Week of 12/09

This is the last week for parent helpers in 2019! Thank you for making centers run so smoothly and volunteering your time in our classroom. The Sign-Up Genius for early 2020 still has plenty of spots. Please check that out and see if you can join us for centers between 12:25 and 1:40 in 2020.

Your child should have received his/her part assignment for the Nutcracker in last week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems gathering the clothes we've asked them to wear. I do have several leotards that my daughter outgrew from her dance days in the classroom, as well as a few pairs of ballet slippers. We do not intend for you to have to buy anything. We are looking forward to a memorable performance on the 19th at 10:00!

Thank you for answering the call to help with make-up and costumes at the Nutcracker performance.  Please let me know if I'm forgetting anyone because a couple of people told me in person they could help, and I'm not as good at remembering those as on email. I have: Claire, Gomathi, and Carole.

Language Arts
This week's sight words are on and we. Our word family is the ap family. Children will be reading words such as cap, rap, and map. We will be reading stories in the Bear series by Karma Wilson.

Math
We will continue with Module 4, Number Pairs, Addition & Subtraction to 10. This is an extremely important part of our kindergarten math program, and we dedicate a large amount of time to this module. In fact, we will be on this module until the end of January. Parent tips for this module can be found here. I do recommend that you look these over, because there will be some new vocabulary for those of you who do not have older students who have done the Eureka math program. Of particular importance are the words "compose" (finding numbers that add up to a given number-- like 3 & 2 compose 5) "decompose" (take apart a number-- like 5 can be 4 & 1) and number bonds (a model to show mathematical thinking)

STEAM
This week, our class will participate in an exciting movement called Hour of Code. Students have become very proficient at coding using apps, and last week, they did an amazing job with CodeSpark. This week we will be writing code for our Bee Bot, and using the Osmos again to do Osmo Coding Jam.  We will also do some "off the grid" programming using a game called "Hopscotch Coding." We are excited to be a part of this global movement!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags, Daily 5, Centers (Carole & Tiffany H.)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Claire & Gomathi)
Wednesday: Rhythm & Moves P.E., Music, Blue Bags go home (last of 2019!)
Thursday: Return Weds. Envelopes, Daily 5, Centers (Agnieszka & Gomathi)
Friday: Daily 5, Hour of Code STEAM Centers (Patty & Carole)

Upcoming Events:
12/9-12/15: Hour of Code/Computer Science Week 
Thursday 12/19: Nutcracker Performance at 10:00
Friday 12/20: Classroom Holiday Party/Pajama Day
12/21-01/05: Winter Break

Friday 01/17: No School: Professional Development Day
Monday 01/20: No School: MLK Day
Tuesday 01/28: 100 Day
02/17-02/21: President's Week Vacation