Mrs. Birdsong

Our Hundred’s Day Celebration was awesome!  We had a magician and the McClesky Middle School Band came to play for us.  What a way to recognize the hard work and accomplishment of students making the 100's and 100's Plus Clubs!  The students had a blast. 

Most of the students in our class made the 100’s club.  Two students made the hundreds plus club: Mario A. and Aramoni R.   

If your child has not made the 100’s or 100’s plus clubs, there is still plenty of time.  Keep practicing teen numbers, sight words, and coin identification and values.   New members are inducted every Spirit Day until the end of the School Year.   

 

Curriculum Update:

 Guided Reading ~ I will be evaluating this week to determine reading levels. 

Students must demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend leveled text.

 

Language Arts:  Letter “Jj”.  Sight words:  nine, jump, little

Writing:  Informational Writing; students will be researching and then writing to tell what they learn about ground hogs.  Students are learning to write topic sentences, details, and closing sentences.  Students are also expected to use writing techniques learned all year, i.e. capital letters, punctuation, finger spacing, proper heading, etc. 

Math:  Teen Numbers; coin identification, value, and fair trade

Social Studies:   student address including city, state, county, country, continent

Please see letter sent home.

 

Ground Hog's Day is Thursday..... I'm hoping for an early spring! 

 

Have a great week!

 

Curriculum Updates

Reading – Winter Related and 100th day of school Literature
 

Writing - Non-fiction ~ and writing about things we've learned
 

Phonics - letter /Kk/; Sight Words: eight - away; syllables
 

Math - teen numbers, identifying nickels, dimes, quarters; knowing the value and trading pennies for each. 
 

Social Studies: Martin Luther King, Jr. and National Monuments

Dates to Remember:

1/24 ~ Chick-fil-A Family night - Sprayberry location

1/27 ~ 100th day of school!!!
Celebration for students making the 100s and 100s+ clubs. There is still time for your child be inducted!  Students will continue to be included throughout the year as necessary skills are mastered. 

1/27 ~ Spirit Day and $3 Chick-fil-A biscuits at school

 

We had an awesome time on our Field trip to Tellus Museum.  Thank you parents who were able to join us!

 

December was a busy month. Our Economic Unit was a huge success. The students had a wonderful time making goods in their shops, selling them, and then shopping in all of the stores at the end. I hope parents enjoyed all of the goodies that came home. Thank you for the material sent in to make this unit a success!

Our end of the year celebration which coincided with p.j. day was also a lot of fun. Thank you for all of the gifts given to Mrs. Colacicco and me. We have such a delightful group of students. We are honored to be their teachers.

Thank you for your help in making 2011 a great year! We are eagerly anticipating the return of our students to start the school year 2012.

Guided Reading – continue reading leveled books. Students will be assessed to determine their reading level. This information will be sent home.

Writing – Nonfiction writing

Phonics – letter “Ff”; sight words - see calendar; word sort - beginning sounds.

Math – write numerals through 20 to label sets,, produce models for number words through ten,  ordinal numbers (1st - 10th).  Identifies and names the value of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters; makes fair trades between pennies and nickels and pennies and dimes.

Social Studies – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Presidents' Day; American monuments;  city, state, country, county, continent.

Science – sorting materials into categories based on composition and physical attributes

Health - Compare and contrast various ways to prevent the spread of germs.

 

Dates to Remember

1/10 Stevie B’s Pizza Night

1/13 Relay for Life Bake Sale

1/16 School Holiday Dr. King’s Birthday

1/17 Terrific Kids Celebration

1/20 KINDERGARTEN FIELD TRIP

1/20 BINGO night 6-8 pm

Don’t forget our field trip to Tellus Museum on January 20th. If you would like to volunteer to chaperon, please let me know. Also if your child will purchase a school lunch for the field trip, please complete the choice form and return to me as soon as possible. The form will go home on Tuesday 1/10. Thanks!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

Our Thanksgiving play was delightful!  The kids had a great time performing, and I’m sure parents found the performance unforgettable. 

We have about 4 weeks until the winter holiday break, and boy do we have a lot to accomplish before then!  

One of our upcoming focuses is our Economic unit.  The children will complete an application to work in one of three shops:  The Bake Shop, Stationary Shop, and Home Living Shop.  Students will be paid a salary for performing their job  for three days.  On the fourth day, students will have an opportunity to purchase items produced in the shops using their wages. 

The economic unit is a lot of fun and learning for the children.  It is a unit that requires a lot of help from parents.  We’ll need help providing the supplies needed to create products and we may need parents to volunteer to act as supervisors in the shops.

We’ll be sending home further information and opportunities for volunteers.  Please indicate at that time how you're available to help.  We know we can count on our parents.  Thanks in advance.

Also on Thursday, December 22, we’ll have our Winter Holiday Party.   We’ll also be sending home a list of items needed for this event.

 

Curriculum Focus

 

Reading

Using illustrations to assist with comprehension;  understanding story elements:  character, setting, plot, problem, resolution

Guided Reading

Students will continue reading leveled books. 

 

Sight Words:  Students will need to know at least 20 sight words to get a 3 on their report cards this quarter.  Please work with your child to learn sight words.

Writing

Narrative writing;  sticking to one clear event.

Writing focus continued throughout the year:   using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and at the beginning of important words, punctuation marks at the end of sentences, finger spaces between words, writing sentences that make sense, writing more than one sentence, creating an illustration that matches the topic and their sentences. 

Social Studies

Wants and needs.   Prioritizing choices based on limited resources.

Economic unit

Students will understand that goods and services are produced by ourselves and others; purchased and consumed;  and that this is also the foundation of our own economic system.

 

Science

Characteristics of  the Daytime and Nighttime sky

 

Dates to Remember

Winter Break 12/22/11 – 1/10/12

 

Best Regards,

Mrs. Birdsong

Mrs. Colacicco

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our classroom blog!

 

Important upcoming events and dates!

 

10/14 - End of 9 week grading period

 

10/19-10/21 - Penny Wars (details to follow)

 

10/21 - FALL CARNIVAL!!       

***Please send in items for our spa basket for the silent auction at the fall carnival.

 

10/24 - Conference Week

Students dismissed at 12:20 all week

 

10/31 - Fall Classroom Celebration

    Don't forget to send in your treat item

 

                 Curriculum Update:

 

Reading - Little Red Hen- characters, setting, plot, sequencing, using picture clues, retelling

Writing - sentence writing using learned sight, classroom resources, and sounding out words; detailed pictures

Phonics - letter /N/; sight words: like, not, brown

Math - Number Sense, counting 0 – 10, one to one correspondence, ordinal numbers, identifying pennies and nickels, and trading 5 pennies for a nickel

Social Studies - Christopher Columbus       

Science – animal coverings and offspring

 

October Birthdays   

    

8th - Sarahi G.

19th - Patrick H.

 

We'd like to welcome our new student Patrick H.  He's a great addition to our classroom family!

Happy Fall!

 

Mrs. Birdsong

 

Blue Jay News

Dear Parents,

Please join PTA! Our school is almost at 100% participation.  The PTA does a lot to make possible activities in our classrooms and our school.  The cost is only $4.00.  Thank you for your support. 

Blue Jay News

September 14, 2011

Dear Parent(s)/Guardians:

On September 21, 2011 from 3:00PM-4:00PM, State Superintendent of Education, John D. Barge, along with staff in the GA Department of Education Curriculum and Instruction division, will host a web-delivered broadcast through Georgia Public Broadcasting to introduce to all stakeholders the upcoming Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS).

To provide you with a brief history, the state of Georgia, along with 47 other states, has adopted a new set of standards that are geared towards unifying the standards that are used from state to state and enabling students to be college & 21^st century workplace and career ready upon graduating from high school.

 If you are unable to view the initial broadcast, it will air again from 4:00PM-5:00PM, and then an archived version will appear the following day. Three days later, a closed-caption version of the broadcast will air through the same site. The Web link for the initial broadcast and the archived sessions will be:

http://www.gpb.org/education/common-core

We hope that all stakeholders will find an opportunity to view this broadcast and learn about the future of education, not only in Georgia, but across the United States. Your participation in viewing this broadcast will provide your student with the greatest level of support.

Wanda A. Shue

Principal

Nicholson Elementary

   

Blue Jay News

 

 

 

Our letter focus this week is   .

Students will be allowed to wear a hat in class on Thursday, 9/9, to celebrate "Hh"!

Then on Friday we will have a show and tell. Children should bring in an object that starts with the letter "Hh". Please don't send valuable or irreplaceable items.

 

Curriculum Focus

Readers Workshop:

Reading from left to right, pointing to each word, correctly turning pages, properly caring for books, recognizing finger spacing.

Identifying the beginning and ending of stories and Nursery Rhymes 

Guided Reading:

Students will bring home reading books to practice reading.  Please encourage students to take very good care of the books.  Please sign the log attached to the take home envelope and return the book the next school day.  Students should read the book to a parent for fluency and comprehension.  Please ask questions to make sure your child understands the story.   

 

Writers Workshop: 

Name and date on the paper, starting sentences with capital letters, ending with periods, using finger spaces between words, drawing detailed pictures, using many colors and using learned sight words.

 

Math: 

Numbers 0 - 5, identifying and writing the numerals, one to one correspondence, creating sets, identifying more and less. 

Social Studies:

Labor Day and Community workers

 

Things to Remember:

Please allow your child to keep a light jacket or sweater in class for times when our classroom is a little chilly.  Also please send a small, convenient, easy for your child to manage, healthy snack each day.

 

Important Dates

Sept.  8- Menchie's Night        

Sept. 10- East Cobber Parade        

Sept. 13- Stevi B's Night            

Sept. 14- Picture Day

Sept. 16- Movie Night 7 pm

Sept. 19- Academic Alert sent home

Sept. 27- Chick-fil-A Night

Spet. 29- Curriculum Night, Ice Cream Social 6-7:30

Sept. 30- Spirit Day, Chick-Fil-A biscuts

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Birdsong

 

Blue Jay News

 

It's been an awesome first couple of days of school. I am enjoying getting to know our brand new Nicholson Stars! They are ready and eager to learn.

I anticipate a wonderful year of learning and fun!

Reminders:

Please have your child wear tennis/gym shoes to school each day.

Continue to have your child wear his/her transportation tags to school each morning for the rest of the week letting us know how they will be going home that day.

Check your child's folder each evening and return the empty folder each day in your child's book bag. Only communication from home should come back to school in that folder.

Check your child's citizenship report each evening, and discuss proper behavior with your child.

Please send in all supplies as soon as possible.

Please join the PTA!

Open House is next Thursday, August 25, 2011. Hope to see you there.

 

Thanks for all of your help and support.

 

Mrs. Birdsong & Mrs. Colacicco

Blue Jay News

It's the end of an incredible school year!  What a delightful group of students to have worked with.  I have truly enjoyed being their Kindergarten teacher.  They have made considerable progress, and I am excited about how bright  their future will be. 

 

We enjoyed many fun activities during the last week of school, such as Outside Day, even though it was quite hot; Game Day, and an Ice Cream Social!  Thank you parents for sending in the supplies for the social, and thank you to those parents who joined in the fun!   

 

Please continue to engage your child in activities that will help them maintain skills aquired this year.  Please continue to read to them and to ask comprehension questions; like what happened in the beginning, middle, and ending of the story.  Also ask questions related to the characters, setting, problem, plot, resolution, etc.  The neighborhood library is a great resource for reading materials and story times.  Please check out some books that the students can read on their own and also some that can be read to them. 

 

Also, please look for ways to practice addition and subtraction skills using objects like toys, blocks, pennies, etc.  Continue to practice recognizing coins and their values.  Encourage children to count out coins to pay for purchases when you go to the store.  Practice counting numbers by 1’s to 100, by 2’s, by 5’s and 10’s. 

 

Also, check out the links on the Nicholson Computer Lab page for age/grade appropriate web sites.   You might also want to check out some of the Nicholson first grade teacher's blogs to see what your child can expect in first grade.  Encourage your child to keep writing this summer by writing letters and even  keeping a summer journal.  This is a great way to document summer adventures and to practice writing.  By far the most important activities I hope students engage in this summer is having lots of summer fun and spending time with family and friends.  

 

It’s been a pleasure working with such a nice, well behaved, well mannered, enthusiastic, motivated, cooperative group of students and their families.  What a tremendous job you have done with them!  Thank you for entrusting your precious treasures with me.  Thank you also for your support this year!  I was honored to be their kindergarten teacher, and I will love them forever!

 

Summer Birthdays 

 

Jill Colacicco              June 19th

Shearon Birdsong       July 16^th

 

School Starts:  August 15^th  

 

Have a Safe and Fun Summer!

S. Birdsong

 

P.S.  Mrs. Colacicco and I would like to thank you for all of the end of the year gifts!  Your thoughtfulness  is greatly appreciated!