Sunday, January 31

Here is the latest from Mrs. Patterson with the Coytoe Courier:  http://: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IfuC1M694ElF8M1xN4ZdcygwCo5AI_CPys67z0MYsqQ/edit?usp=sharing

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January 20

Here’s the link for the Coyote Courier from Mrs. Patterson: http://: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LkN7nUGgcgHhpHNJtJoDNR7qzob2Lm24MWT07CqjpCc/edit?usp=sharing

Here are a few reminders for the remainder of the week:

Thursday and Friday this week bring a bit of a schedule change and I wanted to make you aware of the time changes.

On Thursday, we will be coming back together at 11:55 as usual, but we will be ending our day at 12:15 due to the scheduling of my COVID vaccination.  Children will have a MLK, Jr. SeeSaw to complete and are invited to explore Smarty Ants, Dream Box, or catch up on any unfinished SeeSaw assignments.

On Friday, we will be having a ½ day of school.  Our schedule will look like this:

8:00 – 8:20 – Morning Meeting/Calendar

8:20 – 8:55 – Whole Group Reading

8:55 – 9:25 – Independent Work/Small Group Meetings

9:25 – 9:35 – Snack/Bathroom Break

9:35 – 10:10 – Math

10:10 – 10:40 – Social Sciences

10:40 – 11:00 – Art (this may start at 10:30—I am checking with Mrs. Fullerton on her plans)

11:00 –11:05 – Goodbye Song/Author of the Month Book if time permits

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January 17

Happy Martin Luther King Weekend!  I have some reminders to share with you all!  :0)

*Here are the upcominig Spirit Days:

February Spirit Days

*January’s Habitude is Perseverance

Perseverance is the ability to sustain interest, effort, and commitment in any circumstance that life presents.

In January we highlight the Habitude of Perseverance from Angela Maier’s book Classroom Habitudes. It is evident that our students, teachers and families have been using this habitude as they navigate their learning during the world pandemic.  If you would like to enjoy books about perseverance with your child, our KES School Counseling Schoology Course is featuring children’s books about perseverance this month. In addition, here is a link to our parent program about perseverance from our past years at KES. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OY_PurQ-QJCAy5tY9vMucgzfXUckrNwF/view?usp=sharing

*Here is the link for the Courier: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CsL9gmTlzRiJ6tng5LNIzpuD8biJqsQiMQtKZudIglw/edit?usp=sharing

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November 15

I hope that you are enjoying your Sunday!  Please know that the Courier is ready for you to review.   https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CQW7qNwvvjJbObW68UsCFTmZk9cV2fv1hyyJbdaf9OY/edit?usp=sharing

 

Also—-don’t forget about Community Helper Day on Wednesday!  This week, we will be learning about Community Helpers.  Typically, during this unit, we have an at home project designed to have students select a career choice that they would like to have when they grow up.  Since we are learning virtually at this time, we are inviting students to still celebrate what they would like to be when they grow up just  in a different way.  During our Social Studies time on November 18th, students will be presenting to the class. Children should be prepared to talk about what their job is and why they chose that career.

 

There are two options for children this year.

  1. Students may use the attached sheet to draw themselves in their career choice with detail. Please guide your child in decorating the person to look like them when they are grown up and performing his/her job.  It is okay for your child to cut out the figure if he/she chooses to do so.  Be creative!  You can add props to help illustrate job choices, use craft materials for hair and clothing, add a background to show place, etc.
  2. Your child’s second option is to dress up as his/her chosen career.  Again, we would like for the students to have props to help illustrate job choices.  For example:  a doctor—needs a stethoscope, a baker—needs a bowl and spoon, an artist—needs a paintbrush.  **If you are choosing this option, please have your child wearing this outfit after lunch.

 

We look forward to this fun celebration of careers and community helpers!

Kindergarten Teachers

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November 9

Here’s some information from Mrs. Patterson and the latest edition of the Coyote Courier!  Enjoy!

Good Afternoon- It’s been a beautiful weekend in Richmond, and I hope you have had an opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather.   This message is to notify you that this week’s Coyote Courier is ready for your review.   Thank you for taking the time to review the newsletter each week.  If you want to know what is happening at KES and with our school’s PTA, then the Courier is the first place to look.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IwS9MMtJUhtOdHF-GU3BC5Ovru6oPd6QUnUdli8nVNo/edit?usp=sharing  

A few reminders for this week:
1. HCPS Student Intent responses are due by midnight tonight.
2. Tuesday, November 10 at 6:30 PM is PTA Executive Board meeting
3. Support our Veterans.  Included in this week’s Courier are the details on how our school is honoring veterans this year.
4. Thursday, November 12 is a student ASYNCHRONOUS learning day.  
5. Friday, November 13 is a student holiday.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend,
Cindy Patterson, Principal

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November 8

I hope you’ve had time to enjoy the beautiful weather we’ve had this weekend.  If not, there is still time!  Head outside and enjoy!  Here is a fun YouTube video that I love to show the children once the cold winter months are over, but it seems to be fitting for this weekend as well.  On a side note, Jason and his sister grew up with me in Mechanicsville. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrqF7yD10Bo

As we begin this week, please be reminded that we will have an asynchronous day of learning on Thursday, November 12.  On this day, teachers will be in the building at KES preparing for November 30th.  Children will be marked as present if they explore one or more of the apps that we have been working on (SeeSaw, Dream Box, Lexia, RAZ, Epic, or Smarty Ants).   They may also use their Tool Kit on this day for a hands on approach to learning.  Also, remember that Friday, November 13th is a holiday for students and teachers.

This is a 3 day logging in week to meet as a class on our meeting link.  We will be working on the letters Ll and Vv, reviewing patterns, and exploring the holiday, Veterans Day.

Your child will need to have his/her Handwriting Book at their work space from now on.  We will be using that as we form our letters.  If you cannot place the Handwriting Book, your child may use a white board or a journal.  Your child will also need to have his/her Tool Kit close by because if we have enough time, we will be pulling out the unifix cubes in math to help review patterns.

In Social Sciences, we will be learning about Veterans Day.  This is typically a very big celebration at our school. Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Buffkin have done their very best to keep this a day of celebration and we’ve gone virtual!  Here is some information from the Coyote Courier about this special day.  I will be sharing the virtual bulletin board with the students on Wednesday.  If you would like to upload a picture of your veteran to the board, I will look for familiar names and showcase them to the children.  Please read below to find out how you can participate:

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Wednesday, November 11th is Veterans Day:  This year during our virtual platform our recognition will happen in two ways:
1. In lieu of visual representation in our school’s hallway, we will use a virtual bulletin board to recognize and honor men and women who have served our country in the past or who are currently serving.  Using this link: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/F5OdLkci families can add to the Veteran Board and share information about a veteran.   This board will remain active until November 13th, and teachers will highlight with their students during the Social Studies class time on November 11th veterans who are on the board.

  1. Adopt a Veteran:   Each KES family is encouraged to make a $15 donation to support Veterans in our Virginia area.  Our school has partnered with Old Dominion Honor Flight to honor veterans who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam during the times of December 1941- April 1975.   Due to the pandemic, the organization has been unable to fulfil its  “mission”  and transport Veterans to the Washington D.C. area to visit the memorials (Marine Corps Museum, Air Force Memorial, WWI Memorial, Vietnam Wall Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery for changing of the guard) dedicated to honor their sacrifice and service.   KES’s partnership will allow Old Dominion Honor Flight to make and post signs in the yards or location of  veterans.  The yard signs will be a visible reminder to veterans that our families remember them and honor their sacrifice. The service area for this organization includes Elizabeth City, NC up to Fredericksburg, VA (including the Eastern Shore) and west to Farmville, VA, and our school’s goal is to provide signs for 100 veterans.  To adopt a veteran and make a donation, go to our school’s online payment system link:  Adopt a Veteran   (Prior to donating please create an account in our Online School Payment system OSP. In the past, if you made field trip payments online, then you already have an account.  Direction on making an account located here if needed.)  Together, let’s support those who were BRAVE, BOLD and STRONG in fighting for our freedom.

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Finally, we still have many open slots for Mystery Reader if you’d like to sign up.  I’m not exactly sure how this will work once we go back into the building, but we will work together to figure it out.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I look forward to seeing your students bright and early tomorrow morning!  Remember —- get outside!

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November 1

Wow, is it really November?  Time is flying by and the upcoming week has a lot happening in Coyote Country.  Please review this week’s Coyote Courier so you are abreast of all the activities and events: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yzpiY2QaQLS1lMntX5WUby_wvikTGpW2w55Vw2s_slw/edit?usp=sharing

Just as a quick reference, important events this week are listed below.  More detailed information available in the parent newsletter.
1. Monday, Nov. 2- Coyote Connection and Conversation session with Mr. Buffkin and Mrs. Patterson
2. Tuesday, Nov. 3- Student holiday
3. Wednesday, November 4 is an asynchronous learning day for all students.
3. Wednesday, Nov. 4 thru Friday, Nov 6- Parent/Teacher Conference window.  Sign up information was included in last week’s newsletter.  Conference virtual meeting links will be sent out on tomorrow.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend,

Mrs. Patterson

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October 30

Happy Friday!

Be sure to get out tomorrow night and enjoy that Blue Moon!  We were talking about it in class today!  A Blue Moon is the 2nd full moon in the month.  Our first full moon was on October 1 and tomorrow night will be our second one!  It is also the first time in 19 years (2001)  that we’ve had a full moon on Halloween night!  It’s rare to have a full moon on Halloween night—the next one won’t happen again until 2039!  Enjoy it tomorrow!

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October 25

Here is the latest edition of the Coyote Courier from Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Buffkin.  Happy Reading! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ygBcMe5-0_j70-ZuVKx34Oz-kMwmnz7mVpJim1WQBpI/edit

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October 23

What an exciting week we have had!

Last spring, I had originally scheduled an in person visit for the entire kindergarten with the meteorologist from Channel 6, but because of our virtual learning, I assumed all visits were off.  When I contacted them to be sure that they weren’t expecting to visit with us, Tom Patton, the early morning meteorologist, offered to make a virtual visit with us!  I was beyond excited to have him come and join us yesterday!  The children were so well behaved!  We were able to take a virtual tour of the studio, play a number game with temperatures, and ask a few questions about his job.  It was a fun virtual field trip!    

We also had planned a field trip to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for next Friday, but in light of the virtual learning, all field trips have been canceled for the future.  I did get an invitation from Lewis Ginter to apply for a virtual field trip (I was one of just a few teachers chosen as a part of a test group—–AND I am so excited!) and the other kindergarten teachers and I will be taking the virtual field trip with our classes in the next week or two.  We were also able to schedule a spring virtual field trip to Lewis Ginter as well in which they will be covering a different topic.

This week, we covered the short a sound, story elements, numbers and number sense, as well as properties of matter.  We will continue next week with the short a sound, story elements, properties of matter, numbers/number sense, tallying, skip counting, and pumpkins as we use this upcoming week for review.

Please have your child have their Tool Kit near by next week as we will be pulling some items from them during our lessons.  I’ve told them that they need to have the close by, so they should know about this.

We still have many open slots for Mystery Reader if you’d like to sign up.  I’m not exactly sure how this will work once we go back into the building, but we will work together to figure it out.

Have a great weekend!

 

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