News From the Jungle

We began NWEA testing and will continue testing through the 31st of the month or until we have completed all Math and Reading for each child. Please make sure the children are getting their rest and eating breakfast so that they can try their best on the test!

Upcoming Events

1/20 NO SCHOOL!! MLK JR. Day!!

1/21 Half Day! Dismissal at 11:40am

1/23 Timeline Project Due (note came home 1/13/also posted to blog)

1/24 No spelling test because of the short week

1/28 Field Trip to Theater!

1/31 Spelling Test #3: it, am, do, jet, met, pet, set, net, vet (And one more cold word belonging to the word family – et. Practice extra -et words with your child such as wet, get, etc)

2/5 Late Start – arrival at 9:35am

2/5 Scholastic Book Order Due

2/6 Spelling Test #4: is, go, we, big, dig, pig, wig, zig, jig (And one more cold word belonging to the word family – ig. Practice extra -ig words with your child such as gig, fig, sprig, rig, etc.)

2/7 No School for Young 5’s and Kindergarten ONLY!!!

2/14 Spelling Test #5: for, up, look, hop, pop, top, cop, mop, bop (And one more cold word belonging to the word family – op. Practice extra -op words with your child such as shop, chop, stop, flop, etc.)

2/17 – 2/21 MID-WINTER BREAK!!!

2/28 Spelling Test #6: like, see, my, if, and, fun, run, bun, sun (And one more cold word belonging to the word family – un. Practice extra -un words with your child such as spun, gun, etc.)

Agenda for the Week

Reading & Writing:  We are focusing on middle sounds which are our vowel sounds. The children are doing really well with these tricky sounds! We also continue to work on increasing our comprehension during reading and to sound out words during writing. The children are learning about informational writing, as we learn about polar animals and complete activities about walruses, penguins, and polar bears.

Please continue to have your child practice writing sentences at home by pretending they are holding an imaginary rubberband and stretching it as they slowly say the word they are trying to spell.

Please utilize RazKids, Readingeggs, and Mathseeds at home. These are all wonderful resources to progress your child’s skills. When your child first logs onto Readingeggs and Mathseeds, it will ask them to take an assessment. This assesses their skill set and places them at the lesson that is best suited for them. Some of your children may start on lesson one or some may start on lesson nine. I love these programs because they place the kids at their own learning level!

Math: We continue to work on addition and subtraction. We also are learning about how objects can be heavier, lighter, taller, shorter, etc. It was interesting to learn a little about area and perimeter by using unifix cubes to cover the surfaces of different objects within the room.

Science: We began talking about polar habitats and the animals which live there. We are learning about different animals who live in the cold and how they are able to survive in this habitat.

Social Studies:  We are discussing history. The children are learning that we can remember and talk about things that happened in the past.We cannot wait to share our timeline projects with the class!

Housekeeping Items:

Indoor Lineup

Indoor lineup is now at the 5th grade doors. Remember, even during indoor lineup, no parents are allowed in the building unless you have signed in at the front office.

Winter Apparel

Please practice putting on and taking off coats, boots, shoes, scarves, gloves, etc. As well as buttoning/zipping coats and tying their own shoes. Your child should be able to do all of these things independently!

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.