DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Thursday, January 31st—Visit from Smokey the Bear
-Friday, Feb. 8th—Homecoming
-Monday, Feb. 11—Theme Basket Drawing
-Wednesday, Feb. 13th—Student Count Day
-Thursday, Feb. 14th—Valentine’s Party (pm)
-Friday, Feb. 15th—No School—Professional Dev.
-Monday, Feb. 18th—No School—President’s Day
PTO THEME BASKETS:
Thanks to all who brought in items for our Ice Cream Sundae Basket! The baskets are all
together and ready to be raffled—there is a nice variety and selection! Stop by the elementary office and check them out; tickets can be purchased from Mrs. Hill in the office.
WINTER CLOTHING:
Last week was a long week of inside recess, but we are looking forward to getting outside again this week! Please be sure that your child has ALL of their winter clothing for recess. Many are coming to school without their mittens/gloves and my extra supply has dwindled! I always put their mittens on the heater to dry between recesses, so they
always have dry mittens. Also, please be sure to pack shoes for the classroom.
SMOKEY THE BEAR:
Smokey the Bear is coming to visit our classroom this Thursday, January 31st. He will be here to talk about Fire Safety/Prevention and the importance of taking good care of our wildlife and natural resources.
MATH:
This week we will learn about subtraction and practice acting out subtraction stories using manipulatives. We will also practice sorting by different attributes (color, shape, size, etc.) and practice identifying sorting rules.
READING:
Our focus text for this week is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes; we will also be reading some other books by this same author. Our focus letter for the week is Pp, and we will introduce the sight words yellow & green. We will continue to practice both of our new Comprehension Strategies: Repair Bear— monitoring as we read & Digger the Dog— digging for the ‘big idea,’ important details, and the author’s purpose in the texts that we read. At stations we will continue to work on reading and writing our sight words, rhyming, retelling, word study, and writing. Students are becoming more and more independent during stations, which allows me to work with small groups to build literacy skills. Please continue to practice sight words at home; I sent along the next group of flashcards with their report cards; we will learn 50 sight words this year in Kindergarten.
WRITING:
Last week we wrote pattern books with a surprise ending or a twist; we went through the entire writing process of thinking of our ideas, thinking of a pattern, and then transferring our ideas to paper. On Friday, we worked on adding a Title and a ‘WOW’ cover. I have to say that I am very impressed with the results! These students are building their confidence for writing and developing a positive attitude towards writing and it is so exciting to see! This week they will conference with a friend and with me in preparation for ‘Author’s Chair.’ This week we will also begin writing a new pattern book—with a see-saw pattern. They will also complete a Type 3 Writing about 3 things they can do in Michigan in the Winter time.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:
We will continue learning about the importance of good nutrition and healthy choices. We will read several narrative and information texts related to polar animals, and on Friday, we will talk about Groundhog’s Day (February 2nd) and predict whether or not we think he will see his shadow.
