Newsletter Updates for January 3rd

Welcome Back! 

I hope you had a restful break with lots of great memories made!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Mon, Jan. 15th—Delayed Start—Theme—Integrity

-Thurs., January 18th—1/2 Day—Dismissal @ 11:35

-Fri., Jan. 19th—1/2 Day—Kindergarten Sledding Party—Dismissal @ 11:35

-Mon., January 22nd—Dibels Testing

-Fri., January 26th—Report Cards Home

BOOK-IT/HOLIDAY HOMEWORK:

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

ASSESSMENTS:

The end of the marking period is fast approaching; we will be assessing many skills during the next 3 weeks for report cards. Students will also be reassessed on DIBELS (letters, sounds, segmenting, & blending) to monitor their progress. We will also be taking the NWEA computer-based assessment to monitor student growth in both Math & Reading.

SLEDDING PARTY:

We are tentatively planning our annual sledding party for Friday, January 19th,  but I am NOT telling the students until it gets closer in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.  We will go outside around 10:30, sled for a half hour with the other Kindergarten classes, and then come back inside for hot chocolate before going home at 11:35. I am looking for a couple of parents, or grandparents, who would be willing to come in around 10:15 and help. I could use a couple people willing to go outside and push kids down the hill AND at least 1 person to stay inside and prepare our hot chocolate. Please let me know if you are willing and available to help out!

READING:

This week our class will be reading about how a community changes their environment—such as by building roads, playgrounds, and community gardens—to improve it. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing.

· Vocabulary—community & improve—Take a walk or drive around your community. Point out ways that the community is working hard to improve.

· Sightwords—Review—We have introduced 15 sightwords so far this year; please practice reading and writing these first 15, as we will soon be assessing them.

· Category Words—position words—Play Simon Says using position words such as up, down, over, under, front, back, first, next, and last.

· Phonics—Review—Letters Ii, Nn, Cc, Oo, & Dd—Play a guessing game with your child. Ask them to think of things that begin with each letter.

· Comprehension—Key Details in Sequence—Read a short story to your child. Then ask them to retell the story in order using the words first, then, next, & last.

· Beanie Baby Strategies—This week we will introduce a new comprehension strategy—Digger Dog - who reminds us to dig for the ‘big idea,’ the most important details, and the author’s purpose in the texts that we read.

WRITING: 

We will complete a couple of January Journals—writing about our new year’s resolutions and playing outside in the snow.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will be reading several stories related to Winter and snow. We will also be learning about the unique features of snowflakes and complete a STEM experiment related to snowflakes involving symmetry.

MATH: 

This week we will explore numbers 1-100 using a Number Grid and the Counting Board App. We will also practice finding different combinations for making 10, as well as identifying and writing our numbers 1-20.

Please be sure to return your child’s blanket for rest time.