Buck Lake Elementary School

                                             

10/30/2025

 

10/27/2025

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: Review 

Sight Word: Review

Comprehension: Crankenstein

Vocabulary Words: extra, surprise, gross, scary

Math Skills: The Chapter 6 Math Test will be this Wednesday, 10/29.

Science: Pumpkins

Social Studies: Spookley/Character Education Week

Character Education Week

MONDAY: sports attire

TUESDAY: wear red

WEDNESDAY: dress like secret agents/spies

THURSDAY: Our field trip to Aunt Lousie's Farm is on Thursday, October 30th! Please be sure your child wears their RED kindergarten shirt, tennis shoes, and brings a lunch. It is going to be chilly on the day of the trip. You may want to have your child wear long sleeves under their red shirt, so they don't have to keep up with a jacket. 

IMPORTANT: If you prefer for your child to get a bagged lunch from the cafeteria instead of sending one, please reply to this email by tomorrow at 2:00pm. I will need to let the cafeteria manager know how many lunches to prepare.

FRIDAY: Your child can dress up like a book character, please do NOT send pretend weapons or gory costumes. Your child needs to be able to get their costume on and off independently for the bathroom.   We will have some fall fun after lunch!

Picture retakes will be on Tuesday, 11/4.

If a student package was purchased for the original day (September 11th) and you want their picture retaken, you may exchange it by returning the complete package to the photographer at the time of retakes. Absent students will automatically have their picture taken.

Report Cards

Report cards should be posted on your child's FOCUS account. 

Thank you!

 

10/20/2025

Good morning and Happy Monday! 

The 50^th day of school is this Wednesday,10/22! Please see the flyer that went home in folders for more information. I have a lot of fun planned for the day. 

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: nasalized a (am, pam, an, fan) & short /o/ (octopus, on, top, mop) 

Lesson 11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR7ochC0zM4

Lesson 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmOco-zvco4

Irregular Word: as

Read Aloud: Owl Babies 

Vocabulary: flap, silent, swoop, brave

Math: Ch. 6: Order and Compare Numbers Through Ten

Ordering Numbers 0 – 10, Greater than/Less than

The Chapter 6 test will be on Wednesday, 10/29.  

October Science & Social Studies 

Science: Animals - Nocturnal Animals (living and non-living, real and pretend, many animals, what animals need, animals grow and change)

Plants - Pumpkins (many plants, what a plant needs, plant parts, plants grow and change)

Social Studies: Community Helpers and Fire Safety

Important Dates

10/22 50th Day of School – Dress like you are from the 1950’s! Please see the flyer that was sent home in folders for more information. 

10/27 – 10/31 Character Education Week 

 

10/30 Farm Field Trip - wear RED Kindergarten shirt, tennis shoes & bring a packed lunch and water bottle. 

10/31 Fall Centers and Snacks

Thanks!

 

10/14/2025

Hello Kinder-Darden Families,

WOW, I am so amazed at all the school spirit last week as we held our biggest fundraiser of the school year! Thank you for asking for donations to support your child and our school. The BLITZ was a huge success! Please be sure your child makes a thank you card for everyone who donated.  Our school raised over $56,000 dollars! 

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: /n/ & review short vowels a and i

Heart Word/Irregular Word: is

UFLI Lesson 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNkOZHIY0c 

UFLI Lesson 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W06eHe-lv_Y 

Comprehension Skill: What the story is mostly about (main idea).

Book Title: The Golden Acorn by Katy Hudson

Vocabulary Words: trophy, training, competing, lonely

Math: Ch. 5- Count and Represent Numbers Through 10 

The chapter 5 test will be on Friday, 10/17.

Social Studies: Hispanic History Month

Science: Nocturnal Animals

This week I will start entering academic grades in the parent portal for the second nine weeks.  

Cold/Flu/Covid Season is upon us.  Please be working with your child on how to cover their mouth when coughing and sneezing as well as how to properly use a Kleenex when blowing their nose (cover the nose and blow).  I will continue to reinforce it at school, but it takes a village 🙂 If your child does get sick, please refer to the attached LCS Policy on when to keep your child home & how long after a fever of 99.9 or higher.  As always, please email me as well as BLES-Attendance@leonschools.net if your child is out.

 

Pumpkin Center & Fall Center Fun: Our Apple Orchard is transforming into a pumpkin patch, if you happen to be going to Costco, they have a cute 5 count of mini pumpkins that would be a great addition to our centers! I am planning some fun fall centers to do on 10/31 & will create a sign up for items needed. I will send it later this week.

Looking Ahead

Wednesday, 10/15: Wear BLUE for Bullying Prevention.

Friday, 10/17: Wear PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness.

 

*We will be having a fun day for the 50th day of school on Wednesday 10/22! If your child wants to dress in "fifties" clothing it is optional. Please don't spend money on a costume. Jeans and a white t-shirt will work for boys. Girls can wear jeans or a skirt and a t-shirt. Keep it simple. I am sending home a copy of this page in folders tomorrow.

 

 

*Aunt Lousie's Farm Field Trip Thursday October 30th! Have kids wear their red kindergarten shirt, tennis shoes, and bring their lunch!

Approved chaperones:

Juilana Haifa, Sarah Menz, Lynn Wray, Kerri Petrone, Lauren Crane, Alexis Montalvo, Eureka Rosier, Sibele Volpi Schafer, Ashley Urban

Note: If your name is not on this list, you are not yet approved to attend. Please complete the necessary steps so you can join us!

 

*Character Education Week is around the corner! See the flyer in folders today for more information & what to wear on each day! 

 

*Fun Fall Centers on 10/31 — Sign-up coming in an e-mail soon!

Thanks!

 

10/6/2025

Hello Families,

The Bobcat Blitz is underway, and I am so appreciative of your hard work getting donations for our class. You have raised $779.00, an amazing job! The kids are so excited to watch our daily BLITZ character education videos. We have already watched B for bold and L for leadership. We are halfway to our goal, so keep it up! Email if you have questions. Please plan to join us on Friday, 10/10, from 9-10am to watch your child run in the BLITZ. They will be given a shirt to change into on the day of the run. Remember to send their water bottle with them to school!

We have already earned...

B- extra playground time

L- hat day — Wear your hat to school this Thursday, 10/9!

I — lollipops

If you are interested in sending 20 popsicles for our class to eat following the run, please e-mail me:)

If you still want to schedule a parent conference, there are a few spots left on the sign-up. I will also be available on the teacher planning day from 12:30 to 2:30. Thanks!

Schedule your conference here!

Last Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: Practice making vc & cvc words (at, as, mat, sat) & /p/ (pat, pit, hip)

Heart Word: and

Comprehension Skills: Determine the topic of a story

Math: Chapter 4- numbers to 8

The test will be on Wednesday, 10/1.

Science: Science Tools, How do Engineers Solve Problems? 

STEM: The Three Little Pigs — design and test a house

This Week’s Learning Focus:

UFLI Lessons 7 & 8 (letter sounds /f/ and /i/)

Click here to view home practice sheets and videos for lessons 7 & 8.

Heart Word: a

Comprehension Skills Book:

The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater

Plot— beginning, middle and end of story, characters and setting

Vocabulary words — autumn, rustles, canopy, disaster

Math: Chapter 5 — Count and Represent Numbers Through 10

The test will be on Friday, 10/17.

Science: Nocturnal Animals

 

Hello Kinder-Darden Families,

The Bobcat Blitz is live, and we are so excited to be raising money for school improvements. This year's focus is: Covered Outdoor Picnic/Classroom Space, New Turf on the Primary Playground, and Giant Playground Games. The goal is to raise $1,500.00 per class. Teachers do get 10% of the money raised by their class to spend on classroom learning! Next Friday, October 10th, kindergarten students will be participating in our BLITZ run from 9:00am-10:00am. BLITZ T-shirts will be provided and passed out that morning. Please see the Bobcat BLITZ flier attached for more information. I sent a copy in their folders on Wednesday.

Way to go Kinder-Darden families! Our class already earned the "B" for BLITZ before I even sent the first e-mail! Thank you and keep up the great work!

Here is the link to register and make donations (students will earn a small prize for registering)

https://bucklake.pledgestar.com/Welcome.html

Please let me know if you have any questions!

10/1/2025

9/26/2025

Happy Friday! We are moving right along here in kindergarten! This week we had some fun with apples at our science center. Our red kindergarten shirts arrived on Thursday. They went home in folders today. Please keep them in a safe place.  Kinders love wearing their red shirts on Fridays to show our school spirit as well as when a special guest visits school, on field trips, and for other fun events.

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: /s/ & /t/ 

Heart Words: the & I

Comprehension Skills: Characters, Setting, and Main Idea of the story

Fine Motor Skills: Using a trackpad, strengthening our finger muscles, pincer grasp

Math: Chapter 4—Counting and representing numbers through 8.

Science: 5 Senses, parts of an apple, apple's life cycle

Social Studies: Celebrate Freedom Week by learning about the Declaration of Independence & how to handle conflicts appropriately (not shouting stop, using a firm, calm voice to tell someone what you want then to stop doing)

Recap of this Week's UFLI Videos

Lesson 3 Video Link

Lesson 4 Video Link

Next Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: Practice making vc & cvc words (at, as, mat, sat) & /p/ (pat, pit, hip)

Heart Word: and

Comprehension Skills: Determine the topic of a story

Math: Chapter 4—Counting and representing numbers through 8. The test will be on Wednesday, 10/1.

Science: Science Tools; How do Engineers Solve Problems? 

STEM: The Three Little Pigs — design and test a house

WEAR YOUR RED kindergarten shirt on Tuesday for our Fire Safety guest!

Next Week's UFLI Videos

Lesson 5 Video Link-day 1

Lesson 5 Video Link-day 2

Lesson 6 Video Link

BLITZ

The BLITZ is coming! This is our school-wide fundraiser. More information will be coming home!

Homework

Just as a reminder, the math packets with a handwritten test date at the top are just for your child to practice at home. Please do not send them back to school. Reading to your child daily is important. Try to take 5 to 10 minutes out of your nighttime routine and read a story to them.  Your child learns so much from a simple story. They are learning print awareness, fluency, working on their listening comprehension, and having time to connect with you after a busy day! Playing board games and doing puzzles are other great ways for your child to learn and disconnect from the screens.

On Monday, your child will have a Weekly Reading and Spelling Home Practice Guide and Home Practice sheet for lessons 5 and 6. Please watch the video about the Home Practice Guide so you know how to use the home practice lesson pages each week. This is an important part of your child's practice/review that should be done at home.  We do similar things at school daily. You will receive these home practice pages weekly for the lessons we will be working on.

 

Home Practice Guide Video Explanation: 

Home Practice Video Link

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

9/22/2025

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Sounds: lessons 3&4 /s/ & /t/ (sand, top, grass, mat)

Irregular Word: I

Math: Numbers Through 8

Science: The Practices of Science (senses, science skills, science tools, solving problems)

Social Studies: Conflict resolution, especially when playing with others (using our words in a calm way, making sure our body language is showing others how we feel) Be sure to practice your address & phone number at home!!

Self Help Skills: How to properly blow their nose & wash their hands

BE BOLD, GO GOLD day is Friday 9/26! Please have your child wear yellow/gold for Pediatric Cancer.  Our school is also collecting donations to go to the Ripple Project. If you would like to donate, please send it to school with a note that says Be Bold, Go Gold, so I will get it to the right place!

Next week, we will taste test different apples (green, red, yellow, pink) & make homemade applesauce. If you would like to send in an apple or two, that would be fantastic, so we can see how many different types of apples we can try! 

Thank you to those who volunteered to chaperone our field trip in October! 

In order for you to be able to attend the field trip, you must first do the following (The fingerprinting office and volunteer office request that the Volunteer Application and fingerprinting be completed six weeks prior to the field trip.):

1.        The field trip chaperone should complete the on-line Leon County Schools Volunteer Application at this link: https://volunteers.leonschools.net 

2.      Get a Fingerprint Packet from the BLE Office, complete the packet and come to the district’s fingerprinting office located at 2757 West Pensacola Street anytime between the hours of 8:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday—Friday. The chaperone bears the cost of the fingerprinting. That cost is $61.00, and fingerprints will be good for 5 years. Please note: no cash payments are accepted. Please pay by Mastercard/Visa/Money Order.

*Once the field trip chaperone is cleared by the fingerprinting office, they will be issued a badge. The volunteer office will send the badge directly to the principal or the principal’s designee via inner-office mail.

Please be sure you complete the requirements ASAP so you will be cleared! 

Attendance: If your child will not be at school for whatever reason (vacation, illness, doctors, etc.) please be sure you email me as well as BLES-Attendance@leonschools.net.  This will help me plan and set things aside for your child that they miss, but will also let the office know so they can decide if it will be an excused or unexcused absent/tardy.  Be sure to always get a doctor's note when your child has an appointment as the office will need that to excuse most absences.

Sleep/Sickness: I have noticed that some of the kids are a bit tired in the morning and could benefit from a little extra sleep at night.  Please be mindful of the importance of a bedtime routine and making sure your child is getting adequate rest. TV & devices should be limited and ideally not left in your child's room at night to be sure they are actually getting rest. Also, be mindful that it is cold/flu/lice season.  I am doing everything I can do here to keep the kids healthy and not spreading anything. If your child has a fever, they must stay home and be fever free for 24 hours without medicine before returning to school. If your child has lice, school policy is for the parent to bring their child to the front office to have their head checked before returning to school. This will help the spread of lice.

Thank you!

9/16/2025

Happy Monday!

Last Week's Learning Focus

Letter Names: Completed the letters Ss-Zz

Math: Comparing numbers 0–5

Social Studies: How to be a Good Citizen, Patriot Day& National Day of Service and Remembrance (9/11)

Fine Motor: Continue with cutting, writing, and strengthening fingers

This Week's Focus

Letter Sounds: Begin UFLI Reading Program-short /a/ & /m/ (apple, cat, map, mat)

Irregular/Heart Word: the

Want to know more about what your child is learning with UFLI? Check out these quick videos that will explain it all!

Lesson 1 Video Link 

Lesson 2 Video Link 

Math: Continue with comparing the numbers 0–5 (greater than, less than, the same) and order numbers from 1 to 5.

Science: Apples & 5 Senses

Social Studies: Be sure to practice your address & phone number at home!

Fine Motor Skills: using the Chromebook trackpad, clicking, using the number keys, and the pincher grasp for pencil grip as well as opening bags & containers

For the next two weeks we will be transforming our housekeeping center into an apple orchard!  We will also taste test different apples (green, red, yellow, pink). If you would like to send in an apple or two, that would be fantastic so we can see how many different types of apples we can try! 

Conferences: Keep an eye out for a link coming home soon to schedule your parent-teacher conference. I am looking forward to meeting with everyone!

Attendance: If your child will not be at school for whatever reason (vacation, illness, doctor visit, etc.) please be sure you email me as well as BLES-Attendance@leonschools.net.  This will help me plan and set things aside for your child that they miss, but will also let the office know so they can decide if it will be an excused or unexcused absent/tardy.  Be sure to always get a doctor's note when your child has an appointment as the office will need that to excuse most absences.

Jackets/Sweaters: I am encouraging your child to keep their jacket/sweater inside their backpacks every day. That way, if the weather is cooler in the morning, they will be able to grab their jacket to stay warm when on the playground. Please be sure you write your child's name and even Darden on their jackets in case it is left outside.

Upcoming optional dress-up days...

 

Happy Friday! Thank you to everyone who came to the Open House last night. I hope your child was able to show you around the room as they were excited for you to see everything they have been working on at school. Your child has their rest towel in their backpack today—those can be washed and kept at home as our class does not appear to need a rest, and we are ready to start learning how to log into the Chromebooks. 

Next Week's Learning Focus

Letter Name Identification & Writing: Oo-Rr

Math: Writing & Identification 0–5, ordering and comparing numbers 0–5

Social Studies: Feelings, Conflict Resolution, Being a Good Citizen

Fine Motor: Using a trackpad on the computer to "click" & using the number keys

We will do our first FAST Testing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Please be sure you are having your child open containers by themselves, dress themselves, blow their nose, & wash properly.  These are critical skills that your child should be able to do at this age. I will continue to have your child work on their pincer grasp as their bones in their hands are still developing and this can be difficult until they build up hand/finger strength.

Looking Ahead

Monday—No School for Labor Day

9/9: PTO & Homeroom parent meeting 5:30pm

9/11: Fall Picture Day — Order form went home in folders.

8/22/2025

Good afternoon and happy Friday!

This Week's Learning Focus

Letter Name Identification and Writing: Ee-Ii

Math: Counting, writing, and making groups for the numbers 1–4.

Social Studies: Feelings, rules, and using our words not our hands to handle conflicts.

Next Week's Learning Focus

Letter Name Identification and Writing: Jj-Nn

Math: Chapter 2 — Counting, writing, and making 5. Ordering numbers 1–5, writing & counting 1–5.

Social Studies: Good Citizens at school and in the community

Please be sure your child is practicing their lunch numbers at home as it makes getting through the breakfast & lunch line so much faster when they know it!

Our classroom is cool. Please be sure your child has a jacket or sweater each day and be sure they can put it on and take it off independently. I sent your child's rest towel home today. Please wash and return on Monday! 

I want to send out a huge thank you to Michaela Graddy (Adeline's mom) for offering to be our class homeroom parent! Be on the lookout for information coming your way after she attends the first meeting.

Open House is on Thursday from 5:00-6:00pm. This is optional. Your child would love to show you around our classroom and some of the artwork they have created. Parent Teacher Conferences will be scheduled for the end of September after we have adjusted to school life, classroom expectations, and I have a better understanding of your child's academic strengths.

Please remember the math packets that come home are for home practice, I do not need them back.  Also, please do not allow your child to do it all in one sitting.

The $40 Fall Activity Fee and all forms are due by August 29th! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sonja

 

8/15/2025

August 15th Class Newsletter