WOW! Was it just me or was this week loooooong and slooooooow? But we made it! This week we focused on putting things in chronological order, position prepositions, and reviewing our nocturnal animals. Next week we will be doing review of the whole unit to prep for our summative assessment! Once again I’ve got a TON to get through so let’s jump into it!

• REPORT CARDS!! They are coming home in the orange folders today!! Inside the envelope you will find: a letter to parents and the PYP unit review that includes comments from me and Mrs. Little, the report card with final grades, standardized test reports (math CBM and reading), ESOL letter (when applicable), and the language proficiency in German report. Our upcoming conference is a perfect time to go through the report card specifics, but if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!! All the documents inside the envelop are yours! Please sign and date by Q1 and return the envelope! Either on Monday in the orange folder/agenda or at our conference!
• PT Conferences/Early Dismissal!! All next week is early release!! We finish each day at 12! If you haven’t signed up for a conference yet, I highly encourage it especially if you are concerned about something you see on the report card! Sign up here! Also just a reminder that I will not be here Wed, Thur, Friday of next week for my sisters surgery. As much as I would like to be on my email like a hawk I may not be able to check it during those days. Make sure you are writing Frau Christin as well so that she knows what’s going on!
• Martinstag!! Here is the link to the song we are singing for our Martinstag performance! We have listened to it all this week and will be learning it in more detail next week. Play it at home or in the car and see how much they already know! “Herbst” 
• Letter Writing!! Our kindness ambassadors are asking for every class to write some letters to the troops! Since it isn’t something I can do in class I figured that it might be a fun at home project for y’all. Each letter should be heartfelt, handwritten, original, and free of any political statements. They must be 8.5×11 paper or smaller, no glue, tape, staples, cardboard, glitter, or stickers, NO CONSTRUCTION PAPER, only 1 page, and no greeting cards or photos. The kiddos should say something nice and positive and maybe a picture. The idea is to make the soldier open the letter and feel happy! Send these in if you decide to do them and I will make sure they get where they need to be 🙂
• Fall Giving Campaign!! This is the school-wide fundraising event! The goal is for 100% participation from each class! If EVERY family from our class donates just 1 dollar our class will win an ice cream party!! You’ll find more information on the home blog page.
• Book Fair!! In the orange folders you will also find a Book Fair wish list! As a class we went to the book fair today and the kiddos picked out their own books they found interesting. As a parent you may visit the book fair next week (during conferences) to purchase things! You may also send money in for October 17th when we will be returning to the book fair to buy things!

Alright that’s it for this week! Happy Weekend to all y’all! 😀

First week of October DONE, but it still feels like summer! BLAH!! Hot weather aside, we did some fall crafts this week, some shape crafts about night animals. Next week we will focus more on chronological order (today, tomorrow, first, next last) and ordering activities! That’s that, we have a LOT to get to today so let’s go!

• Martinstag Supplies!! I HAVE ALL I NEED!!! Y’all are superstars! Big shout out to our room parents for making that happen! Thanks for jumping on those supplies so quick and getting them to me!! If you were hoping to help but didn’t you are always welcome to check out the entire German track’s sign up genius ( coming soon) to help out that way. In class we are starting prep for our performance by learning our song! I’ll send the link next week! If your kiddo does NOT have rain boots and a rain coat/poncho now is your chance to go out and get ’em as I will need ’em soon 🙂
• GRADES!! I just posted the final grades for quarter 1! You may see some 2’s or N’s on their final grade please don’t panic!! This is your kiddos FIRST year in school! They are still getting used to everything here and doing it all in GERMAN no less!!! This is exactly the kind of thing we discuss at conferences. If you are really worried you can of course email me sooner to explain my decisions.
• Jackets in School!! As is gets cooler (hopefully) you may be sending your child to school with a jacket. Please keep in mind that inside the school building student’s are allowed to wear dark blue jackets with the ICSAtlanta logo. If you child comes to school in a pink jacket/sweater etc it will be packed in their backpack and they will not be allowed to wear it inside the building!! Please keep this in mind as our weather starts to get cool. (Student’s are allowed to wear non- ICSAtlanta branded jackets when at recess!)
• Check the Agenda!! Please please please please!! It takes less than a second to open the agenda and see if I left you a note! If there was a behavior problem/ question/ exciting news/ or reminder I will write it in the agenda!!!!! If admin gives me something to send home that needs a signature I will send it in the agenda!! This agenda is our FIRST LINE OF DAILY COMMUNICATION!! Please make sure you check it daily and sign that you have seen a note from me or Mrs. Little.
• Hat Day!! We reached our first school wide blue ticket reward!!! Friday October 11th Will be HAT DAY!! For the entire day students can wear a hat to school!!! Please see the out of uniform policy for some guidelines when selecting your perfect hat!
• Quarter 1 Report Cards!! Next Friday (11th) our quarter 1 report cards will be sent home. I am not allowed to give them out early!! I will explain more about what is in the envelope as we get closer.
• Orange folders!! In the orange folders there is a flyer about the book fair as well as information for y’all about safety. I put these in the “return to school side” so that it would be more visible. These items do not need to be returned to school! 
• Parent/Teacher Conferences!! Just another reminder to sign up for the conference here! 

OK I think I got everything!! Have a great weekend y’all!!

Hey parents! Just wanted to add this to my blog. During conference week (14th-18th) I will only be available for conferences on the Mon and Tue of that week due to my sister having a surgery. While conferences aren’t mandatory, as this is the only official time cut out for conferences I highly recommend scheduling one. If you can’t find a time on my sign up genius then please reach out and we can find another time to meet 🙂

Also don’t forget that the entire week of the 14th-18th is early release! Carpool will be beginning at 12 noon EVERYDAY that week 🙂

Here is the link

Thanks for being so flexible y’all! I really appreciate it 🙂

WE MADE IT TO FALL BREAK!! YAY!! Don’t forget it’s fall break so don’t come to school on Monday!! I’m so happy about how much we’ve learned and go done in these first 2 months!! Your kiddos are really, honestly amazing!! This week we worked on our nocturnal animals and more shapes and today on Pajama day we touched on our nightly routines. When we get back from break we will work more on our daily/nightly routines, putting things in chronological order, as well as working on difficult vocabulary involving position (above, below, etc)

• Birthday Goody Bags!! We had 2 birthdays celebrated today (one tomorrow and one over the break). In your child’s bag there are 2 gift baggies. Thanks to those who brought in gifts! The kids loved it 🙂
• Orange/Green Folders & Homework!! The folders are coming home today!! In your green English folders there are packets of work that can be completed over the break. See the English blog for more info about that. As for “German Homework” I will assign some more MobyMax math assignments, look at our resources link for my youtube playlist of songs and videos we watch regularly. But most importantly, enjoy the break! The kiddos have been working hard and they deserve some break. You’ll be amazed at how a break like this lets all what they’ve learned really sink in 🙂 They’ll come back speaking better than when they left even if you don’t touch German things!!
• German Event over Fall Break!! If anyone is looking for something to do over fall break from the 24th-28th there is a German event going on in Midtown. Specially, this event :  We were told that you still can participate in the School Fest, which is geared specifically towards students in K-12 and will be hosted on Friday, September 27th from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM! Here is a link to the event program 🙂
• Conferences!! 14-17th October is our only conferences! That week will be early release and I will be putting together a sign up page for slots for conferences. This conference is not mandatory, but I highly recommend it as this is our only set time for conferences. Of course I am happy to set up a conference anytime throughout the year, but this will be the most convenient time for all of us to get some good talks in right away.
• Martinstag Song!! Thanks for completing the survey. The strong majority said y’all had or would buy rain boots and ponchos so I am going to go ahead and say that will be our official uniform for our song! I will share the song with y’all once we start practicing it in class (probably soon). Thanks for your help and support in my planning 😀 Also Frau Christin and I are planning out what kind of lanterns we want to make in our class, so once we decide I will share that info with y’all.

Overall I wish y’all a FANTASTIC fall break and can’t wait to come back refreshed and ready to go!! Also don’t hesitate to email me! I’ll probably be checking it regularly 😀

Thanks y’all see the kiddos again on the 30th 🙂

Just one more week till fall break!!! …but who’s counting 😛 This week we started on Unit 2! We learned about the day and night sky and the kiddos floored me explaining how the Earth turns and rotates around the Sun AND about how half the world has day when the other half has night! Real awesome exploring this week into the world of science! Next week we will be continuing along the same line but adding animals that are active during the day and night 🙂 Get excited for some adorable animal crafts coming your waaaay~~

• MARTINSTAG!! (9 Nov) we are prepping for it NOW! During the event KG will perform a song, and we will also be running 2 booths: bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potato salad stand as well as a photo booth stand! If you’d like to learn more please consider coming to the meeting next Wednesday here. ALSOOO for KG specific, we will be making lanterns in class as well as planning for this song. I will send out an email soon to our room moms about wish list stuff as well as a quick survey to all y’all to see some things. Our song we are singing is called Fall and it is about the rainy season of fall. I think it would be adorable to have the kiddos in ponchos and rain boots so the survey is mostly about if you have those items. Click here for the survey.   Also I know this is a big event that may be a tad overwhelming, please do not hesitate to come to me with any questions about the event and I will do my best to help make it easier 😀
• Birthdays!! Since we have a lot of birthdays coming up I wanted to give everyone a quick run down of how we do them. Some parents like to prepare small gifts for the class on their kiddos birthday. Obviously this isn’t mandatory, but if you do want to do such a thing please remember no candy/snacks/food (thinks like stickers/erasers/pencils/small toys are perfect) and ensure there is enough for the whole class. We have an even 20 so it should be easy 🙂 Of course we will be celebrating birthdays in class, and if your child’s birthday falls on the weekend we will celebrate the Friday before 😀 Thanks!
• Lunch!! If you are planning to sign up to come visit your kiddo for lunch please, please, please let me know so I know to look out for you!! We eat lunch 10:45-11:10 but on Wednesday we eat at 10:55- 11:20 and we are in our classroom so it is very important I know you are coming!!
• PAJAMA DAY!!! To go along with out PYP unit about day and night we will be doing a Pajama Day!! On this day (Sep 20th- FRIDAY) we will all show up to school IN OUR PJs!! 😀
• Fall Break Release!! With only 5 more school days till Fall Break I wanted to reach out and see if anyone was planning on missing/leaving early on Friday next week or earlier. The only reason I want to know is to make sure that I can send their orange/green folders home on the day so that you will have all their work over the break! So if you are planning to do so please shoot me a quick email or write in the agenda so I can make sure your child will be ready 🙂

Happy Weekend Everyone!! 😀

Another week went by and even though it was considered a “short week”, it didn’t really feel much shorter to us 😉

We wrapped up our first unit about cultural symbols and rules and what it means to be a good citizen and student. We did a fun hand print project to show where everyone comes from, how old they are and what their favorite foods are. The kids enjoyed working with glitter stickers and pom poms.

Next week we will start our second unit. The transdisciplinary theme is How the world works and we will be learning how day and night impact our routines and lifestyles. Sometime during this unit we will have pajama day which is always super fun for the kids. We will announce the exact date closer to the event.
In math, we will focus on shapes and continue counting in German.

As you may already know and have seen on the schools’ info blast, our lunch-visitor sign-up is now available and you can sign up for lunch with your kiddo. We already had a couple of parents visiting and eating lunch with their kids and it is always very special for our students. If you like to have lunch with your child, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090c49a5a82aa4fb6-lower10
Please leave a short note in the agenda so we know you are coming and have your kid ready for you so you can get the most out of the time.

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

WOOHOOO 3 DAY WEEKEND!! Not that I’m excited about it or anything 🙂

This week we looked into our feelings a little bit, went on a fun plane/train ride through Europe, and learned about Mat Man! See the passport book and videos on the drive for those cool lessons! Next week in our last week on Unit 1!!! Already?!!? Wow time flies. We will be having our summative assessments for the unit next week so please try to let me know about any absences so I can plan accordingly 😀

• 2 Sept 2019!! NO SCHOOL!!
• 4 Sept PICTURE DAY!! Please make sure your child is ready for picture day on Wednesday! This in in uniform as these are the pictures that will be in the year book! Our picture is happening at 9:30am (before recess thankfully) so the kiddos should feel fresh and ready to go!
• Room Parents!! I have shared parent e-mails with our lovely Room Moms so expect to see an email from them soon 😀
• AGENDAS!! Please, please, please order you agenda!! Starting next week these will become mandatory as I will use that as my daily form of communication. Please try to look at the agenda every day and initial it so I know if you’ve seen a note from me. If you ordered your agenda today I will slip it into your childs bag the moment I get it!
• Clever Test!! In the helpful links up on the side of this page, there is a direct link to the Clever site. On the front inside cover of your kiddos agenda you will find the log in and password for clever. In the Mobymax app I have assigned a few math assignments. These are NOT homework!! I just put them up to make sure everyone can see them. If your child wants to complete them, feel free but we will also work on these during our math time in class. If you could double check that the log in and password work (please do NOT change the password) and that it is your child’s name. Let me know if it doesn’t work and I will correct the info in the agenda!
• Wish List!! Thanks so much! Y’all are so generous 🙂 We’ve updated the wish list on amazon (please don’t feel obligated to buy things. These are all things that would be cool to have but are not necessary!) Also something that isn’t one the wish list but some metal cookie sheets (for center/magnet play just 6 from the dollar store are PERFECT) and jumbo puzzles! The puzzles I have are AWESOME but some of them have seen several years of kindergarten play and loosing their loveliness. If you would like to donate some LARGE floor puzzles or grab a box at the store I would really appreciate starting to rotate out the sad ready to retire puzzles.
• First Month Check Up!! This weekend, or starting next week you will all be getting an email from me. This is just a check in about how your child is doing, what habits I see in the classroom, or some questions about how I can help your child succeed. When you get one of those emails please take the time to read it and respond as I do take the time to write each and everyone of you something personal sort of like a mini conference 😀

OK that’s it from me!! Hope y’all have such a great LOOOONG weekend!!

Another week came went here in KG! We jumped right into our symbols unit! We played with a learned about flags and their many colors and styles. We took a plane to Berlin and toured the city! We painted out very own Berliner Bears (I’ll send them home soon! They are on my wall) And we talked,talked,talked,talked in German!! 😀 Next week we will work more with our German symbols and if you look below I need some help from y’all!

Into the Good Stuff!

• Grades!! they’re up again! Hopefully everyone is able to get into infinite campus now/soon
• Pictures!! new ones are up in the drive along with a few short videos of some kiddos saying the date!
• Orange Folders!! They are coming home! As well as a GREEN folder. These are from Mrs.Little. Same rules apply with those folders as with mine. Please return them (emptied) on Monday 😀
• AGENDAS!! once again, they are in! If you have ordered one I expect to have them delivered to me on Monday and I will write their names on them and send them home! Go to the
• Parent Education Night!! Thanks so much for those of you that showed up! I had a great time answering some questions and giving my insights on what kindergarten immersion is like. Please never hesitate to send me an email if you have a question or are concerned about anything at all. You know your child best and I want to be able to support your child however they need to be successful in their first year of school!
• Wish list!! Again HUGE thanks to those of you so quick to buy things up on my wish list! It blows my mind how kind and giving all my parents are this year! (look into the Fall Giving Campaign if you want to help out the school more!!)
• Parent Info!! Here soon I will be sharing a folder with y’all. In this folder there will be a spread sheet I would love for y’all to fill out with your information that we can share in class together. In this same folder Pleeease upload some pictures of your child/family/pets/etc (3-5) that I can then use for the kiddos to present to their class about themselves.
• Random Survey!! I am also going to send you all a random survey about the German Cultural Festival Martinstag! Frau Christin and I are trying to plan out some cute things to do for our performance during Martinstag 😀
• Blue Tickets!! Lots of kiddos got to go in the treasure box today!! They are allowed in the treasure box if they are 3 times on Pink in the week. If they are on Pink 1 or 2 they will receive just blue tickets for the amount of days and if they are 4 or 5 they will get to go into the treasure box AND get blue tickets!

I think that’s it from me! Have a fabulous weekend 😀

Hello parents! Another week in the books and it seems like everyone is really starting to settle into their routines here in Kindergarten! We have officially wrapped up the rules/procedures portion of our unit and we will be moving into symbols! We will start with flags of countries and move into more specific things like monuments, art, food, and music. I will probably email y’all with a spread sheet to fill out about your personal family backgrounds and then a folder to upload some family pictures of. I like to allow the kiddos to explain about themselves and present some of their favorite people (their family)!

• THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED AMAZON PURCHASES! I cannot say thanks enough. I’m blown away by how generous all y’all have been! 😀
• On next Thursday August 22nd, we will host two events at our Upper and Lower Campuses: 

  Kindergarten 101: We invite our Kindergarten Parents to join us at the  Lower Campus Cafeteria at 6:30pm for Kindergarten 101! You will hear from a panel of ICSAtlanta Kindergarten experts who will share about our Kindergarten program here at ICSAtlanta!
  Please RSVP here if you plan to attend: https://forms.gle/frmbEj3pnH1gknx8A ( I will be on this panel! So it’s another chance to chat in English with me!)

• Chick-fil-A Sale! Friday the 23rd is the first of our chickfila biscuit sales! If you are planning for your child to eat their breakfast at the school please,please keep in mind that we go straight to PE at 7:45 when carpool is over. If your child walks in at 7:44 with a biscuit I am afraid they will be quite hungry as I have to bring them to PE where they cannot eat! Please ensure you come with enough time for them to eat as well as a back up plan in case they sell out of biscuits!
• Orange Folders! they are coming home today! Please go through the work with your child and ask them questions about what they learned that week. I started my first club yesterday (We can count to 10 club) so almost all of the class counted to 10 to me alone and received a sticker!!
• Grades!! Beginning of the year and I’m already breaking my promise to myself to update grades every Friday :/ But I’ll have them updated by Monday so keep an eye out for that!
• Plastic Spoons! this is one of those random things I find useful to have around the class. I just ran out of my supply of plastic spoons so I had a few kiddos eat their yogurt with a fork today (lol) If anyone would like to donate a box of disposable spoons that would be great 😀

THANKS and HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND 😀

YAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! Our first full week in Kindergarten and we did it!!!! I’m so proud of this class and how much amazing progress we have made in just one week! We started our first unit and focused on rules of being a good student and its many aspects. Next week we will continue to work on the rules of school and how they are different/similar to home rules or rules of other places. We will be reading through No, David and David goes to school for good example of good and bad behavior. Anyway, onto the important points!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED THINGS FOR OUR CLASS!!!! I am so grateful to have such a supportive group of parents!

Frau Christin will update the list as we get more creative so if you ever feel like helping out it will be there 😀

• Orange Folders! The are filled with activities we did during class. Please look through them with your child so they know that their work is important and is something that their parents will look at. This will help especially if your child has work that is incomplete. We want to give them a sense of pride and responsibility for their work so please make sure to take it out of the folder and keep it at home 🙂
• P.E. on Tuesday and Friday! Students will need to have sneakers for PE days. This is a mandatory part of their uniform and for safety reasons during PE. Please send your child to school on Tuesday and Friday with sneakers (no light up shoes) so that they can do PE safely.
• Grades! I put in a group of grades today (As I usually do every week on Fridaysish). Grades are done from 1-4. 1 would be the lowest and 4 being the highest. 3 is meeting the standard which is where we want all students to place. PLEASE DON’T PANIC if you see some 1’s and 2’s on there. We just started school! If they were making 3’s already then I would have nothing to teach them. Also keep in mind that while you child may be able to count perfectly in English, they are being graded based on their German usage. So as we continue to learn the numbers and vocabulary you will their grade steadily get better and better. I will talk more about how we grade on curriculum night, so make sure you can come!
• Blue Tickets! For those of you unfamiliar, Blue tickets are a school wide reward system. Student’s can receive blue tickets for being good students, staying quiet in the hall, or for a variety of reasons any teacher/staff sees fit. The students can use these tickets to enter a grade level lottery (where they can get a prize from the school store if they get called) or to purchase in school rewards. 5 blue tickets paid to me means that they can have a stuffed animal with them throughout the whole day, like a buddy. 20 blue tickets means that they trade chairs with the teacher! There are other rewards, but those were the most popular to my students last year, so make sure you encourage the collection of blue tickets (or explain to them why they are so cool if they don’t know)
• Names on EVERYTHING! Make sure water bottles, lunch boxes, jackets, and anything you don’t want lost has a name on it!! Even though I know who has which water bottle, if your child forgets it at lunch or at recess and it winds up in the lost and found without a name, it may be lost forever!

I think that’s it for now! feel free to email me with any questions or concerns! 🙂 Happy Weekend everyone!