Holiday Ho-Ho-Homework

Hey Everyone!  I hope you are having a great break and are enjoying some rest and time with family.  Just a quick reminder that I sent home a small packet of Holiday Homework in with your child's Christmas goodies from Mrs. McLain and I.  If you're looking for a few great activities to keep your child busy these last few days of break - check it out!  You don't have to do everything on the grid, just mark off the things your child does complete and send back the top sheet.  I'll have a little treat for students who complete and return their Holiday Homework on Thursday:)

Happy New Year & I'll see you soon!!

December 17th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed. Dec 19th—Wear Your Christmas Sweater

-Thurs., Dec 20th—1/2 Day & Christmas Party

-Fri., Dec 21st—1/2 Day, Sing-a-long, Pajama Day & Pizza Party from Pizza Hut!!

-Thurs., Jan. 3rd—School Resumes

STUDENT OF THE MONTH:

Our new Student of the Month is Joey Roberts. Joey is always helpful and a kind friend to others. His favorite color is blue and he likes to eat Cheez-its; he enjoys playing on his ipad and his favorite book to read is Little Cloud.  This year he wants to learn how to write, which he is doing each and every day and when he grows up, he wants to be a cook.  Congratulations to Joey on being our Student of the Month.

CHRISTMAS PARTY:

Our tree is up and decorated, so you are welcome to send in the your child’s gift for the gift exchange any time this week:)  Please send it to school wrapped and labeled with who it is FROM (To: a girl; From: Mrs. Brinks).  Our party is Thursday morning and will begin around 9:00 with games, then the gift exchange, and we will wrap it up with food, then recess.

FRIDAY: 

Friday, will be our annual Christmas sing-a-long, as well as Pajama Day. We will finish up our morning with our Pizza Party that we earned through Pizza Hut for the Coins for Kids fundraiser.  It will be a great way to wrap up our week before heading into break!

HOLIDAY HOMEWORK:  

At the end of the week, your child will be bringing home an envelope of ‘goodies.’ In this envelope you will find some special booklets that your child has made and can read, as well as a sheet explaining some fun Holiday Homework that they can do over break, if they choose.  Your child’s next report card will be sent home in February; however, I will send home a quick letter ID & sightword assessment so you can see what letters and sightwords your child knows and what to work on at home:)

READING: 

This week our class will be reading about different cultures that make up the communities around the world as we learn to appreciate different customs that people share. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—cultures & appreciate

· Sightwords—do & up—Ask your child to think of things they do and do not like and write simple sentences—I do like ____. I do not like ____.

· Category Words—kinds of foods—use sticky notes to make labels for different foods in your kitchen. Help your child sound out each word and write it. Then affix the label on the food.

· Phonics—Letter Dd—Search for objects that begin or end with the letter d.

· Comprehension—character, setting, & events—Read a story together and then discuss the characters, setting, and important events that happened.

· Beanie Baby Strategies—This week we will introduce Peekin’ Poodle who combines several of the accuracy strategies that we’ve learned so far. When we come to a word we don’t know we . . . “Check the picture, check the word, does it look right, does it sound right, does it make sense, keep trying!”

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will continue to study Motion, as well as read several stories related to Christmas, as we anticipate it’s arrival!!

MATH:  

This week we will work on building numbers using different combinations as we introduce addition (1+4=5, 3+2=5, etc.)

WRITING: 

This week we will complete a couple of fun journals related to Christmas, including drawing a map for Santa to find our houses, with the help of Google Earth.

 Thank you for sharing your children with me each day; 

                                                     What a true blessing they are!

I wish your family a very Merry Christmas

filled with love, joy, hope, and laughter!

~Sherry Brinks

Christmas Party Sign Up

Thanksgiving Feast

Sorry for the delay . . .it's been a busy few weeks in Kindergarten.  Here is a group photo of our Thanksgiving Feast of Stone Soup.  Such cute little Pilgrim children!!

December 10th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Mon. Dec. 17th—Delayed Start

-Wed. Dec 19th—Wear Your Christmas Sweater

-Thurs., Dec 20th—1/2 Day & Christmas Party

-Fri., Dec 21st—1/2 Day, Sing-a-long, Pajama Day & Pizza Party from Pizza Hut!!

CHRISTMAS GIFT EXCHANGE: 

For our class Christmas party we are planning to have a gift exchange. We are asking that girls bring a gift for a girl and boys bring a gift for a boy. Please select a gift that is between $3.00-$5.00 and send it to school wrapped and labeled with who it is FROM (To: a girl; From: Mrs. Brinks).

CHRISTMAS CONCERT:

Just a reminder that you can view and/or share the video on Facebook through the Rambler Review.  The kids love watching it, seeing themselves on stage, and singing along:)

WELCOME PEPPERMINT:

One of Santa’s elves, Peppermint, will be joining our classroom this week to help us count down to Christmas and to also keep an eye on our behavior as Christmas approaches. She adds a little extra excitement and fun, as well as an incentive to make good choices:) Several of the students have mentioned having elves at home, which means double the fun!

SIGHTWORD FLASHCARDS:

At conferences, I handed out the first set of sightword flashcards for you to work on at home. We’ve introduced all of those in class and are working on the next set, so I’ll be sending those home with your child on Monday.  Please cut them apart and add them to your other cards for a new challenge. We will learn 51 sightwords this year in Kindergarten!

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:

· Vocabulary—equipment & uniform—Brainstorm some different kinds of workers in your community. Encourage your child to tell about the equipment each worker uses and the uniform they wear.

· Sightwords—you & on—Take turns spelling out sightwords with your finger on each others arm or back. The students do this while waiting in line at school and they love it!

· Category Words—jobs—Play a game called “Guess the worker.” Give your child clues about what a worker does and act it out and see if they can guess the job.

· Phonics—Letter Oo

· Beanie Baby Strategies—This week we will use Chunky Monkey to help us read and write words with the ot, op, & og chunks. We will introduce Dot the Giraffe who helps us with our Fluency and Voice as we read by looking at the punctuation clues. We will also introduce Flippy the Dolphin who reminds us that when we come to tricky word we can ‘flip’ the vowel sound (long or short sound) to figure out the word.

WRITING: 

This week we will continue to learn about pattern books and practice writing our own pattern books about the things we like. We will complete a class book about things we see using the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? as inspiration. We will complete a journal page about a Christmas tree, as we work on sounding out our words, writing the sounds we hear, and putting spaces between our words.

MATH: 

This week we will work on the ‘tricky teen’ numbers as we work on identifying the numbers, and building them using 20 frames. We will also experiment with building hexagons using combinations of smaller shapes (introduction to fractions).

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

We will continue our unit on Motion as we conduct a bowling experiment using force. Our dramatic play area has been transformed into a Bakery Shop so students can get some hands-on practice with making holiday treats & goodies with playdough:)

Christmas Concert Reminder

The Kindergarten Christmas Concert is tomorrow, Thursday, December 6th at 6:00 in the auditorium. Please note that there are 2 home basketball games, as well as the K & 1st grade concerts, so please plan accordingly.  Mrs. Wheeler would like the students here by 5:45 and is asking that they be dressed-up. When you arrive, please bring them to the multi-use room, where the teachers will be waiting for them. Also, we are asking that the parents keep their child’s coats with them.  When the concert is finished, we will take the students back to the multi-use room; where 1 parent can come to pick them up.  We are anticipating that it will be congested with K families leaving and 1st grade families coming, so our best laid plan is for the K teachers to stand in the doorway and have the parents form 4 lines, by classroom; when you get to the front of my line, I’ll have your child come up and meet you at the door.  This is the first time Kindergarten has participated in the Christmas concert, so we’re just trying to be proactive to ensure that pickup and drop off are as orderly and safe as possible.  The students are getting excited, and a little nervous, but I can guarantee that they will be amazing & adorable!

Rambler Review Footage of the Concert - Did you know that you have access to the K concert video live?  If you or a family member, follows Rambler Review on Facebook, you can stream it live, as well as watch it later.  This is a great way for family and friends, who aren't able to attend, to still see the concert:)

December 3rd - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs., Dec. 6th—K Christmas Concert @ 6:00

-Mon. Dec. 17th—Delayed Start

-Wed. Dec 19th—Wear Your Christmas Sweater

-Thurs., Dec 20th—1/2 Day & Christmas Party

-Fri., Dec 21st—1/2 Day, Sing-a-long, Pajama Day  & Pizza Party from Pizza Hut!!

CHRISTMAS GIFT EXCHANGE:  

As you begin your holiday shopping, I wanted to let you know that for our class Christmas party we are planning to have a gift exchange. We are asking that girls bring a gift for a girl and boys bring a gift for a boy. Please select a gift that is between $3.00-$5.00 and send it to school wrapped and labeled with who it is FROM (To: a girl; From: Mrs. Brinks)

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about the places we visit in our neighborhoods and communities. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—routine & neighborhood—Talk about the routines you have in your family; use words like first, next, then, & last.

· Sightwords—go & in—Play an imaginative game with your child, ask them “where do you like to go?” And have them respond with “I like to go to the _____. I will go in a ____.”

· Category Words—sequence words—Play a game called “What are we going to do?” Encourage your child to use sequence words such as first, next, then, & last.

· Phonics—Letter Cc—Make a list of things related to Christmas that begin with Cc—cookies, candy canes, etc.

· Comprehension—character, setting, & events—Have your child retell a familiar book/story. Ask them to recall the characters, where the story takes place, and what events take place.

WRITING:  

This week we will begin a new unit on Pattern Books and we will write our first pattern book about the things we see at Christmas time.  We will also complete a journal about our families.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will continue our Science Unit on Motion as we discuss evidence of motion on the playground, as well as speed.  On Friday, students are encouraged to bring in a toy from home that moves in some way (rolls, spins, etc.) to share with the class.

MATH:  

This week we will practice identifying and describing shapes by feel. We will collect classroom data about everyone’s favorite color and compare our classroom’s results with the other Kindergarten classes. We will introduce the calculator app and practice identifying numbers 1-10 on a ten frame.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT:

The Kindergarten Christmas Concert is this Thursday at 6:00 in the auditorium. Please note that there are 2 home basketball games, as well as the K & 1st grade concerts, so please plan accordingly.  Mrs. Wheeler would like the students here by 5:45 and is asking that they be dressed-up. When you arrive, please bring them to the multi-use room, where the teachers will be waiting for them. Also, we are asking that the parents keep their child’s coats with them.  When the concert is finished, we will take the students back to the multi-use room; where 1 parent can come to pick them up.  We are anticipating that it will be congested with K families leaving and 1st grade families coming, so our best laid plan is for the K teachers to stand in the doorway and have the parents form 4 lines, by classroom; when you get to the front of my line, I’ll have your child come up and meet you at the door.  This is the first time Kindergarten has participated in the Christmas concert, so we’re just trying to be proactive to ensure that pickup and drop off are as orderly and safe as possible.  The students are getting excited, and a little nervous, but I can guarantee that they will be amazing & adorable!

Please be sure to return your November Book it Calendar :)