• Kindergarten Halloween Parade-tomorrow at 9:15
• The parade usually lasts no more than 10-15 minutes
• Please allow time for parking and to get to the parade route (which was emailed home on Tuesday)

• November 4th-6th (Parent-Teacher Conferences and Single Session Days):
  
• Students will follow a Single Session Day for November 4th and 6th
• Kindergarten: 8:30am-12:00pm
• Mrs. Amiel and Ms. Ciccarelli's Classes: 8:30am-12:30pm
• No School on November 5th for students (parent-teacher conferences may be scheduled in the afternoon)
  

• Mark Your Calendars
• Sing-A-Long is scheduled for December 16th from 2:15-2:45pm (with a snow date of December 18th, same time).
• You can join your child(ren) to sing-a-long to some seasonal favorites
• School Photo Retakes-January 7, 2025
• Kindergarten "Klap Out" (end of year celebration)
• June 6th (afternoon) with a rain date of June 10th

Pumpkin Carving Contest:

Thank you to all who have participated! Check out our instagram for some pictures of the cutest pumpkins. Our kindergarteners are voting this morning and the winner will be announced later today.

Square1 Art:

REMINDER TO ORDER YOUR SQUARE1 ART! ORDERS ARE DUE NOVEMBER 1ST!

Dues Incentive:

Mr. Kozak is in full support of helping us reach our goals. If we get 50% of our families to donate the students earn a PAJAMA DAY. If we get to 80%, the kindergarten students Mr. Kozak will DYE HIS HAIR!

Day of Giving:

JPC is participating in the Day of Giving and it is coming up! It is scheduled for Monday, November 25th. Through our school communications, information was sent home about the event and items that JPC will be collecting. We will need volunteers that week (11/25-11/27) to help pick up the items from JPC and bring them to local organizations. Sign up here.

This week, I am including a message from our literacy coach, Mrs. Staci Kaplan:

Kaplan’s Coaching Corner: October Tips

In kindergarten, students begin developing a solid foundation in the sounds of speech, known as phonemic awareness. As they build this skill, we also focus on connecting those sounds with letters of the alphabet. They start to recognize predictable patterns in sound–letter relationships and take their first steps into "decoding"—sounding out simple words.

Your child will start with basic CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant), such as c-a-t. They will say each sound individually, then blend them together to form the word. Decoding requires lots of practice! You can help your child build phonics skills with some of the activities below, while offering encouragement as they gain confidence in becoming a reader.

Activities to Help Build Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Skills:

“I Spy First Sounds” or “I Spy Ending Sounds”
Practice beginning or ending sounds with this simple “I spy” game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear sounds. For example, in the bathroom, you might say, “I spy something pink that starts with the /s/ sound (soap)." In the kitchen, you could say, "I spy something red and delicious to eat that starts with /a/ (apple)." In the family room, “I spy something that ends with /k/ (book).”

Mystery Word Game
Here’s an easy phoneme-blending game you can play while walking. For blending practice, say, “I see a sign that says s-t-o-p.” Your child will blend the sounds to identify the word stop. Or say, "I see a sweet pet that says d-o-g." Your child blends the sounds to figure out the word dog. (Remember to say only the sounds, not the letters.) Start with short words, and gradually increase the difficulty as your child’s skills improve.

Sound Counting
Using LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show how many sounds are in it. For example, for top (t-o-p), your child would place three objects in a row. Then, they can tap each object as they stretch out and say the sounds. Remember, they are counting the sounds, not the letters. So, for bike (b-i-k), there are only three sounds, since the "e" is silent.

Happy reading,

Staci Kaplan

District Literacy Coach

November 2024

4th: Single Session (Kindergarten), Parent-Teacher Conferences

5th: No School, Parent-Teacher Conferences

6th: Single Session (Kindergarten), Parent-Teacher Conferences

7th & 8th: No School

27th: Single Session Day-all students

28th & 29th: No School

December 2024

December 16th: Sing-A-Long (2:15-2:45pm)--Snow date, the 18th.

• Mrs. Amiel's Class: Students followed a visual recipe to make puffy paint. Students practiced literacy and measuring skills. After we made the paint, students made jack o lanterns.

• Mrs. Meadows, Art & Music: Students have been practicing performing and identifying loud or quiet and fast or slow music. Students just completed their apple artwork, where we mixed primary colors to create secondary colors. Ask your child about which colors they mixed and which secondary colors they created!

• Mr. Slevens' Class: Students recently paired up to design and create festive Halloween costumes for storybook characters and stuffed buddies. First, students brainstormed what kind of costume they might create for their buddy – keeping in mind its shape and the materials we have in their room. Next, they used materials around the classroom like construction paper, tape, scissors, etc. to design and create their colorful decorations. Lastly, they used trial and error to create our costumes and dress up our stuffed buddies. Check out photos below!

Parent/Family Handbook

Primary Centers' Visitor Protocol

Parent Portal (Genesis--Access Student attendance, report cards, etc.)

JPC Car Line Information