Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 29th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tuesday, March 1st—Reading Month Kick-Off

-Wednesday, March 2nd—Read with a Stuffed Animal

-Friday, March 4th—Dress up for Camping

-Friday, March 4th—Progress Reports Home

-Monday, March 7th—The Ed Show @ 8:15

-Tuesday, March 8th—Read with a Flashlight

-Friday, March 11th—Dress Up like your Favorite Character

READING MONTH: 

March is Reading Month and the theme this year is Camping—Camp Read S’more.  There are fun activities and dress-up days planned throughout the month.  Please send in—a small stuffed animal for your child to keep in their locker for the month, as well as a small flashlight for them to keep in their book boxes. Also, please help your child select their favorite picture book to bring into school on or before their helper day in March.  We will be reading our favorite stories around the campfire when they are the helper:)

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about how to stay safe in bad weather. Children will also learn about severe weather conditions, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes, droughts, and floods.

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

· Vocabulary—safe, prepare—Make a list and gather materials for a weather supply kit. Include items such as a first aid kit, canned food, and a battery-operated radio.

· High-Frequency Words—Review—my, are, have, with, is, little, she, was—Have your child think of sentences using the review words. Write the sentences on paper, and then read them together.

· Category Words—question words—Look for pictures of severe weather in a newspaper, or a magazine, or online. Ask your child questions about each picture.

· Phonics: - Review letters h, e, f, r, b, l, k, & ck  - play “I Spy,” having your child guess the names of objects that have the letters h, e, f, r, b, l, c, or ck.

· Beanie Baby Strategy—This week we will use Flashy the Peacock who helps us Expand our Vocabulary as we find and use interesting/fancy words while speaking, reading, & writing.

WRITING:  

This week we will be editing our February Journals and we will begin reading some mentor texts related to ‘small moments’ as we study what it means to write a personal narrative/small moment story.

MATH: 

This week we will be working on measuring and comparing lengths using string, cubes, links, & inchworms.  We will continue practicing addition and skip counting by 5’s & 10’s.  We will continue our study of 3D solid shapes with the introduction of the rectangular prism.  One of their homework assignments will be to find a couple of 3D solid shapes at home to bring in for a math lesson next week.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

In correlation with our Reading Unit, we will continue to read informational texts related to weather and seasons.  We will also be learning about several important Patriotic Symbols this week—The American Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, & the Star Spangled Banner.  We will also learn what it means to show our Patriotism.

Please be sure to return your

February Book-It Calendar

& Your Library book By Thursday!

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 22nd

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tuesday, February 23rd—100th Day of School

-Thursday, February 25th—Dental Visit

-Tuesday, March 1st—Reading Month Kick-Off

-Wednesday, March 2nd—Read with a Stuffed Animal

-Friday, March 4th—Dress up for Camping

-Friday, March 4th—Progress Reports Home

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:  

Our student of the week is Allisson Romero.  Allisson enjoys playing with dolls and she loves animals.  Her favorite movie is Frozen and she enjoys reading Monster High Books. Her favorite foods are nachos and tacos. Allisson’s goals include learning how to read and write—which she is well on her way to accomplishing! Congratulations to Allisson on being Student of the Week!

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about different kinds of weather. Your child will be predicting the weather and learning how to describe it.

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

· Vocabulary—predict, temperature—Look outside with your child and try to predict what the weather will be like later in the day. Try to predict the temperature for tomorrow.

· Sight Words: she & was—Write the words she and was on paper. Then have your child trace each word. Write short sentences that include each word.

· Category Words—weather words—Make a 7-column table and write the days of the week at the top of each column. Every morning, look outside and have your child write a word under each day to describe the weather.

· Phonics—initial k, final ck—Help your child find objects that begin with the letter k or end in ck. Make a list of the words.

· Comprehension: key details in a sequence—Have your child listen to a story, then put the story’s pictures in order, numbering them 1, 2, and 3. Invite your child to point to each picture and retell the story.

WRITING: 

This week we will writing an opinion piece about our favorite season and why we like it.  The students will also complete a couple of fun journals related to 100’s Day—what it would be like to be 100 years old, have 100 legs, $100, etc.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we begin our Dental Health Unit. We will read several narrative and informational texts related to Dental Health and learn about the importance of good Dental Hygiene.  We have a Dentist coming in to do a presentation to our Kindergarten students on Thursday afternoon @ 1:00.

MATH:  

This week the majority of our math will focus around the number 100, as we celebrate the 100th Day of School by counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s, & 10’s. 

READING MONTH: 

March is Reading Month and the theme this year is Camping—Camp Read S’more.  There are fun activities and dress-up days planned throughout the month which you will find in the attached letter, as well as on our March Calendar that I’ll be sending home later in the week.  Please send in—a small stuffed animal for your child to keep in their locker for the month as well as a small flashlight for them to keep in their book boxes.

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 15th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tuesday, February 23rd—100th Day of School

-Thursday, February 25th—Dental Visit

READING FOLDERS: 

We are off and reading!!! Thank you for taking the time to read with your child at home! This is a new routine for us, but the students are doing a fantastic job!  I will try to send reading folders home 2-3 times a week.  Several of the students have been telling me they have been reading on Raz Kids at home, which is wonderful! To ensure that students are reading and comprehending, we have a ‘5 finger rule’ for reading books on Raz Kids—Listen, Listen, Read, Read, Quiz (for those on levels with quizzes). They may also use their stars at home to upgrade their rockets:)

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on the four seasons and how they are different.  Children will also be reading stories and poems about the weather in each season.

· Vocabulary—weather & seasons—discuss the four seasons and describe how the weather is similar or different. Then invite your child to draw a picture of each season.

· Letter of the Week—Bb & Ll—Invite your child to search for objects that begin with the letter b and the letter l. Write the names of the objects on sticky notes. Have your child stick the labels on each item

· Sightwords—is & little

· Category Words—seasons—Display some of the clothing that your child wears in each of the four seasons. Ask your child to identify the season during which the clothing is worn.

· Beanie Baby Strategies—We will introduce Skippy the Frog for Accuracy.  Skippy helps us when we come to a word that we just cannot figure out; he reminds us that we can ‘skip’ the word, read on, try to use the context clues to figure it out, and then go back and reread the sentence.

WRITING: 

This week we will wrap up our pattern books that follow a question and answer structure, conference with a peer, edit and revise, and then create our Wow covers.  We will also draw a pencil sketch of our 16th President—Abraham Lincoln—and complete an informational writing about some facts we’ve learned about his life.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

In observation of Presidents Day, this week we will be learning about Presidents past and present.  We will read several informational texts about Abraham Lincoln & George Washington and discuss some of the American Values that we continue to embrace today—Common Good, Equality, Justice, & Truth.  We will learn a little about the history of Presidents Day, as well as what it takes to become the President of the United States.

MATH: 

This week we will learn about the equal sign and the addition symbol and practice adding numbers within 10. 

 Please be sure to return your Library book on or before Thursday!

Smokey the Bear Photos