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Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas!

 
We had such a fun time celebrating Christmas together in the classroom. Thank you SO MUCH for all of our wonderful and generous gifts!!! We have the best families ever! I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas break!!!! Don't forget to study for the 100% Club and read books on RAZ KIDS online. We'll see you back at school in the new year on Tuesday, January 3rd!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Weekly News: December 12-16

There is NO SCHOOL for two weeks due to Christmas vacation!!!! This is our last week together in 2010. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Years and I will see you back at school on Tuesday, January 3, 2012!!!

The Friday Prep Parties have not stopped! We want to give a special THANK YOU to Amanda Woodruff for being there EVERY FRIDAY! This Friday we will be having a Holiday Breakfast for ALL PARENTS who have helped so far this year to thank you for everything you have done! We truly appreciate all of the parent involvement and help! Thank you!

Our Online Reading A-Z program is up and running! This is a great website where your children can listen to and read books at their level - the same books being sent home in their book bags each week! With each book, you can also take comprehension quizzes and earn points! With those points, you can play fun games online. All of the information (how much time spent online, books read, and quizzes taken) comes back to me so I can check on your reading at home. There might even be prizes for the best readers! The Reading A-Z website link is found on our side tab RAZ KIDS, but I will also be sending log-in information home in your book bag this week for each student. Have fun reading online!!! 

Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, December 13th: GRANDPARENT'S DAY! Grandparents are invited to hear our classes sing in the Lion's Den at 8:15 and stay for a short presentation by Mr. Gordon. Grandparents are then welcome to visit our classroom to see our learning take place! We will be leaving for our field trip at 10:15, but you are welcome to stop by before that and watch our class in action!

Tuesday, December 13th: Our kindergarten classes will be going on a walking field trip to Braswell's Home to sing our Christmas carols and deliver cards. If you have not returned the permission slip, please do so MONDAY so your child will be able to join us! Please note there are TWO sides to the permission slip. We will be showing our GENEROSITY to Braswell's by bringing them winter socks, mitten, gloves, etc. We are asking each child to bring something to give on Tuesday. Also, if you would like to chaperone and join us on our walk to Braswell's, we would love to have you! Please let me know! :)

Tuesday, December 13th: On Tuesday EVENING, we are having a Christmas Program in our Lion's Den (Bryant St sanctuary)!! The whole school will be singing a few songs to celebrate Christmas! Kindergarten and 1st will be from 5:30-6:00, 2nd/3rd grades from 6:00-6:30, 4th-6th grades from 6:30-7:00. Our classes will be singing "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus in Coming to Town". Practice singing these songs at home and come hear your wonderful children sing!!! I would recommend getting to the church at 5:00 for a spot to sit! Your children will be sitting with you then asked to join their class on stage when it is kindergarten's turn to sing! Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, but Mrs. Stanley will be there if you need anything!

Friday, December 16th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers and Pizza Party - we will be having Christmas Center Activities from 10:30-11:30 followed by a Kindergarten Pizza Party. Thank you for signing up to donate your time and items for this special event!! There is still time to sign up to help!! Please check your classroom clipboard! We are also still collecting $2 per student for the pizza party - if you are able to contribute, please send this donation to school in your child's GO folder. Thank you!

December 19th-January 2nd: NO SCHOOL! CHRISTMAS BREAK!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: ABOUT, THAT, WHAT, WANT, WAS.

Letter Team: ED (We are learning that tricky Mr. ED goes at the end of the word to tell us that something has already happened - making the word past tense. Mr. ED is tricky because sometimes he makes the "T" sound - like in LOOKED, sometimes he makes the "D" sound - like in PLAYED, and sometimes he says "ED" like in WANTED).

Reading: This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town".

Writing: This week we will continue our "Writer's Checklist" - a list of things that all good writers do, such as proper punctuation, uppercases at the beginning of a sentence and name, finger spaces between each word, spelling word wall words correctly, adding details, making sure our writing makes sense, and trying our best! We will read this checklist everyday to make sure we are applying each of those skills in our writing.

Math: This week, we will complete our Saxon Math Curriculum. After the holidays, we will be working in math groups on a 1st Grade Math Curriculum, Excel! The students have been doing well with the MATH TIMED TESTS. Students are timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. Some of our friends are already on +2!!!  We will continue to practice addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG. My goal for all students is to memorize all the doubles facts. Please work on basic addition (stories!) and doubles at home. Please also continue to reinforce LEFT and RIGHT with your child.

Leadership: We will continue discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Homework: December 12-16

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: ABOUT, WHAT, WAS, WANT, THAT and new letter team is ED.
 
Reading: Each week in your child's book bag you will find: one fluency (Monday), three Reading A-Z books (Tuesday-Thursday) and any free-choice or AR book that your child has chosen. Please read each book three times each every night. Starting this week, you can also go online to RAZ-KIDS and you may listen to, read, and take quizzes on books!

Math: As always, if you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home! You should also be practicing math at your child's level. This could be writing numbers, counting money, addition, patterns, graphing, etc.

Writing: A great idea would be to pick up a small journal and have your child write in it EVERYDAY, focusing on writing more than one sentence on the same topic with an uppercase at the beginning, finger spaces, proper punctuation, and details! Don't forget to practice writing our sight words of the week for our spelling and dictation test too!

Sharing: Write TWO sentences about what we are learning about a holiday tradition in your family. Draw a picture to go with your sentences.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Happy Birthday, Emily!


We celebrated Emily's 5th Birthday on Thursday! Happy birthday, little Emily! We hope you have a great birthday weekend!

Weekly News: December 5-9

I have updated our "Classroom Wish List" for the new trimester. Please visit this page if you are able to donate in any way. Thank you!

We will begin working on fluency as part of your child’s reading homework. In your child’s book bag you will find a fluency passage. Your child is practicing reading fluent in reading group. Fluency refers to a student’s speed, smoothness, and ease of reading out loud. Fluent readers read more quickly and smoothly, allowing them to focus on comprehension.  Fluent readers gain more meaning from the text they read. Because fluency leads to comprehension, fluent readers enjoy reading more than students who devote all their energy to sounding out words. Your child will be timed in class for one minute on the fluency passage at the beginning of the week (a cold read) and then will be timed again in class for one minute at the end of the week (a hot read).  The goal is for your student to become more fluent with the passage by practicing it three or more times each night. On most fluency passages there are comprehension questions and word families. Please practice and complete this at home as well - this is an excellent test taking strategy. Your child will then graph the results of his/her increased fluency in class. Thank you for supporting this very important component of our reading program! You will be astounded by the growth your children make through this reading!

We have MANY new events coming up, including a FIELD TRIP and a WINTER PERFORMANCE. Please read the next section carefully to stay up-to-date on our holiday happenings :)   

Upcoming Events:

December 5th-December 9th: SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR! PTO is will be having a book fair from 7:40-8:15am and from 1:00pm-3:00pm at CSC only. BSC families are invited to join at
CSC. There will be books available for all ages from TK-8th. The book fair will also
be OPEN from 5pm-7:30pm on Thursday, December 8th only! Bring your family and join the
fun! You can do some Holiday shopping at the Book Fair. What a GREAT gift a book makes.
Please keep in mind that every book bought helps ILCS!

Wednesday, December 7th: ILCS Drama performs a special show, "The Wizard of Oz Christmas" 6:00-7:00 at the California Street Campus. Come support our kids and watch a fun and wonderful show! 

Tuesday, December 13th: Our kindergarten classes will be going on a walking field trip to Braswell's Home to sing our Christmas carols and deliver cards. Please look out for (and return) the field trip permission slip coming home later this week.

Tuesday, December 13th: On Tuesday EVENING, we are having a Christmas Program in our Lion's Den (Bryant St sanctuary)!! The whole school will be singing a few songs to celebrate Christmas! Kindergarten and 1st will be from 5:30-6:00, 2nd/3rd grades from 6:00-6:30, 4th-6th grades from 6:30-7:00. Our classes will be singing "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus in Coming to Town". Practice singing these songs at home and come hear your wonderful children sing!!!

Friday, December 16th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers & Pizza Party - we will be having Christmas Center Activities from 10:30-11:30 followed by a Kindergarten Pizza Party. Look out for the "Christmas Sign-Up" on the Classroom Clipboard sometime next week if you are able to donate any items for our centers. We are also asking for $2 donations to help cover the cost of the pizza.

December 19th-January 2nd: NO SCHOOL! CHRISTMAS BREAK!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: AS, THROUGH, AROUND, NO, KNOW.

Letter Team: KN (the K is silent, like in KNOW and KNIGHT), EW (like in NEW and STEW) and OUGH (making the OO sound like in THROUGH - we will learn later about the other sounds it makes!)

Reading: The kids have learned that schema is "what we know" and we have started applying this to our reading. This week we will learn all about text-to-self connections. This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "The Gingerbread Man". We will also study landforms (like mountains, valleys, deserts, and plains) and bodies of water (like rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds) in our reading. 

Writing: This week we will make a "Writer's Checklist" - a list of things that all good writers do, such as proper punctuation, uppercases at the beginning of a sentence and name, finger spaces between each word, spelling word wall words correctly, adding details, making sure our writing makes sense, and trying our best! We will read this checklist everyday to make sure we are applying each of those skills in our writing.

Math: Last week, we began MATH TIMED TESTS. Students are timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. The kids did a great job! A bunch of friends passed "+0" and will now be moving on to "+1". We also learned the addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG. Please work on basic addition and doubles at home. This week, we will start reading math stories and making number sentences with the stories. For example, "Billy had three apples and Susie had five apples. How many apples did they have altogether? Answer: 3+5=8" Please try these math stories at home! We are also learning the directions RIGHT and LEFT - please reinforce this at home. 

Leadership: We will continue discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Homework: December 5-9

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: AS, THROUGH, AROUND, NO, KNOW and new letter teams are KN, EW, and OUGH.
 
Reading: Book bag and Book box reading EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home!

Writing: A great idea would be to pick up a small journal and have your child write in it EVERYDAY, focusing on writing more than one sentence on the same topic with an uppercase at the beginning, finger spaces, proper punctuation, and details! Don't forget to practice writing our sight words of the week for our spelling and dictation test too!

Sharing: Sharing for the second trimester will now consist of writing TWO sentences each week. This week's sharing homework is to write TWO sentences about what we are learning about landforms (desert, plain, valley, mountain) and bodies of water (river, pond, lake, ocean).  Draw a picture to go with your sentences. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Weekly News: November 28-December 1

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week off with your families! There is A LOT going on in these next three weeks so please take a moment to read...

I very much enjoyed meeting with all of you during our parent conferences and felt that our discussions were extremely beneficial. Looking forward to spending the rest of the year with you and your child!

I have updated our "Classroom Wish List" for the new trimester. Please visit this page if you are able to donate in any way. Thank you!

After my latest assessments, I have moved around a few students for reading groups. This week, if your child is bringing home a book that has been previously read, please know that I am focusing on fluency with your child.

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, December 1st: PTO is having a Holiday Craft Fair for BOTH campuses on Thursday, December
1st from 3-6pm in the auditorium at CSC. The crafts will range in price from $1-$5. Bring your kids Holiday shopping at our first Craft Fair. All crafts will be made by children of ILCS. The Holiday Craft Fair will not only allow students to buy gifts for family and friends for the holidays, it will also give everyone the opportunity to earn some extra money for their class. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the class selling the crafts. This is also a great way to allow students to express their creative side.


December 5th-December 9th: SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR! PTO is will be having a book fair from 7:40-8:15am and from 1:00pm-3:00pm at CSC only. BSC families are invited to join at
CSC. There will be books available for all ages from TK-8th. The book fair will also
be OPEN from 5pm-7:30pm on Thursday, December 8th only! Bring your family and join the
fun! You can do some Holiday shopping at the Book Fair. What a GREAT gift a book makes.
Please keep in mind that every book bought helps ILCS!

Wednesday, December 7th: ILCS Drama performs a special show, "The Wizard of Oz Christmas" 6:00-7:00 at the California Street Campus. Come support our kids and watch a fun and wonderful show!

Friday, December 16th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers & Pizza Party - more information to come!!


December 19th-January 2nd: NO SCHOOL! CHRISTMAS BREAK!
 
What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: BY, OUR, WHO, THING, THINK.

Letter Team: GE/GI (the soft sound of G which sounds like J, like in GENIE and GIRAFFE) and INK (like in PINK, SINK).

Word Family: INK.

Reading: In the 1st trimester, we learned many strategies to help us with our decoding and reading. Now we will begin discussing the way our reading makes us think. We will study and learn about SCHEMA and MAKING CONNECTIONS. Check your child's Homework Folder sometime this week for a special Parent Newsletter all about this new study! This week, we will read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "S-A-N-T-A".

Writing: We are learning to add details to our writing using the 5 W's (who, what, where, when, why). We are learning to write more than one detailed sentences on the same topic.

Math: This week, we will begin MATH TIMED TESTS. Students will be timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. We are also learning the addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG.

Leadership: We will continue discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Homework: November 28-December 1

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: BY, OUR, WHO, THING, THINK and new letter teams are GE/GI and INK.
 
Reading: Book bag and Book box reading EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home!

Writing: A great idea would be to pick up a small journal and have your child write in it EVERYDAY, focusing on writing more than one sentence on the same topic with an uppercase at the beginning, finger spaces, proper punctuation, and details! Don't forget to practice writing our sight words of the week for our spelling and dictation test too!

Sharing: Sharing for the second trimester will now consist of writing TWO sentences each week. This week's sharing homework is to write TWO sentences about something you did over your Thanksgiving vacation.  Draw a picture to go with your sentences. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving friends and families!!!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Thanksgiving Feast SO SPECTACULAR!!! We had a great time!!

Your child brought home a "Compassion Bag" today - this is filled with all the goodies that kindergarten and first grade have brought in and it is meant to be given to someone in need.

I hope you all have a relaxing week off and wonderful holiday with your families! See you next week!!!


Pumpkin Pictures :)

It has taken me awhile to get these pumpkin pictures up! My apologies.. better late than never! 


Thursday, November 17, 2011

TOMORROW!

Our Thanksgiving Feast is TOMORROW! We have been working hard all week making corn bread, pumpkin pie, indian vests, headbands, and necklaces, and we are so excited to celebrate Thanksgiving together! Don't forget to bring your piece of fruit for our Friendship Fruit Salad!

Also, tomorrow is the LAST DAY to order books for Christmas! Get your book order in! :)

I have to say that I enjoyed our parent conferences so much this week. I had many wonderful conversations about your kiddos and enjoyed getting to know all of YOU a little more. Thank you for coming and sharing and thank you for sharing your children with me. I have a GREAT group of kids!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Happy Birthday, Taryn!!

Today we celebrated Taryn's birthday!! She turned 6 today! Happy birthday, Taryn! We hope you have the best birthday ever!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Weekly News: November 14-18

A SPECIAL WELCOME TO MRS. STANLEY'S KINDERGARTEN CLASS! Mrs. Stanley's computer unfortunately crashed last week :( and until it is restored, we will be sharing a website!!! YAY! Mrs. Stanley's parents... please make yourself at home and know that Mrs. Stanley and I are a team so any information here on my website also applies to her class! 

I hope everyone had a nice three-day weekend and enjoyed the time off with your family.

Parent conferences are THIS week! Please check your time below. Mrs. Stanley's class conference schedule is also below!!!

We are having a Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast on Friday! The kids will be eating turkey, vegetable soup, corn bread (with homemade butter!), friendship fruit salad, and of course, homemade pumpkin pie! Some of these items, like the corn bread and pie, will be made in class a few days prior to the feast. Thank you for signing up to bring items - please check the classroom clipboard to see what day we will be needing particular items for cooking! Also - we will be making a friendship fruit salad on Friday and each student will get to add their own fruit! Please send a piece of fruit to school with your child on Friday. An apple, pear, banana, or small bag of strawberries or grapes are good examples.

WE NEED YOU! If you would like to come help set up and make this a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our kids, you are welcome to join us on Friday morning. In addition to setting up for our Thanksgiving Feast, we will also be having a PREP PARTY to get ready for all of our Christmas projects that are coming up when we get back from break. Thank you in advance for ALL of your help! :) 

There is only one more week for the Christmas Book Order!!! If you would like to order books (perfect for Christmas presents and stocking stuffers!) please log in to your Scholastic account and send those orders BY FRIDAY! Mrs. Stanley is sending her book order home this week!

NO SCHOOL ALL OF NEXT WEEK! Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your families!


What Are We Learning This Week?:

This week we will have fun and review everything we have learned so far in kindergarten. We will also be studying the Pilgrims and Indians, reading about Thanksgiving, and working on fun Thanksgiving projects!!

Parent Conferences :)

I am looking forward to a wonderful week of meeting with ALL OF YOU to discuss your child's academic success and growth in the classroom! Please refer to the following conference schedule to check your time. As you can see, it is a pretty packed schedule, and with 21 conferences, I ask that you please arrive on time so that we are able to make the best use of our time together. Thank you SO MUCH and I look forward to seeing you this week!

Monday, November 14
7:00-7:30 Joshua Hull
7:30-8:00 Hamilton Jeong
12:00-12:30 Eli Dreier
1:00-1:30 Shawn Godoy
2:00-2:30 Kyler Lamm

Tuesday, November 15 
7:00-7:30 Emily Hill
10:45-11:15 Griffin Cunningham 
12:00-12:30 Taryn Rees
1:00-1:30 Landon Westbrook
1:30-2:00 Addison Brown
2:00-2:30 Gracee Johnson
2:30-3:00 Colby Miller

Wednesday, November 16 
7:30-8:00 Gianna Lopez
10:45-11:15 Abbie Cunanan
12:00-12:30 Jackson Ferris
1:00-1:30 Devin Atchley
1:30-2:00 Mandee Morrison
2:30-3:00 Brynn Campbell

Thursday, November 17 
7:30-8:00 Gracie Miller
12:00-12:30 Gracie Wardell
1:00-1:30 Amber Hutto

AND NOW FOR MRS. STANLEY'S CLASS!!! Mrs. Stanley's before school conferences will take place in the classroom. After school conferences will take place in the classroom across the hall from Mrs. Urban in the building where you pick up the kiddos! Thank you :)
Monday, November 14 
7:30-8:00  Hinkley 
12:00-12:30  Chadwick
12:30-1:00  Gibbons
1:00-1:30  Wolfe
1:30-2:00  Yates
2:00-2:30  Massongill

Tuesday, November 15
7:30-8:00  Dishman
11:15-11:45  Gordon
12:00-12:30 Gokei
12:30-1:00  Sirb
1:30-2:00  Swenson
2:30-3:00  Hemsley

Wednesday, November 16
12:00-12:30 Barnes
1:00-2:30  Poskitt
2:30-3:00  Hemsley

Thursday, November 17
12:00-12:30 Shephard
1:00-1:30  Dunn

Friday, November 18
7:00-7:30  Montgomery 
7:30-8:00  Woodruff

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Weekly News: November 7-10

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of the parents who helped with our prep party on Friday.  Many have even taken things home to prep. WOW! You have saved our kindergarten team countless hours!  We truly appreciate you and your support.  There will be another prep party for all of our Christmas activities coming soon.

This Wednesday, November 9th is make-up picture day for those of you who need to make up school pictures!

There is NO SCHOOL Friday, November 11th due to Veteran's Day. Enjoy the three-day weekend with your families!

Parent Conferences are NEXT WEEK! {November 14-18}Thank you to those parents that have signed up for a conference - I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's growth and success in the classroom. If you have not yet signed up for a conference time, please take one morning this week to stop by our Classroom Clipboard to sign up!

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 18th. We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together. Please check for the special note coming home tomorrow and see the classroom clipboard for a sign-up sheet if you are interested in donating your time or goodies for this wonderful feast!! Thank you! We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: IN, ON, SO, GO, DO.

Letter Team:  UR and IR (like in FUR, CURL and STIR, GIRL).

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -EN (HEN, DEN, PEN).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Reading: We have learned so many decoding strategies for reading in kindergarten! These can all be found on our Reading Strategies tab. Please review all of these strategies with your child during your reading time together. We will begin reading books about turkeys and pilgrims and indians, and read our special poems of the week, "Turkey" and "The First Thanksgiving".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about geometric shapes. We will review the geometric shapes (cone, cube, sphere, cylinder, pyramid)  as we write this book together. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: We will review everything we have learned in math this week. Please continue to help your child at home with everything we have learned: addition, geometric shapes, counting by 5's, counting by tens, counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, counting ordinally, and identifying what number comes next. 

Leadership: We learned last week that generosity means giving and that we can be generous by giving our time, by giving our self, and by giving our things. We will focus on how we can show generosity during this holiday season.

Homework: November 7-10

lashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: IN, ON, SO, GO, DO and new letter teams are UR and IR.

Reading: Book bag and Book box reading EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home!

Writing: This is the same as math practice. YOU know what your child needs. For some students, alphabet writing practice is still needed. If your child is doing well with alphabet and name writing, practice writing sentences or short stories.

Sharing: Write one sentence about what you are thankful for. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Candy Wrapper :)

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Halloween! :) Today we read a book about a little girl who ate too much candy all at once and got a tummy ache! So tell those little ones that Miss Reeve said, "Remember the book! Don't eat too much!" :) We are going to do a fun writing with candy wrappers in class. I told the kids to each bring in their favorite candy wrapper so we can write about it. Bring those wrappers in tomorrow! Also, please don't forget to sign up for a parent conference time. Thank you! :)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Weekly News: October 31-November 4

It is SPIRIT WEEK at ILCS! Your child can participate by dressing up everyday! What a fun way to show your school spirit! Dress up days include... 
Monday, October 31 - Sports Day (wear your favorite sport jersey)
Tuesday, November 1 - School Colors: Blue and Yellow Day
Wednesday, November 2Crazy Sock Day
Thursday, November 3 -Crazy Hat Day 
Friday, November 4Pajama Day
 
We had so much fun with the pumpkins on Friday! Thank you for all of your help! On Monday we will taste the pumpkin seeds! Pictures coming soon!

We will be celebrating Halloween with fun Halloween games and activities during centers on Friday! We are excited! If anyone would like to donate yummy Halloween sprinkles, please let me know! 

A look ahead: There is NO school next Friday, November 11th due to Veterans Day. The following week of November 14-18th) we will begin Parent Conferences! I will be posting a parent conference schedule on the Classroom Clipboard Monday morning so that you can begin thinking of a good time that suits your schedule. I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress!
 
Many friends have been leaving jackets down at the playground and lunch tables :( While we ask the students which jackets belong to which friend, we are also teaching responsibility. If your little one has misplaced a jacket, you may check the "Lost and Found" down at the playground. Items not claimed at the end of each month are donated.
 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: BOY, GIRL, HAS, NICE.

Letter Team:  OY/OI (like in BOY, TOY/COIN).
 
Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -OP (HOP, COP, SHOP) AND -OY (BOY, TOY, JOY).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Reading: We have learned so many decoding strategies for reading in kindergarten! These can all be found on our Reading Strategies tab. Please review all of these strategies with your child during your reading time together. This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for 2 vowels go a-walkin'" (Please see Reading Strategies Tab). This week, we will read even more books about pumpkins, books about Halloween, and read our special poem of the week, "Jack-O-Lantern".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about coins. We will review the names and values of our coins as we write this book together. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: We will review everything we have learned in math this week. Students will explore various math centers as I do my math assessments. Please continue to help your child at home with everything we have learned: addition, geometric shapes, counting by 5's, counting by tens, counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, counting ordinally, and identifying what number comes next. 

Leadership: Congratulations to our Compassion Leaders: Landon, Abbie, Amber, Colby, and Taryn! Our new leadership theme for the months of November and December is GENEROSITY. 

Homework: October 31-November 4

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: BOY, GIRL, HAS, NICE and new letter teams are OY/OI.

Reading: Book bag and Book box reading EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home!

Writing: This is the same as math practice. YOU know what your child needs. For some students, alphabet writing practice is still needed. If your child is doing well with alphabet and name writing, practice writing sentences or short stories.

Sharing: Write one sentence about ways to show generosity. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Weekly News: October 24-28

Don't forget to turn in your granola bars, travel size kleenex and packs of gum for our compassion bags!  Thank you for your support!

IMPORTANT! SPIRIT WEEK HAS CHANGED! We will be celebrating Spirit Week beginning NEXT Monday, October 31.  Please notice the dress-up days have also changed. Your child can take part by dressing up in the following ways:
Monday, October 31 - Sports Day (wear your favorite sport jersey)
Tuesday, November 1 - School Colors: Blue and Yellow Day
Wednesday, November 2Crazy Sock Day
Thursday, November 3 -Crazy Hat Day 
Friday, November 4Pajama Day

We are investigating pumpkins this week! On Friday, we will be measuring pumpkins and counting seeds. Part of our study will be to pull out the insides of the pumpkin to count the seeds. This is REALLY MESSY - it would be a good idea to send an old button-up shirt for your child to wear over their clothes on this day! If you are able to donate pumpkin items or time on this day, please see the sign-up sheet on our Classroom Clipboard. We appreciate your help!! 

It is Kindergarten Assessment Week! We are almost done with our first trimester of kindergarten!! Report cards and parent conferences are coming up mid-November (more information to come!) and we are starting our end of the trimester assessments! Please note that there are so many assessments to give and they are typically administered one-on-one. While we do a majority of assessments in class, we would like to give your child our full attention during his or her assessment. In order to do so, (and in order to keep our normal teaching schedule during the school day), we are requesting that each child stay after school one day this week until 1:00 to complete his or her assessment. You should have received a bright pink note on your GO Folder with your child's day. Please send a lunch on this day and pick up your child from the classroom at 1:00. Thank you so much for your support!
 
Continue reading your book bag books each night - each book three times each every night! I know this seems like a lot of reading, but with each re-read your child is building word knowledge and fluency. You will see significant growth in your child's reading! Please remember to return the books in the book bag every day!
 
A HUGE THANK YOU to Mrs. Woodruff from Mrs. Stanley's class for preparing all of our materials the past two weeks at our Friday Prep Parties. If you are able to donate an hour or so to help, she is there every Friday! Don't let those treats go to waste!

Keep practicing our "We Are Leaders" song. It is on our song tab!! Remember that students who have it memorized by December will receive a special prize!


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: ARE, LITTLE, BIG, FOR.

Letter Team:  IGH (like in BRIGHT, LIGHT, RIGHT) and AR (like in CAR, FAR, JAR).

Word Family: -IG. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -IG. I am sending home a fun worksheet/activity that you can do at home this week!

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for 2 vowels go a-walkin'" (Please see Reading Strategies Tab). This week, we will read books about pumpkins and Halloween and read our special poem of the week, "Five Little Pumpkins".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about pumpkins. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: We will continue addition, geometric shapes, and start focusing on counting by 5's, writing our numbers by 5, and counting nickels. We will continue counting by tens, counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. 

Leadership: This month our theme is "compassion". We are learning that compassion is when you want to help someone that needs help or be a friend to someone who needs a friend. We will also learn that we can show compassion to people, to animals, and to our earth.

Homework: October 24-28

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: ARE, LITTLE, BIG, FOR and new letter teams are IGH and AR.

Reading: Book bag and Book box reading EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home!

Writing: This is the same as math practice. YOU know what your child needs. For some students, alphabet writing practice is still needed. If your child is doing well with alphabet and name writing, practice writing sentences or short stories.

Sharing: Write one sentence about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Weekly News: October 17-21


A flyer came home in child’s Take Home Folder last week explaining our Compassion Project.  We are learning that the meaning of compassion is to recognize the suffering of others and then take action to help.  We would like to take action by making care packages for the homeless in our community.  Each class is being asked to donate supplies for the care packages.  We are responsible for granola bars, travel size kleenex and packs of gum.  Thank you for your support!

Stop by Fresh and Easy on Wednesday night for our Shop For Schools Shopping Night!

We will be celebrating Spirit Week beginning Monday, October 24.  Your child can take part by dressing up in the following ways:
Monday, October 24 - Blue and Yellow Day
Tuesday, October 25 - Crazy Sock Day
Wednesday, October 26 - Crazy Hat Day
Thursday, October 27 - Pajama Day
Friday, October 28 - Sports Day (wear your favorite sport jersey)

Thank you SO MUCH to the moms that attend our "Prep Parties" on Friday mornings to help prepare our materials for class. Also, thank you to my wonderful volunteers in the classroom :) 

Keep practicing our "We Are Leaders" song. It is on our song tab!! Remember that students who have it memorized by December will receive a special prize!



What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WHEN, HAVE, BE, AM.

Letter Team: AW/AU (like in SAW/CAUGHT) and the other OO (like in TOO, BOO).

Word Family: -OT. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -OT (for example: COT, JOT, ROT, SPOT).

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for a smaller word inside the word" (Please see Reading Strategies Tab). This week, we will continue to read books about fall and leaves and read our special poem of the week, "Scarecrow". We will also focus on syllables!! A lot of our friends still have a hard time distinguishing between syllables and sounds. You can help at home by having your child count the syllables in words and reminding them about the difference between syllables and sounds.

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about ways we can be compassionate. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. This  week we will also learn to write the date on each of our stories so we can remember what day we wrote that story. Last week, we met two new writing friends, Neat Nancy and Sloppy Joe. We decided we were ALL going to try to write like Neat Nancy!

Math: We are starting simple addition this week. We are also learning ALL of our geometic shapes (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder). We will continue counting by tens, counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. 

Leadership: This month our theme is "compassion". We are learning that compassion is when you want to help someone that needs help or be a friend to someone who needs a friend. We will also learn that we can show compassion to people, to animals, and to our earth.

Homework: October 17-21

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: WHEN, HAVE, BE, AM and new letter teams are AW/AU and OO. Please make a flashcard for each letter team as well.

Reading: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense, look for a letter team inside the word, stretch out the sounds, look for a smaller word inside the word, look for the magic E! Please make sure your child is reading their book bag book each night and returning it to school each day. IT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU BRING YOUR BOOK BAG BACK TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY!

Math: We want students to be practicing math at THEIR LEVEL. For some students, this means still counting practice, number flashcards, and number writing practice. For other students, counting money and simple addition is appropriate. YOU know your child best. Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day.

Writing: This is the same as math practice. YOU know what your child needs. For some students, alphabet writing practice is still needed. If your child is doing well with alphabet and name writing, practice writing sentences or short stories.

Sharing: Write one sentence about what you learned on the field trip. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week. Please see the "Attachment Library" page to download our Sharing Page - this is a great paper for sharing with a picture and writing space :)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Los Rios Field Trip

Our first kindergarten field trip to Los Rios Rancho was a blast! We met Johnny Appleseed, walked through the apple orchard, toured the packing house, and learned how to make apple cider! Thank you so much for all of your donations that made it possible for us to go on this field trip. A very special THANK YOU to all the parent volunteers that joined us!!! Here are our pictures ...


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Weekly News: October 10-14

The Fall Festival was a great success!!! It was so fun seeing you all there!! Our booth was awesome - special thank you to Mrs. Atchley and all the parents who helped out at this awesome event and made this all possible!!

We are so excited about our field trip on Tuesday! We will be leaving school in the morning and returning by dimissal (we may be returning a LITTLE bit after dismissal time!). Please send your child to school this day in a normal shirt (we will be throwing their field trip t-shirt over their clothing!) and without a snack (snack will be provided for them!) We are asking if anyone is willing to donate a large box of goldfish crackers and small water bottles or juice boxes for our snack on the field trip. Please let me know Monday if you are able to donate! Please also remember parents, that you will be following the bus and that our policy is no siblings or little ones. Thank you! PLEASE TURN IN YOUR FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIPS!!!! STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO ON THE FIELD TRIP WITHOUT A SIGNED PERMISSION SLIP!

The whole class is now bringing home Book Bags! Please read these books EVERY NIGHT as a part of your reading homework! Don't forget to bring these bags back to school every day!

We have an awesome school song that the whole school is learning! Our school song, "We Are Leaders" can be found on our song tab on the website! If students can memorize this song by December, there will be a special prize!! We are sending home the lyrics on Monday, so check your Go Folder.

Does anyone have a cool, black leather jacket that we can borrow early this week for a fun project?? This could be any size. Please see me if you do! I appreciate it!

We are learning all about National Symbols this week. This is also our sharing this week. Check out this cool kids' website I found about our nation!! You can read about our country and national symbols, and even play games or print coloring pages of our national symbols!!: National Symbols Website for Kids


 What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: HE, SHE, WENT, TO, PLAY.

Letter Team: AY (like in PLAY, DAY) and ING (like in SING, RING).

Word Family: -AY and -AM. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -ay (for example: BAY, DAY, SAY, MAY, HAY) and -am (SAM, HAM, RAM, SLAM).

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for a letter team inside the word" (Please see Reading Strategies Tab). This week, we will continue to read books about fall and leaves and read our special poem of the week, "Autumn Leaves".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about playing. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. We will learn this week that good writers are never "done". When we think we are done with a story we can add to the picture, add to the words, or start a new story. We will also meet two new friends, Neat Nancy and Sloppy Joe. We will try to write just like Neat Nancy!


Math: This week we will learn "more than and less than".  We will continue counting by tens, counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. 

Leadership: This month our theme is "compassion". We are learning that compassion is when you want to help someone that needs help or be a friend to someone who needs a friend.