SPRING BREAK:
Spring break is March 28 - April 1.
Enjoy your time together!

SCIENCE:

Last month we stayed busy learning about shadows, weather, stars, and the Earth, Moon, and Sun.  Now we have moved on to physical science and are focusing on how things are made and what they are made of.  Last Friday we talked about wood, metal, ceramic, porcelain, rubber, plastic, paper, and cloth.  Ask your child what s/he has learned about recently in science. 

REMINDER:
Conferences are Thursday, March 14th.  The book fair will be in the elementary computer lab between 3:30-6:30, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH:

Last Thursday we had lots of help making our Dr. Seuss craft.  Thank you for all of your help Mrs. Lisa (Bailey's mom), Mrs. Mindy (Cooper's mom), Mrs. Weeks (Kerri's grandmother), and Mrs. Kelli!  Our awesome One Fish, Two Fish projects are being proudly displayed in the hallway!

CLASS PICTURE DAY:
Picture day is March 13th.  Please dress your child accordingly.  Order forms (envelopes) were sent home Wednesday. 

THE CAT IN THE HAT:

Tuesday we made Cat in the Hat snacks.  Rylie's mom, Mrs. Lori, came to help.  We layered an Oreo, white icing, and four red gummy lifesavers until we had our own little edible cat hats.  They were cute, easy, and delicious.  Yesterday we journaled about our snacks and The Cat in the Hat story.  :)  Today we are reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, then making a personalized craft.  Looks like it is going to be a fun and busy afternoon!  I also want to take a second to thank the parents that helped us with our first Dr. Seuss project-- the green eggs and ham.  Thank you Chris' mom, Mrs. Kristy, Kerri's grandma, Mrs. Weeks, and Jase's mom, Mrs. Becki!  The kids enjoyed watching the ham and eggs cook and being able to participate! THANK YOU!!! 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDER:
The book order is due in class or online this Friday, March 8th.  Remember-- ordering online earns you a free book coupon for a following order and earns a free book for our classroom! :)

PIZZA HUT:

Your child received a Pizza Hut Book-It coupon today for working hard in class and reading his nightly reading book. 

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES:

Spring conferences are March 14th, after school, from 3:30-6:30.  I sent home sign up sheets today.  Please return the sign up sheet next week, and I will send home a note confirming your time slot within the next few days. 

READ ACROSS AMERICA:

 

Read across America Day, a national reading celebration, takes place each year on or near March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books and you can too! Our kindergarten class will be celebrating Read Across America with several events related to Dr. Suess.

Today we cooked green eggs and ham. The boys and girls got to break the eggs, mix them with green food coloring, and help cook them. Afterwards they ate everything we cooked and even asked for more! Thank you to the parent helpers that came and helped cook! It was a wonderful day for the kids!

NIGHTLY READING HOMEWORK:

Don't forget to practice reading with your child, using the short decodable reader in his/her folder.  Your child will get a new book every Thursday, unless there is extra time in class one afternoon prior to Thursday and we get a chance to read together. 

MATH WORKBOOK B (Part 2):

It is important to spend time getting familiar with what your child has been learning in kindergarten and try to find ways to help him/her master those skills. Consequently, please look over your child’s math workbook as thoroughly as possible. In particular, work on anything noted as “completed with help” or “practice at home.” This means your child was either unable to complete the page without one-on-one assistance or s/he struggled with the concept. When working with your child on these math skills, it is often times as simple as verbally asking them a similar question or drawing a picture.

This workbook is what we have been working on daily for the last few months, and if the majority of the skills are not mastered by the end of the year, your child will not be adequately prepared for first grade. Addition and subtraction fluency and fact practice will be a big part of your child’s first grade math curriculum. I would recommend focusing on these two concepts the most. Thank you for your help.

JOURNAL REMINDER:

The journal your child writes in three days a week stays in class, so you will not see your child’s work until our next parent/teacher conference in March. At the March conference, I will show you how your child’s journaling has progressed and how you can help them excel. Then, at the end of the year, the completed journal will be sent home with your child for you to have as a kindergarten keepsake.

MARCH ACTIVITIES:

Read Across America Day is Friday, March 1st. This is a reading celebration that takes place on/near the birthday of Dr. Seuss (March 2^nd). In years past, we have read the Dr. Seuss books and cooked Green Eggs and Ham. This year, I would like for the parents to have an opportunity to be more involved. If you are interested in helping, please fill out the form that was sent home on Wednesday and return it to school. More information will follow regarding a sign-up sheet for the dates and times of our activities.

 

 

 

LIBRARY BOOKS:

 

Quite a few kids forgot to bring their library books back to school today.  That means they don't get a new book when they go to library at 10:45, while everyone else does.  Help your child out by reminding him/her to place the book in his/her backpack on Tuesday night each week.  Even better, keep the book in the backpack everyday and get it out to read as needed. 

VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY:

Don't forget to send your child to school with his/her Valentine's Day cards on Thursday.  Please have each card folded, labeled, and ready to pass out.  It would be great if you had your child practice reading the classmates names, so they are easier to pass out during the party.  Thanks!

GINGERBREAD MAN:
Ask your child about the Gingerbread Man!  There will be plenty to tell.  It has been an exciting morning in kindergarten! :)

NIGHTLY READING BOOKS:

Your child will begin bringing home a short decodable reader (a small book with color pictures and about eight pages).  These decodable readers are in addition to the black and white phonics reader sent home once a week.  Every Thursday, your child will read his/her book to me or a teacher’s aide. As each book is mastered, s/he will receive a more advanced book to practice at home for homework.  If your child is still struggling to read his/her current book on the day it gets read in class, the same book will be sent home for another week of practice. I will log when I read with your child on the back of his/her behavior log.

JOURNALS:

The past few weeks, the boys and girls have been busy writing sentences and “stories” in their own personal journals.  From now until the end of the year, we will continue to journal two/three times a week.  The kids need quite a bit of practice on independently writing sentences, so I ask that you work with them at home.  Give your child a piece of paper and provide an idea for him/her to write about (favorite thing to do at school, playing with friends, visiting grandparents, going to the park, etc).  Closely monitor your child as s/he works, but don’t do it for him/her.  Help your child sound out unfamiliar words and let him/her write the words as s/he hears them.  It is completely okay for the kids to spell the words as they sound and not use the conventional spelling. We want them to have confidence in their independent writing skills, and don’t worry; they will learn the correct way to spell each word as they advance in grade.   

BOOK ORDER:

Scholastic book orders are due in class or online by Friday, February 8th.  Remember, ordering online means you get a free $5.00 book on your next month's order. 

BOX TOPS RACE:

Our class is in a school-wide race to collect the most Box Tops.  Please encourage your family members and friends to save and send them in before February 8th.  Thank you for your help!!!

 100th DAY OF SCHOOL: 

On Thursday we celebrated our 100^th day of school.  It was an exciting day, and the kids were all smiles as they completed each activity! 

Here are some of our activities…

1.            Made the number 100 out of Twizzlers and Oreos

2.            Made the number 100 out of Club and Ritz crackers

3.            Dotted the gumball numbers 1-100

4.            Designed 100 pieces cereal in a cereal bowl

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.            Hopped for 100 seconds

9.            Counted to 100 and wrote to 100

10.         Wrote “I want 100…”

11.          Made 100 headbands

12.          Received 100 Day pencils, stickers, and tattoos

13.          Read 100 Day books

14.          Watched 101 Dalmatians (on the 101 day of school)

Ask your child what his/her favorite activity was.  I am sure s/he will have plenty of things to tell you!  If you have time, have your child journal about the day’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!      

100th DAY OF SCHOOL:

Thursday the 24th is the 100th day of school!!!! Ask your child what s/he did to celebrate!

100th DAY OF SCHOOL:

We will be celebrating the 100th day of school in a few weeks.  It is an exciting day for the kindergarten kids and the day is crammed full with activities related to the number 100.  Our class needs Oreos, Cherrios, and assorted candy (nothing hard).  If you would like to donate, please send these to school before next Wednesday, January 16th.  Thank you for your help!!!

OH WHAT FUN...
The snow outside is beautiful, and I can only imagine how much fun the boys and girls are having.  Looks like it was perfect for building a snowman! Today has been a day of relaxing for me and life has slowed down now that Christmas has passed.  If you were wondering how our Polar Express Day went, here is a recap...
As soon as the boys and girls arrived in class at 8:00, the gifts starting piling up on the back table.  They were all so excited for me to open each one of them, so at 8:30, that is what I did.  We opened gifts for about 30 minutes, and they were so excited to see all of the things the parents had purchased for the class!  We received tons of class supplies and some great toys too.  There were also all kinds of goodies donated for the party that day and extras to use for snack time in January.  Next, our cadet from the high school, Miss Paige, came over and gave the kids their gifts from her.  More excitement!  They played with her gifts for the next thirty minutes or so and enjoyed each others company.  Once we settled down about 9:40, I read them The Polar Express.  They loved it!  It was so neat seeing the story click in their heads as we read each page.  After the reading, they went outside for recess.  When they came back in, we did a few simple Christmas activities before library.  While they were in library, someone made a surprise visit to the classroom and dropped off bells from Santa's sleigh.  When the boys and girls walked in the class after library, their eyes were huge and they were in shock!  They could hear the bells ringing and knew Santa must have dropped them off while they were gone. For the next few hours we continued with our regular routine and enjoyed lunch and recess.  Afterwards, we settled in the floor to watch the movie The Polar Express.  While the boys and girls watched, I made hot chocolate, with marshmallows, of course.  Once the hot chocolate cooled off, they enjoyed their warm drinks, just like they did in the movie.  The kids were still super happy from all of the exciting events from the day.  After the movie, we enjoyed our Christmas party with lots of junk food and drinks, and it was finally time for the kids to open their gifts from me.  They had been begging me all day, but I told them they had to wait until the afternoon.  I passed out the gifts and they had to wait to open them all at the same time.  When they finally got to open their presents, they were all happy to see a few toys and a special book they knew by name--'Twas'the Night Before Christmas. We had read it a few times in class that week and many of them have some of the lines memorized.  I was happy to give that book to them as a gift, and so happy to see the joy on their faces when they recognized it.  Overall, it was my favorite day of the school year so far.  We enjoyed ourselves and shared many laughs.  My heart was so full of love that day.  I am one blessed teacher!!!