January Book Orders were sent home in the Red Folders yesterday.  Directions for ordering online can be found on the homepage of our classroom BLOG.  Book Orders are due Friday, January 24th.

Another opportunity to order a school shirt at SALE prices!  Order forms for school shirts were sent home yesterday.

Have a great week!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable winter vacation!

Calendar

Monday, January 20^th     – No School

Thursday, January 23^rd   – ½ Day of School, Students dismissed at 11:45 a.m. (End of the Semester)

Friday, January 24^th         – No School, Teacher Professional Development Day

Reading Logs

December Reading Logs can still be turned in for a Pizza!  January Reading Logs are being sent home today!

What We Did Thursday and Friday!

• Our AlphaFriend was Keely Kangaroo, Letter Kk
• We rotated through “Daily 5”
• We reviewed writing our numbers and representing them on our Ten Frames

Change in lunch schedule due to snow days:

Monday- Chicken Nuggets

Tuesday- Hot dog

Wednesday- Spaghetti

Thursday- Bosco Sticks

Friday-   Fish Nuggets

Have a good weekend!

Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered or donated to our Holiday party.  I appreciate your help in creating a fun time for the students.

I am overwhelmed by the generous holiday gifts and thank you for Target gift card.  I plan on doing some much needed shopping over winter break.

I wish each of our families a happy and HEALTHY holiday and look forward to watching the Young 5’s continue to grow in 2014.

January 8^th – Late Start, School will begin at 8:35 a.m.

January 20^th – No School, MLK Day

January 23^rd – Half-day of school, School ends at 11:45 a.m.

January 24^th – No School, Teacher Professional Development Day

What We Did This Week

• Our Alphafriend was Iggy Iguana, Letter Ii
• We sorted capital letters vs. lower case letters during Daily 5
• We listened to many Holiday stories
• We wrote to Santa in our Writer’s Workshop!
• We are working on counting by ten’s in math.

Just a reminder that our Holiday Party is Thursday morning at 9:00.

If you plan to have your student participate in the gift exchange please spend no more than $5.00 and please bring it wrapped.  Boys bring for a boy.  Girls bring for a girl.

Thank you already for the donations that have come in!

Holiday Party

Our Holiday party will be next Thursday morning beginning at 9:00 a.m.

We will decorate an ornament, decorate a cookie, enjoy a snack and participate in a gift exchange.  If you wish to participate in the gift exchange please spend no more than $5.00 and have your student bring it to school wrapped by next Thursday.  Girls are buying for girls.  Boys are buying for boys.

Winter Vacation

School will be closed December 23^rd-Jan. 3^rd.  School will resume on Monday, Jan. 6^th

What We Did This Week

• Our Alpha Friend was “Larry Lion”, Letter Ll
• We rotated through Daily 5
• We enjoyed Christmas story read alouds
• We wrote in our Writer’s Workshop books
• In math we used our geometric shapes to make pictures, our play dough to form numbers, and we ordered from least to greatest.

**We welcomed Ms. Donna as our new classroom parapro.  Ms. Renee took on a different position in the district.

We plan on having our Holiday party on Thursday morning, December 19^th.

9:00 a.m.- ??

We plan on decorating an ornament, decorating a Christmas cookie, enjoying a special snack and having a small gift exchange.

• If you wish to participate in the gift exchange please spend no more than $5.00.
• Boys will bring in a present for a boy, girls will bring in a present for a girl
• Please be sure the present is wrapped.

Listed below are some supplies we are still in need of:

• 2 containers of vanilla frosting
• Christmas plates (16)
• Christmas napkins (16)
• Juice boxes (16)
• 2 containers of Sprinkles
• 1 bag of chocolate chips
• Cheese and crackers (for 16 students)
• Fruit (grapes or orange slices, for 16 students)

If you are interested in donating any of the above mentioned items please leave a reply on our classroom blog or fill out the paper below.

If you are interested in volunteering that morning please let me know with an email.

ruselij@dearbornschools.org

Thank you!

Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Ruselink

• Winter is finally here!  And so is the snow!

Please make every effort to wear boots for snow and pack indoor shoes to change into in your student’s backpack.  This will help keep our classroom floor and carpet area clean and dry!

• Everyday Math Website

I apologize for not giving you the web address to the Everyday Math Online Games (mentioned in Friday’s newsletter).  I thought it was printed on the student’s log-in card, but it wasn’t.  If you are interested in trying the online games please go to:

www.everydaymathonline.com

Use the username and password that was sent home on the log-in card.

• Late Start

Don’t forget Wednesday is a late start!  School will begin at 9:35 a.m.

• Holiday Party

We will celebrate before leaving for Winter Break on Thursday, December 19th.  Details coming soon!

Have a good week!

Late Start

There is a Late Start on Wednesday, Dec. 11^th – School begins at 9:35 a.m.

December Reading Logs

December Reading Logs were sent home this week.  Read as much as you can and return it after the Holidays for a Pizza Hut personal pizza!

December Scholastic Book Orders

Book orders are due Monday, December 9th

 Everyday Math Online Games

I am sending home a card with a log-in name and password to access Everyday Math Online Games. With this password you have access to the Kindergarten games at home. Try it out!

What We Did This Week

• This week’s alpha friend was  “Fifi Fish”, letter Ff
• We have begun learning “winter” finger poems and reading winter/Christmas stories.
• We rotated through Daily 5
• In math we played a new Math game (Roll and Record) with dice.  We continue to practice our counting, writing the numerals  1-20,
• We also continue to write off our topic list in our Writer’s Workshop journal