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:
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
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
