Dear Families,

I hope you enjoyed your snowy Sunday and stayed warm! I ventured out for one hour and then stayed inside the rest of the day! It is very beautiful though, and I was waiting for the snow to fall! As the week is projected to be a cold one, make sure your little one is bundled up! If the temp is 20* or below they may wait in the gym each morning. Here is what you need to know for kindergarten this week.

Word Family: –an word family (tan, fan, can, ran, man, pan, van, an)

hot words: tan, can, van

Booklet 1: Pink booklet should be practiced every night for about 10-15 minutes. Keep up the great work!

Math: 3D shapes (cube, cone, sphere, cylinder)

Science: Push Pulls

Social Studies: Who Am I?

Monday: Gym

Tuesday: Art and Music

Wednesday: Computers

Thursday: Music. NWEA testing for Reading

Friday: Gym

I will continue my assessments for math and reading this week for the next report card. You can help your child by counting orally aloud by 1 and 10 as usual, writing numbers from 0-10 every night, counting objects up to 2o in different arrangements, and identifying their 2D and 3D shapes. Please continue reading on Raz-Kids in order for your child to read new books. We may be testing instead of reading in their groups. They will all continue to get paper emergent readers though in various subjects.

We also have one our NWEA tests on Thursday for reading. You can prepare your child by reading nightly with them. Practicing letter/sound identification, playing rhyming games and pointing out words/pictures that rhyme with each other in books from home. Practicing word families (if you take away the “n” sound in can and put in the “p” sound what word do you have? But mostly just let them get a good night sleep this week and eat a great breakfast all week as usual!

In science this week we will continue our study of force and motion and kick it off on Monday with “The Car Race” experiment! It is going to be really fun and I hope to get some great pics of your child predicting, building ramps, and testing out their predictions of which cars will be the fastest!

Have a great week! If there is anything else I’ll be sure to let you know throughout the week.

Mrs. Ross 🙂

Greetings all! Are you as tired as we are today!?! It is so great to be back with the students, I missed them so much!

This note is a reminder that tomorrow is our PBIS Town Hall and reward day for December! Please take your child straight to the gym at 8:00 am because of the projected cold weather. I will NOT be opening the classroom doors because I will be waiting in the gym for them. At that time we will leave our bags in line and move to our town hall positions. We will say goodbye to parents and proceed through the meeting.

In the afternoon we have reward day. If your child has earned it it will be a game day in the hallway. Congrats! Your child may bring in a favorite game from home (put their name on it!) and a special snack. Please do not send in any electronics because our young kindergartners have lost them in the past.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Mrs. Ross

Happy New Year! I hope this post finds you and your family well and rested. I have missed all the students so much over the break and am very excited to come back to school. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the students for the thoughtful gifts and chocolates that were given to me before the break. I appreciate and love every one of them. I am very grateful. In addition, I would like to thank all the parent volunteers who helped with our holiday celebration and those that donated supplies to make it all possible! We had a blast and could not have done it without your help. Get in a cozy chair because this is a LONG post lol!

Here is what you need to know for school this week!

Monday: collecting homework packets and sending a new one home along with the spelling words -at family and going to gym

Tues: art and music

Wednesday: computers

Thursday: library check out week so make sure to return your books by Thursday morning!

Friday: Gym

Spelling: -at word family (bat, fat, cat, rat, sat, mat, Pat, hat, at)

*hot words: bat, fat, mat    *cold words: I’ll pick two more words from the list!

Sight Word Booklets: Booklet 1 for all students (all students will get them by Friday)

This week marks the beginning of new and exciting curriculum for us! We will officially begin our spelling program with “word families”, and a new sight word program along side it (to continue building our high frequency words), that will be fun and challenging!Your children will ALL begin working with the –at family this week in spelling and all begin with “Booklet 1” of the “Sight Words & Fluency Phrases.  Some students will work on the first booklet all year (there are 100 words!) and others may progress to booklet 2, booklet 3 etc. Each level is color coded and a new grade level. To make it fun and exciting for the students, when any student(s) reach the end of booklet 1 (or any other booklet) they get to bring in their lunch and have lunch with the teacher! At that time, I bring them in the dessert for our special lunch. So have fun and work at your child’s speed! They will be retested once every week during reading groups and I will give them a colored circle on top of each number on the front of the book. This booklet should stay in the reading pack always and travel from school to home and back every night. I am going to send home a second explanation with the new programs so you have a copy to keep for reference in the reading packs. If you have any questions about new programs I am here to answer them just hit reply below tonight or come on in and see me anytime after school 🙂

Social Studies: This month we will begin a new unit about who we are. In this unit your child will be completing a timeline of their life so far in order for them to understand that they have a “past”. Please begin sending in a picture from each year of their life thus far (including an infant picture. Please put them in a white envelope and write their name on it. In the next few weeks we will work on compiling the timeline of me booklet and then we will need your child. We will be sending it home for you to work on with your child. We have tried it in the past but found the students were not able to remember! I appreciate all your help with this fun project, the kids love learning about themselves as babies and young kids.

Math: will begin working on 2Dimensional shapes this week identifying them and being able to discuss their attributes (like how many sides and angles/corners they have). each day we will identify and discuss a new 2 dimensional or “flat” shape. We would LOVE if your child could bring in a shape (small enough to hold) from your home environment to share with the class. Each year our class puts together a “Shape Museum” in the classroom. If you don’t mind, could we borrow it for a while during this unit? Just make sure to put your child’s name on it if you want the item back and not to send in anything breakable. For example, a small thin hanger could be an example of a triangle! This week we will study the: square, circle, triangle, rectangle and hexagon in that order. To make it easier, I will assign your child a shape to share so you don’t feel overwhelmed looking for all of them at home. However, if you’d like to bring in more on another day please feel free!

Shapes to share this week:

Square (Tuesday): Laya, Mohamed Albazzal, Khaled, Sarah, Ali A.

Circle (Tuesday): Rokaia, Zayd, Bashir, Adam B., Jad

Triangle (Wed): Olivia, Hadi H., Mohamed Ali, Ayman, Laren

Rectangle (Thurs): Hassan, Julia, Zayn, Hadi N., Yara, Adam S.

In addition, make sure you are pointing out real life examples at home with your child. For example, Benjamin got a magnatiles set from his grandmother for Christmas so as he was playing we were discussing how he was building cars using hexagons, triangles, squares and circles! It was so cool.

I hope everything is clear in this post! It is so long that this week I am sending some information home on paper. Please make sure to come and see me if you are NOT on the blog yet and getting all the regular posts! I hope you all had a wonderful break and a Happy New Year! I will see you all bright and early tomorrow morning.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Ross

Here is an updated list of who is bringing what and what we still need! Thank you all for your help and generosity! I just wrote down the first to reply. If anyone is interested in bringing in a fruit salad (in a bowl already cut up with a serving spoon) that is big enough for 21 students we’d love to add that as well!

*Parents are welcome to join us for the party from 12:30 pm until 2:00 pm. However, at 2:00 pm we are going to a sign along with the music teacher and students that is for students only.

Mahamed Ali: plastic spoons and napkins

Zayn: Juice boxes

Mrs. Biaz: 3 cans of icing

Yara: plastic knives and plastic bowls

Zayd: plastic plates

Mohamad A.: sprinkles 3 colors

Jad: m&ms (mini) one large bag

Hadi: fruit salad (cut up for 21)

Sill Need:

NOTHING Wohoo!!! Thank you all for your help!

Greetings families of room 111! I hope you enjoyed this warm weather we are having. I on the other hand am very upset and waiting for the cold and sparkly snow to appear! If you know Mrs. Ross, you know that I love everything about the winter season 🙂 Well, here is everything you need to know about our busy week in kindergarten. I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing winter break. I will see you all January 4th in the new year.

Letter of the week: Q q (reviewing it again this week) K k (reviewing it again)

Words of the week: look, is

Monday: Homework packets are due and new packets will go home tonight! (These packets are LONG because it is to take your child up until January 4th. So, please continue with the one to two pages a night and don’t feel overwhelmed to get it finished in one week!) We will go to gym today. Wear gym shoes!

Tuesday: We have Music and Art.

Wednesday:  LATE START! School starts at 9:00am. We will go to Computers.

Thursday: We have music today and will go to the library to check out books!

Friday: We will be baking gingerbread cookies and decorating them in the morning to finish our comparisons of various gingerbread stories! In the afternoon we will enjoy a sing along in the gym with the students and the music teacher Mrs. Webber!

*Mrs. Ross will be purchasing the dough and any ingredients and toppings that are not donated for the cookies. If you would like to donate any supplies please reply below. We appreciate your help! Please donate supplies by Wednesday.

*21 juice boxes

*plastic spoons and knives

*napkins

*sprinkles (green, red, white)

*2 containers of icing

*mini m&ms

That’s all for now. I’ll be in touch if there is any other news!

Mrs. Ross

Greetings families of room 111!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I can’t believe I am already attending family holiday parties and taking my kids to see Santa at Greenfield Village! Time flies, and with it our learning. We have been working SO completely hard this month so far and want to thank you for all your help! We have a special thank you to Mrs. Harp and Mrs. Biaz for their volunteer work on Friday. If you would like to volunteer in the classroom during any subject we would LOVE to have you! In social studies we have been studying about goods and services. If you work in a “service” industry in any way we would love to have you come in and speak about your job and how you “help” others (hint hint Mrs. Najda and Mrs. Abboud lol!). Even if you come in with a relative that works in the service industry making “goods” we would love to hear about your job as well!

*Mrs. Biaz has sent some cool pictures of our class from the PBIS assembly and Daily 5 this week. I have uploaded them to share them with you. Thank you Mrs. Bias!

Here is what is cooking in room 111 this week!

Letters: K k and Q q

Words: for,  up

Monday: Book fair begins today. Gym class (wear gym shoes) Homework packets due and new packet sent home.

Tuesday: art and music

Wednesday: Computers

Thursday: Music (smencils for sale $1.00 each to benifit PBIS reward parties)

Friday: Gym (wear gym shoes) spelling test on for, up and bonus word (said) because the word said was difficult as a whole last week.

We are also working on the following in class:

writing: continue writing opinions (this week we will be writing about what we feel a “bucket filler” is and how we can be one!)

social studies: needs/wants and goods/services    and trades

science: we are studying pushes and pulls still

math: counting and cardinality (count orally, count objects up to 20 and practice writing numbers to 20 at home!)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Ross 🙂

Congratulations to room 111 this month!  Our entire class has made SUCH a great improvement in our manners this month. 50% of our class stayed one green ALL MONTH and will be recognized tomorrow morning at the assembly. I am SO proud of them. 100% of our class will attend the party as well! We will be playing in different stations set up in the gym with all the other students that have earned the reward day. We are so excited.

• November PBIS Assembly: Tomorrow m0rning at the assembly I will be reading the book, “HOW FULL IS YOUR BUCKET?” to the students and giving them the goal to be a “bucket filler” for the month of December and the rest of the year! we will be discussing how when you do kind things/or say kind things to others you and the other feel great. Please help your child to practice being a bucket filler at home as well.

I would also like to extend a shout out to Zayd Arafat, Khaled Awad, Bashir Baiz and Jad Bouzeid for identifying ALL the letters in the alphabet and earning their can of play-Doh today. Wohoo and way to go!

*Reminder: Tomorrow is our library check out. It may occur during the PBIS celebration, but we still need to return the books. If it conflicts with our check out time we will try and reschedule it for this week or next! So, make sure to bring back your library books tomorrow morning!

See you all bright and early tomorrow morning!

Mrs. Ross and Class 🙂

Welcome back room 111!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing week with family and friends! I was so happy to be home with my family and I am very thankful for the time. Here is what is happening in kindergarten this week:

Letter Study: L l and Ff

Word Studies: said, in

Numbers: Writing all numbers from 1-20

Monday: Homework packets are due! New homework packets will be handed out. Please return them next Monday. PBIS smilie faces are due tomorrow. Please make sure they are all signed and returned!

Tuesday: New PBIS smilie sheets go out tonight!

Things to work on at school and home:

Reading: Retelling stories in order from beginning, middle to end and also narrative elements (characters, settings, problems and solutions)

Math: Counting and Cardinality. This week we will practice counting to 100 by 1s and 10s, counting from any number other than 1, reading and writing numbers to 10 (20 if your child can do it!), counting objects with one to one matching and counting out a set of objects and telling the amount. These are great things to do at home…count, count, count!

Social Studies: This week we will discuss “Goods and Services” and how they can be bought to satisfy our needs and wants. In addition, what is a trade? Are all trades fair?

Science: Continue Pushes and Pulls!

Here is a picture of Bashir Baiz (sent in by mom) pulling a shopping cart at Target over the break. Thank you Bashir, great job! If anyone else has pictures of their child pulling or pushing please email us at rossm1@dearbornschools.org and we will share it on the blog!

Bashir pulling his cart!

Important Dates:

Parent Meeting December 2nd (information to follow from office)

Book Fair December 7th-11th, 2015

Late Start December 16th, 2015

Have a great week! If their is anything else I’ll let you know throughout the week. Thank you in advance for all your hard work at home with your child.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Ross 🙂

This is a reminder that tomorrow, 11-24-2015, is pajama day! Your child is welcome to wear their pajamas to school tomorrow for $1.oo. This is a fundraiser for the K-1 students who are raising money for our field trip in January. Thank you for all your help. Please send children in their regular shoes though so they do not slip and fall.

Mrs. Ross and Class!

Greetings room 111 families! I hope you stayed warm this weekend and enjoyed the beautiful blanket of snow. Here is what you need to know for this very short week upon us:

Letter Study: Review of letters G g and V v

Number Study: Ways to make 10

Word Study: Review of all words! Spelling test on Tuesday

Monday: Homework packets will be collected and new ones will be handed out. They will be collected after break. Gym Class Make sure to wear sensible shoes or pack some if your child will be wearing snow boots to school!

Tuesday: Art and Music class.

Wed-Friday: NO SCHOOL! Have a wonderful break

School will resume next Monday on November 30th, 2015. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving. I for one am very thankful for my wonderful classroom and parents. Stay warm over the break.

*Mrs. Ross has finally figured out a way to send myself some pictures yay! Here are a few students using some tools to practice letter ID. Here they are tracing the letters inside a pencil box that is filled with salt or rice. This will also work very well with sand! You can use this for words as well if your child has a goal of “sight words”.

*This student is showing how we use white boards and finger space men during Writer’s Workshop. First, we do our work on the practice board and then transfer our hard work onto the paper.

*This student is showing how we also write on the tables with dry erase markers to practice our letter ID. I hope your children don’t come home and start writing all over the place eek! If you’d like to let them do this at home, I promise they will LOVE doing any work! Just put some clear plastic wrap over the table and the your child can write on that.

Science: Pushes and Pulls are still the focus! If you have any pictures of your child doing a push or a pull at home I’d love to share it on the blog. You can email them to me and I’ll post it for the class to share during science.

Social Studies: we are still studying needs and wants. Over the break this is a great opportunity to show your child where needs and wants come from because we will begin talking about goods and services.

That’s all for now. I’ll send home any reminders on Tuesday if I think of more information you need to know!