Weekly News: December 13

I was so sad to have missed the Winter Performance on Friday, but heard the kids did a WONDERFUL job singing Jingle Bells!!!

Thank you to the parents who stayed in class ALL DAY on Friday to work on Copy/Staple/Prep for next month! I am incredibly lucky to have such amazing parents!

I have really enjoyed reading the writing homework the past few weeks. Many of the kids are writing two sentences each day for homework AND in class! They are really coming along with details and sticking to one topic. Thank you very much for supporting your child with writing at home. It is really showing!

There is NO SCHOOL for two weeks due to Christmas vacation!!!! This is our last week together in 2010. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Years and I will see you back at school on Tuesday, January 4, 2011!!!

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, December 15th: SUPER SANTA SHOP for all ILCS kids to shop this year will take place 1:00-7:00 at the Bryant St. Campus!!!! Parents can bring little shoppers and enjoy a cup of coffee or cocoa while your kiddos shop with the help of the PTO elves! Don't miss this great opportunity!

Friday, December 17th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers & Pizza Party - Thank you for signing up to donate your time and items for this special event!! We are still collecting $2 per student for the pizza party - if you are able to contribute, please send this donation to school in your child's GO folder. Thank you!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: ABOUT, THAT, WHAT, WANT, WAS.

Letter Team: ED (We are learning that tricky Mr. ED goes at the end of the word to tell us that something has already happened - making the word past tense. Mr. ED is tricky because sometimes he makes the "T" sound - like in LOOKED, and sometimes he makes the "D" sound - like in PLAYED).

Leadership Theme of the Month: SELF-CONTROL. We will also be discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Reading: I hope you enjoyed your first of many "Parent Education Newsletters" about reading comprehension. The kids have learned that schema is "what we know" and we have started applying this to our reading. This week we will continue to learn all about text-to-self connections and how to use our scheme before, during, and after our reading.. This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town".

Writing: We are continuing to work on our "Writer's Checklist" - a list of things that all good writers do, such as proper punctuation, uppercases at the beginning of a sentence and name, finger spaces between each word, spelling word wall words correctly, adding details, making sure our writing makes sense, and trying our best! We will read this checklist everyday to make sure we are applying each of those skills in our writing.

Math: The students have been doing well with the MATH TIMED TESTS. Students are timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. Some of our friends are already on +3!!!  We will continue to practice addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG. My goal for all students is to memorize all the doubles facts. Please work on basic addition (stories!) and doubles at home. Please also continue to reinforce LEFT and RIGHT with your child.

Homework: December 13

Every day and each week, homework should consist of:


READING:

• Make new flashcards for the new words and letter teams. 
• Study flashcards EVERYDAY! 
• Read Book Bag books 3 times each everyday! 
• RAZ-Kids Reading and quizzes - these quizzes will come back to me so I can see how you are doing!
• Have a parent read to child, asking HOTS comprehension questions before, during, and after reading. 
• Initial the Reading Log. 

WRITING: 

• Sharing - Write two sentences about a holiday tradition in your family. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due any day this week.
• Write sight words - Practice writing your sight words of the week (challenge: write a sentence with each sight word!) Due Friday.
• Write a story -  write a short story consisting of two-three sentences on one topic. Don't forget your details, Neat Nancy penmanship, and proper punctuation. Due Friday.
• Take a practice spelling and dictation sentence test on Thursday to prepare for your Friday test!

MATH: 

• Our new math curriculum (with a homework component) will begin sometime after Christmas. Until then, go over the SAXON MATH page in your GO Folder each day, helping your child with any concept that is difficult. 
• Practice the following math concepts ONLY AS NEEDED:
• Write numbers 1-30 (challenge: 1-100). Focus on number reversals!
• Read numbers 1-30 (use number flashcards if your child is still struggling with number identification out of order).
• Practice counting 5s and 10s.
• Practice telling time to the hour and half hour.
• Practice counting money (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters). 
• Practice making patterns (AB, ABB, ABC, AAB)
• Practice what number comes before, after, in between.
• Practice larger than, greater than, less than, fewer than.
• Practice days of the week and months of the year. 
• Practice addition (story problems are great too!)
• Practice LEFT and RIGHT - for example, ask your children to raise their right hand/left hand, draw a square in the upper left corner, draw a circle in the lower right corner, etc.

Homework due Friday. Please write your name on the Reading Log and staple that to the front of homework. Thank you!

Weekly News: December 6

We had a great week back to school and we have been having so much fun getting ready for Christmas!


We have a classroom elf on the shelf that we named "Sandy". Sandy has been watching us everyday in school and reporting our behavior back to Santa!

Copy/Staple Party this Friday! Thank you in advance for all of your help!

Upcoming Events:

Monday, December 6th: Our Drama classes proudly present, "A Classic Christmas". Come support your ILCS friends (and Miss Reeve!) and see a great show! The show will take place at the Bryant St. campus church at 6:00.

Tuesday, December 7th - THIS HAS CHANGED: SANTA CRAFT WORKSHOP 12:30-3:30 open at our West Campus for kiddos to come by and make a fun Christmas craft (for a small fee per item made). If you are able to help out at this event, please contact PTO :)

Friday, December 10th - THIS HAS CHANGED: ILCS WINTER PERFORMANCE 6:00-8:00 at the Parkview Middle School Fine Arts Building (34875 Tahoe Drive, Yucaipa 92399). Our class will be singing "Jingle Bells" with the other kindergarten classes! Come watch your adorable children!! Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, but Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Woolcock will be there to take care of our class!

Wednesday, December 15th: SUPER SANTA SHOP for all ILCS kids to shop this year will take place 1:00-7:00 at the Bryant St. Campus!!!! Parents can bring little shoppers and enjoy a cup of coffee or cocoa while your kiddos shop with the help of the PTO elves! Don't miss this great opportunity!

Friday, December 17th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers & Pizza Party - more information is coming home in your GO Folder on Monday and a sign-up sheet will be posted on the classroom door on Tuesday!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: AS, THROUGH, AROUND, NO, KNOW.

Letter Team: KN (the K is silent, like in KNOW and KNIGHT) and EW (like in NEW and STEW).

Leadership Theme of the Month: SELF-CONTROL. We will also be discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Reading: I hope you enjoyed your first of many "Parent Education Newsletters" about reading comprehension. The kids have learned that schema is "what we know" and we have started applying this to our reading. This week we will learn all about text-to-self connections. This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "The Gingerbread Man". We will also study landforms (like mountains, valleys, deserts, and plains) and bodies of water (like rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds) in our reading.

Writing: Last week we made a "Writer's Checklist" - a list of things that all good writers do, such as proper punctuation, uppercases at the beginning of a sentence and name, finger spaces between each word, spelling word wall words correctly, adding details, making sure our writing makes sense, and trying our best! We will read this checklist everyday to make sure we are applying each of those skills in our writing.

Math: Last week, we began MATH TIMED TESTS. Students are timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. The kids did a great job! We also learned the addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG. Please work on basic addition and doubles at home. This week, we will start reading math stories and making number sentences with the stories. For example, "Billy had three apples and Susie had five apples. How many apples did they have altogether? Answer: 3+5=8" Please try these math stories at home! We are also learning the directions RIGHT and LEFT - please reinforce this at home. 

Homework: December 6

There will be NO more monthly homework calendars! Check back on the website EACH WEEK to read what we are learning and the homework for the week! Also, check out and print our NEW READING LOG on the Attachment Library page.

Every day and each week, homework should consist of:


READING:

• Make new flashcards for the new words and letter teams. 
• Study flashcards EVERYDAY! 
• Read Book Bag books 3 times each everyday! 
• RAZ-Kids Reading and quizzes - these quizzes will come back to me so I can see how you are doing!
• Have a parent read to child, asking HOTS comprehension questions before, during, and after reading. 
• Initial the Reading Log. 

WRITING: 

• Sharing - Write two sentences about a landform we are learning (mountain, valley, desert, plain) and a body of water (river, ocean, lake, pond). For example: Mountains are tall and made of rock. Oceans are made of salt water. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due any day this week.
• Write sight words - Practice writing your sight words (challenge: write a sentence with each sight word!) Due Friday.
• Write a story -  write a short story consisting of two-three sentences on one topic. Don't forget your details, Neat Nancy penmanship, and proper punctuation. Due Friday.
• Take a practice spelling and dictation sentence test on Thursday to prepare for your Friday test!

MATH: 

• Our new math curriculum (with a homework component) will begin sometime after Christmas. Until then, go over the SAXON MATH page in your GO Folder each day, helping your child with any concept that is difficult. 
• Practice the following math concepts ONLY AS NEEDED:
• Write numbers 1-30 (challenge: 1-100). Focus on number reversals!
• Read numbers 1-30 (use number flashcards if your child is still struggling with number identification out of order).
• Practice counting 5s and 10s.
• Practice telling time to the hour and half hour.
• Practice counting money (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters). 
• Practice making patterns (AB, ABB, ABC, AAB)
• Practice what number comes before, after, in between.
• Practice larger than, greater than, less than, fewer than.
• Practice days of the week and months of the year. 
• Practice addition (story problems are great too!)
• Practice LEFT and RIGHT - for example, ask your children to raise their right hand/left hand, draw a square in the upper left corner, draw a circle in the lower right corner, etc.

Homework due Friday. Please write your name on the Reading Log and staple that to the front of homework. Thank you!

Weekly News: November 29

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week off with your families! There is A LOT going on in these next three weeks so please take a moment to read...

I very much enjoyed meeting with all of you during our parent conferences and felt that our discussions were extremely beneficial. Looking forward to spending the rest of the year with you and your child!

We are surprisingly running out of a few classroom supplies so I have updated our "Classroom Wish List". Please visit this page if you are able to donate in any way. Thank you!

After my latest assessments, I have moved around a few students for reading groups. This week, if your child is bringing home a book that has been previously read, please know that I am focusing on fluency with your child.

Upcoming Events:


Monday, December 6th: Our Drama classes proudly present, "A Classic Christmas". Come support your ILCS friends (and Miss Reeve!) and see a great show! The show will take place at the Bryant St. campus church at 6:00.

Wednesday, December 8th: SANTA WORKSHOP 12:00-3:00 open at our West Campus for kiddos to come by and make a fun Christmas craft (for a small fee per item made). If you are able to help out at this event, please contact Michele or PTO :)


Thursday, December 9th: ILCS WINTER PERFORMANCE 5:30-7:00 at the Parkview Middle School Fine Arts Building. Our class will be singing "Jingle Bells" with the other kindergarten classes! Come watch your adorable children!!

Friday, December 10th: SUPER SANTA SHOP for all ILCS kids to shop this year will take place 2:00-7:00 at the Bryant St. Campus!!!!

Friday, December 10th: Our next Kindergarten Copy-Staple Party! Mark your calendars now!! :)

Friday, December 17th: Our Kindergarten Christmas Centers & Pizza Party - more information to come!!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: BY, OUR, WHO, THING, THINK.

Letter Team: GE/GI (the soft sound of G which sounds like J, like in GENIE and GIRAFFE) and INK (like in PINK, SINK).

Word Family: INK.

Leadership Theme of the Month: SELF-CONTROL. We will also be discussing GENEROSITY in our classroom and how we can give to others and show our generosity during the holiday season.

Reading: In the 1st trimester, we learned many strategies to help us with our decoding and reading. Now we will begin discussing the way our reading makes us think. We will study and learn about SCHEMA and MAKING CONNECTIONS. Check your child's GO Folder for a special Parent Newsletter all about this new study! This week, we will read books about the holidays, Santa, generosity, and our poem of the week, "S-A-N-T-A".

Writing: We are learning to add details to our writing using the 5 W's (who, what, where, when, why). We are learning to write more than one detailed sentences on the same topic. 

Math: This week, we will begin MATH TIMED TESTS. Students will be timed on addition skills and move up levels at their own pace. We are also learning the addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG.

Homework: November 29

There will be NO more monthly homework calendars! Check back on the website EACH WEEK to read what we are learning and the homework for the week! Also, check out and print our NEW READING LOG on the Attachment Library page.

Every day and each week, homework should consist of:


READING:

• Make new flashcards for the new words and letter teams. 
• Study flashcards EVERYDAY! 
• Read Book Bag books 3 times each everyday! 
• RAZ-Kids Reading and quizzes - these quizzes will come back to me so I can see how you are doing!
• Have a parent read to child, asking HOTS comprehension questions before, during, and after reading. 
• Initial the Reading Log. 

WRITING: 

• Sharing - Write two sentences about a way you can give and show generosity during the holiday season. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due any day this week.
• Write sight words - Practice writing your sight words (challenge: write a sentence with each sight word!) Due Friday.
• Write a story -  write a short story consisting of two-three sentences on one topic. Don't forget your details, Neat Nancy penmanship, and proper punctuation. Due Friday.
• Take a practice spelling and dictation sentence test on Thursday to prepare for your Friday test!

MATH: 

• Our new math curriculum (with a homework component) will begin sometime after Christmas. Until then, go over the SAXON MATH page in your GO Folder each day, helping your child with any concept that is difficult. 
• Practice the following math concepts as needed:
• Write numbers 1-30 (challenge: 1-100). Focus on number reversals!
• Read numbers 1-30 (use number flashcards if your child is still struggling with number identification out of order).
• Practice counting 5s and 10s.
• Practice telling time to the hour and half hour.
• Practice counting money (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters). 
• Practice making patterns (AB, ABB, ABC, AAB)
• Practice what number comes before, after, in between.
• Practice larger than, greater than, less than, fewer than.
• Practice days of the week and months of the year. 
• Practice addition (story problems are great too!)

Homework due Friday. Please write your name on the Reading Log and staple that to the front of homework. Thank you!

Thanksgiving Feast

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving friends and families!!!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Thanksgiving Feast SO SPECTACULAR!!! We had a great time!!

Congratulations to our RAZ-KIDS competition winners: Abigail Veerkamp, Ashley Parent, and Elizabeth Mays!!!!!!!!!! You'll be receiving a SPECIAL PRIZE when we get back to school!!!!!

I hope you all have a relaxing week off and wonderful holiday with your families! See you next week!!!

Weekly News: November 15

I hope everyone had a nice four-day weekend and enjoyed the time off with your family.

Parent conferences are THIS week! Please check your day and time on the classroom door. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's growth and success in the classroom.

We are having a Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast on Friday! The kids will be eating turkey, vegetable soup, corn bread (with homemade butter!), friendship fruit salad, and of course, homemade pumpkin pie! Some of these items, like the corn bread and pie, will be made in class a few days prior to the feast. Thank you for signing up to bring items - please check the classroom door to see what day we will be needing particular items for cooking! Also - we will be making a friendship fruit salad on Friday and each student will get to add their own fruit! Please send a piece of fruit to school with your child on Friday. An apple, pear, banana, or small bag of strawberries or grapes are good examples.

If you would like to come help make this a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our kids, you are welcome to join us at 11:15 on Friday.

There is only one more week for the Christmas Book Order!!! Last week, I sent home the November and December Scholastic Book Order! If you would like to order books (perfect for Christmas presents and stocking stuffers!) please log in to your Scholastic account and send those orders BY FRIDAY!

NO SCHOOL ALL OF NEXT WEEK! Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your families!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

This week we will continue to review everything we have learned so far in kindergarten. 

We will also be studying the Pilgrims and Indians, reading about Thanksgiving, and working on fun Thanksgiving projects!!

Again, there will be NO BOOK BAGS brought home this week. INSTEAD, our RAZ-KIDS READING COMPETITION continues!! Continue to log in to RAZ-KIDS online to read books and pass quizzes. Our winner will be announced on Friday!

Homework: November 15

Homework this week will consist of reviewing ALL letters, sounds, sight words, letter teams, shapes, coins, word families, numbers, etc. as well as RAZ-KIDS reading online. You DO NOT need to turn in homework Friday!

We DO have sharing this week. Write one sentence about what you are thankful for. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due any day this week.

Weekly News: November 8

There is NO school on Thursday and Friday. Enjoy the time off with your families!

 

The Book Fair was a great success! Thank you to those parents that volunteered and THANK YOU for the donations to our classroom library!!

Please continue to work with your child on ALL skills. This month, in order to assess what all students have RETAINED, I will be moving over EVERYTHING to the incorrect column and randomizing the order. A correct answer is one that is answered in three seconds or less - this ensures that the student has truly mastered this skill and ensures that students will apply this to their reading to read fluently. These ESGI reports will be reviewed at parent conferences.

100% CLUB!!!: Our goal for all kindergarten students by the end of the first trimester is a 100% retained accuracy in letter ID, letter sounds, sight words, and letter teams. We will be honoring these students on this fantastic accomplishment.

For the next two weeks, there will be NO BOOK BAGS brought home. INSTEAD, our class will have a RAZ-KIDS READING COMPETITION!!!!! Please log in to RAZ-Kids to get started. The student that reads the most books AND passes the most quizzes will receive a special prize!!!

 

Next week is parent conference week. Thank you to those parents that have signed up for a conference - I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's growth and success in the classroom.

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 19th. Please see the classroom door for a sign-up sheet if you are interested in donating your time or supplies. Thank you! We are looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration together!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

The next two weeks, we will be reviewing everything we have learned so far in kindergarten.

We will also be studying the Pilgrims and Indians, reading about Thanksgiving, and working on fun Thanksgiving projects!!

Homework: November 8

THE ONLY HOMEWORK this week will consist of reviewing ALL letters, sounds, sight words, letter teams, shapes, coins, word families, numbers, etc. as well as RAZ-KIDS reading online. You DO NOT need to turn in homework on Wednesday OR next Friday!

Weekly News: November 1

The Book Fair is this week!! If you can volunteer in any way, please let us know! 

Thank you SOOO much to all the parents who helped out with our Copy/Staple Party and our Halloween centers! We had such a great day on Friday! 

The October ESGI report will be sent home on Monday. Please continue to work with your child on ALL skills. This month, in order to assess what all students have RETAINED, I will be moving over EVERYTHING to the incorrect column and randomizing the order. A correct answer is one that is answered in three seconds or less - this ensures that the student has truly mastered this skill and ensures that students will apply this to their reading to read fluently. These ESGI reports will be reviewed at parent conferences. 

100% CLUB!!!: Our goal for all kindergarten students by the end of the first trimester is a 100% retained accuracy in letter ID, letter sounds, sight words, and letter teams. We will be honoring these students on this fantastic accomplishment.

Report cards and parent conferences are coming up! Over the next two weeks, I will be assessing each student during our center time. At this time, students will meet for reading group but A-Z reading books brought home in book bags may be a first-read for your child. Please take this into account when reading for homework and provide extra support as needed.

A look ahead: There is no school next Thursday and Friday, November 11-12th. The following week (November 15-19) will be parent conference week. I will be posting a parent conference schedule on the door Monday morning so that you can begin thinking of a good time that suits your schedule. Thank you!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: IN, ON, GO, SO, DO.

Letter Team: We are learning that Mr. ER has two crazy cousins that make the same sounds! IR and UR (like in GIRL and CURL).

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -IN (BIN, FIN, TIN).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Leadership Theme: Our new leadership theme this month is SELF-CONTROL. We are learning that self control is thinking before we act and doing what is right even when we do not want to.

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for two vowels go a-walking". We will learn that when there are two vowels together, the first vowel will say it's name and the second will not say anything. The vowels that are "best buddies" and go together are usually AI, EA, OA. This week, we will read books about having self-control, books about turkeys and Thanksgiving, and read our special poem of the week, "Gobble, Gobble".

Writing: This week we will write a poster about self-control. We will also write a big book about our geometric shapes. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. 

Math: We are starting simple addition this week. We are also learning ALL of our geometic shapes (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder).  We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: November 1

 Check out the new November Homework Calendar on our Attachment Library page!

 

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in ALL written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: IN, ON, DO, SO, GO and the new letter teams are IR and UR. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday! Note: If your child is still struggling with numbers 0-20, please make flashcards for these numbers as well - we are really working hard on these in class!!!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense, look for a letter team inside the word, stretch out the sounds, look for a smaller word inside the word, look for the magic E! NOTE: YOU CAN USE THIS TIME TO READ ON RAZ-KIDS!!!
 
Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log. After you have read to your child, ask them the HOTS questions from your book bag. These questions will increase your child's reading comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence about how to practice self-control. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Pumpkin Day!

Weekly News: October 25

THIS WEEK IS SPIRIT WEEK AT ILCS!!! Participating in Spirit Week is a really fun way to show school spirit - and you may even receive fun prizes for dressing up!!!

Monday: Blue and Gold Day - wear your school shirt or any other kind of blue and gold!

Tuesday: Crazy Sock Day - who will have the craziest socks?!

Wednesday: Crazy Hat Day - the CRAZIER, the better!

Thursday: PJ Day - come to school in your PJ's!

Friday: Sports Day - wear your sports gear, uniform, or outfit!!

 

We had so much fun with the pumpkins on Friday! Thank you for all of your help! Make sure to check out our Pumpkin Day pictures!!

The next Copy/Staple Party is this Friday in our office!!! Thank you in advance for all of your help preparing materials for our November and December activities!

We will be celebrating Halloween with fun Halloween Centers on Friday! We are excited!

Continue reading your book bag books each night - each book three times each every night! I know this seems like a lot of reading, but with each reread your child is building word knowledge and fluency. You will see significant growth in your child's reading! Please remember to return the books in the book bag every day!

The Scholastic Book Fair will be postponed until further notice :(

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: BOY, GIRL, HAS, NICE.

Letter Team: OY/OI (like in BOY, TOY/COIN) and IGH (like in NIGHT, SIGHT, LIGHT)

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -OY (BOY, TOY, JOY).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Leadership Theme of the Month: RESOURCEFULNESS. The kids have been doing a great job using resources around the room (like our number lines and word walls) to help with their daily work!

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for the magic E". We know that when we see the magic E at the end of a word, it spreads magic dust to make the vowel SAY HIS NAME! We will be on the look-out for magic Es in our reading because they help us to sound words out correctly. This week, we will read even more books about pumpkins, books about Halloween, and read our special poem of the week, "Jack-O-Lantern".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about coins. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. We are also learning about compound words this week! We will try to write compound words (like butterfly, hotdog, and milkman) in our journal writing.

Math: We are back to Saxon Math this week! We are going to focus on money ALL week - we will learn how to count mixed coins by popcorn counting up from the biggest coin - for example, if there is 1 dime and 4 pennies, we will popcorn count up from ten - "A dime is worth 10, then count the pennies - 11, 12, 13, 14 - 14 cents!"  We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: October 25

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in ALL written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: BOY, GIRL, HAS, NICE and the new letter teams are OY/OI and IGH. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday! Note: If your child is still struggling with numbers 0-20, please make flashcards for these numbers as well - we are really working hard on these in class!!!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense, look for a letter team inside the word, stretch out the sounds, look for a smaller word inside the word, look for the magic E! NOTE: YOU CAN USE THIS TIME TO READ ON RAZ-KIDS!!!
 
Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log. After you have read to your child, ask them the HOTS questions from your book bag. These questions will increase your child's reading comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence using a compound word. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Weekly News: October 18

We are investigating pumpkins this week! On Friday, we will be measuring pumpkins and counting seeds. Part of our study will be to pull out the insides of the pumpkin to count the seeds. This is REALLY MESSY - it would be a good idea to send an old button-up shirt for your child to wear over their clothes on this day! If you are able to donate pumpkin items or time on this day, please see the sign-up sheet on the classroom door. We appreciate your help!! 

Continue reading your book bag books each night - each book three times each every night! I know this seems like a lot of reading, but with each reread your child is building word knowledge and fluency. You will see significant growth in your child's reading! Please remember to return the books in the book bag every day!

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! The book fair will be next week - October 25-29. We are looking for volunteers to help set up, work the fair before and during school hours, and to help students as they shop. This is a great way to support our school! If you are interested in helping, keep an eye out for the sign-up sheet!!

A Look Ahead: Next week is spirit week at ILCS!! Participating is a really fun way to show school spirit! 

Monday: Blue and Gold Day 

Tuesday: Crazy Sock Day 

Wednesday: Crazy Hat Day 

Thursday: PJ Day!

Friday: To Be Announced!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: ARE, LITTLE, BIG.

Letter Team: AR (like in CAR, FAR, JAR)

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -IG (BIG, PIG, JIG)and -AR (CAR, FAR, JAR). Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Leadership Theme of the Month: Resourcefulness - last week, we wrote a book about how to be resourceful. We are learning that resourcefulness is making good use of our time and things, but it is also using something around us to help us solve a problem. The kids are doing a great job using resources around the classroom to help them solve problems!

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for a smaller word inside the word". We are learning that if we can identify a smaller word (like ON) inside a bigger word (like POND), it will help us figure out the word! This week, we will read:LOTS books about pumpkins, and read our special poem of the week, "Five Little Pumpkins".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about pumpkins. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. Last week, we learned to write the date on each of our stories so we can remember what day we wrote that story. We also met two new writing friends, Neat Nancy and Sloppy Joe. We decided we were ALL going to try to write like Neat Nancy!

Math: This week, we will take a break from our Saxon Math to focus, focus, focus on numbers!!! We are hitting the "teen" numbers and the "twenties" hard!!! Please help your child at home by having them practice writing, reading, and ordering the numbers 1-30 EVERYDAY!  We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: October 18

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in ALL written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: ARE, LITTLE, BIG and the new letter team is AR. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday! Note: If your child is still struggling with numbers 0-20, please make flashcards for these numbers as well - we are really working hard on these in class!!!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense, look for a letter team inside the word, stretch out the sounds, look for a smaller word inside the word.
 
Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log. After you have read to your child, ask them the HOTS questions from your book bag. These questions will increase your child's reading comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Los Rios Ranch Field Trip

Weekly News: October 11

We had so much fun on our field trip!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the parents that chaperoned!! Check out our field trip pictures!!




The Fall Festival was a great success!!! It was so fun seeing you all there!! Our booth was awesome - special thank you to all the parents who helped out at this awesome event and made this all possible!!

Continue reading your book bag books on our online Reading A-Z program! The kids are really loving this!  This is a great website where your children can listen to and read books at their level - the same books being sent home in their book bags each week! You can use this website for homework and earn "Rocket Points" to play fun games online. The Reading A-Z website link is in our "Fun Learning Links" tab, but you can also find log-in information in your book bag. Have fun reading online!!


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WHEN, HAVE, BE, AM.

Letter Team: AW/AU (like in SAW/) and the other OO (like in TOO, BOO).

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -EN, -AM, and -AW. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word families.

Leadership Theme of the Month: Resourcefulness - the kids did a great job with their resourcefulness sharing. We are learning that resourcefulness is making good use of our time and things, but it is also using something around us to help us solve a problem.

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Stretch out the word". We are learning that if we get stuck on a word, we can stretch out each sound in the word to help us. This week, we will start continue to read books about fall and autumn leaves, and read our special poem of the week, "Scarecrow".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about ways we can be resourceful. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: This week, we will take a break from our Saxon Math to focus, focus, focus on numbers!!! We are hitting the "teen" numbers and the "twenties" hard!!! Please help your child at home by having them practice writing, reading, and ordering the numbers 1-30 EVERYDAY!  We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: October 11

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: WHEN, HAVE, BE, AM and the new letter teams are AW/AU and OO. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense, look for a letter team inside the word.
 
Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log. After you have read to your child, ask them the HOTS questions from your book bag. These questions will increase your child's reading comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence about what you learned on our field trip. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Weekly News: October 4

We are so excited about our field trip on Friday! We will be leaving school at 8:30 and returning by dimissal. Please send your child to school this day in a normal shirt (we will be throwing their field trip t-shirt over their clothing!) and without a snack (snack will be provided for them!) We are still asking for field trip donations to cover the cost of the trip - any amount will help! We have been told that it is the policy of Los Rios Ranch that no outside parents or guests may join our group. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but if you are not signed up to chaperone and planning on driving separate, you would not be able to join our group on this day :(

On Monday, I will send home your child's September assessment results - these now include letters, sounds, sight words, letter teams, numbers, patterns, and shapes! I am so amazed by the amount of growth these kids have made in just one month! Please take some time to review these results with your child and continue to work on the incorrect column at home. Thank you!

Our Online Reading A-Z program is up and running! This is a great website where your children can listen to and read books at their level - the same books being sent home in their book bags each week! You can use this website for homework and earn "Rocket Points" to play fun games online. The Reading A-Z website link is in our "Fun Learning Links" tab, but I will also be sending log-in information home in your book bag this week for each student. Have fun reading online!!

October Book Orders were sent home last week! If you would like to order books for October, you may sign in to your account or follow the directions on the page I sent home. Please remember to order online! Book Orders are due this Thursday, October 7th.

Thank you so much to all the parents who attended the Copy and Staple party on Friday and for all the apple pie donations!! You are so appreciated!

Please continue to bring in Box Tops for our class! The deadline is October 12th!

The whole class is now bringing home Book Bags! Please read these books EVERY NIGHT as a part of your reading homework!

Our Fall Festival is this Friday!! Please join us at the Bryant St. campus on Friday at 4:00 for a night of food, fun, and games!

We will have our spelling test this Thursday due to the field trip on Friday! 

Does anyone have a cool, black leather jacket that we can borrow early this week for a fun project?? This could be any size. Please see me if you do! I appreciate it!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: HE, SHE, WENT, TO, PLAY.


Letter Team: AY (like in PLAY, DAY) and ING (like in SING, RING).

Word Family: -AY. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -ay (for example: BAY, DAY, SAY, MAY, HAY)

Leadership Theme of the Month: Our new leadership theme for the month of October is RESOURCEFULNESS. We are learning that resourceful is making good use of our things and our time.

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Look for a letter team in the word". We are learning that if we get stuck on a word, we can look for a letter team inside the word - this will help us to sound out the word easier. This week, we will start reading books about fall and autumn leaves, and read our special poem of the week, "Autumn Leaves".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about playing. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. We will learn this week that when we are done with a story, we can add to the picture, add to the words, or start a new story.

Math: We will start counting by our 5's and 10's - please practice this at home! This week, we are also hitting the "teen" numbers hard!! We will begin reading, writing, and ordering the numbers 11-20.  We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: October 4

Homework Calendar Activities: A new October Homework Calendar will be coming home in your child's Go Folder on Monday, but you can also see it on our Attachment Library page. Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: HE, SHE, WENT, TO, PLAY and the new letter teams are AY and ING. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Thursday due to the field trip on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start, skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense.
 
Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log. After you have read to your child, ask them the HOTS questions from your book bag. These questions will increase your child's reading comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence about a way you can be resourceful. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

National Symbols

Check out this cool website I found about our nation!! You can read about our country and national symbols, and even play games or print coloring pages of our national symbols!!

National Symbols Website for Kids

We had so much fun Making Applesauce!

Weekly News: September 27

News: 

Our October Copy and Staple Party will be taking place this Friday, October 1st in our Dunlap office. The awesome, raging party will begin at 8:15. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We have been having so much fun with apples these past few weeks! This Friday, we will be making apple pie!! Please see the sign-up sheet on the classroom door if you are able to donate items for this day. Thank you!

Please continue to bring in Box Tops for our class! The deadline is October 12th!

There will be no kindergarten tutoring this Wednesday and no electives this Thursday due to extended day for the 1st and 2nd grade students. Please pick up your child at the regular time of 11:50. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sending home Book Bags with your child, but we will only be starting one group each week. Book Bags are to be brought back and forth, home-to-school, every day. Book Bags are also an essential part of your child's home reading - they should be reading these books EVERY DAY for homework.

The Fall Festival is coming up - Friday, October 8th at the Bryant St. campus! Classroom moms are working hard at our booths to help raise money for our school and classroom and also, to have a fun time! Please see the sign-up sheet on the door if you would like to donate your time at the Fall Festival!! 

Our field trip to Los Rios Ranch will be next Friday, October 8th (the day of the Fall Festival!) We will be leaving school by bus at 8:30 and returning at approximately 11:30. The cost of this field trip is approximately $10 per student - this will cover our bus ride, and apple tour and hayride at the apple orchard. We are asking for donations to help cover the cost of this trip - if you are able to give, please send this donation in an envelope marked "Field Trip" in your child's Go Folder - any amount will help! Thank you in advance for all of your help! If you are interested in chaperoning for our field trip on this day, please see the sign-up sheet on the classroom door. We will need 10 chaperones to ride the bus and take the tours with us. We apologize for any inconvenience, but siblings and little ones are not allowed on this field trip due to the safety of our kindergarten students you will be chaperoning. We are so excited for this field trip! Some of the classrooms moms are working hard on t-shirts and goody bags for the day - please see Michele Arambula if you would like to help! Also, be on the look-out for the field trip permission slip that will be coming home in your child's Go Folder sometime this week. These are due back to school ASAP in order for your child to go on the field trip. Yay!


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: TAKE, AN, BECAUSE, UP.


Letter Team: OW/OU (like in COW, FLOWER/OUCH, HOUSE) and the long OW sound (like in YELLOW, SNOW).

Word Family: -AN. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -an (for example: CAN, MAN, PAN, FAN)

Leadership Theme of the Month: Initiative

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Skip the word and read on to think about what makes sense". We are learning that sometimes we can just say the first sound of a word we do not know, then continue reading the rest of the sentence and maybe that missed word will come to us easier! This week, we will continue reading books about apples and Johnny Appleseed, start reading books about fall and autumn leaves, and read our special poem of the week, "Down, Down".

Writing: This week we will write a big book together about matter. We will learn that matter is anything that takes up space. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will also learn that when we are writing a word that begins with a vowel with an "A" in front, we have to make that "A" - "AN" - for example, "an elephant" instead of "a elephant". We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: We started playing a game called "Popcorn Counting" in class. This is when the teacher says one number and the students have to quickly "pop out" the next three numbers without having to go back and count from 1. For example, I will say "7" and the students will pop out "8, 9, 10" as quickly as they can. You can play this game at home - it really helps with number sense! We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: September 27

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: TAKE, AN, BECAUSE, UP and the new letter team is OW/OU and the long OW. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start. 

Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log.

Sharing: Write one sentence about a National symbol (some examples include the American flag, bald eagle, Liberty Bell, White House). Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Apple Tasting!

Weekly News: September 20

News: 

This week we will continue our study of apples. Thank you for ALL of the apples you brought in last week - we have so many that on Friday, we will make homemade applesauce together!

Electives begin this week! Electives are from 12:20-1:00. If your child is participating in an elective, please pack them a lunch. If you choose to buy lunch from the Dunlap cafeteria, please see Mrs. Woolcock in the office to set up a lunch payment. Lunch supervision will be provided 11:50-12:20 before their electives begin. The elective teacher will be dismissing the students at 1:00.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sending home Book Bags with your child, but we will only be starting one group each week. Book Bags are to be brought back and forth, home-to-school, every day. Book Bags are also an essential part of your child's home reading - they should be reading these books EVERY DAY for homework.

Our special field trip to Los Rios Ranch is coming up on Friday, October 8th! More information about the field trip/chaperoning will be coming in later weeks.

Our class is teaming up with Mrs. Stanley's class for the Fresh and Easy Fundraiser. We have selected three days to set up at Fresh and Easy to collect receipts. One day in each of the following months: October, November, December. Please see the sign-up sheet on the classroom door that will posted soon. Thank you!

Thank you, parent volunteers, for another great week! We have had a few changes and adds, so I have updated our Weekly Volunteer Schedule. Please see the Attachment Library for this updated schedule. Thank you!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: COME, AT, SAID.

Letter Team: CE/CI (we are learning that the letter C can make a soft sound when it is followed by an E or I like in "cent" and "city").

Word Family: -AT. We have begun studying word families. Word families are words that have different beginning sounds with the same ending chunks. In your GO Folder on Monday, your child will bring home a word family activity that you can do at home. Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with  the word family -at. 

Leadership Theme of the Month: Initiative

Reading: This week, we will focus on a new strategy, "Go back and get a running start". Please help your child by having them go back to the beginning of the sentence each time they had difficulty with a word. This week, we will continue reading books about apples and Johnny Appleseed, and read our special poem of the week, "Applesauce".

Writing: This week we will learn what "quotations" are. We will write a big book together about our silly monster friends and use "quotations" when they say something. This big book will be written using the sight words we have learned so far. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart.

Math: This week we will introduce before, after, and in between. We will be practicing this number sense by identifying numbers that come before, after, and in between others. Mastery of this concept is identifying the number quickly without having to go back and start counting from the number 1. We will continue counting money and telling time to the hour, learning how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and write numbers to 10, learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: September 20

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY! A note on activities: activities on the homework calendar are SUGGESTED, but not required. If your child is still struggling with letter ID and sounds, I would rather you spend the time working on those things. Thank you!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! New words this week are: COME, AT, SAID and the new letter team is CE/CI. Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Please have your child read the books from their book box AND the books from their book bag every night! If they are struggling with a word, guide them to our reading strategies: Look at the picture, Get your mouth ready for the first sound, Make your finger match the word, Look through the word at all the sounds, Go back and get a running start. 

Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log.

Sharing: Write one sentence about a state of California symbol (some examples include the state flag, state flower - poppy, state animal - bear, state bird - quail). Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure your practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written work your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Weekly Homework Log on top), that would be a huge help! Thank you!

Weekly News: September 13

News: 

This week we will be studying and reading books about apples. On Friday, we will have a fun apple tasting in our classroom. We are asking each child to bring in one apple (red, green, or yellow). Each child will decide which color apple tastes the best and we will make our very first classroom graph! Please see the classroom door for the apple sign-up sheet so that we get a variety of different color apples. Thank you!

Thank you so much for all of your Scholastic Book Orders! I placed the order on Friday so in a few weeks, your new books will be delivered to our classroom! Thank you for ordering online - with every order you place online, we get a free book for our classroom so this significantly helps me add to our classroom library!!!

Our parent volunteer program began last week. Thank you for donating your valuable time in our classroom! A reminder: if you cannot make one of your scheduled days, please either "cover your shift" with another parent or let me know so that I can adjust our activities accordingly. Thank you for your support!

Over the next four weeks, we will begin sending home Book Bags with your child. Book Bags are to be brought back and forth, home to school, every day. Book bags are also an ESSENTIAL part of your child's home reading - they should be reading these books EVERY DAY for homework. We will only be started one group each week, so look for your child's book bag sometime in the next month.

Thank you for your field trip t-shirt donations. Our classroom moms are working hard to make our t-shirts so special! I know there have been a lot of questions about our upcoming field trip. We will be going to the Los Rios Ranch Apple Orchard on Friday, October 8th. More information about the field trips and chaperoning will come at a later date!

Our "What Are We Learning This Week?" and "Homework" sections can be so repetitive and a lot of reading. To make things a little easier for you, I will be posting all the new information each week IN RED. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our news each week and stay up-to-date on what we are doing in class!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: YOU, AND, IT, FRIEND.

Letter Team: WH (like in "what" and "whistle").

Reading: This week, we will continue to focus on the strategy, "Look through the word at all the sounds". Please help your child with this by having them "stretch out" each word they are struggling with by saying the sound of each letter in the word then blending it together. For example, the word CAT can be decoded "C-A-T, then blended together, CAT". This may seem extremely easy, but kindergartners actually have a tough time grasping the concept of blending. This week, we will continue to read books about apples, read books about Johnny Appleseed, and read our special poem of the week, "A-P-P-L-E".

Writing: We are writing a big book together about the life cycle of an apple using sight words we have learned so far. We will be studying how an apple grows, from seed to tree to blossom to apple. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout the rest of the sentence, and use a period at the end. We are also learning to use our sight words in our sentences and to listen for the sounds in all unknown words using our sound chart. You can help your child at home by using the same sound chart on the back of your GO Folder to help with sounding out words and writing at home.

Math: Last week, we learned the name and value of each coin and this week we will start counting money! You can help at home by having your child name and tell you the value of coins around the house. This week, we will also learn how to tell time to the hour. We will learn that when the "big hand points up, it means o'clock". We will continue to learn how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and how to write numbers to 10. We will also continue learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next.

Homework: September 13

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY!

Flashcards: Study sight word and letter team flashcards DAILY! These are so important for your child's reading! New words for this week are: YOU, AND, IT, FRIEND and new letter team is is WH. Please make a flashcard for each letter team as well. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Your child brought home 4 more paper books in the GO Folder on Friday. Please have your child read these books each night, making sure they are pointing under each word as they read it. "Make your finger match the word" is the phrase they will hear me see in class. If your child is struggling with words they are reading, please have them "sound out" the word by putting their finger under each letter and saying the sound it makes. This will help with letter and sound recognition as well.

Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night and initial the weekly homework log. Ask your child questions about the story you read to build their comprehension skills.

Sharing: Write one sentence about the life cycle of an apple. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Please remember to turn in the Weekly Homework Log on Friday with the written word your child has completed for the week. Please make sure your child's name is written on the Weekly Homework Log and if you could staple all of the work together (Homework Log on top) that would be a huge help! Thank you for your support!

Weekly News: September 7

News: 

There is no school this Monday, September 6th due to the Labor Day Holiday. Enjoy the time off with your families!

Thank you SOOOO much to ALL the parents who attended our first Copy/Staple Party on Friday! I am completely overwhelmed by how much work you got done! We could not do it without you and you are much appreciated! See you at the next Copy/Staple Party sometime in early October!

Remember: our parent volunteer schedule will begin Tuesday. You can review the schedule on the Attachment Library page. If you do not see your name but would like to volunteer on a weekly basis, please let me know!

September Scholastic Book Orders were sent home on Friday! This is SUCH a great and inexpensive way to order books for your child and with every order, you are providing a free book towards our classroom library!!! Just follow the directions on the Order Form Page I sent home. Book orders are due this Friday, September 10th.

On Friday, I sent home your child's first month assessment results. Please take some time to review these results with your child. These results will be sent home each month so that you are updated on your child's academic progress throughout our kindergarten year.

We are in the midst of planning our first field trip (more information coming in later weeks!) and field-trip T-Shirts are being ordered. We are asking for a $6.00 per child donation to cover the cost of the shirt. Please send your donation in your child's GO folder. At the end of our kindergarten year, this shirt will become a wonderful keepsake and memory from your child's first year of school!!

Look for the elective email if you wish to sign your child up for an ILCS elective. Electives will take place on our campus beginning September 20th. Kindergarten electives are from 12:20-1:00. If your child is participating in an elective, you may send a lunch to school with him/her on that elective day since lunch supervision will be provided for your children on these days.

I updated "Miss Reeve's September Wish List" if you would like to donate items to the classroom for the month of September. Thank you for all of your donations! You are so generous!!!

Our kindergarten classes will begin learning Spanish this week!!!! Our new Spanish teacher, Mrs. Thuilliez will be visiting our classrooms every Tuesday and Wednesday for 30 minutes beginning this week! We are so lucky to have her!

Our sight word songs are so funny this week! Go check them out on our Songs Tab!!!

What Are We Learning This Week??:

Sight Words: LOOK, HERE, THIS.


Letter Teams: CH (like in "cheetos") and OO (like in "look" - we will learn that OO also makes another sound, like in "pool" a little later on!)

Leadership Theme of the Month: Initiative

Reading: We are reading big books to help reinforce the reading strategies we are learning in class. So far we have learned to "Look at the picture", "Get your mouth ready for the first sound", "Make your finger match the word", and for the next several weeks we will focus on "Look through the word at all the sounds". We will be really trying to master all of our sounds in the next few weeks so that we can look through the word at all the sounds and blend them together to read new unknown words. This week, we will begin reading books about apples, continue to read books about colors, and read our special poem of the week, "The Apple Tree".

Writing: We are writing a big book together about science tools using sight words we have learned so far. We will be studying these science tools and how and when we use them. We will continue learning to put spaces between each word, use an uppercase at the beginning of each sentence with lowercase letters throughout, and use a period at the end. We will continue to use our sight words in our sentences and use our sound chart to help us sound out the words we do not know how to write.

Math: We will keep reinforcing how to identify, order, and count numbers to 30 and how to write numbers to 10. We are learning the days of the week, months of the year, shapes, how to read and extend patterns, and identify what number comes next. This week, we will learn to count by tens and fives and we will also introduce simple addition.

Homework: September 7

Homework Calendar Activities: You will receive the September Homework Calendar in the GO Folder on Tuesday or you may print it from our Attachment Library. Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY. A note on Homework Calendar Activities: These are suggested activities that we would like to see your child do, however if your child is still struggling with name writing, then homework can consist of just name writing practice. If your child is struggling with letters and sounds, please JUST work on letters and sounds. I would rather them have ALL of their letters and sounds down then complete the suggested activities. Thank you :)

 Flashcards: Study sight word AND letter team flashcards DAILY. Remember that sight words should be read at first SIGHT. Please revisit the Sight Word Tab for suggestions!

Have your child read to you: Your child will be bringing home a few more paper books each week. These books are to live at home in your special book box and read each night. Please continue to make sure your child is using one to one, pointing to each word and making their finger match the word. This is extremely important. Remember that if your child is having difficulty with a word they may have already "memorized" in a familiar book, you may redirect them to that "memorized" book to figure out the same word in the new book.

Read to your child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log.

Sharing: This week we are studying the different workers in our community. Write one sentence about a worker in our community. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

Our Book Boxes

Classroom Volunteers

It's the moment you've all been waiting for!!! We've received your Megan's Law Clearances!!! We will begin our Volunteer Schedule on Monday!!!

Even though we will not begin reading groups and book bags yet, you may start volunteering in the classroom for our center time. If you have misplaced or not received your "Weekly Parent Volunteer Schedule", I have posted a copy in our Attachment Library.

Starting Monday, there will be two parent volunteers in our classroom each day - I would like one parent to sit at the Red Table to help out with a special activity or game. I would like the second parent to sit in our library and listen to children as they read to you, helping them read along the way if necessary. Our centers are 15 minute rotations that run from 10:30-11:30 so if you could be in our classroom a few minutes before 10:30 I would LOVE it :)

If you are not able to be there to volunteer, please email me the day before so that I can adjust accordingly. You may also chat with the other parents and switch a day if you like!

Again, thank you SO MUCH for your support in your child's education and I am looking forward to working with you in the classroom!

Homework: August 30

Homework Calendar Activities: Please initial the weekly homework log and turn in any written work completed by your child ON FRIDAY!

Flashcards: Study sight word flashcards DAILY (at least 10 minutes each day!) Please see the Sight Word tab for flashcard ideas. New words for this week are: I, LIKE, MY and new letter teams are SH and ER. Please make a flashcard for each letter team as well. Sight Word Quiz and Spelling Test on Friday!

Have Your Child Read To You: Your child brought home 3 paper books in the Take Home Folder on Friday.  Please have your child read these books each night making  sure they are pointing under each word as they read it.  This is known as one to one and we are focusing on this strategy in class.  “Make your finger match each word”  is the phrase they will hear me use in class.  This is VERY important as it may seem your child has just memorized the text but by pointing under each word as they read it they are reinforcing those word wall words.  As new books come home it is possible that your child may have difficulty with a word they have already “memorized” in a book they have been reading at home.  This is when your child, with your support,  can use the “memorized” text to figure out the same word in the new book.


Read To Your Child: Please read to your child each night for at least 10 minutes and initial the weekly homework log.

Sharing: Write one sentence about one of the five senses and how you use it. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Make sure you practice reading your sentence at home so you are prepared to read in front of the class. Sharing is due any day this week.

**Note: Weekly Homework Logs, Homework Calendar, and Sharing Paper can all be found and printed from the "Attachment Library" tab of our website. If you are not able to print, please let me know and I will provide a copy for you.