One night only - Jackie Jonas!

If you attended the back to school picnic, then you hopefully got a chance to see Jackie Jonas in action, weaving a tale before our eyes with her incredible storytelling prowess. Jackie's daughter is a former student of ours and she remains an active member of our community. Ms. Jonas has generously offered KAS 100% of the proceeds of this event. You read that correctly.... ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!! Bring the family, tell a friend, get a posse together, put up a sign at your local library, do anything! This is a wonderful opportunity to generate some much-needed funds for our school. If you didn't get to see Jackie Jonas at the picnic, you missed something amazing. She'll be performing for our class this week as well! I can't wait!

Call Sherry at school (412 361 5332) or stop by the office to purchase your tickets! I really hope to see all of you there!

Kentucky Avenue School

Presents

Jackie Jonas

in

Middle Passage

A celebration of African American culture

The Union Project Great Hall

801 N. Negley Avenue in Highland Park

Saturday, October 9, 2010 - 7:30 pm

Tickets $20 ( all proceeds benefit Kentucky Avenue School)

For tickets and more information,

call Kentucky Avenue School at 412-361-5332

Featuring:

The Ibeji Drum Ensemble

and

Music by Pittsburgh Performer Ms. Raphael Kelly

Thanks in advance,

Mr. Dave

Pajamas, popcorn, and Milo & Otis!

Hello First Grade Families!

I'm writing you from "The Movie Room"! The whiteboard in our room has today been transformed to a 4 x 8-foot movie screen! First grade has a jar in the room that I put a few square blocks into when I feel they've done an extraordinary job at following rules, or someone deserves an acknowledgement for doing great work at something.
When they have the jar full to a certain point, they get a choice of a group reward that we eventually vote on. First grade almost unanimously decided to have a movie day with pajamas and popcorn this afternoon. We watched The Adventures of Milo & Otis. This is a fantastic funny adventure film for the whole family. I remember seeing it as a kid and loving it so much. There are also a few staff members other than me who have pretty fond memories of it!

It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see what our next chosen reward is!

Have fun,
Mr. Dave

Curriculum night & the first few weeks...

Hey KAS families!

I just wanted to drop you all a quick line to remind you that tomorrow, Wednesday, September 16, is our Curriculum Night at KAS. This is a fabulous opportunity to sit down and talk with your child's teacher as a group and discuss what your child's routine is like every day, and what you can expect during this school year.

We've been working so hard lately on so many different things. We've begun our wonderful handwriting series, which has already spawned the first Dave-ism of the year: "Handwriting is not a race, it's a beauty contest." It's really great to see some kids who struggle sit down and take their time and create beautiful work.

In math we've been working on different ways to add up to 6, 7, 8, 9 and even 10! In the coming weeks you'll be hearing about Math Menus and stations, so that children can work more at their own pace. This gives opportunity for those who need extra practice to seek it, and for learners who want a challenge to take it.

In our progress with reading and language arts, we've just begun our first story in our readers. There are so many different strengths in our microculture of a classroom that we'll be soon collaborating and 2nd and even 3rd grade for Reader's Workshop, an awesome exercise in cooperative grouping.

Our Social Studies unit has begun already, focusing on the concept of community in every sense of the word. A brainstorming session on what "community" means produced the most perfect ideas: "team," "neighborhood," "group of people who work for the same goals"... The brilliant list goes on and on. We've been learning about different jobs and why each person in our community is important.

I'm going to sign off for now. I hope to see you all tomorrow night, and I can't wait to continue learning and growing just as much as your first grader does this year.

Take care,

Mr. Dave

PS - The unfortunately blurry picture above is a few of our first graders who are very proud of their puzzle-building skills.

Welcome Back Picnic

Hey First Grade Families!

Last night we held our annual back-t0-school picnic, open to all students, relatives and friends of Kentucky Avenue School. Speaking on behalf of every KAS staff member, WOW WOW WOW! It was very nicely attended, and was a lot of fun in general. Great food, great friends, great fun and great conversation. It's always such an energizing welcome back to the new school year.

For those who couldn't make it, you were missed. There was an amazing musical/storytelling performance from KAS alumni parent Jackie Jonas. She is putting on a benefit show for the school very soon and you will be receiving more information about it from the office. It's going to be an amazing time. I wish I could express my enthusiasm for this from behind this keyboard... AHHH! Anyway, look closely and you may recognize some familiar faces in the few pictures I took. I would've taken more, but it was hard to pull myself out of the story she was telling!

It was fantastic talking and sharing with so many of you last night. I hope you're all enjoying the last bits of summer! I can't wait to be teaching this year's wonderful first grade class.

Take care,

Mr. Dave

Breakout room! ...And a few requests. :)

Hey first grade families!

The time is almost upon us... The first day of school is coming quickly! We have so much fun and learning ahead of us.

As you've read, I've been in and out of school organizing and preparing for the upcoming school year. When I revamped our old "Breakout Room" into what is now the first grade classroom, I needed to come up with an alternate space for it. For most of this year's first grade students, the Breakout Room was only used for music class. The Breakout Room is actually a multi-purpose resource room for 1st through 3rd grades. It has tons of games, toys, blocks, and play space. It's also used for Music class with Miss Suzy, and for art projects that are too messy for our general rooms. I now present to you, the new and improved Breakout Room!

This room is housed in the old 1st grade room, directly next to the office. The Breakout Room has an Internet-connected computer loaded with educational software and will continue to be the home of our Music class. With the class being right next to the office, Sherry and Roberta will be lucky enough to hear the primary grades singing with Miss Suzy every week!

On another note, I have a few requests for parents. I'd like to have more puzzles and board games that are appropriate for 1st grade. We have many, but it never hurts to add to our collection!

I hope that the last few drops of summer you have left are safe and enjoyable. Enjoy the sunshine. :)

Thanks a million in advance!

Dave

How's your summer going?

Hello First Grade & First Grade Parents!

I hope you are all having a fantastic summer vacation. I've been having lots of fun too! I've also been stopping in at school regularly to get our new classroom arranged, create fun lessons, search for awesome books, and do anything else necessary to make sure this upcoming year is FUN! I can't wait to learn and grow with each one of you.




Here are a few quick shots of what our new classroom looks like!

The front of the room (Please ignore the wires everywhere. It's a work in progress!):














Our meeting area (Circle Time):


Work area, and the class computer:


I've got to get back to work for now, but I hope you all continue to have a safe and fun summer vacation!

Have fun!
Dave Montgomery