This week in advocacy we will explore a little spot of anger. Students will identify frustrations related to the situations or events when they are angry (what activates them), how people react differently to the same situation, and how to express anger without hurting oneself or others. 

This is a big topic for our kindergarteners, and we would love for you to practice these skills at home. On Friday, your student will receive a coloring sheet of practices they can use to calm their angry spot. If you have time, please ask them about it and color it in together. These skills are best learned when they are worked on at home as well as at school. 

Halloween Party

The day is upon us! We are so excited to get our costumes and carnival on! Students will have time on Thursday, October 31st to change into their costume. Please don’t send them to school wearing their fun clothes. Costumes should be school appropriate (no face coverings, violent images, etc.) If you’re unsure if the costume is school appropriate, feel free to send an email and I’d be happy to give you some guidance. 

At 1:30pm, students will attend the school carnival hosted by our 5th and 6th graders. At 2:30pm, we will have a Halloween party. If you prefer your student to not participate in Halloween festivities, please email me. 

If you would like to donate an item or your time to our Halloween party (we are looking for 2 volunteers), please check out our sign-up genius here.

Lastly, it is that time of year where it gets pretty cold. Please send our kindergarteners with jackets, gloves, and/or hats when needed. 

This Month, we will focus on the topic of “Using your Voice”. We want your students to feel confident advocating for their needs and the needs of others. We will encourage your students to practice setting boundaries and teach them the power of their voice.

Upcoming Events: 

-Field Trip: Mark your calendars for our very first field trip this year on October 16th. We will be going to MIller Farms and picking vegetables. This field trip is special because your students will get to see a community helper in action as well as see how plants live and grow. If you would like to chaperone, please fill out the background check as soon as possible. You can find that line here. Each class can have a maximum of three chaperones and this is a school event so unfortunately parents who chaperone are the only ones who can attend. If you would like to chaperone, please email me as soon as you can. There are two permission forms for this field trip. One for Westgate found here and one for Miller Farms found here. Students must have both permission slips to attend the field trip. Students will need a packed lunch for this field trip and if possible, wear a Westgate t-shirt. 

-Fun Run: The Rockin' Run Fun Run will support the Music Department this year. This event will be held on October 18th and kindergarten will run at 9:55-10:10 AM. Your student will wear a white westgate rock’n fun run shirt that we will decorate at school. You and your family are welcome to come cheer on your student! 

-Halloween Carnival and Class Party: October 31st: 1:30- if uncomfortable with celebrating this holiday, please reach out and we can find a separate activity for them to do.

Hi families! 

It was such a pleasure getting to speak with each of you! I’m looking forward to our next conference to share more of the awesome work your student is doing in the classroom! A few parents shared that they would like to volunteer in the classroom (yay!), so here's the link to schedule a volunteer time. Be sure to send in a request at least a week in advance. All volunteers must have a background check, which can be found here. I ask families to wait until we have been back for one week after break so we can focus on routines and getting back into a rhythm in our classroom. 

Families also shared that they would like a way to access sight words online, so I scanned our September and October sight words. They can be found here. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Here are some important upcoming October events below. Happy Fall Break! 

 

Upcoming October Events: 

-Field Trip: Mark your calendars for our very first field trip this year on October 16th. We will be going to Miller Farms and picking vegetables. This field trip is special because your students will get to see a community helper in action as well as see how plants live and grow. If you would like to chaperone, please fill out the background check as soon as possible. You can find that line here. Each class can have a maximum of three chaperones, and this is a school event so unfortunately parents who chaperone are the only ones who can attend. If you would like to chaperone, please email me as soon as you can. There are two permission forms for this field trip. One for Westgate found here and one for Miller Farms found here. Students must have both permission slips to attend the field trip. Students will need a packed lunch for this field trip and if possible, wear a Westgate t-shirt. 

-Fun Run: The Rockin' Run Fun Run will support the Music Department this year. This event will be held on October 18th and kindergarten will run at 9:55-10:10 AM. Your student will wear a white westgate rock’n fun run shirt that we will decorate at school. You and your family are welcome to come cheer on your student! 

-Halloween Class Party: October 31st: 1:30- if uncomfortable with celebrating this holiday, please reach out and we can find a separate activity for them to do 

-Johnny Appleseed Day: September 25th is Johnny Appleseed Day! This is a long standing tradition for Westgate kindergarteners. Our festivities that day will include: making applesauce, graphing our favorite apples, writing apple sight words, making a Johnny Appleseed hat/pan, creating a Johnny Appleseed book, and adding an apple to our kindness tree (how can we show kindness?). To make the applesauce we need plenty of apples. Please donate 1 apple to our classroom and have your student bring them in on Monday, September 23rd so we can purchase any extras if needed. 

-Parent Teacher Conferences: They are coming up this week and  will be on September Sept. 26th (Half-Day) and Sept. 27th (Full Day). Each conference should last only 20 mins. The sign-up for conferences has been emailed but you can find the sign- up here and will close on Monday, September 23rd at 4:00 pm, so sign-up as soon as possible.

- Book Fair: The book fair is coming to Westgate! From September 23rd to September 27th, students can purchase books during lunch time. They can also visit with an adult after school and the book fair will be open during conferences! Here is a link to learn more about our book fair and if you don’t want to give your kiddo cash, you can upload money to an eWallet, which they can access at the book fair.

-Fall Break: September 30th through October 11th is our Fall Break, so kick back and enjoy the fall weather with your family and we will see you back on Monday, October 14th. 

As you know from our previous Edlio posts, our class is working on self-awareness. In class, we will be taking a deeper look at emotional awareness through our curriculum, A Little Spot of Feelings, and reread who is scribble spot and how we can become feelings detectives when all of our feelings are tangled together. Here are some awesome activities you can do at home to work on emotional awareness with your kiddos. 

Upcoming: 

-Parent Teacher Conferences: They are around the corner and will be held at the end of the month of September on Sept. 26th (Half-Day: ) and Sept. 27th (Full Day). Each conference should last only 20 mins. The sign-up for conferences will be sent out on Sept. 16th at 4:00pm and will close Sept. 23rd at 4:00 pm. Don't forget to sign up for Mr. Anderson (PE) and Mr. Hopson (music). 

- Book Fair: The book fair is coming to Westgate! From September 23rd to September 27th, students can purchase books during lunch time. They can also visit with an adult after school and the book fair will be open during conferences! Here is a link to learn more about our book fair and if you don’t want to give your kiddo cash, you can upload money to an eWallet, which they can access at the book fair. 

This month, our focus is on Self-Awareness, a key part of our advocacy efforts. Through various activities and lessons, your child will develop essential skills like recognizing their emotions, understanding their strengths and challenges, and learning how their actions impact themselves and others. These skills are crucial for their personal growth and success, both in and out of the classroom. We encourage you to engage in conversations at home about what they’re learning to reinforce these important concepts. 

The following topics will be covered throughout the month of September during advocacy classes--

Emotional Awareness: Recognizing and understanding their own emotions, which helps in managing reactions and building empathy for others.

Self-Reflection: Developing the habit of thinking about their actions, decisions, and behaviors, and how these affect themselves and others.

Strengths and Weaknesses Identification: Recognizing their strengths to build confidence and understanding areas for growth to set realistic goals.

Goal Setting: Learning to set personal and academic goals based on their self-assessment, and developing a plan to achieve them.

Self-Regulation: Developing the ability to manage impulses, stay focused, and persevere through challenges.

Personal Values Identification: Understanding what they value and how it influences their behavior and choices.

Upcoming: 

-Parent Engagement Night: Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 12th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Westgate. Come mingle with other kindergarten families and get to know  your student’s teachers. More information will come soon but please leave your kiddos at home for this adult only event.

-Parent Teacher Conferences: They are around the corner and will be held at the end of the month of September on Sept. 26th (Half-Day: ) and Sept. 27th (Full Day). Each conference should last only 20 mins. The sign-up for conferences will be sent out on Sept. 16th at 4:00pm and will close Sept. 23rd at 4:00 pm. 

This week, we will continue reading our little spot of feelings books so your students can untangle their scribble spots and begin learning how to identify their own spots of feelings. We will also begin our service learning curriculum on Tuesday. For Service Learning, your students will learn about pollinators and help support pollinator populations through small projects. 

Upcoming: 

-Picture day: September 6th is Individual Student Picture Day. Our class picture date will happen soon.  

-Parent Engagement Night: Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 12th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Westgate. Come mingle with other kindergarten families and get to know  your student’s teachers. More information will come soon but please leave your kiddos at home for this adult only event.

-Parent Teacher Conferences: They are around the corner and will be held at the end of the month of September on Sept. 26th (Half-Day: ) and Sept. 27th (Full Day). Each conference should last only 20 mins. The sign-up for conferences will be sent out on Sept. 16th at 4:00pm and will close Sept. 23rd at 4:00 pm.

Testing: 

This is our opening week of DIBELs testing. DIBELs is our district wide testing platform to measure your students skills in literacy. We will begin on Monday, August 26th, and end Tuesday, September 10th. It is important that our kinders have a big meal before testing so they can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest. If you’d like to know more about DIBELs, please check out this PDF that dives a bit deeper. 

Community helpers: 

We’re excited to learn more about our community and the important roles people play in it. If you or any of your family members are community helpers (any profession that serves the community), we would love to invite them to our class to share what they do and how they help others.

We will be working on our community helpers unit during the week of August 26-September 30th. Our science and social studies time is typically during the time of 12:45-1:30, but if another time works better for you, we can do our best to make that work! Please email me if anyone is interested and available to visit us. You must have a background check in order to join our class, which you can find here. I look forward to hearing from you!

Volunteering: 

I’ve had a few families reach out for opportunities to join our classroom and volunteer! First, thank you! Thank you for wanting to join our class and for your patience as our students get used to our routines. Throughout the year, there will be plenty of times when we will ask families to join us, such as field trips and class parties. However, if you’re interested in joining our day-to-day class by reading a book, preparing materials, or facilitating a center rotation, please complete this short google survey. Please complete the survey a week before your planned visit. IThe survey will also list a few rules I have for family members who join the class. In addition to those rules, you will need to complete a background check, which you can find here. 

This show and share schedule will not change throughout the year. 

Please be sure to check out your student’s Friday Folders and our other Edlio posts found here. Friday folders are for you to check out students' work they’ve completed in class or receive information from the school. Friday folders will not be used for homework or for incomplete work, unless there are specific circumstances, in which case I will reach out to those families. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 

Stuffy Party

Last week, our class was introduced to Interrupting Chickens. We read the book (which you can watch here) in class and we have a tally system to remind us to raise our hands when sharing. If we have less than 10 interruptions in our class, we earn a checkmark. If we earn 12 checkmarks, we get a stuffy party! Students will bring in ONE stuffed animal that can fit in their backpack. We have 6 more checkmarks to go! Our kindergarteners are crushing it! 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 

A couple of other exciting events that will be happening in kindergarten is that we will get to meet Ms. Kinslow and Ms. Khan. Ms. Kinslow is our school counselor and she will meet with students to share who she is and how she helps our students when they are feeling big emotions.

Ms. Khan is our Environmental Education Coordinator at Westgate and she will be teaching our kinders about recycling! Speaking of recycling… For those of you who are new to Westgate, Wednesday is a day we celebrate Zero Waste in the classroom. Students can earn a stamp for bringing in lunches with no trash. This is celebrated every Wednesday, so if your student does not earn a stamp one week, they can earn it the next! Students who eat school lunches can also earn a stamp by explaining which items go in the trash or recycling! 

We need some help with snacks in our classroom. In case a student forgets a snack, we like to provide a few extras for our hungry kindergarteners. If you would like to donate a snack, please email me at [email protected] . Snacks need to be individually wrapped and nut-free. Thank you!! 

Please be sure to check out your student’s Friday Folders and our other Edlio posts found here. Friday folders are for you to check out students' work they’ve completed in class or receive information from the school. Friday folders will not be used for homework or for incomplete work, unless there are specific circumstances, in which case I will reach out to those families. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!