The week of Feb. 25-Mar. 1.

Hopefully we will have a 5 day school week!  We are all so ready for spring!!

Last week we had fun making silly sentences with adjectives, nouns, verbs, and adverbs about a dog.  Today we wrote about our favorite animal in our journal.  Most of the class was able to write 3 sentences about the animal!!  First they told what animal they liked.  Then, they wrote what they liked about that animal, and last what color it is.  I was so proud of them!

This week in reading.

We are reading short stories about weather.  The first one we read today was an informational text about vacations and one place to go was to an ice hotel!  Ask your child what they learned about ice hotels!  The next story will be a fiction story about a blizzard.  We will compare and contrast the two stories.  At the end of the week we will read the fable, "City Mouse and Country Mouse".

I will be benchmarking this week and next week to have it done by grade card time, so your child may not bring home a little reader.

Letter of the week:  Kk

Sight words:  it, there (we talked about how the word "here" and "the" are inside of there.

Spelling test this Friday, Mar. 1.  Please study with your child.  Make sure they can write them without any capitals.

Spelling words this week:  I, can, do, not, if  

Bonus word:  red

I mentioned about Spelling City at conferences.  It is on the right side of my blog.  It would be a great way for your child to have fun spelling the sight words.  The first two quarter sight words are on the game.

Math this week:

We started Topic 8 on subtraction.  This kids seem to understand the concept of take away.  You can practice this at home with anything!  Throw it into anything the kids are doing at home.  

We are crossing out the objects we are taking away on their assignment sheets.  One child asked why we don't erase the circles we draw when taking away.  I told him that if you erase, you may forget that you've taken away and take away again.

Today we also started writing to 100 on a blank sheet of paper.  I am amazed at how well they are doing on their own once they understand the pattern!

Social Studies:  Today we began a packet over Famous Kansans.  So far we've read about the first two.   We are learning about:  Amelia Earhart, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ask me what number President he was and how it's the same as our state.), Dorothy Gale, Steve Hawley, James Naismith, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Handwriting:  lowercase "p".

Coming Up:
Mar. 8     End of 3rd Quarter!
Mar. 9-18  Spring Break!
Mar. 19    4th quarter begins
Mar. 26    KDG roundup for those entering KDG next fall.
Mar. 28    Farm Day meeting at 4:15
Apr. 22    Inservice--No School
Apr. 26    KDG Open House at 2:30  --Please plan on being here if possible!  We will sing songs, view our projects, and meet our chicks that we are incubating in April.

The week of Feb. 19-22.

First of all, I want to say, "Thank you!" to everyone for making it to conferences!  I love to tell how well your kids are doing and let you see how far they've come since our first conference!  Keep up the great support at home!  It really makes a difference!

Will we have school or won't we?  Believe me, we teachers are ready for a normal 5 day week like you!  The inconsistency is so difficult on kids.  But, we'll make the best of it!

If I don't get your child's reading group in this week, I hope you'll understand.

Reading this week!
Letter of the week--Jj    This letter is easy to write backward.  Please have your child correct it if you notice it's backwards.

sight words:  it, there
We continue to learn about the holidays and more about the Presidents.  
Today, we talked about our opinion of our favorite holiday we read about in our book.  

Nouns and Verbs--If we have time this week, we are going to focus more on the parts of a sentence.  

Social Studies--We are learning our nation's symbols.  Can your child name some of them?
We will also be learning the meanings of the lines in the Pledge of Allegiance.  What does it all mean?

Math this week!
We will take our Topic 7 test on Addition this week!  I feel like most of the class understands the concept, so hopefully they will do well.  Topic 8--Subtraction is next!

Handwriting--We are writing the letters k, y, and j.  These are actually harder letters for KDG to write due to the placement on the lines.  I will be sending home a sheet for your child to practice them.

Snack-  Please help your child make their snacks on Sundays for the whole week.  It really is just making it a routine.  I don't believe they will get a snack in first grade if they forget theirs, so it's a good habit to help your child get used to.  Thank you!

Coming up!
Feb. 22    Family Movie Night--6:30
Mar. 8     End of 3rd Quarter!
Mar. 9-18  Spring Break!
Mar. 19    4th quarter begins
Mar. 26    KDG roundup for those entering KDG next fall.
Mar. 28    Farm Day meeting at 4:15
Apr. 22    Inservice--No School
Apr. 26    KDG Open House at 2:30  --Please plan on being here if possible!  We will sing songs, view our projects, and meet our chicks that we are incubating in April.

Our Valentine's Party was a success!  Thank you to the parents that coordinated it!

Valentine's Day Party

The week of Feb. 4-8.

Happy Monday!

We successfully made it through Kansas Day and 100's Day!  Check out the pictures below!  We had a lot of fun counting to 100 different ways, showing our collections, and mixing our food collections together on a sheet to make a trail mix!

Book it Calendars are due tomorrow!  Please make sure a parent signs the bottom along with your child.

Reading/Social Studies this week!
This week we are learning about the Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Can your child tell you which President is called, "The Father of our Country"?  Also, which one is famous for freeing the slaves?  

Letter of the week--Ww
Sight words:  have, how (We will talk about Interrogative sentences--questions, and we will write questions beginning with have and how.)

Math this week!  Topic 7 continues to be on Understanding Addition.  We have learned the terms- addends and sum. Today we added numbers to 0 and numbers to 1, along with our math ws.  Once they understood the pattern, they got it!

A math packet with a few practice worksheets will be coming home on Thursday to be returned on Monday before our test.  Please make sure to read the directions at the bottom and check over the ws after your child completes it.  It's helpful for you to know if they are understanding the concept of addition.

Counting to 50!  Our goal this month is to count to 50.  Many have accomplished this, but a some keep getting stuck on 29, 39, or 49.  Please have your child count to you and see if they can do it!  The car is a perfect place to count!

February is also dental health month.  We will read a couple of books about teeth this week!

Handwriting--This week we are writing the letter l and words beginning with l.  Please continue to make sure your child is writing letters and numbers starting at the top.  Reversals are developmental at this age, but we do want to make sure we point it out to our KDG to correct them when we see them.

Homework--Please make sure your KDG writes with a pencil when they do their homework.  It's important for them to be able to erase as needed.

Parent Conferences--Just a reminder that KDG conferences are for parents only.  If your child needs to come with you, please bring something for them to do in the hall.  I will have books for them to look at too!

Coming up!
Feb. 5     PTO Board Meeting--Parent Night at 7:00  Topic TBD
Feb. 7     Food Night:  Panera
Feb. 12   Valentine's Day Party
Feb. 13    Parent Teacher conferences after school
Feb. 14    No School for kids--Conferences all day
Feb. 15-18  No School
Feb. 21    Dental Screening--More info. to come.  You will have to opt in for your child to participate.
Feb. 22    Family Movie Night--6:30

Kansas Sunflowers

The week of Jan. 28-Feb. 1.

Oh my!  It was sure cold when we attempted outdoor recess today!  The kids need to run so badly and let out their energy!  I'm sure you notice it at home too.

This is another busy week celebrating Kansas' 158th Birthday tomorrow and our 100's Day on Thursday! The snow day backed us up to Jan. 31 instead of Wed. Jan. 30.
Several kids said they don't know what they are bringing for their snack of 100 unwrapped items or their 100 collection.  Please help your child come up with an idea for both and let them count their items to 100 on their own.  I know it's so much quicker and easier for us to count for them, but please let them take the time to count by 1's, 5',s or 10's We have talked about washing our hands before counting our food collection.  They also know to put their items in groups if they are counting by 5's or 10's and put them in a baggie. 
I will be asking them how they counted.  In the past I've had kids tell me they didn't know how it was counted because mom or dad did it. So please let this be a learning activity for your child!

The non-food collection should fit in a baggie also.  This could be pennies, buttons, little toys, legos, paper clips, etc.  Just look around your house.  
Thank you for helping your child find their collections!

Reading this week!
This week we are reading The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  We have talked about this book a lot and I feel that the kids are understanding how important it is to always be honest!  The kids are owning up to their actions most of the time which will help them be good citizens as they grow up!  

We will be reading a couple of books about the 100th Day of School too! Along with reading those books, we will be illustrators of our own topics about 100.  

Sight words this week:  that, her
Letter of the week:  Dd

Reading groups!  Please make sure to check your child's folder each night.  My reading groups are not always the same day, so some little books are not getting done the night they come home.  Make sure to have your child read the book at least 2 times at home with someone.  They are so proud of themselves when they are reading them!  I am proud of them too!

Social Studies
Learning about our Kansas symbols has been fun!  We are finishing up our unit this week.  Their packet of the symbols will be coming home!  See if your child knows their symbols by quizzing them when you see the packet!  Tomorrow we will play a Kansas Bingo Game of the symbols, make a Sunflower hat, eat a few Kansas snacks, and read a few Kansas books.  

Math this week!
We finished our numbers to 100 last week, but we will continue to work on counting and writing the numbers.  You can help at home too by asking your child to count to 50 and continue on if they can.  Also, have them write numbers randomly from 1-20 to make sure they are writing them correctly and without reversals.

Topic 7 is "Understanding Addition."  We just started it last week!  Right now we are learning about addition sentences like--4 and 2 is 6.  By the end of the week we will be adding with a plus and equals sign.


Coming up!
Jan. 29   Kansas' Birthday!
Jan. 31   100th Day of School!  Bring collections!
Feb. 5     PTO Board Meeting--Parent Night at 7:00  Topic TBD
Feb. 7     Food Night:  Panera
Feb. 12   Valentine's Day Party
Feb. 13    Parent Teacher conferences after school
Feb. 14    No School for kids--Conferences all day
Feb. 15-18  No School
Feb. 21    Dental Screening--More info. to come.  You will have to opt in for your child to participate.
Feb. 22    Family Movie Night--6:30

The week ofJan. 22-25.

It was a nice long weekend!  I hope you all got to enjoy it too!  We have so much we are fitting in our 4 day week!  We will be busy!

I hope the girls have a blast at the Father/Daughter dance if it works out for them to go!  If not, they will do again next year!

This week in Reading!
Our Theme book is "The Three Little Pigs" retold by Brenda Parkes.  We learned that retold means an author may make changes to her book from the original.  Ask your child if there were any changes in this story.  

There are so many versions of The Three Little Pigs to read.  We also read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs today.  It is the Wolf's point of view.  The other two books we will read are The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig and The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf.

After reading the different versions, we are going to compare and contrast The Three Little Pigs  and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig on a venn diagram.  

Letter of the Week--Hard Gg and Soft Gg
I love to read several different versions of The Gingerbread Man also!  So, we will read the original Gingerbread Man story first.  Then, we will compare and contrast the characters and refrain of that story with the Gingerbread Girl.   The refrain is the verse that is said throughout the story.  The last books we will read are The Gingerbread Kid and The Ninjabread Man.

Friday, we will have fun doing gingerbread activities throughout the day!  One is a special surprise!

Sight words:  one, from  (Your child was tested over the 3rd quarter words last week.  They are challenging so please work on these with your child!)

Math this week!
We took a test over numbers to 100.  Some needed little tips on this if they didn't know what some of the numbers were.  I will write "helped" if your child needed assistance.  Please look over this with your child when it comes home.

We will begin topic 7--Understanding Addition.  We will be learning how to put groups together with manipulatives.  Adding groups of things together can easily be done at home too!  For example, counting how many spoons and forks are on the table.  

Social Studies
This week we are continuing in our Kansas Packet.  Today we colored Kansas on the map and wrote the abbreviations for KS and our bordering states.  We also found where Johnson County is on the state of Kansas map.  We will finish the packet with coloring a sod house, Prairie Schooner, wheat, and a maze and dot-to-dot.  

The one instruction I had from the beginning was for each picture to be colored the correct color; so that when your child sees the symbol, they will recognize it as our state symbol.  Unfortunately, not everyone followed that direction, so when you check out the pictures in their packet, you will know that I didn't instruct them to color the bison purple and pink!!!!  

Handwriting--  This week we are practicing writing words in our book.  We are working hard to write the letters on the lines correctly.  I am watching for them to start at the top and write the letters the correct direction.  If we get in the habit in KDG, it will sure be easier each year!

Coming up!
Jan. 29   Kansas' Birthday!
Jan. 30   100th Day of School!  Bring collections!
Feb. 5     PTO Board Meeting--Parent Night at 7:00  Topic TBD
Feb. 7     Food Night:  Panera
Feb. 12   Valentine's Day Party
Feb. 13    Parent Teacher conferences after school
Feb. 14    No School for kids--Conferences all day
Feb. 15-18  No School
Feb. 21    Dental Screening--More info. to come.  You will have to opt in for your child to participate.
Feb. 22    Family Movie Night--6:30

The week of Jan. 14-18.

I'm sure glad the snow came over the weekend!   I heard some good stories about what was made out of it!  We're going to make a snowman in class this week with cotton balls after reading "The Snowy Day".

Reading this week!
Our stories for reading are short with a message!  Both short stories' messages are about how we can accomplish anything if we work together!  We talk about how our Kindergarten class is a team and each table has to work together all day to earn points for their table! We learn so much in KDG and "working together" is one of our goals all year long!

Letter of the week!  Short Ee
Please have your child read the little "e" books that is coming home and all other little paper books.  They are on your child's level and it's important to have them use the "body walk" to sound out the words.  They can do it!
Sight words:  his, for

Handwriting--We are writing Magic c letters, the letter "u",  and words with "u" in them.  Magic c letters are the lowercase letters that begin with "c".  

Social Studies
This week we are learning about the State insect--the Honeybee, the State reptile- the Ornate Box Turtle, the State Amphibian-the Barred Tiger Salamandar, the State fish--the Catfish, the State Seal, and the Kansas Flag with the State seal.
The class loves learning and coloring each state symbol!

Today, a half sheet is coming home asking for your help to tell where your child was born and what that state's mascot is.  For example; I am a Jayhawker (Yes, I'll say it!) since I was born in Kansas.  Please return it next Tues. the 22nd.

Martin Luther King Jr
MLK's birthday is Monday, Jan. 21.  We will not be in school that day to celebrate this holiday.
We will learn about MLK Jr. through books and videos.  Then we will make a mobile telling what our dreams are for other children.

Math
This week we are continuing with Numbers to 100.  We are looking for patterns going across the rows and down the columns.  Today we counted by tens to 100!  How far can your child count?  We would like for them to count to 50 this quarter!  However, once they understand the pattern, they can usually go to 100!  Challenge your child to go as far as they can!  We will also be writing to 100 soon!

100's Day Party!  So far our 100's Day Party will be on Jan. 30 if we do not have any snow days.  It will be the day after we celebrate Kansas' birthday on Jan. 29!  I will be sending home information this Thursday on what to have your child bring for 100's Day.  You will have two weekends to help them find their 100's Day Collection.  More info. to come!

Valentines' Day Party!
It's on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 2:45-3:15.  We have it on Tuesday instead of Wednesday so we don't have to back it up with  Parent Conferences right after school.

Help!!!  I do not have anyone signed up to coordinate this party!!  Would two people be willing to help us make our last party of the year a blast?!    Please email asap if you would love to help us out!  I am happy to give ideas!  Thank you for considering!

Coming Up!
Jan. 18   Mrs. Scott is gone. Mrs. Draper is the substitute.  I am heading to Arkansas for a soccer tournament.  
Jan. 21   No School-MLK Day
Jan. 29   Kansas' Birthday!
Jan. 30   100th Day of School!  Bring collections!

Book Bash

Thank you to Mr. Dickerson, Mrs. Mayhugh, and Mrs. Cavanaugh for 

reading to us!  We loved it!

Jan. 7-11.

Welcome Back!  It sounds like the kids had a wonderful break!

We are getting back to the swing of our class rules.  Reminders at home to not blurt out are always helpful! Thank you!

Grade cards will be posted tomorrow after school.  Please take the time to get on Skyward and check out your child's progress 2nd quarter.  If you have any questions about either the skill section or comments, don't hesitate to ask!  A packet of info. will come home tomorrow, so please check your child's folder!

Book Bash!  This will be Thursday morning.  I emailed info. about it last Friday.  The kids know that they can only bring one item- a pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal.

Please help your child get back on track by bringing their snack each day or making 5 snacks and leaving them in their backpack.  Thank you!

Reading this week!
We are reading a Realistic Fiction story called, "Munching Millie"  Ask me the characters, setting, and, beginning, middle, and end.  We are learning what a bad habit is.  Millie has a bad habit in the story. Can I tell you what it is?

Other skills this week--
Word families/rhyming words.  Not all rhyming words are word families such as- "read and feed".  But word families do rhyme like "had, bad, mad, sad".

Homophones-  to, too, two     red, read      blue, blew
We are learning the correct usage when writing with homophones.

Letter of the week:  Rr (we run in place while saying the "rrr" sound).
Sight words:  had, dad

Social Studies
Kansas symbols--Today we learned about our first Kansas symbol-the state flower, the sunflower.  We will be learning about many Kansas symbols this month leading up to Kansas Day on January 29. The rest of this week we will learn about the state tree-cottonwood, state animal-the bison, the state bird- the meadowlark and being a Jayhawker if you were born in Kansas. You may be surprised at some of the symbols as there may be a few new ones since you learned about them!

Math this week!--We are finishing up Topic 15 on Position and Location of Shapes.  Then we will begin Topic 6 on Numbers to 100!  We will be counting to 50 this quarter or further if your child is ready.

Handwriting--lowercase letters "t, a, d, g"  We will learn that a, d, g, are magic c letters that always begin with a c.  

Coming up!
Jan. 8    Grades posted at 4:00 and important information in folders
Jan. 10  Book Bash
Jan. 11   Mrs. Scott is gone.  Mrs. Draper is the substitute.
Jan. 18   Mrs. Scott is gone. Mrs. Draper is the substitute.
Jan. 21   No School-MLK Day
Jan. 29   Kansas' Birthday!
Jan. 30   100th Day of School!

Winter Holiday pics

Opening gifts!

Job Day was awesome!  

We learned about the jobs of these parents below!  Thank you for sharing what you do!  

Mrs. Heaton--Home Health Coordinator for a hospital.

Mr. Washatka-Civil Engineer

 Mr. Cavanaugh-- Smart City/Community Solutions

Mr. Gifford--A Fireman

 Mr. Dickerson--Security Engineer for Cybersecurity

Mr. Dickerson showing the inside of a computer.