Ms. Winn's Class

IMPORTANT NOTE:
*Please note that the visitation letter that went home had the incorrect date. The visitation will be Wednesday September 7th either 9:00-9:20 or 9:40-10:00. Please refer to the letter for which visitation you and your child will attend. Sorry about the confusion!

Parent Information- 2011

Welcome to Kindergarten 2011-2012 :)

 

You will quickly notice that the beginning of the year means a lot for you to read :) Sorry in advance! I promise it gets much easier after the first week or so. I have attached all of the beginning of the year notices for you to reference at any point during the year. I will also be posting a "To Do" list to remind you of the things you need to send in. 

 

A copy of the letter that went home about Open House/Visitation: Download KindergartenOpenHouseLetter2011

*please note, this letter has a typo on the date- the visitation date is Wednesday September 7th!

Please fill out the following parent questionaire to help me to begin to get to know your son or daughter: Download Parent Questionnaire2011

An explanation of our first bulletin board. We will be doing a lot with our names the first week of school and we want to know how your child got his or her name: Download What'sinanmae-Notice2011

Please fill out this form to tell us how your child got his or her name: Download What'sInaNameBulltetinBoard

A letter to parents introducing myself: Download BeginningoftheYear-LettertoParents11

If you are wondering about kindergarten procedures such as arrival, dismissal, etc, this letter should answer your questions:  Download K-110Procedures2011

The following notice may be helpful in preparing your child for his or her first day of kindergarten: Download The First Day of School2011

 

 

 

 

Volcanoes!

K-110 has been very interested in learning about volcanoes. As we study volcanoes we'll be learning about...

• what a scientist does including: ask questions, makes predictions, notices details, reads to learn new information, conducts experiments, makes observations, shares what they noticed with others, etc.
• nonfiction books including: what is a nonfiction book? (a book that tells us facts and information), what elements does a nonfiction book have? (for example: table of contents), what new information can be learn from a nonfiction book? what questions do we still have?

The kids have already come up with a list of questions we have about volcanoes...

Are volcanoes close to Boston?

How big is a volcano?

How does the fire come out?

How do you know when a volcano is going to erupt?

How big is the biggest volcano? (a few children wanted to know this one)

What are volcanoes black and brown?

How do scientists get so close to volcanoes?

How long can a volcano erupt for?

How does the volcano explode?

How fast does a volcano erupt?

What color are volcanoes?

 

This summer I had the opportunity to see more than one volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The first volcano I saw is called Mauna Kea (in Hawaiian it means, "white mountain"). Mauna Kea is actually the tallest mountain in the world if measured from the bottom of the ocean floor to the mountain's summit. Mauna Kea is considered a dormant volcano, which means it has not erupted in a long time (4,500 years) but it could definitely erupt again, and many scientists think it will!

The other volcano we visited was Kilauea, which is an active volcano that began erupting in 1983 and continues to erupt right now! We took a helicopter over the volcano so we could see the current eruption because they don't let you get too close :)

If you look closely at the picture below, you will see a house in the middle of all the lava (in the middle toward the top of a picture, look for a little redish-orange). The owner of that house built a Bed and Breakfast, but then the volcano erupted around him. Now the only way to access his house is by helicopter! He still lives there though.

After our helicopter trip, we got to hike into the volcano (not that part that is erupting though!)

We also saw a few spots where roads had been covered by lava!

That was a road that people drove on just a few years ago!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

 

 

Beginning of the Year- To Do! (2011)

Beginning of the Year- To Do!

It's the beginning of the new school year and I imagine you have a stack of paper as tall as your kindergarten child of notices sent home by me and the school. Of course it is important to read all of these papers, but there are also some things you need to do or send back. I am hoping I can make this busy time of year a bit easier by providing you with a "to do" list.

 

To Do:

• Send Ms. Winn Parent Questionaire
• Send in your child's "What's In a Name?" page
• Check if you are receiving e-mails from me. If you did not receive the newsletters and pictures on Friday, please e-mail me at kwinn@belmont.k12.ma.us
• Send in a spare set of clothes for your child in a zip lock bag, labeled with his or her name.
• Fill out Blue Health form and return in your child's folder
• Fill out Opt Out Photo Form if necessary
• Fill out Room Parent Form if you'd like to volunteer to be a room parent (you have not received this yet, check your child's BEE folder this week)
• Review with your child what they should eat for snack and what they should eat for lunch
• Have your child practice giving you his or her BEE folder items at the end of each day and placing the folder back in his or her back pack. This is your kindergarten child's job each night, but you can remind them of course :)
• Mark your calendar for Curriculum Night- Wednesday October 5th
  

That's all (for now)! I promise it gets easier after the first week or so :)

Who is Ms. Winn?

Hi everyone, my name is Ms. Winn! This is my sixth year teaching kindergarten at Winn Brook. My first class of students graduated Winn Brook in June and will be at the middle school this September, I can't believe it! I have my Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and my Masters in Reading and Language. I am also an avid reader of all books related to children, kindergarten, reading, writing, math, science and really anything related to teaching. When I am not teaching kindergarten (in the afternoons and the summer) I tutor older children who are having difficulty with reading and writing. I think working with older kids has helped me to see where my kindergarten students are headed.

This summer was a bit less eventful for me than last summer when I got married and went to Hawaii on my honeymoon. You can see pictures of my wedding in the wedding photos section of this website.

 

  

This summer we kept our traveling a bit more local, but we visited Burlington, Vermont in July and New York City in August. We also like to spend as much time as possible at the Cape.

Besides traveling, there are a few other things that the kids will learn that I love (besides them, of course). These things include: the color pink, ice cream, the Red Sox and the Boston College Eagles.

I also love to read and write, which is perfect since we will spend a lot of time this year learning how to do both! Finally, I love to exercise- running, biking, etc. I once took an exercise class that involved jumping on a trampoline! My sister and I once did a sprint triathlon, and I'd loved to do another one if my knee would cooperate a little more :)

A lot of my students wanted to know if we won. The answer is no, but we had fun :)

I can't wait to meet you and hear about all the things you love to do!

Wedding Photos

I thought the kids might want to see a few wedding photos :)

 

 

 

 

It rained about 10 minutes after our ceremony, and then we got a double rainbow :)

Many of you may recognize my Wedding Advice from my kindergarten class 2009-2010 :)

Wedding Advice

Wedding Advice for Ms. Winn

By K-110 2009-2010

Kade- Get a wedding ring.

Alice- When you get married have fun with your now husband. Hug and kiss.

  

David- Your husband should do the dishes and watch the Red Sox too.

Melanie- I hope you have a fun marriage. I hope you don't fight.

Elena- Make each other happy and do nice things to each other and kiss and be loving to each other and live happily ever after. Keep going on dates and kiss on the date and take turns making dinner together.

Patrick- Have your husband do the dishes.

Joe- Get flowers for each other.

 

Ally- Make dinner together. Keep going on dates and live happily ever after.

 

Bastian- Share food. Take turns making food. Have fun.

Mary- Give your husband a back rub.

   

Kayla- Have your husband wash the dishes.

Amanda- Get pink flowers. Have kids. Go out to dinner. Then kiss.

Jacob- Give her pink flowers.

 

Amalia- Give her pink flowers.

Johnny- Wash the dishes together.

Daniel- Have your husband wash the dishes.

 

Haley- Be nice. Wash dishes for each other. Be loving.

Charlie- 1. Share. 2. Kiss. 3. Be loving. 4. Keep going on dates. 5. What are you going to get for your cake?

Frances- Eat ice cream on a hot day. Going to the Red Sox. Be loving. Like each other. Have a swimming pool in your house. Live happily ever after.

Joseph- Love each other. Ms. Winn's favorite color is pink.

 

Emma- Make each other happy and do good things for each other and keep doing things. Be nice to each other and live happily ever after.

Beginning of the Year- To Do!

It's the beginning of the new school year and I imagine you have a stack of paper as tall as your kindergarten child of notices sent home by me and the school. Of course it is important to read all of these papers, but there are also some things you need to do or send back. I am hoping I can make this busy time of year a bit easier by providing you with a "to do" list.

To Do:

• Send Ms. Winn Parent Questionaire
• Send in information about your child's name :)
• E-mail Ms. Winn or send in contact information page (my e-mail is kwinn@belmont.k12.ma.us)
• Send in a spare set of clothes for your child in a zip lock bag, labeled with his or her name.
• Fill out Blue Health form and return in your child's folder
• Fill out Opt Out Photo Form if necessary
• Review with your child what they should eat for snack and what they should eat for lunch
• If you can, contribute some items from the wish list to our class. In particular we really need soap and clorox wipes so we can all stay healthy.
• Have your child practice giving you his or her BEE folder items at the end of each day and placing the folder back in his or her back pack. This is your kindergarten child's job each night, but you can remind them of course :)

That's all (for now)! I promise it gets easier after the first week or so :)

 

Beginning of the Year- Parent Information

The following notices will be included in your beginning of the year folder. I have posted extra copies below in case you need to refer to any of these notes throughout the year. 

Download LetterToParents09

Download KindergartenOpenHouseLetter09

Download ClassroomWishList09

Download K-110Procedures09

Poetry!

The past month, we have been working on writing poetry. This is difficult in some ways because we have worked all year on conventions of writing- spacing, punctuation, moving from left to right etc. While some of those do apply in poetry (spacing), many are not strict in poetry. Imagine the confusion when I tell the kids remember how I said you have to have a sentence with a period at the end, well guess what, in poetry you don't need a period AND you don't even need a sentence at all! You can even go on to the next line whenever you want! However poetry is also great for beginning writers because they don't have to worry as much about rules and they can focus on their ideas. The following are some of the poems we have been working on. Each child picked which poem they wanted to be published :)

Color Fish by Alyssa

 

Green

Blue

Purple

Gray

White

Pink

Red

Yellow

Orange

Do you like fish?

 

 

Family by Anastasia

Family is good

Family is nice.

Family gives people for us.

A baby won’t be scared

Of a family.

Family is good.

Do you have a family that is nice like mine?

 

 

My Family by Nicole

I have two brothers.

I have one sister.

I have a mom.

I have a dad.

And I want to get a dog.

I have a grandma.

I have a grandpa.

I have girl cousins.

I have boy cousins.

I have friends.

 

 

I Love My Mom by Paul

I love my mom

She loves me

Plays with me

Watches movies with me

Kind

Smart

Bakes cookies

I love mom

 

 

Mom by Leah

Sometimes we go to the mall

Sometimes we’re happy

Sometimes we’re sad

But I love my mom

 

 

 

My Dad by Drew

Like my Dad

Nice.

Helps me with lego.

Loves me.

I love him.

 

 

Friends by Alexandra

Leah is my friend.

I play with my friends.
I like when I get new friends.

Do you have a friend like my friends?

 

 

Playdate by Ian

Note: Ian chose to publish his acrostic poem, so be sure to look at what it spells as you read it vertically (Mikey)

Monday

Ironman

Kick the couch

Entertaining

Your house

 

 

My Mom by John

Loves me

Plays with me

Puts me to bed

Takes me to school.

 

 

My Mom by Jonathan

I like my mom

Because my mom

Plays with me

And my mom

Helps me

Do you like your mom?

 

 

My Brother Calvin by Addie

Wets his diaper.

3 years old.

Cries. Laughs.

Plays with me.

I love Calvin.

 

 

Soccer by Theo

Kick the ball

Score goals

Eat oranges

I won against the red

I won against the green

I won against the white

I lost against the maroon

I like soccer.

 

 

Callum by Rory

Cries when he’s sad

Smiles and laughs when he’s happy

He makes towers

Knocks them down

He does a good job

He likes me

He is silly.

 

 

Green Line by Mikey

Green

S

   L

      O

         W

Sometimes it goes

                   T

              S

       A

   F

 

 

Nature and Me by Katie

I like nature

Ferns, horse tails

Trees, conifer

I like nature

Mommy too

Just a fact

 

 

My Fun by Ashley

My friends are fun

I will tell you

Their names

Leah Sunny Alyssa

My best

Friend forever

Her name

Is Leah.

 

Korea by Sunny

Korea

is my f

                         a

                             v

                                o

                                  r

                                    i

                                      t

                                        e

Place

Korea

is where my grandparents live.

I play with them.

Read Korean books

Go to my grandpa and grandmas farm

Korea

is my favorite place.

Lady Bugs by Maya

I love lady bugs

Red

Polka dotted

Cute

Little

I love lady bugs

Do you like lady bugs?

 

 

Legos by Benjamin

I like lego

Legos are fun

I like to play with them

Do you like legos?

 

 

The John by Brooke

I love my brother

I love when he plays with me

He lifts me up on the swing

He likes to race his video game

He likes to play with me.

I love John.

 

 

We hope you enjoyed our poems! Please leave us comments, we will read them as a class :)