May Fun...

First, I want to ask everyone to please do not let your children wear flip-flop sandals to school. We go outside everyday for recess. The children love to run around and play with their friends. Flip-flops are creating some injuries because the children are tripping over them or not walking correctly and their toes are getting scraped up. Thank you for your help in this matter.

We are continuing to study "how things are built" in Reading Street. We are working on reviewing our sight words. Please remember these words must be read in less than 3 seconds. This should be automatic. A few weeks ago we sent home a list of the sight words (if you need an extra copy please email me and I can send another one home). We are also working hard on our writing. We are working towards two sentences on a page and adding detail. For example, instead of saying "I see the dog," I could say "I can see the big brown dog." We are also working on writing about our reading and learning. We have planted plants at school and are writing about what plants need and other fun facts.

In math, we are completing out geometry unit and will be taking an assessment.  We will then begin to discuss measurement.  The children will get to explore how measurement works and measure various items.  We will use non-standard measurement, which basically means using cubes, pencils, paper clips, etc. to measure an item.

Upcoming Events:

Field Day: June 4 (B Class) and June 5 (A Class)

Graduation: June 3 (A Class) and June 6 (B Class) at 9:30

Rolling On...

In reading this week we will be continuing on with Unit 5 and delving into the question "What kind of transportation helps people do their jobs?" We will explore this question with the book "Trucks Roll." In addition, we will work on the comprehension strategy of comparing and contrasting. We will also review sequencing, characters, setting, and main idea. The children are doing a great job with their comprehension; therefore, we will work with some higher level questioning to deepen our understanding. We do have three new sight words this week. We will be learning: what, was, and said. I am amazed on how well the children are doing with their sight words. They are able to recognize and recall them very quickly. Thank you for your practice at home with this skill. I did notice during my assessment last week some children are having difficulty with their fluency of letters and sounds. We want the children to be able to see a letter and say its name and sound instantanously. The goal at the end of the year is 40 letters in a minute and 28 sounds in a minute. The letter names is the biggest concern. The best way to practice is to go through the alphabet 3-4 days a week for 5 minutes.


The children are doing a great job with the shapes; however, rectangle seems to be the shape which the children are confused on.  They know how to describe and they can identify various sizes of rectangles, but the children are having difficulty remembering the name.  We will work on hexagon on Monday and Tuesday.  We will also continue to review all the shapes.  The children are enjoying exploring how shapes work and what you can make with various shapes.

Back to Learning...

I hope everyone had a fantastic spring break and enjoyed the fantastic weather.  Also, if you traveled I hope you had a safe and fun time with your journey.  I would love to hear about your entire break.  We have ended the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter is beginning.  Report cards came home right before we left for break on Wednesday or Thursday.  If you have any questions regarding the report card, please feel free to ask.

This week we will continue with Unit 5 and discuss the question "What kind of transportation helps us in an emergency?"  We will be reading the story "Mayday, Mayday."  We will be using this read aloud to be discussing cause and effect.  This will allow the children to have a deeper understanding of the story and build their comprehension strategies.  We will be reviewing all the high frequency words we have learned and concentrating on the words: yellow, green, and blue.  It is imperative to continue to practice all of our sight words and to be practicing all of our sounds.  We will be having our next DIBELS assessment in the middle of May.  I know this seems to be somewhat in the distance, but it will be here before we know it.  The children should be fluent in all areas of reading (letter names, letter sounds, and hearing sounds in words).  We will use these scores for report cards and determining your child's next steps.  We are asking for you to practice for about 5-10 minutes nightly.  We will be sending home practice sheets at the end of each week.  Please look for these in your child's folder and it should only take less than 3 minutes to practice.

In math, we will continue to work on geometry.  The children are doing a great job on identifying and describing shapes.  The children have to be able to identify square, circle, triangle, rectangle, and hexagon.  In addition, the children need to be able to understand 2 dimensional (I refer to this as something that is flat).  One of the best ways to practice identifying and describing shapes is to just play with the shapes.  We want the children to explore how shapes work and how they can work together.

3rd Quarter Begins...

We are beginning the 3rd quarter this week (oh how time flies when we are having fun).  We have completed all of our assessments for the 2nd quarter and report cards will be coming home in the next week. In addition, your child will receive one of three scores on their report card.  The three scores are proficient (P), making progress (M), or limited progress (L).  This basically means if your child can do the assigned skill listed with no help he/she will receive a P, if he/she is making progress towards the skill listed they will receive a M, or if he/she is unable to complete the skill independently or is not making progress then your child will receive a L.  Please do not be discouraged if they receive a no because progress may have been made.  We will discuss this more at conferences.

This week we will be continuing on in our reading street and discussing the differences between today and long ago.  This always allows for some great conversations to occur about what we had awhile ago to what we have today.  You may want to take some time and talk about how school was different for you.  We will continue to work on blending words.  The children are doing this extremely well and I am impressed with how well they are learning their sounds and words.  We have three new sight words this week (they, of, you).  I have noticed the word "like" and "me" have been somewhat difficult for the children.  Please take some time to review the sight words nightly for about 5 minutes.  We are working extremely hard on our writing too.  The children need to be able to write a sentence with spacing, upper/lowercase letters, and punctuation by the end of kindergarten.

This week in math we are continuing to work on subtraction.  The children are working with numbers up to 5.  Many of the children are doing well with drawing a picture of the story; however, some children are having difficulty with writing a number sentence.  You also have probably noticed that your child has been bringing home math pages.  These math pages are ones we are completing in class.  These are from our math program Go Math!  We typically have kept these pages in the book and not have sent them home, but we have now decided to send these pages home.  Please be aware that some pages will come home blank because we do not complete every page, but you will be able to reinforce the skill at home!

Have a great week!

January Fun...

We are moving right through Unit 3 of Reading Street!  This week, we will be reading, “George Washington Visits”.   This story correlates very well with our question of the week: How is life today different from life hundreds of years ago?  The children will also be introduced to the concept of cause and effect as well this week.  However, we will continue to review the setting, plot, and characters of our stories!  Our Amazing Words for this week are: celebration, sprinted, barn, blacksmith, arch, and soldier.  I think the children will enjoy thinking about how different life was without television, computers, iPods, iPads, and the x-box.  It should be a fun week for discussion!  

In addition, we will be reviewing the letters Dd and Kk and their associated sounds.  Both Dd and Kk are short, quick sounds; therefore, please do not allow your children to add the “uh” sound.  This can create difficulties for them when they segment words.  We will also be introducing two new sight words: “see” and “look”!  

We are planning to continue our work with our other sight words this week and using them to create awesome sentences!  Students will revisit the basic elements of writing sentences this week as we continue our new morning routine.  The children are now required to come in and read a sentence, write a sentence, and draw a picture to show comprehension of the sentence.  Last week we modeled this and did this together and this week we will be continuing the modeling process.  The children will become independent with this very soon.  Students should be able to show you how they start a sentence with a capital letter, use two finger spacing between words, and end their sentence with a punctuation mark.  Please continue to encourage your child to be writing at home on their days off.  We have really enjoyed having the children share their winter break journals last week!

In math, we will be taking the Chapter 5 test on addition.  You will see the results of this test next week.  After the test we will be moving into subtraction.  The children have done a good job with addition.  Many children are doing well with having cubes to help them complete the problem.  Our hope is to have children doing many addition problems mentally by the end of the year; therefore, please continue to work with addition.  A great site to help you with addition is: http://goo.gl/NgnVA and http://goo.gl/njGoF.

Have a great week!

The End of November...

This week ends November and begins December and I cannot believe we are already this far into the year. The amazing thing is we have only had school approximately 30 days because of the unique schedule (this shows just how important being at school is every day). I am pleased with how the children are working hard and learning a lot too. I sure hope you have seen this at home. In addition, please continue to work on letter sounds, sight words, and numbers at home daily. The progress made would not be possible without your help at home as I only have them 2 or 3 days a week. In addition, it is important for your child to be at school. If they are ill and have to miss school please contact me and I can let you know what your child has missed. It is helpful for you to review these things with your child. In addition, if you another child in the school I am able to send home work with them.

This week we will be working on the letter Ii and its sound of /i/ as in igloo, insect, ink, etc. This sound can be easily confused with the short e sound as in elephant, elevator, escalator, etc. We will be working on this particular sound and reading a series of new words with short i and a. This will allow us to have some new words to work with and to blend. In addition, we will be working with new sight words.  This week the words are for and he. We will continue to work with segmentation and begin bridging this into our writing. The children will begin to develop an understanding of when you are unsure of how to spell a word, you can segment the word to hear all the sounds. Currently, it is developmentally appropriate for children to only hear the first and/or last sound of a word. Some children may be able to hear the middle sound too, but be aware this is the last sound children hear.

In math, we will conclude our work with the number 10.  The children should be able to recognize numbers 0-10 and be able to tell you numbers which are greater than and less than.  The children should also be able to tell you how many more you would need to get to 10.  We will be having our Chapter 4 test on Wednesday and Thursday.  I am very pleased with the progress thus far!  We will be sending home new math homework the first week of December!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

More Excitement...

Explaining how she figured out 8 eggs (she saw a group of 4 and then 4 more)

Explaining how he figured out 10 (he said it looked like a 10's frame and new it was 10)

This week we are going to move on to the letter Cc. We will be working with the children on how to produce a hard Cc sound. On some of their papers, you may notice this written like /k/. The hard Cc sound is comparable to our Kk sound (candy, cup, cat, color). We will work on blending words together, such as, cap, tap, Cam, sap, etc.  In addition to learning the letter and sound of Cc, we will also continue to work with the sight words/popcorn words: like, we, and my.  Our story this week is about Bears.  We will discuss what Bears do during the winter and read the story "Bear Snores On."  The children will also identify what happened first, second, and third in the story through sequencing.

Please continue to practice all letters, letter sounds, and sight words at home. Your continued support and work with your children at home has become very evident in the classroom. We greatly appreciate all of your extra time and effort.

Ideas for Letter/Sound Practice at Home:
1- Have students identify letter names on flashcards.
2- Have students go on a letter hunt in your home to find specific letters.
3- Have students identify letter sounds on flashcards.
4- Have students go on a sound hunt in your home to find specific items that start with a specific sound (a, m, t, s, p, c).
5- Have students begin to practice blending sounds into words. Place three letter cards in front of your child (with a vowel in the middle) and have your child begin to blend the word. Please remember, these do not have to be real words...they can be nonsense/make believe words as well!

In math, we are continuing to work with Chapter 4 and comparing numbers to 10.  The children should be able to identify numbers which are more and fewer or greater and less.  In addition, the children are making 10 with various numbers.  This is just a fancy way of addition facts to 10 without using the symbols.  For example, your child should be able to say 6 and 4 is 10, 7 and 3 is 10, etc.  The math homework goes along with what we are practicing in the classroom.  Please remember math homework is due on November 19 and 20.

Have a fantastic week!

Learning...

This week is an interesting week because we do not have school on Tuesday.  This means I will see the A class on Monday and Wednesday and the B class on Thursday and Friday.  On Tuesday teachers have Professional Development.  In addition, Tuesday is election day and I hope everyone will go out and vote.

In the classroom we will be working on the letter Pp.  This letter has a short quick sound and says /p/.  When you practice this sound try not to let your child say /puh/ (this would mean your child is producing two sounds rather than one).  This is important when children try to blend words together.  We will also be working on new sight words or popcorn words (like, we, my).  Please continue to practice all the letter sounds we have learned.  You can write the letters on a card and have your child say the sounds.  In addition, you can place three letters out with a vowel in the middle and have your child begin to blend the word.  These words can be real or make believe.  It is okay for your child to read a make believe word because the purpose is to practice blending.

In math, we are beginning Chapter 4.  The children will begin to learn about the number 10.  The children will also need to compare numbers (greater than, less than, more, fewer).  We will also explore ways to make 10.  This entails children to understand 6 and 4 make 10, 3 and 7 make 10, etc.  This is the first stages of understanding addition.  We will also be working on counting to 50.  All children are expected to count to 50 by the conclusion of 2nd quarter and by the end of the year to 100.  Our goal is to have all children counting to 100 as quickly as possible.

Have a great week!

Learning in 116...

This coming week we will be doing a lot of learning. In reading street we will continue our study on how animals and plants are unique. We will be working on the sound of Ss. Currently the children have learned the sounds m, t, a, and now s. In addition to know the sounds in isolation, we have been working on putting these sounds together to make words. Children should be able to blend (saying the sounds to form the word) and read the following words: mat, tam, sat, and sam. When practicing blending with your child, have your child say the sounds slowly without stopping (mmmmmmaaaaaaat). Furthermore, children should also be able to read the sight words: I, am, have, little, to, a, the, is. In addition, please continue to practice letter identification with your child. Many children are doing extremely well with this skill and some need to continue to practice. I will be sending home your child's October alphabet assessment next week!


In math, we will be finishing Chapter 3 (reading, counting, and writing numbers to 9).  The children will take their Chapter 3 test on Wednesday or Thursday.  The skills your child will be tested over are on the math homework.  In regards to math homework, your child should turn it in on Monday or Tuesday.  We have noticed children who do their homework are doing better on the math tests.  We will begin Chapter 4 the following week.  We will be working on counting and comparing numbers up to 10.

Thank you for all of your support!  The children are doing an awesome job!

This Week...

This week we will be working on the letter sound /a/ as in apple, ant, and ax. The children will begin to develop the understanding of decoding simple words, such as, tam, mat, and am. As you are at home working you can show your child these letters and have them begin saying the sounds. You can place the letters m, a, and t on a card and mix them up and have your child say the appropriate sound. This is the beginning skill to decoding words. In addition, please continue to work on letter identification with your child.  I am in the process of assessing the children.  You may have noticed on Wednesday or Thursday your child has been bringing home a book with letters, sounds, and a story. This is what we use in our reading groups during the week. Your child should be able to show you how he or she can read the letters, sounds, words, and sentences. You can have your child be the teacher and teach you how we complete the booklet in the classroom. This is a great way for your child to take ownership and show you what they are learning.

In math, we are continuing to work with numbers up to 9.  This past week your child did bring home Chapter 3 homework and their Chapter 2 test.  Please review both of these with your child.  The homework is due back either October 29 or October 30.  Children should be able to read and write the numbers to 9.  In addition, children should be able to compare the numbers (greater, more, fewer, less).  One great game to play with your child is using a deck of cards or a set of number cards written on an index card.  Here are two children playing the game:


 I hope you have a great week!

This Week in Kindergarten...

This week we will continue to work on letter identification and letter sounds. We will work on the letter Tt and the sound /t/. When working with your child be cautious not to add an /u/ sound at the end. For example, the beginning sound of top would be /t/ not /tuh/. This is important when children learn to blend words together. We will also be continuing to work on our sight words of a and to. We will also be working on the sight word of the. This particular word seems to confuse some of the children. One thing you can do at home is play memory with the sight words by writing the words on index cards and have your child try to match them. In addition, when they find the match they would need to say the word. One of the most valuable things you can be doing with your child right now is simply reading to them. I would recommend taking your child to the library and having them choose some books and throughout the day or evening sit down and read with them. This promotes vocabulary development, fluent reading, comprehension, and word identification.


Almost all the children can write their name with a capital letter and lowercase letters; therefore, we are ready to move forward with writing words and sentences. This will take place whole group and during our small group time.  All the children have writing journals, which we write in and we have been concentrating on drawing a picture to tell the story.  The past few weeks the children have been coming up with their own topic to write about.  Since we are ending Unit 1 in reading street we thought we would have the children answer the big question from the unit "How do we live, work, and play together?"  In addition, the children will write about their favorite book from Unit 1.

In math, we will begin Chapter 3.  First, thank you for completing your homework packets.  We are having a high rate of return, which is fantastic!  This week you will receive Chapter 3's homework, which is due October 29 or 30.  We will be working on the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9.  One of the big components of this chapter is not only being able to count these numbers, but realize 7 is 5 and 2 more, 8 is 5 and 3 more, and 9 is 5 and 4 more.  We will be posting more information regarding Chapter 3 in the next few days...be on the look out!

Have a great week!

Lots of Fun...

First, I want to ask everyone to please do not let your children wear flip-flop sandals to school. We go outside everyday for recess. The children love to run around and play with their friends. Flip-flops are creating some injuries because the children are tripping over them or not walking correctly and their toes are getting scraped up. Thank you for your help in this matter.

We are continuing to study "how things are built" in Reading Street. We are working on reviewing our sight words. Please remember these words must be read in less than 3 seconds. This should be automatic. A few weeks ago we sent home a list of the sight words (if you need an extra copy please email me and I can send another one home). We are also working hard on our writing. We are working towards two sentences on a page and adding detail. For example, instead of saying "I see the dog," I could say "I can see the big brown dog." We are also working on writing about our reading and learning. We have planted plants at school and are writing about what plants need and other fun facts.

In math, we are continuing to work with addition and subtraction. We are also pairing this with surveys/graphs. We are gathering information and creating a graph. We are analyzing the graph and finding out information.

Upcoming Events:

Field Day: May 29 (B Class) and June 1 (A Class)

Graduation: May 31 (B Class) and June 6 (A Class) at 9:30

May...Already...

I cannot believe May is upon us.  This year is flying by and the children are learning so much!  I am impressed with many of them and how much they have accomplished.  I am looking forward to spending May together and learning a lot more.

In Reading Street we will discuss different ways people travel.  We will talk about different modes of transportation and how animals can be used to help with transportation.  We will read "On the Move."  This will allow us to delve into Social Studies this week because we will talk about all different types of people.  In addition, we will learn two new sight words: where, come.  Please continue to practice what, was, said because these three words were difficult for many of the children.  In addition, we will be working on writing stories this week.  Writing is one of my favorite areas in kindergarten.  I love to see the stories the children develope.  I will be looking at the children's writing for capital letters, spacing, and punctuation.  You may want to check back later this week as I hope to post some of the children's stories!  In centers, we are continuing to work with science and exploring recycling.

In math, we will be delving into subtraction and addition.  The children will be listening to different stories and deciding if it is adding or subtracting.  The children will then draw and write a number sentence for the story.  I am amazed with how well the children are doing on addition and subtraction.  Last week we also watched a youtube video to help us with subtraction (http://youtu.be/v9dx2o7m6GI).

Finally, please continue to practice letters and sounds.  I know your children know how to do this; however, we are looking for fluency (speed).  The children should be able to tell you the letter in 2 seconds and the sound in less than 3 seconds.  When you work with your child, please only work on letter names and then sounds.  Please do not have your child doing both at the same time.

I hope you all have a great week!  I am looking forward to it :)

This Week in 116...

Children acting out one of our stories!

This coming week will be a fun week.  We will continue to delve into the world of transportation in Reading Street.  We will work with the book "The Little Engine that Could."  The children will work on sequencing, comparing and contrasting, and identifying the main idea.  We will also work with the sight words: what, was, said.  These sight words have been difficult for the children and are easily confused.  Please make sure you take time to practice these sight words. 

In addition, Monday and Tuesday, your child will bring home a letter and a few practice sheets.  This is going to replace homework this week.  There are two sheets of letters.  Your child should practicing reading the letters as quickly as possible.  On the next two sheets your child should practice reading letter sounds.  Your child has the option of reading just the sounds or your child can read the whole word.  As always your child can write stories at home and bring them in to share.  I do love seeing what the children are doing at home!

In math, we will be continuing our work with subtraction.  The children will be assessed on their ability to create a subtraction story and write a number sentence which explains the story.  In addition, we will be checking the chidlren on their ability to write their numbers to 20.  The children are required to create/write a subtraction number sentence and write numbers to 20.

Have a great week!

Moving Along...

It was great to see the children this week.  I loved hearing the stories they told about what they did while the were off of school.  We did jump right back into our learning and the chidlren are continuing to make progress.  First, report cards were sent home on Friday to the B class and on Monday the A class will receive their report card.  If you did not receive your report card, then you still owe school fees.  You must have paid $37.50 of the $50.  If you are unsure how much you have paid feel free to email or call to check.

In reading this week we will be continuing on with Unit 5 and delving into the question "What kind of transportation helps people do their jobs?"  We will explore this question with the book "Trucks Roll."  In addition, we will work on the comprehension strategy of comparing and contrasting.  We will also review sequencing, characters, setting, and main idea.  The children are doing a great job with their comprehension; therefore, we will work with some higher level questioning to deepen our understanding.  We do have three new sight words this week.  We will be learning: what, was, and said.  I am amazed on how well the children are doing with their sight words.  They are able to recognize and recall them very quickly.  Thank you for your practice at home with this skill.  I did notice during my assessment last week some children are having difficulty with their fluency of letters and sounds.  We want the children to be able to see a letter and say its name and sound instantanously.  The goal at the end of the year is 40 letters in a minute and 28 sounds in a minute.  The letter names is the biggest concern.  The best way to practice is to go through the alphabet 3-4 days a week for 5 minutes.

In math, we are continuing our work with subtraction.  The children are beginning to develop an understanding of how subtraction works.  The children last week worked on telling stories and looking at number sentences.  This week  we will go to the next level with children to writing the full subtraction number sentence.  I encourage you when your child brings home their practice sheet to have them explain this to you.  If your child is able to explain what is happening, your child is then taking ownership of their learning.

Thank you for a wonderful week...I look forward to another fantastic week!

This Week...

This week in Reading Street we will be diving into a new and exciting adventure. The question of the week is, “What would it be like to have an Antarctic Adventure?” Children will build on prior knowledge of what they know about Antarctica and have the opportunity to explore the topic more in-depth. It is always exciting to teach our young learners that the world is much bigger than the community we live in!


With our Antarctic Adventure come six new amazing words: Antarctica, continent, icebergs, penguins, seals, and whales. The students will learn these words through pictures, songs, and the book If You Could Go to Antarctica. To extend your child’s learning at home, you can use books, pictures, or maps that align with the concept of Antarctica. Or, you could ask your child to teach you about Antarctica!

We will begin the week with three new sight words! Our new words for the week are: here, from, and go. The sights words will continue to become more difficult as we come to the end of third quarter and begin the fourth quarter. We greatly appreciate you for continuing to work at home with your child! Many of the children have shared with us that they are now using flashcards at home – this is fantastic!

In writing this week, the children will practice a new concept...story writing! Over the past few weeks, we have started to discuss ideas of topics or events that we could write a story about. The children have shared some very creative ideas! We are looking forward to getting their stories onto paper this week. Each student will have their own book and they will be writing and illustrating their own story. While writing, they will not only be focusing on transferring their story to paper, but they will be using proper sentence structure (a capital letter at the beginning, two finger spaces, and punctuation at the end)!

This week in math, the children will continue to work on their addition skills by creating ladybug number sentences! We are using a multitude of approaches to meet your child’s needs. We are exploring math by telling stories, using manipulatives, and drawing pictures. The children have enjoyed learning about addition and are consistently developing their addition skills. At home, you can ask your child:

-What does addition mean?

-Why it is important now and in the future?

-Can you tell me a number story and show me how to create a number sentence?

The children have a lot of learning to do this week! We hope you have a wonderful week!

Continuing On the Fun...

I hope the children enjoyed their time off of school.  I know the A class only comes on Wednesday this week and the B class only came once last week; therefore, we are continuing our learning from last week.  This allows the children to have all the same lessons as each other.  We will work with the story "My Lucky Day" in Reading Street.  We will also be concentrating on final sounds in words.  Children should be able to isolate the last sound in a word and tell you the corresponding letter.  One area Miss Todd and I have found to be troublesome for some of our children are the sight words.  These words are progressively becoming harder and next week we have new ones.  Please make sure to take 5 - 10 minutes to practice sight words, especially on the "off days."  This will allow the learning to continuing and to allow your child more practice on these words.  We will send home a full list of all sight words up to date this week for your reference.

In math, we are working with teen numbers and building numbers.  Children should be able to read and write numbers to 20 and be able to compare these numbers.  This helps us as we will begin addition and subtraction in the coming weeks.  We want this skill to be "automatic;" therefore, your child should be able to see the number and state it in less than 3 seconds (this is the same for letters and sounds).

On Friday we will have our fun day.  The A class had their Friday Fun Day a couple weeks ago and this will be the B classes turn.  We will be jumping rope for "Jump Rope for Heart" and taking a trip to the school library to learn about books and how books are arranged.  We encourage you to take your child to the local library for another experience.  Your child can even get their own library card.

Thanks again for making this such a great year and I am looking forward to the continuation of the year!

WOW...Lots of Learning...

Children Working Together at the Computer Center

First, I cannot believe where the time has gone.  This year is flying by and I am amazed ever day how much the children are learning.  Second, I want to thank the parents who came last week to conferences and I look forward to seeing the parents who are coming this week.  We had a very packed schedule and we are having to have some phone conferences.  We will be making these phone calls throughout this week.

This week we will be moving into Reading Street Unit 4.  We have a new question "What can we learn from our adventures?"  I think the children will really enjoy this particular unit.  We are introducing new sight words "are, do."  Some children are still having difficulty with our previous sight words "they, you, of."  Please continue to practice these sight words at home as we continue to practice them at school.  The expectation is children should be able to say the sight word within 3 seconds of seeing the word.  We are working with comprehension by identifying the characters, setting, and main idea.  In addition, we work on retelling and sequencing the story.  These are all great questions you can ask your child as you read various stories at home with them.

We are continuing to work on our writing every morning.  Children are suppose to be able to write a complete sentence with spacing, upper/lowercase letters, and punctuation.  Most children are doing well.  The most common error we have noticed is spacing.  The children will start off well, but as the sentence continues their spacing diminishes.  We are also requiring the children to write their first and last names on papers.  Children must be able to write their first and last name correctly for 3rd and 4th quarter.  This requires children to have an uppercase letter and lowercase letters.  In addition there name needs to be controlled, which means on a single line and not extremely large.

In math, children will be assessed on modeling numbers up to 20.  This entails children to build a random number up to 20 on a double tens frame.  The children have practiced this throughout January and February and we feel confident they should do well.  Furthermore, we will be assessing children on the ability to compare 2 numbers.  Children will be required to identify the larger or smaller number of a given set.  We have been working on this skill through the learning game "Top-It" or "War."  Lastly, we will begin introducing one more and one less to the children.  This will help prepare children for addition and subtraction.  Students will explore this skill through various math games.

Once again, I cannot thank you for all of your support at home.  A lot of this learning could not occur without the home-school connection!  You all are wonderful :)  If you have any questions please feel free to email or call!

This Week of Fun...

We are well on our way into the 3rd quarter!  

Important Parent/Guardian Information

1. Please remember... It is important to understand to receive your child's report card you must have paid $25 of the $50 school fees.  If you are unsure if you have paid or if you have a balance please contact me or Mrs. Ilg in the office at 943-6900.  
2. Please remember conferences are Tuesday, January 31st and Tuesday, February 7th.  Conference confirmation forms were sent home on Thursday and Friday.  Please return your confirmation sheets with your child on Monday/Tuesday.  It is very helpful for us to know if you are able to attend.  If you are unable to attend, please let us know so we can fill in the time slot with another parent.  Unfortunately, we were unable to meet all requested conferences.  If you received a yellow piece of paper regarding a phone conference, please let us know the best phone number and time to reach you (before school/after school).  We greatly appreciate your willingness to cooperate with us and our tight schedules.  We want to accommodate all of our families in some way, as these parent-teacher conversations are important for us to have.

This week we will be continuing with our Reading Street program and reading The Lion and the Mouse.  We will be focusing on the main idea (or theme) of a story this week.  We will also continue to work on blending words.  The children are doing this extremely well and we are impressed with how well they are learning their sounds and words.  Our sight words will remain the same this week (they, of, you).  Please take some time to review all of the sight words nightly for about 5 minutes.  

This week in math we are continuing our work on comparing and ordering numbers to 20.  The children are doing this skill extremely well.  One game we learned last week is taking a set of cards numbered to 20 and the children have to order them.  Next, one person "steals a card" and the other person has to figure out which card is missing.  The children have enjoyed this game and it is fun to watch them figure out the missing number.  Finally, we will be continuing to concentrate on writing numbers to 20.  It is important for the children to be able to do this without a model.  Many children do have difficulty with the teen numbers as children want to write 14 as 41 or 17 as 71.

Our centers for the next two weeks will have a mitten theme!  Below are our 4 centers for the next 2 weeks...

• Art Center: Students will use fine motor skills to cut, hole punch, and lace a mitten.  Students will then decorate their mitten with oil pastels.
• Computer Center/Math Center: Students will be able to explore math related websites (using 21st century skills) and continue to work on ordering numbers.
• Writing Center: Students will write sentences about their mittens using a capital letter, 2 finger spacing, and punctuation.
• Library Center: Students will continue identifying the title, characters, and their favorite part of a story. However, students will also have the opportunity to do a fun word family activity.

Thank you for all of your support and continuing to work with your children at home...We are looking forward to another great week of learning :)

Time For Some Fun...

Students at the Computer Center

We are beginning the 3rd quarter this week (oh how time flies when we are having fun).  We have completed all of our assessments for the 2nd quarter and report cards will be coming home in the next week.  It is important to understand to receive your child's report card you must have paid $25 of the $50 school fees.  If you are unsure if you have paid or if you have a balance please contact me or Mrs. Ilg in the office at 943-6900.  In addition, your child will receive one of two scores on their report card.  The two scores are yes (Y) or no (N).  This basically means if your child can do the assigned skill he/she will receive a yes, if he/she is unable to complete the skill independently then your child will receive a no.  Please do not be discouraged if they receive a no because progress may have been made.  We will discuss this more at conferences.

Parent-Teacher conference forms were sent home on Thursday and Friday of last week.  It is imperative to send those forms back to school on Monday or Tuesday.  We only have two evenings for conferences this time; therefore, it will be a first come first serve.  In addition, we may ask for some phone conferences if all time slots become filled.  We appreciate your willingness to cooperate with us during our tight schedule.  We want to accommodate all of our families in some way as it is important for us to have these conversations.

This week we will be continuing on in our reading street and discussing the differences between today and long ago.  This always allows for some great conversations to occur about what we had awhile ago to what we have today.  You may want to take some time and talk about how school was different for you.  We will continue to work on blending words.  The children are doing this extremely well and I am impressed with how well they are learning their sounds and words.  We have three new sight words this week (they, of, you).  I have noticed the word "like" and "me" have been somewhat difficult for the children.  Please take some time to review the sight words nightly for about 5 minutes.  We are working extremely hard on our writing too.  The children need to be able to write a sentence with spacing, upper/lowercase letters, and punctuation by the end of kindergarten.

This week in math we are working on comparing and ordering numbers to 20.  The children are doing this skill extremely well.  One game we are learning is taking a set of cards numbered to 20 and the children have to order them.  Next, one person "steals a card" and the other person has to figure out which card is missing.  The children are loving this game and it is fun to watch them figure out the missing number.  In addition, the children can learn "war," which will help them with comparing numbers.  You can play where the winner is the one with the largest number or you can change the rule to the person who has the smallest number.  Finally, we will be concentrating on writing numbers to 20.  It is important for the children to be able to do this without a model.  Many children do have difficulty with the teen numbers as children want to write 14 as 41 or 17 as 71.

Thank you for all of your support...I am looking forward to a great week of learning :)