November 26 - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

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

-Mon. Dec. 17th—Delayed Start

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

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

STUDENT OF THE MONTH:

Our new Student of the Month is Tessa Bronkema. Tessa is sweet & kind and is always willing to help others. Her favorite color is pink and she enjoys sledding with her sisters. Tessa’s  favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham and she loves her cat Josie. One of her goals is to learn to read, which she is well on her way to accomplishing. Tessa likes school so much that she aspires to be a teacher when she grows up. Congratulations to Tessa on being our Student of the Month.

THANK YOU!!!: 

Last week was a busy week of learning and fun! Special thanks to Mrs. Hinton, Mrs. VanBuskirk, Mrs. Albaitis, Mr. Roberts, Mrs. Bronkema who came in and helped out. Also, thanks to everyone who provided food and supplies! I will try to post photos of our feast on the classroom Blog soon.

READING: 

This week our class will be reading stories about the sounds we hear 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—listen & volume—Go outside together and invite your child to listen to the sounds in your neighborhood. Talk about what makes the sounds, describe the sounds, & talk about the volume.

· Sightwords—and & but—Encourage your child to search for sightwords in magazines and junk mail and then circle or highlight them.

· Category Words—sound words

· Phonics—Letter Nn—Search for objects that begin or end with the letter n and make a list together.

WRITING:  

This week we will wrap up our unit on writing like a Scientist. We will also complete a journal page—writing about something we ‘want’ and then something we would be willing to ‘trade’ for it.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will be reading several books about families, since the Holidays are all about spending times with our families and caring for each other. We will also continue our Science Unit on Motion as we learn about the force of gravity and conduct a slide investigation.

MATH: 

This week we will learn a new game called Monster Squeeze, which involves identifying a mystery number on a number line. This is a game that students can also play on their ipads and is always a favorite!

We will also work on identifying and sorting shapes according to various attributes (shape, color, size, & thickness). We will be making and bringing home our ‘Countdown to Christmas’ chains to hang up at home and help keep track of how many days until Christmas.

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.

A few reminders for next week

Hi Parents,
Just a reminder that next week is a very busy week.  We have activities planned all 3 days. If you haven't already, please send in ALL of your supplies and ingredients on Monday.  If you visit my blog, you can see the sign-ups to refresh your memeory:)   In addition, on Monday afternoon we will be trading with the other K classes.  Here's the list of what each student in our class is bringing - many of you have already brought these in . . .

Beef Broth - Emmerson, Tessa, Sylas, Citlaly, Braelyn, Eli, Ramara, Max, Tenley, Adrian, Johnny, Joey, Dayana, Brahm, Pearl, & Charlie
1 Large Onion - Rolan, Nevaeh, Bella, Kimberly, & Jose'


Sickness:(  We've had a lot of sickness in our classroom and the entire Kindergarten class - coughs, colds, Pink Eye, and Strep are going around - so please be aware.  I'm sanitizing like crazy every day to keep the germs at bay.

Here is a list of Safety Tips that the students came up with this week:

Safety Tips

·     Always stick with a grown-up – no strangers!

·     Always wear a helmet when you go biking!

·     Always stay with a friend!

·     Never run on the stairs!

·     Always wear orange when you go hunting!

·     Always buckle your seat belt in the car!

Here is a video that Mrs. Sluiter shared from PE class:)

Have a great weekend!

November 12th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tues., Nov. 13th—Thanksgiving Lunch

-Thurs., Nov. 15th—No School—Deer Day

-Mon., Nov. 19th—Delayed Start

-Tues., Nov. 20th—Thanksgiving Rotations (am) & Cutting Up Veggies (pm)

-Wed., Nov. 21st—Feast (pm)

-Wed., Nov. 21st—K Report Cards Home

-Wed. Nov. 21st—Mobile Dentist rescheduled

-Nov. 22nd-Nov. 25th—Thanksgiving Break

STONE SOUP:  

In celebration of Friendship and Thanksgiving, we will be making and sharing Stone Soup together next week. As in the story of Stone Soup, everyone will bring an item to contribute to our soup and then work together to create a delicious meal. Our class is bringing in Beef Broth & onions. Your child is bringing home a note indicating what ingredient they should bring. Next Monday, we will meet up with the other Kindergarten classes to make ‘fair trades’ in order to obtain all of the ingredients that our class needs to make our soup.  Then on Tuesday, November 20th, we will be cutting up our vegetables in preparation for our feast on Wednesday afternoon. It is going to be a busy couple of weeks in Kindergarten!

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will read several informational texts related to the Pilgrims and how they endured many hardships. We will also compare and contrast their lifestyles then, to our lifestyle now. We will be talking about the difference between a ’want’ and a ’need’ and what constitutes a ‘fair trade.’ With the opening day of deer season this week we will also be talking about Gun Safety. We will meet Eddie Eagle who teaches children what to do if they ever find a gun lying around—Stop, Don’t Touch, Leave the Area, Tell an Adult!

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on the rules we follow at home and in school. Children will also be reading stories about the laws people follow in their neighborhoods and communities. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—cooperate & rules—Make a chart of the rules your child follows. Encourage them to think about ways we cooperate, or work together with others.

· Sightwords—Review—to & it—Fill a small tray with shaving cream and have your child write the words in the shaving cream—a great activity to do in the bathtub as well.

· Category Words—action words—Encourage your child to think of laws and rules to follow at home, school, and in the community.

· Phonics—Letter Ii—Help your child think of words that include the letter I; write the words on paper and have them circle the letter i.

· Beanie Baby Strategy—This week we will introduce Chunky Monkey—he helps us read and write by identifying ‘chunks’ or ‘word families’ that we know within words.  We will be using Chunky Monkey to read and write words with the chunks—it, ig, in, & ip.

WRITING:  

Last week we took a nature walk to the Butterfly Garden and collected some items. This week we will continue writing like Scientists as we draw and write about the things we collected.

MATH: 

This week we will practice different ways to represent numbers (ten frames, fingers, tally marks, dots, etc). We will also play several card games that involve ordering numbers from smallest to biggest.

WINTER DRESS: 

Looks like we can’t delay it any longer:(  Please be sure to send everything to outfit your child for recess—snowpants, boots, warm coat, hat, & mittens so that they can enjoy recess and stay warm and dry.  Also, please be sure to send shoes for the classroom that your child can take on and off independently.  If there are things you’d like your child to leave at school (shoes, extra mittens, hat, etc) they are welcome to keep them in their lockers.  Also, please be sure to label everything with your child’s name, as we will inevitably have duplicates.  I try to dry their mittens on the heater between middle and last recess, so it’s very easy for mittens to get mixed up in that process.  Our last recess is from 1:40-2:05 which means their snowpants & mittens are usually still wet when we pack to go home.  I will be giving each student a garbage bag to keep in their backpack to put their wet things in to bring home.  That way they don’t get their backpacks wet and muddy. Please be sure to check their backpack every night for things that need to be dried and return the bag in their backpack.  This is the best system I’ve found so far:)

Thanksgiving/Stone Soup Sign-Ups

A few things . . .

Hi parents,
Just a couple of things to pass along mid-week . . .
1.  Our class raised over $200 for Coins for Kids, which puts us in 2nd place, and has earned us a Pizza Party!  I will keep you posted on when this will take place:)  The kids are sooo excited! Way to Go!
2.  Tomorrow (Thursday) I would like to go back to the Butterfly Garden before the snow hits.  That means we will have recess and then walk to the Butterfly Garden.  We will be outside for almost an hour.  I still have a lot of kids who are not bringing hats and mittens for recess, so please be sure to make sure they bring them every day.  Its getting cold enough and muddy enough to also start sending boots, and I'm afraid snowpants are just around the corner :(
3.  Tomorrow we will have our popsicles for a treat - that was the clear winner from our classroom vote on Tuesday:)
4.  Next Tuesday, the kitchen staff will be serving a Thanksgiving meal with lots of great choices, so keep that in mind as you decide if your child will be having cold lunch or hot lunch:)

November 5th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tues., Nov. 6th—Title 1 Family Night @ 5:30

-Fri., Nov. 9th—Mobile Dentist

-Thurs., Nov. 15th—No School—Deer Day

-Mon., Nov. 19th—Delayed Start

-Tues., Nov. 20th—Thanksgiving Rotations (am) & Cutting Up Veggies (pm)

-Wed., Nov. 21st—Feast (pm)

-Wed., Nov. 21st—K Report Cards Home

-Nov. 22nd-Nov. 25th—Thanksgiving Break

READING: 

This week our class will be focusing on different kinds of bugs and how they move. Children will also be reading about a variety of bugs they see in nature. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—curious & observe—Go outside and have your child observe different bugs. Have them draw a picture of the bugs in a notebook and label each one.

· Sightword—Review—the, we, see, a, I & like—Practice reading and writing these words and looking for them in books as you read together.

· Category Words—movement words—Play ‘Simon Says’ using different movement words.

· Phonics—Letter Review—m, a, s, p, & t—Give your child words that begin with these letters and have them practice identifying the sound and writing the beginning letter.  They should be able to sound out and write a variety of CVC words using these letters as well—Sam, Pam, tap, map, sap, pat, & mat.

· Beanie Baby Strategies—This week we will learn about Iggy the Inferring Iguana who reminds us to make predictions and inferences as we read and then validate and adjust our predictions as we read. We will also introduce Pop the Weasel who reminds us to look for sightwords while we are reading—these are the words we know; they POP into our heads and out of our mouths!

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:

For Science, we will continue to learn about Motion in the world around us.  We will also read several stories related to scarecrows, harvest, and vegetables including Stone Soup, as we anticipate making our own Friendship Soup in a couple of weeks. For Social Studies, we will read some books about honoring Veteran’s in observance of Veteran’s Day. We will also talk about the democratic process of voting and exercise our own right to vote as we vote for snack. :)

MATH: 

This week we will do some measuring of longer and shorter and continue to practice counting and writing our numbers. We will also practice following directions using positional words, as we maneuver through an obstacle course in gym class and then come back and build our own obstacle courses for bears.

WRITING:  

We will read several informational texts related to Fall and then work together to create our first informational class book on Fall.  We will be observing, drawing, and writing about leaves as we practice writing like Scientists. If the weather cooperates, we will be going back to visit the Butterfly Garden, and observe what changes have occurred in the Fall.

WINTER DRESS: 

As the weather continues to get colder and we anticipate SNOW soon, please be sure to send your child with proper clothing to be warm at recess.  Hats and mittens should be brought daily! I check the temperature before recess and let them know what they NEED to wear and what items they have a choice on:)  Also, we are working very hard at zipping our own coats, please practice this one-on-one with your child at home so they can be independent with this at school:)

 *Please be sure to return your October Book-It Calendars & Blankets for Rest Time:)