spare things in the class but not enough and I really prefer students to wear their own things. Please make sure the set includes socks and underwear.
⦁ Now that winter is here it is important that we have all the things we need to be comfortable during recess. Kindergarten students go outside whenever the weather is 25 degrees and above. Please make sure your student has hats, gloves/mittens, boots and snow pants daily. These items will help them feel comfortable and be able to particpate in all winter play. If possible, waterproof gloves/mittens are great for outside play.
⦁ Over the last few weeks Kindergarten has struggled in P.E. with games that include tag and other activities that involved winning/losing and physical contact. I have asked our P.E. teacher Mr. True to let our class take a hiatus from these games for a while and focus on games that encourage team and skill building. I think this will help bring more enjoyment into our physical education times.
⦁ On February 9th Senior Kindergarten will be celebrating the 100th day of school (WOW!!! time flies). We will do a lot of counting, sorting and writing about the first 100 days we have spent together. Normally each student would bring in 100 pieces of something to count and to add to our special senior kindergarten trail mix. However due to covid we need to find another activity. Each student will get 100 pennies to count and sort. If you would like to send in a wrapped treat that students can bring home in their special 100 day treat boxes, it would be great.
Important Dates:
02/02- Jimmy John's Birthday lunch for Henry Baptist
02/09- 100th day Celebration
02/11- Valentine's Day Party for Senior Kindergarten
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
January 24, 2022,
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great week and stayed warm and safe. In this week's Tuesday folder I am including the high frequency word assessment students took last week. This will provide you with some insight into words students need to practice at home.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are starting unit 5 in our Wonders reading curriclum. This is the half way point in our reading series and marks the start of our reading lessons starting to focus on preparing students for the challenges of 1st grade. As I mentioned a few weeks ago we will soon begin focusing on several letters and/or high frequency words each week, and begin to add more comprehension and writing components to our activities. Please ensure that students are reading the stories that are coming home and practicing high frequency words. This builds on fluency and helps increase comprehension skills. If you have any questions and/or concerns please let me know.
Math: This week we will be finishing up our unit on addition. Although I am seeing a basic understanding of addition and equations in most of the class, we all need to continue to work on understanding many components of addition. This includes being able to understand missing components from equations (i.e. 3 + ____ = 8), patterns in equations and the cummulative property of addition. These are important factors that we need to work on before moving into our next Topic "Subtraction". This week before our assessment we will work on a few days of reteach activities and enrichment practices.
Social Studies: This week are are discussing being unique, fairness, respect and kindness. Although we studied many of these things last week when learning about Dr. King, I believe there is a wealth of information in these topics that are benefical to our class. We are still struggling with many of these issues in class and I want to take some time now that the holiday season if behind us and focus on how we can support and help each other.
Science: Over the next few weeks Senior Kindergarten will be learning about penguins. We will be studying these cute and interesting birds and putting together books that include many unknown facts about different types of penguins.
Religion: This week we will be learning and discuss another petition of the Lord's Prayer "Give us this day our Daily Bread".
Other Items:
⦁ Last week I asked one of our room parents (Sabrina Maggio) to reach out to you about the possiblity of having a Senior Kindergarten graduation ceremony this year. Last year was the first year we had one and I wanted to get your input before making a decision about continuing the tradition. It seems that most families are in favor of having it, so I wanted to provide you with some details before begining any preparations. 1st I need you to know that if we go the gown and cap route (like we did last year) the cost was about $20.00-25 dollars per student. This includes the cap, gown and tassel set that will be yours to keep. 2nd the ceremony is short probably around 15 to 20 minutes. Please let Sabrina know if this changes anyone's decision. Otherwise I will begin making preparations and let you know when we need to order (I do it early) probably middle to late March.
⦁ SCHOLASTIC IS BACK!!! During the Christmas break I received notice from scholastic books that they were back on their normal delivery schedule (7 to 10 days after the orders are received), but I wanted to make sure before I offered any ordering opportunities to parents. Last week Mrs. Brayton and I placed a test order and I got notice yesterday that it was shipping. I am overjoyed, because scholastic offers so many inexpensive books for young readers. I will be placing an order next Friday 01/28 that should arrive in time for Valentine's Day, President's Day and Black History Month. The flyers will be in this week's Tuesday folders.
⦁ Last week I put overdue library book notices in the the folders of several students. Please make every attempt to find any overdue books and send them back to school. After speaking to Mrs. Bramwell about the number of outstanding books Senior Kinderarten has out I am suggesting that students who have more than 4 outstanding books not be able to check out anymore until past due books are returned. Thanks in advance for your support.
⦁ If you have not sent in extra clothes for your student please do so ASAP!!! With the changes in weather, outside play often results in wet clothes (even with winter gear) and discomfort. I have some spare things in the class but not enough and I really prefer students to wear their own things. Please make sure the set includes socks and underwear.
⦁ Now that winter is here it is important that we have all the things we need to be comfortable during recess. Kindergarten students go outside whenever the weather is 25 degrees and above. Please make sure your student has hats, gloves/mittens, boots and snowpants daily. These items will help them feel comfortable and be able to particpate in all winter play. If possible, waterproof gloves/mittens are great for outside play.
Important Dates:
01/28- Slice Factory Pizza (please contact Mrs.Maggio about ordering)
01/28- Scholastic Book Order due by (5:00 P.M.)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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January 17, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great week and are staying safe.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we will finish up unit 4 in our reading program with a review. Instead of a new letter and high frequency word we will review the letters /i,n & c/. We will also review all 12 of the high frequency words we have covered this year. The high frequency word assessment will come home next week and provide you will some insight on words your student may need extra help with at home. In the coming weeks we will have some weeks were we cover 2 letter and/or 2 high frequency words weekly, as we begin to move into more first grade readiness activities and practices.
Math: This week we will continue to work on lessons in Topic 6 of our math books "Understanding Addition". In addition to learning how to solve basic equations we are learning how to write equations and to understand how 2 parts equal the sum.
Social Studies: Last Friday we worked on an art project that reflected the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This week we will learn about his life and his work. We will watch a video with a small segement of his "I Have a Dream Speech".
Religion: This week will be learning and discuss another petition of the Lord's Prayer "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven".
Other Items:
⦁ Please make sure your child's mask is well fitting and that they have at least one extra mask daily. With the continued surge in covid cases I want to ensure we are doing everything possible to keep each other safe in our classroom. We will also continue to practice social distancing and good hand hygiene frequently.
⦁ Before leaving for break, students brought home extra clothes so they could be switched out to match the season. Please send back a full set of clothes (including socks and underwear) with your child tomorrow.
⦁ Now that winter is here it is important that we have all the things we need to be comfortable during recess. Kindergarten students go outside whenever the weather is 25 degrees and above. Please make sure your student has hats, gloves/mittens, boots and snowpants daily. These items will help them feel comfortable and be able to particpate in all winter play. If possible, waterproof gloves/mittens are great for outside play.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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January 10, 2022
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
Happy New Year and Welcome Back!!! I hope everyone had a great holiday and spent time with family relaxing. It was great to be off, but I am SO excited to be back with my kinder-babies reconnecting, sharing and learning. Thanks for all the joy you added to my Christmas, the class monetary gift, cards, and other individual gifts were amazing. I can't express how much gratitude I feel.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: We will start getting back into our pre-holiday routines this week. We will focus on the letter /Dd/ and high frequency word /do/. We will also refocus our efforts on blending, segmentation, phonics and phonemic awareness activities. Over the next few weeks I will be working with each student individually on winter reading assessments. These assessments help me chart reading progress and structure reading group activities that are beneficial to students at all reading levels.
Math: Before the break we started our unit in addition. We will continue working on those lessons this week. In addition to the work in our math books, we will have other reteach and enrichment activities to help students learn the mechanics, structure and language of addition. These things help students understand the concepts of addition beyond basic equations and will be benefical in their comprehension of word problems and other components.
Social Studies: Although New Year's day has passed we will still spend time this week reflecting on New Year's traditions and how they are celebrated around the world.
Science: This week we will be learning about hibernating animals.
Religion: The most powerful and important prayer for Christians around the world is the Lord's Prayer. The words that Jesus taught his disciples and asked them to share with others has been a beacon in the lives of many. In Kindergarten I believe it is important for students to not only know the words, but also understand why we say them. Starting this week we will learn and discuss each petition of of the Lord's Prayer. It is my hope that these lessons help students understand they always have the words to talk to God.
Other Items:
⦁ Please make sure your child's mask is well fitting and they have at least one extra mask daily. With the continued surge in covid cases I want to ensure we are doing everything possible to keep each other safe in our classroom. We will also continue to practice social distancing and good hand hygiene frequently.
⦁ Before leaving for break students brought home extra clothes so they could be switched out to match the season. Please send back a full set of clothes (including socks and underwear) with your child tomorrow.
⦁ Now that winter is here it is important that we have all the things we need to be comfortable during recess. Kindergarten students go outside whenever the weather is 25 degrees and above. Please make sure your student has hats, gloves/mittens, boots and snowpants daily. These items will help them feel comfortable and be able to particpate in all winter play. If possible, waterproof gloves/mittens are great for outside play.
⦁ Please know that ANY concerns you have about our class are important to me. Never hesitate to contact me about any issues or concerns.
Important Dates:
01/14- Firehouse Sub Lunch (please contact Mrs.Maggio about ordering)
01/17- Dr. Martin Luther King Day (no school)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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December 20, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I hope you enjoyed the early childhood Christmas pageant. The students worked really hard and were very proud of themselves. Thank you for all your support. I also want to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas. God's blessings to you and your family during this holiday season.
Highlights of our Week:
During this short week we will work on art projects and finish up Christmas gifts. We will also continue to learn how the holiday season is celebrated around the world and within other communities. We will of course celebrate the last week of advent together. The theme this week is Peace.
Other Items:
⦁ On Wednesday our room parents have arranged for students to have a pizza lunch. I believe the pizza will come from Dominos and will be cheese. Unless your child has special dietary needs or does not eat pizza, students will not need to bring a lunch on Wednesday.
⦁ I am having students bring home everything from their lockers on Tuesday. This will be a good opportunity for you to look at students extra clothes and masks and make any changes for the winter. Please send extra clothes and masks back to school with students in January.
Important Dates:
12/22- Pizza Lunch
12/22- Senior Kindergarten Christmas Party
12/23-01/07- Christmas Vacation
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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December 13, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Our excitment is growing more and more each day, we can't wait to share our telling of the Christmas story with you on Friday. Just a reminder that the program begins at 10:45 and will be in fellowship hall (not the gym as originally planned).
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week because of the daily rehersals and preparation for our pageant I am not introducing any new letters or high frequency words. Instead this week and Monday-Wednesday of next week we will review all the high frequency words and practice writing, blending, and rhyming using a Christmas theme. We will get back to a regular routine after the holiday season.
Math: This week we will begin Topic 6 (addition) but we will also incorporate other Christmas themed math.
Social Studies: This week we will continue to learn how people around the world celebrate the holiday season. We will also have a short lesson on the ways some animals survive winter.
Religion: This week we are celebrating the 3rd week in Advent. This week's theme is Joy. It is a joy for me to hear the students talk about ways they can carry the spirit of Advent around with them each week and share those lessons with others.
Other Items:
⦁ After the Pageant students will be heading back to the classroom to take off costumes and get ready for lunch. If you have planned to take your student home early that day please let me know ASAP, so that Mrs. Brayton and I can make arrangments to dismiss your child.
⦁ Fellowhip hall will be very crowded with family and friends for the performance. For safety reasons we are asking that you don't take students off the stage for pictures and other inteactions after the pageant. We need to ensure that all students are accounted for and get back to the classroom.
⦁ I am attaching a list that includes each students role in the pageant and the prefered colors we would like to see them wear under their costume. If you don't have these colors or items PLEASE don't go out and purchase them. We will make adjustments if we need to. Also if I could have all the Angels wear their hair up in a bun it would be great. Mary just needs to wear her hair in a ponytail. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
⦁ Please make sure your student brings at least one extra mask to school each day. Mrs. Brayton and I only have a limited amount of backup masks for emergencies and lately we have needed to supply many students with one or more each day.
Important Dates:
12/17- Early Childhood Christmas Pageant @ 10:45
12/17- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio with questions and/or concerns)
12/22- Senior Kindergarten Christmas Party
12/23-01/07- Christmas Vacation
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
______________________________________________________________--__________________________________________________
December 06, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to adjust to the changes in the weather. We are busy preparing for our Christmas pageant in school and we are very excited. Please invite Grandparents and other family to join us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior with songs, actions and words.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are starting unit 4 in reading. Our letter of the week is /Oo/ and our high frequency word is /you/. Last week's story will not be in this week's Tuesday folder. I would like students to practice reading the story a few more times before sending it home. We will also work on Christmas writing, blending and rhyming.
Math: Last week we completed all the lessons in Topic 5. This week we will have a review and assessment before moving into the next Topic.
Social Studies: This week we are learning how the holiday season is celebrated in other countries.
Science: We will continue our study of motion this week. This week our focus is on changes in movment and the cause and effect of those changes.
Religion: This week we are celebrating the 2nd week in Advent. This week's theme is Love. In this week's Tuesday folder you will find an Advent Coloring book and an Activity book. These are meant to help your student continue to celebrate the season at home and share these messages with family and friends. I hope the kids have fun with them.
Other Items:
⦁ I am attaching a list that includes each students role in the pageant and the prefered colors we would like to see them wear under their costume. If you don;t have these colors or items PLEASE don't go out and purchase them. We will make adjustments if we need to. Also if I could have all the Angels wear their hair up in a bun it would be great. Mary just needs to wear her hair in a ponytail. Please let me know you have any questions or concerns.
⦁ Please make sure your student brings at least one extra mask to school each day. Mrs. Brayton and I only have a limited amount of backup masks for emergencies and lately we have needed to supply many students with one or more each day.
⦁ Last week you should have received a flyer for the Book Fair. This is a great opportunity to purchase books and other things for Christmas. Students will also visit the fair during the week and make a wishlist. I will send those home for you to see. Purchases can be made in person or through the site Mrs. Bramwell set up.
Important Dates:
12/17- Early Childhood Christmas Pageant @ 10:45
12/17- FireHouse Sub Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio with questions and/or concerns)
12/22- Senior Kindergarten Christmas Party
12/23-01/07- Christmas Vacation
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
_________________________________________-_____________________________________________________-_______
November 29, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and had time to enjoy family and friends. I want to thank you for the awesome birthday gifts. The gift cards, flowers, and other gifts were AWESOME!!! My kinder babies showered me with so much love. I can’t express how appreciative I felt. I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. THANKS AGAIN.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are back to our routine as we move into week 3 in chapter 3 in our reading series. Our letter of the week is /Cc/ and our high frequency word is /go/. We will also continue to work on blending, segmentation and writing activities as a whole group and in smaller groups based on skill levels. Please continue to have your students read to you and practice high frequency words at home.
Math: This week we begin Topic 5 Count and Classify Data. This is a short topic, but it prepares younger learners to look at numbers and understand how we can relate them to models like tally marks, charts and graphs. The topic also prepares students for our units on addition and subtraction. I know that I have several students who are already working on higher levels of math independently, but today’s math also looks for students to understand the concepts and mechanics of these applications. These lessons help students relate equations to math stories and other ways to approach learning.
Social Studies: This week we are learning about Wants and Needs. This is an important lesson for students to learn as we move into the Holiday season.
Science: This week we will learn more about motion. This is a topic we started a few weeks ago.
Religion: On Wednesday we officially begin the season of Advent. In Senior Kindergarten we celebrate the season in a variety of ways, but one of my favorites is the Jesse Tree. This is a way of preparing for Advent by learning about the family tree of Jesus. The story begins with creation and ends with the birth of baby Jesus. We have the Jesse tree outside of our classroom that is decorated with ornaments that tell the story. Each day we will uncover an ornament and hear a part of the story. It is a great way to help students learn the “reason for the season”. We will also have a weekly lesson on the meaning of what each week in Advent represents.
Other Items:
Our Kindergarten Friendsgiving Feast was a huge success. Thank you for your contributions. Special thank you to Mrs. Harris-Rosenberg (Walker’s mom) for the treat bags and the additional Thanksgiving crafts and games.
Over the next few weeks, we will be doing a lot of rehearsing and preparation for our Christmas Pageant. The Pageant is scheduled for December 17th at 10:45. The program is short (only about 20 minutes) but the students do a wonderful job of telling the story. We are looking forward to sharing this experience with you. Students will be wearing costumes, but I will be asking parents to have students wear a certain item under their costumes. I will get you that list next week. Please let me know if you have any questions and or concerns.
Please make sure your student brings at least one extra mask to school each day. Mrs. Brayton and I only have a limited amount of backup masks for emergencies and lately we have needed to supply many students with one or more each day.
Please make sure Tuesday folders come back to school in the morning.
Important Dates:
12/3- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Contact Mrs. Maggio about ordering)
12/17- Early Childhood Christmas Pageant @ 10:45
12/22- Senior Kindergarten Christmas Party
12/23-01/07- Christmas Vacation
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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November 22, 2021,
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I want to wish everyone a great Thanksgiving this coming Thursday.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we will learn about ABC order and do some Thanksgiving writing. Since this is a short week, we will not have a new letter sound or high frequency word.
Math: Last week we completed Topic 4 in math. We also had our 1st multi-unit assessment. This assessment covered lessons from Topic 1 through 4. This week we will work on graphing and additional practice with number patterns. Next week we will begin Topic 5.
Social Studies: This week we will continue to learn about the 1st Thanksgiving.
Other Items:
Just a reminder of that our Thanksgiving feast is Tuesday. Students can begin bringing food tomorrow. I am including the list below again. We will have a lot of food on Tuesday, so students should only bring a light meal for lunch unless they have dietary restrictions.
A-B- 2 Large Cucumbers washed, sliced and sealed in a Ziploc & 1 bag of fresh raw broccoli washed.
E-H – 3 Large Apples & 3 Large Oranges sliced and sealed in a Ziploc.
L-M- 1 Large Container of Strawberries washed
N-S- 1 bag of seedless grapes
T-W- 2 Colored bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange) sliced and sealed in a Ziploc & 1 bag of washed baby carrots.
One of the ways we are working to ensure students continue to stay safe at school is to have fresh air blowing throughout the school and classrooms. This means our windows are always open. It also means that with the changing of the weather our classroom becomes chilly. I am strongly recommending that you dress your children in layers. An example of this could be a short-sleeved shirt with a long-sleeved pullover or sweater that can be easily taken off. Another option is to have your child bring a light jacket or sweater that can stay in the classroom.
Please make sure your student brings at least one extra mask to school each day. Mrs. Brayton and I only have a limited amount of backup masks for emergencies and lately we have needed to supply many students with one or more each day.
If you could make sure Tuesday folders, come back to school after the Thanksgiving break that would be great.
Lately students have been bringing toys and Pokémon cards from home. This has become a bit challenging with students. I am seeing students using these items as a way to exclude friends and foster inclusive groups. This is not the way we learn to share and collaborate in SK. I am asking that you make sure students do not bring any toys, games or cards from home unless I let you know it is okay.
Our Annual Early Childhood Christmas program is scheduled for Friday December 17th and the tentative time is 10:45. I am still working out details with the other ECE teachers and Mr. Koehne, but I wanted you to reserve the date.
Important Dates:
11/23- Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
11/24- 11/26- Thanksgiving Break
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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November 15, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are working on the 2nd week in unit 3 in reading, our letter of the week will be / Nn / and our high frequency word is /and/. We will also have several writing activities this week about Thanksgiving.
Math: This week we are finishing Topic 4. I am hoping to complete the review and begin the assessment by the end of the week and finish up next Monday. We will not begin Topic 5 until we return from Thanksgiving break.
Social Studies: This week we will be learning about the Pilgrims voyage on the Mayflower and how the Wampanoag tribe helped the early settlers survive their 1st winter in a new land.
Religion: This week we will continue to focus on having an Attitude of Gratitude. I have asked each of my kinder-babies to look for ways to show random acts of kindness to each other and at home.
Other Items:
One of the ways we are working to ensure students continue to stay safe at school is to have fresh air blowing throughout the school and classrooms. This means our windows are always open. It also means that with the changing of the weather our classroom becomes chilly. I am strongly recommending that you dress your children in layers. An example of this could be a short-sleeved shirt with a long-sleeved pullover or sweater that can be easily taken off. Another option is to have your child bring a light jacket or sweater that can stay in the classroom.
Thank you for all the support I have received encouraging our kids to show kindness. I know that together my kinder-babies will continue to grow and flourish. You Rock Parents (smile)!!!
Our Thanksgiving feast is next Tuesday. Below is the list of the items each student should bring. Students can begin bringing in the food for the feast on Monday 11/22. Please don’t send anything in before then because it will spoil. If you have any questions, please let me know ASAP. On our feast day students should only bring a really small lunch (unless they are picky eaters or have dietary restrictions). We will have a lot of food that day
Students with Last names beginning with
A-B- 2 Large Cucumbers washed, sliced and sealed in a Ziploc & 1 bag of fresh raw broccoli washed.
E-H – 3 Large Apples & 3 Large Oranges sliced and sealed in a Ziploc.
L-M- 1 Large Container of Strawberries washed
N-S- 1 bag of seedless grapes
T-W- 2 Colored bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange) sliced and sealed in a Ziploc & 1 bag of washed baby carrots.
Because the weather is changing and getting colder, starting tomorrow we will be dismissing through the garden gates instead of the playground. These gates are just to the left of the playground (we dismissed there on Friday). I will be at the black gate daily and the children will wait with Mrs. Brayton inside the PK classroom. When I see you, Mrs. Brayton will send your student out to me. This will be continued throughout winter. If there is ever any change, I will let you know.
Our Annual Early Childhood Christmas program is scheduled for Friday December 17th and the tentative time is 10:45. I am still working out details with the other ECE teachers and Mr. Koehne, but I wanted you to reserve the date.
Important Dates:
11/19- Firehouse Sub Lunch
11/23- Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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November 07, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we begin unit 3 in reading, our letter of the week will be / i / and our high frequency word is /to/. We will also continue to work on skills like rhyming, reading comprehension and writing this week.
Math: This week we are beginning Topic 4 in math (Comparing Numbers 0 to 10). Throughout this topic we will continue to focus on concepts like “part, part, whole” and greater than, less than and equal to.
Social Studies: This week we are celebrating Veterans. We will learn why we honor and celebrate our brave men and women in uniform. This week our Character Development Discussions will be on Gratitude. Please use the character development sheet in this week’s Tuesday folder to have discussions at home on this subject.
Science: This week we will learn how certain liquids can dissolve the sugar molecules in candy corn quicker than others.
Religion: This week we will include Gratitude in our lessons on being thankful. We will share things in our lives that we are grateful for and make thankful trees.
Other Items:
One of the ways we are working to ensure students continue to stay safe at school is to have fresh air blowing throughout the school and classrooms. This means our windows are always open. It also means that with the changing of the weather our classroom be chilly. I am strongly recommending that you dress your children in layers. An example of this could be a short-sleeved shirt with a long-sleeved pullover or sweater that can be easily taken off. Another option is to have your child bring a light jacket or sweater that can stay in the classroom.
We are struggling in our class with getting along and showing kindness and respect. I know that we are all still dealing with some fallouts of Covid restrictions, social distancing and other factors, however these ACTIONS CAN NOT CONTINUE!!!! I am redirecting negative behaviors daily, and it has started to affect our class both academically and socially. I am asking each of you to speak with your child about ways to respect each other, me and Mrs. Brayton. We also need to work on listening, working together and showing kindness. I understand that not everyone will be best friends, but showing kindness and respect are rules of our classroom and school. It is not an option. Normally I have these discussions at school with my class and we can resolve them, but these incidents have been unusually frequent. I will be reaching out to a few of you individually about specific behaviors that are concerning me. I will have students who continue to be disruptive, speak to Mr. Koehne.
The Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast is a yearly tradition in our class. As part of our celebration and focus on thankfulness, our class will have a feast together with some of the things we know were a part of the first Thanksgiving celebration. Each student will bring in a fruit or vegetable for our feast along with other items Mrs. Brayton and I will bring in. The feast will be on Tuesday 11/23. I will send out the list of items students should bring in either later in the week or in my next newsletter.
Our Annual Early Childhood Christmas program is scheduled for Friday December 17th and the tentative time is 10:45. I am still working out details with the other ECE teachers and Mr. Koehne, but I wanted you to reserve the date.
Next Friday 11/12 our 5th and 6th grade classes are hosting a pizza lunch to raise funds for a mission project in support of the Night Ministry. Lunch will include a piece of Slice Factory cheese pizza (I am told it is a big slice) a drink and dessert. The cost is $8.00 and you can use the link below to order. If you have any questions and or concerns, please contact Mrs. Maggio. The order deadline is Tuesday 11/9.
https://forms.gle/MdKNGLFTaSVHA4Wm7
Important Dates:
11/12- Pizza Lunch (please order by Tuesday and contact Mrs. Maggio with questions)
11/19- Firehouse Sub Lunch
11/23- Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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November 01, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Last week was filled with Halloween treats, games and fun. A special thank you to everyone who helped make our party so great. During the month of November, we will focus on being Thankful. Starting next week, we spend time in both Social Studies and Religion learning how Native Americans helped early settlers survive their 1st winter in our country. We will also celebrate Veterans and others who we are thankful for in our own lives.
Quote of the Week: From a student dressed like Scooby-Doo: I’m brown all over.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are finishing unit 2 with some review activities. Instead of introducing new letter sounds and high frequency words we will review the letters (m,a,p,s & t) and high frequency words (the, a, see, we and like). We will also review nouns and begin working on verbs. Small groups will work on reading and comprehension activities based on their skill levels.
Math: Last week we completed the lessons in Topic 3. Monday we will have a review of the unit and have any assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will begin working on Topic 4 later this week.
Social Studies: Last week we began learning about different levels of government. This week we will learn about government services.
Science: This week we are doing the oozing Jack-O-Lantern experiment. Although Halloween is over, this is a fun experience, I want the kids to see.
Religion: On Sunday the Lutheran Church celebrated Reformation Day. This was the day Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five theses on the Church door in Germany. This week we will learn a little bit about the life of Martin Luther.
Other Items:
Now that the weather is starting to be cooler, we will need jackets at recess. It is also a good time to ensure that the extra set of clothes your child has at school includes long pants and possibly a long-sleeved shirt.
The Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast is a yearly tradition in our class. As part of our celebration and focus on thankfulness, our class will have a feast together with some of the things we know were a part of the first Thanksgiving celebration. Each student will bring in a fruit or vegetable for our feast along with other items Mrs. Brayton and I will bring in. The feast will be on Tuesday 11/23. Next week I will have the list of who will bring in which fruits or vegetables in the newsletter.
Our Annual Early Childhood Christmas program is scheduled for Friday December 17th and the tentative time is 10:45. I am still working out details with the other ECE teachers and Mr. Koehne, but I wanted you to reserve the date.
Important Dates:
11/05- Scholastic Holiday Book Order Due by 6:00 p.m.
11/23- Senior Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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October 25, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend and kept dry. This week we will be adding a little Halloween fun to everything we do. You may find my newsletter this week is a bit lengthy because we have a lot of things going on in Senior Kindergarten.
Quote of the Week: Henry Baptist talking to his mom: “When the class clapped for me, I was so proud, I felt like the President!!!!” I love it when we motivate and encourage each other.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are working on week 2 in unit 2. Our letter of the week is /Tt/ and our high frequency word is “like”. We will also do some writing about Halloween costumes and a Halloween noun review.
Math: This week we will continue our word in topic 3. This topic also includes number writing practice that the whole class is benefiting from. We will also have some Halloween graphing and color by number activities. These fun activities help students with focus, hand/eye coordination and 1 to 1 correspondence. Skills that we take for granted as adults.
Social Studies: This week we are learning about Government (how spooky is that? LOL). Our character development lesson this week will focus on Citizenship and what it means to be a good citizen.
Science: In science this week we are learning about the parts of a pumpkin. We will be learning about the outside and inside of a pumpkin and maybe even get to taste freshly roasted pumpkin seeds.
Religion: This week we will continue our lesson on Jacob and the events that happened after he received the blessing meant for Esau.
Other Items:
We had a blast painting pumpkins on Friday. I am including a picture of our painted pumpkin patch. Special thanks to the Underhill, Sykes and Honeycutt families for donating extra pumpkins to our class. Pumpkins will come home with your student on Friday.
Students are welcome to wear their costumes to school on Friday. If you would like your child to change later, please make sure to send in extra clothes. Students can exchange treats that day also, there are 20 students in our class. I will provide trick or treat bags for student goodies. These treats will not be eaten at school. Bags will come home with your child.
Students should wear costumes that are fun and appropriate for their age and our school. Things like bloody monsters and costumes with weapons should not be worn to school. If you have questions, please ask.
Early Childhood will have our annual Halloween Parade around the school on Friday morning starting at 9:30. Parents are invited to meet us in the gym where we will begin our parade for picture taking. Due to covid restrictions parents will not be able to parade with us. Mr. Koehne will provide more information before Friday.
We have started to feel the weather changes over the last few weeks. Fall in Illinois is unpredictable, so I am asking that your child wear a jacket daily. We can very easily remove jackets as the weather warms during the day.
Now that the weather is starting to be cooler, we will need jackets at recess. It is also a good time to ensure that the extra set of clothes your child has at school includes long pants and possibly a long-sleeved shirt
We will have an intruder drill at school on Thursday October 28th . This drill is intended to help us understand what we need to do if we ever had a stranger in our building. I try hard to make it understandable for senior kindergarten students. We will be talking about it several times before the drill and I will explain that it is practice, just like we practice during a fire drill. I want them to understand that they are safe. but I also need them to understand drills are important and meant to keep us safe. If you could reinforce these ideas at home, it would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you have questions.
Hooray! Scholastic Orders are starting to roll in! Several of you have gotten all or some of your items. I heard from a representative last week that the Remainder of our order should be here this week or next week. This brings me to the subject of a holiday order. In past years I have put 2 orders in during the holiday season for books and gifts, but scholastic has a 6-week shipping delay. In order for us to receive anything before Christmas the order would need to be in by next Friday. Please look for flyers to come home in next week’s Tuesday folder. It will be the only order I am placing for the holiday season.
Important Dates:
10/28- Intruder Drill
10/29- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Please see Mrs. Maggio about ordering information)
10/29- Kindergarten Halloween Party
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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October 18, 2021
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Quote of the Week: Henry Maggio During Reading: I am following your lead Ms, Johnson!!! My kinder babies are so AWESOME!!!
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we begin working on unit 2 in reading. Our letter of the week is /Pp/ and our high frequency word is “a”. In addition to reading and handwriting we will also work on reading comprehension and journal writing activities.
Math: This week we will begin Topic 3 (Numbers 6 to 10). This unit will focus on counting in groups of 6 through 10 and writing the numerals and number words. Although these initial concepts may be a bit repetitious and simple, they are designed to help children learn math fundamentals and essentials. Students were also introduced to the IXL math app last week. The structure is a bit challenging for our class, but I think we are getting the hang of it. I want to practice in class a bit longer and let everyone find a comfort level before sending home login information. Thanks for your patience.
Social Studies: This week our focus is on learning and working together. Our character development discussions will be on Cooperation.
Science: This week we are learning about movement.
Religion: Our lesson this week will be about Jacob and Esau.
Art: This week we are painting pumpkins. Please refer to the date below about when pumpkins need to be at school. Each student will need a pumpkin for us to complete the project. If you have questions and/or concerns, please contact me ASAP.
Other Items:
Pumpkins are due in school starting Tuesday and can be brought through Thursday October 21st
We have started to feel the weather changes over the last few weeks. Fall in Illinois is unpredictable, so I am asking that your child wear a jacket daily. We can very easily remove jackets as the weather warms during the day.
Now that the weather is starting to be cooler, we will need jackets at recess. It is also a good time to ensure that the extra set of clothes your child has at school includes long pants and possibly a long-sleeved shirt
Last week the school nurse started State mandated hearing tests. If there are any concerns she will contact you.
We will have an intruder drill at school on Thursday October 28th . This drill is intended to help us understand what we need to do if we ever had a stranger in our building. I try hard to make it understandable for senior kindergarten students. We will be talking about it several times before the drill and I will explain that it is practice, just like we practice during a fire drill. I want them to understand that they are safe. but I also need them to understand drills are important and meant to keep us safe. If you could reinforce these ideas at home, it would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you have questions.
I know many of you are still waiting on scholastic orders we placed last month. I received this notice from them on my teacher’s page last week. I have also been calling them daily for status updates. I am so sorry for the delay.
Students are welcome to wear their costumes to school for our Halloween celebration. If you would like your child to change later, please make sure to send in extra clothes. Students can exchange treats that day also, there are 20 students in our class. These treats will come home in their treat bags.
Students should wear costumes that are fun and appropriate for their age and our school. Things like bloody monsters and costumes with weapons should not be worn to school. If you have questions, please ask.
Important Dates:
10/19-10/21- Pumpkins due for Art Project (please don’t send them in before)
10/29- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Please see Mrs. Maggio about ordering information)
10/29- Kindergarten Halloween Party
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October 11, 2021
I hope everyone had a great long weekend and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather. It was also great to meet with you for conferences.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: Since we have had several short weeks, we will have a review of unit 1 this week before moving to unit 2. This week we will review high frequency words, reading, blending and other concepts that were introduced in unit 1 including nouns. Our big idea for the unit was “We can learn new things when we try” and we are learning a lot.
Math: This week we will have a review and assessment for Topic 2.
Science: In science this week we are learning why leaves change colors. We will also do a float or sink experiment using apples, leaves and acorns.
Religion: Our lesson this week will be about Abraham’s son Isaac and his wife Rebekah.
Art: This week in art we are making Bats. Our Aztec Suns and portraits of Frida Kahlo will come home next week.
Other Items:
From Apples to Pumpkins. Every year the Senior Kindergarten paints pumpkins and makes a wonderful pumpkin patch outside of our classroom. Normally I go out and purchase pumpkins for our class, but it is a big and expensive task to find so many pumpkins. I am asking that each child bring in a pie pumpkin before Thursday, October 21st (I am attaching a picture, so you can see the size. I have found that this size works best for our project). We will paint them on Friday October 22nd and have them on display until Halloween. Please don’t send in pumpkins before October 19th, I don’t want them to rot before our project. Please make an effort to send your student in with his or her pumpkin on the date requested. Although we had extra apples, we probably will not have extra pumpkins. This is a fun Art project that I want each student to experience. If you are having any difficulties getting a pumpkin, please reach out to me ASAP. When choosing a pumpkin please try to find one with a long stem. It’s easier for small hands to carry. The pumpkins will come home with your student on Friday October 29th.
Our character lesson this week focuses on Consideration. Thinking of the needs of each other and understanding that we need to accept and support the feelings of our friends is another way we learn kindness and acceptance. There will be a handout outlining consideration in this week’s Tuesday folder.
A few weeks ago I included information about chapel offering in my newsletter. I just wanted to ensure everyone understood that although we are encouraging students to bring in weekly offerings to support Beyond Hunger, it is OPTIONAL. Any amount is greatly appreciated and can be sealed in the beige envelopes that come in Tuesday folders. Last week I put 2 envelopes in folders, so I will not include them this week. If you have any additional questions and/or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
Just a reminder that school starts daily at 8:15. This is when I take daily attendance. Any students arriving after that time should enter school through the front doors so that Mrs. Maggio knows they are not absent that day.
Important Dates:
10/11- No School (Fall Break)
10/15- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Please see Mrs. Maggio about ordering information)
10/19-10/21- Pumpkins due for Art Project (please don’t send them in before)
10/29- Firehouse Sub Lunch (Please see Mrs. Maggio about ordering information)
10/29- Kindergarten Halloween Party
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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October 04, 2021
Kindergarten Quote of the Week: (Mrs. Raya talking to Hakeem): Ms. Johnson is your school mom. THAT TITLE BRINGS SO MUCH JOY TO MY HEART!!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Wow!!! We had quite a week. The applesauce was a huge hit with our class, plus an awesome walk-a-thon. It was great to get out of the classroom and just enjoy time together. Thanks for all the donations to Beyond Hunger. I am looking forward to connecting with you this week for conferences via Zoom. I am including my zoom information at the bottom of the newsletter.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we are working on the 3rd week of unit 1 in the Wonders reading program. Our letter of the week is /s/ and our high frequency word is /see/. This week I will also begin working with small groups on specific skill leveled activities. These small group activities will provide differentiation based on students' skills levels. My goals are to provide challenges, reteaching opportunities and more growth opportunities for each child.
Math: This week we will finish the lessons in Topic 2. This week’s lessons will focus on concepts that include less than and comparing groups of 5. Next week we will have our assessment for Topic 2.
Social Studies: This week is national fire prevention week, so we will be looking at fire safety.
Science: In science this week we will be learning about our 5 senses.
Religion: This week we will read about the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Other Items:
From Apples to Pumpkins. Every year the Senior Kindergarten paints pumpkins and makes a wonderful pumpkin patch outside of our classroom. Normally I go out and purchase pumpkins for our class, but it is a big and expensive task to find so many pumpkins. I am asking that each child bring in a pie pumpkin before Thursday, October 21st (I am attaching a picture, so you can see the size. I have found that this size works best for our project). We will paint them on Friday October 22nd and have them on display until Halloween. Please don’t send in pumpkins before October 19th, I don’t want them to rot before our project. Please make an effort to send your student in with his or her pumpkin on the date requested. Although we had extra apples, we probably will not have extra pumpkins. This is a fun Art project that I want each student to experience. If you are having any difficulties getting a pumpkin, please reach out to me ASAP. When choosing a pumpkin please try to find one with a long stem. It’s easier for small hands to carry. The pumpkins will come home with your student on Friday October 29th.
These first conferences are intended to talk about how your student is adjusting to the structure and routines of Senior Kindergarten. This is especially true this year, due to many restrictions that are still in place due to Covid-19. The conferences will be brief (12 minutes each) and are back-to-back. If you need additional time to discuss concerns, I am happy to schedule a time for another date.
On Thursday school is out for everyone at 11:30. (Unless your student is signed up for extended care on that day).
Our character lesson this week focuses on Acceptance. Learning to understand and appreciate uniqueness and differences will be pivotal lessons throughout our year. Please look for the handout in this week’s Tuesday folder that has information that can help support continuing these conversations at home.
I received an email from Scholastic books saying they are experiencing delays in shipping our orders. I am hoping to that our order will be shipped out this week. I just want to provide you with a status update.
Just a reminder that school starts daily at 8:15. This is when I take daily attendance. Any students arriving after that time should enter school through the front doors so that Mrs. Maggio knows they are not absent that day.
Zoom Link for Conferences
Jacquette Johnson's Personal Meeting Room
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4788411972?pwd=SUZuYWovQ2N4U0lzYWhTZ1hwcmYrQT09
Meeting ID: 478 841 1972
Passcode: abc
Important Dates:
10/7- Parent-Teacher Conferences (Early Dismissal)
10/8- No School (Teacher Professional Development Day)
10/11- No School (Fall Break)
10/19-10/21- Pumpkins due for Art Project (please don’t send them in before)
10/29- Kindergarten Halloween Party
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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September 27, 2021
Kindergarten Quote of the Week: (Savanna) Ms. Johnson, I love your headband, your hair and your earrings. I love everything about you!!! I LOVE MY KINDER-BABIES (SMILE).
I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week our letter of the week is /Aa/ and our high frequency word is /we/. We will focus on our letter and high frequency word of the week with phonics, handwriting, reading and writing activities through small and whole group activities. Because of social distancing requirements we are still doing a modified version of small group learning in order to ensure safety. I am hoping and praying that in the coming months we will have more flexibility to have learning opportunities with more degrees of differentiation within the groups. Last week we started small group learning with a lot of success. We are incorporating reading, writing, phonics and handwriting in our sessions. We also started Lexia last week (this will be an independent learning session in our rotation). The students LOVED IT!!! You should have received login instructions for Lexia last week in Tuesday folders.
Math: Last week we finished our 1st math assessment. It covered everything we learned in Topic 1, the assessment activity is at the back of the math packet that will be in this week’s Tuesday folder. Please take a few minutes to look at it. This week we are beginning Topic 2 (comparing numbers 0 to 5). Some of the key components of this topic will include introducing concepts like greater than, less than and equal to.
Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we are learning about Laws. This will include why we have laws, how they help us and how they are made.
Science: In science this week we are making applesauce. We will be doing some apple tasting and discussing color and sizes of different apples. PLEASE make sure you send an apple with your child by Tuesday morning. I will try to bring in extras, but students are sad when they don’t bring in one on their own. We will take all the apples that we peel and make the apple sauce that we will have as a special snack on Thursday. We will also talk about how sugar acts like a magnet by pulling water into the apple’s cell membranes. Historically about half of the kindergarten class will like the homemade apple sauce, so I am asking that students still bring a snack on Thursday.
Religion: This week we will read about Abram and God’s promise to him.
Other Items:
I am always looking for ways to provide positive encouragement and enrichment to my little loves. One of the ways I do this is through opportunities that help them praise each other, show respect and kindness and always be good stewards. The “Awesome Award” is a certificate. My goal is to give each student a way to shine. Throughout the year each student will get the award but know that I also teach them that this award must be earned. Sometimes students will even tell me about positive things their friends did to earn it. We also do daily “Shout Outs” to each other to acknowledge kindness and good deeds. This goes hand in hand with our weekly character development lessons, each week we will focus on ways we can strengthen our character and continue to learn how to show respect and tolerance to others. This week our character lessons will focus on kindness (although this is a word we will focus on all year). In this week’s Tuesday folders, you will have an outline of our theme. It also provides you with talking points to continue discussions at home.
On Friday school is out for everyone at 11:30. (Unless your student is signed up for extended care on that day).
Walk with Grace, Grace Lutheran School’s annual walk-a-thon fundraiser is this Friday, October 2nd. Students will receive their t-shirts on Thursday this week, so they can be washed. Please make sure your student wears his or her T-shirt on Friday for the walk. We are still collecting non-perishable food items and toiletries for Beyond Hunger. Please consider donating to this wonderful organization.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
Important Dates:
09/29- Kindergarten is making applesauce
10/01-Walkathon (11:30 Dismissal)
10/7- Parent-Teacher Conferences (Early Dismissal)
10/8- No School (Teacher Professional Development Day)
10/11- No School (Fall Break)
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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September 20, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we begin unit 1 in our reading curriculum. Each week we will have a new high frequency (gotta know) word, and we will focus on 1 or 2 letters weekly. We have already learned the word “I” and the word “can” this week our word is “the”. Our letter of the week is the letter /m/. Most of our writing this year will focus on lower case letters that we will use in sentences and “writing activities” later in the year. I know this transition is bumpy for many students and can cause frustration with both students and parents. I ask that you be patient because it is a process, and it will take us some time. Practicing letter sounds, writing letters in lower case, name writing, spelling, and writing our high frequency words at home will help your student become more comfortable with these new practices. I have a few more assessments to complete, but I also plan to start practicing our small group reading structure this week. This is also a HUGE transition for some of the students. It requires transitioning through each group and an individual/independent learning component that will be new for all children this age. It will take some time for the students to get into a solid routine. Again, I ask for your patience as Mrs. Brayton and I navigate this process with the students. This week we will start will 2 days of small group reading and 3 days of whole group reading activities. As we get more comfortable with the process, we will switch to 3 days of small group reading and 2 days of whole group. I group children based on skill level and focus on areas where students may need more help in areas or enrichment opportunities.
Math: This week we will have our 1st end of topic math assessment. These assessments are NOT tests and do not require students to do any extra work or study. They are designed to help me gauge how much students have understood the lessons covered in the topic and focus on any areas where reteaching may be needed. Usually, we can complete the assessment over 2 days. I like to give students an opportunity to ask questions during the review part of the process and then guide them on how to make the best choice during the assessment piece. The assessments will come home in next week’s Tuesday folder along with the 2nd half of the lessons we worked on in Topic 1.
Social Studies: This week we will be learning more about Hispanic Heritage month and learning more about several people of Hispanic descent who have made important contributions to our country.
Science: This week, we are studying the cause and effects of pushing and pulling motions.
Religion: This week we are learning about the Tower of Babel. This lesson will focus on unity and how we always need God in our lives.
Other Items:
Class pictures are scheduled for Monday (tomorrow) September 20th. Each student will have their picture taken for the class picture composite, but if you are planning to purchase a picture packet, please send the completed picture form with payment (there is not any on-line payment option) to school tomorrow.
Last week I sent home small envelopes in the Tuesday folder, but I forgot to talk about what they were for in last week’s Newsletter (my apologies). Each year Grace school chooses any organization to donate our weekly chapel offerings to. This year we are donating to “Beyond Hunger” this organization works to help support children and families by providing food. Please consider helping us support this important community organization. Any amount is beneficial and can be sealed in the envelope. You can send it back to school on Wednesday in the Tuesday folder. Thanks in advance for your support!! There is more information about Beyond Hunger below.
During curriculum night I talked a bit about Lexia. Lexia is a reading app that supports and supplements the reading activities we are learning in school. Lexia works individually with each student and focuses on their skill levels. We will start using Lexia in class on Monday (students need headphones for this activity) and will incorporate it into our small group rotations. You can access Lexia at home also, I will be sending password information home in Tuesday folders. It is optional of course, but it helps students continue to build reading skills. My recommendation for anyone using Lexia at home is only 2 or 3 times a week and 15 minutes maximum for each session. I am including instructions on how to login in the Tuesday folder with the password information.
I have spoken with several of you over the last few weeks about some of the classroom interactions we have been having. I can’t stress enough that students this age are learning so many things. This includes how to interact with each other. We are all learning, and sometimes that comes with trial and error. Mrs. Brayton and I are having daily conversations with the class and individuals about how we treat and talk to each other. I am asking for your patience, understanding and trust. Mrs. Brayton and I would NEVER let any intentional harm come to your child. We are also teaching children how to self-advocate and solve problems (with our help of course). Next week we will start character development conversations of a wide range of topics. These are designed to help young learners understand the Golden Rule. I will be sending home outlines that you can reiterate at home. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.
Walk with Grace, Grace Lutheran School’s annual walk-a-thon fundraiser is Friday, October 1st. The event is next Friday making it the perfect time to sign up for Pledge star and start raising money for our school! This is a very fun day for the students and teachers, but as with any event – we need help! Please click on the link below to see the many ways you can support the event and our school.
Pledgestar: http://pledgestar.com/grace
We are also sponsoring a food drive for Beyond Hunger. Here are some details.
https://www.gobeyondhunger.org/
Sorry this newsletter was so lengthy, there was a lot to cover.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
Important Dates:
09/20-School Picture Day
09/29- Applesauce Day
10/01-Walkathon (Half Day of school)
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September 13, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
As we move into our 3rd full week of kindergarten, students are beginning to become acclimated to our daily routines. We have already accomplished a lot and continue to grow as a class. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me. I am including our 1st group photo. We were all masked and only close for a minute, but you can see the love already. My Kinder babies are awesome!!!
Kindergarten Quote of the Week: Sophia: Ms. Johnson your picture is on the soap container. Me: I’m watching to make sure you wash your hands and use some soap!!! (smile)
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week will be our 3rd and final week of the Start Smart introduction in our reading curriculum. We have already learned 2 high frequency words (I & can) and have been reading small sentences in the paper mini readers that will come home weekly. A good reading practice would be to have your child read those readers to you and other family members. The more they practice the words we are learning at school the more their frequency will grow.
Math: This week in math we will be completing the 1st topic in our math curriculum. This unit provided students with an understanding of math terms like “Whole and Parts” and helped them understand the concept of 0 as a value. These early math lessons help build important foundations for future math applications. At the end of each math topic there is an assessment. We will be working on that assessment at the end of the week and possibly into next week, before moving on to topic 2.
Social Studies: This week we will be looking at school rules. In the first days of school, we had an overview of classroom rules. Now that we have been in school a few weeks it is a great time to talk about rules in more detail. We will also be learning about feelings this week. I want students to understand that we all experience different feelings and emotions but learning how to handle them in a positive way is important.
Science: This week we are learning why it is so important to wash our hands and how soap and water help us get rid of germs.
Religion: This week we learn about Noah and how he always listened to God.
Art: This week we will use the book “Mouse Paint” to learn about primary and secondary colors.
Other Items:
If you have not done so yet please send a complete change of clothing (including socks and underwear and an extra mask) for your student to keep in his or her locker.
If you have not sent in headphones for your student, please do so ASAP. We will be starting to work with Lexia for reading and IXP for math this week. These individualized learning apps will be accessed through iPads and without headphones it’s hard for students to hear with multiple devices running at the same time.
Last Friday was our first Firehouse Sub lunch of the year. If you did not purchase lunch last week and are interested in having your child participate during the next lunch, please contact Mrs. Maggio for information.
Just a reminder that students should not bring juice for snack time. Milk is available to every student during snack time daily. If your child is not a milk drinker, they can have water. Juice boxes are okay for lunch, but if you purchased milk for your child Mrs. Brayton and I are assuming that is the beverage you want your child to drink. Over the last week several children have told us they don’t like milk. If you purchased milk for your child and they are telling us they don’t like or want it, I will be contacting you individually to find out your wishes.
Each year to celebrate the Fall season senior kindergarten does a study of apples. We learn how apples get from the farm to our local stores. We learn about different varieties of apples, and other apple facts. We also make our own applesauce. This year our applesauce day will be Wednesday 09/29. Each student will need to bring in an apple of their choice that we will use to taste different varieties of apples and make the applesauce. We will also have other apple related activities happening that day. We will eat our yummy applesauce on Thursday during snack time.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jacquette Johnson-Lindmark
Important Dates:
09/17-Scholastic Book Order Due
09/29- Applesauce Day
10/01-Walkathon (Half Day of school)
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September 6, 2021
Greetings Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
I hope everyone had a restful Labor Day weekend. I am happy to report that as we slide into our second week of school together, we have already bonded together as a class. We’ve had 7 days of adventure, filled with sharing, caring and learning. I am seeing new friendships blossom and old friendships continue to grow. What a blessing it is to be a part of this wonderful kindergarten group. Even masks and social distancing can’t stop this awesome class.
Highlights of our Week:
Reading: This week we move into the second week of the Start Smart introduction portion of our reading program. This week I will continue to work on individual reading assessments with students. These assessments help me match student skill levels for small reading groups. In addition to assessments during these first weeks we will practice letter recognition activities and beginning and oral phonemic lessons using the Haggerty curriculum.
Math: This week in math we will continue our work in Topic 1 of our books (counting and identifying numbers 0-5). Our lessons this week will focus on making 1 to 1 correspondence with numbers and objects and writing numbers and number words.
Social Studies: This week we will be learning about communities and how we are a part of different communities at home and at school.
Religion: This week we will learn about Adam and Eve. This lesson will include the message that God’s love is always with us.
Art: We will be making Aztec suns this week in honor of Hispanic Heritage month.
A few housekeeping and other items
If you have not done so yet please send a complete change of clothing (including socks and underwear and an extra mask) for your student to keep in his or her locker.
Hearing tests are mandated in Illinois. At some point this month (I will let you know when I have the exact date), our school nurse will be testing every child’s hearing. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please let me know.
In this week’s Tuesday folders, you will find our first flyers for Scholastic books orders. Scholastic is a great and inexpensive way to provide your student with books and other learning materials. It also helps us build our classroom library. Orders are completed and paid for on-line and delivered to schools within 7 to 10 days. This year we will have an order every month. During the holidays I will have an extra order for any books you would like to order for Christmas. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Important Dates:
09/17- 1st Scholastic Book Order Due
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
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August 30, 2021
Greeting Senior Kindergarten Parents and Friends,
Welcome to the first SK newsletter of the year. These weekly newsletters will be my main source for providing you with information about school, our classroom and any upcoming events that involve your students.
I hope everyone had a relaxing and restful weekend. I think I can safely say that we got off to a wonderful start last week and had 2 days filled with excitement and adventure. We met new friends and got reacquainted with old ones, we learned about school rules and talked about showing kindness in our words and actions.
This week we will begin working on the first Topic of our math books (numbers 0 to 5). This topic reinforces counting, and focuses on understanding numbers, their quantities, the reading and writing of numbers and the relationship between numbers. Our math curriculum is called “enVision”. It provides students with multiple learning opportunities and focuses on teaching students how to understand the concepts and fundamentals of math, in addition to learning strategies and steps to solving mathematical applications.
In reading this week, we will begin working with the first chapter in our reading program called Wonders. This program will be utilized by students at our school from grades SK-5th grade. Wonders provides countless opportunities to build reading skills and fluency in the Senior Kindergarten class. Since the program continues through 5th grade, students will develop a familiarity with the layout and routines offered year to year. The program also offers opportunities for parents to work at home with their children to reinforce skills being learned at school. The program starts with 3 weeks of whole group instruction designed to introduce letters, letter sounds, high frequency words and phonological awareness activities. These skills will be introduced through stories, songs and discussion. During this period, I will also begin assessment screenings with students to match skills levels for small reading groups. On the fourth full week of school, we will begin our small reading groups.
In religion, we will read about how God created our world and everything in it (including us). We will also make our own “In the beginning” books.
This week in Social Studies we will learn why we celebrate Labor Day.
In Science we will be doing a rain cloud experiment.
A few housekeeping items….
Please remember that SK does not do group snacks, so everyone should bring a small snack daily. Although I encourage parents to send in snacks their children enjoy, I am asking that we stay away from salty chips and gummies as a snack (chips and 1 or 2 small pieces of candy can be included with lunch). I am also asking that on Monday-Thursday healthier options be sent to school. Friday’s, the children can bring in a few cookies or a small brownie. We have “snack milk” daily or water. Juice should not be sent for snack time. If you would like your child to have milk with their lunch, please contact Mrs. Maggio.
If you have not done so yet please send a complete change of clothing (including socks and underwear) for your student to keep in his or her locker.
For safety reasons students not wearing sneakers cannot play on the playground equipment.
I am sure you have noticed that our classroom has an abundance of toys. Students should not bring personal toys to school, unless they are the Star of the Week. I will have more details about Star of the Week coming shortly.
Children can come into the classroom starting at 8:00. We have free play from 8:00-8:30. This is an important part of the day for children, and they really need that time to get their day started. Please have your student in class no later than 8:15. We will start reading groups in a few weeks, and it is really hard for children to come in during the middle of a reading session. They can miss out on a lot of our reading activities for that day.
In addition to our reading program, we will have access to the Lexia reading program several times a week as a supplement and reinforcement to reading skills. This program will be available to senior kindergarten through iPads and will be one of our daily center activities. If you have not sent in headphones for your student, please do so ASAP.
Each week your child will bring home a Tuesday folder. These folders will have school information you need to be aware of and information about our class. The folder will also include any completed work for the week. Please check your child’s backpack on Tuesday for these folders. The folder is due back at school the following day (Wednesday) because I work on preparing folders all week, it would be truly helpful if you made every effort to return the folders on time.
I am looking forward to seeing you on Curriculum night. Hold on to your hats (smile) our kindergarten adventure has begun.
In Him Who Loves Us All
Jackie Johnson-Lindmark
Important Dates:
09/01-Curriculum Night
09/06-Labor Day (No School)
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