Mrs. Conte's 4th of July

Mrs. Conte, Mr. Conte and Charlie went to Keystone Heights, Florida, for the 4th of July. Charlie got to see his first parade and didn't even cry when the firetruck sirens played, the cars beeped and the cannon boomed! Only in Keystone does the parade start with a cowboy on a bull accompanied by a dog and 2 geese!

After the parade, they went out to the lakehouse to cool off by splashing around in the lake. They loved spending time with their family!

What did you do for the 4th of July? We would love for you to leave a comment and let us know!

Reading on the Internet

Happy 4th of July! Hope you are having a fireworks kind of weekend!

This week we'd like to share one of our favorite book sources on the Internet. If you can't get to the library this summer (or even if you can), enjoy some of the books from LookyBooks. Here is one of our favorites to get you started.

Summertime FUN!

What are you doing this summer? Mrs. Timmons is spending the summer in Richmond, Va. Her husband, Coach Timmons, plays for the Atlanta Braves AAA Team that is located in Richmond, so as soon as school was out, she and baby Kallyn headed for the hills of Virginia. However, about a week ago Coach Timmons broke a bone in his foot during a game and had to have surgery. Can you tell he has a "boot" on his left foot and his crutches are nearby? He's doing fine now but he won't be playing baseball for about six weeks! They'll all be staying in Richmond so he can rehab. Mrs. Timmons and Kallyn will be returning to Jacksonville in time for school to start and Coach Timmons will return after Labor Day. What are YOU doing this summer? We'd love to hear from you! Leave us a comment so we can share your summer adventures!

What Are You Reading?

What are YOU reading this summer? I went to the public library yesterday and found a book I haven't read by one of my favorite authors. I have just started a book called Mercy by Jodie Picoult. I love her books and have read most of her other books. They often have a surprise ending. I think that's what I really like. A couple of her books have even been made into movies. One of her books is a Lifetime movie this month, The Tenth Circle.

Do you have a favorite author that you are reading? One of my favorite things to do is to pick an author and read everything they've written. This is a good thing for you and one of your parents to do together. Go to the public library or to the book store and thumb through some books until you find one that really appeals to you. Then check out as many books as you can find by that author. You did that kind of author study when we read so many of Eric Carle's book in kindergarten. If the book is a little hard for you to read, then ask one of your parents to read it to you. You can understand books that you listen to at a much higher level than you can actually read. Make sure to log them on your summer reading chart (we're going to ask for it when we get back to school!) If you can't find your log sheet, just keep a list of the books that you are reading to turn in. You can put the books that you read all by yourself and also the books that are read to you on the list. All of that counts in reading! mrs. t

Words on the Shirt

Parents: You may have noticed that when your child's field trip tee-shirt came home for the summer that on the back of the shirt are "100 Sight Words"! They were put there for a reason- so that parents have a list of words at their fingertips for their students to practice over the summer. The first thing to do is to see which of the words your child knows. The standard is that kindergartners should leave the grade level with at least 20 words that they know in a "snap." They know these words so well that they can say them faster than you can snap your fingers. You may find that your child knows more than 20 words! Wooo hoo!

This is a list of the words on the shirt that you can copy:

a about after all an and are as at back be because big but call came can could day did do dog down for from get go going good got I if in is it had have her him his home just like little man me morning mother my night not of off on one onto our out over people play ran saw school see she so some soon started that the their them then there they this three time to too two up us very water we went were what when will with would you

After you see which words your child knows, work with those words adding a couple of new ones when they know all the old ones three times in a row in a snap. One way to do this is to copy the entire list and then just highlight the words as your child masters them. You can make flash cards, of course, and review the words each night when you are reading to your child but it should be more fun than drill. Another way to practice the words is to have a list in the car in front of your child and when you are driving or waiting, play games with the words.

These are some hints that you might give.

Find the word that rhymes with not (got)...

Find a word that ends with -ill (will), -ack (back), -ig (big), -all (call), -ad (had) -an (man)... Say the sounds, not the letters.

Find a word that begins with /sh/ -when the letters have slashes around them, it means to say the sounds- (she)How many words can you find that start with /th/? (that, the, their, them, then, there, they, this, three - 9!)

Find the word that is the opposite of big (little) opposite of front (back), opposite of night (day), opposite of up (down), opposite of he (she), opposite of bad (good)...

After the child gets the "gist" of the game - you can make up any questions that you like - let him/her ask the questions and you find the words. This is a really great car game! The only thing you have to do is make the list of words for the car. Happy summer!

Web sites

We thought maybe one of the first things we could do together is to take a look at some interesting computer sites that you might enjoy over the summer. Here are some that we recommend. Just click on the underlined game to try it out.

1. Activities include letter sounds to intermediate reading. You may remember this site from school because this is the one that we had set on the computers.
Star Fall

2. At this site you can read Clifford books and fill in words or you can play games. I'm a fan of the big red dog. Try out this site and see if you are too.
Clifford

3. See how well you remember how to make patterns with this game practice with patterning.

Patterns

4. Lots of number games and activities can be found at this interesting site. Let us know which ones you like!
Number Time

If you try any of these games, leave us a comment and let us know if you liked them (or if you didn't) by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of this post.

While these may not be the most educational games, my friend, Carter, from Mrs. Mallon's class, recommends these sites as his favorites: Connect 4 and Sponge Bob games. What are your favorite sites? Can you recommend a favorite for your friends to try this summer? If you have a recommendation just click on the comment button and tell us about the site and why you think your friends might like it. We'll try it and see how we like it!

Parents: Your child will need help finding the comment button and with the process of leaving a comment, but try to let them type and sound out the words for any post that they might be interested in writing. Leave the spelling as your child writes it (I know it's hard not to correct it!), but we want the children to know that they can communicate on their own! Happy Summer!

Summer Fun!

Dear Timmontes,

I have been thinking about some of things we could do together this summer as we think about living our lives as readers and writers. To encourage you to write,

• I want to give you my e-mail address so that you can send me an e-mail. Ask Mom or Dad if it is okay to send a message on the computer. They can show you what to do. You can write the message yourself and just let mom or dad send it for you. Tell me about what you are doing, if you go on vacation, what you are writing and about what you are reading. I'll make sure to e-mail you back.

timmonsd@duvalschool.org

• I am going to be posting some suggestions each weekend of activities that you can do over the summer. I hope that you will use the comment button on the bottom of this blog and comment if you do any of the activities.


• You should also get a postcard from me in the mail that has my address on it so that you can write me letters, draw me pictures, send me your stories or photographs of what you are doing or anything else you would like for me to see. I promise if I get a letter, comment, or e-mail from you, I will write you back!
  

All of your comments, e-mails, letters, photos, pictures, etc. will be used for a back-to-school bulletin board. It will be a way for us all to reconnect and see what everyone has been up to all summer! Can't wait to hear from YOU! Mrs. T