Merry Christmas!!!

We had such a fun time celebrating Christmas together in the classroom this year. The children did a fantastic job with the Gingerbread play and we had a wonderful Christmas center celebration. Thank you SO MUCH for all of our wonderful and generous gifts!!! I have the best families ever and the best job in the world!!! I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas break spending time with your families and friends!!!! Don't forget to read books on RAZ KIDS online! We'll see you back at school in the new year on Monday, January 7, 2013!

Weekly News: December 17-20

News: 

Thank you to Tammy and all of our helpers for making our Holiday Craft Fair a big success! 

We are in need of a few parent helpers on Tuesday morning to help us with our "dress rehearsal". If anyone is able to stick around for an hour in morning, please let us know! Thank you!

There is NO SCHOOL on Friday, then no school for two weeks due to Christmas vacation!!!! This is our last week together in 2012. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Years and I will see you back at school on Monday, January 7, 2013!!!

Our ILCS Holiday performance is this week!!! The Holiday Performance will be in our "Cubs' Den" (church sanctuary). Kindergarten will be performing at 5:30 SHARP. I would recommend getting to the church at 5:00 for a spot to sit! The students will be meeting in the McKay building (lower building near playground).  Please bring your child here before the performance and then pick your child up from here immediately following the performance.  Thank you!!


Wednesday, December 19th is Grandparents Day at ILCS! We invite all grandparents who are able, to join us in the Lion's Den at 8:15. Our classes will perform a few songs and our principal will give a short presentation. Grandparents are then invited to join us in class for a fun activity with the children and to watch our learning take place!

Please come see your fantastic children in "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man". We are performing on Thursday morning around 8:30-8:45. We hope you are able to come to this wonderful event!! 


Upcoming Events:  
Tuesday, December 18: School Holiday Performance 5:30 in our "Cubs' Den" (church sanctuary)
Wednesday, December 19: Grandparents Day 
Thursday, December 20: Gingerbread Man play AND Christmas Centers
Friday, December 21: NO SCHOOL!

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Canon Printer Ink #210 and #211
Staples Heavy Duty Sheet protectors 
Christmas Treasure Box prizes and stickers 



What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: 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, sometimes he makes the "D" sound - like in PLAYED, and sometimes he says "ED" like in WANTED).

Reading: This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, and our poem of the week, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town". 

Writing:  We will continue 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: We will review everything we have learned so far this year! 

Leadership: Congratulations to our GRATEFULNESS award winners: Landon P, Landon H, McKenzee, Arlette, and Evan!!! 

Homework: December 17-19

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (WHAT, WAS, WANT) and letter teams (ED). Study ALL flashcards EVERY DAY! These are so important for your child's reading. 

Reading:  NO BOOK BAGS THIS WEEK! Read online at RAZ-Kids! 

Math: 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.  

Writing: Write a story in your "At-Home-Journal" every night, then read your story to an adult! 

Sharing: We have NO SHARING until after Christmas! INSTEAD... please practice your "Gingerbread Man" songs!

Weekly News: December 10-14

News: 


We had so much fun at Braswells. The students LOVED visiting Santa and we performed our Gingerbread songs for all of the people at Braswells. Thank you so much to the parents that walked with us. 

On Monday, I am opening up my classroom at 1:00 to Tammy and nay other fabulous parents that would like to help prepare our crafts for the Holiday craft fair on Friday. You are welcome to bring your little ones. Please stop by and help make this a wonderful event! 

On Friday, December 14th from 3-6 at CSC, we have our ILCS School Holiday Craft Fair! Come by and support our school by buying hand-made gifts for the holidays!!! 

Our ILCS Holiday performance has changed!! It will now be taking place on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH AT 5:30 in our church sanctuary (we are now calling this the "cubs' den" since it is on our K-1 campus :) The Kindergarten Classes will be performing at 5:30. I would recommend getting to the church at 5:00 for a spot to sit! Your children will be sitting with you then asked to join their class on stage when it is kindergarten's turn to sing! 

Wednesday, December 19th is Grandparents Day at ILCS! We invite all grandparents who are able, to join us in the Lion's Den at 8:15. Our classes will perform a few songs and our principal will give a short presentation. Grandparents are then invited to join us in class for a fun activity with the children and to watch our learning take place!


Our "Tale of the Gingerbread Man" rehearsals are going well! We are having so much fun learning all of the fun songs and hand motions. The kindergarten classes will be performing this play on Thursday, December 20th. Mrs. Stanley and Miss Reeve's classes will begin at 8:45. We hope you are able to come to this wonderful event. Your children have been working hard! 



Upcoming Events:  
Monday, December 10: Craft-Making in Miss Reeve's class at 1:00!
Friday, December 14: Holiday Craft Fair
Tuesday, December 18: School Holiday Performance 5:30 in our "Cubs' Den" (church sanctuary)
Wednesday, December 19: Grandparents Day 
Thursday, December 20: Gingerbread Man play AND Christmas Centers 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Canon Printer Ink #210 and #211
Staples Heavy Duty Sheet protectors 
Christmas Treasure Box prizes and stickers 



What Are We Learning This Week?:

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

Letter Team:  INK (like in PINK, SINK).

Reading: This week, we will also read books about the holidays, Santa, and our poem of the week, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town". 

Writing:  We will continue 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: This week, we will complete our Saxon Math Curriculum. After the holidays, we will be working in math groups on a 1st Grade Math Curriculum, Excel! 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 +4!!!  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.  

Leadership: We will continue talking about ways that we can show gratefulness during the holiday season. 

Homework: December 10-14

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (OUR, WHO, THING, THINK, THAT) and letter teams (INK). Study ALL flashcards EVERY DAY! These are so important for your child's reading. 

Reading:  Read Book Bag books and Fluency Passage every day! You may also read on RAZ-KIDS at home!

Math: 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.  

Writing: Write a story in your "At-Home-Journal" every night, then read your story to an adult! 

Sharing: We have NO SHARING until after Christmas! INSTEAD... please practice your "Gingerbread Man" songs!

Weekly News: December 3-7

News: 

Such a busy time of the year with so much going on! Please take a moment to read through our news and upcoming events so that you don't miss out on anything! I will also send home our "December Calendar" on Monday. Thank you! 

Your child began our fluency program last week. This is such an important part of our reading program. Please practice fluency every night and bring the fluency passage back to school every day in your child's book bag. 

On Thursday of this week (December 6th), our kindergarten classes will be going on a walking field trip to Braswell's Home to sing, visit Santa, and deliver cards. Please look out for (and return) the field trip permission slip coming home later this week. WE NEED PARENTS TO WALK WITH US ON THIS DAY! If you are interested in walking with us to Braswells, please let me know! We will be leaving school around 10:15 and returning by dismissal. Thank you!

On Friday, December 14th from 3-6 at CSC, we have our ILCS School Holiday Craft Fair! Our amazing room mom will be making Christmas Pretzels and necklaces. If you would like to help, we are asking for donations of large pretzel rods, candy melts, Christmas sprinkles, and $2. If you are able, you may bring this to school at any time! Thank you!

Wednesday, December 19th is Grandparents Day at ILCS! We invite all grandparents who are able, to join us in the Lion's Den at 8:15. Our classes will perform a few songs and our principal will give a short presentation. Grandparents are then invited to join us in class for a fun activity with the children. 

That same evening, December 19th, the whole school will be having a Holiday Performance night! More information to come. 

Our "Tale of the Gingerbread Man" rehearsals are going well! We are having so much fun learning all of the fun songs and hand motions. The kindergarten classes will be performing this play on Thursday, December 20th. Mrs. Stanley and Miss Reeve's classes will begin at 8:45. We hope you are able to come to this wonderful event. Your children have been working hard! 



Upcoming Events:  
Friday, December 14: Holiday Craft Fair 
Wednesday, December 19: School Holiday Performance - more info to come
Thursday, December 20: Gingerbread Man play AND Christmas Centers 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Canon Printer Ink #210 and #211
Staples Heavy Duty Sheet protectors 
Christmas Treasure Box prizes and stickers 



What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: AS, NO, KNOW, ABOUT, BY.

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

Reading: We are learning about landforms (like mountains, valleys, deserts, and plains) and bodies of water (like rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds) in our reading this week.

Writing:  This week we will make 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! A bunch of friends passed "+0" and "+1" and will now be moving on to "+2"! 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.   

Leadership: We will continue talking about ways that we can show gratefulness during the holiday season. 

Homework: December 3-7

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (AS, KNOW, NO, BY, ABOUT) and letter teams (KN, EW). Study ALL flashcards EVERY DAY! These are so important for your child's reading. 

Reading:  Read Book Bag books and Fluency Passage every day! You may also read on RAZ-KIDS at home!

Math: 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.  

Writing: Write a story in your "At-Home-Journal" every night, then read your story to an adult! 

Sharing: We have NO SHARING until after Christmas! INSTEAD... please practice your "Gingerbread Man" songs!

Homework: November 26-30

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (THROUGH, TOUGH, ENOUGH, AROUND) and letter teams (GE/GI, OUGH). Study ALL flashcards EVERY DAY! These are so important for your child's reading. 

Reading:  Read Book Bag books and Fluency Passage every day! You may also read on RAZ-KIDS at home!

Math: Please make sure to practice a little bit of what your child needs for math practice every day. If you see a math paper that has come home with my writing on it or circled problems that your child is struggling with, please reinforce those worksheets at home! This week would be a great week to start practicing addition math facts 0 and 1. It would be a great idea to make addition flashcards or write out addition sentences for your child to answer!

Writing: Write a story in your "At-Home-Journal" every night, then read your story to an adult! 

Sharing: We have NO SHARING until after Christmas! INSTEAD... please practice your "Gingerbread Man" songs!

Weekly News: November 26-30

News: 

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week off with your families! The picture above is where I got to spend my Thanksgiving in Tennessee - beautiful! I am so excited to be back at school and there is a LOT going on in these four weeks before Christmas, so please take a moment to read....


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.

Our Scholastic Book Fair is taking place this week on our campus!! It will be open Monday-Friday 11:30-1:30 on our campus and 1:00-3:00 on CSC. Stop by either campus and visit this wonderful event! Perfect time for holiday shopping! 

On Friday, December 14th from 3-6 at CSC, we have our ILCS School Holiday Craft Fair! Our amazing room mom will be making Christmas Pretzels and necklaces. If you would like to help, we are asking for donations of large pretzel rods, candy melts, Christmas sprinkles, and $2. If you are able, you may bring this to school at any time! Thank you!

Our Online Reading program, RAZ-KIDS 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! With each book, you can also take comprehension quizzes and earn points! With those points, you can play fun games online. All of the information (how much time spent online, books read, and quizzes taken) comes back to me so I can check on your reading at home. There might even be prizes for the best readers! The Reading A-Z website link is found on the side of our website under Class Sites and the teacher username is missreeve (no spaces!)  Have fun reading online!!!


Upcoming Events:  
Monday-Friday, November 26-30: Scholastic Book Fair 
Friday, December 14: Holiday Craft Fair 
Wednesday, December 19: School Holiday Performance - more info to come
Thursday, December 20: Gingerbread Man play AND Christmas Centers - more info to come 



If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Canon Printer Ink #210 and #211
Staples Heavy Duty Sheet protectors 
Christmas Treasure Box prizes and stickers 



What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: THROUGH, TOUGH, ENOUGH, AROUND.

Letter Team: GE/GI (the soft sound of G which sounds like J, like in GENIE and GIRAFFE) and OUGH (makes the sound OO like in THROUGH and UFF like in TOUGH). 

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 Homework Folder sometime this week for a special Parent Newsletter all about this new study! This week, we will begin reading books about the holidays and the gingerbread man. We will make text-to-text connections and we will compare various gingerbread man stories. 

Writing:  We have been discussing ways to make our writing more interesting by adding detail sentences that are on the same topic. Instead of writing, "I like my friend." everyday, we now want to ADD to that writing. For example, "I like my friend. We sit at the green table together. We love to play tag at recess."   

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.  

Leadership: We will continue talking about ways that we can show gratefulness during the holiday season. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving friends and families!!! 

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Thanksgiving Feast SO SPECTACULAR!!! We had a great time!! Check out more pictures here.

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

Weekly News: November 13-16

News:

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

Even with the rain, the Fall Festival was a huge hit! It was so fun seeing all of you there. Thank you to the MANY parents for the MANY hours of work you put in!! 

Parent conferences are THIS week! I look forward to meeting with you!

We are having a Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast on Friday! The kids will be eating turkey, carrots, corn bread, 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 clipboard 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 set up and make this a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our kids, you are welcome to join us on Friday at 11:00. Thank you in advance for ALL of your help! :) 

Our kindergarten classes are doing a Christmas play this year! I'm sure you have heard all about it! We will be putting on "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" on Thursday, December 20th in the morning. Each student will have a special role in our play. This week, I will be sending home lyrics and CDs so you can start practicing over break! Have fun!

I will be sending home November - December Scholastic Book Orders on Tuesday. Click on the Scholastic link to order. Book Orders will be due Friday, the 16th. They will be here PERFECT time for Christmas :) 

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

What Are We Learning This Week?:

This week we will have fun and 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!!

NO new sight words and NO sharing this week! 

Weekly News: November 5-9

News: 

Our Fall Festival is this Thursday, November 8th from 3:00-7:00 at CSC. If you signed up to help {or if you did not sign up, but would still like to help}, please see Tammy! We hope to see you there! :) 

We had an exciting week learning about pumpkins and celebrating Halloween. Check out our pictures here. Thank you to the many parents who helped make our week so special!

There is no school next Monday, November 12th due to Veteran's Day. I will be at school doing parent conferences on this day. Enjoy the three-day-weekend with your families!

You should be receiving a parent survey coming home on Monday. We would love for you to fill out this survey to help us better meet the needs of you and your child. If you would like to discuss these surveys at conferences, feel free to leave your name. You may also turn it in anonymously if you so desire. 

Parent Conferences are NEXT week. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you to discuss your child's growth in the classroom. Because we only have so much time per conference, I'd like to politely ask that you arrive on time so we can make the most of our time together. Thank you! Our conference schedule is....   

Monday, November 12th 
8:00 Valine 
8:30 Landon T
9:00 Ashley W
9:30 Evan 
10:00 Zayne 
10:30 Nathaniel 
11:00 Arlette
11:30 Kassidy 
12:00 Valon 

Tuesday, November 13th
12:00 Talise 
1:00 Chase 

Wednesday, November 14th 
7:30 Paige 
12:00 Landon H
12:30 Ryland 
1:00 McKenzee 
1:30 Morgan 

Thursday, November 15th 
7:30 Cooper 
12:00 Sydney 
12:30 Ashley P
1:00 Matthew
1:30 Jake 

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 16th. We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together. Please check for the special note coming home tomorrow and see the classroom clipboard for a sign-up sheet if you are interested in donating your time or goodies for this wonderful feast!! Thank you! We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!


Upcoming Events:  
Thursday, November 8: FALL FESTIVAL!
Monday, November 12: No School - Veteran's Day
Monday, Nov 12 - Thursday, Nov 15: Parent Conference Week
Friday, November 16: Thanksgiving Feast! 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
HP #75 or #75XL color ink and Staples Heavy Duty Sheet Protectors.  We are starting our BIG end of the year Kindergarten Memory Book project which requires MANY MANY pages of printing per student.  Any help is much appreciated!!  Thank you!!

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: IN, ON, SO, GO, DO.

Letter Team:  This week we are learning about Mr. ER's two crazy cousins....UR and IR (like in FUR, CURL and STIR, GIRL).

Word Family: This week we will be making words with the word families -EN (HEN, DEN, PEN).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Reading: We have learned so many decoding strategies for reading in kindergarten! These can all be found on our Reading Strategies tab. Please review all of these strategies with your child during your reading time together. We will begin reading books about turkeys and pilgrims and indians, and read our special poems of the week, "Turkey" and "The First Thanksgiving".

Writing:  We have been discussing ways to make our writing more interesting by adding detail sentences that are on the same topic. Instead of writing, "I like my friend." everyday, we now want to ADD to that writing. For example, "I like my friend. We sit at the green table together. We love to play tag at recess."   

Math: We will review everything we have learned in math this week. Please continue to help your child at home with everything we have learned: addition, geometric shapes, counting by 5's,counting by tens, 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, counting ordinally, and identifying what number comes next.   

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the months of November and December is GRATEFULNESS. We will be talking about ways that we can show gratefulness during this upcoming holiday season. This is also our sharing homework this week.