Dear Parents,
I hope you are all enjoying this long
weekend. With only 9 days to go in kindergarten, this post will mostly
just remind you of upcoming special events!
There is
no sharing this week and in class, we will continue our science unit on
animals. The children have really enjoyed observing fish, guppies, red worms, and night crawlers so far. Our butterflies mostly hatched last Friday, so we let them go over the weekend. This week,
we will also wrap up our social studies units. We will also do a few pieces of writing for our memory books.
Our last
Wednesday envelope will go home this week. Please review the papers,
and then keep the envelope-- no need to send it back again. On Friday, we will have our final SPARK P.E.
We
have our water play day/class party coming up on Tuesday the 4th.
We will have a pizza lunch and some fun in the sun! Please send your children with a towel, a swimsuit under their clothes
(or boys just wear their swimsuits as shorts) water shoes or flip flops
or old shoes you don't mind having them get wet. We don't like them to
go barefoot on the blacktop, so we need them to be wearing shoes that
will work with the water. Please coat them in sunblock before their
arrival, as sun block is most effective if applied about a half hour
before the activity. Children who are going to daycare after class
should have a change of clothes.
Wednesday the 5th, we
do have a school-wide Olympic Day. So that the children can
participate, the afternoon class will have another Wacky Wednesday that day. I could use a few parent helpers to walk around with us.
Also, I know they are in need of parent helpers to run the various
stations. Please let me know if you can help.
The afternoon class also has a Wacky Wednesday this week. Class runs from 10:00 to 1:20. Thank you.
Our
last big event together is next Thursday the 6th for our Promotion Day
celebration. This should wrap up before class is out, and then the kids
can stay and sign yearbooks, etc. If you want them to leave early that
day, please sign them out in the office. Please plan on joining us as
we have a small presentation and will look back on our wonderful year
together!
There are no events on Friday the 7th, but
all kindergarten classes attend from 8:05 to 11:25. Both the morning
class and the afternoon class will be in the room together, cleaning up,
signing yearbooks, and wrapping up our year together.
In
our final weeks, there will be a few opportunities to watch movies
(class party, after Olympic Day, etc.) If your child has any Rated G
movies that s/he would like to bring in to share, I'd appreciate it. We
do not have a Blue-Ray player, just a DVD player (and VHS if anyone still has those lying around!) Please clearly mark
the movies with your child's name.
Upcoming Events:
5/29: May's Wacky Wednesday
6/4: Water Play Day & Class Party
6/5: June's Wacky Wednesday/Alta Vista Olympic Day
6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/7: Last day of school: Class runs from 8:05-11:25 for ALL KINDERGARTNERS
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Week of 5/12
Dear Parents,
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for entrusting me with your wonderful children. Thank you also to all the moms for coming on Friday. The children were so excited to have you there for our Mother's Day event, and it was wonderful that each child had someone to honor. I hope all the moms are enjoying their day today.
We have another review week covering several consonants this week (Dd, Jj, Nn, Ww). All letters have now been introduced, so please work on practicing both writing and reading consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Your children should be able to read all of those types of words using their letter sounds and blending skills-- cut, bus, rat, sip, hot, etc. This is a really important skill to work on now and through the summer, as that is something your children will be expected to do proficiently in first grade. Books such as the leveled Scholastic Readers, Bob Books, I Can Read Books, and Ready to Read Books are great for reinforcing blending skills and practicing fluency. Please keep your children reading 20-30 minutes daily now and through the summer. Also, continue working on the sight words. They need to know all 40, and in first grade, the list increases to 100 words. That list can be found on the first grade page here: http://www.unionsd.org/cms/lib07/CA01001465/Centricity/Domain/97/100_Sight_Words.pdf: I can't emphasize enough that the best way to help your child become a successful reader is to offer plenty of opportunity for practice.
This is our last week of centers. I'd like to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to coming in weekly to help us in the classroom. This was an amazing year for classroom help-- whenever somebody was unable to come in, someone else stepped right up as a sub. That small-group instruction time is so important, and without all of the helpers, it would not have been possible. Thank you, thank you!
We also finished our math topic on days of the week last week, and will start our final math topic on graphing tomorrow. Things are wrapping up quickly! Our final science unit on animals/living things continues for the next few weeks. Our caterpillars in the classroom will soon go into chrysalids, so we are eagerly awaiting the butterfly stage!
In art, we are busily preparing for Open House next Wednesday the 22nd. There is a Home & School Club meeting from 6:30 to 7:00, and then classrooms are open from 7:00 to 8:00. Please plan on coming into the room and checking out all the work that will be on display! The children have worked hard and are so excited to show off all their wonderful projects. Open House is also a great opportunity to check out the 1st grade classrooms to see what you can look forward to there.
Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow. You will no longer see the Blue Bags and this is our last week of homework. A homework packet will go home this Wednesday as well as your child's journal, but you may choose a book on your own bookshelf for our final journal assignment. Please use the extra time in the upcoming weeks for additional reading practice, and of course, outdoor time is always important.
The sharing this week is Song, Poem, or Nursery Rhyme. Please have your child prepared to recite/sing something in front of the class. Songs or poems in other languages are always welcome and encouraged!
Thank you to those of you who have already completed the Union School District parent survey. For those of you who have not completed it, you can find it here: http://www3.unionsd.org/domain/29 Please take the survey, then email me that you've completed it. Your child will receive a Cougar Gold Card to thank you for your participation in the survey.
Hard to believe that we have just 19 class days left together!!
Upcoming Events:
5/22: Open House 6:30-8:00
5/29: May's Wacky Wednesday
6/4: Water Play Day & Class Party
6/5: June's Wacky Wednesday/Alta Vista Olympic Day
6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/7: Last day of school: Class runs from 8:05-11:25 for ALL KINDERGARTNERS
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for entrusting me with your wonderful children. Thank you also to all the moms for coming on Friday. The children were so excited to have you there for our Mother's Day event, and it was wonderful that each child had someone to honor. I hope all the moms are enjoying their day today.
We have another review week covering several consonants this week (Dd, Jj, Nn, Ww). All letters have now been introduced, so please work on practicing both writing and reading consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Your children should be able to read all of those types of words using their letter sounds and blending skills-- cut, bus, rat, sip, hot, etc. This is a really important skill to work on now and through the summer, as that is something your children will be expected to do proficiently in first grade. Books such as the leveled Scholastic Readers, Bob Books, I Can Read Books, and Ready to Read Books are great for reinforcing blending skills and practicing fluency. Please keep your children reading 20-30 minutes daily now and through the summer. Also, continue working on the sight words. They need to know all 40, and in first grade, the list increases to 100 words. That list can be found on the first grade page here: http://www.unionsd.org/cms/lib07/CA01001465/Centricity/Domain/97/100_Sight_Words.pdf: I can't emphasize enough that the best way to help your child become a successful reader is to offer plenty of opportunity for practice.
This is our last week of centers. I'd like to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to coming in weekly to help us in the classroom. This was an amazing year for classroom help-- whenever somebody was unable to come in, someone else stepped right up as a sub. That small-group instruction time is so important, and without all of the helpers, it would not have been possible. Thank you, thank you!
We also finished our math topic on days of the week last week, and will start our final math topic on graphing tomorrow. Things are wrapping up quickly! Our final science unit on animals/living things continues for the next few weeks. Our caterpillars in the classroom will soon go into chrysalids, so we are eagerly awaiting the butterfly stage!
In art, we are busily preparing for Open House next Wednesday the 22nd. There is a Home & School Club meeting from 6:30 to 7:00, and then classrooms are open from 7:00 to 8:00. Please plan on coming into the room and checking out all the work that will be on display! The children have worked hard and are so excited to show off all their wonderful projects. Open House is also a great opportunity to check out the 1st grade classrooms to see what you can look forward to there.
Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow. You will no longer see the Blue Bags and this is our last week of homework. A homework packet will go home this Wednesday as well as your child's journal, but you may choose a book on your own bookshelf for our final journal assignment. Please use the extra time in the upcoming weeks for additional reading practice, and of course, outdoor time is always important.
The sharing this week is Song, Poem, or Nursery Rhyme. Please have your child prepared to recite/sing something in front of the class. Songs or poems in other languages are always welcome and encouraged!
Thank you to those of you who have already completed the Union School District parent survey. For those of you who have not completed it, you can find it here: http://www3.unionsd.org/domain/29 Please take the survey, then email me that you've completed it. Your child will receive a Cougar Gold Card to thank you for your participation in the survey.
Hard to believe that we have just 19 class days left together!!
Upcoming Events:
5/22: Open House 6:30-8:00
5/29: May's Wacky Wednesday
6/4: Water Play Day & Class Party
6/5: June's Wacky Wednesday/Alta Vista Olympic Day
6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/7: Last day of school: Class runs from 8:05-11:25 for ALL KINDERGARTNERS
