All about Mrs. Kelley

I feel so happy to say I have loved my last 39 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 have been over the moon loving Transitional Kindergarten! This will by my eleventh 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, was a high school counselor for many years (he just retired last June). 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 January 19th-23rd

I'm so sorry for such a late TK post! I let Friday by 6:00pm get by me, and then I soon got sick after that. I think I'm not alone. We had quite a few absent on Friday, and I'm hoping the weekend was just what was needed for everyone to feel better tomorrow.

Bubba Bear's B ("Hello smile, big line down, ribbit, little curve, little curve) - We had fun working with the letter B this last week. You'll definitely want to have your TKer show you some fabulous Bs, and then together you could play the game "How many /b/ beginning words can we say together in a minute?"

New TK Friend - Now we have 16 TK friends that get to play and learn together!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (no school)

February 13th-16th - Presidents Day Weekend (no school)

February 19th - Family Story Night! Hope to see you there!!

March 30th-April 3rd - Spring Break (no school)

May 14th - Open House Night! Hope to see you there!

May 21st - TK field trip to the Sacramento Zoo

TK Week of January 12th-16th

I can't believe how fast our TK year is going. We are only a few days away from our school year being half over! It's been so much fun watching the growth each of our TKers have made, and I can't wait to see where the next months will take them.

Opposites - We've had lots of fun this week playing with the idea of OPPOSITE. You'll definitely want to play "What's the Opposite of __?" game with your cutie at home.

Peewee Penguin's P - ("Hello smile, big line down, ribbit, little curve down") Since /p/ is such a fun sound to make, you'll want to see how many P words you both can think of as your TKer shows you how to make the letter P. With the great weather this weekend, maybe making sidewalk chalk P's would be extra fun.

Martin Luther King Jr. - We learned that Martin helped the world realize how important it is to treat everyone fairly, and that what a person does and how they treat others is what's important, not the way they look.

Zoo Trip on May 21st - Hopefully you can mark your calendar, and join us as a chaperone for our TK field trip to the Sacramento Zoo in May. (There's no limit to the number of chaperones that can join us.) Life is busy, and if you can't make it we completely understand. There will be plenty of chaperones, but if you can work it out that would be wonderful! (PTC is paying for our TKers' entrance fee - thank you, PTC! - but chaperones will need to pay the special group price of $10.)

Saturday's Birthday Party for Nova Reminder: Here's the party info that was given to all her TK friends (in case you misplaced it):

Condon's Minnie Park (known as the fire station or red park by our kiddos)

1-3pm

RSVP - 530-263-0521

I hope everyone has a wonderful three day weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (no school)

February 13th-16th - Presidents Day Weekend (no school)

February 19th - Family Story Night! Hope to see you there!!

March 30th-April 3rd - Spring Break (no school)

May 14th - Open House Night! Hope to see you there!

May 21st - TK field trip to the Sacramento Zoo

TK Week of January 6th-9th

I hope everyone had a wonderful Winter Break!

It was so much fun being back together on Tuesday, and getting back into our TK routine.

Sorting and Attributes - We learned that an attribute is something that tells us what a thing is like. So, an attribute is just a describing word that helps us talk about things—like their color, size, shape, or how they feel.

For example:

An apple can be red 🍎 (that’s a color attribute)
A ball can be big or small ⚽
A teddy bear can be soft 🧸

It would be fun to pick a few special things at home and together see how many attributes you can describe.

DeeDee Dear's D ("Hello smile, big line down, ribbit, big curve down") - Be sure to have your cutie show you how to make a fabulous D, and together you could hunt for things in the house that begin with /d/.

Coats - Mornings down in our little valley are often colder than other parts of Alta Sierra, so our 9:15am recess time and our Friday 8:30am PE time can be COLD! Making sure your TKer comes to school each morning with a warm coat will make play time outside comfortable and fun.

Birthday Party on Saturday, January 17th - A birthday party invitation for every TKer went home today. Just in case it didn't make it to you, Here are the details:

It's Saturday, January 17th from 1-3 pm

Condon's Minnie Park (known as the fire station or red park by our kiddos)

RSVP - 530-263-0521

Thank you for all you do, and I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (no school)

February 13th-16th - Presidents Day Weekend (no school)

February 19th - Family Story Night! Hope to see you there!!

March 30th-April 3rd - Spring Break (no school)

TK Week of December 15th-19th

TK had such a fun week, filled with holiday spirit days, wrapping very special presents for moms and dads, spending a day with our most loved stuffies, and ending it all in pajamas, eating pancakes, and watching a popcorn movie! (Netflix Jr.'s A Trash Truck's Christmas - SO cute!)

I hope you all have a wonderful time with family during our two week break, and please let your TKer know I can't wait for all of us to be together again in the New Year! Happy Holidays!

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

January 5th - Teacher Professional Development Day (No School)

January 6th - (Tuesday) Yay! We're Back in School Together!

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No School)

February 13th-16th - Presidents' Day 4-Day Weekend (No School)

Tomorrow is the Day!

Tomorrow is our school-wide Donation Day Parade! In the morning we get to carry down our donated food-items to the multi-purpose room, so it can donated to our local food band to help our community members in need.

If you were planning on having your cutie donate non-perishable food items, but haven't had a chance, no worries at all! You can still send your TKer to school tomorrow morning with your family donation. He'll/She'll be so excited to help fill our box before we each carry some of our food down to the MPR to share with others.

Once again, thank you so much for all you do!

TK Week of December 8th-12th

Holiday Cheer - Thank you for helping to make Tuesday night's TK performance such a special event! It was so fun seeing the smiles on our TKer's faces, knowing they were doing something special for the ones they love most.

Your TKer's Extra Bag of Clothes - In your cutie's backpack you'll find a Ziploc baggy of his/her extra, just-in-case clothes. With a change in seasons, we thought it was best to have moms and dads look through the bag to see if anything needs to be changed out. If you can send back a weather appropriate shirt and pair of pants (along with underwear and a pair of socks) Monday morning that would be great. Thanks so much!

Spirit Week - Please look at our DATES TO REMEMBER below, for a second reminder of the fun things happening each day.

Food Drive - Our box is filling up! Thank you so much for letting your cutie be part of the help we're giving to our local food bank this holiday season. If you haven't had a chance, but still want to donate non-perishable food items, I bet Monday would still be a great day to donate.

Sammy Snake's S - Please be sure to have your cutie show you some of their fabulous S letters, and together you can hopefully go on an /s/ sound hunt.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 15th - Christmas Sweater (or Shirt) Day

December 16th - Christmas Colors Day

December 17th - Favorite Stuffie Day

December 18th - Christmas Hat or Hair Day

December 19th - PAJAMA DAY (and Pancakes in TK!)

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

January 5th - Teacher Professional Development Day (No School)

January 6th - Yay! We're Back in School Together!

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No School)

February 13th-16th - Presidents' Day 4-Day Weekend (No School)

TK Week of December 1st-15th

I am so proud of our TKers! They joined their very first Rally Around the Flag on Friday and sang to the whole school! Although they had some practice singing to a handful of the big kid classes earlier in the week, this was their biggest audience BY FAR — and they were so brave! They even sang “Feliz Navidad” with huge smiles and awesome dance moves!

So Many Thursday Notes! - I'm sorry for so many notes in our last Thursday Folder. Thank you for taking the time to read each one. It's that time of year when so many fun things are happening, and I don't want you and your family to miss out on any of it.

Holiday Cheer Performance THIS Tuesday - Woohoo! Your TKer can't wait to perform for you this Tuesday in the Multi-Purpose Room. You'll want to be there at least 5 minutes early, since we will be starting our program right at 6:00 pm, It's about a 15 minute program.

The program will be immediately followed by our TK Family Social. Thank you for bringing an appetizer or dessert to share. Yay! It will be so much fun being able to mingle and getting to know each other better.

Also, the more the merrier! Brothers, sisters, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles - they're all invited!

Gordo Gorilla's G - G was our letter of the week. It's a tricky one, and extra practice at home would be fun and extra helpful. A sweet idea would be to make some delicious Gs on a plate filled with instant pudding - and while you're at it why not have your cutie show you some of their other letters as well.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing you soon!

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 11th - PTC's Evening Winter Wishes Activity

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

January 5th - Teacher Professional Development Day (No School)

January 6th - Yay! We're Back in School Together!

January 19th - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No School)

February 13th-16th - Presidents' Day 4-Day Weekend (No School)

TK Week of November 12th-14th

When you only have three days together the time seems to fly! But, we filled those three days with lots of good things.

TK Thanksgiving Feast - We were busy getting ready for our feast next week by making turkey hats (adorable!) and placemats for our special meal together.

I want to thank everyone who was able to sign up (through signupgenius) to bring the things we need for this fun event.

NO SNACK IS NEEDED ON THURSDAY.

Friendship Fruit Salad - I wanted to give a quick reminder that you will want to have your cutie bring a piece of their favorite fruit Thursday morning, so we can cut it up and share it in our friendship fruit salad that day.

Ollie Octopus' O - Since TKers are experts a Catina Cat's C, we knew we could jump right in to learn how to make an awesome O. Please have your cutie show you how, and then maybe together you could pick out O's in one of your favorite picture books.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 5th - TK gets to sing Christmas songs for our school Rally-Around- the-Flag at 8:00am

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of November 3rd-7th

TK has had another fabulous week!

Four Day Weekend - I need to apologize for not adding our November 10th Teacher Development Day and November 11th Veterans' Day Holiday to our Dates to Remember. I'm hoping you already saw it on our school calendar. That means we won't be together again until Wednesday, Nov. 12th.

Holiday Cheer TK Program - I hope you've marked your calendar for Tuesday, December 9th at 6:00pm in our multi-purpose room, because our TKers have started practicing for their special night for you. With all the actions, sweet voices, and extra cute wiggles, I guarantee you're going to love it!

Catina Cat's C - Your cutie now has one more letter they can proudly make for you. An extra fun way to show you a fabulous C (as well as an L, F, E, H, T, I, J, and U) is with some extra salt on a plate. Going on a /c/ hunt around the house is also lots of fun together.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend together!

DATES TO REMEMBER

November 10th-11th - Teacher PD and Veterans' Day (No School)

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 27th-31st (Halloween Details Too)

TK has had another wonderful week! We learned a lot about leaves and also got VERY excited about Halloween tomorrow!

Halloween Details -

PARADE - We would love you to join us to watch our annual Alta Sierra Costume Parade. It starts at 8:15 am up on the upper playground (and only lasts about 20-25 minutes).

COSTUME - Your cutie will want to arrive in her/his costume, since the parade is so early in the day. Wearing a costume the rest of the day is completely up to you. Most will probably choose to keep their costume on, but if you would like your TKer to change after the parade just let me know. We can easily make sure they get to change into their regular clothes.

HALLOWEEN HIGHLIGHTS - Our day will start with the parade. Then we'll come back to our room for three theme-centered fun-filled stations. We'll finish just in time for snack and play. (No need for a water bottle tomorrow, because everyone gets their own Halloween Brew - grape juice and water:) Soon after we'll be off to do some TK Trick-or-Treating. After one treat from our trick-or-treat bag (and the rest going in our back packs), we'll then get to have a little choice time before going off to the library. Whew! What a day!

Fall Leaves - Your TKer has been quite the scientist this week, learning how leaves make food for the trees. Ask your cutie what two ingredients leaves need to make their food, and if you want to be really impressed ask him/her to tell you something about chlorophyll.

Umber Umbrella Bird's U - Be sure to have your TKer show you how to make the letter U, and tell you the sound it makes. It might be fun to pick a book and go on a U hunt together.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween together. Maybe I'll get to see you at our Alta Sierra Trunk-or-Treat!

DATES TO REMEMBER

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

October 31st - Trunk-or-Treat - 4:30-6:00pm

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 13th-17th

Hello Parents!

I wanted to let you know that I will not be at school tomorrow morning (Oct. 17th), but your TKer is in wonderful hands. Mrs. Percey will still be there, and Mrs. Sherman (who was once one of my wonderful TK classroom aides) will be our substitute. The class will absolutely love her, and I'm positive they will have a fabulous Friday together.

Inny Inchworm's I - We had fun with the letter I this week. Having your cutie show you some sidewalk chalk I's (along with L,F,E,H,T) would be lots of fun.

Fall Break - I wanted to remind everyone that next week is Fall Break. I hope everyone enjoys the extra time together, and please let your TKer know I can't wait to see them on Monday, October 27th.

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 20th-24th - Fall Break (No School)

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

October 31st - Trunk-or-Treat - 4:30-6:00pm

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 6th-10th

TK has had another fabulous week!

Seasonal Fun - With the cooler weather and the beginning of October, TK has

been having fun looking for signs of Fall and thinking about a very exciting holiday coming up! Please be sure to have your cutie sing you one of our new favorite songs - "Five Little Pumpkins."

Timothy Tiger's T - Your TKer is an expert at making a capital T (middle start, big line down, ribbit, drive away), and I'm sure s/he would love to show how! During story time this weekend, it would also be fun to see if you both can find words that start with the /t/ sound.

School Spirit Fridays - Our big fifth-grade classroom representatives came to count how many TKers were wearing our school colors today. They were able to write 6 - that's awesome! I wonder if next week we'll have even more!

Trunk-or-Treat - Be sure to mark your calendar! Our annual Trunk-or-Treat is going to be on October 31st from 4:30-6:00pm. I hope I get to see you there! (If interested and able, PTC is collecting candy donations in the front office for this very fun event.)

I hope everyone enjoys the sunny, cool weekend ahead!

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 13th-17th - Parent Teacher Conference Week (Thanks for signing up!)

October 20th-24th - Fall Break (No School)

October 31st - Trunk-or-Treat - 4:30-6:00pm

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of September 29th-October 3rd

TK has had another fabulous week!

Orange is a Carrot Book - Your TKer's special Orange is a Carrot book came home today, and s/he can't wait to read it to you!

We have some amazing TKers who are learning that stories go from top to bottom, and that sentences drive away (go from left to right). Be sure to compliment your cutie on all s/he is learning as he/she uses a finger to share the story with you!

Letter H - Honey Horse's H has been our letter of the week. After your TKer shows you how to make an H, maybe you both can count how many words you can think of together that start with the /h/ sound.

Scholastic Book Club - If you are wanted to grow your at home library, a completely optional book order went home today. By making the due date 10/10, the books will be at school when we come back from October Break. (I always let parents know when the books arrive, just to find out if they can go in backpacks or if they need to go straight to parents.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend enjoying the sunshine together!

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 13th-17th - Parent Teacher Conference Week (Thanks for signing up!)

October 20th-24th - Fall Break (No School)

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of September 22nd-26th

Apples - This week was all about apples. We read about, painted, and tasted apples. After graphing our favorite apple taste (apple chips, apple sauce, Apple Hill apple juice, and a sliced apple with cinnamon sugar) the winner was - apple juice! We even got to watch a virtual visit to an apple orchard. One of our favorite parts of this week, though, was going to our garden and picking an apple from our very own apple tree - delicious!

Letter E - Ellie Elephant's E was our letter of the week. Your TK would love to show you how to make the /e/ sound and teach you how to make a capital E ("Hello Smile, Big Line Down, Ribbit, Across the Top, Across the Middle, Across the Bottom").

Patterns - TK has also been having fun with AB patterns this week (ie - red, white, red, white). To help your cutie develop this pattern awareness, you could find things around the house (ie - beans and Cheerios, forks and spoons) to make patterns with together.

Mark Your Calendar - Our TK Holiday Cheer Christmas program is going to be Tuesday, December 9th at 6:00 pm in the Multi-Purpose Room. Get ready for cuteness overload!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 20th-24th - Fall Break (No School)

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 9th - TK's Holiday Cheer Program - 6:00pm in MPR

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of September15th-19th

TK has had another wonderful week!

Jog-a-Thon - Our Jog-a-Thon was a success! Our TKers were very proud of themselves for running so many laps, and they were extra happy about ending it all with an Otter Pop treat.

After the run, your cutie's tally card was gathered and put in a donation envelope that is now in his/her backpack.

Thank you so much for your support of this big fund raising event! Whatever can be contributed is very appreciated. Grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and even long-time neighbors often like to donate as well, knowing it all goes to our school field trips (TK will be going to the zoo!), assemblies, and classroom funds for the extra fun things we get to do in our classroom.

I Know My Shapes Book - Your TKer has been practicing touching the words as she/he reads the shape book that went home last night. Hopefully he/she can read it to you a few times, and you can express how impressed you are that she/he knows the direction people read, and that each group of letters is a word. Wow!

Letter of the Week - We have been having fun with Francy Fish's Letter F this week. Be sure to have your cutie show you how to make one, and see if together you can think of some words that start with the same sound.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 20th-24th - Fall Break (No School)

November 24th-28th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 22nd-January 2nd - Winter Break (No School)