Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

 March 1, 2013

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: We have completed all our jolly phonics sounds.  We learned the last two letter combinations this week, er and ar.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, ou, qu, ue, oi, er, ar, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.  Our final sets of letter cards went home this week.

Word Family’s:  This week we reviewed our short a word families.  We worked on the an, at, ap and am word families.  We start with one of the word family endings: an, at, ap or am, and then we add different letters to the beginning of the endings to make new words.  For example, for the ap word family we formed the words (cap, map, trap, clap, nap, etc.).  Next week we will be working on the it and in word families.

Popcorn Words: Our four new popcorn words this week were; four, said, and nine.  Please practice the popcorn words, we are getting quite a few and they are getting more difficult.

Reading:  This week we finished our Wheels Go Around theme.  We read the story Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car. When Mr. Gumpy decides to go for a ride in his bright-red car, everyone wants to come along -- a rabbit, a cat, a dog, a sheep, chickens, a calf, a goat, and a boy and girl. Then it starts to rain, and the car becomes stuck in the mud.  None of Mr. Gumpy’s passengers want to help. In the end, however, they all have to help.  It was a good lesson on teamwork.  We also read a small book called The Snowman, which the children brought home this week.  The story was about all the components that make up a snowman.  We underlined all of the popcorn words we have had so far as we read our books.

Writing:  We wrote about our star student of the week.  We also wrote a sentence using our popcorn word said.  A few examples of our sentences that we wrote were; I said hello.  I said goodbye. and I said good morning.

Math:  We focused on subtracting numbers, from numbers up to ten. Please practice reading and writing numbers 1 through 20.  Please continue to practice addition facts that add up to ten along with subtracting numbers up to ten.

Social Studies- Since February is dental health month we read our Weekly Reader.  The students really enjoyed guessing different animals teeth in the reader.  We learned what the different animals use their teeth for.  We also talked about what foods are good for our teeth and what foods, if we have too much, are harmful for our teeth. 

REMEMBER

Please check your child’s folder this Friday.  A St. Patrick’s Day and Dr. Seuss project went home this week.  There is also a form explaining the different books and fun activities that we will be doing next week in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

Please practice the popcorn words with your child.

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Snowflakes are Falling!

February 22, 2013

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: We have completed all our jolly phonics sounds.  We learned the last two letter combinations this week, er and ar.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, ou, qu, ue, oi, er, ar, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.  Our final sets of letter cards went home this week.

Word Family’s:  This week we started our word families.  We worked on the ap and am word families.  First we start with two word endings ap and am, and then we add different letters to the beginning of the endings to make new words.  For example, for the ap word family we formed the words (cap, map, trap, clap, nap, etc.)  We continuously review the word families that we have already worked on. (at and an)

Popcorn Words: We have one, two, and three this week.  Please practice the popcorn words, we are getting quite a few and they are getting more difficult.

Reading:  This week we started our Wheels Go Around theme.  We read the story Vroom, Chugga Vroom.  The story is about twenty racecars.  We talked about how each racecar has a different number and the different pre-race activities that drivers go through before starting a race, such as putting on special race suits and boots, and checking the brakes, lights, and engines on their race cars.  The story even talked about the different problems racecar drivers might have as they race around a track, such as a flat tire.  The children really enjoyed the story.  We also read the famous The Little Engine That Could story.  Our small book called It Must Have Wheels was completed this week.

Writing:  Since we are working on our Wheels Go Around theme we wrote “ My bike has two (one of our popcorn words) wheels!” in our journals.  The children then had a chance to illustrate a picture of themselves riding their bikes. 

Math:  We continued working on addition focusing on adding numbers with zero and one up to ten. Please practice reading and writing numbers 1 through 20.  Please also practice addition facts that add up to ten.

Social Studies- Since we were not in school on Monday because of President’s Day our Weekly Reader focused on President’s Day.  The children are very interested in learning about the Presidents of the United States.

Art- The children made snowflakes for the upcoming Snowflake Ball.

REMEMBER:

 Snowflake Ball Dance, Saturday February 23, 2013 6:30 P.M. 

Tuesday February 26^th 2013 is a half-day and only the afternoon class will attend.  School is from 9:00A.M-12:00P.M.  If your child takes the bus they will get on the bus in the morning with the first and second graders.  The buses will then take them home at noon after school is over.  If your child is a pick-up, pick-ups will be in the office at 12:10 P.M.

Please check your child’s folder this weekend.  Today I sent home a list of all the popcorn words (sight words) from the first and second quarter.  I also included the words from the third quarter that we have already completed and the ones we will be working on.  Please practice the popcorn words with your child.

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Valentine's Day!

February 15, 2013

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: We have completed all our jolly phonics sounds.  We learned the last two letter combinations this week, er and ar.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, ou, qu, ue, oi, er, ar, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.  Our final sets of letter cards will be coming home shortly with your child.

Word Family’s:  This week we started our word families.  We worked on the at and an word families.  First we started with two of our sight words at and an, and then we add different letters to the beginning of the words to make new words.  For example, for the at word family we formed the words (cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, etc.)

Popcorn Words: We have now added look, good, jump, will, have, and must.  Please practice the popcorn words, we are getting quite a few and they are getting more difficult.

Reading:  This week we started our Wheels Go Around theme.    We read the story Wheels Go Round.  The book talked about all the things we see in our everyday life that has wheels.  Before we read the children brainstormed all the things that could have wheels.  The children came up with great answers such as monster trucks, police cars, skateboards, dump trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and cars to name a few.  We also read the famous Wheels on the Bus story.  There is a small book called It Must Have Wheels that we are currently working on and that book will be coming home as soon as we have completed the book.

Writing:  Since we are working on our Wheels go around theme we wrote about our favorite thing that has wheels and goes around.

Math:  We continued reading and writing numbers 11 through 20.  Please practice reading and writing these harder numbers at home.  We started on our counting from 50 –75.  We also worked on addition focusing on adding numbers with zero and one up to ten.

Social Studies- Since we were not in school on Groundhog Day we read and discussed our Weekly Reader.  The students learned that baby groundhogs are called kits; groundhogs eat carrots, flowers and insects, and groundhogs hibernate for the winter.  I was very proud that some students knew the legend of the groundhog and if the groundhog sees its shadow there will be six more weeks of winter.  We also talked about Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on Tuesday and President’s Day this upcoming Monday.  We talked about how George Washington is on the quarter and the one-dollar bill and that Abraham Lincoln is on the penny and five-dollar bill.

Art- The children made Valentine cards for their parents.  I hope you really enjoyed them because the children put a lot of effort into making them.

REMEMBER:

Please return report card envelopes.

No School Monday February 18^th 2013-Presidents Day

The Six Flags Read to Succeed log is Due by February 22^nd, 2013

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Weather and More Weather!

                                                     

                                                       February 1, 2013

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: This week the class learned the letter combination of ue and oi,.  For oi we say ship ahoy.  We also learned that oy makes the same sound as oi.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, ou, qu, ue, oi, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.

Popcorn Words: This week we added three words to our popcorn bag: get, help, and now.  Please practice the popcorn words we are getting quite a few and they are getting more difficult.

Reading:  This week we continued our Sunshine and Raindrops theme.  This week we worked on talking about the plot of a story and summarizing a story.  We read The Wind and the Sun.  The children first determined the story was make believe because the wind and sun talk to each other and that cannot really happen.  In the story the wind and the sun compete against each other by trying to make a man take off his heavy cloak.  The children were able to determine the sun would win because the sun is warm and when the wind blows it is cold causing us to put on a jacket.  We discussed if the roles were reversed and the contest was to make a man put on a jacket the wind would win.  We also read All to Build a Snowman.  In this story a crow gets startled by falling snow and breaks a few branches from a tree.  The branches fall and hit a squirrel.  The squirrel drops some acorns on a cat.  The cat starts to run and a dog chases the cat.  The dog pulls its owner while chasing the cat and the owner loses his hat and scarf.  A snowman is put together using all the pieces that fell to the ground during the crazy sequence of events.  Lastly we read Sadie and the Snowman and were able to put together our own snowman sequence of events.

Writing:  We wrote in our journals what type of weather is our favorite.  We first brainstormed and wrote down all the different types of weather, such as sunny, snowy, rainy, windy, cloudy and foggy.  We then wrote in our journals” I like ____________ days!”  After we wrote, we had a chance to illustrate a picture of ourselves in our favorite weather.

Math:  We continued reading and writing numbers 11 through 20.  Please practice reading and writing these harder numbers at home.  We also started on our counting from 50 –75.

REMEMBER:

Please return report card envelopes.

Valentine Party Information- On the valentine cards please have your child only sign their name and not who they are too.  Please do not bring any candy or treats with the valentine cards.

The Six Flags Read to Succeed log is Due by February 22^nd, 2013

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Here Comes the Snow!

January 25, 2012

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: This week the class learned the letter combination of ou and qu.  For ou we pretend that we accidently poked our finger with a pin and qu we pretend our hands are quacking like a duck.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, ou, qu, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.

Popcorn Words: This week we added three words to our popcorn bag: here, our and out.  Please practice the popcorn words we are getting quite a few and they are getting more difficult.

Reading:  This week we started our Sunshine and Raindrops theme.  This week we worked on predicting and inferring.  We read Chicken Soup with Rice.  This book takes us on a journey through each month of the year all the while making chicken soup each month.  The theme of each month is based on the season of the year and the weather that is likely to occur during each month of the year.  We also read What Will the Weather Be Like Today?  The story talks about different animals and the weather that they like.  For example, there is a page about a lizard and the lizard likes hot and sunny weather.  We then had a class discussion of where the lizard would live and since it is the dessert the lizard likes the warm and hot weather.

Writing:  We wrote about our star student of the week and what makes that student a star.  The students then get to illustrate themselves and the star student   Each and every student will have the opportunity to be the star of the week.

Math:  We started our third quarter material.  We focused on reading and writing numbers 11 through 20.  Please practice reading and writing these harder numbers at home.  We also started on our counting from 50 –75.

Social Studies:  We talked about Martin Luther King and that is the reason we did not have school this past Monday.  We talked about how Dr. King fought for equal rights for everyone.

REMEMBER:

Wednesday January 30, 2013 is a half-day.  Only the morning class will attend school.  School will go until 12 noon.  Pick-ups on that day will be at 12:10 P.M.

Valentine Party Information- On the valentine cards please have your child only sign their name and not who they are too.  Please do not bring any candy or treats with the valentine cards.

The Six Flags Read to Succeed log is Due by February 22^nd, 2013

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Our January Snowman!

January 18, 2012

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: This week the class learned the letter combination of ng and th.  For ng we pretend that we are strong.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh, ng, th, z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.

Popcorn Words: This week we added three words to our popcorn bag: he, she, and be.

Reading:  This week we continued our Let’s Count Theme.  We read the stories Peace and Quiet and All You Need For a Snowman.  In Peace and Quiet an old lady and man can not get any sleep because of branches from a tree brushing up against the house and a creaky floor, so the old lady and man visit the wise man in the village.  The wise man tells them to put all types of animals, such as a goat, dog, cat and horse, in their house.  All the animals make so much noise that the old couple determine that a little noise from a branch on a tree and a creaky floor are not that bad as compared to all the other noises that could be inside a house.  All You Need For a Snowman tells a story of all the components needed for children to make a snowman.

Writing:  We wrote in our journals.  The sentence: He is a strong man!  The children noticed that three words are popcorn words and the other two words the children were able to read using their decoding skills..  After they wrote their sentence, they had a chance to color the strong man on the page and draw a picture of themselves being a strong boy or a strong girl.  Using the word strong was a good review of the ng jolly phonics lessons from this week.

Math:  We continued working with addition and subtraction.  The children know that addition is putting together and subtraction is taking apart.  We also worked some more on writing numbers one through ten.  Please practice writing numbers at home with your child.

Social Studies:  We talked about the President of the United States.  The children know that the President is President Obama. He lives and works in the White House and that he is responsible for the laws of our country and that he is the commander and chief of our armed forces.  We also talked about how the President can serve two terms and that President Obama’s inauguration is this upcoming Monday January 21, 2013.

Art:  After reading All You Need For a Snowman the children had an opportunity to build their own snowman.  The children cut out one snowball for every letter of their name and then one additional one for the snowman’s head.  On each snowball the children wrote one letter of their name and when the snowman is complete and you stand it up the snowman spells out the names of each child.  The children were able to add arms and a hat.  The projects will be on display on the walls by the kindergarten classrooms.

REMEMBER:

No School Monday January 21, 2013- Martin Luther King Day!

The Six Flags Read to Succeed log is Due by February 22^nd, 2013

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

Pajama Day- Friday January 25, 2013

Wednesday January 30, 2013 is a half-day.  Only the morning class will attend school.

Welcome Back!

                                                       

                                                        January 11, 2012

Focus on Curriculum

Jolly Phonics: This week the class learned the letter combination of ch and sh.  Now we know the sounds of the letters and letter combinations: s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, r, h, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, j, oa, oa, ie, ee, or,oo, ch, sh z, w, v, y, and z. Please try and practice with your letter cards at home.  Please ask your child to say the letter names and sounds. All students have a bag of cards with letters, pictures, and words. They should try to match the letters, pictures, and words. You may choose to make it a game such as Memory, Rummy or Go Fish. Use your imagination!  Keep the cards in a special place at home so they can use them again and again.  The cards can stay at home.

Popcorn Words: This week we added three words to our popcorn bag: the, you, and down.

Reading:  This week we continued our Let’s Count Theme.  We read the stories Counting Noodles and Ten Little Puppies.  In Counting Noodles the Noodles family goes for a picnic and spends some time on the water in a boat.  When they get back to shore Papa Noodle counts the members of his family to make sure everyone returned to shore safely, but Papa Noodle forgets to count himself and the family thinks they have lost a family member and can’t figure out who it was.  A hiker then comes by and offers help and Papa Noodle includes the hiker in the count and now the Noodles can’t figure out how they have one to many members in their family.  The children in the class did a great job of figuring out what exactly the Noodles did wrong in the story.  We also read Ten Little Puppies in which a boy starts out with ten puppies, but as the story goes along he loses a puppy one by one because each puppy does his or her own activity.  For example, one puppy went out to dinner, another puppy went for a haircut and another puppy joined the circus to do tricks.  At the end of the story we read about the illustrator of the book and the children learned that an illustrator is the person who draws the pictures for a story. The children also learned that the author of a story and an illustrator can be two different people.

Writing:  We wrote in our journals.  We wrote the sentence: You and me!  The children noticed that the three words are all our popcorn words.  After they wrote their sentence, they became illustrators and had a chance to draw a picture of themselves and someone else.  We also wrote about up and down since down is a popcorn word this week.  The children also had a chance to illustrate something that stays down on the ground and something that is up in the air.

Math:  We continued working with addition and subtraction.  The children know that addition is putting together and subtraction is taking apart.  We read the story Ten Red Apples and in the story a farmer starts out with ten apples on his tree and then day-by-day someone or some animal comes and takes one apple away leaving the farmer with less and less each day.

All of the students worked very hard on this first week back from break and all parents should be very proud of their children. Great Job Class!!!!

REMEMBER:

The Six Flags Read to Succeed log is Due by February 22^nd, 2013

If you still have a report card envelope at home please return it to school on Monday.

Bring your library books on Wednesdays!

Wear your gym shoes Thursdays and Fridays!

No School Monday January 21, 2013- Martin Luther King Day!

Pajama Day- Friday January 25, 2013