All about Mrs. Kelley

I feel so happy to say I have loved my last 38 years of teaching! Each grade level I've taught in the past (1st-5th) has been filled with wonderful experiences and happy memories, but I have to admit I am over the moon loving Transitional Kindergarten! This will by my tenth year working with TKers. Their enthusiasm for life, as well as their eagerness to soak up all the new things around them, make them a joy to be with each day! I am one very lucky teacher!

A little about myself:
After teaching a few years out of state, I moved to California in 1989, and besides two years teaching in Indonesia, I've been so happy to call Grass Valley home. Education is a family thing, because my husband, Tom, is a school counselor. I have three grown children (Brian, Kyle and Kaity) who have fond memories of the years they spent at Alta Sierra School! We love the mountains and being at the ocean as well. Time away from school usually takes us one place or the other. In the winter I love snowboarding, and during the summer time camping and finding trails to walk are some of my favorite things!

Posts

TK Week of November 18th-22nd

Hello Parents!

TK has been busy this week learning about Thanksgiving and getting ready for our special feast next week.

Letter U - We practiced how to make the letter U ("Hello smile, big line down, turn, up") and spent time listening for U and Umber Umbrella Bird's sound at the beginning of words.

Parent/Teacher Conferences - Thank you everyone for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with me this week. I feel so lucky to be able to be part of your TKer's learning journey this year.

TK's Friendship Feast - Thank you to all of you who are bringing supplies/food for our special TK event this Tuesday. You're very appreciated! Please have your TKer bring one piece of their favorite fruit on Monday, so we can cut it up and share it in our friendship fruit salad on Tuesday.

Also - A snack isn't needed on Tuesday, since we will be sharing our fruit salad, corn muffins, pumpkin pie, and popcorn that day.

TK's Holiday Cheer Program - Since my next post won't be until December 6th, I wanted to remind you to mark your calendar for Tuesday, December 17th @6:00pm in the MPR.

Reminders:

Please be there at least 5 minutes early (only about 15 minutes long)

TKers get to wear their holiday best

Please bring a dessert or appetizer to share for a family social afterward.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay safe and dry!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

November 26th - TK's Friendship Feast

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

TK Week of November 12th-15th

We had another wonderful week in TK!

Letter I - Lizzy Lizard's I was our letter and sound of the week. Extra practice at home (along with L,F,E,H, and T) making letters and thinking of sounds together is fun to do and great reinforcement of the skills your cutie is learning.

Patterns - Your TKer was introduced to AB patterns this week. At school everyone had fun creating their own AB pattern with our classroom color cubes, but AB patterns can be found at home too! Get creative with your cutie to see what can be found (i.e. - Cherrio, Kix, Cherrio, Kix/ fork, spoon, fork, spoon).

TK's Holiday Cheer Program - We're continuing to learn new songs and poems for our December 17th program at 6:00pm in the multi-purpose room. Be sure to mark your calendar! (Relatives and friends are definitely invited!)

DATES TO REMEMBER:

**November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

One Last Call - Can a Parent/Grandparent Help Us Tomorrow Morning?

We are still looking for a parent or grandparent who can help us tomorrow morning from 8:45-9:45. If you can, please email me at [email protected]

Thank you so much!

TK Voluteers Needed for Some of Our Group Times

Hello Parents,

We have a group time station from 8:00-9:45am without a parent volunteer on some of our upcoming Thursdays: 11/14, 11/21, and 12/5.

If you can help us for one, two, or three of these group times, please let me know as soon as possible. Replying won't work, but you can email me at [email protected]

Thank you so much!

TK Week of November 4th-8th

Hello Parents!

TK's Holiday Cheer Program - I know we just went Trick-or-Treating last week, but with our TK holiday program just 23 school days away, we started learning some of our songs and poems this week. Be sure to invite any relatives who live nearby, because I just have to tell you, our TKers are going to be adorable!

Mark your calendars: Tuesday, December 17th @ 6:00pm in our multi-purpose room.

Timothy Tiger's T - Our TKers are great T writers, so be sure to have them show you. Also, hopefully you can both play, "What Words Can We Think of That Begin With the /T/ Sound?"

Attributes - We started looking at groups of things this week and sorting them by attributes (characteristics). It's been fun having our TKers realize that something can have lots of attributes - shiny, big, furry, smooth, etc.

1-10 - Our TKers have also been practicing putting the numbers 1-10 in sequential order. It's a beginning skill for some, so we'll continue to practice, and having fun with this activity together at home is also great reinforcement.

Parent-Teacher Conferences November 18th-22nd - If you haven't had a chance to sign up for a conference time yet, please search signupgenius in your emails (sent Nov. 4th), and pick a time that works for you. Your TKer is a joy to have in class, and I can't wait to talk about her/his strengths and things we can do together to help him/her continue to have a wonderful year!

Veterans Day - Don't forget that Monday, November 11th is a no-school day, so we can honor our Veterans.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

TK Week of October 28th-31st

Hello Parents!

I'm so sorry for not sending this out over the weekend. A fever and feeling cruddy made me forget all about it!

A Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-up (from signupgenius.com) was just sent out. Our chance to meet will be the week of November 18th-22nd. If a time slot doesn't work for you, please let me know. We could definitely figure out an early morning time instead.

Halloween - Last Thursday was the highlight of the week! It was filled with our parade, group time Halloween fun, and our very own TK Trick-or-Treating around the school.

Letter of the Week - Ellie Elephant's E was our letter of the week. Be sure to have your little TKer show you Ellie Elephant's action and sound. Also have him/her show you some fabulous E's with her/his crayon, marker, sidewalk chalk, salt tray, or any fun thing you can think of! Also, playing "What Words Begin with /E/?" together is a great idea. (Remember that this is a developing skill.)

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

TK Week of October 21st-25th

I hope your family is having a nice weekend!

A quick look at TK this week:

Social/Emotional Learning - Our Second Step program has recently been having our TKers practice their self-talk to remind them of responsible things they are doing ("I'm cleaning up the blocks, I'm cleaning up the blocks"), and also focusing their attention and repeating directions given by teachers and parents in order to help them complete what they are asked to do.

Encouraging your TKer to practice self-talk as they are completing tasks at home, as well as asking them to repeat directions you give them, would strengthen their ability to focus and grow as learners, as well as develop

into responsible members of the family.

Ellie Elephant's E - Let your cutie show you how they make E's, and together you could play a game of thinking of words that begin with the short /e/ sound. This is a developing skill, so expect lots of other words that don't begin with this short vowel sound. Keep it fun and encouraging.

i.e - "LION!"

"Let's try it. /L/, /L/, lion. It sounds like it starts with L. Good try! Let's save

that word for when we think about L."

Sign-up Genius - Thank you to our Room Parent, Ashley, for putting together a Sign-up Genius for some things we are hoping to have donated for our Halloween day fun AND to those who are able to help us with our needed items. It's really appreciated!

Halloween Day -

Parade - Yay! Parents are invited to our school wide morning parade up on the upper playground. It usually starts about 8:15am.

Alta Sierra's 2nd Annual Trunk-or-Treat - Thursday from 4:30-6:00pm. It's sure to be lots of fun!

REMEMBER THAT NOVEMBER 1ST IS A TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY, SO THERE WON'T BE SCHOOL.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 31st - Halloween Parade (8:15am on upper playground)

- Trunk-or-Treat at Alta Sierra Lower Parking Lot (4:30-6:00pm)

November 1st - Teacher Professional Development Day (no school)

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

Two TK Reminders

Book Fair - Our TKers have the chance to buy something at the book fair tomorrow from 8:30-9:00am,, if that's something you'd like your TKer to participate in. If your child is participating, and you can join us, that would be wonderful! If your child is participating, but you can't be with us, no problem at all. We will make sure he/she gets the help needed.

Mrs. Kelley Out on Thursday - I wanted to remind you that I will be out on Thursday for a meeting, but I will be back Friday. Mrs. Sherman will be with our TKers again.

TK Week of September 30th-October 4th (a day early)

Hello Parents!

Mrs. Kelley Off to a Conference on Friday - I wanted to send this off a day early, so that I could remind you that I will be at a TK conference in Santa Clara tomorrow. My last year's aide, Ashley Sherman, will be our substitute teacher. She knows how our TK schedule works, and she is wonderful! Our TKers will love her! (I wanted to remind you that I will also be gone next Thursday, because of an important meeting I have to attend, but I will be back the next day. Ashley will be our substitute again.)

Oops! Thurday Folders - I completely forgot to pass out our Thursday Folders, so please look for them tomorrow.

Pictures in Folders - If you ordered pictures, I wanted you to know that they are in your TKer's folder, so you can take them out as soon as possible. They are adorable!

Picture Retakes - If your TKer wasn't in class when pictures were taken (or you want your child to have a picture retake), please mark your calendar for October 24th.

The Letter L - We have been thinking about the letter L this week. Going on a /l/ sound hunt around the house with your TKer would be wonderful! It would also be a great idea to let your cutie use sidewalk chalk, crayons, Playdoh, or even pudding to make some fabulous L's for you.

Color Week - Student Council has decided that next week is color week! If you would like your TKer to participate, here is the color to wear schedule:

Monday - Red

Tuesday - Orange or Yellow

Wednesday - Green

Thursday - Purple or Black

Friday - Blue

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Please tell your TKer that I can't wait to see them on Monday!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 14th-18th - Fall Break (no school)

October 24th - Picture Retakes

October 31st - Halloween Parade (8:15am on upper playground)

- Trunk-or-Treat at Alta Sierra Lower Parking Lot (4:30-6:00pm)

November 1st - Teacher Professional Development Day (no school)

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

TK Week of September 23rd-27th

We've had another fabulous week in TK! It's so fun watching our little TKers grow and learn so many things already - using words for what you need or want, learning that it's okay if someone else gets called on or gets a turn, and cooperating with others during choice time are just a few.

ZooPhonics - We have been introduced to all of our ZooPhonic friends from Allie Alligator to Zeke Zebra, and next week we get to begin focusing on one specific letter as we think about sounds and how that letter is formed. Woohoo!

Garden Time - TK got to think about seeds in the garden this week. After going on a little hunt, they found a vegetable that has seeds they could eat - a cucumber! They were also happy to find out there were still apples on some of our apples trees, and that meant a delicious slice of apple for everyone!

Jog-a-Thon Rewards - After collecting pledges, some TKers reached certain pledge levels and are invited to participate in one or two after TK-time activities. Please be sure to look in your cutie's Thursday Folder to see if a yellow or blue invitation is there. IF your TKer leaves at 11:25, they are definitely invited to return with you for these events. IF your TKer stays at school, we will make sure he/she arrives at these special events on time.

Mrs. Kelley Gone for Two Days - I wanted to give you a heads up that I will be at a TK Conference in the Bay Area this coming Friday, October 4th. (It's a two-day conference that's being put on by a wonderful organization - the California Association for the Education of Young Children - and I'm very excited to learn new things!) I will also need to be out of the classroom on Thursday, October 10th, but will be excited to see my TKers the next day.

Volunteer Needed - First, I want to tell you the good news! One of our parents, Chelly Newman, is now our second classroom aide! She has been volunteering full days these last few weeks to help our class (which we really appreciate), and we're so happy it is now official. She has been a wonderful addition to our classroom, and we're so glad she'll be with us throughout the school year.

SO, with Chelly helping us as our classroom aide, we are now hoping to find a parent volunteer to take her place who can help us every other Thursday from 8:00-10:00am. It would be a time to help with the whole group during carpet time (later hopefully one-on-one skill development time as our TKers become more independent during carpet time) and then working with two small groups during group time. Please let me know if this would work for you.

Note from the Library - Since a note from Mrs. Alonso (our librarian) came a little too late for our Thursday Folder, your cutie put it in her/his backpack for you to see. It's about our book fair coming the week after next.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 14th-18th - Fall Break (no school)

October 31st - Halloween Parade (8:15am on upper playground)

- Trunk-or-Treat at Alta Sierra Lower Parking Lot (4:30-6:00pm)

November 1st - Teacher Professional Development Day (no school)

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 17th - Holiday Cheer TK Christmas Performance (6:00pm)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

TK Week of September 16th-20th

We had another wonderful week in TK!

Apples - Thank you so much for the many apple donations. Everyone loved using our apple peeler (and having a little taste) before putting their apple into the crock pot to make our own TK made apple sauce. Almost everyone thought it was delicious!

Graphing - Besides our own apple sauce, we had fun trying some other apple tastes (apple chips and honeycrisp apple juice) and then using a graph to see what our TKers liked most.

Name Book - I want to thank Wyatt H.'s grandma, Miss Mary, for the special name books that went home in Thursday's Folder! Spending time together working on this special book will be lots of fun and a valuable experience for your little TKer.

Big Backpacks - Just a reminder that with sweatshirts, change of clothes in a baggy (for possible accidents), snack bag, water bottle, and room for a Thursday Folder and Friday library book that a big back pack is really helpful.

Our Classroom Roster - As soon as all roster permission slips (pink) get returned, I will be sure to quickly put it all together so you all have phone numbers and/or emails for fun things like possible play dates or party lists.

ZooPhonics - We now have been introduced to our ZooPhonic Friends from Allie Alligator to Vinnie Vampire Bat.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 14th-18th - Fall Break (no school)

October 31st - Halloween Parade (8:15am on upper playground)

- Trunk-or-Treat at Alta Sierra Lower Parking Lot (4:30-6:00pm)

November 1st - Teacher Professional Development Day (no school)

November 11th - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

November 27th-29th - Thanksgiving Break (no school)

December 23rd-January 3rd - Winter Break (no school)

Apples Needed

Hello Parents!

We are hoping to make our own apple sauce this Thursday, so I'm asking for apple donations. Most varieties work really well, so whatever apples come will be very appreciated. (The only varieties that seem to have problems with our apple peeler are red and golden delicious.) The goal is to have an apple to peel for every TKer. Thank you SO much for all you do!

TK Week of September 9th-13th

Picture Day in TK went really well, and I can't wait for you to see you cutie's first school portraits!

Jog-a-Thon was a hilarious success. Watching our TKers figure out how how it all worked and running their hearts out was just the best to see! I can't thank all you parents who were able to join us enough. We definitely couldn't have done it without you.

Group Time - Our TKers are learning so much about school and working together. This week during group time we were (for the most part :) able to stay with our group and move to the next center without holding on to our group-time rope - what a success!

ZooPhonics - Hopefully you have been able to become familiar with our ZooPhonic animals, so that you can join your TKer as they begin having fun with phonetic sounds. We have been introduced to the friends up to Queenie Quail so far. (If you need another packet of all our ZooPhonic characters, actions, and sounds please just ask. I have plenty.) We haven't connected them to letters yet, but that we will be playing with that soon.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

Thursday, September 12th: School Picture Day!

Friday, September 13th: Alta Sierra's Annual Jog-a-Thon

October 14th-18th: October Break (no school)

October 31st: 8:15am Halloween Parade on the upper playground

November 1st: Teacher Professional Development Day (no school)

Monday, November 11th: Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd: Parent Conference Week

November 27th-29th: Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)

December 23rd-January 3rd: Winter Break (no school)

Picture Day Tomorrow

Hello Parents,

I wanted to remind you that TK's picture day is tomorrow at 8:15am.

TK Week of September 3rd-6th

Hello Parents,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend together!

ZooPhonic Friends - We have been learning the names, actions, and sounds of more ZooPhonic friends. This week we've added Inny Inchworm, Jelly Jellyfiish, Kao Kangaroo, and Lizzy Lizard. Please let your TKer teach you all about them, so you can play with their sounds together.

Thank you! Somebody donated some awesome sorting eggs and an adorable book about an octopus coming to school, and our TKers have loved them both! These gifts are both very appreciated!

Missing Change of Clothes? - About a week ago an unnamed Ziploc baggy with a clean change of clothes was found out by our snack table. If your cutie is missing their extra change of clothes, please let me know and we'll put their name on it and get it in their backpack.

TK Class Pictures - Kelli in the office helped us out by putting TK first on the list for class pictures this Thursday (September 12th), so your TKer's hair should be looking just the way you planned - fingers crossed. :) From the note in our Thursday Folder, it looks like if you are interested in class pictures you can either send in the order form Thursday morning or order online.

Jog-a-Thon - I goofed! Please unmark your calendar from what I posted earlier. Our Jog-a-Thon is THIS Friday (September 13th). I'm sure you all ready saw PTC's note in our Thursday folder, but just in case - our TKers will be jogging from 8:15-8:35am. I WOULD LOVE AS MANY VOLUNTEERS AS POSSIBLE THAT MORNING TO HELP US TALLY LAPS AND CHEER THESE CUTIES ON. IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU COME IN THE MORNING, OR AN EMAIL IS GREAT ALSO. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

DATES TO REMEMBER

Thursday, September 12th: School Picture Day!

Friday, September 13th: Alta Sierra's Annual Jog-a-Thon

October 14th-18th: October Break (no school)

Monday, November 11th: Veteran's Day (no school)

November 18th-22nd: Parent Conference Week

November 27th-29th: Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)