PM Kindergartners will have school on Friday from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm.  This also means that AM Kindergarten students will NOT have school.  Your child will ride the bus to school in the morning and home from school at dismissal.  If you plan to pick your child up from school, please be sure to send a note to school so we are aware of the change.

Kindergartners will eat lunch at school.  Lunch costs $2.35.  If your child would like to pack a lunch and buy milk, the cost is $.60 for milk.  Below are the choices for lunch.  We have limited the selections to help get the students through the lunch line in a timely manner.  *Please put the money for your child’s lunch in an envelope or baggie marked with his or her name and lunch choice.  Please note that if your child receives free or reduced lunches, you should have been notified so plan accordingly when sending money to school (i.e. reduced lunch is $ .40).  You may send your child’s money to school prior to the date of the early dismissal if that is easier for you.  If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thank you!

• A lunch: French Bread Pizza
• B lunch: Ham & Cheese Sandwich
• All lunch choices also come with the following: Steamed Green Beans, Tossed Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Assorted Fruit, and Choice of Milk

Do you have a child or children between the ages of 3-5 that aren’t in Kindergarten?  We invite you to join us at our monthly Preschool Lunch and Learn to hear a story, make a craft, check out a library book and eat lunch in the cafeteria (children eat free, adults are $3.75).  The past few years have been a great success and we hope that you will plan to join us on Thursday, January 31st for our first event this school year.

Additionally, we ask that you pass this information along to your friends in Penn Manor.  Our goal is to host students that will attend Martic at our school while the other elementary schools in the district host the students that will be attending their schools.  This helps your child(ren) become familiar with the school and the staff in the building.  Please have your friends contact the school where their child(ren) will be attending if they need more information.  Thank you for helping to make this event a great success!

Dates for Martic for the 2018-2019 school year:

• Thursday, January 31st from 11:45-12:45 – I Want My Hat Back
• Friday, February 23rd from 11:45-12:45 – The Kissing Hand
• Friday, March 16th from 11:45-12:45 – Sleep, Bear!
• Friday, April 27th from 11:45-12:45 – Knuffle Bunny Too

Registration is required so please contact the school office at 717-284-4128 to register.  We look forward to seeing you this year!

2018-2019 Lunch and Learn Schedule

If you are interested and/or willing to supply any crafting items for our Winter Crafts, here is what we need:

• white lunch bags
• pip cleaners (sparkly)
• plastic ball ornaments (blue or silver are best but any color will do – no glitter or bumps on the ornaments please)
• round buttons
• clear plastic plates
• white acrylic paint

The items are needed by December 14th.  Please follow this link to sign up to send craft supplies to school.  Thank you for your help!

We will also be having a Red and Green Party on Thursday, Dec 20th.  Please have your child wear red and/or green, if you are abl.  For our party we will need some food donations.  If you are willing to send something in, please sign up to do so.  Please indicate what you plan to send to avoid duplicates.  Your help is greatly appreciated!  You may follow this link to sign up…Red and Green Party.

Below you will find some helpful information about Guided Reading Instruction…

• Guided reading instruction occurs in our classroom (with Mrs. Mulder) and in Mrs. Harzinski and Mrs. Lutter’s classroom.
• Instruction occurs every day for 20-25 minutes but not all groups receive formal instruction each day.
• Students will receive 1-2 books (or activities) per week.  Please be sure to send the books back to school as rereading previous books is often part of our warm-up activities.
• All students receive homework daily in a green Guided Reading Folder.  The assigned homework varies between rereading a book, completing a worksheet, writing, practicing flashcards and/or high frequency word practice.
• When practicing high frequency words, please include reading the words, spelling the words and/or writing the words.  Sight recognition is the easiest to do while spelling and writing the words are much more difficult tasks.
• Homework assignments need to be returned to school in your child’s green Guided Reading Folder.  Additionally, there is a parent signature paper inside the folder to be signed each night (Monday through Friday). Please send your child’s green reading folder to school every day so he or she is sure to have it when meeting for instruction.
• When a group is not meeting for guided instruction, they are doing one of the other Daily 5 activities (Read to Self, Read to Someone Else, Listen to Reading, Word Work) or meeting with Mrs. Martin or Mrs. DeBoe (instructional aides) to do a follow up lesson.
• All students earn rewards for homework completion.  The homework must be handed in on time and it must be signed for it to count.
• Homework completion is an essential component in the growth of your child’s reading development!  Repeated exposures to the same texts are absolutely necessary.  So…practice, practice, practice!

I hope this information is beneficial and helps clarify what will be going on in the classroom, how often your child will be seen for group time, and when to expect to receive new books.  Thank you for your help and support with your child’s success at home!  Please let me know if you have any other questions or need further clarification about anything.  I’d be happy to assist you in any way that I can.

Now is a great time to refill your child’s toolbox with some new items.  Although most students have done a great job of taking care of the supplies that they have, some have gotten lost along the way.  It would be beneficial to give your child a new pack of crayons, a couple of new pencils and a new glue stick.