Dear Parents,
I hope your children had a fabulous week off & that you were able to enjoy some family time. The upcoming month will be very busy as we prepare for conferences, and then meet with you all March 4-15 I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress with you.
This week's letter is Zz. The new Alphafriend is Zelda Zebra. We have a new high frequency word, have. This one is often confused with a word we introduced earlier, here, since they both start with h and end with e. Continue reviewing those high frequency words posted on our website with your children. Remember that you can also use http://www.spellingcity.com as a fun way to review the words, as I have posted our list on the website. You can encourage your children to play games on the website to become more familiar with the words. Check it out! There is a link to the right on this website with login information so that you can get to our kindergarten list. There is also a Spelling City app for the iPad, if you are interested.
We will begin the math topic on Geometric Shapes. We will cover both plane & solid shapes. Plane shapes will include square, rectangle, triangle, and circle. Solid shapes will include sphere, cone, cube, and cylinder. Please begin familiarizing your children with these words, especially those of the solid shapes, by pointing to objects in the house that have those shapes. It is hard for them to remember these words without a lot of extra practice, and these words keep coming back year after year in our math program!
We will have a writing assessment this week. I will share the results of this assessment with you at your parent-teacher conference. Children will be expected to write one complete sentence without assistance that covers the given topic. Your children have been doing well with their journals, so I anticipate some good results!
We have an Art Vista lesson this week. This is one of our more exciting art lessons-- we will make prints using a fish! Please dress your children accordingly (not a favorite outfit) as we will be using fabric paints with the fish. Please contact our Art Vista docents if you are able to help with this lesson.
The p.m. class has a Wacky Wednesday this week. Class runs from 10:00 to 1:20.
This week's sharing is book share. Please send a book in with your children and have them prepared to talk about the title, what the story is about, and show a favorite page.
We will begin a new science unit on Wood & Paper this week. This is a really fun unit where we will be discussing different types of wood, what trees provide the wood, and how different types of wood are manufactured. We will also be discussing some of wood's byproducts and conducting different experiments with both wood and paper. The children love this unit!
I wanted to congratulate everyone on the fantastic job that they did with the President's Reports before break! We had a great variety of sentences, and I think we learned a lot about Lincoln & Washington because of this. Also, the kids needed very little prompting, and they spoke very confidently! It was really enjoyable to watch them.
Upcoming Events:
2/27: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/4-3/15: 2nd Trimester Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/15: Donate & Celebrate Auction
3/27: March's Wacky Wednesday
4/8-4/12: Spring Break
4/24: April's Wacky Wednesday & Field trip to Farm
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Week of 2/10
Dear Parents,
We are looking forward to a fun & exciting week with the start of Lunar New Year, the first field trip on Wednesday, a Valentine's Day celebration Thursday, and a Patriotic Parade on Friday!
Just a reminder that Valentines Day is not a formal "party." We will have centers, as usual, but the art projects will have a Valentine theme. Following centers, we will begin passing out valentines (remember to only have your children sign them and not write anything in the "to" box). We will have snack/recess as usual. Valentine's Day is also another school spirit day-- wear pink, red, purple, etc. to show your school spirit!
For the field trip-- remember that it is a Wacky Wednesday for the p.m. class. Please bring your children to school promptly and have them use the restroom before they come so we don't have any emergencies on the bus. We will board the bus almost right away and head to the Sunnyvale Community Center for the play. Please send your children in their class t-shirts. It helps us to keep track of everyone as we keep our eye on those same-colored shirts! Also, please send a fully disposable snack so that we don't have to worry about forgetting lunch boxes or water bottles on the bus. Thank you to our field trip chaperones. Chaperones, we may need you to follow behind the bus in your cars due to the limited space on the bus, so if you'd like to work out a carpool amongst yourselves, that would be good.
Another exciting event this week is the start of Chinese/Lunar New Year. We will have several Asian-themed art projects this week in honor of the event, and we be hearing a few traditional Chinese tales. If any of our parents who celebrate Chinese/Lunar New Year/Tet would like to come in and give a small presentation to the class about it, we would love to have you. Let me know if you'd like to come in.
Our President's report homework is due Monday, in the Blue Bags as always. Our sharing this week will be to state the one sentence about Lincoln, and the one sentence about George Washington that your children wrote on the back of the dot-to-dots. We would like them to have each sentence memorized, but we expect that a few may need some prompting. There will be no homework this Wednesday due to the upcoming vacation.
Our new letter this week is Dd. The Alphafriend is Dudley Duck. We will introduce a new sight word, for. Please check the website for the starred words that the children should be able to read without hesitation. They are listed under the right-hand link, "High Frequency Words." We have now introduced 21 words.
We will be wrapping up the math topic on patterning this week. The children have really enjoyed this topic. We will be learning more about Presidents Lincoln & Washington this week, and will end the week with a patriotic parade down to the office in our three-cornered hats, waving an American flag :)
As you can see, it will be a busy week with lots of fun kindergarten memories! Then the kids have a week to relax afterward. Enjoy!
Upcoming Events:
2/11: President's Reports due-- share your sentences for sharing
2/12: Round Table Pizza Chef's Night Out
2/13: Field Trip to see Miss Nelson is Missing
2/14: Pass out Valentines to the class
2/18-2/22: President's Week Break
2/27: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/4-3/15: 2nd Trimester Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/15: Donate & Celebrate Auction
3/27: March's Wacky Wednesday
We are looking forward to a fun & exciting week with the start of Lunar New Year, the first field trip on Wednesday, a Valentine's Day celebration Thursday, and a Patriotic Parade on Friday!
Just a reminder that Valentines Day is not a formal "party." We will have centers, as usual, but the art projects will have a Valentine theme. Following centers, we will begin passing out valentines (remember to only have your children sign them and not write anything in the "to" box). We will have snack/recess as usual. Valentine's Day is also another school spirit day-- wear pink, red, purple, etc. to show your school spirit!
For the field trip-- remember that it is a Wacky Wednesday for the p.m. class. Please bring your children to school promptly and have them use the restroom before they come so we don't have any emergencies on the bus. We will board the bus almost right away and head to the Sunnyvale Community Center for the play. Please send your children in their class t-shirts. It helps us to keep track of everyone as we keep our eye on those same-colored shirts! Also, please send a fully disposable snack so that we don't have to worry about forgetting lunch boxes or water bottles on the bus. Thank you to our field trip chaperones. Chaperones, we may need you to follow behind the bus in your cars due to the limited space on the bus, so if you'd like to work out a carpool amongst yourselves, that would be good.
Another exciting event this week is the start of Chinese/Lunar New Year. We will have several Asian-themed art projects this week in honor of the event, and we be hearing a few traditional Chinese tales. If any of our parents who celebrate Chinese/Lunar New Year/Tet would like to come in and give a small presentation to the class about it, we would love to have you. Let me know if you'd like to come in.
Our President's report homework is due Monday, in the Blue Bags as always. Our sharing this week will be to state the one sentence about Lincoln, and the one sentence about George Washington that your children wrote on the back of the dot-to-dots. We would like them to have each sentence memorized, but we expect that a few may need some prompting. There will be no homework this Wednesday due to the upcoming vacation.
Our new letter this week is Dd. The Alphafriend is Dudley Duck. We will introduce a new sight word, for. Please check the website for the starred words that the children should be able to read without hesitation. They are listed under the right-hand link, "High Frequency Words." We have now introduced 21 words.
We will be wrapping up the math topic on patterning this week. The children have really enjoyed this topic. We will be learning more about Presidents Lincoln & Washington this week, and will end the week with a patriotic parade down to the office in our three-cornered hats, waving an American flag :)
As you can see, it will be a busy week with lots of fun kindergarten memories! Then the kids have a week to relax afterward. Enjoy!
Upcoming Events:
2/11: President's Reports due-- share your sentences for sharing
2/12: Round Table Pizza Chef's Night Out
2/13: Field Trip to see Miss Nelson is Missing
2/14: Pass out Valentines to the class
2/18-2/22: President's Week Break
2/27: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/4-3/15: 2nd Trimester Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/15: Donate & Celebrate Auction
3/27: March's Wacky Wednesday
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Week of 2/3
Dear Parents,
We had a wonderful celebration of our 100th day of school! We entered our classroom through a giant 100, clapped and jumped 100 times, closed our eyes for 100 seconds, made special 100 day crowns and glasses, and much, much, more-- phew! Thank you for sending in all the wonderful collections. It was a fun way to celebrate the whole week long. Here's to the next 79 school days!
Thank you for your prompt replies on conference sign-ups. I have just about everyone scheduled. I will send out my updated schedule later today. If I haven't heard from you, please send me your time preferences after checking the updated schedule. I look forward to meeting with you all in March, and I will begin assessing your children this week during center time to have all the latest information.
This week's letter is Qq. The Alphafriend is Queenie Queen. We will introduce two new sight words, or and but, and we will review is and here. We have finished up our math topic on numbers 20-30. Please continue reinforcing recognition of all numbers between 1 and 30, as well as reinforcing the sight words. This is the greatest "push" at this time! This week, we begin a math topic on patterning, which most children really enjoy.
Homework is due tomorrow, and then we will have a special homework project coming home this week. In honor of President's Day, we will be doing a very simple project honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The children will complete and color a dot-to-dot of each president. There are two dot-to-dots in the packet, one of Abraham Lincoln, and one of George Washington. On the back of each of these pictures, your child is to write one sentence about each President. The children will present these facts next week for sharing. It is always fun when the children bring in little-known facts about the Presidents, so do a little research on the web and see what you can find! Of course, it is also okay to stick with basic facts such as "He was the first President." and "He was the sixteenth President." This is their first exposure to doing an oral report, so it is most important to choose a sentence that you think your child will be able to remember and present on his/her own. There will be no homework/blue bags on February 13th, due to the upcoming President's Week holiday.
This week, our art will center around President's Day and the book, The Hat, as well as continuing to learn about penguins. Sharing this week is Homemade Item. Please send something your child has made/drawn at home or in a class-- crafts, projects, etc. Your child should be prepared to tell about how they made it.
A reminder again that we are celebrating Valentine's Day in class on the 14th. This is not a party-- we will simply pass out valentines at the end of the day. Please remember to leave the "To" section of the card blank, and just have your child sign the card. This makes distribution much easier! Please send in Valentines for all 25 students if you are participating. Thank you!
Upcoming Events:
2/13: Special Wacky Wednesday (p.m. class) and field trip to see a play (all K classes)
2/14: Valentine's Day celebration: only sign valentines
2/18-2/22: President's Week: No School
2/27: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/4-3/15: 2nd Trimester Conferences
We had a wonderful celebration of our 100th day of school! We entered our classroom through a giant 100, clapped and jumped 100 times, closed our eyes for 100 seconds, made special 100 day crowns and glasses, and much, much, more-- phew! Thank you for sending in all the wonderful collections. It was a fun way to celebrate the whole week long. Here's to the next 79 school days!
Thank you for your prompt replies on conference sign-ups. I have just about everyone scheduled. I will send out my updated schedule later today. If I haven't heard from you, please send me your time preferences after checking the updated schedule. I look forward to meeting with you all in March, and I will begin assessing your children this week during center time to have all the latest information.
This week's letter is Qq. The Alphafriend is Queenie Queen. We will introduce two new sight words, or and but, and we will review is and here. We have finished up our math topic on numbers 20-30. Please continue reinforcing recognition of all numbers between 1 and 30, as well as reinforcing the sight words. This is the greatest "push" at this time! This week, we begin a math topic on patterning, which most children really enjoy.
Homework is due tomorrow, and then we will have a special homework project coming home this week. In honor of President's Day, we will be doing a very simple project honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The children will complete and color a dot-to-dot of each president. There are two dot-to-dots in the packet, one of Abraham Lincoln, and one of George Washington. On the back of each of these pictures, your child is to write one sentence about each President. The children will present these facts next week for sharing. It is always fun when the children bring in little-known facts about the Presidents, so do a little research on the web and see what you can find! Of course, it is also okay to stick with basic facts such as "He was the first President." and "He was the sixteenth President." This is their first exposure to doing an oral report, so it is most important to choose a sentence that you think your child will be able to remember and present on his/her own. There will be no homework/blue bags on February 13th, due to the upcoming President's Week holiday.
This week, our art will center around President's Day and the book, The Hat, as well as continuing to learn about penguins. Sharing this week is Homemade Item. Please send something your child has made/drawn at home or in a class-- crafts, projects, etc. Your child should be prepared to tell about how they made it.
A reminder again that we are celebrating Valentine's Day in class on the 14th. This is not a party-- we will simply pass out valentines at the end of the day. Please remember to leave the "To" section of the card blank, and just have your child sign the card. This makes distribution much easier! Please send in Valentines for all 25 students if you are participating. Thank you!
Upcoming Events:
2/13: Special Wacky Wednesday (p.m. class) and field trip to see a play (all K classes)
2/14: Valentine's Day celebration: only sign valentines
2/18-2/22: President's Week: No School
2/27: February's Wacky Wednesday
3/4-3/15: 2nd Trimester Conferences