Newsletter Updates for the Week of January 26th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Friday, January 30th—Smokey the Bear Visits

-Monday, February 2nd—Groundhog’s Day

-Wed., February 11th—Student Count Day

-Thursday, February 12th—Valentine’s Party (pm)

-Thurs., February 12th—PT Conferences 4:00-7:00

-Friday, February 13th—No School

-Friday, February 13th—Homecoming

-Mon., Feb. 16th—No School—Presidents Day

REPORT CARDS & SURVEYS:  

You should have received your child’s report card on Friday. As indicated on the report card, a √ means they ‘meet the standard’ and any skills that your child received a — or a √— are skills they need to work on.  It is absolutely amazing to see their progress thus far and so exciting to look ahead to all we have yet to learn in Kindergarten! With your report card, you should have received a Purple Parent Survey to fill out, with a note explaining the purpose.  Please take a few minutes to fill it out; you may send it back in a sealed envelope if you wish to remain anonymous.  The class with the most returned surveys will earn a sledding party!

READING: 

*This week we will focus on the Letter H and the sightwords my & at. 

*This week our class will be focusing on plants and what they need in order to grow, such as water, food, and air. Children will read stories about gardens.

*Vocabulary: require & plant. Help your child understand that plants need water, food, air, and sunlight to grow.

*This week is also exciting because the students will begin shopping for their own ‘good-fit books’ to add to their book boxes.  They will learn what a ‘good-fit book’ is, as well as how to shop for/select ‘good-fit books.’ Students will then practice building their stamina and using their accuracy strategies while reading during ‘Read to Self' time.

*Beanie Babies—This week we will introduce a new Comprehension Strategy—Repair Bear.  Repair Bear reminds us to stop while we are reading and check to see if we are understanding what we are reading, if not, we need to go back and reread.

WRITING:  

This week we will complete a couple of journal entries on hibernating animals, snowmen, and what we like to do on a Snow Day.  We will also read some mentor texts that have a see-saw pattern and create a class book that follows a see-saw pattern.  Students will each have an opportunity to read their I Can books to the class during Author’s Chair.  This is my favorite time of year because the students' abilities and confidence for writing just seem to blossom!  It is so exciting to see them begin to be more independent as they apply what they know and have learned—sounding out words & using their sightwords while reading and writing!

MATH:  

We will reinforce 2-D/plane shapes and work with 2 new manipulatives—tangrams & geoboards.  We will also begin learning about 3-D/Solid Shapes, beginning with cylinders, cones, & cubes this week.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:  

We will continue our study of Winter this week—as we read some narrative and information texts related to Polar Animals.  Smokey the Bear will be visiting us on Friday to teach us about Fire Safety & Prevention.