Mrs. Powell's Kindergarten

Teacher – Kathleen Powell

          I have been teaching five year olds for a very long time.  I love teaching kindergarten! The children are so eager to learn and their enthusiasm is infectious.  We will accomplish much this year as we journey through kindergarten.  

 I have been married to Mark for 29 years and have two sons: Andy who is 27 and lives in Atlanta with his wife Ally and my beautiful granddaughter Kate, and Robert who is 25 and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

Paraprofessional – Denise Ervin

 Ms. Ervin has been at Downtown Elementary going on 15 years.   Ms. Ervin loves working with children and she is very excited about working in Kindergarten.  She will be working closely with your child in many areas of the classroom.  Please take the time to come by and meet her whenever possible.

Music, Art, and Computers

               In addition to Ms. Ervin and me, your child will have the opportunity to meet and work with Mrs. Martin; the Art teacher, Ms. Hankins; the music teacher and Ms. Cush in theComputer Lab.  These teachers are excellent instructors and your child will participate in some wonderful learning experiences with them.  We will have Art once a week during the first semester and Music once a week during the second semester.

Cornerstone

Cornerstone is a wonderful program that has proven results of teaching children to read and write.  We are very excited at DowntownElementaryMagnetAcademy to have the opportunity to implement this program in our classroom this year.    Cornerstone is a national literacy initiative of the New York Institute for Special education in partnership with the University Of Pennsylvania Graduate School Of Education.  The Cornerstone literacy initiative’s mission is to “ensure that all children reach an acceptable standard of literacy by third grade.”  Cornerstone provides four years of comprehensive professional development for teachers, principals, and families, enabling all to work together to see that this mission is accomplished.  To learn more about Cornerstone, please visit the Cornerstone’s website:

http://www.teacherweb.com/GA/DowntownElementary/wilheit/ http://www.cornerstoneliteracy.org

Core Knowledge

Our school is considered a Core Knowledge school.  Please visit the website: http://www.downtownelementary.com.  You will be able to find out what Core Knowledge is and how it benefits our children.  During the year, Kindergarten follows a set of themes or topics they learn about.  For example, Kindergarteners will learn about the 7 continents, Native Americans, American Symbol ,etc… .  The students will be responsible for completing at least four Core Knowledge projects this year. 

MicroSociety

                This year our school will begin the steps to becoming a Microsociety school.  The students will help create a mini-society within our school.  Kindergarten students will have many opportunities to explore work though enriching activities.  You can learn more about Microsociety by visiting the following website:  http://microsociety.org/

TSYS

TSYS is our Partner in Education and does a lot for our children.  They read to our class and provide many activities and opportunities for the children to do throughout the year.  TSYS is a wonderful Partner in Education and we are fortunate to have them as part of our class.

Our Class Procedures

First thing in the morning, students will come into the room and put their belongings away.  There will always be a morning assignment on the desk.  This assignment will be independent work that will get your child motivated for the rest of the day.  Students will begin each day by writing in their writing journals until morning announcements.   It is very important to start the day off with structure and this routine will ensure that.

Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop

Each day, we have a Literacy Block.  During this time your child will participate in reading and writing activities. Some of these activities will be large group activities, some will be small group activities, and some will be independent work.  Phonics instruction and word work will also take place during this time. This is a very important block of time during our day because it is in this block in which children learn to read and write.

Calendar Time

Each morning our class will have calendar time.  During calendar time, your children will learn the date, days of the week, months of the year, number of days in school, hundreds, tens, and ones, money, etc… .  There are many Kindergarten concepts that are taught during this time.  We will also incorporate songs and dances while on the carpet during this time.  This is a fun time of the day where students learn and have fun at the same time. 

 Math and Core Knowledge Block

During the day, depending on when Art, Music, and Computer Lab are scheduled, students will have Math and Core Knowledge.  During Math, your child is taught concepts with manipulatives and hands-on activities.  The use of manipulatives helps to ensure that students master Kindergarten Math concepts. 

During our Core Knowledge period, a lot of our units are based on Social Studies and Science and the activities we do reflect those areas

Homework Folder

On Mondays your child’s new sight words will be placed in his/her FROG binder in the pocket folder labeled Homework. Each week your child will receive new sight words.  Your child will take a sight word test on Friday. In addition to studying for the sight word test I strongly encourage each parent to take 15 minutes each night to read to your child.

Absences/Tardies

If your child is absent, please send a doctor’s excuse or note from home so that this absence can be recorded as being “excused”.  An absence form is included in your child journal  for you to fill out when your child is absent, however, you can write a note on paper also.  Please remember that it is important to send your child to school on time each day.  Excessive tardies will also result in your child having to spend time in the school Reflection room. 

 Dress Code

Please review the school dress code carefully.  Your child must wear a belt if his/her clothes have belt loops.  Students are to wear athletic shoes with white soles not sandals, flip flops, or slip-ons, or boots. Shirts are to be collared and can be red, white, navy blue, light blue, or yellow.  Shirts should not have any designs on them.  Pants, shorts, skirts and skorts should be an appropriate length and can be navy blue or khaki.  If a child is not in accordance with the dress code, he/she will be sent to the office and the parent will be contacted.  If a child is in jeans or other non-uniform attire, the parents will be asked to bring uniform clothing to the school.  Please assist your child in wearing the proper uniform attire. 

Lunch

Students will get to chose from 2 lunch choices daily.  There are things in the cafeteria that the children are able to purchase for an additional cost: ice cream, chips, drinks, etc… . Due to students not eating their lunch, we have limited the purchase of these additional items to FRIDAYS only.  Thank you for your cooperation. 

Birthdays

We will recognize each child on his/her special day with a crown and a song.  However, if you would like to bring in cupcakes or cake for your child’s special day, I ask that the treat be sent in during our lunch time which is 10:55. The birthday treat should be small not a large spread of cake and ice cream. Students do not have time to eat a healthy lunch and a lot of extras in our allotted time. This is the only time set aside for birthday treats.  I will not use our instructional time for birthday celebrations.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. 

Behavior Management In the Classroom

All of the Kindergarten students at DowntownElementaryMagnetAcademy follow the same behavior management policy in the classroom.  The behavior management system is called, “Give Me Five.”  This system encourages your child to behave and succeed in the classroom. 

All students begin with a 5 at the beginning of the day.  They drop a number when they do not follow classroom rules or procedures.  The rewards and consequences are as follows:

  5 – Sticker at the end of the day.  Treat at the end of the week if the student received a 5 every day that week.

 4 – Warning

 3 – Time out during recess to reflect on his/her behavior.                                     

 2 – Call or write parent and loss of privileges.