The Academy of Early Learning

With Halloween over, it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! There are a few trips to note for this month as well as holidays and other events.

CLASSROOM NEWS

JR. KINDERGARTEN - Mrs. Lyons/Mrs. Chapman

Fall is here and the children have adjusted well to their school routine. As the new Junior Kindergarten teacher/assistant, I will be teaching the children under the direction of Mrs. Lyons. I want to thank Mrs. Ouimet for assisting during the interim period.

I come to this position at the Academy of Early Learning with experience and much enthusiasm. I am a graduate of Lewis-Clark State College and also a graduate of Katherine Gibbs School in Boston. In addition to working in the business field, I have worked as a substitute teacher, teacher’s aide and Sunday School teacher. My goal is to obtain my certification in education in the near future.

Your children are of the utmost importance to us. I invite you to share any ideas and concerns you might have with Mrs. Lyons or myself. We believe this year will be educational, productive and enjoyable. Thank you.

KINDERGARTEN - Mrs. Lyons

Most of the students have made excellent transitions to our academically-oriented Kindergarten. We’ve put a strong emphasis on the circle time activities in the morning, helping students to learn better listening skills, follow directions and understand classroom rules and requisites. They are learning correct formation of the capital letters A-Z, the numbers 1-60 and how to put the correct date on their papers. All of the class is beginning their pattern pre-reading readiness skills. They are also being introduced to copy work in their texts. Seat work includes a focus on visual discrimination.

Parent conferences are being scheduled to discuss each students adjustment in the classroom. Please see me regarding a day and time.

Students need napkins in their lunch boxes and all of their outer garments and bags labeled. All students need supervision with their homework and reminders to return it Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday a.m. by themselves. Please tie their shoes securely in the morning.

Please help your child know the following for safety & report card purposes: their house #, Street #, town they live in, state they live in, and telephone #.

We welcome Mrs. Chapman, who will be assisting us with our new and very enthusiastic Junior Kindergarten students.

Thank you Mr. Cooper, for your many visits to our classroom. We much appreciate your concerns for and your unmatched dedication to all of your students.

Welcome to our new Physical Education teacher, Mr. Christian Cooper. The students can’t seem to wait for Friday afternoons -- they enjoy your classes so much. It’s wonderful to be observing “Gym with a purpose!”

Thank you Mr. Cobb and Mr. Christian Cooper, for helping to re-arrange and set up the reading room for our new Jr. Kindergarteners and especially to Mrs. Cooper, for all her valuable time, effort, concerns and for so many new supplies and materials for the new class. The students are off to a great beginning.

FIRST GRADE - Mrs. Kenney

November is dark and dreary with our time change, but our bright 1st graders are staying on top of it. We are learning about blends. They are seeing blends in both Phonics/Spelling as well as reading blend words in daily reading. It is a fun challenge. They have been writing some real good creative stories along with journal writing, which becomes very interesting and informative as the holidays approach. Concentration on Pilgrim and Native American ways of life will take up the month as our Thanksgiving holiday approaches.

We completed our unit on trees and out study of leaves. Our short vowels are mastered as we finished with a Short Vowel Challenge Week.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WONDERFUL FIRST GRADE READERS!! THEY HAVE READ A TOTAL OF OVER 100 BOOKS SINCE SCHOOL STARTED AND ARE NOW MEMBERS OF SCHOLASTIC BOOK’S CLASSROOMS CARE HALL OF FAME. BECAUSE THEY READ 100 BOOKS, SCHOLASTIC SENDS 100 BOOKS TO ONE OF THE MANY NEEDY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Parents, please see Mrs. Kenney for conference times.

SECOND GRADE - Mrs. Coffin

November is the month for Giving Thanks. This will be emphasized throughout the month with discussions and various activities. We will be having a Thanksgiving Feast with grades 1-5. Some children will be Pilgrims, others will be Native American people. Please look for a sign-up sheet hanging outside of our door.

The second graders have been working very hard in all areas of the curriculum. They will learn about syllables this month. We are concentrating on writing a good story with a structured beginning, middle and end. This paragraph format will be a focus all year. We continue to “harvest” good work!

Remember to check your child’s homework each night. Also, read with them as often as possible. Your involvement displays the importance of education to them!

Conferences will be held November 19th and 20th. Sign-up sheets will be either outside the classroom door or inside the room.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

THIRD GRADE - Mrs. Osborne

The third graders have been very busy. On our field trip to Briarwood Marine Center at Monument Beach, the students learned many interesting facts about ocean life, the food chain, sea monsters, and had the opportunity to fish for crabs. On our field trip to Sturgis Library in Barnstable, they learned about the library and enjoyed a funny Halloween story.

In November, the third graders will be learning about the first Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Native Americans. Students are progressing in their oral reading ability, comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. They are reviewing the parts of speech and writing in their journals daily. All third graders are beginning their multiplication facts. Please practice these with your children every night. The students have also been learning how to form all of the lower-case letters in cursive and have begun to practice the upper-case letters.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Third Grade Open House and those who supplied treats for our Halloween celebration. Thank you to Mrs. Agostinelli for helping in the classroom on Wednesday afternoons and to Mr. And Mrs. Bueller for the Halloween gift bags. The next field trip to the library will be on November 13th. A “sign up” sheet will be posted for parent conferences and another for food donations for our Thanksgiving feast.

FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE - Mrs. Paquin

The fourth and fifth graders have been working hard to improve their writing skills and to review multiplication tables as well as tackling long division.

We recently added McCall Crabbs, the timed reading exercises developed at Columbia University, to our reading program. The children enjoyed the challenge of meeting a deadline while still showing excellent comprehension.

In science, the fourth graders are studying the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. The fifth grade is concentrating on organ systems, organs, tissues and cells.

We explored various types of maps in social studies - landforms, climate regions, vegetation regions - in the fourth grade. The earliest peoples of the Americas were the focus of the fifth grade.

Dear Parents:

How to sum up the month of October? It’s easy…”Time flies when your having fun”…and we certainly have had fun! With all of the learning, field trips, Halloween fun and safety talks we have been both busy and excited.

The children are doing great! Our little “students” have begun to build beautiful friendships and have adjusted nicely to the daily routine. So, this month we have lots of time to have fun while we cover several new topics. The class theme for November will be Thankfulness.

The month of November

Theme of the month: Thankfulness
Study Unit: Thanksgiving, Turkeys, Manners, Exploring the change of seasons, Native Americans and Pilgrims.
Math: The numbers 3, 4
Letters of the month: G,H,I,J
Shape of the month: Square
Color of the Month: Brown
Science: Seasons
Songs/finger plays: (see attached)
Cooking: Popcorn

Every year, we bring Thanksgiving to life by re-enacting this very important day in history. The children will be making their own costumes for this event. Miss Cooper and Mrs. Cobb’s class will be the Native Americans inviting Mrs. Laffoon’s Pilgrims to the feast. If anyone would like to bring in anything for this feast, there will be a sign-up sheet posted. Thank you!

Upcoming Events:

Thanksgiving Feast - November 24th (Monday)

School Closed - November 11th - Veteran’s Day

School closed - November 26th, 27th, and 28th - Thanksgiving break

Field Trip - Children’s Museum in Mashpee on November 17th

Holiday Program - Beginning November 17th, the children will begin practicing for our Holiday program. This practice will take the place of circle time. Therefore, we will not be having show-n-tell on Fridays. We will return to our regular schedule on January 5th. The holiday program will be for our 4 year old preschool class only. There will also be a special party for our 3 year old program. Dates for these activities will be posted on our December Newsletter.

Reminders:

Change of clothes - All children need a change of clothes for his/her cubbies. Please put a warmer change of clothes in a ziplock bag in preparation for the cold weather.

Snack sign-up - Thank you to all the parents for bringing in snacks - the time baking or buying these treats is truly appreciated. Also, our Halloween party was a blast! Thank you so much for bringing in all the delicious snacks and creative trick or treats.

Attention Parents - It is very important that you check the bulletin board for upcoming events. All events will be posted at least one week prior.

Donations - Many thanks to all the parents for donating art supplies, toys, and decorations to our classroom.

Your efforts and contributions have helped make our classrooms and events truly wonderful! We would like to wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

One little, two little, three little Indians, (three fingers up)
Four little, five little, six little Indians, (three more go up)
Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians, (three more go up)
Ten little Indian boys and girls. (10 fingers go up)

The brave little Indian went looking for a bear
He looked in the woods and everywhere
The brave little Indian found a big bear-
He ran like a rabbit! Oh, what a scare!

Five fat turkeys are we (one hand up)
We slept all night in a tree (Hands clasped above head)
When the cook came around
We couldn’t be found,
That’s why we’re here, you see (Right hand up)

I’m a little Indian on the go
Here is my arrow,
Here is my bow,
When I go a hunting, hear me shout
Bears and Buffalo
Better watch out!

(tune of I’m a Little Teapot)
I’m a little popcorn in a pot
Heat me up and watch me pop
When I get all fat, then I’m done
Popping corn is lots of fun!

Five little turkeys by the barn door
One saw some corn and then there were 4
4 little turkeys flew up in a tree
One fell down and then there were 3
3 little turkeys gobbled as they do
A dog chased one and then there were 2
2 little turkeys strutting in the sun
The wind came along and then there was 1
1 little turkey began to run
For he saw a farmer--and then there was none!

Phone List

Main Office 508-790-8104
Main Fax 508-790-8968
Emergency Cell 508-737-8348
Preschool 508-790-8139
First Grade 508-790-8156
Skating Rink Road 508-790-8834

Tuition

Questions regarding
tuition and other
matters should
be directed to:
Mr. Al Eaton
Saunders, Walsh & Eaton
Tel: (508) 945-0031

YOUR COMMENTS

Let us know what you would like to see covered in the newsletter either about the school, about a special teaching project or anything that might be of general interest to our students and their families.

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTERS

Archives: Past Newsletters

November 2003