News from the Jungle

Today was the first day that homework was due. Please make sure this is turned in and completed by Friday. If the week became hectic and you need to finish the packet over the weekend, please turn it in on Monday. The reading log should be completed each night. Even if your child was absent, the expectation is that they are reading every night for at least 10 minutes. The reading log is not optional. Reading eggs and RAZ-kids may count towards their reading. The math worksheets do not need to be torn out and returned to school. Please make sure you are keeping up with the math homework which will be listed in one of the boxes on the homework packet each week. One page from the packet and one lesson from the math booklet should be completed each night. I will not collect homework early, even if it has been completed. I will take homework out of folders on Friday only, or on the last day school is in session for the week (example: if there is no school on Friday, homework will be due on Thursday). I hope this helps to clarify some questions that came up this week. Thank you for working with your child at home.

If you have more questions about how to complete the homework, please watch this video:

I am still working on assessing letters, letter sounds, and much more. We will take our second round of NWEA testing next week. Once we have completed testing, we will be working on creating small groups based on the skills each child needs help progressing in.

This week you received all of the login information for RAZ-kids, reading eggs, and math seeds. Please put your child on these programs throughout the week as they help to build upon skills we are learning in school.

Upcoming Events

9/19 Late Start – arrival at 9:35am. School starts 9:40am.

9/19 Scholastic Book Order Due

(Note and catalog coming home today)

9/28 No school for Kindergarten students ONLY!!!

Agenda for the Week

Reading and Writing: We learned the letters A and Z and focused on the sound of each letter. The children brainstormed items that begin with each letter and completed activities which helped them find, identify, and write these letters.

If you need some ideas on how to help your child learn their name or letters in general, or your child needs to work on letter sounds, please watch the video below:

We use videos in class to help solidify concepts we are learning. Here are two videos to support the letters and letter sounds we learned this week:

The children participated in many read-alouds and learned to identify parts of the book such as front cover, back cover, spine, title page, author, illustrator, and characters. We will continue to talk more about these concepts over the next few weeks and introduce setting, problem, and solution as well.

This week we practiced one rotation of Daily 5. The children learned that there are three ways to read a book 1) read the words 2) read the pictures 3) retell the story. The children used these strategies during our Daily 5 – Read to Self rotation to read books quietly and build stamina. We will continue practicing these strategies next week.

Math: We began our new math program this week and are working through it. We will continue to learn how to complete math workshop centers and continue learning number concepts next week.

We use videos in class to help solidify concepts we are learning. Here are some videos to support the our learning this week:

Social Studies: We continued focusing on learning the rules of the classroom and school. We are working hard at being good listener. Some of the children are struggling with keeping their hands to themselves and knowing when it is appropriate to play pretend superheroes or zombies. Please help me and the class by going over expectations and rules with your child each morning before drop-off. Thank you for your support!

Housekeeping Items:

Name Practice

If your child is struggling with writing their name and other letters, it is important that you work with them at home on this skill. We are spending time in class working on these skills, but will be moving on quickly and if your child is struggling to form letters, they will struggle to complete their work. Here is a great resource for handwriting practice: https://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/printdots/index.htm

Snack Time

Please be sure to put the snack in a separate place from their lunch. Please show your child where you will put their snack each day in order to foster independence for them. Sometimes, when the snack is packed inside the lunchbox, the children try to eat their whole lunch at snack time. Thank you for your assistance in separating your child’s snack and lunch.

Snacks should be healthy to provide the children with energy for their day. Please send a simple snack such as fruit, vegetables, cheese, and crackers. Please do not send candy as a snack. Juice and milk are not allowed in our classroom. Please do not send any kind of juice box or milk with your child for snack time. The children may have the juice or milk for lunch in the cafeteria.

ALLERGY ALERT: We have nut allergies in our room. Please make sure that you are not sending any snacks which contain any nuts. Our room is NUT FREE!

Folders

Please make sure to empty the folder each night! It is very difficult and time consuming to locate homework or important notes when the folder is full of papers from the day before. Please be sure to send the folder to school each day. It is a big part of our arrival and dismissal routines and the folders help the children keep all of their papers organized.

Change of clothes

Please send in a change of clothes (pants, shirt, underwear, socks) in a gallon bag with their name clearly written on the baggie. My most frequent call home is to ask for parents to bring a change of clothes to school. Even the most disciplined children have accidents at school sometimes. We have so much fun during the day that sometimes the children do not want to stop to use the bathroom when needed. Not only do bathroom accidents happen, but sometimes the playground equipment is wet or the ground is muddy. Having a change of clothes at school makes it easy for me and for you to help your child feel clean and comfortable in the quickest way possible. We will leave the baggie of clothes in their locker at school.