Reading With Your Child

Humpty Dumpty by Theo

The Polar Express

Up on the Housetop by, The Kinderbears

Away in the Manger

Why Can't I Skip My Reading?

My Face by Abby

Christmas Making Words, Santa Claus

This is a family project. How many words can you make from the letters in Santa Claus?

The Gingerbread Man by, Jack Hartmann

Gingerbread House

Take a look at our beautiful Gingerbread House.  Thank you parents for making our classroom an amazing place for children! I will be playing in the house this evening after the children are gone.  I love it!
Mrs. Redmond

Tibby's Week by Hanna

Story of St. Nicholas for Children

Christmas Word Work 2

Your word working homework this week is to put two of the words you make into a sentence.  Parents, let your child use their sight words, the words above and their temporary spelling to write the sentence on their own.  You can coach them or help them to sound words out but let your child do the work.

Santa's Reindeer Cam

Click here to see Santa's reindeer.

Weather

Humpty Dumpty by, Breanna

Strength of Spirit

Amazing strength of spirit!  Zach is a former SCCS student. Please watch and say a prayer for Zach and his family.

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Christmas Word Work 1

Book Orders Due Dec. 8

Follow this link below for our classroom ordering page. My classroom code is LB9C9
Click here for Scholastic Ordering

Numbers Song

Tour of the Mayflower

Click on the turkey for a tour of the Mayflower.

Turkey Time

Syllable Lesson

God Bless All of Our Veterans

Happy Veteran's Day!

God bless all of our Veterans past, present, and future on this Veteran's Day!

I'm sure you've read this email once or twice, but I love it and found it fitting!

"Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me begin to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone abruptly rose to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the thirty or forty soldiers being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I’m not alone. I’m not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line every day for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear of reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said, “Hi…”

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her…

The young soldier, who didn’t look any older than 22 years, said he would try and asked what she wanted to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster, and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter’s name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second… Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said, “I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.” He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying, “Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.”

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier, in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

Every day, we need to remember all of our soldiers and their families, and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it’s good to be an American."

-Source Unknown

ABC Names and Sounds from Morning Meeting

Sight Word Song, Back by Popular Demand!

Veteran's Day Tribute

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Thanksgiving Making Words 2

My Room by our VIP Ethen

Space Tent Dramatic Play

Thank you to my wonderful parents for setting up this great space tent complete with a rocket costume, count down board, stencils and even space shoes!

 

10 Frames Flash Game

Source: youtube.com via Carol on Pinterest

Compound Words

Making Words lesson for November 6

Please send three rhymes to school for each word.  Use two of the words in a simple sentence.

Look at Me read by our VIP, Ethan

5 Ways for Parents to Engage in Their Child's Education

    Follow this link to Edudemic for the full article. 

→

Sunday, October 21, 2012 4:05 pm, Posted by Magnus Keith 0 | HOW TO

5 Ways Parents Can Engage In Their Child’s Education

Topics: child education, guide, How To, kids, parental involvement, parents

inShare16

Parental involvement is one of the most important factors in a child’s education that leads to higher overall grades and higher graduation rates of high school seniors. Parents who set high expectations for their child’s educational achievements and monitor their child’s learning process inspire their children the get excited about academics.

Children who are motivated to learn behave better in school and have higher attendance rates, which inevitably enables the teachers to spend more time on classroom instruction rather than dealing with disruptive student behaviors.

Activities and Events

One of the most effective ways to engage parents in their child’s education is to provide opportunities for the parents to work with their students in home learning activities. When parents are involved in their child’s learning by participating in home learning activities, they encourage better overall academic achievement of children. Parents can get involved in their child’s education by also participating in school events, attending parent teacher conferences and volunteering with school activities.

Parent Monitoring

Parents should remain involved in every level of their child’s education to stay informed of their child’s academic process. There are several ways to monitor a student’s academic process in school to ensure that the student is learning at an effective pace. Teachers should encourage parents to set daily routines at home and enforce these routines.

For instance, parents should allocate time for homework, chores, play time and dinner. Parents can provide more structured out of school activities for children than unstructured activities. Open communication between parents and children helps to increase each child’s self-esteem and confidence, which helps to improve school behavior and grades. For example, parents can ask questions about their child’s experience at school and have open conversations each day about school. Maintaining a positive home environment helps to increase the morale of children. Parents should maintain a positive and supportive home environment for their children on a regular basis.

Bugsy

Erupting Pumpkins Video

We used the scientific process for this pumpkin experiment.

VIP Sierra reads Mary Had a Little Lamb

Halloween Fun

Halloween Word Work

After watching, write down three more rhymes for cat and three more rhymes for black. If you are looking for a challenge, use two of the words in a sentence. This is due on Tues., Oct. 30th.

Making Words with ...ing and ...ag

Send in to school on Tuesday, October 16th, two rhymes for sing  and two rhymes for bag.  If you are looking for a challenge, put a couple of the rhymes in a sentence or draw a picture of two of the rhymes.  Happy Rhyming!

Jack and Jill by our past VIP, Ruby

Hickory Dickory Dock by our past VIP, Grace

Its Raining, Its Pouring by Eddie

Fluency Practice

Click on picture for power point link.
Go through the above fluency power point as quickly as your child is able to say the sounds.  Fluency builds automaticity and eventually greater comprehension.  When letter sounds and words become automatic, less time is spent on decoding and more time is spent on making meaning.

If your child is ready for a challenge, sing this sight word song with him/her.  After several times through, see if you child is able to name some of the sight words by him/herself.

Dramatic Play Designed by Wwonderful Parent Volunteers!

Thank you for the great dramatic play!  The class was so excited to see and play in the Kinderbear Market!

Average Amount of Sleep Needed for Kids

Age (years)	Total Hours of Sleep	Typical Range
6	10.5	10-11
10	10	9.5-10.5
14	9.5	9-10
18	9	8.5-9.5

Tim and Rex read by Elijah our VIP

Making Words for Tuesday, October 2, 2012

VIP Ruby

How old are you?   5
What is your favorite color?    red
How many in your family?    four and one fish and one dog
What is your favorite book?  Pinkalicious
What is your favorite thing about kindergarten?   I like lunch.
What do you want to be when you grow up?   cowgirl 

Working With Words 2

Kinderbear News Sept. 14,2012

Click for download

Interview of Grace, Our Kinderbear VIP

*How old are you?  5
*What is your favorite food?  Chicken Nuggets
*How many are in your family?  4
*What is your favorite thing about kindergarten?  Having quiet time so I can read books.  I like to read books at home and at school.
*What do you want to be when you grow up?  A train driver because you get to go on the train tracks and invite others to ride the train.

Digital Media

The new goal this year is that I want my parents to be thrilled by the communication that comes from our classroom. I want them to be excited to see it, want to talk about it and feel inspired by it to get involved. We are already 12 years into the 21st century… I want my school parents to be connected to our class in a way that reflects the century we are in! We are going to use the power of digital media to excite, involve and make our school parents feel proud to be a part of the school! And I want to do it in a way that capitalizes on using all types of media.
This paragraph is taken from TeachThought 9/11/12

 I want all of my parents to feel like they are connected to my classroom.  Please follow me as Mrs. Carol Redmond on Twitter for instant updates or thoughts.

Be watching this blog for updates on our VIP this week!

Scholastic Book Orders

Hi Everyone,
Please follow the link below if you are interested in ordering books for your child.  I will also send home information at parent night.  You will need to use our class code below. Orders are due September 14.


Follow this link for Scholastic Book Orders

Class code: LB9C9

Vocabulary Development

Click here for link to site.

This is a fantastic site for vocabulary development.  A must use!  Your child will love it too!
I found this site from another blogger at .

Making Words

This is a sample of a word working lesson, making words within words. This teaches emergent readers how to find patterns within new words. Help your child with this lesson to begin blending the sounds they already know. I will be using this type of lesson weekly during our literacy block.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

This is so true.  When I was helping my son unpack in his new college "house" this weekend, I found a note I wrote him.  He was in 9th grade when I wrote this note telling him how proud we are of him and the choices he was making.  My father was near heaven and I thanked him for helping our family at this time.  I forgot about the note but he was still bringing it with him to his third year of college.  You never know what will  impact your child.  Just know you are sending silent messages to your child daily.

Camping Theme

What books are you going to read in this tent? I can't wait to see all of you again.
                                                                        Love, Mrs. Redmond

Sight Word Song

Get a jump on your sight words!  Try this fun song.

Twitter Tutorial

It has been brought to my attention that not all people know how to sign up for Twitter or have a Twitter account.  I created a tutorial for all those who are interested in following classroom updates by Twitter.  By the way, I just started Twitter about three weeks ago myself.

The Hare and the Tortoise read by Mrs. Redmond

Enjoy this story.  As you read, figure out who you would most like to be like, the Hare or the Tortoise, when you come to kindergarten.

Great Site for Reading

Follow this Link for a Fantastic Reading Site for K and 1

I just found this great site for teachers and parents!  You need to register to use it but it is completely free! I recommend the "Road to Reading" and "Guided Reading" portions of this site.  Look around, explore and find the right level of challenge.

Our room is almost ready!

Sing these abc and number songs with your child for fun review!

Power point on the history, research and framework 
of balanced literacy.

The Daily 5 for Kindergarten Parents

Welcome kindergarten families.  I have designed this blog with you and your child in mind.  I will be posting educational activities, articles and ideas for your use.  Please enjoy!

I will start by introducing myself.  I have taught at St. Croix Catholic School for 14 years. My passion is in teaching literacy in primary grades.  In the past, I have taught second and third grade in the country of Bahrain in the Arabian gulf.  I also taught first and sixth grade right here at SCCS. Currently, I am working on a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction with a reading endorsement.

Meet my family:



This is my husband Mike. We both have dedicated our careers to educating children.  We live in Lake Elmo and have two amazing children, Ryan and Reed.

 I just dropped Ryan off at soccer training camp for his junior year at UW Oshkosh. Even after three years, it is still an adjustment for me when he leaves home.  I empathize with  kindergarten parents dropping their child off in my classroom on the first day!

This is my youngest son, Reed.  He is a senior at Mahtomedi High School. Reed also plays soccer and has a love for music.  Both of my children went to SCCS.