Weekly News: April 28-May 2

We are very excited to introduce our new class pets for the next few weeks: caterpillars! We will have the opportunity to watch their metamorphosis as they change from caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly!

Save The Date: We will be having a Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 9 from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Only a few more weeks until your Community Service Presentations! Presentations will be due the week of May 12-16. Presentations in the past have included: posterboards, journals, slideshows, books, and pictures documenting your 6-8 hours of community service. Please visit our Community Service tab on the side if you have any questions. 

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, April 21-Friday, April 25: Book Fair at CSC

Friday, May 9th: Mother's Day Celebration 

Monday, May 12 - Friday, May 16: Community Service Projects Due

Monday, May 26th: NO SCHOOL 

Friday, June 6th: Donuts with Dads - Father's Day Celebration 

Tuesday, June 10th: End of the Year Field Day 

Wednesday, June 11th: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

If you're at the store and think of us: 

Gallon Ziploc Baggies 

Pink Pearl Erasers 

Gluesticks 

Headphones 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: MOTHER, FATHER, SISTER, BROTHER, FAMILY.

Letter Team: There are NO new letter teams! For the rest of the year, we will be reviewing all letter teams that we have learned this year. The expectation is that students recognize the letter team within our three second rule, then be able to apply that letter team when decoding an unknown word. 

Reading: We will read books about caterpillars and butterflies, as well as our poem of the week, "Pretty Butterfly".

Writing: We will have a very special writing project that we are working on this week in class. 

Math: We will continue our new math unit focusing on addition and subtraction. We are really focusing the next few weeks on Ways to Make Ten and Fluency through 5. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the rest of the year is SERVICE. I am excited to see how our kindergarten friends have shown service through their community service projects! 

Homework: April 28-May 2

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: MOTHER, FATHER, SISTER, BROTHER, FAMILY. There are NO new letter teams for the rest of the year - so study ALL old letter team flashcards!

Phonemic Awareness:  Please see the Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips on working with your child on these skills: Rhyming, Beginning/Middle/Ending Sounds, Syllables, Blending, Segmenting.

Reading: Read books from your book bag, read your fluency, read from your Book Box at home, read on RAZ-Kids, read on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Please review our Daily Math Practice worksheets that are coming home daily. This should give you a good idea on what skills your child needs to practice. Continue reinforcing addition and subtraction fluency through 5 and continue counting the money in your bank each night.

Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. You should be writing AT LEAST three sentences every day, with a goal of five sentences. 

Sharing:  Write three sentences about what we are learning about caterpillars and butterflies. Draw a picture to go with your sentences.

Weekly News: April 21-25

I hope you had a restful three-day weekend with your families.  

Our Book Fair is this week! It will be located at CSC. Make sure to stop by to buy some great books and support our school. 

Tuesday is Earth Day! To celebrate, we will be learning all about recycling and discussing ways to help the Earth. We will also have a special Earth Day Sharing this week. Check out the Homework tab for more information. 

Save The Date: We will be having a Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 9 from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Only a few more weeks until your Community Service Presentations! Presentations will be due the week of May 12-16. Presentations in the past have included: posterboards, journals, slideshows, books, and pictures documenting your 6-8 hours of community service. Please visit our Community Service tab on the side if you have any questions. 

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, April 21-Friday, April 25: Book Fair at CSC

Friday, May 9th: Mother's Day Celebration 

Monday, May 12 - Friday, May 16: Community Service Projects Due

Monday, May 26th: NO SCHOOL 

Friday, June 6th: Donuts with Dads - Father's Day Celebration 

Tuesday, June 10th: End of the Year Field Day 

Wednesday, June 11th: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

If you're at the store and think of us: 

Gallon Ziploc Baggies 

Pink Pearl Erasers 

Gluesticks 

Headphones 

What Are We Learning This Week?:
Sight Words: HELP, START, WORLD, EARTH, CHILDREN.

Letter Team:  EAR (another ER sound like in EARTH and EARLY). This is our last letter team we will learn this year!!!

Reading: We will read books about recycling and Earth Day.

Writing: We will write a step up to writing about ways to take care of the Earth.

Math: We will continue our new math unit focusing on addition and subtraction. We are really focusing the next few weeks on Ways to Make Ten and Fluency through 5. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of April is WISDOM. Our kindergarten definition of wisdom is having a wise attitude, belief, or course of action.

Homework: April 21-25

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: HELP, START, WORLD, EARTH, CHILDREN and the new letter team is: EAR.

Phonemic Awareness:  Please see the Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips on working with your child on these skills: Rhyming, Beginning/Middle/Ending Sounds, Syllables, Blending, Segmenting.

Reading: Read books from your book bag, read your fluency, read from your Book Box at home, read on RAZ-Kids, read on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Please review our Daily Math Practice worksheets that are coming home daily. This should give you a good idea on what skills your child needs to practice. Continue reinforcing addition and subtraction fluency through 5 and continue counting the money in your bank each night.

Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. You should be writing AT LEAST three sentences every day, with a goal of five sentences. 

Sharing:  We have another special Sharing Homework this week. Since we are learning about Earth Day and recycling, please help your child create something with reused materials. Some examples can include: an old can reused as a pencil cup, a milk carton reused as a plant holder, a soda bottle reused as a bird feeder, cereal boxes reused as ... use your imagination! Here is a great link to check out: http://too-much-time.com/2013/04/36-recycling-upcycling-and-reuse-ideas-for-earth-day.html

Weekly News: April 14-17

There is no school on Friday! I hope you enjoy the Easter weekend with your families!

We had so much fun at the Children's Museum of the Desert. Thank you to our many wonderful chaperones. The students all had a great time. 

We will be having fun Easter Centers in class on Thursday from 10:30-12:00 and need 2 more parent helpers. If you are available to volunteer, please let me know! 

Save The Date: We will be having a Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 9 from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

The due date for the Community Service Projects has been set for our class: Presentations will be due the week of May 12-16. Presentations in the past have included: posterboards, journals, slideshows, books, and pictures documenting your 6-8 hours of community service. Please visit our Community Service tab on the side if you have any questions. 

Upcoming Events: 

Friday, April 18th: NO SCHOOL

Monday, April 21-Friday, April 25: Book Fair at CSC

Friday, May 9th: Mother's Day Celebration 

Monday, May 12 - Friday, May 16: Community Service Projects Due

Monday, May 26th: NO SCHOOL 

Friday, June 6th: Donuts with Dads - Father's Day Celebration 

Tuesday, June 10th: End of the Year Field Day 

Wednesday, June 11th: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

If you're at the store and think of us: 

Gallon Ziploc Baggies 

Pink Pearl Erasers 

Gluesticks 

Headphones 

What Are We Learning This Week?:
Sight Words: GOES, DOES, YES, NOT, WILL.

Letter Team:  EA (we are learning that EA can make THREE sounds - long E like in SEASON, short E like in WEATHER, and long A like in BREAK). 

Reading: We will read books about bunnies (and other spring animals) and fun Easter books. 

Writing: We are adding details to our stories. Some of us are even writing eight sentences now for Step Up to Writing, adding details after every "main idea" sentence.

Math: We will continue our new math unit focusing on addition and subtraction. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of April is WISDOM. Our kindergarten definition of wisdom is having a wise attitude, belief, or course of action. 

Homework: April 14-17

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: GOES, DOES, YES, NOT, WILL and the new letter team is: EA.

Phonemic Awareness:  Please see the Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips on working with your child on these skills: Rhyming, Beginning/Middle/Ending Sounds, Syllables, Blending, Segmenting.

Reading: Read books from your book bag, read your fluency, read from your Book Box at home, read on RAZ-Kids, read on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Please review our Daily Math Practice worksheets that are coming home daily. This should give you a good idea on what skills your child needs to practice. Continue reinforcing addition and subtraction fluency through 5 and continue counting the money in your bank each night.

Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. You should be writing AT LEAST three sentences every day, with a goal of five sentences. 

Sharing:  We have a special Sharing Homework this week. Bring in a picture of when you were a baby and a picture of you now. Write three sentences about how you have changed and how you are different now. Note: YOU WILL GET THESE PICTURES BACK, I PROMISE! HOMEWORK IS DUE NO LATER THAN THURSDAY!!

Type To Learn: Please complete ONE LESSON a week. Of course you may do more, but the school suggests that each student complete one (or two!) lessons per week in order to complete 50 lessons by the end of the school year.

Weekly News: April 7-11

We had a great week back at school!

Our field trip to the Children's Museum of the Desert is THIS TUESDAY! We will be leaving school around 8:15 and returning around 1:15. Please mark your calendars and adjust your schedules for the late pick up on this day and please note that your child will be missing any electives they may have on this day. PLEASE DO NOT BRING FOLDERS ON THIS DAY! We will be eating our "sack" lunches and the museum following our tour, so do not forget to send your child with a "brown-bag" lunch! Thank you to the chaperones that volunteered to go with us: Mrs. Juarez, Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Williams (Kai), Mrs. Williams (Logan), Mrs. Hankins, Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs. Bekendam! :)  Chaperones will be riding the bus with our classes and we will be collecting a small fee of $3.75 from all chaperones. If you could have exact change, that would be fantastic. We are looking forward to a wonderful field trip!!!

Upcoming Events: 

Tuesday, April 8th: Field Trip to the Children's Museum

Friday, April 18th: NO SCHOOL

Monday, April 21-Friday, April 25: Book Fair at CSC

If you're at the store and think of us: 

Gallon Ziploc Baggies 

Pink Pearl Erasers 

Gluesticks 

Headphones 

What Are We Learning This Week?:
Sight Words: SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN.

Letter Team: EIGH (sounding like "a" like in EIGHT and NEIGHBOR).

Reading: We will read books about frogs as we learn the life cycle of a tadpole.

Writing: We are writing stories about tadpoles and frogs this week. Students have also been having a great time writing their own books, cards, and letters during our free "Work on Writing" time. 

Math: We will continue our new math unit focusing on addition and subtraction. 

Last week, we played a really fun card game in class, and you can play at home too! The kids loved it! 

Here's how to play: 

1. Take cards 10-K out of your deck so that you only have 1-9 (we used ace as 1). 

2. Deal 3 cards to each player. 

3. Each player must play 2 cards and you are trying to get as close to 10 as possible. (For example, if I have cards 6, 3, and 5, I would want to play 6 and 3 because 6+3=9 which is very close to 10)

4. Find the player who is closest to ten. (For example, if mom chose cards 9 and 6 for a sum of 15, dad chose cards 5 and 2 for a sum of 7 and child chose cards 6 and 3 for a sum of 9, child gets the point for that round because he is the closest!) 

5. Shuffle the cards and play another round! 

This is a great way to practice addition, critical thinking, subtraction, and ways to make 10  Have fun!

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of April is WISDOM. Our kindergarten definition of wisdom is having a wise attitude, belief, or course of action. 

Homework: April 7-11

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN and the new letter team is: EIGH.

Phonemic Awareness:  Please see the Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips on working with your child on these skills: Rhyming, Beginning/Middle/Ending Sounds, Syllables, Blending, Segmenting.

Reading: Read books from your book bag, read your fluency, read from your Book Box at home, read on RAZ-Kids, read on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Please review our Daily Math Practice worksheets that are coming home daily. This should give you a good idea on what skills your child needs to practice. Continue reinforcing addition and subtraction fluency through 5 and continue counting the money in your bank each night.

Writing: Write every day in your at-home journal. You should be writing AT LEAST three sentences every day, with a goal of five sentences. 

Sharing:  Sharing for our third trimester will consist of writing THREE sentences and drawing a picture. This week, write three sentences about what we are learning about the life cycle of a tadpole/frog. Draw a picture to go with your sentences. Please remember that sharing homework is due by Thursday. 

Type To Learn: Please complete ONE LESSON a week. Of course you may do more, but the school suggests that each student complete one (or two!) lessons per week in order to complete 50 lessons by the end of the school year.