Newsletter Updates for the Week of January 5th

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a restful break and Happy Holidays with friends and family!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wednesday, January 7th—Library

-Thursday, January 15th—Early Dismissal (11:55)

-Friday, January 16th—Early Dismissal (11:55)

-Monday, January 19th—Delayed Start

-Friday, January 23rd—Report Cards Home

ASSESSMENTS:

The end of the marking period is fast approaching; we will be assessing many skills and concepts during the next 2 weeks. Students will also be reassessed on DIBELS (letters, sounds, segmenting, & blending) and AIMSWEB (math concepts) to monitor their progress. Please be sure that your child is well-rested and remind them to ‘always’ do their best at school.  Also, attendance is so important; in Kindergarten so much of what we do is hands-on and oral instruction, and they miss out on so much when they are not here!  Report cards will be sent home Friday, January 23rd.

BOOK-IT/HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: 

Please be sure to return your child’s December Book-it Calendar so that I can award Pizza Hut certificates.  Also, please be sure to return your child’s initialed Holiday Homework, if they chose to participate. :)

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on different jobs that people have in the community. Children will read stories and learn about the tools and equipment that workers use.

Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing.

Word Workout

· Vocabulary: equipment, uniform Brainstorm some different kinds of workers in your community. Encourage your child to tell about the equipment a worker uses and the uniform a worker wears.

· My Words to Know

High-Frequency Words: you & on. With your finger, spell out the sightwords on your child’s arm. Next, encourage your child to think of a sentence that includes these words.

Category Words: jobs Play a game called “Guess the Worker.” Give your child clues about what a worker does and act it out. Encourage your child to guess the job.

Phonics: o Help your child think of words that begin with or include the letter o. Then ask your child to underline the letter o in each word.

Comprehension: key details

Have your child look closely at the picture of different kinds of workers. Ask your child to describe details that tell about the uniforms or clothing these workers wear and the tools or equipment they use.

Beanie Babies—This week we will use Chunky Monkey to help us read and write words with the ot, op, & og chunks.  We will also introduce Dot the Giraffe who helps us with our Fluency & Voice as we read by looking at the punctuation clues.

WRITING: 

We will continue to work on writing Pattern Books throughout this month, beginning with I Can . . . books this week. We will also complete a journal  - “This year I will . . .

MATH: 

This week work on skip counting by 10’s using our fingers, base 10 blocks, & dimes.  We will also practice adding and subtracting using a number line & continue to work on writing, building, and identifying teen numbers.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will read several books related to Winter and snow.  We will also be discussing appropriate winter clothing for staying warm while having fun in the snow.

*I will be out of the classroom this Tuesday to attend a training; Mrs. Engels-Welsh will be filling in for me.