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Friday, September 25, 2015

Weekly News: September 28-October 2


Happy Autumn! 

This Friday is our Lion's Fest! It will be located at CSC from 3:00-7:00. Our kindergarten classes will be working the Sponge Ball Hoop Shoot. Fun! Thank you to the parents who signed up to help on Parent Square. This is sure to be a fun-filled event! 

We are getting excited about our field trip on Tuesday, October 13th to Los Rios Ranch in Oak Glenn. Please do not forget to donate towards the field trip under Dollar A Day! Here is the link: Dollar A Day. For this field trip, we are asking for a $20 donation and unfortunately, we are unable to go without the proper funds. Thank you so much for your support! 

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, our classroom would love: 
Headphones 
Gallon Ziplocs 
Halloween or Fall stickers and trinkets 
Treasure Box Prizes 


What Are We Learning This Week?: 

Sight Words: TAKE, AN, BECAUSE, UP. 

Letter Team:  OW/OU (like in COW, FLOWER/OUCH, HOUSE) and the long OW sound (like in YELLOW SNOW).  

Word Family:  -AN. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word family -an (can, man, pan, etc.) 

Reading: This week, we will begin reading books about Autumn and leaves. We are starting our Kindergarten Book Bags this week. Your child will be bringing home a special book bag on Monday. The book or books in your child's book bag will be books we are working on together in reading groups and/or books self-selected by your child. Some students are working on mastering the little paper books we have made in class together and may choose to take one of those home to practice. Some students are working on books from our classroom library. Book Bags (and books) are to be brought back and forth, home to school, every day. Book bags are also an ESSENTIAL part of your child's home reading - they should be reading these books EVERY DAY for homework. If your child brings home a paper book with a big star on it, that means they have read that book fluently for me, and the book can now live at home. If you have any questions about our book bags, please do not hesitate to ask! Happy reading! 

Writing:  This week, we will write a big book together about matter. We will learn that matter is anything that takes up space. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will also learn that when we are writing a word that begins with a vowel, we put "AN" in front of that word - for example, "an elephant" instead of "a elephant" - please reinforce this at home in writing and in speech. 

Math: We will continue our fun unit on shapes this week as we explore 3D shapes and tangrams. We will continue working with 2D flat shapes and 3D solid shapes, exploring the number of faces and the vertices of each shape. As always, we will also continue counting, identify, order, write, and count numbers to 30, learn the days of the week, months of the year, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. 

Leadership: Congratulations to our Leadership Award Winners for GRIT: Ella, Austin, Layla, Ben, and Zachary! I am so proud! We will continue to practice GRIT because it will be our leadership trait for the rest of the trimester! 

Homework: September 28-October 2

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (AN, BECAUSE, TAKE, UP), letter teams (OW and OU), and word family (AN - pan, fan, man). Study these flashcards (and those from previous weeks) every day. Visit our Sight Words tab for more flashcard ideas.


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. 


Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read books from your Book Bag! Read books from your at-home book box! Read to your child every day and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing ABC's uppercase and lowercase (Aa, Bb, Cc). Also practice writing your sight words of the week and sight word dictation sentences for our sentences test on Friday.


Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to practice counting, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: Write one sentence about your favorite autumn/fall activity. Draw a picture to go with your sentence.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Weekly News: September 21-25



We had so much fun making apple pies! Thank you for all of your donations and a special thank you to all of our fabulous parent helpers
for ALL of your help baking our pies! It would not have happened without you!  This week we will finish our unit on apples by making applesauce together! YAY :) 

We are getting excited about our field trip on Tuesday, October 13th to Los Rios Ranch in Oak Glenn. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to chaperone and for paying your $7 cash admission fee.  If you haven’t yet turned in your $7 to chaperone, please do so ASAP. We need to get our head count to Los Rios Ranch by THIS FRIDAY. The chaperone money is paid directly to your class teacher and NOT to dollar a day. Thank you!


Also please do not forget to donate towards the field trip under Dollar A Day! Here is the link: Dollar A Day. For this field trip, we are asking for a $20 donation and unfortunately, we are unable to go without the proper funds. Thank you so much for your support! 


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: COME, AT, SAID.

Letter Team: CE/CI (we are learning that the letter C can make a soft sound when it is followed by an E or I like in "cent" and "city").  

Word Family: -IN. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word family -in (bin, fin, tin, etc.) 

Reading: We will continue to read books about apples and Johnny Appleseed and finish our author study on Mo Willems. Students will continue to read little books in class that include sight words and letter teams. Please keep practicing them at home! We all have "Reading Goals" that we are working on in class during our Read to Self and Word Work time. Many of our reading goals are to master our letters and sounds. Please keep working on this at home. Our classroom goal is 100% letters and sounds by November!

Writing: This week we will learn what "quotations" are. We will write a big book together about our silly monster friends and use "quotations" when they say something. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far 

Math: We will continue working on 2D flat shapes and 3D solid shapes.  We will explore the number of faces and vertices each 3D shape has and find out which shapes roll, slide and stack.  We will also continue counting money, identify, order, write, and count numbers to 30, learn the days of the week, months of the year, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. We will be creating a 3D Shape Museum as part of our Turn-In Homework this week.  More information in Homework Section! 

Leadership: This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. 

Homework: September 21-25

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (COME, AT, SAID), letter teams (CE and CI), and word family (IN - bin, fin, win). Study these flashcards (and those from previous weeks) every day. Visit our Sight Words tab for more flashcard ideas.


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. 


Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read the paper books that came home on Friday! Read to your child every day and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing ABC's uppercase and lowercase (Aa, Bb, Cc). Also practice writing your sight words of the week and sight word dictation sentences for our sentences test on Friday.


Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to practice counting, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: Special Sharing project this week!  Since we are learning about 3D shapes, we would like to create a 3D Shape Museum in our class from items your child brings in to share.  Please help your child locate a few items around your house that you are willing to part with for a week or two that are the 3D shapes we are learning - cube, cylinder, sphere, cone, pyramid, rectangular prism. Smaller sized items are best as we don’t want the 3D Shape Museum to overtake our classroom!  Thanks and have fun exploring these shapes at home with your child.  Your child’s sharing does not need to include a written paper this week however your child will need to share his/her 3D shapes and identify the name of each shape - so practice at home!  Here is a fun video to get you started on your 3D shape hunt: 3D Shape Video  The video contains each of the shapes we are learning about except rectangular prisms.  

Friday, September 11, 2015

Weekly News: September 14-18


The class had so much fun tasting apples on Friday.  This Friday, we will be making apple pie as we continue our study on apples. Thank you for signing up on ParentSquare to bring supplies! We could not do it without you! 

My family and I will be finding out our baby's gender this weekend. To make it a fun Monday, I thought the kiddos could wear pink if they think it will be a girl or blue if they think it will be a boy. I am so excited to share such special news with my kindergarten friends! 

Electives will begin Monday! If your child is participating in an elective, you may send a lunch to school with him/her on that elective day and lunch supervision will be provided for your children. Kindergarten electives are from 12:50-1:20 and the elective teachers will dismiss your children at 1:20 on the ramp. Please be aware that some electives may last until 1:30, depending on the elective.

Thank you so much for donations of headphones in the classroom and also for your Amazon gift card donations. Because of your generosity, I was able to purchase two used iPads for the classroom!! The students and I truly appreciate it! :) 

We are so excited to announce that our first field trip is planned! We will be going to Los Rios Ranch in Oak Glenn on Tuesday, October 13th. We will be leaving school by bus at approximately 8:30 in the morning and returning around dismissal at 12:30. The students will get to meet Johnny Appleseed, tour the apple orchards, and even make our very own apple cider! In order for our kindergarten classes to go on this field trip (and all future field trips this year), we are asking for donations to be made to our Dollar A Day program through the school. For this field trip, we are asking for a generous donation of $20 per student. This will help cover the cost of the apple farm, the bus, and the very special kindergarten field trip t-shirt that your child will wear on all field trips this year. Unfortunately, if our kindergarten team does not receive donations, we will not be able to go on this wonderful field trip :(  We are also looking for volunteers to join us and chaperone our field trip. The cost for chaperones is also $7.  If you are interested in chaperoning for our field trip on this day, please email your teacher directly. The $7 chaperone fee needs to be paid in cash directly to your child's teacher, not through Dollar a Day. On Friday, September 25th, we will need to give our final head count to Los Rios Ranch, so if you would like to chaperone, please let your teacher know by then. We apologize for any inconvenience, but siblings and little ones are not allowed on this field trip due to the safety of our kindergarten students you will be chaperoning.  Also, be on the look-out for the field trip permission slip that will be coming home in your child's Take Home Folder as we get closer to our field trip. We are so excited for this excellent field trip with your children! 

Please do not forget to donate towards the field trip under Dollar A Day! Here is the link: Dollar A Day.   We will be using Dollar A Day monies for ALL field trips. Thank you so much for your support! 


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: YOU, AND, IT FRIEND.

Letter Team: WH (like in what and whistle).

Word Family: AT - like in bat, cat, rat, sat, fat, etc.

Reading: We will continue to read books about apples and Johnny Appleseed. We will also read lots of funny books by Mo Willems. Students will continue to read little books in class that include sight words and letter teams. Many of these little books came home on Friday with a star. As students practice reading fluently, these books will continue to come home. Please keep practicing them at home! 

Writing: We are writing a big book together about the life cycle of an apple using sight words we have learned so far. We will be studying how an apple grows, from seed to tree to blossom to apple. We will also learn a poem this week that will help us with our penmanship: Some letters are tall, some letters are small, and some letters fall. Please reinforce neat penmanship when writing at home, reminding your children to write within the lines and always start at the top!

Math: This week we will learn all of our 3D shapes. We will begin counting by fives and tens. We will continue to practice number identification, number writing, days of the week, months of the year, shapes, and counting on/"Popcorn Counting". 

Leadership: This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. 

Homework: September 14-18

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (YOU, AND, IT, FRIEND), letter teams (WH), and word family (AT - bat, sat, cat, mat, fat). Study these flashcards (and those from previous weeks) every day. Visit our Sight Words tab for more flashcard ideas.


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. 


Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read the paper books that came home on Friday! Read to your child every day and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing ABC's uppercase and lowercase (Aa, Bb, Cc). Also practice writing your sight words of the week and sight word dictation sentences for our sentences test on Friday.


Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to practice counting, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: We are learning all about the life cycle of an apple. Please write one sentence about the life cycle of an apple (from seed to tree to blossom to apple).Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Your child may attempt to write this sentence themselves, or you may dictate the sentence your child would like to write.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Weekly News: September 7-11



I hope you enjoyed the three day weekend with your families! We are looking forward to a short, but busy week in kindergarten! 

School picture day will be THIS Friday, September 11th! Be on the look-out for a flyer being sent home soon!

Your child's beginning of the year assessment results were sent home last week. Please take some time to review these results with your child. My goal for all students is to have 100% letter, sound, phonemic awareness, shape, and number recognition by the end of our first trimester in November. 

Electives will begin next Monday, September 14th. The list of elective classes will be posted this week. If your child is participating in an elective, you may send a lunch to school with him/her on that elective day and lunch supervision will be provided for your children. Kindergarten electives are from 12:50-1:20 and the elective teachers will dismiss your children at 1:20 on the ramp. Please be aware that some electives may last until 1:30, depending on the elective.

At this point of the year, we appreciate you saying your goodbyes on the playground. We know this is hard, but it makes the transition from playground to classroom much easier. Thank you in advance for your support.

A special thank you to our Friday moms for helping last week! We enjoyed our first day of Fun Friday centers with you. This week, we will be tasting apples and writing about which color apple we like the best. Thank you for checking Parentsquare and signing up to bring apples!

Our books orders are due this week! If you would like to order books, please place your orders soon. I will be submitting the order on Friday!

If you have not donated classroom headphones for your child yet, we are still in need of headphones! One pair for each student is ideal so that we can make great use of our iPads and listening centers.

We are so excited to announce that our first field trip is planned! We will be going to Los Rios Ranch in Oak Glenn on Tuesday, October 13th. We will be leaving school by bus at approximately 8:30 in the morning and returning around dismissal at 12:30. The students will get to meet Johnny Appleseed, tour the apple orchards, and even make our very own apple cider! In order for our kindergarten classes to go on this field trip (and all future field trips this year), we are asking for donations to be made to our Dollar A Day program through the school. For this field trip, we are asking for a generous donation of $20 per student. This will help cover the cost of the apple farm, the bus, and the very special kindergarten field trip t-shirt that your child will wear on all field trips this year. Unfortunately, if our kindergarten team does not receive donations, we will not be able to go on this wonderful field trip :(  We are also looking for volunteers to join us and chaperone our field trip. The cost for chaperones is also $7.  If you are interested in chaperoning for our field trip on this day, please email your teacher directly. The $7 chaperone fee needs to be paid in cash directly to your child's teacher, not through Dollar a Day. On Friday, September 25th, we will need to give our final head count to Los Rios Ranch, so if you would like to chaperone, please let your teacher know by then. We apologize for any inconvenience, but siblings and little ones are not allowed on this field trip due to the safety of our kindergarten students you will be chaperoning.  Also, be on the look-out for the field trip permission slip that will be coming home in your child's Take Home Folder as we get closer to our field trip. We are so excited for this excellent field trip with your children! 

Please do not forget to donate towards the field trip under Dollar A Day! Here is the link: http://www.inlandleaders.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=206371&type=d   We will be using Dollar A Day monies for ALL field trips. Thank you so much for your support! 

We are very excited to have such an amazing room mom this year - Mrs. Sams!


Mrs. Sams is Ben's mommy and her contact information is: 

Email: kellymsams@gmail.com
Cell Phone: 909-226-7001

In the future, you can find Mrs. Sam's information in our "Room Parent" tab. 


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: LOOK, HERE THIS

Letter Team: CH (like in "cheetos") and OO (we are learning that OO can make two sounds: OO like in "look" and OO like in "pool".)

Word Family: AM - like in yam, ram, Sam, Pam, etc. 

Reading: This week, we will begin reading books about apples and Johnny Appleseed. We will also read lots of funny books by Mo Willems. Students will continue to read little books in class that include sight words and letter teams. These little books will begin to come home starting Friday. Please keep them inside your special home book box that you shared on the first week of school and practice reading them every day! 

Writing: We are writing a big book together about science tools using sight words we have learned so far. We will be studying these science tools and how and when we use them. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout, and use a period at the end. We will continue to use our sight words in our sentences and use our sound chart to help us sound out the words we do not know how to write.

Math: This week we will learn the name and value of each coin and pretty soon, we will start counting money! You can help at home by having your child name and tell you the value of coins around the house.  We will also learn to count by ordinal numbers (first, second, third...). We will also learn that we can represent numbers in different ways: on a tens frame, with a numeral, on our fingers, with dots on dice, etc. 

Leadership: This month and throughout September, our theme is "GRIT". We are teaching that grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. 

Homework: September 7-11

Flashcards: Please make flashcards for our sight words of the week (LOOK, HERE, THIS), our letter team of the week (CH and OO) and our word family (AM - Pam, Sam, ram, etc.) Study these flashcards every day. 


Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please see our Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips. Your child's beginning of the year assessment results were sent home last week. I hope this gives you a better idea of the phonemic awareness skills that your child needs to work on! 


Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read to your child every day and have your child read to you every day. Find sight words and letter teams in books, in the car as you are driving - just READ, READ, READ! 


Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. Practice writing your name with an uppercase only at the beginning. Practice writing ABC's uppercase and lowercase (Aa, Bb, Cc). Also practice writing your sight words of the week and sight word dictation sentences for our sentences test on Friday.


Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to practice counting, identify numbers out of order (make number flashcards!), practice number writing, practice drawing shapes, identifying shapes, or even creating shapes out of play-dough and sticks. Keep going over those Daily Math worksheets that go home each day to see if your child needs help with a particular skill. 

Turn-In Homework: This week, we will be learning about various science tools. For Turn-In Homework this week, please write one sentence about a science tool and how you would use it. (Example: I use a thermometer to tell the temperature.) Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Your child may attempt to write this sentence themselves, or you may dictate the sentence your child would like to write.