Happenings Around Spears

~Are you wondering where you are going to put all of the toys that Santa brings? Here is an idea . . .

Spears has partnered with the NFL and the Super Bowl for one year only (because the big game is in North Texas) as part of their initiative to get kids moving. We will be collecting any new or gently used sports equipment, board games, toys, books, etc . . . to donate to the NFL who will provide them to families who may not have the opportunity to play sports and games with their families. So clean out those closets and make room for all the new goodies that we are all blessed to have and bring the used items to school starting on January 4th. The student council NFL committee will collect them and will be attending a special event on January 20th in Arlington to represent Spears and drop off our donations.

Thank you for your support!


~Please check the Lost and Found this week if your child is missing any items. All items that are left after school on Friday will be donated to charity.

~ Our class winter party will be on Friday afternoon at 2:00. Please feel free to join us if you would like.

This week we will finish up our adventures with The Gingerbread Man. Be on the look out for him he has come up missing! I wonder where he has gone?

This Week

Hello everyone! We are getting very excited that Winter Break is almost here! For the next two weeks our lessons will center on Gingerbread Men. In literacy, we will use the Gingerbread Man story to work on our predicting, questioning, and retelling skills. In science, we will use Gingerbread Men to complete Simple Investigations. In math, we are concentrating on addition and subtraction with numbers 0 to 15. Our new word wall word this week is “is”. Be on the lookout for it!
Thanks to all of you who sent in Angel Tree gifts! Our Angel will have a great Christmas because of you!!!
Don’t forget that Holiday Grams are now for sale by our student council! Also, here is a note from Nurse Taylor….
In honor of National Influenza Week, the Collin County Health Dept. will be offering free flu vaccine for children and discounted vaccines for adults this week. They will be administered at 825 N. McDonald St. Suite 130 in McKinney, from 7:30 to 11:00 am and from 1 to 4 pm all week (Dec 6-10). Adult doses are $10 each, and cash or check is accepted. For information visit collincountytx.gov or http://www.co.collin.tx.us/public_information/news_releases/2010/news120210.html

Welcome Back

Hello parents! I trust you had a great Thanksgiving with your families!!! This week we are kicking off our winter themes by studying reindeer. Our new word for the week is “in” and in math we will work on ordinal numbers.

Thanks to all of you who have already sent in Angel Tree gifts! The deadline to send in gifts is this Friday, December 3rd. The gifts need to be unwrapped and in a bag. The Angel Number needs to be on the outside of the bag. Thanks again for making the holiday special for our Angel.
Our Winter Holiday Party is on December 17th. Everyone is invited to attend! We will hear more about this from our room moms in a few days.
Have a great week!

Turkey Parade

Here is a short video of our Turkey Parade. It was great to see so many of you.

Field Trip

Ms. A finally figured out how to put the Dallas Arboretum pictures on the blog! Sorry for the long delay. Enjoy remembering our fun times at the Dallas Arboretum.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful week enjoying your family and friends.

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to work with each of your children and your families. I am truly blessed!

Scarecrow, Scarecrow, How scarey can you be?

Happy Scarecrow day!

We had the best time today. We all looked so shape in our scarecrow attire. For math today we got to visit all of the kindergarten class and got to play lots of different scarecrow games.

Scary Scarecrows!

No crows here!

Shoo Crows!

Smiling Scarecrows!

Have a great weekend 1 Please make sure that you check your child's folder this weekend. There are 2 special notes about fun Thanksgiving projects that are coming up!

Frisco Cares

Frisco Cares Supply Drive November 15-19 Bring the items below to school on the specific days and leave them outside your classroom. Student Council members will come collect the items and give them to Frisco Cares. Frisco Cares is a great organization and we are excited to support them! Please read below for more information on Frisco Cares. Frisco Cares is a clinic dedicated to providing the highest quality, most cost-efficient health and wellness care to the under served in Frisco and its surrounding communities. Frisco Cares provides acute care, physicals, well-checks and immunizations for children on Wednesday evenings and will be re-opening it's adult clinic on Thursday evenings. To provide the services that we do, we rely on the support of the individuals and businesses in our community, as well as the talents of the many volunteers that serve our clinic. Frisco Cares is located at 6811 Oak Street, Frisco TX 75034; 1 block North of Main at 3rd and Oak St. For more information visit our website at www.friscocares.org or contact our Director, Phyllis Knowles at 214-705-8200 .

11-15 Monday: "More Power Please" Frisco Cares needs AA and AAA batteries for their clinic.

11-16 Tuesday: "Toy Tuesday" Bring small plush toys for Frisco Cares to give to children who are sick or have received shots.

11-17 Wednesday: "Wowie Owie Wednesday" Bring Band-Aids, ice packs, ace bandages, etc . . . for the clinic to use with its patients.

11-18 Thursday: "Travel Thursday" Bring travel size hand sanitizers for the clinic to disperse to its patients. This is a great need during cold and flu season.

11-19 Friday: "Fun day at the Office Friday " Bring reams of printer paper and sticky notes  Office supplies can sometimes run short.

Tips for Teaching Kinds to Tie Their Shoes

Though most kids’ shoes now feature Velcro closures, learning to tie ones own shoes is still considered to be milestone that children should master by 5 or 6 years of age. But, teaching a child to tie his own shoes can be frustrating; kids can lose interest quickly if they feel the task is too difficult, or they may seem to “get it” one day only to completely forget the next.

Have no fear, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves that can make teaching a kid to tie his own shoes a bit easier. All kids learn differently, so try a few of these methods and see what works best for your child.

1. Bunny Ears
Probably the most common method for teaching kids to tie their own shoes is the “Bunny Ears” method.
~Tell the child that he needs to make his shoe laces into “bunny ears.”
~First, he needs to secure a knot for the bunny’s head. Take the laces and cross them over to make an “X”. Then, pull one ear through the bottom of the “X” and pull tight.
~Say, “Now we need to give bunny some ears.” Loop the laces into “bunny ears”.
~Tell the child that now we need to “make the bunny ears tight so they don’t fall off”. Then make another “X” using the “bunny ears”, slide one “ear” under the “X” and pull tightly.

2. Bi-Colored Laces
This is a great tip that can really make learning to tie much easier. Take two laces in two different colors and cut them down the middle. Then sew them together to make two bi-colored laces. Lace a pair of old shoes with these funny shoes strings. Using bi-colored laces can really help a kid who has trouble remembering his right from his left. You can use any learning-to-tie method in combination with your bi-colored laces.

3. Cardboard Cut-Out Shoe
Take a cardboard box and cut out an over-sized shoe shape. Have your kid decorate the shoe in any way he wishes. Using a pen, poke holes for laces. Use the bi-colored lace tip above, but instead of cutting the original laces in two, use two entire laces sewn together to create one long, bi-colored shoe string. Lace the shoe and use any teaching method, using this cut-out. Some kids find it easier and more interesting to practice on an over-sized model.

4. The Squirrel and the Tree
~This is a fun method that utilizes a kid friendly story and movements that help kids understand and remember the basic steps to shoe tying.
~Tell the child to create “tree roots” by making a starter knot.
~Make a tree with a long thin loop; hold the loop in the child’s right hand.
~With his left hand, take hold of the lace and tell him that a squirrel runs around the tree and jumps into the hole under the tree and comes out the other side (he’ll need to switch hands at this point which can be difficult for some kids).
~Many parents prefer this trick because it teaches the kid to tie shoes with the single loop method.

5. Loop It and Swoop It
This is a less childish, but still memorable way of teaching a child to tie in the traditional single loop method. Teach your child to tie his shoes using the standard tying method, but as you go through the motions say, “loop it, swoop it, pull.” Do this over and over while repeating the same three, simple instructions until your child is able to tie his shoes on his own. Encourage him to say “loop it, swoop it, pull” each time he attempts tying his shoes until it becomes second nature.

6. Learning to Tie Toys and Books
If you want to make learning to tie more fun, consider getting your child a toy or book that will help him learn to tie on his own. This is especially helpful for kids who learn best through interaction with toys. Some suggestions:
Franklin Dress-Up Doll
Melissa & Doug Wood Lacing Sneaker

Odds and Ins

Please remember to send in a small stuffed animal tomorrow for our science project.

Picture re-take day will be on Friday, November18. If you are unhappy with your child's school picture when you see it (they have not come in yet) and wish for them to have retakes you will need to send the pictures back in on this day and they will be sent down for re-takes.

Reflections entries are due on Friday, November 5. Get you little artist busy and get those projects turned in.

B-L-A-C-K spell BLACK

That's right! This week we have studied the word black we also added the word and to our word wall. We are becoming such great readers and writers our word wall is filling up with all of the words we know!

We have also had a great time learning about spiders. Did you know that a spider's legs grow out of it's head, that is called the cephalothorax?!! I bet your kiddo could tell you all kinds of interesting spidery facts, just ask them!

In math we learned about a really cool problem solving strategy call UPS check. Ask your child to tell you about how to solve a problem using this method.

Next week we will start our exciting fall unit. We will learn all about Autumn, scarecrows, Thanksgiving in the weeks to come. Please make sure that you are checking your child's folder nightly and taking about any important notes or papers. We have several fun family projects that will be coming home and we don't want you to miss a thing.

One thing that you can work with your child on at home when you are doing homework is having a correct pencil grip. This will help your child's handwriting! Here are some pictures of a correct pencil grip for reference.

Next week we will be learning about positional words. Please make sure that you send in a small stuffed animal on Tuesday for a fun science activity. Have a great weekend and enjoy the cooler weather by playing outside.

I've Gotta Feelin'

Tomorrow is our annual Spears school carnival. You will not want to miss this. It will be an amazing time for all! Please plan to join us tomorrow here at Spears from 11-3.

This week we have a lot of a lot of fun learning about pumpkins. We learned that pumpkins can even float! Yesterday we had the opportunity to open up a pumpkin and count the seeds inside. We also learned about the color brown and added the word on to the word wall.

Please read the following exciting news about Box Tops!

Thank you to all of you who participated
Your boxtops submissions helped raise over $900 for our school!

Keep tuned for the next big contest, and keep on collecting those boxtops...
As always, if you have any questions about our Boxtops program, please contact our Boxtops Coordinator Catherine Nihem

Have a great weekend! I hope to see you all tomorrow at the carnival!

O-R-A-N-G-E

We had an awesome orange week!We had so much fun learning about addition and subtraction this week. We learned two new games. Snap it! and Spill the Beans! These games made us think hard about how what numbers look like and how they are made.

While playing these games we practiced writing number sentences.

Next week we will continue our study of pumpkins. This week we focused on the life cycle of the pumpkin. Be sure and ask your child to tell you about the life of a pumpkin! Next week we will be looking at the parts of a pumpkin. Next week we will also add the word wall word brown and on to the word wall.

Have a great weekend!

Online Games

Hello!
I enjoyed visiting with you during parent teacher conferences! I have created a list of online games that your student can play at home. These games will help reinforce some of the concepts and skills that we're learning at school!
Starfall
PBS Kids
Fisher Price Education Games
Scholastic
Sesame Street
Suessville
Kindersite
Fun School
Mother Goose
Knowledge Adventure

Recycling

The Green Earth Recycle
What: The Green Earth Recycle program recycles ink and toner cartridges from home and office printers.
Where: At Spears Elementary!!! We will have a box in the lobby, next to the battery recycling.
When: Starting October 12th and lasting the entire year.
Why: Spears will receive proceeds from the donations of the ink and toner cartridges for the PTA. This is an easy way to help the school and the environment.
Please begin bringing in your used printer ink and toner cartridges to be recycled at Spears. We will have The Green Earth Recycle organization come collect them when the box fills up. There is also an opportunity for parents who want to do more. If you would like a collection box at your office, the proceeds of the donations can be awarded to Spears as well! Please contact Ms. Peterson for more information and the forms to get started!
Thank you for helping Spears and protecting our environment for future generations.

Erin Peterson
463-6332928
PeterEr@friscoisd.org

Author Visit

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing children's author Anastasia Suen. She taught us all about all of the hard work that it takes to become a published author. We learned that all you need to be an author is a pencil and some paper.
Please note:
We are allowed only three party days per school year, Dec. 17-Winter Holidays, Feb. 11-Valentine’s Day, and June 3-End of Year. Halloween is NOT one of our approved party days. Please do not send any treats, goodie bags, or other Halloween items to school. Thank you.

New Spears Shirts

Need a new Spear-it Shirt to wear to Huddle on Fridays? We now have one stop shopping at http://www.spearselem.biz/ Just click on the shirt you wish to order, select the size, enter the student’s name, and add to the cart. In the notes section on the order form, please include student’s name, teacher, and grade. When you are finished shopping, proceed to checkout and follow the steps. The shipping address on the order form should be the same as your billing address. All items will be delivered to Spears by the end of October and will be distributed to the students. Secure payment may be made through PayPal, credit card, or checking account. Spear-it wear choices include short-sleeved and long-sleeved T shirts, ladies T shirts, fleece sweatshirts and hoodies. Place your orders soon! The deadline for ordering is Friday, October 15!

Living and Nonliving

This week we have been learning all about living and nonliving things. We learned that living things have to have 4 things to live

1. Air

2. Water

3. Food

4. They grow!Today we went on a nature walk and used our sense of sight and our sense of hearing to find living and nonliving things. We heard birds, leaves, a baby and even a leaf blower!We saw grass, trees, cars, and even a spider!! See what kinds of living and nonliving things you can find around your house!

Food Drive

Just a reminder that our school food drive will end Friday. Please send in any extra non perishable foods with your child this week. These will be sorted and donated to Frisco Family Services at the end of the week.

This week

This week in class our color word is “YELLOW” and our high frequency word (HFW) is “at”. Look for these while you are reading with your child or are out and about. We will begin our Living and Non-Living unit. During literacy we will be focusing on beginning and ending sounds as well as hearing syllables. In math we will be reviewing sorting, shapes and numerals.This week’s homework will be sent home in your student’s red folder. If you happen to misplace the homework sheet, it can be found on our kindergarten website.

Yearbook Information

Yearbook Information
· Ordering will going on between now and January 15th.
· Price BEFORE November 30th - $15
· Price December 1st and after (NO EXCEPTIONS) - $20

Final date to order will be January 15th – NO EXCEPTIONS

Next Week

Next week we will be studying the color yellow. We will add the word "the" to the word wall as well. In science we will continue our study of our five senses and will study each individual sense in depth.

During math we will be learning about Five Frames and how to create the number five. It is very important that children learn to visualize and manipulate the numbers from 0-5. This will create a firm foundation to build higher level math on. Five frames help us to be able to do that.

Check out this fun ten frames game!

http://illuminations.nctm.org/activitydetail.aspx?id=75



We will also be continuing to talk about rhyming. and will begin our formal guided reading. Please make sure that you read your child's guided reading book with them every night (Monday-Thursday) and return the book in the folder ever day. This is very crucial to the success of your child's reading development.



Thank you for all of the work you do with your children to ensure their success in Kindergarten this year!

GREEN!!!!

What a FUN week we have had!!!
We studied the color green, learned about our five senses and discovered that our world if full of hidden shapes of all kinds. This week in science we have been learning about out five senses. We had the opportunity to test our senses during our Five Senses Festival.

What is that that you hear?

We learned that there are 4 kinds of taste sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

Shake, Shake, Shake!!! What do you hear?

What do you feel in the bag?

Our sense of sight came in very handy when trying to draw a picture.

What fun!

What does the candle smell like?

We are very sad that green week is ending but are excited to discover what next week might hold.

This week in class our color word is "green" and our high frequency word (HFW) is "me". Look for these while you are reading with your child or are out and about. We will start our 5 senses unit and have lots of really neat experiments lined up. During literacy we will be focusing on the plot of stories. In Math we will be focusing on shapes.

Look for the Guided Reading Folder coming home tonight! Remember, we are only practicing the routine of Guided Reading. Please remember to send the folder back each day. Once assessments have been completed, we will begin meeting with Guided Reading Groups. The new homework sheet is in the red folder. If you ever misplace these, a copy will always be available on our Kinder website.

We now have our assigned library time. Our class will be going to the library every Monday at 1:20. Please make sure that your child has their library book in their backpack on Mondays. If we do not go to school on a Monday we will do our best to go down to the library on the Tuesday that follows the day off. If your child forgot their library book today please send it in tomorrow and we will do our best to sneak down to the library and get a new book.

Happy Monday!

Happy Blue Day!

Today we had a great time wearing our blue proudly! We got to practice our bus evacuation skills during a drill and we had fun talking about how thing change when they are heated. Some things melt, bake and even pop when heated!

Here are a few tidbits of information:

1. It is time for us to start developing routines for the Guided Reading Folders. We will send home the Guided Reading Folder on Monday to begin practicing. Inside the folder you will find the “Blue” Book that we completed in class this week. Please have your child read the book with you each night. This is not a regular guided reading book. Those books will come home to you once the assessments have been completed. The Guided Reading Folder will come home Monday through Thursday of each week. Please send it back to school each day as this is what we use to teach the guided reading lesson the following day. Further directions will be given to you during our Parent Conference Day on October the 11th.

2. Leisa Hart from Fox 4 Good Day will be coming to speak at our PTA meeting on 9/16 at 9:30am. This will be a great opportunity to come hear about ideas on how to stay healthy!

3. The Canned Food Drive starts September 20th and will run to October 1. The drive benefits the Frisco Family Services Food Pantry. On these dates, please send in non perishable food items. Thanks for your help!

Melting!

Today we had a great time learning about melting. We played a fun game to see who could make their ice cube melt the fastest. Here are the directions for the game if you want to play a fun rainy day game with your family. All you need it a dice and an ice cube!

Here we are at work!

Melt!

Whose turn?

Team Work!

Coooooold!

Working hard!

Tomorrow will be BLUE day. so wear your blue to celebrate. Have a wonderful rainy evening!

Welcome Back!

Hi families,

I hope you all had a wonderful, long weekend! This week we are learning all about the color blue. We are also recognizing our new word wall words: "I" and "a". You might also hear your Kindergartner telling you all about how families are alike and different as we learn and talk about families this week.

Tonight you should also see our very first homework sheet for the week. These are just quick and fun enrichment activities for them to do at home. We are hoping they become a time at home to enforce things we are learning and also to help establish good study habits and a homework routine at home. For these reasons, we encourage that you only do one activity a day. Homework sheets are due Friday.

Thanks so much! Please check back/subscribe to the blog for more pictures and news.

Happy Red Day!

It was great to see you all at Curriculum Night tonight.

We had a great day today celebrating RED!!!! The rain was a great addition to our study of the weather. Here are some pictures of out wonderful day!

Here we are playing a math partner game it was so much fun!


Working hard on our morning work!

And time for blocks!

Having a picnic!

Dry Erase Center is always fun!

Have a fantastic 3 day weekend!