Weekly News: February 2-5

We had so much fun celebrating our 100th Day of School! Thank you for all of the help, donations, and snacks!! I can't believe we are more than half way through our school year together! I am so proud of your children for working so hard and for everything they have learned so far.

Our field trip is THIS FRIDAY! We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Fairy Tales Unscripted". We need to board the bus NO LATER THAN 8:10 to arrive on time, so we ask that all students MEET IN THE CLASSROOM AT 8:00 that morning. You do not need to bring a folder or a snack. We will be returning in time for dismissal and electives. Don't forget to donate $15  into our Dollar a Day fund. This donation will help cover the cost of the tickets and bus. Here is the link: Dollar A Day. 

This week we will be learning all about our country. Please see our Reading section for more information. You and your child can use the following website to check out fun facts on our National Symbols. http://bensguide.gpo.gov Have fun learning and playing some of these fun activities!

Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

Upcoming Events:  
Friday, February 5: Theater Field Trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse
Monday, February 8: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 12: Valentine's Day Centers 
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL 
March 1-4: Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss Celebration 
Thursday, March 17: SPECIAL ST. PATRICK'S WEAR GREEN DAY AND CENTERS
Friday, March 18: SPECIAL SPRING AND EASTER CENTERS
March 21-April 1: SPRING BREAK!!!


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Valentine's Day Stickers 
PRIZES FOR OUR CLASS STORE!!! 
EVEN MORE GLUE STICKS! :) 



What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: QUESTION, WRITE, WITH, SAW, FROM.

Letter Team:  QU (we are learning that QU are married because they are always together!) and WR (the W is silent!) 

Reading: This week we are reading books all about our country. We will be learning all about our American symbols (flag, liberty bell, bald eagle, White House, Mount Rushmore, etc.) We will learn the meaning behind the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a note coming home on Monday with the words and the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance. Please go over this with your child and discuss the meaning, as we will be doing the same in class. 

Writing:  We will continue practicing writing a Step Up to Writing paragraph with a topic sentence, three things about that topic, and a conclusion sentence. 

Math: Since we have passed our 100th Day of School, we will start working on place value to the hundreds. We'll be learning that Zero the Hero (I'm sure you heard a lot about him on Friday!) is now our place holder in the tens place. We will discuss how many hundreds, tens, and ones are within a given number and create number sentences to match. You can help at home by asking your child about tens and ones. ("My number is 16, how many tens and ones does that have?" Your child should be able to tell you that it has one ten and six ones, as well as give you the number sentence 10+6=16.)

Leadership: SELF-CONTROL.

Homework: February 2-5

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (QUESTION, WRITE, WITH, SAW, FROM), and letter teams (QU and WR). Study flashcards every day. STUDY OLD FLASHCARDS AS WELL. I WILL BE TESTING STUDENTS ON ALL SIGHT WORDS FROM THE FIRST AND SECOND TRIMESTER IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS!

Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on the following Phonemic Awareness skills - rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Foundational Skills areas where they may still need support. 

Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. In addition to Smarty Ants, we ask that you read your Book Bag every night. This includes: sight words, fluency passage, paper book, and library book. 

Writing: Write 3-5 sentences every day in your at-home journal. 

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Discuss place value with your child. Ask them how many tens and ones belong in each number and have them give you the number sentence to go with that number. Example: The number 14 has one ten and four ones. 10+4=14. 

SPECIAL HOMEWORK!!!!!!: On Monday, we are sending home our homework project for the week. It is a little book called "Me on the Map". It is meant to teach your child where he or she lives from the big picture (North America) to the small (your street address). Please complete this book together and return it Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of this week.

Weekly News: January 25-29

On FRIDAY, WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL! We will be celebrating the 100th day with special 100th day Fun Friday Centers!  

We are asking that each student bring a snack item to be shared with the class ANY DAY THIS WEEK!!  Some examples include:  a box of goldfish crackers, large bag of gummy bears, large bag of skittles, box of cheerios, large bag of mini Oreos, etc. The students will be sharing the snacks with their classmates to make “100 Day Hash” in celebration of  our 100th day!! 

We also have a SPECIAL TURN-IN HOMEWORK this week - please read more in our homework section. 

If you would like, we invite you to join us in class at 12:10 on Friday as we watch a special video from our first 100 days of school. I can't believe that we have already been in school for almost 100 days! I am so proud of your kids and how far they have come! 

Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

We are getting excited for our field trip next Friday, February 5th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Fairy Tales Unscripted". Students will get to be a share their ideas for show and the actors will improvise their ideas and act them out! It should be a very fun time! We will leave the school by bus first thing in the morning and returning by dismissal. For this field trip, we are asking for a donation of $15 per student to be made into our Dollar a Day fund. This donation will help cover the cost of the tickets and bus. Here is the link: Dollar A Day. Note: If we do not recieve funds for our field trip, it will unfortunately be cancelled, so please do not forget to donate! Thank you so much for your support so that we can continue to go on fun field trips as a class! 

We are in need of LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Upcoming Events:  
Friday, January 29: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION
Friday, February 5: Theater Field Trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse
Monday, February 8: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 12: Valentine's Day Centers (more info coming soon)
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
PRIZES FOR OUR CLASS STORE!!! 
EVEN MORE GLUE STICKS! :) 
What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE.

Letter Team:  ONG (like in SONG) and ONK (like in HONK).  

Reading: This week we are reading books all about our 100th Day of School! 

Writing:  We have some fun writing assignments this week. We will be writing all about our first 100 days of school, what we would do if we had $100, and what we would look like if we were 100 years old. 

Math: We will continue our unit on measurement. This week we will focus on sorting and graphing. You will see some sorting and graphing pages come home throughout the week. Please go over these pages with your child and reinforce the concept of sorting and graphing. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the second trimester is SELF-CONTROL. We will be discussing ways that we can use self-control at home and at school. 

Homework: January 25-29

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE), and letter teams (ONG and ONK). Study 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 check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Foundational Skills areas where they may still need support. 

Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. In addition to Smarty Ants, we ask that you read your Book Bag every night. This includes: sight words, fluency passage, paper book, and library book. 

Writing: Write three sentences every day in your at-home journal. 

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to discuss measurement and help your child to measure items at home. Reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5. Count the money in your "bank" each day. Tell addition and subtraction word problems to your children and have them explain to you how they got the answer.

SPECIAL SHARING HOMEWORK!!!!!!: We would like our students to practice counting to 100 by collecting 100 items to bring to school. Help them choose something small like beans, buttons, pennies, cotton balls, etc. Help them put their collection into a paper “mystery bag” with their name on it (like a brown paper lunch bag that we cannot see through!). When they bring it to school, the class will try to guess what they brought! We will be doing fun activities with these collections all week long! Students may bring their collection in any day this week, just like they would sharing. Please bring it in before Friday!

Weekly News: January 18-22

I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing three-day weekend with your families!


Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

This is the last week for our Scholastic Book Order. Get those orders by Friday and receive your books before Valentine's Day!

Our next kindergarten field trip is scheduled for Friday, February 5th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Fairy Tales Unscripted". Students will get to be a share their ideas for show and the actors will improvise their ideas and act them out! It should be a very fun time! We will leave the school by bus first thing in the morning and returning by dismissal. For this field trip, we are asking for a donation of $15 per student to be made into our Dollar a Day fund. This donation will help cover the cost of the tickets and bus. Here is the link: Dollar A Day. Thank you so much for your support so that we can continue to go on fun field trips as a class! 

We are in need of LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Upcoming Events:  
Monday, January 18: NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 29: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION (more info coming soon)
Friday, February 5: Theater Field Trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse
Monday, February 8: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 12: Valentine's Day Centers (more info coming soon)
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
PRIZES FOR OUR CLASS STORE!!! 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WOULD, COULD, SHOULD, WALK, TALK.

Letter Team:  ANG (like in HANG, SANG) and ANK (like in TANK, BANK). 

Reading: This week we are studying and reading about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and equality for all people. 

Writing:  We are learning how to write a five sentence paragraph. I have been modeling a structure for paragraph writing called, "Step Up to Writing" for the students. Kindergarten Step Up to Writing is writing a paragraph with a topic sentence, three sentences about that topic, and a conclusion sentence. This week, we will write five sentence step up to writing stories about Martin Luther King Jr. 

Math: We will continue our unit on measurement. This week we will focus on comparing how objects are similar or different. For example: If the glue stick is 5 cubes in length and the pencil is 10 cubes in length, which object is longer? The tricky part of comparing is when we ask, "HOW MUCH LONGER?" We will learn that comparing problems are really just subtraction problems (10-5=5 so the pencil is 5 cubes longer). This is very difficult critical thinking for our kindergarten students. You can help at home by asking similar comparing/subtraction questions. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the second trimester is SELF-CONTROL. We will be discussing ways that we can use self-control at home and at school. 

Homework: January 18-22

Flashcards:Make flashcards for our new sight words (WOULD, COULD, SHOULD, WALK, TALK), and letter teams (ANG and ANK). Study 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 check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Foundational Skills areas where they may still need support. 

Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. In addition to Smarty Ants, we ask that you read your Book Bag every night. This includes: sight words, fluency passage, paper book, and library book. 

Writing: Write three sentences every day in your at-home journal. 

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to discuss measurement and help your child to measure items at home. Reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5. Count the money in your "bank" each day. Tell addition and subtraction word problems to your children and have them explain to you how they got the answer.

Turn-In Homework: Please write THREE SENTENCES about what we are learning about Martin Luther King Jr. Draw a picture to go with your sentences.

Weekly News: January 11-15

Electives and Success Academy will begin again THIS WEEK! 

There is no school next Monday, January 18th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Enjoy the three day weekend with your families!

Students have been doing such a wonderful job on writing last names! If your child is still struggling with this, please practice at home!

Our January Book Order went home last week, - order now and receive great books before Valentine's Day! Book orders are due Friday, January 22nd. 

Our "banks" have been a big hit in the classroom! Students are excited to "earn money" for staying on yellow and green, for making good use of classroom time, and for good behavior and hard work throughout the day. On Friday, we will have first visit to the classroom store. Students have the opportunity to trade out their money for larger coins (5 pennies for a nickel, etc) and choose to spend money on a prize or save it for a larger prize later. Please continue to count money received everyday and reinforce the responsibility of taking care of banks. Also, if you are able, we'd love more prizes for our "class store"!!! Thank you for your continued support!

Our next kindergarten field trip is scheduled for Friday, February 5th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Fairy Tales Unscripted". Students will get to be a share their ideas for show and the actors will improvise their ideas and act them out! It should be a very fun time! We will leave the school by bus first thing in the morning and returning by dismissal. For this field trip, we are asking for a donation of $15 per student to be made into our Dollar a Day fund. This donation will help cover the cost of the tickets and bus. Here is the link: Dollar A Day. Thank you so much for your support so that we can continue to go on fun field trips as a class! 

We are in need of LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Upcoming Events:  
Monday, January 18: NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 29: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION (more info coming soon)
Friday, February 5: Theater Field Trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse
Monday, February 8: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 12: Valentine's Day Centers (more info coming soon)
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Gluesticks  
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: OF, BACK, SAY, SAYS, PLEASE.

Letter Team:  CK (We are learning that CK makes the K sound and helps the vowel to say it's short sound, like in BACK, NECK, PICK, LOCK, DUCK).

Reading: This week we are studying and doing projects with "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. We will discuss and record story elements such as author, illustrator, setting, and characters. We will read books about winter and other stories by the author, Jan Brett. In our fluency passages, we are learning how to be "reading detectives" and answering comprehension questions by going back to find evidence in the text to support our answer. 

Writing:  We are learning how to write a five sentence paragraph. I have been modeling a structure for paragraph writing called, "Step Up to Writing" for the students. Kindergarten Step Up to Writing is writing a paragraph with a topic sentence, three sentences about that topic, and a conclusion sentence. For example, "We had a great day at school today. First, we learned about measurement in math. Next, we colored snowmen at centers. Last, we read a lot of books about winter. As you can see, we had a fun time at school." 

Math: Last week, each student took a pre-test for our measurement unit. I will use those results this week for some fun measurement lessons. We will learn different ways things can be measured, including length, height, width, weight, and capacity. We will have fun measuring various items around the classroom. A big part of this unit is also sorting and graphing. You can help by discussing measurement, sorting, and graphing at home. Tell your child to sort different things around the house and ask how they sorted those things. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the second trimester is SELF-CONTROL. We will be discussing ways that we can use self-control at home and at school. 

Homework: January 11-15

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (OF, BACK, SAY, SAYS, PLEASE), and letter team (CK). Study 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 check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Foundational Skills areas where they may still need support. 

Reading: Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. In addition to Smarty Ants, we ask that you read your Book Bag every night. This includes: sight words, fluency passage, paper book, and library book. 

Writing: Write three sentences every day in your at-home journal. 

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Be on the look out for a half sheet of paper coming home with your child's math goal and please work on this math goal with your child every day! 

Turn-In Homework: Please write THREE SENTENCES about something that you can measure. Make sure you tell me what you measured and the attribute (length, height, width, capacity, weight). Draw a picture to go with your sentences.

Weekly News: January 5-9

News: 

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and fun two weeks off with family and friends!

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST AS THERE IS A LOT OF NEW INFORMATION FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

There is no school this Monday, January 4th due to a Teacher Inservice day. There is also no school on Monday, January 18th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We will also begin taking Timed Tests on our Number Bonds (ways to make 2, ways to make 3, etc.) and adding and subtracting math facts through five. Our Common Core Standard is that by the end of kindergarten, students will fluently (meaning without fingers or manipulatives) be able to add and subtract within five. Students will have the opportunity to practice these facts and take tests when they are ready for it at math time. Please remember that we would like all students to master this standard by the end of the year. My hope is that each week, we will accomplish a little bit more on these tests. Please reinforce and practice these skills at home. Thank you for your support! 

Be on the look out for our January Book Order coming home later this week, - order now and receive great books before Valentine's Day! 

Beginning after the holiday break, we will now have each student write his/her first and LAST NAME on all papers, homework, etc.  If your child does not know how to write his/her last name, please practice this at home. We will be practicing at school as well. Each student will now have last names written on their NEW Take Home Folders and name tags for support in the classroom. 

Yes, we have NEW Take Home Folders! These will be the LAST Take Home Folder for the year, so we will be discussing responsibility and handle and care of these folders in the classroom. There might even be prizes awarded throughout the rest of the year on "Who has the nicest and cleanest Take Home Folder"! Please remember to bring these folders EVERY DAY!! 

Also beginning after the holiday break each child will have a “bank” attached to his/her new folder. The “bank” is a ziploc baggie taped to the folder. Each day your child will have the opportunity to earn money at the end of the day - the money will replace the stickers! Students will receive a penny for staying on yellow and green for the day. Students will also have the opportunity to receive nickels and dimes in the classroom as rewards for behavior and hard work throughout the day. Instead of Treasure Box on Fridays, now they will visit the CLASS STORE! Each student will count money, trade money (example: five pennies for one nickel) and have the opportunity to spend their money on the items that are now “on sale” at the class store. Of course, bigger treasures will cost more money, which I hope will reinforce self-control and teach students about saving. Each child will be responsible for keeping track of their own bank and for counting the money in it. (This will be great math homework practice). Please encourage your child to take care of and keep track of his/her bank, as lost money WILL NOT BE REPLACED!  Also, if students forget folders at home, they will not receive money for that day. The bank is designed to teach responsibility and accountability as well as reinforce math skills. This is a great life skill your child will benefit from in the future!! Thank you for your continued support.

In your child’s book bag, you will continue to find a fluency passage. Your child is practicing reading fluently in our reading groups. 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. Some fluency passages have word family practice that should be practiced daily. Some fluency passages also have comprehension questions at the end of the story. Please have your child practice reading the fluency passage each night. Fluency passages should remain in our book bags so that we can practice reading them every day at school and every night at home. Thank you!  

We are in need of LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Electives and Success Academy will begin next Monday, January 11th. 

Upcoming Events:  
Monday, January 4: NO SCHOOL
Monday, January 18: NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 29: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION (more info coming soon)
Friday, February 5: Theater Field Trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse (more info coming soon)
Monday, February 8: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 12: Valentine's Day Centers (more info coming soon)
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Gluesticks  
Baby Wipes
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WORK, ALL, AWAY, JUST, US.

Letter Team:  WOR (the OR sounds like Mr. ER, like in work and word) and TION (sounds like SHUN like in vacation, invention, connection). 

Reading: This week, we will read many books about winter and snowmen. We will read our new fluency passages in our reading groups. We will continue to pick out "Good Fit Books" for our Read to Self time. 

Writing:  We will continue working on writing three sentences on the same topic and begin thinking of good topic sentences to begin our writing and conclusion sentences to end our writing.

Math: We will begin taking our Bonds and Fluency Math timed tests. We will continue to learn our Doubles Song. All students will be tested on standards not yet met from our Counting and our Shape units. We will be making new math goals on skills we still need help with. Be on the look out for a half sheet of paper coming home with your child's math goal and please work on this math goal with your child every day! We will also begin our math unit on measurement. We are learning different ways things can be measured, including length, height, width, weight, and capacity. You can help by discussing measurement at home.

Leadership: Our new leadership theme for the second trimester is SELF-CONTROL. We will be discussing ways that we can use self-control at home and at school.