Report Cards - April Fools

April Fools - Report Cards will NOT be coming home this Friday - they will be coming home right after Spring Break.  Apparently there was some confusion as to when this marking period ends and administration sent a clarification email earlier this week.  I have them finished and ready, BUT I have to wait until the official end of the marking period so that I can include their current attendance - sorry for the confusion!

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Thursday, April 14th.  Spring conferences are scheduled on as 'as needed' basis, so not everyone will have a conference.  I always feel bad about not being able to meet with ALL of my parents because even if I don't have concerns - you all deserve to hear about all of the great things your kids are doing; unfortunately there is not enough time built into our conference schedule to meet with everyone. You WILL be receiving a note this week - either a conference notice OR a letter from me indicating that I don't have a conference scheduled for you.  Please . . . if you feel that you would like a conference, I'm happy to meet with you and have slots available, but I certainly don't want to take away from your busy schedules to tell you that your child is progressing well.  If you would like a conference, just email me and we can set up a time to meet. :)  Thanks for your understanding with this.

Just a reminder to send in a ziploc baggie with an item for our trail mix on Friday:)

I'll be sending home blankets to wash over Spring Break as well!

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 28th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Mon. March 28th—Read with a Flashlight

-Friday, April 1st:  Camp Out—Pajama Day

                           -Report Cards Home

                           -Movie & Smore Trail Mix

-April 2nd-10th—Spring Break

-Mon. April 11th—School Resumes

-Thurs. April 14th—1/2 Day—Parent Teacher Conferences—as needed

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:  

Our student of the week is David Wilson.  David enjoys playing Wii & Soccer and he has traveled to 15 different states.  His favorite movie is Happy Feet and he likes to read informational books about animals.  David aspires to be a professional football and/or soccer player when he grows up, which is great since his favorite foods are stadium foods  - nachos, pizza, & hot dogs! Congratulations to David on being Student of the Week!

READING MONTH: 

On Friday, we will wrap up Reading Month with a Camp Out, Movie, PJ’s, & a Trail Mix Snack.  Your child is welcome to wear their pajamas to school and bring slippers for the classroom.  Please be sure to bring appropriate clothing and boots/shoes for recess.  Also, we will be building a trail mix snack; we are asking each student to bring in a sandwich-sized Ziploc baggie with something we can add to our trail mix—pretzels, cereal, marshmallows, M & M’s, chocolate chips, goldfish crackers, etc.

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about different kinds of animals and the habitats in which they live. Children will discover that animals live in caves, dens, burrows, trees, forest, deserts, and oceans.

· Vocabulary—habitat, wild

· High-Frequency Words—said & want

· Category Words: animal homes

· Phonics: Xx & Vv

· Comprehension: cause and effect

· Reading Month Badge—Fairy Tales

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will wrap up our Unit of 'Me on the Map' and we will be reading several informational books related to Spring. We will be learning about all of the exciting changes that we can expect to see in the coming weeks related to weather, plant life, and animals.

MATH: 

This week we will play several games involving addition and subtraction as we practice using various strategies to solve these equations—number lines, manipulatives, counting on, counting backwards, drawing a picture, using our fingers, etc.

WRITING: 

This week we will wrap up our March Journals by writing about baby animals. We will also be sharing our first ‘small moment’ stories during Author’s Chair, which I hope to send home with report cards, along with their March journals.  We will be spending some time this week working on proper sentence structure and quotation marks.

BOOK-IT: 

Please be sure to return your March Book-It Calendar so I can award Pizza Certificates. March is the final month of Book-It for the school year.

Please be sure to return your

Library book on or before Thursday!

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 14th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed. Mar. 16th—Read with a Stuffed Animal

-Thurs,. March 17th—Dress in Green & Irish Dance Assembly (pm)

-Friday, March 18th—Donuts with Dad @ 7:15 & Dress Up—MisMatch Day

-Monday, March 21st—Delayed Start

-Thursday, March 24th—Read with a Flashlight

-Friday, March 25th—Good Friday – No School

BOOKMARK CONTEST WINNERS: 

Mrs. Eisenga, the librarian, has announced the winners for the bookmark contest.  Congratulations to Adriauna Carpenter & Alan Thomas who were the Kindergarten winners!  Bookmarks will be printed and available for pick up in the library soon:)

READING MONTH: 

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.  Some of the students are bringing in a book that they can read to the class which is great as well!

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about different kinds of pets and how to care for them. Children will learn about grooming, feeding, walking, and caring for pets. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing.

· Vocabulary—responsibility, train—Talk about the responsibilities associated with caring for pets, as well as how people train pets.

· High-Frequency Words—they, of—Think of short sentences that include they and of and write them down. Have your child point to each word and read each sentence aloud. Ask your child to underline the words they and of.

· Category Words—pets—Play a game of “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down.” Ask your child to show thumbs up if what you say is true, and to show thumbs down if what you say is not true. For example, A dog can be a pet. (thumbs up)

· Phonics—Gg & Ww—Help your child think of words with the letter g and the letter w, such as get, hug, wag, and wet.

· Comprehension—character, setting, plot—Read a short story about a girl named Ana who will be getting a pet. Ask your child to decide what would be the perfect pet for Ana. Circle the picture of the animal and finish telling the story.

· Reading Month Badge—Narrative/Fiction

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will begin our Social Studies Unit—Me on the Map. We will be learning about maps, globes, and our place in the world—Country, State, & City. We will also read some narrative and informational texts related to St. Patrick’s Day.

MATH: 

This week we will introduce subtraction and play several ‘take-away’ games,  We will create several fun graphs this week; one using Skittles and another using Lucky Charms,  We will then interpret and analyze the data together.

WRITING: 

This week we will finish writing our first small moment story.  We will also complete a couple of journals related to St. Patrick’s Day.

Please be sure to return your

Library book on or before Thursday!

Dressing for Recess

With the warmer weather this week. staying dry @ recess is difficult.  The playground still has wet snow, which is melting quickly and will soon leave puddles & mud.  Please keep sending snowpants and boots (rain or snow boots) so that your child can stay dry.  You are welcome to send in a jacket or sweatshirt; today I let several go out in sweatshirts with their snowpants and boots.  Only in Michigan! :)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 7th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Monday, March 7th—The Ed Show @ 8:15

-Tuesday, March 8th—Read with a Flashlight

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

-Wed. Mar. 16th—Read with a Stuffed Animal

-Thurs,. March 17th—Dress in Green & Irish Dance Assembly

-Friday, March 18th—Donuts with Dad @ 7:15 Dress Up—MisMatch Day

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Andrew Moomey.  Andrew enjoys eating pizza; his favorite movie is The Lego Movie and his favorite book is The Gingerbread Man.  His goals include—learning to read (got that) and playing basketball. Congratulations to Andrew on being Student of the Week!

READING MONTH:  

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 baby animals. Children will be using words to describe how the appearance and behavior of these animals are alike and different.

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

· Vocabulary—appearance, behavior—Discuss the appearance and behavior of a kitten, as well as other baby animals.

· High-Frequency Words—for, have—Write sentences about baby animals using the words for and have. Read the sentences together. Ask your child to underline the words for and have.

· Category Words—animal parts—Play “Guess the Animal.” Give clues about an animal’s appearance. Encourage your child to guess the name of the animal and act out how it moves.

· Phonics—Letter Uu— We will use Flippy the Dolphin to read words with the short u sound, as well as the long u sound (u with the magic e).  We will also use Chunky Monkey to read and write word with the ug, ut, in, and uck chunks.

· Comprehension—compare and contrast—Have your child sort the animals according to whether the animals can fly, swim, or run. Then encourage your child to tell the other ways these animals are alike and different.

· Reading Month Badge—Poetry

MATH: 

This week we will continue to work on measuring and comparing lengths. We will continue to practice addition and skip counting by 2’s, 5’s & 10’s.  We will continue our study of 3D solid shapes; please help your child find a couple of 3D solid shapes to bring in for our math lesson on Tuesday.  We will also work on sorting by different attributes.

WRITING: 

This week we will begin writing our first small moment story—a true story about something significant that happened in our lives.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

We will continue learning about several important Patriotic Symbols this week—The Statue of Liberty, The Bald Eagle, & The White House.  We will also be reading several poems related to camping.

Please be sure to return your

Parent Survey & Donuts with Dad RSVP!