Week of 3/29

I cannot believe we are one week away from Spring Break. Congratulations to everyone for getting through the better part of this trying year, and being true partners in your children's education. I am so thankful for all of you!

This Week in Class

Phonics Focus: "wh" digraph

Sight Word: yes

Math: Subtraction fluency

Theme: Farm Animals/Spring

Cornerstone

This week, we will have another Cornerstone lesson with Matt (Vivi's dad) and Danielle (William's mom). We will view the pre-recorded story in class, and then follow up on Wednesday on Zoom with a lesson about the book. Thank you Matt & Danielle for keeping Cornerstone going this year!

Farm Theme

We have been learning about various farm animals in class. Last week, we focused on cows & pigs. This week, we will learn about what comes from farms and complete a book called "From the Farm." 

Writing

We have been doing a lot of writing in class, both children's choices for topics, and topics that respond to what we are learning. We are really working on sound patterns (we've been working our way through the digraphs) to help us with spelling. Encourage your children to continue spelling on their own, but reinforce sounds that you know we've covered in class. For example, if they are spelling "shop" remind them that you hear a digraph that we've learned about in class in that word. Remember that independence is key in their writing right now! Continue to encourage them to sound out the words themselves rather than spelling things for them. This helps with both reading and writing skills, because it encourages them to draw on their knowledge of phonics.

Spring Fling

This Friday, we will be doing special spring-themed centers. We will be planting seeds and painting a wooden butterfly garden stake, among other things. Some of the things the children will create may have to stay in the classroom to dry, so they won't get them until they return from Spring Break. But we will definitely send home their seed cup (it does have a lid), so be prepared on Friday to carry several items home. 

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 3/31: Cornerstone lesson on Zoom

Friday, 4/2: "Spring Fling": Special spring-themed centers

April 5-9: Spring Break

Week of 3/22

The days in the classroom are just flying by! It is such a joy to be working in-person with your children. I can really see their growth and their enthusiasm for learning.

This Week in Class

Phonics Focus: "th" digraph

Sight Word: his

Math: Subtraction

Theme: Farm Animals/Spring

Emergency Work Packet

Your children should have brought home an emergency work packet last Tuesday. This is to be set aside in a safe place at home in the event that we have to quarantine due to a COVID exposure. I am simply planning ahead so that your children have work available and their learning is not interrupted in the event of a quarantine. 

Art Vistas

This Wednesday, your children will participate in our fourth Art Vistas lesson as part of their asynchronous work. There will be no assignment in Raz-Kids this week due to the art lesson. Children will watch a video presenting prints of boats. Following the first video, there will be another instructional video about how to approach the art project. Both of these videos will be pushed out in SeeSaw. For this lesson, children will need: white copy paper (3-4 pieces), crayons, a glue stick, and scissors.

Upcoming Author Visit

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday. 3/24 at 1:00 for a virtual author visit from Jory John and Erin Kraan, highlighting their new book, Something's Wrong: A Bear, A Hare, and Some Underwear. I will send the Zoom link for this as soon as I receive it, and you should also keep your eyes out for an email from Mrs. Bailey about this. This is sure to be an excellent event as the Jory John books that I read on SeeSaw to your students (The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, The Cool Bean) were definitely always a hit. I am excited to add his new book to our library!

Parking Lot

A reminder again that the parking lot nearest to the kindergarten playground is not to be used for drop-offs & pick-ups. With children lining up to come to school near that lot's exit, it is a hazard to have cars driving through. Starting this week, the lot will be coned off as a reminder to avoid entering it with your vehicle. 

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 3/24: Art Vistas lesson 

Wednesday, 3/24: Virtual author visit at 1:00

Friday, 4/2: "Spring Fling:" Special spring-themed centers

April 5-9: Spring Break

Week of 3/15

Thank you for answering the call for backpacks & spare clothes! I think the backpacks have really helped the children get organized when it's time to leave. The children are bringing corrected work home daily, so it's great to have somewhere to put that work as they head for home. 

Leprechaun Traps

It's St. Patrick's Day week, which means it is nearly time for our trap-building activity on Wednesday. I wanted to let you know that I prefer these traps to be really designed and built by the children as a design-thinking/STEM project. These are not "Pinterest-ready" designs that involve lots of store-bought accessories. It is ok to buy those things if your child wants to add them, but I really do want the design process to be led by your child. This is normally an activity that we do in class, and the things the children come up with on their own are amazing! However, this year, in the interest of not having a lot of things traveling to & from school, we have decided to keep this activity at home. I do want to see your child's design and hear him/her talk a bit about it in a video posted to SeeSaw. There will also be a recording form coming home with your child on Tuesday so that they can write about the process and how their trap will work. I'm looking forward to seeing & hearing all their great ideas!

Emergency Work Packet

This week, I will be sending home an emergency work packet. This is to be set aside in a safe place at home in the event that we have to quarantine due to a COVID exposure. I am simply planning ahead so that your children have work available and their learning is not interrupted in the event of a quarantine. 

This Week in Class

Phonics Focus: "ck" ending sound digraph

Sight Word: back

Math: Subtraction

Theme: Leprechauns/St. Patrick's Day

A Peek at Our Day

Since you are unable to come to class and see our day in action, I wanted to give you a peek at the schedule we've settled into. Things are really going well!

Arrival-8:30/12:30: Morning Tubs focused on fine motor skills-- pin-poke pictures, coloring activities, sight words with sticker dots, pattern blocks, and geoboards are some of the activities during this time.

8:30/12:30-8:50/12:50: Opening: we do phonemic awareness activities, watch sight word & letter sound videos, and do calendar, led by "Person of the Day."

8:55/12:55-9:55/1:55: Centers: We rotate through 3 centers a day, covering all six centers in two days (either Mon/Tues or Thurs/Fri). Children are in differentiated groups similar to the groups we had on Zoom, but there are five groups now instead of six. The centers they go through are: meeting with me (usually for reading and writing, but sometimes for science or math); math center, writing center (they choose from a variety of papers & booklets to write to thematic topics or topics that they pick); a craft/art project; "word work" (a wide variety of literacy games & activities); and reading to themselves using books at their level that are in an individual book bag. We spend about 15-20 minutes at each center. Most of the work you see coming home is from center time.

10:00/2:00-10:15/2:15: Outdoor Recess

10:15/2:15-10:45/2:45: Story, Choice time (which usually includes a choice of an art project with me that they can complete by Friday-- a couple of kids per day paint, for example), and our closing GoNoodle.

As you can see, we are packing in a lot in our 2.5 hours! Thank goodness we have a classroom aide, Mr. Tim, who runs around during center time helping all the children so that I can focus on my lesson when they are meeting with me.

Upcoming Author Visit

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday. 3/24 at 1:00 for a virtual author visit from Jory John and Erin Kraan, highlighting their new book, Something's Wrong: A Bear, A Hare, and Some Underwear. This is sure to be an excellent event as Jory John books that I read on SeeSaw to your students (The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, The Cool Bean) were definitely always a hit. I am excited to add his new book to our library!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 3/17: Special asynchronous work project: Leprechaun traps (start saving boxes and materials for these)

Wednesday, 3/24: Virtual Author visit at 1:00. Jory John & Erin Kraan will talk about their new book

Friday, 4/2: "Spring Fling:" Special spring-themed centers

April 5-9: Spring Break

Week of 3/8

The days in the classroom continue to be so enjoyable! It is fun to get back to center-based, hands-on learning. We launched all our centers last week, and your children adapted wonderfully! They transitioned from center to center and tried many new games and activities.  

I'm going to continue sending work home daily with your children-- anything they complete at centers will come home with them. Because of this, I do think a backpack will be really helpful. Additionally, I would like children to have an extra set of clothes in their backpack in case of a potty accident or clothes getting wet. Our playground slide doesn't drain properly, and after a rain, there is a puddle at the end of the slide, and somebody often accidentally lands in that. Since the office isn't open to students (except for emergencies) a potty accident would result in your child having to be sent home for a change unless they have spare clothes, so I encourage you all to put a pair of underwear and pants/shorts in their bag. Thank you!

Report Cards 

You should have all received your child's report card last Friday the 5th. If you did not, or if you have any questions about it, please contact me. 

Raz-Kids Assignment
We still did not have 100% completion on the Raz-Kids assignment last Wednesday. There are three things students must do to complete the assignment: listen to the story, read the story themselves, then take the quiz. I really would like the students to be taking their Raz-Kids quizzes, because these are a great way to build reading comprehension. Please check your child's Raz-Kids account and see whether there is a "My Assignment" spaceship on the homescreen. If there is, that means their assignment hasn't been completed. For a full tutorial on how to get into Raz-Kids and find your child's assignment, please review this tutorial I sent back in September. If you need any further help, please contact me.

Rain Expected
After two beautiful weeks of weather for our return to campus, rain is expected this week. A reminder again to dress your child for going out in the rain-- if it is a light sprinkle, I still plan to go outside. The children love jumping in puddles (more reason for a change of clothes) and running around!

This Week in Class
Phonics Focus: "ch" digraph
Sight Words: she & be
Math: Measurement
Theme: Rainbows

Special Project 

On Wednesday the 17th, St. Patrick's Day, the students' asynchronous work will be to design and make a leprechaun trap. There are many, many ideas for leprechaun traps on the internet if you need any inspiration. I just wanted to give you a heads-up about this assignment because you will need to start collecting small boxes, toilet paper rolls, green paper, etc. Children will take a photo of their traps or (even better) record a video of themselves explaining how the trap works on the 17th, and send photos/videos to me in SeeSaw so that I can see all their great engineering!

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 3/17: Special asynchronous work project: Leprechaun traps (start saving boxes and materials for these) 

April 5-9: Spring Break