Week of 12/11

Dear Parents,

We were excited to participate in Hour of Code last week, and we got to participate in some familiar activities, as well as some new ones. One of the new activities we participated in was using an iPad app called "Kodable," which is also a website (www.kodable.com). You can have your child continue to use this app or website at home by using our classroom code (sent in an email). Children seemed to really enjoy trying to get the little creatures in this app through the various mazes.

The main "business" of this week is all things Nutcracker! We will be practicing daily this week, so I am canceling centers. There will also be no homework/blue bags this Wednesday.  Enjoy a stress-free week to focus on your holiday preparations!

For the Nutcracker performance, we have a couple of photographers-- thanks to Anne-Marie & Asma, but we could use a couple more parents to help us with the theater make-up and costuming on the day of the performance.  Please let me know if you can help with this, along with Marylu & Jennifer. You would come in at around 8:45 or so and begin calling kids back individually and get them ready for the stage. Thank you!

This will be our student teacher, Miss Anna's, last week in K2. She will be moving onto an upper grade assignment in her 2nd semester of her credential program. Miss Anna has been a huge help to our classroom, and the children have really connected with her. She will be missed!

Language Arts:
We will be focusing on the word family "ag." We will be building words such as rag, bag, lag, sag, and tag. Our sight word is is. We will be building and reading sentences with the word is and some of the words from the word families we've been studying.

This week's share is song, poem, or nursery rhyme. Please have your child be prepared to recite a song, poem, or nursery rhyme. If children are stuck for ideas, they can always sing a favorite classroom song song. Songs or poems in other languages are always appreciated as well!

Math:
We are finishing with Module 3 in Eureka Math: Comparison of Weight, Length, Capacity, and Numbers to 10. Parent tips can be found here. This week, we will be comparing numbers. When we return from Winter Break, we will begin Composing & Decomposing, which is preparing the children for addition and subtraction skills.

Upcoming Events:
There is a Wacky Wednesday this week for the p.m. class. This means that our class will be leaving backpacks outside along the window wall. Also, dismissal will be from the library.

A reminder about clothing for the Nutcracker: please remember to dress your children in the clothes suggested in the letter sent home in the Wednesday envelope last week. Children should come to school dressed in these items on Friday. Girls can wear something over the top of their leotards when they arrive and change into their ballet shoes for the performance. As a reminder, here is the list:

FRITZ: Bathrobe/pajamas & slippers
NUTCRACKER/SOLDIERS/RUSSIAN DANCERS: White Shirt & Dark Pants w/ dark shoes
MICE: Dark Shirt & Dark Pants & dark shoes
SUGAR PLUM, RIBBON CANDY, FLOWERS: Light colored leotard/light colored tights/ballet slippers or light colored shoes-- leotards with tutus attached are fine & encouraged for Sugar Plum Fairies & Flowers, especially. Ribbon tutu provided for Ribbon Candies.
ARABIAN: Light colored fitted shirt w/ leggings OR leotard (we provide the Harem pants)
CHINESE DANCERS: Shirt doesn't matter so much (will be wearing jacket we provide) dark pants.

Please borrow whatever you need to borrow-- we don't intend for anyone to have to buy anything.  I have 2-3 leotards and a few pairs of ballet slippers in the classroom that used to belong to my daughter that are also available-- let me know if you need to borrow.

Please arrive promptly in the cafeteria for the Nutcracker, as we intend to start the show right at 10:00. Also, please do not try to come early and save seats. We will be keeping the doors locked until about 15 minutes before the performance.We want everyone to enjoy the performance, so please refrain from standing and blocking the aisles as much as possible. Also remember that school-aged siblings are not to be pulled out of class to watch the performance. Thank you!

Remember to bring your blue bags tomorrow. Starting in January, a journal will be added to the homework bag so that your children can write a response to the book in the bag each week. No blue bags this Wednesday, but there will be Wednesday envelopes. Please return those on Thursday so that they don't get lost over the long holiday.

Happy Holidays!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Blue Bags returned (Hosun), No centers, Sharing
Tuesday: No centers, Sharing
Wednesday: Wacky Weds., Sharing, Weds. envelopes go home

Thursday: Weds. envelopes returned, No centers, Sharing
Friday: Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 followed by Cast Party afterward!

Upcoming Events:

Friday 12/16: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00
12/19-01/02: Winter Break
Tuesday 1/3: District-wide "Smart Start Day"
Friday 1/13: Staff Development Day, No School
Monday 1/16: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Tuesday 1/17: Incoming Kindergarten Orientation
Friday 1/27: Snow Day
Thursday 2/2: 100 Day

Week of 12/5

Dear Parents,

You should have received a note regarding your child's Nutcracker part, and what s/he should wear for the performance in last week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems with gathering up the various clothes needed-- most girls will be wearing leotards, and most boys will be wearing dark pants and either a light or dark shirt. Hopefully, if there is a clothing item you do not have, you can borrow it, as I do not intend for you to have to buy anything.  Girls-- I have several leotards of my daughter's that can be borrowed.  Again, the performance of the Nutcracker will be at 10:00 on the 16th. Get there a little early (the invitation we are sending home this week has a time 10 minutes before the start) so that you can be seated when the performance begins. You won't want to miss it!

On another Nutcracker note, I am in need of a few people who can help with make-up and costuming on the day of the show. You will come into the classroom at about 8:45 and call children back one-by-one to get them ready for the stage. Please email me if you can help with this!

Language Arts
We are continuing our study of word families. This week's families/endings will be "ad" and "ap." We will read and build words that end with those sounds, such as sad, bad, had and lap, map, nap. 

Our sight word this week is look. This word is not on our original list of 40 words, but we feel that it is important to learn this high frequency word.

Our story this week will be Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, along with other books in this cute series. We will also read a non-fiction selection on bears and write a mini-book of our own with bear facts that we have learned.

Our sharing this week is Toy in a Bag. Please have your child hide an item in a bag and write three clues about what is inside the bag. Please have your child help in writing the clues, as we are trying to encourage as much independent writing as possible at this point in the year.

Math
We are continuing with Module 3 in Eureka Math: Comparison of Weight, Length, Capacity, and Numbers to 10. Parent tips can be found here. This week, we will be looking at weight and volume of things. We will get to use the balance scales during centers to weigh various objects.

STEAM
This week, our class will participate in an exciting movement called Hour of Code. Students have become very proficient at writing code for our Bee Bot, and will get more practice with that on Monday. We will also be working on a program called Kodable, and using the Osmos again to do Osmo Coding.  We will also do some "off the grid" programming using a game called "Puppy Programming." We are excited to be a part of this global movement!

We have an Art Vista lesson on Wednesday. Thank you to Susan, Minna, and Eden for presenting the lesson.

This is our final week of centers before the holidays, as next week we will be focusing on Nutcracker rehearsals.  Thank you so much to our classroom helpers in 2016, and thank you for your continued support in 2017!  I will be updating the 2017 schedule as soon as I can. Please let me know if there are any changes to the schedule or if you'd like to be added to the schedule.

Blue Bags are due tomorrow, and will go home again on Wednesday for the last time in 2016. When we return from Winter Break, the journal component will be added to the Blue Bags. Your children will be asked to write a response to the story they read. We would like them to write a sentence about what they liked about the book, and draw a nice picture to go along with it. If it is a non-fiction selection, they will be writing a fact that they learned from the book. More details will follow in the Blue Bag on the week of January 3rd.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Special Coding Centers (Annie & Marylu), Sharing
Tuesday: Centers (Zaakir & Anne-Marie), Sharing
Wednesday: Art Vista Lesson (Susan, Eden, Minna) PE with Coach Sierra, Sharing

Thursday: Centers (Susan & Anna G.), Sharing
Friday: Sharing, STEAM Centers (Barry), Story time with Grandma Gail

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday 12/07: Art Vista Presentation

Friday 12/16: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00
12/19-01/02: Winter Break
Friday 1/13: Staff Development Day, No School
Monday 1/16: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Friday 1/27: Snow Day
Thursday 2/2: 100 Day