Just an FYI…

Yesterday I had 5 students out ill.  Today I have 6 out and I just sent home another one.  So, keep those hands washed with soap and warm water and watch the sharing of towels, drinking cups, etc.  Get lots of good sleep too.

Stay well!

Mrs. Smith

To go along with our Reading, Writing, and Social Studies, we started making maps of places in our Neighborhood.  We will use the maps all week as reference tools.  Take a look…

Reminder that tomorrow is Class Color Day.  Our color is BLUE!.  (I think I wrote green before, but it’s BLUE.)

We have a busy week coming up!  Please make sure your child is well fed, well rested, and here at school.

All students will be taking the MAP, which is an assessment tool to mark their progress.  They took this assessment last October, now it’s time for a mid-year check, and they will take one more in the Spring.

All students will have a District Writing Prompt.  This assessment also happens 3 times a year.

This week is also Howard Spirit Week.  The students always enjoy these events.  A yellow note went home yesterday detailing the events but here’s a repeat.

Monday-Mismatch/Sports Day  Wear clothes that don’t match or wear something to cheer on your favorite team.

Tuesday-Class Color day   Kindergarten’s color is BLUE.  PTA is sponsoring a Science Assembly.  Thanks PTA!

Wednesday-Hippie Day   Students can come to school dressed like a hippie      It’s also LIBRARY DAY for my class.  Please have your student put their Library Book in their backpack on Tuesday night.

Thursday_Character/Movie Day    Dress like a movie or book character and we’ll enjoy a movie in our room.

Friday-(their favorite day! )   Pajama/Crazy Hair/Birthday Bash day  Students can come to school in their PJ’s and with crazy hair. We’ll also have a birthday treat to celebrate everyone’s birthday!!

Spelling Tests Begin This Week

READING-We will begin Unit 6  OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

We’ll be discussing places in our neighborhood (Library, Police Station, Fire Station, School)  We’ll be discussing main characters and details in stories.  Look for these when you are reading at home or even watching TV. During the middle of a story or during a commercial, ask “Who is the main character in this show?  What is the problem in the show?  How was the problem solved?  What were 3 details in the story/show?”  Get them thinking!

LETTER-  H  h

WORD- Are   are

SPELLING-Here are the spelling words for this week.  Spelling Tests will be on Fridays (usually 🙂 )

We’ll work with the “at” family.  We’ll have known words (words we’ve had previously from first semester) and new weekly words.  So, this Friday’s words are:   cat  mat  fat   can   I   are

WRITING-We’ll be writing dialogue.  Can you believe it…writing with dialogue in Kindergarten??!!

SOCIAL STUDIES-Students will work in groups to create a map of a town.  They will be using these maps the following week for their writing.

MATH-Graphing using Tally marks, pictures, etc.  How do we read the graph?  What shall we title the graph (because all graphs have titles!)

Next week we’ll work with money.  Get your coins ready!

We are entering the second semester of Kindergarten.  Expectations will be stepped up.  Keep the reading, writing, math, discussions, thinking, problem solving, going at home.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Smith

I forgot to send home a note from PTA…

“Coffee With The Principal” Wednesday, January 21  7:00 PM

PTA wanted to offer this meeting to those who are unable to attend their regular monthly meeting.

Next week is a short week.  Hold on tightly because I’ll try to get in as much as I can!

READING-Unit 5  week 3  ANIMAL HABITATS

LETTERS and WORDS  review   O  o  F  f   is   play

MATH-Attributes (color, shape, size, thickness)

January 23 marks the end of the First Semester.  Expectations will increase across the curriculum.  Keep reading, writing, working with numbers, and using the Scientific Process of hypothesizing, observing,  investigating, observing again, and drawing conclusions.  Use that brain Scientists!  Question things.  Wonder about events.  Think  Think  Think

Next week…

Mon., 1/19  No School

Thurs., 1/22  1/2 day  AM

Fri., 1/23  No School For Students

Enjoy your long weekend!

Mrs. Smith

We were busy mathematicians today.  First we established what a pattern is with blocks.  Next we created some

patterns.

.

Then we went to our desks and made a pattern with blocks.  We traced the blocks and colored in the shapes to match the pattern blocks. Have a look!

We’re closing in on the end of the first semester of this school year.  Time sure flies!

READING-We will continue with week 2 of our Unit on Animals.

This week’s theme is Animals All Around.  We will read a non-fiction book about animal babies and we’ll compare animal babies and adult babies.

Letter-F  f

Word-play

Remember to review the previous words and letters!  C  c  O o  F  f       is  have   to  go  play

WRITING-We will use the information from our non-fiction books to write information about an animal.  We will also be classifying and categorizing animals.

For example, what is an animal that could go in a group with a bear and a panda?

Why would a bear, panda, and _______ be in the same group?  (They all have fur.  or  They all climb trees.)

What could be in a group with a bald eagle and a parakeet?   Why would they be in the same group?(They all have beaks.  or They have feathers.)

MATH-Patterns with Pattern Blocks     Calculators!!   Fun time!

JOURNALS-Students are expected to write every day in their Journals.  Sometimes I give them a topic and other times they can choose their topic.  To be a good reader, one needs to read.  The same is true for writing.  Students need to write every day.  Have them write at home too.  Grocery lists, letter to Grandma, thank you note to Aunt/Uncle for a gift, a letter to a pet 🙂

SPELLING-We will be having weekly Spelling Tests beginning  next week.  Since “at”  chunk was introduced last Sept., I will begin with “at” chunk word family.  ie. bat  hat  mat     I will give the students 3-5 words from the at family.  They also will be tested on the weekly words (play) and previous weeks’ words (is   have  go  to) 

SCIENCE-We’ll be observing animal characteristics.  We also will work with the 3 states of matter. (Pretty advanced for Kindergarten, right?)

SOCIAL STUDIES-We will work with personal timelines, both daily timelines and growth/life timelines.

This week…

WEDNESDAY-LATE START    I will be taking Wednesday’s lunch count on Tuesday, so remember to check the menu for those buying lunch.

I am so glad to be back.  I missed the kids.  Thanks for your support at home.

Mrs. Smith

P.S. I received some Christmas gifts without a card so I don’t know who to thank.  One is a gift set of Adrienne Vittadini lotion, soap, and a white tray.  Another gift was a plate of homemade cookies.  Another was a Lavender Gift Set.  Help??

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.  Mrs. Balaka brought home my books, cards from the kids, and your gifts.  Since my husband was in the hospital through Christmas and New Year’s, it was a different Christmas for us.  In fact, he was unconscious most of those days.  He didn’t even know Christmas had come and gone and that it was a New Year.  So, it was lovely to have something to do during those quiet nights at home. 🙂

It is wonderful to be back with my students!  They had soooo much to tell me.  It sounds like all of you had a delightful and exciting Christmas.

READING- Our new unit theme is ANIMALS.  We begin this week with ANIMALS WE KNOW.  Yesterday we read “Mama Cat Has 3 Kittens.”  The story has a pattern to it.  After rereading the story today, we made a list of things kittens like to do.  (Looking for recall and comprehension from them)  This afternoon they will choose one kitten activity (verb) and write about it.

LETTER-“O  o”

WORD-“Is  is”

The students have been writing the letter o and the word is since September.  This is just where the letter and word come up in our curriculum.

MATH- We will be working with Geometry. Identifying shapes, making them, labeling them, and discovering ways that shapes fit together.  Shapes can even make animals!

WRITING-We will work on Narrative writing (telling a story).

SCIENCE-Magnets!

Our December Students of the Month are Newton Brown and August Gabrish.  Congratulations on making good choices with your words and actions.  Our previous Students of the Month are:

Sept. Emily Skinner    Leo Wetzel

Oct. Chase Cuevas  Isabella Laiacono

Nov. Aya Chami  Kassim Sallam

Looking ahead:  Next Wednesday  1/14/15 is LATE START

What a delightful class!  Keep up the reading at home. I can always tell who’s reading at night.  🙂

Mrs. Smith