Columbia Elementary School

Thursday, September 19th

Please click this link to read next week’s newsletter: September 23-27. Thank you for reading the newsletter each week!

Thank you to everyone who has turned in the field trip forms and payment. Both forms and payment are due no later than September 26th. 

Next week is the last week of the first quarter. I am continuing to collect data and complete one on one assessments with the students for their first nine weeks report card throughout next week. If you know in advance that your child will be out of school for any day next week, please let me know so that I may adjust my assessment schedule to ensure your child’s first nine weeks' assessments are completed. 

Thank you to everyone who has already submitted their Community Helper picture and sentence. See last Thursday's post for more information. I need these by tomorrow please. 

We are so excited to announce this year's Be a Champion and Read context! Our Columbia students are challenged to read six reading-level appropriate books to qualify for the AEA Grand Prize: Iron Bowl tickets - one winner for each team - for the student and two guests. Each prize includes sideline passes and pre-game activities. Logs for keeping up with reading progress have already been sent home with your child. We are thrilled to make this an exciting month for our readers! These logs must be turned into the library by October 21st. If you have misplaced your log you can print your own out here: Be a Champion! Read!

One way that you can help your child is by learning to independently open items they may have at lunch (milks, chip bags, cheese sticks, etc.).  We have a very short time in the lunchroom, our schedule for lunch is from 10:20-10:50. While this may seem to be enough time by the time we go through the lunch line, get settled at the table, then open containers, about 10 minutes has passed. Then we lose another 5 minutes for cleaning up. If your child still struggles with opening the containers then consider changing what you send the lunch item in or open the container enough that your child can finish the process successfully. Please practice opening lunch and snack items with your child throughout the week. The more opportunities they have to do this, the easier it will become! I appreciate your help with this!

• Monday, September 16th

  Our first Practice Sheet is coming home in folder's today. As you read in the newsletter, please don't do it all at once - a little each day will benefit your child. Also, your child needs to write with a pencil. (Please let me know if you need me to send a pencil home for your child to do the Practice Sheet.) This is a picture of what to look for in the folder: Practice Sheet Picture. Also, refer back to the letter identification video I shared last week for guidance about helping your child learn the names of the letters.

  Today, we began our second week of our 95% phonics program. We are focusing on the letters Tt and Pp this week.  Here is some more information about this phonics program. 

  We're studying apples this week in science. Please send an apple to school by tomorrow. Thank you to those who sent in an apple today!

  The students were so excited about our first day of Literacy Stations. We will continue to review the procedures for Literacy Stations in hopes that it will go smoothly in the coming weeks.

  Please continue to practice the lunch numbers at home with your child. This makes checking out a new library book easy and speeds up the long line of children buying a school lunch.

  No Hassle Fundraiser - The No Hassle Fundraiser is happening through Friday. Please consider giving a donation to our school. You can give online by clicking this link: No Hassle Fundraiser. Mrs. Bolden has asked every student to participate, even if they want to do that by sending $1 to school in an envelope labeled with "Fundraiser."

  Thank you to everyone who has already submitted their Community Helper picture and sentence. See last Thursday's post for more information. I need these by Friday please. 

• Thursday, September 12th

  Please click this link to read next week’s newsletter: September 16-20 Thank you for reading the newsletter each week! 

  We're studying apples next week in science. Please send an apple to school on Monday.

  Return your child's Red Report of Learning Folder tomorrow. Please sign the progress report before returning. 

  Community Helper Project - We will be studying Community Helpers the last week of September. I need every parent to email me with two things:
  1. A picture of you at work. Whatever your job, whether you are an engineer, accountant, fireman, sales clerk, stay at home mom, or a doctor, I’d like you to send me a picture.
  2. A sentence about how your job helps others. Please explain it in a way that 5 and 6-year-olds can understand.
  Please email me these two things by September 20th. My email address is jmassengale@madisoncity.k12.al.us I will share your picture and read your sentence to the class during Community Helper Week. Your child will be so proud to have your picture shared with the class. Thank you for participating!

  Kindergarten Field Trip - Our first field trip is October 15th. The informational note and permission slip will be sent home tomorrow. Please send the completed forms and payment at the same time. The forms and payment are due on September 26th. If you mark on the form that an adult plans to join us, please remember that the adult will need to complete a background check. Here is the link: School Background Check

  No Hassle Fundraiser - The No Hassle Fundraiser is happening now through September 20th. Please consider giving a donation to our school. You can give online by clicking this link: No Hassle Fundraiser We've had 6 students register. Remember, just by registering, your child gets a coupon for a free kid's meal at Jon Smith Subs. Our class has raised $1,145.00 for the fundraiser. Wow!

  Enjoy your weekend! 

• Monday, September 9th
  I have 2 quick videos that I would like you to watch today:
  1) The First Nine Weeks Progress Report will be in your child’s backpack on Wednesday. Please watch this video to know what to expect and what I need you to do. It should answer any questions you have about the Report of Learning Folder: Progress Report Video 
  2) Mrs. Hester made this video about the activities we’ve been doing in class to help with letter identification. Please watch this video to the end. It is 5 minutes. Letter Identification Video 

  Thank you for watching both videos!!

  Columbia's No Hassle Fundraiser is happening now through September 20th. Our PTA raises money to support students and teachers. The annual fundraiser is hassle-free! Funds are used to enhance the school, purchase classroom supplies, host school events, and spruce up spaces at the school. Here is the link to donate online:  No Hassle Fundraiser (Each student that has a parent register online will receive a free Kids Meal from Jon Smith Subs) Any amount you can contribute to the fundraiser is helpful! Whether that is $5, $20, $50 or more, it all adds up to help our school. 

• Friday, September 6th
  Please click this link to read next week's newsletter: September 9-13

• Please order a class shirt for your child. Our class color is Carolina Blue. We will wear these shirts frequently throughout the year. The deadline to order is Monday at 8:00 am. Please place your order before then by clicking on this link: Order a Class Shirt If you haven't ordered yet because the $10 is a financial hardship, please reach out to me so we can work something out. If you haven't ordered yet because you keep forgetting, please take a moment to order one now. Thank you!

• On September 27th, Columbia Elementary will be participating in Rock Your School. The theme this year is a "Twenties Era" Birthday Party for Columbia. We're going to wear red and black to the birthday party. Between now and then, please help your child learn their birthday. As of last week, only five of my students could tell me the month and day they were born. There are a few items that would be fun to have for Rock Your School that I've added to a wish list. If you'd like to donate any items, click this link: Massengale Kindergarten. The first 3 items are what I have added for the event.

• You'll notice we'll have fewer papers in our Daily Folders starting next week. Our 95% Phonics Program has a workbook that we'll be working out of each day.

• Also, next week I need the students to bring their best listening ears because I am teaching the procedures for Literacy Stations. Literacy Station time is when I teach small groups of students while the rest of the class is working with partners on independent practice. It is crucial that they learn and understand the procedures so they can do it independently in the coming weeks.

• Tuesday, September 3rd

  I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

  Please look in your child’s folder to find the September Reading Log. Each grade level has an independent reading plan for their students. Kindergarten is slightly different because our students are not independent readers yet. So, as you read to your child, they need to color a leaf on their reading log. Please read all of the details and directions that come home with the reading log in your child’s folder today. The completed reading log is due September 27th. Enjoy cuddling up and reading with your child.

  Columbia's No Hassle Fundraiser is happening now through September 20th. Our PTA raises money to support students and teachers. The annual fundraiser is hassle-free! Funds are used to enhance the school, purchase classroom supplies, host school events, and spruce up spaces at the school. All of the information you need to know will come home in your child’s folder tomorrow. Thank you for supporting our school!  Here is the link to donate online: No Hassle Fundraiser (Each student that has a parent register online will receive a free Kids Meal from Jon Smith Subs)

• Thursday, August 29th

  Click this link to read next week’s newsletter: September 2-6. Please take a few minutes to read the newsletter each week. I appreciate you doing your part to keep yourself informed about classroom learning.

  Remember you can order your child a class shirt at this link: class shirts.  You will want to be sure to order a shirt for your child because we will wear them often throughout the school year. Please reach out to me if purchasing this shirt is a hardship for your family. Thank you!

  Please remember to send a snack and a refillable water bottle every day with your child. Also, for safety reasons, please do not send glass water bottles or containers to school.  I also ask that you empty your child’s blue Daily Folder every day and look over the papers that are in the folder.  It helps you to see what your child is learning at school, as well as see important papers that I send home providing information that you need. 

   Reminders: 

  Kindergarten will have the opportunity to purchase ice cream every Friday starting next Friday, September 6th.  If your child brings lunch and you would like to allow them to purchase the ice cream, please let them know so that they know they should go through the line with the class. 

  Helpful weekend to do list:

  1. Cozy up and enjoy reading your child’s poetry notebook.

  2. Wash your child’s rest mat.

  3. Have your child practice rolling up and securing their rest mat until they can do it independently 3 times in a row.

  4. Use any opportunity you can to help your child learn the names of all uppercase and lowercase letters.

  5. Enjoy the long weekend!

• Monday, August 26th

  Today we started to practice writing our first names with correct formation and orientation to the line. This page is in folders today. In addition to being able to write their first name correctly, your child needs to know the letters that spell their name. I would like your child to point to each letter in their name one at a time and say the name of that letter. If they can do this easily, fabulous! If they do not know the letters in their name, continue to listen to your child do this several times each day until they can identify the letters in their name.

  Throughout the past few weeks we have focused on getting to know each other and learning our rules and procedures.  We go over our rules each day to help us continue to learn procedures and expectations.  We have made numerous posters that will serve as reminders for our expectations and goals.  Having structure and organization in a classroom is essential for a positive, productive learning environment. We have also discussed the importance of doing our best with all our work.  You can help your child by encouraging him/her to follow our classroom rules and by giving simple directions to follow independently at home.

  Class Shirts:

  Order forms for our class shirts are coming home today in your child’s Blue Daily Folder. You can also order the class shirt online using this link: Class Shirts. Our class will be ordering the Carolina Blue shirt. These shirts will be worn frequently throughout the year for field trips, party days, and special school events. It’s very helpful for all students to have the same shirt, as it allows the teacher to easily count and keep track of everyone.

  Important Dates:

  - Fall Picture Day is tomorrow (Tuesday, August 27th). These portraits will be in the school year book.

  -Cookies with the Counselors will be on Thursday, August 29th. It will be held in the CES library from 1:30-2:30. You may RSVP using this link.

  - No School on Labor Day - Monday, September 2nd.

  Reminders: 

  -Send a snack daily with your child. I keep a few extra, however those are for students experiencing food insecurity.  We eat a very early lunch at 10:20 so by snack time students are usually hungry again.

  -Please also remember to return your child’s library book to their backpack after reading it each night. Students must return their book to receive a new one, and everyone enjoys getting to go to the library for a new book!

  -Please remember our  August Challenge - Fine Motor Skills Please set a timer for no less than 10 minutes each day and give your child opportunities to write letters and numbers with pencil, draw pictures of people with pencil, color pictures with crayons, and cut paper with kid scissors. Sit with your child as they do these activities and provide encouragement as needed. If these activities are difficult for your child, please allow them to also play with playdough, lace beads on a shoelace, and pick up small objects with tweezers. These activities will help your child build the muscles in their fingers which leads to improved handwriting. If you complete this challenge each day of August, please email me at the end of the month to let me know they met the challenge. Your child will receive FOUR Good Time Tickets. 

Friday, August 23rd

Thank you so much for attending Parent Night! I truly appreciate you taking the time to collaborate with me to ensure a successful school year. If you were unable to join us, I’ve sent the handouts home in your child’s folder today, and you can find the slides from the presentation here: [Kindergarten Parent Night Slides]. While these slides don’t capture everything shared during our meeting, they cover the main topics we discussed.

Transportation Change Requests: We’ve been informed by several parents that the email address for transportation changes is currently not working. For now, please use the following email address for any transportation changes: cesattendance@madisoncity.k12.al.us.Our tech department is working to resolve the issue with the original email address, and we will notify you once it’s fixed.Thank you to the parents who brought this to our attention!

Fall Pictures:
On Tuesday, August 27, our class will be taking Fall pictures. These will be the portraits used in the school yearbook. In about two weeks, you’ll receive a proof to review and purchase if you’d like. If your child is absent on picture day, don’t worry—a make-up date will be scheduled.

Rest Mats:
Rest mats are also coming home today. After washing the mat, please have your child practice rolling it up independently. We ask that you return the rest mat on Monday.

Poetry Notebooks:
Poetry notebooks are in backpacks today. I hope you enjoy cozying up with your child to read the poems together. Please leave the poems in the notebook and send it back to school on Monday.

A Glance at Next Week:

• Reading: Identifying beginning sounds, focusing on Letter Experts for Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, and Uu.

• Math: Showing, counting, and writing the numbers 6 and 7.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership!

Monday, August 19th

As you read in the letter about our Behavior Management Plan, we are utilizing Good Time tickets. Your child can save their tickets for incentives or they can enter tickets into the weekly drawing for a chance at the prize box. I would love some help purchasing the items for the prize box. If you would like to help, please visit this link: Wish List for Prize Box items  Thank you for your generosity! (You will notice there are other wish list items on this link too. Not all of the items are for the prize box.) 

If you haven’t paid the $8.00 for Scholastic News, you can send it in your child’s Daily Folder or bring the money to Parent Night. 

I’m looking forward to meeting with all of you on Thursday at 5:30 in our media center for Kindergarten Parent Night. You will hear from all the kindergarten teachers for about an hour. Then, parents of my students will come to my classroom to hear a little more from me about the specifics of our classroom. It is important that each child has one parent present for the meeting, preferably the parent who works with the child on school work and will be communicating with me.

Last week, our kindergarten students had our library orientation lesson. We learned our way around the library. Soon, we will return to the library and have a lesson on how to take care of library books. Hopefully your child’s first school library book will come home soon! 

Thank you for returning your child’s poetry notebook today.  I hope you enjoyed looking at this with your child.  Throughout the year we will be adding poems to this notebook.  It will be a treasure you will want to keep as you notice the development of your child with his/her drawings. 

Please remember our  August Challenge - Fine Motor Skills - Please set a timer for no less than 10 minutes each day and give your child opportunities to write letters and numbers with pencil, draw pictures of people with pencil, color pictures with crayons, and cut paper with kid scissors. Sit with your child as they do these activities and provide encouragement as needed. If these activities are difficult for your child, please allow them to also play with playdough, lace beads on a shoelace, and pick up small objects with tweezers. These activities will help your child build the muscles in their fingers which leads to improved handwriting. If you complete this challenge each day of August, please email me at the end of the month to let me know they met the challenge. Your child will receive FOUR Good Time Tickets. 

• Friday, August 16th

  Thank you for continuing to participate in our Color Weeks daily colors! We are enjoying learning about colors. We have had fun painting primary colors this week. Ask your child about seeing colors being mixed to make purple, green and orange paint. The kids were excited watching the colors change as they were being mixed!

  Please remember to send a snack and a refillable water bottle every day with your child. Also, for safety reasons, please do not send glass water bottles or containers to school.  I also ask that you empty your child’s blue Daily Folder every day and look over the papers that are in the folder.  It helps you to see what your child is learning at school, as well as see important papers that I send home providing information that you need. 

  Important: I’m looking forward to meeting with all of you next Thursday at 5:30 in Columbia’s Media Center. You will hear from all the kindergarten teachers for about an hour. Then, parents of my students will come to my classroom to hear a little more from me about the specifics of our classroom. It is important that each child has one parent present for the meeting, preferably the parent who works with the child on school work and will be communicating with me.

  Poetry notebooks will be sent home in backpacks today. I hope you enjoy cozying up and reading these with your child. Leave the poems in the notebook and send the notebook back to school on Monday.

  Please join Mrs. Sturdivant and Mrs. Bowen for Cookies with the Counselors to learn more about the school counseling program! They will also be providing mental health resources to help your children! It will be held on August 29th from 1:30pm-2:30pm in the CES Library. Cookies will be provided! You may RSVP using this link.

  Over the weekend please do the following:

  Wash your child’s rest mat.

  Have your child practice rolling up and securing their rest mat until they can do it independently 3 times in a row.

  Please have your child practice their lunch number on the paper I sent home at Open House.  

  A glance at next week:

  Reading - identifying beginning sounds, Letter Experts for L, M, N, O and P. We are continuing to learn about rhyming words.

  Math - comparing groups of objects as equal, greater than, or less than, comparing groups of objects to five, and comparing numerals 0-5

• Monday, August 12th

  Thank you for sending your child to school in red today. The kids looked great! We are looking forward to continuing our colors for the next two weeks. Please see the flyer Kindergarten Color Weeks.

  Scholastic News money is due. If you have not already sent in your money, please send $8.00 in an envelope labeled with your child’s name, my name and “Scholastic News.” Please remember to complete your child’s All About Me Google Slide if you have not already done so. Thank you!

  We have had a week and a half of practicing our school and classroom rules. We have started taking blocks and receiving Good Time Tickets. The children love earning Good Time Tickets! Please encourage your child to follow directions and make good choices. Thank you for your support of good classroom behavior.

  Thank you to all who practiced rolling rest mats this weekend. I can tell the students who practiced and they were proud to show me how they could do it! Thank you so much for your support! If your child did not practice, please have them practice when mats come home this Friday. Several students need assistance rolling and securing their rest mat.

• Friday, August 9th

  We've completed our first full week of Kindergarten! It was a fun and busy week! Please read all of the following announcements.

  Rest Mats - Rest mats were sent home today. After washing the rest mat, let your child practice rolling it up independently. Several students need my help to roll their mat every day, which is causing us to be late to recess. Practicing at home will help this improve. Please return the rest mat on Monday. Thank you!

  Math Papers - As you've noticed in your child's Daily Folder, we started our Big Ideas Math Curriculum this week. We are learning to count objects and write the number that represents that amount. If you noticed your child had difficulty writing 2, 3, 4 this week, it would be a great idea to work with your child on this at home. Also, if it looks like the number was written hand over hand with support, please work with your child as well.  I have 15 students and cannot get to all of them for the additional support.  Thank you for your help at home. 

  Letter Experts - All students will take a turn being a Letter Expert. We started this on Monday. When it is your child's turn, please follow directions on the note that comes home. You will need to email me a picture that begins with your child's letter sound by 1:00 the day before your child presents to the class. 

  August Challenge - Fine Motor Skills - Please set a timer for no less than 10 minutes each day and give your child opportunities to write letters and numbers with pencil, draw pictures of people with pencil, color pictures with crayons, and cut paper with kid scissors. Sit with your child as they do these activities and provide encouragement as needed. If these activities are difficult for your child, please allow them to also play with playdough, lace beads on a shoelace, and pick up small objects with tweezers. These activities will help your child build the muscles in their fingers, which leads to improved handwriting. If you complete this challenge each day of August, please email me at the end of the month to let me know they met the challenge. Your child will receive FOUR Good Time Tickets. 

  Kindergarten Color Week - We will be learning about primary and secondary colors beginning on Monday. We would love to have the students wear the color of the day beginning Monday. Click this link for all the details: Kindergarten Color Weeks

  Finally, if you haven’t done any of the following, please go ahead and do so: 
  1. Send $8.00 for the Scholastic News
  2. Write a note to me about your child (directions were sent home at Open House).
  3. Finish All About... slide of your child. It was emailed to you last Saturday.
  4. Sign up for text messages: Text @mass24 to 81010
  5. Connect to your child’s Seesaw account - see post from last week
  6. Put a complete change of clothes in your child’s backpack.

• Tuesday, August 6th

  We will be learning about primary and secondary colors beginning on Monday. We would love to have the students wear the color of the day beginning Monday. Click this link for all of the details: Kindergarten Color Weeks

  Information from CES Drama Club - 

  CES Drama Club is so excited to present High School Musical Jr for our winter production! Our show will be performed at the Dream Theatre, Feb 28-March 1. All students are welcome to join the chorus. The chorus performs a pre-show concert before each show and then joins the cast for the finale and bows.

   

  Please use this link to sign up:

  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4CADA92BAB9-50479034-high

   

  Once you sign up, you will be emailed more information this week. If you have any questions, please email CESdramaclub@gmail.com or dkherwig@madisoncity.k12.al.us .

• Monday, August 5th
  

  The students are having a great start to the school year! 

  Our Kindergarten Parent Night is on Thursday, August 22nd at 5:30. It is important that each child has one parent present for the meeting, preferably the parent who works with the child during school work and will be communicating with me. The meeting is for adults only, because it typically is a long meeting. Thank you!

  Today I will be sending an email with the information you need to help your child make an All About Me slide. This will be due on August 16th. Let me know if you have any questions that are not answered in the email.

  Thank you for taking the time to write a letter to help me get to know your child. I enjoy reading each of them. You can feel free to send your letter by email or in your child's daily folder.

  If your child is bringing a lunch box from home, the packed lunch needs to have a drink included. The snack water bottles are not brought to the lunchroom. If you want to send a water bottle for lunch and there is no room inside the lunchbox, your child needs to know that it is for lunch so he/she can put it on the lunchbox shelf. 

  PTA is hosting a Back to School Picnic on Thursday night. Click this link to read all the information on the flyer: Back to School Picnic

  Friendly Reminders ~
  Your child should have a reusable water bottle containing water and one snack for our afternoon snack time. If you want your child to have a choice, please let them make that choice at home before packing it in the backpack. Also, please show your child where their snack is located inside their backpack. Several haven't been able to locate their snack independently.

  Your child needs to wear tennis shoes without laces. This means they need to have velcro or slip on.

  Please check your child's blue Daily Folder each afternoon and send it to school every day.

  If your child is missing any of the school supplies, please send them to school as you get them. Be sure to tell your child to take it out of his/her backpack and give it to me.

• Wednesday, July 31st

  Thank you for coming to Kindergarten 101 and Open House! Here are the slides from the presentation for you to review: Kindergarten 101

  This school year, we will use Seesaw to share pictures from our days at school. Sometimes I will even share a video. Go ahead and sign up for access to your child's digital portfolio. You'll be so glad you did! Click here to sign up!

  Here's a To Do list to help you prepare for your child's first day:
  - Please tell your child if they are buying lunch or if they have a lunchbox. You will want to do this each day because it is a question I will ask the students every morning when we do the lunch count.
  - Pack your child's snack separate from lunch. The snack can be in a zipper pocket of the backpack or in a "snack bag." They only need one food item. Examples of a small snack include: a small bag of pretzels, an individual bag of goldfish, an apple, granola bar, etc.
  - Send a water bottle. Double check the lid to make sure it is secure before putting it in your child's backpack. Write your child's name on the water bottle.
  - Send the red folder that you received at Open House.
  - Send any school supplies that you forgot to bring to Open House.
  - Have a gallon bag with a change of clothes (see the K101 slides for an example).

  I look forward to seeing the girls tomorrow and the boys on Friday! If you are walking your child inside on their first day, please walk them to the gym. I'll meet you there at 7:25. 

• Open House Information

  Our Open House is Monday, July 30th at 4:00 pm. We will begin with Kindergarten 101 in the cafeteria. Please bring your school supplies with you to Open House. 

  School Supply List for Kindergarten:

  1 pack 8 count classic color crayons (skinny)

  1 pack 16 count classic color crayons (skinny)

  2 packs 24 count classic color crayons (skinny)

  6 large glue sticks

  24 #2 pre-sharpened pencils

  1 supply box (about 6x9x2)

  2 solid colored heavy duty plastic folders with pockets & prongs - 1 blue & 1 green

  1 one-inch three-ring binder with plastic sleeve on front

  1 Primary composition notebook (3-lined paper with blank space at top)

  1 8-pack watercolor set (please only 8, not 16)

  1 pair of scissors (blunt tip)

  1 pack of Post-it Notes

  1 pair of headphones in a labeled plastic bag – No ear buds

  1 cloth rest mat – No sleeping bags, exercise mats or beach towels

  1 backpack large enough to hold the folders and binder

  Please consider donating: soft tissues and any size Ziploc bags

  First Week of School -

  Madison City Schools implements an A/B schedule for Kindergarten students during the first week of school. On Thursday, August 1st, only the girl students will come to school. On Friday, August 2nd, only the boy students will come to school. On Monday, August 7th, all Kindergarten students will attend together.