Library Reminder: Library books need to be returned to school every Thursday so when your child goes to library, s/he will be able to check out a new book.

Dates to Remember:

• April 11th-14th: Kindergarten Achievement Testing


• April 22nd-25th: Spring Break


• May 17th: Kindergarten Graduation (more info to come)

Student of the Quarter: Each quarter, students are chosen from each classroom to be recognized as “Student of the Quarter.” These are students that are kind to others, show respect to their teachers and classmates, and work hard in class. For first quarter, Joel Aycock and Leslie Orocio were recognized. Gabby Young and Logan Williams were recognized for second quarter. Third quarter students were Draven Cato and Gabriel Stratton. Congratulations to these boys and girls!

Box Tops: The PTO will be sponsoring a Box Top Party, with pizza, soda, and cupcakes for the classroom that collects the most Box Tops during April. The collection of Box Tops for the party started on April 1st and will conclude on April 29th. If you want to help our classroom, please save your Box Tops and encourage your family and friends to do the same. For every Box Top collected, our school receives 10 cents. Don’t forget to send them to school in your child’s blue folder before April 29th.

2011-2012 School Calendar: Next year's school calendar is posted on the Bernie School Homepage. Click on the link below to view the calendar.

http://www.bernie.k12.mo.us/admin/2012Calendar.pdf

Last Day of School Change: Our last day of school will now be Friday, May 20th. We will dismiss at 12:30. Also remember, spring break is April 22nd-April 25th. Please plan accordingly.

Conferences: Remember Parent/Teacher Conferences are this Thursday. Please arrive at school at your scheduled time. If the door to my room is closed, please wait outside until I finish conferencing with the parents before you. I hope to see everyone Thursday afternoon. Thanks!

Newsletter and School Website: Hopefully you found my class newsletter in your child's blue folder this afternoon. Also, I have updated our class website with pictures from February (many that did not make it in the newsletter can be found online), fourth quarter skills to practice, and the newsletter is attached for future reference. Please take the time to check the fourth quarter "Skills to Practice." Try to work with your child to see if s/he has mastered the old skills, and make a point to practice some of the new ones. It would also be helpful to practice the sight words listed near the bottom of the page. The more sight words your child can read, the easier it is for him/her to read fluently and comprehend what is being read. Thanks!

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Conferences will be rescheduled since we are out of school this Thursday for our boys to play in the state basketball tournament! GO MULES!!!! The conferences are now scheduled for Thursday, March 24th, after school. The assigned times for my conferences will be the same. You should have received an automated call from the school with a detailed update regarding the conferences and the upcoming events related to the ballgame. Also, the book fair will take place on Thursday, March 24th, after school.

Picture after the boys were awarded district champions!!!

Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza: On Monday, March 1st, your child brought home a small coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. The students received these coupons because of the hard work and effort each of the children have been putting into learning this past month. Hopefully, you still have your coupon and intend on using it during the month of March. Or even better, you have already visited Pizza Hut and your child received his/her free pizza! Remember, the coupons are only good for one month after they are given out, and next month will be the last month we get to participate for the 2010-2011 school year. Hopefully your child's first grade teacher will participate in the program and you can enjoy more free pizzas!

Monthly Newsletter: I generally send home the monthly newsletter at the very beginning of each month. However, you will not receive your next class newsletter until at least the second week of March. I will be having Lasik eye surgery on Friday, so I will not able to spend a great amount of time on the computer straining my eyes right before and right after my surgery. As a result, the newsletter with March's information and pictures from February will be slightly delayed. Your child's substitute will be Mrs. Myra Weeks, and she is always an excellent sub! Your kids will love her, and I will be back to school on Monday. Thanks!

One final reminder... Class Pictures are tomorrow. Please dress your child accordingly. If you would like to purchase a class photo, you may send $5.00 to school. You won't regret purchasing it! It is nice to be able to look back in a few years to your child's kindergarten. I still enjoying looking at past class pictures and seeing how much the kids have grown in just a few years.

Practice, Practice, Practice
We are learning so much these days and beginning to prepare for first grade. Here are some things you can practice with your child at home:

• Counting by 5 up to 100
• Counting by 2 up to 100 (We have not practiced this yet, but it would be great if you get a head start!)
• Blending words with three and four letters. (If your child can do that easily, challenge him/her with longer words with two syllables.)
• Read number words 1-10 (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten)
• Identifying all of our sight words (We have practiced all of the ones listed below and we are starting on additional words.)

Here are the sight words your child should know:
I am the little to a
have is we my like he for
me with she see look they you of
are that do one two three four five
here go from
yellow green blue red
purple pink black brown white
orange what said
was where come

Early Dismissal: We will be dismissing at 2:20 p.m. on Monday, February 28th due to high school district basketball starting at 4:00 in Portageville, Missouri. First load bus riders will leave school at 2:15. All other students will be dismissed at 2:20. If you have a kindergarten student that gets picked up, please be waiting outside by 2:15. Thanks!

Book Order Reminder: The February Book Order is due in class tomorrow morning or online before 3:30. Thanks!

Book Fair: The book fair has now been rescheduled to take place on the same afternoon as Parent/Teacher Conferences-- March 17th. It will be in the cafeteria from 3:30-6:30.

FEBRUARY BOOK ORDER:
Your child came home with a couple of Scholastic book order catalogs today. You can still send in your order/money in your child's blue folder or you can follow the steps below.

Here’s how it works:
1. SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation: GQVPR . This code ensures that your order is sent to me. Or LOGIN at the link above with the username and password you previously used order.
2. SELECT the books you would like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.
3. SUBMIT your order to me online by the due date. Your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic’s secure server, and the books you ordered will be delivered directly to our classroom for your child to take home.

February's Book Order is due next Wednesday the 23rd, before 3:00 pm.

Science: Today we reviewed what we have learned about "Animal Adaptations." After a quick review/discussion in class, we visited the lab to watch a video. The video was from Discovery Education's United Streaming website. This site allows me to search for videos that contain information related to what we are learning in class-- similar to YouTube, except educational. More than likely, every Tuesday from now until the end of the year, we will visit the lab and watch a science video. The videos really help the students understand that what they are learning in class actually occurs in real life and in the world all around them. The public cannot view the videos we watch from Discovery Education because it is by subscription only. However, I am sure you can find appropriate videos for your child to watch by searching for them online. Some search words you could use include: plant life videos, animal habitat videos, animal adaptation videos, landform videos, volcano videos, etc. Ask your child what s/he is most interested in learning about in science and go from there. Good luck!

The Book Fair has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled at this time. Sorry!

Don't forget to send your child's Valentine's Day Box to school before our party on Monday. If you don't get a chance to make one at home, we will have extras here at school. Also, I sent home a class list to help your child label individual valentine's cards. If you need another list, let me know.

School-Wide Patriotic Music Program: Just like last year, Mrs. Lanpher is organizing a school-wide music program that will be performed near the end of the year. There are a lot of expenses that come with putting on the show, such as props and sound equipment. We ask that you donate any amount you are willing to our music program to help offset some of the costs. We appreciate Mrs. Lanpher for volunteering her time and effort into making this year's program a success. Mrs. Lanpher does not have to do this each year, but knows how much the community enjoys it. Please support her and donate.

It is time for a new secret word. The word is "go." Please have your child write his/her name on a piece of paper, along with the secret word three times, and bring the paper to school. Your child will receive a prize just for doing it!

Landforms, Rocks, and Volcanoes: We have been learning all about the earth in science. The kids have really enjoyed learning about mountains, hills, plains, deserts, oceans, volcanoes, rocks, and so much more. Today we watched a real volcano erupting. The students also saw how volcanoes are formed and what happens to the earth after one erupts. It was such an amazing learning opportunity! Ask you child what she/he learned about volcanoes today!

Today we celebrated our 100th day of school. It was an exciting day, and the kids were all smiles as we completed each activity! Pictures will be in the upcoming newsletter and on our class website.

Here are some of our activities…
1. We made the number 100 out of Twizzlers and Oreos
2. Dotted the gumball numbers 1-100
3. Made and wore 100 fruit loop necklaces
4. Designed 100 pieces of honeycomb for a bumble bee
5. Found 100 pieces of candy hidden in the classroom
6. Stayed still and silent for 100 seconds
7. Ran a race for 100 seconds
8. Counted to 100 and wrote to 100
9. Watched 101 Dalmatians
10. Tomorrow we will make journal entries about our favorite 100th day activity

Ask your child what his/her favorite activity was today. I am sure s/he will have plenty of things to tell you! If you have time, have your child journal about today’s events. First, have your child draw a picture of the activity and then have him/her write about the picture. Encourage your child to use sight words they are familiar with to form sentences. Good Luck!

Secret Word
There is a change for the Secret Word requirement....When you see the "secret word" have your child write his/her name on a piece of paper and use the secret word in a complete sentence. Help your child start their sentence with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. Then, bring the sentence into class. Your child will receive a treat just for bringing in the secret word. The secret word is "they." I am eager to see which kids bring in the secret word!