I wanted to thank parents and students for having such a great first month of journal entries with the Blue Bags! Everyone is working on letting their children do all their own spelling, and are encouraging them so well in their efforts! I already see improvement in the writing just in this short time. Remember that the focus in kindergarten is giving kids the ability to use their phonics skills to write on their own and get their thoughts down on paper. As they move through the grade levels, spelling will become more of a focus. Right now the focus is the process and applying phonetic sounds so that they have that framework to fall back on whenever they need to write on their own.
We had a wonderful "Snow Day" last Wednesday-- thank you! It seems that for the past 3 or 4 years, Snow Day is always on one of the warmest days in January, and this year was no exception! The kids had fun with the snowball fight, and enjoyed a treat afterward.
Our new letter this week is Ll, and the Alphafriend is Larry Lion. We have a new word this week, is. We will also introduce another vowel sound this week, Ii, and that Alphafriend is Iggy Iguana. Iggy will help us spell words with the short i sound, such as: bit, pin, rib, etc. We are now up to 18 sight words. Please check the sight word link on the website and make sure that your child knows the words we've introduced, as this is a heavy emphasis at this time. If your child is struggling with these words, a good website to go to is http://www.spellingcity.com
and log in under my name for the "40 Word List" of all the sight words we're covering this year.
We will continue working on subtraction this week. Please continue reinforcing the concept at home using apps on iPhones & iPads or logging into the Xtra Math accounts we have set up for your children. Although Xtra Math isn't a "game," it does provide reinforcement of math facts that increases in difficulty as your children become more familiar with the facts & concepts.
This week's share is homemade item. Children should bring in something they made or mostly made themselves, and be prepared to talk about how they made it. Crafts from parties, preschool, home, etc are all great for this share.
On Friday, February 14th, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day in class. Just a reminder (since I know your children will be eagerly shopping for Valentines soon!) in kindergarten, we have the kids sign their valentines, but we do not have them write who the valentine is "to." This makes distribution MUCH easier, since many kids cannot read the names. So please sign the cards, but leave the "to" box blank. Please send in 22 valentines so that there are enough for each child in the class. Thanks!
The afternoon class has a Wacky Wednesday this week. Class runs from 10:00 to 1:20.
Please send in your child's blue bag tomorrow, with the book & homework folder inside. Thank you!
Upcoming Events:
1/29: January's Wacky Wednesday & Chef's Night Out at Willow Street Pizza
2/5: 100 Day
2/13: "Helping Your Child Succeed at School" 6:00-7:30 in the AV Cafeteria
2/14: Valentine's Day celebration-- bring cards that are signed by your child
2/15-2/23: President's Week Vacation
2/26: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/29: Bocce Ball Tournament & Auction @ Campo Di Bocce
