Last week before vacation!

It is so crazy that the first half of Kindergarten is almost over!  The kids are just taking off on their reading!  I usually see huge gains on writing after Christmas break too!  I am sending home a holiday packet Wednesday to keep their brains thinking and when they think they are bored.  Hopefully they get bored and are ready to come back on Jan. 4!

We had a great day Friday learning about other jobs!  See the pictures below of the parents who were able to share about their jobs.  Thank you to all that took off of work to inform us!  The class did great listening and had great questions for the parents!

Soft G for Gingerbread week!  This week we are doing some fun activities with Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Girl, and Gingerbread Kid books!  We compared and contrasted the Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Girl books.  We looked for same and different characters and refrains or the phrase that each Gingerbread said in the book.

Wednesday we are going to do another activity finding Gingerbread men around school.  Shh!  Please keep it a secret from your child!

Christmas Break!  Please keep reading with your child and filling out the book-it calendar!  Also, don't forget to review those sight words and work on 3rd quarter sight words a few times over break. I sure don't want anyone to forget what they knew!

Sight words this week:  but, not, am
letter of the week:  soft Gg

Math this week!
We are on Topic 15.  Position and location of shapes.
We will quickly buzz through this topic as they all know position.  When we come back, we will go to backward to Topic 6.  Numbers to 100!  I am amazed at how many can write to 100 already!  Yahoo!

Coming Up!
Tues. Dec. 13  Winter Party
Thurs. Dec. 15  No School KDG, 1/2 day for 1st-5th

Dec. 19-Jan. 3   Christmas vacation

Jan. 4                 Back to School!

Nurse Amanda

Mr. Mike, Fingerprint Analyst

Mr. Brandon, Technology Specialist

Mr. Scott, Attorney

Ms. Heather, High School Biology Teacher in prior years

The week of Dec. 5-9.

I'm looking forward to a fun week in Kindergarten!

This week we are finishing up our Economics, Social Studies Unit talking about community helpers and those who do a service!  We will read nonfiction books on police officers, firefighters, doctors/nurses, and bakers.  Then we will make a "bubble map" giving details about each person.  Since we have our own school nurse here, we will get to hear about what Mrs. McGlasson's job is here at school and when she was a nurse in the hospital.  Finally, we will top off our week on Friday with Job Day!  It will be awesome to hear what some of our parents do at their job.

If your child hasn't turned in their book-it calendar, please do so by Wednesday!  It would be great to get a 100% participation this month!

Look for 3rd quarter sight words tomorrow or Wednesday!  I will retest over 2nd quarter words this Friday!  Is your child ready?

Sight words this week are:  by, word
Letter of the week:  Hard g (we pat our legs to make a gallop noise)  I also have them touch their throat when saying it to feel their Adam's apple move.  When we say the "soft g", you don't feel it move.

Math this week!
We took our Topic 14 math test on 2D Flat Shapes today, and began Topic 16 on 3D Solid Shapes.  It is fun to play with Geoboards, making shapes with rubberbands on a square pegboard.  We will also use pattern blocks to make compose bigger shapes.  

With the 3D shapes, we will learn which ones roll, slide, and stack.

Coming up!
Fri. Dec. 9    Job Day
Tues. Dec. 13  Winter Party
Thurs. Dec. 15  No School KDG, 1/2 day for 1st-5th
Dec. 19-Jan. 3   Christmas vacation

The week of Nov. 28-Dec. 2

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving Break!  My break was not restful, but it was pretty awesome in New York!  It's definitely the city that never sleeps!  We had great weather for November there and got a lot of exercise walking everywhere.  We saw two Broadway shows and the Macy's day parade.  A few of the kids said they saw me in it!

Moving on to the present. We began our Social Studies Economics Unit today.  We talked about "needs and wants".  The rest of the week we will learn about "goods and services" along with "producers and consumers".  I have some great books that follow each of these topics.  We will also be sorting pictures for each of the two topics we do.

Job Day!  If you are able and willing to tell us about what you do, we'd love to hear about it!  Please fill out the form and what time works for you, and I will do my best to accommodate it.  
It would be great if you would add if you offer a "good or service" or are a "producer or consumer" at your place of employment.  Next week we will talk about people who have a career in community service such as a police officer, doctor, etc.  

You child may be surprised about what you share about your job.  They love to learn more about what mom and/or dad does all day.  If you do join us at Job Day, and have something to hand out for the kids that pertains to what you do, we have 16 kids now.  Thank you for considering!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Sight words:  one, had
Letter of the week:  Rr

Math this week!
We are working on Topic 14, Identifying and Describing Shapes.
These are 2 dimensional, flat shapes:  rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, and hexagons.  The kids will need to know how many sides and corners each shape has, so reviewing with them at home would be helpful.

Istation
Hopefully we can get back on track on Istation at home after our break. :)  I am going to begin giving out a Smartie to those that reach 50 minutes each week.  That's how important I believe Istation is.  

Book-it Calendar
I had almost 100% return their book-it calendar for October.  It is a Kindergarten requirement as we want all kids to be reading with someone at home, along with reading their little books.  The more they read and hear you read, the better reader they will become.  I promise you it will begin clicking with your child when they are ready!  

Sight words
Thank you for continuing to review the sight words at home!  I can really notice a difference when he/she is reviewing them!  

DIBELS Test
The Dibels test will be given to my class again this Friday to see how your child has progressed since August.  I am attaching a practice sheet and will send home a hard copy as well with words, nonsense words, letters and sounds to practice.  Knowing their letters and sounds will definitely help with sounding out the words.  The are welcome to use the "body walk" to sound out the words.  Thank you for reviewing at home this week!  I will work on it with my small groups too!

Coming up!
Fri. Dec. 2    Turn in Job Day forms if you would like to share!
Fri. Dec. 9    Job Day
Tues. Dec. 13  Winter Party
Thurs. Dec. 15  No School KDG, 1/2 day for 1st-5th
Dec. 19-Jan. 3   Christmas vacation

With our headdresses!

The week of Nov. 14-18.

I hope you all were able to enjoy Winter Wonderland on Saturday!  It is always a fun time!  We have our visit to the book fair tomorrow (Tuesday).  Just a reminder from Mrs. Arter's note in the newsletter, Kindergartners are not able to go book shopping during their library time or any time by themselves.  It's just too hard for them to understand how much they can spend on books.  Please join them before or after school to help them shop.  Thursday evening is the late evening time to bring them in during the "Grand" event.

We finished our colors of the week last week with our grand finale with the rainbow colors!  We had a lot of fun with making our rainbow cookies and eating them after Mrs. Scott baked them!  They were a lot bigger to eat than when we rolled them.  See the pictures below.

This week in Reading.
Theme 9  Part of Our Community
We are reading "Kakadu Jack" and learning what a papaya, mango, and fig are.  With those fruits, you can tell that the setting is not in Kansas!  

Comprehension:  We used our background knowledge and picture clues to figure out that the setting must be someplace warm where palm trees grow.

Vocabulary:  decide, follow, question
Letter of the week:  short o (we link our thumbs together and wiggle our fingers like an octopus arms when saying /o/).

sight words:  have, from, like (like is not one of our 50 required words, but good to know)
"From" is our first 3rd quarter words.  Keep reviewing 1st and 2nd quarter words every night for retention.

Math this week!
We are continuing to work on counting, reading, and writing numbers to 20.  I would love for all to be able to recognize the numbers to 20 by Friday, when I pass out Progress Reports.  Please review 11-20 all week with your child.  Put them on flashcards and also have them write the numbers.  We have been telling the tens and ones for each numeral.  So, for 13 I would say, it has 1 ten and 3 ones.  They have to be able to tell me what numeral that is.  It helps them understand tens and ones more.  Our test over this topic is Friday.  I will be sending home a homework packet today to practice the numbers at home too!  Make sure to read the directions at the bottom to your child.   Please have your child complete it by Thursday and send it back.

Coming up!
Mon. Nov. 14-18   Book Fair this week! 8:30-4:00
Tues. Nov. 15         Skate Party  6-8 PM
Wed. Nov. 16        Picture retakes
Thur. Nov. 17        Book Fair open 4-7 PM
Mon. Nov. 21        Happy Bear
Tues. Nov. 22        Last day of school!
Wed. Nov. 23-27   Thanksgiving Break

Rainbow  DaY!

The week of Nov. 7-11!

We had a fabulous time at Kaleidoscope on Friday!  The kids had so much fun creating and hanging with their friends!  See the pictures below.

This week is Rainbow week!  It's our last color we will have.  I have a special surprise snack planned for the kids.  Your child will tell you about it tomorrow I'm sure!

Winter Wonderland is this Saturday from 8-11:00 am.  It is such a fun time!  The Scholastic Book Fair will open too, along with many more fun things to do!  I love to go to this, but I will be out of town.  I hope you can make it to this fun event!

Please continue to find time for your child to play the Istation Phonics games.  They are learning while they play!  Remember 10 min. a day, 5 days a week, will get them the minutes we are looking for each week.  It doesn't take long, but it takes making it a routine to remember.

Sight words:  How is your child doing on 2nd quarter sight words?  Do you need to step it up on your practicing?  We only have one more word for this quarter:  have.  Then, we will move on to 3rd quarter words.  Please continue to review 1st quarter words also.  Please do not move on to new words until previous words are learned.

Reading this week!
Part of Our Community
Theme Story: Kakadu Jack,  (This is a great story to discuss sequencing and the importance of it in a story!)  It is one of the kids' favorites.
vocabulary:  chore, listen, community
Phonemic Awareness:  word rhyming, phoneme matching (matching letters to the sounds in words)
Sight words:  be, this, new ( new is not a required 50, but a good word to learn)
Letter of the week:  Ll
Color of the week:  rainbow colors

Letters and sounds we are working on for 2nd quarter:  Hard Cc, soft Cc, Ll, Short Oo, Long Oo, Rr, Hard Gg, Soft Gg.  (Please review these sounds with your child when you can!)

Math this week!

Tomorrow we have a test over Topic 4:  more and fewer.  Reviewing 1 and 2 more or fewer than a number less than 10, would be helpful.  Example:   I may show them 4 circles and they have to find the answer that shows 2 more or 2 fewer.

Topic 5  Numbers to 20  
We will naming numbers to 20, writing numbers to 20, and counting orally to 30.
Please practice all of these skills at home too!  These are all for mastery this quarter.
Several of the kids could not name all of the numbers to 20 yet.  However, we haven't worked on it until now.  We will also be counting objects in a set up to 20.  

Coming Up!

Wed. Nov. 9         Wear rainbow colors today!
Sat. Nov. 12          Winter Wonderland from 8-11am.
Mon. Nov. 14-18   Book Fair this week! 8:30-4:00
Tues. Nov. 15         Skate Party  6-8 PM
Thur. Nov. 16        Picture retakes
Thur. Nov. 17        Book Fair open 4-7 PM
Mon. Nov. 21        Happy Bear
Tues. Nov. 22        Last day of school!
Wed. Nov. 23-27   Thanksgiving Break

One more Halloween pic!  This guy was sick for our party. 

Kaleidoscope Field Trip!

Our first BIG bus ride!

The week of Nov. 7-11!

We had a fabulous time at Kaleidoscope on Friday!  The kids had so much fun creating and hanging with their friends!  See the pictures below.

This week is Rainbow week!  It's our last color we will have.  I have a special surprise snack planned for the kids.  Your child will tell you about it tomorrow I'm sure!

Winter Wonderland is this Saturday from 8-11:00 am.  It is such a fun time!  The Scholastic Book Fair will open too, along with many more fun things to do!  I love to go to this, but I will be out of town.  I hope you can make it to this fun event!

Please continue to find time for your child to play the Istation Phonics games.  They are learning while they play!  Remember 10 min. a day, 5 days a week, will get them the minutes we are looking for each week.  It doesn't take long, but it takes making it a routine to remember.

Sight words:  How is your child doing on 2nd quarter sight words?  Do you need to step it up on your practicing?  We only have one more word for this quarter:  have.  Then, we will move on to 3rd quarter words.  Please continue to review 1st quarter words also.  Please do not move on to new words until previous words are learned.

Reading this week!
Part of Our Community
Theme Story: Kakadu Jack,  (This is a great story to discuss sequencing and the importance of it in a story!)  It is one of the kids' favorites.
vocabulary:  chore, listen, community
Phonemic Awareness:  word rhyming, phoneme matching (matching letters to the sounds in words)
Sight words:  be, this, new ( new is not a required 50, but a good word to learn)
Letter of the week:  Ll
Color of the week:  rainbow colors

Letters and sounds we are working on for 2nd quarter:  Hard Cc, soft Cc, Ll, Short Oo, Long Oo, Rr, Hard Gg, Soft Gg.  (Please review these sounds with your child when you can!)

Math this week!

Tomorrow we have a test over Topic 4:  more and fewer.  Reviewing 1 and 2 more or fewer than a number less than 10, would be helpful.  Example:   I may show them 4 circles and they have to find the answer that shows 2 more or 2 fewer.

Topic 5  Numbers to 20  
We will naming numbers to 20, writing numbers to 20, and counting orally to 30.
Please practice all of these skills at home too!  These are all for mastery this quarter.
Several of the kids could not name all of the numbers to 20 yet.  However, we haven't worked on it until now.  We will also be counting objects in a set up to 20.  

Coming Up!

Wed. Nov. 9         Wear rainbow colors today!
Sat. Nov. 12          Winter Wonderland from 8-11am.
Mon. Nov. 14-18   Book Fair this week! 8:30-4:00
Tues. Nov. 15         Skate Party  6-8 PM
Thur. Nov. 16        Picture retakes
Thur. Nov. 17        Book Fair open 4-7 PM
Mon. Nov. 21        Happy Bear
Tues. Nov. 22        Last day of school!
Wed. Nov. 23-27   Thanksgiving Break

Kaleidoscope Field Trip!

Our first BIG bus ride!

Happy Halloween!

What an awesome Halloween Party today!  I feel so fortunate to have the wonderful parent (and grandparent) support.  The party was so organized and ran so smoothly!  The kids were all very respectful and were good sports!  Thank you all for taking time out of the day to make your child's day special!  No worries if you couldn't make it, there are pictures below!

Have an awesome evening trick-or-treating!

Book-it calendars are due on Thursday, Nov. 3!  Please remember to have your child and yourself sign it so I know who's it is!  I will pass out November calendars tomorrow. Please put these somewhere very visible to help you and your student remember to fill them out at least 20 days.  The fridge worked best for me, so it didn't get lost in papers. :)

Math Review Packets are due tomorrow!  Please make sure to read all the directions at the bottom.

Our Field Trip to Kaleidoscope is this Friday!  We will leave around 9:15 on the bus and arrive by 11:30.  Please make sure your child eats a good and lasting breakfast so the bus ride does not make them car sick.  The weather looks nice so a sweatshirt or jacket would be fine.  

Peace Week!
Tomorrow is  Pajama and slippers day!
Pink day is Wednesday along with Red day for Peace week.  Either is fine!
Thursday is crazy sock day.
Friday is Jeans day.  Have your child wear CCE spirit wear if they have it!

Reading this week!
This week we are reading a book called,  Leaf Trouble.  We are going to review it a few days and use our 5 finger retell.  Your child will be tested on comprehension questions to make sure they are understanding what to look for when retelling what happens in a story.

We need leaves!  We need leaves!  We are going to read a book about different kinds of trees and leaves.  Then, we are going to learn how to do leaf rubbing!  So, if anyone would like to send in different kinds of leaves from your yard on Wednesday and Thursday, we could see if some of them are in our book we read and then do the leaf rubbing!  

Sight words:  I, at, love
Color of the week:  Pink

Math this week!
Ordering numbers on a number line and reviewing fewer and more.  Our Topic 4 math test will be Monday or Tuesday!  The car is a great place to give your child a number and ask them to tell you 1-2 more, or 1-2 fewer.  You can start with numbers less than 10 and go higher if they are getting it!

Coming Up!
Wed. Nov. 2         Wear pink or red today!
Fri. Nov. 4            Field trip to Kaleidoscope!
Wed. Nov. 9         Wear rainbow colors today!
Sat. Nov. 12          Winter Wonderland from 8-11am.
Mon. Nov. 14-18   Book Fair this week! 8:30-4:00
Thur. Nov. 17        Book Fair open 4-7 PM
Mon. Nov. 21        Happy Bear
Tues. Nov. 22        Last day of school!
Wed. Nov. 23-27   Thanksgiving Break

Orange picture

Pumpkin Quilt

Pumpkin measuring activities

Halloween Party pics

Three Blind Mice and the Farmer's Wife!