My name is Michaele (pronounced ‘My-kul,” like Michael Jordan) Sommerville, and I will be your child’s kindergarten teacher for the 2011-2012 school year.  Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share this very special year of your child’s life!

      

This is my sixteenth year as a kindergarten teacher, having taught in Alaska, New Mexico, and Kansas (Geary County Schools and Ft. Leavenworth).  I graduated from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and have actively continued my professional development while raising my children with my husband, an active duty soldier. I am an advocate for children as well as the integration of technology in education, maintaining professional memberships in NAEYC (the National Association for the Education of Young Children), SITE (Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education) and Classroom 2.0.
     
     I am a wife, mother, teacher, crafter, coffee drinker, cookie baker, child advocate, and fan of developmentally appropriate practice.  I believe in building respectful, caring, and joyful relationships full of humor with my students and their families, as working together creates a wonderful kindergarten adventure for all!  I provide multi-sensory experiences, engaging literature, encouragement, guidance, patience, and many opportunities for students to increase their intrinsic motivation.  I communicate with parents via weekly newsletters, a monthly activity calendar, e-mail, notes, phone calls, and in-classroom conferences.

In the Classroom

This year your child will be considered one of “Mrs. Sommerville’s Super Stars.”  Our Super Stars will be learning how to write their names, identify colors, numbers and shapes, and will learn to use letters and sounds to read and write words and thoughts.  Our students will enjoy listening to and retelling stories, exercising their bodies and their minds, singing and making beautiful music, working in learning centers that focus on math, science, literacy, make believe, technology and creative arts, and will make new friends by learning how to effectively and appropriately interact with others. 

This year will be quite an adventure, oftentimes exciting, sometimes scary, and NEVER dull! 

After we have settled into our kindergarten routine, I will post our days’ schedule on our web page so you can see how the Super Stars are spending their time at Bradley.  During the first two weeks of school, we will be learning new routines, meeting MANY new people (it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes), and getting comfortable with our daily activities and jobs.  We will work with colors and shapes, read wonderful stories about kindergarten, colorful creatures and friend-making, and will learn how to rotate through our learning centers.  We will make art, visit the library, exercise our muscles, sing new songs, enjoy fresh air during recess, shake our sillies out and get to know each other better. Please click here for more information about these "transition weeks."

Don't hesitate to contact me if your Super Star expresses confusion or apprehension about any aspect of kindergarten: I'm here as a teacher and a guide.

Preparing for Kindergarten

*Please feel free to send in an extra change of clothes in case a bathroom accident occurs (two kindergarten classrooms share a single-seat toilet for girls, and a single-seat toilet for boys) in a Ziploc baggie labeled with your child’s name that I can keep at school in our classroom.  



*As we have a rotating "specials" schedule each week (Library, P.E., Music, Art), your child may also choose to keep a pair of gym shoes in his/her coat closet year 'round so you don't always have to remember specific days on which gym shoes need to be worn.



*Please make sure your child knows whether s/he will be eating "school lunch" or "home lunch."  Also, if purchasing school lunch, please make sure your child knows which entree s/he would like (lunch calendars are available at the office or on-line) each day.    



*Please send two healthy snacks with your child each day.  Juice boxes are easier to punch straws into than are pouches, and please practice closing the lid or twist cap on water bottles or thermoses with your child over the summer so papers, books, and other school items don't return home in a soggy backpack. Not all "snack size" pouches or wrappers have slits cut into them (I'll teach the Super Stars how to snip a corner with scissors unless you'd like to show them the "trick" at home), and fruit such as bananas and oranges should have their peels "started" by you for easy opening. 

   ~Small cartons of milk are available in grocery stores if your child would like to practice opening cartons before school starts, but never fear, adult help will be available in the cafeteria during lunch time!~

*If you will be sending lunch in plastic containers that you'd like returned home to you each day, please discuss with your child which items become "trash" and are disposable and which items are to be returned home, washed, and reused. You'll keep a lot of your storage container collection intact (silverware too) if you address this early on!



*Please send in one box of graham crackers or breakfast cereal that will be used as a snack "back up" when the students start experiencing growth spurts and their home snacks no longer satiate their hunger. 



*If you’re a parent who likes to donate needed items to your child’s classroom throughout the year, we will appreciate and use: glue STICKS, watercolor paint sets, graham crackers, Kleenex, and colored pencils. 



*Many papers and projects that our Stars work on or make in class will come home each day, but a few will also be on display in our hallway on our bulletin boards.  I will photograph cheery displays and creative expressions for our class web page and family emails just in case you aren't able to visit the school.   If you would prefer that photographs of your child NOT appear on our class page, please let me know a.s.a.p.  I'm happy to photograph ONLY his or her artwork if you'd still like to have those treasures shared on-line.

This is going to be a wonderful year!  Please do not hesitate to contact me with your questions or concerns as I'm not only here for our Super Stars, I'm here for you too!



 

Michaele Sommerville

 msommerville@usd207.org