Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It has been a wonderful experience working with your children and I look forward to working with them in 2010! Here are some pictures from the Christmas Party on Monday. Santa made a guest appearance!!

Last week we began a new chapter in Math. We are now learning about numbers 10-30 through the use of ten frames. In the picture to the left Shyanna and Noah are using chips to demonstrate numbers 11,12, and 13 on ten frames. One way to practice this at home would be to create ten frames on scrap paper and ask your child to fill in the ten frames using small toys you have at home. You could also have them draw shapes in the ten frames to represent a certain number. I would recommend practicing counting and writing numbers 0-31 at home over the holiday break. I would also encourage you to review the terms top, middle, bottom, left, right, above, below, over, under and patterns. Remember your child will receive their first report card the first week in February.

In Language Arts we are practicing retelling stories using beginning, middle, and end. We are also reviewing character, setting and main idea. These are some skills that can be practiced over the holiday break when you read with your child each night. Remember our list of sight words is growing quickly. It is important to review them on a regular basis.

At this point in the school year I am requiring every student to write a sentence on their own during kid writing. I am reviewing the strategies they should be using when writing independently. Please encourage your child to use proper punctuation, only capitalize the first letter in the sentence, leave "meatball" spaces, and sound out each word when they are writing with you at home.

Thanks for your continued support and cooperation! Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Hope and Alex practicing ten frames!

Thank You!

I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who donated food for the food drive. The entire kindergarten class brought in over 500 cans! Even though second grade brought in the most cans (over 800) the kindergarten teachers have decided to have a pizza party for the students on Wednesday, December 23rd. More information will be coming home regarding the pizza party. As a reminder, Santa will be stopping by our classroom Monday, December 21st. Please be sure to send in a gift with your child's name on it by Tuesday, December 15th. Also, our class will be attending the book fair on Tuesday, December 15th. The books are buy one get one free!

In Science we are learning about the senses. Last week we did our first big experiment. The students put their sense of smell to the test when smelling various cups and trying to identify the food inside the cups. The food included oranges, lemons, coffee, peppers, and onions. This week we will continue learning about the other senses!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Can you believe it is December already? This week we have been working very hard to decorate our classroom and the hallway! In the picture on the left Madelyn, Gavin and Vai are holding the reindeer we made today. They made the antlers by tracing their hands on brown paper and cutting them out. In the picture on the bottom Ryan is holding the Santa that he sponge painted on Wednesday. Tristan and Caroline are holding their candy cane hearts that they made on Tuesday.

Next week we will be starting Unit 3 in Language Arts. As a result we will be learning a new groups of sight words. You will receive those new words in the Friday Folder tomorrow. Please practice the Unit 1,2 and 3 words several times a week. Also, please continue to practice letter recognition and sounds at home with your child. Remember to continue reading each night for the "25 Book Challenge" and "Be a Phanatic about Reading"!

A BIG thank you to everyone who has donated a toy for Toys for Tots or food for the Food Drive!

Our Thanksgiving Feast!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! It is hard to believe that December is just a few days away! In school last week, we celebrated Thanksgiving by making noodle necklaces (Evelynn) and Indian headbands(Joshua). Our Thanksgiving Feast was a lot of fun! Thanks to all of the parents that came in to help and to everyone who donated snacks for the party. The picture above is our class dressed as Pilgrims and Indians!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! In kindergarten we have been making turkeys to decorate the hallway. We are also talking about what we are thankful for and we have been writing our ideas in our kid writing journals. In the picture above Gavin is cutting out his turkey. In the pictures below you will see the orange team working on their turkey project and Olivia is holding the finished project! We will be having our holiday party on November 25th. Mrs. Rex will be contacting several parents to bring in snacks for the party.
Parent-Teacher conferences will be held next week. Feel free to come with any questions you may have. I will be handing out information, but you are welcome to take notes during the conference. Along with discussing your child's progress, I will also be showing you your child's kid writing journals, math and language arts assessments, and the kindergarten report card. I look forward to seeing you next week!

This Weekend....

Building Olympics is this Saturday, November 14th at 7:00 in the high school gymnasium. Come cheer on Miss Korsak and the rest of the George Wolf Team!

Spirit Day!

Go Phillies! Hunter, Alex and Olivia showed their World Series spirit today.

Our Fall Harvest Party

On Friday we had our Fall Harvest Party. I think it is safe to say that we all had a good time. Thank you to all of the parents who sent in snacks and supplies for the party. I'd also like to thank all of the parents that came in to help! We played Pumpkin Bingo at the beginning of the party. In the pictures above Tristan and Joseph are concentrating on the game and listening to the letters being called!

Last week we learned about numbers 0-5 and we learned about the number line. In the picture below Ryan and Shyanna are practicing teamwork while playing a number line game. This week in Math we will learn numbers 6-10. We will continue talking about before and after on a number line. In Language Arts we will be learning new sight words. Keep practicing the Unit 1 and Unit 2 sight words at home! We will also continue talking about letters and letter sounds as well as setting, character and main idea.

The foot bone's connected to the...

This week in Science we learned about internal and external body parts. We made scarecrows on Tuesday and Wednesday. The students colored and cut out the arms, legs, body and head for the scarecrows. They had to draw the eyes, nose and mouth on the scarecrows head. They also added the brain, lungs, heart and stomach to their scarecrows. Next week in Science we will continue the discussion of the human body. We will talk about bones and muscles!

Fire Prevention Week

This week in school we learned about fire prevention. We read many books, completed worksheet, made crafts, and had discussions about fire safety. The students also learned about preventing forest fires when we read the story of Smokey the Bear. Our fire dogs turned out to be very cute. Allison is demonstrating her great cutting skills and Hunter is holding the finished project! I would encourage you to talk with your child about fire safety at home. Enjoy the weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you during parent visitation next week!

Reading Reminders

Each week your child will receive a tan booklet. Your child reads the book with me at school and I would also encourage you to have your child practice reading the book at home as well. Remind your child to use their pointer finger to follow along as they read each word. Noah and Lucas are doing a great job demonstrating this! Also continue to practice the Unit 1 sight words at home. You will notice that the tan books consist of many of the sight words. You will be receiving the Unit 2 sight words next week when we begin the next unit. If your child is have difficulty remembering some sight words you could have them write the words a few times. Another way to practice the sight words is by having your child pick out the words as you read books to them at home. The better they know their words the easier reading will be! Thank you for your support and cooperation!

Be A Phanatic About Reading

This week you received papers regarding the Be a Phanatic About Reading Program that our class is participating in. Remember that all you have to do is read with your child each night for 15 minutes. After you read, record the date and book that you read on the "reading recording sheet" that was sent home. Once that sheet is filled up send it to school with your child's name on it and I will send home a new sheet. I am hoping everyone participates in this program because reading with your child is very important! Who knows maybe we will be one of the lucky winning classes to get a visit from the Philly Phanatic!

Decorating for Fall

Today we were very busy working on some fall decorations for the hallway. We made bats out of black construction paper. We practiced our tracing, gluing, and cutting skills for this project. The students practiced teamwork when they traced their partners hands. Madelyn and Tristan are working together in the picture on the left. They put their cutting skills to the test when they had to cut out their hands. Evelynn did a nice job cutting very neatly on the lines. Alex is holding the finished project and it looks great!

A Few Reminders

The following are some important reminders:

* Homework is sent home every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. It should be completed neatly and in pencil and returned the following day.
* Please send in a snack each day with your child.
* Practice sight words each night (they were sent home last week, if you have misplaced them please send a note into school and I will send home a new pack)
*Take a look at the bottom of your child’s math worksheet each night. There you will find some ways to practice the lesson at home with your child to reinforce what they were taught in school.
*Practice letter recognition with your child. You can use the blue flashcards that I sent home in the Friday Folder. We have also learned the sounds for letters A,B,C,D,and E so please practice that at home as well.
* Your child should be able to correctly write his/her first name by the first week of October. You can use the name strip that was sent home to help your child write it correctly.

Fun With Patterns

This week in Math we began Chapter 2, patterns. We have been practicing movement and sounds patterns. In the picture Vai and Joshua are using instruments to demonstrate an AB pattern. Today we practiced making simple AB patterns using snap cubes. Within the next few days we will be learning about AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns. Patterning will be assessed on the report card. Remember to look over your child's Math worksheet each night as it contains some at home activities you can do to reinforce skills learned in class.

We Are Off To A Great Start!

I am happy to say that the first few weeks of school are going very well! The students have adapted to the daily routines and they seem to be adjusting well to the full day of school. In Language Arts, we have been working on the letters A-O. We are also learning the sight words “a”, “I”, “am”, "the", and "little." Please continue to practice the sight words each night. Once your child knows all of the words from Unit 1 please return them to school so your child can be tested. We are also learning about rhyming words, syllables, characters and setting. In Math, we are talking about the words: top, middle, bottom, above, below, over, under, in, out, right and left. We have just finished Chapter 1 and we will begin Chapter 2 tomorrow; patterns. In Writing, we are practicing correctly writing all of the letters in the alphabet and first names. We are also practicing holding pencils/crayons correctly, coloring inside the lines, and cutting. The picture above is Olivia practicing her cutting skills.

Welcome To My Class

It was very nice meeting so many of you at kindergarten orientation! I thought the afternoon went well and I am really excited to begin working with your child. Although you received several handouts at orientation, I have even more papers that will be coming home in your child's folder the first few days of school. Try not to be overwhelmed with all of the new information. Just take the time to read everything carefully and feel free to contact me with any questions. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest tonight and have them eat breakfast before coming to school tomorrow. I have a busy day planned with a lot of fun activities!

Reminder

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Kindergarten is just around the corner so I wanted to remind you to practice all of the material in the Kindergarten packet you received at Kindergarten testing. In case you did not receive the packet here are some things you should be working on with your child:

• Writing his/her first name (making only the first letter capital)
• Writing numbers and letters
  
• Capital and lowercase letter recognition (all 52)
  
• Number recognition 1-10
• Shape and color identification

Kindergarten Orientation Information

I have created a podcast which contains detailed information regarding the August 20th kindergarten orientation. Please click on the link on the right titled "Kindergarten Orientation 2009" to listen to the podcast.

Summer Vacation

I hope everyone's having a great summer vacation. I'm enjoying my summer. I spent some time in Ocean City, Maryland (that's the sunset over the bay above) and also Atlantic City. I've also been spending time at my cabin at the Poconos where I enjoy fishing and kayaking. In addition to going on vacation and relaxing, I've been taking classes that will count towards my Master's degree in classroom technology. Remember to mark your calendar on August 20th for kindergarten orientation. I will post more information on this later in the summer.

Congratulations on a Great Year

I can't believe the end of the year has finally come. We made it through the big move to Northeast Middle School and I am happy to say that we will be back at the brand new George Wolf Elementary School for the start of the 2009-2010 school year. I want to thank all of the parents for their continued support and cooperation this year. Best wishes to the graduating kindergarten class. I hope everyone has a safe and fun-filled summer vacation. Good luck in First Grade.

Welcome!

Welcome to Ms. Korsak's home page! Here you can find information and upcoming events for Ms. Korsak's Kindgergarten class. It's a great way to stay in touch with Ms. Korsak and with everything that is going on. Stay tuned for updates.