All about Mrs. Kelley

I feel so happy to say I have loved my last 37 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 ninth 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 December 11th-15th

What a great week we had in TK!

Holiday Cheer TK Program - This night was definitely the highlight of our week and "from the bottom of our hearts", TK thanks you for being a special part of it.

All DVD, Blu-ray, or digital copy orders of this special performance will be turned in Tuesday morning, so there's still time to turn in your own order Monday, if you're interested (and haven't already).

Volunteers Needed This Coming Friday - We are hoping to have group time next Friday, so we can have extra fun on our last day before our two week Winter Break. SO I AM LOOKING FOR TWO VOLUNTEERS WHO CAN HELP US FROM 8:00-10:00 (FOR GROUP TIME AND HELPING TAKE DOWN HOLIDAY ART FROM THE WALLS TO PUT IN BAGS TO TAKE HOME.) IF YOU CAN BE WITH US, PLEASE EMAIL ME - [email protected].

Paper Grocery Bags Needed! - If you have extra paper grocery bags you'd like to donate to our class. Please bring them into to the classroom early next week - thank you!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend together!

Please look below to see our fun schedule next week.

Dates to Remember

December 18th - Silly Sock Day

December 19th - Crazy Sweater or Jacket Day

December 20th - Hat Day

December 21st - Character Day and SCHOOL DONATION DAY PARADE

December 22nd - Yay! TK PAJAMAS AND PANCAKES DAY! Minimum Day (TK to 11:25am - Everybody Else to 12:00 noon)

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

December 8th - Back to School!

TK Week of December 4th-8th

TK Holiday Cheer - TK's first program dress rehearsal today was a success! Our audience gave lots of compliments and our TKers were so proud! They're very excited for you to see them perform this coming Tuesday at 6:00pm in Room K.

Reminder: You're invited to bring a dessert, snack or appetizer to share with everyone after our almost 15 minute program. It will be fun to socialized and get to know each other a little more.

Ollie Octopus' Letter O - Have your cutie make some O's for you (chalk, Playdoh, or salt on a plate are some fun choices). Maybe together you can brainstorm some words that start with Ollie Octopus' short /o/ sound. (Animals are fun: Octopus, ox, otter, ostrich - can you think of anymore?)

TK Classroom Wishlist - There are a few things our classroom needs and are always appreciated:

* Crackers for missed snacks

* Dollar Tree stickers

* Anything fun that can go in our free choice art table drawers (sequins/ lace/ foam letters, numbers, or shapes/ anything fun)

*A package of the white, flimsy, least expensive paper plates possible. (They're best for painting on.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Dates to Remember

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program at 6:00pm

December 18th - Silly Sock Day

Deceber 19th - Crazy Sweater or Jacket Day

December 20th - Hat Day

December 21st - Character Day and SCHOOL DONATION DAY PARADE

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK to 11:25am - Everybody Else to 12:00 noon) Yay! TK PAJAMAS AND PANCAKES DAY!

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of November November 27th - December 1st

There is lots of excitement in the air! TK is singing, reciting, cutting, gluing, and glittering in anticipation of our Holiday Cheer program on Tuesday, December 12th at 6:00pm in Room K. Your cutie can come to the program that night wearing their holiday best. (You get to decide what that means - but please no hats or high headbands, so we can see everyone on our little stage. :)

We're asking that everyone bring a dessert, snack or appetizer to share with our other TK families after our 15 minute program. It will be fun getting to know each other a little better. We can't wait!

I wanted you to know that I will be at a TK district planning day this Monday (Dec. 4th), but Mrs. Sherman and Mrs. Percy will be here.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program at 6:00pm

December 14th - PTC's special Winter Wishes Night from 5:00-8:00pm

December 18th - Silly Sock Day

December 19th - Crazy Sweater or Jacket Day

December 20th - Hat Day

December 21st - Character Day and SCHOOL DONATION DAY PARADE

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK to 11:25am - Everybody Else to 12:00 noon) Woohoo! It's TK PAJAMAS AND PANCAKES DAY!

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of November 13th-17th

TK has had another wonderful week!

Sports Day - Wow! There was lots of school spirit in TK today. We had TKers wearing fun things from so many different sports - ballet, gymnastics, car racing, foot ball, basketball, soccer, baseball, and golf. It was great!

We Don't Always Feel the Same - This week we spent time recognizing that everyone doesn't always feel the same way about things. Someone might love going on rides at the fair, and some might be a little nervous. Helping your TKer understand this helps her/him to be compassionate and understanding of others.

Letter of the Week - Umber Umbrella Bird's U was our focus this week. (We even got to watch a real umbrella bird at a zoo.) Have your TKer show you some crayon U's, and together see if you can come up with some words that start with the /u/ sound.

TK Thanksgiving Feast - Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help us with parts of our TK Feast! Many of you will be bringing in your items on Monday (Pies and Cornbread on Tuesday). We really appreciate all you do! Don't forget to have your cutie bring their favorite fruit on Monday, so we can cut it up in our Friendship Fruit Salad on Tuesday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

PS - My next Edlio update with be Friday, December 1st.

Dates to Remember

November 22nd-24th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

November 30th - Progress Reports Coming in Thursday Folders

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program at 6:00pm

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK to 11:25am)

December 22nd - Yay! TK PAJAMAS AND PANCAKES DAY!

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of November 6th-9th

I hope all our TK families had a wonderful Veteran's Day weekend together!

Letter I - TK practiced listening for words that start with the /i/ Inny Inchworm sound and making lots of capital I letters.

Math - Our TKers had lots of fun playing games that helped strengthen their spacial awareness and also helped them notice attributes (or characteristics) that are similar.

No Library this Last Week - Since we weren't in school on Friday we didn't get to go to the library last week. But, Woohoo!, we'll get to see Mrs. Alonso and check out a new book this coming Friday.

**GETTING READY FOR A TK THANKSGIVING - Please be looking for an email from signupgenius.com, with things you can sign-up for to help our TKers have a wonderful TK FEAST.

**CLASSROOM STOCKING FOR A FOSTER CHILD - Our classroom is teaming with Child Advocates of Nevada County to help a foster child have a special Christmas. We get to sponsor a four year old little girl.

I was told she wears 5/6T clothing and size 11 shoes. She's into "science" right now and loves art and craft projects. She will be living in a snowy area this winter.

If you would like to help with a stocking stuffer or present, that would be wonderful! They are asking that presents not be wrapped, but we can put them in a large gift bag or red stocking that I'll have ready. I'll need to turn her presents and stocking in on the weekend of December 2nd.

Please tell your TKer I can't wait to see them tomorrow morning!

Dates to Remember:

November 21st - Our TK Feast

November 22nd-24th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program in Room K at 6:00pm

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK - 11:25am - Everybody Else - 12:00 noon)

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 30th-November 3rd

It's hard to believe we've already had 52 days of TK!

HALLOWEEN -This week was extra exciting with Halloween fun. The parade was a new experience for our TKers, with so many different people and costumes to see. Pumpkin carving, Halloween bingo, ghost snacks, pumpkin math games, and Halloween Playdoh mats were all very fun, but the hands-down FAVORITE activity was going TK Trick-or-Treating! I think the fourth and fifth grades classrooms, Mr. Bivens, and other awesome staff who the TKers came knocking at their door loved it as much as our little Trick-or-Treaters did!

INSERVICE FOR MRS. KELLEY - On Monday, November 6th, I'll be down at our district office for an all day Education Through Music training. Mrs. Sherman will be our substitute and Mrs. Percy will be with us again as our aide. They'll have a great day, and I'll be back on Tuesday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

November 10th - Veterans’ Day Observed (No School)

November 22nd-24th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program at 6:00pm

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK - 11:25am - Everybody Else - 12:00 noon)

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 9th-13th

TK had another wonderful week!

Fall - We spent the week learning about Fall and going on hunts to find signs of Fall in the trees and on the ground.

Firefighters - TK and Preschool had a special visit from the Firefighters on Wednesday. We got to see what a firefighter looks like with all his/her fire fighting gear on, and learn how it protects him/her when they are trying to help people in a fire. We got to see all the awesome parts of a fire truck and even sit inside. Every TKer also got to knock over cones with the fire hose. When it was time to say good-bye everyone got a fire hat and a cool sticker. Thank you, Firefighters!

Letter of the Week - H was our letter of the week. Your TKer would have fun showing you some H's with something special like sidewalk chalk, shaving cream, or salt. (L,F, and E as well.) Brainstorming words together that start with Honey Horse's /h/ would also be a fun game.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Fall Break!

Dates to Remember

October 16th-20th - Fall Break (No School)

October 31st - Halloween Parade at 8:15am (Upper Playground)

November 1st - Teacher Professional Development (No School)

November 10th - Veterans’ Day Observed (No School)

November 22nd-24th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 12th - Yay! TK’s Holiday Cheer Program at 6:00pm

December 22nd - Minimum Day (TK - 11:25am - Everybody Else - 12:00 noon)

December 25th-January 5th - Winter Break (No School)

TK Week of October 2nd-6th

We've had another great week in TK!

Apples - TK had fun tasting, painting, reading, and learning about apples this week.

ZooPhonics - Your cutie has been practicing writing E (and still practicing L and F) and thinking of the /e/ sound.

Folder Things - Our first book order went out this week. I want everyone to know it is a completely optional thing and only meant to help you build your home library, if that's something your family is wanting to do.

- Oops! Please save the Home Link that went home yesterday for NEXT week. (We took an extra week talking about and practicing last week's Home Link, "Saying What We Need and Want."

Crystal - Each TKer has a crystal in their backpack as a gift from me. I was in a corner of Arizona called Glitter Mountain this last summer, and I found a crystal for all of my new TKers. Leave it to me to forget about it until this week! Here is some information, if you're interested: http://adventureisneverfaraway.com/glitter-mountain-arizonas-hidden-gem/

Jog-a-Thon - I'm sending you all a short video to your individual emails of our TKers having fun last Friday at our Sonic Jog-a-Thon. Thank you so much for supporting our school!

DATES TO REMEMBER
October 16th-20th - October Break (No School)

TK Week of September 25th-29th

ORANGE IS A CARROT BOOK - TK has been having fun this week working on their Orange is a Carrot books. Their special books will be coming home next week (I'll give them to you during our conference time). Please let them read their books to you multiple times. Along with helping your cutie feel lots of pride in sharing his/her book with you, you'll also help her/him practice noticing words are groups of letters as each word is touched, as well as the directionality of sentences.

TK CHERRY PIE AND ORANGE, GREEN, AND PURPLE - We had fun discovering what makes our secondary colors. Ask your TKer to tell you all about it. In celebration of the end of our book, "And red is cherry pie", we made our own TK cherry pies with cinnamon graham crackers, cherry pie filling, and whipped cream - DELICIOUS!

F - FRANCY FISH - We spent the week thinking of the /f/ sound and making capital F (hello smile, big line down, ribbit, little line across the top, little line across the middle)

CONFERENCE TIME NEXT WEEK - Thank you so much for signing up for a conference time next week. I'm looking forward to meeting with each of you.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend together!

DATES TO REMEMBER
October 2nd-6th - Parent/Teacher Conference Week
October 16th-20th - October Break (No School)

TK Week of September 18th-22nd

TK has had another great week. Wow - was I every impressed with our TKers' enthusiasm during the Jog-a-Thon! They gave it their all, and everyone seemed to have so much fun! I thought they'd be worn out, but they powered through the rest of the day with energy to spare!

Besides Popsicles, the other highlight of Friday was library time! If your cutie forgot her/his book, no worries. Next Friday will be here before we know it.

This week TK spent extra time thinking about the letter L. Ask your TKer to make you some fabulous L's ("Hello smile, big line down, little line across). Maybe together you could play a game of thinking of words that start with the /l/ sound.

I wanted to let you know that I won't be in class on Monday. This will be the first of a handful of inservice days I'll have this year. The great news is that Mrs. Sherman will be our substitute, and Mrs. Percy (who is wonderful) will be our aide for the day.

Just a quick reminder that if you haven't signed up for a conference time through the SignUpGenius email I sent last Monday there are still plenty of times to choose from.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER
October 2nd-6th - Parent/Teacher Conference Week
October 16th-20th - October Break (No School)

Be Looking for TK Conference Sign-ups

Hello Parents,

I wanted to let you know I sent you a SignUpGenius email filled with time slots for you to choose from October 2nd-6th, so that we can meet together to talk about all the wonderful things your TKer is learning and how we can help him/her continue to grow. Thank you for all you do!

TK Week of Septem 11th-15th

We've had a fabulous week in TK! We spent more time with our ZooPhonic Friends as we started to connect them to the letters of the Alphabet. At home you can have fun with your cutie as you look at the beginning letter of a word, talk about the sound it makes, and notice how the ZooPhonic Friend makes the same sound! (i.e. "Hat - Look at that beginning letter. It's an H and it makes the /h/ sound. Wow! Honey Horse makes the same sound!" - Make the sound and do the action together.)

Picture day is this coming Monday. We're scheduled a little later than usual at 11:00am. We'll try not to get too sweaty or too painted by then, but no matter what your TKer will be adorable.

Our Jog-a-Thon is next Friday (22nd). It's at 8:15am. If you can join us to help with marking tallies, spraying hot joggers, or cheering our TKers on please let me know ASAP. I also need two volunteers who can go to the MPR right after we're done to can help tally cards, put forms in envelopes, and most importantly - bring them their popsicles. :)

In our Thursday folders you saw our new peach colored TK Class Roster to replace our old blue colored roster. Hopefully it's helpful with play dates and fun things like that.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER
Monday, September 18th - School Picture Day
Friday, September 22nd - Jog-a-Thon (We'll have ours right at 8:30am and we'd love your help! If you can, please let me know.)
October 2nd-6th - Parent/Teacher Conference Week
October 16th-20th - October Break (No School)

TK Week of September 5th-8th

We've had another fabulous week together in TK! We've finished being introduced to all 26 ZooPhonic Friends, but that is just the beginning. We'll have more fun next week spending extra time getting to know these ZooPhonic Friends before we begin a year long journey connecting them to sound/word connections and letter formations.

We had a wonderful time in the garden this week. Miss Coco is our garden teacher, and she is so much fun to learn from! Hopefully your cutie told you about our amazing garden tour, and maybe your TKer even tried some of our garden's delicious tomatoes and our crunchy cucumbers.

We went to the library today! Most of our TKers were able to check out a real library book, and it's in their backpack ready to be enjoyed. (If your cutie wasn't with us last Friday, no worries at all! A little white paper book is in their backpack ready to read with you. They can bring it back to school next week, so a real book can be checked out next Friday.)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

Monday, September 18th - School Picture Day

Friday, September 22nd - Jog-a-Thon (We'll have ours right at 8:30am and we'd love your help! If you can, please let me know.)

October 2nd-6th - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

October 16th-20th - October Break (No School)

TK Week of September 4th-8th

TK has had another wonderful week! We've been introduced now to all 26 ZooPhonic Friends. That's just the beginning, though. Next week we'll spend more time having fun with them all before we begin our year long journey connecting them to word/sound play and letter formation activities.

We had so much fun in the garden this week! Hopefully your cutie told you about all the things we saw growing in our garden and the delicious cucumber and tomatoes many of them got to eat.

Today was a very exciting day! Every TKer who had a chance to take home a paper practice book last week was able to check out their first real library book today. (If your cutie was absent last Friday, no worries at all! They'll have a little white paper book in their backpack for you to read together and then return to school, so that a real book can be checked out next week.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DATES TO REMEMBER

Monday, September 18th - School Picture Day

Friday, September 22nd - School Wide Jog-a-Thon! (We'd love your help!)

October 2nd-6th - Parent and Teacher Conference Time

October 16th-20th - Fall Break (No School)

TK Week of August 21st-25th

Thank you to all of you who were able to join me for Back-to-School Night. It was wonderful to see so many of you! Life is busy, and if you weren't able to make it I completely understand. I'll get your packets to you, and you can ask me any questions you might have.

We had a second fabulous week in TK! We began meeting our ZooPhonic animial friends. So far we've met Allie Alligator, Bubba Bear, Catina Cat, Deedee Dear, Ellie Elephant, Gordo Gorilla, and Francie Fish. (If you check your blue pages in our back-to-school packet you can quickly catch up with your TKer, so you can have fun with these actions and sounds together.)

We began our first Second Step lesson this week: Welcoming Others. The homelink page that went home in your cutie's Thursday Folder has great information to help you reinforce this important skill of welcoming and talking to others.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend together!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Monday, September 4th - Labor Day (No School)

Friday, September 22nd - Jog-a-Thon (Let me know if you can help! :)

October 16th-20th - Fall Break (No School)