Weekly News: December 1-5

News:

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week off with your families! I am so excited to be back at school.  This is such a fun, yet busy time of the year in kindergarten 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! Thank you! 

While ILCS is having a Christmas program on the evening of Monday, December 15th, please note that kindergarten is NOT a part of this program. INSTEAD.. we are having our very own special program, when our kindergarten students will perform "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man".  We started rehearsals before Thanksgiving break and our kiddos are having so much fun learning all of the songs and hand motions. Every student should have received his or her special role in the play, along with a script and CD before break. We will be doing two performances of our play - one performance in the morning during our school day, and one performance in the evening (around 6:00) so that all moms and dads can attend. We are waiting on confirmation from the church so this date is still tentative - we will let you know as soon as we can!! This is an event you will not want to miss!  

Upcoming Events: 

Tuesday, December 9: Holiday Craft Fair (more info coming later!)
Date To Be Determined: Gingerbread Man Play!!!

Friday, December 19: Christmas Centers (more info coming later!)

December 22-January 5: Christmas Break! 

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, our classroom would love: 

Christmas Stickers and Prizes/Trinkets

Treasure Box Prizes 

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 reading a variety of books about the Gingerbread Man this week. We are also learning about landforms (like mountains, valleys, deserts, and plains) and bodies of water (like rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds).

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:  This week we will learn addition "DOUBLES" in our fun DOUBLES SONG. You can help at home by asking your child doubles addition questions (2+2, 7+7, 10+10, etc.) We will start working on fun Christmas story problems in our math journals. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of November is Gratefulness. What wonderful sharing we got last week on this topic!

Homework: December 1-5

Please remember the following are HOMEWORK TIPS. We would like you to meet your child where he or she is at. 

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (AS, NO, KNOW, ABOUT, BY), and letter teams (KN and EW). Study flashcards every day.

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 bags, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Count everything! Ask your child all the different ways that numbers can be represented. Start asking your child simple word problems like, "If there are four cats playing in the yard and two more cats come, how many cats are there altogether?" and have your child explain HOW he got the answer. Visit IXL Math for additional homework practice! 

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal, using sight words and your sound chart to help you! If your children can write one sentence, start having them add sentences with details.

Sharing: We have NO SHARING until after Christmas! INSTEAD... we ask that you please practice your "Gingerbread Man" songs every night! CDs and scripts were sent home before break. 

VISIT GOORULEARNING.ORG FOR VIDEOS, BOOKS, GAMES, AND MORE HOMEWORK RESOURCES!! {Class code: QCAWKCF, Class Name:  ILCS Kindergarten}

Weekly News: November 17-21

News:

Thank you for coming to Parent Conferences. I enjoyed meeting with each of you to discuss your child's progress in class. Parent conferences will continue this week. Our schedule for the week is: 

Monday

1:00 Katie
1:30 Alexa
2:00 Naomi

Tuesday

1:30 June
2:00 Travis

Wednesday

1:00 Alexis
1:30 Bennett

Thursday

1:00 Jaxon
1:30 Jose
2:00 Brendan

We are having a Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast on Friday! The kids will be eating turkey, soup, corn bread, friendship fruit salad, and of course, homemade pumpkin pie! Thank you for signing up to bring items - We are looking forward to making a lot of our items in class together this week. 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 join our feast and come help set up/clean up to make this a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our kids, you are welcome to join us on Friday. The feast will begin at 12:00 and we will need lots of help before and after that! 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". Each student will have a special role in our play. This week, we will be sending home lyrics and CDs so you can start practicing over break! More information to come. Have fun singing!

Don't forget to get your Book Orders in! They are due on Friday to ensure you will receive them before Christmas. 

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

Upcoming Events: 

November 17-20:  Parent Conferences Continue

Friday, November 21: Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast
November 24 - 28:  Thanksgiving Break - No School
Thursday, December 18: The Tale of the Gingerbread Man {time TBD}
Friday, December 19: Christmas Centers 
December 22-January 5: Christmas Break - No School

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, our classroom would love: 

Headphones  

Treasure Box Prizes 
Fun Christmas Stickers, Trinkets, and Prizes

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!! There are no new sight words or letter teams, so please review ALL of the first trimester sight words and letter teams. 

Homework: November 17-21

Flashcards: Review all sight word and letter teams flashcards.

Phonemic Awareness: Continue to work on rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds.  lease see the Phonemic Awareness tab for ideas and tips.

Reading: Read books from your book bags, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Continue to work on counting, number identification, number writing, number stories, and shapes. Visit IXL Math for additional homework practice! 

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal. The goal for ALL students is to write three sentences on one topic every day, focusing on neatness, spacing, and proper punctuation and capitalization. 

Sharing: NO SHARING THIS WEEK!

VISIT GOORULEARNING.ORG FOR VIDEOS, BOOKS, GAMES, AND MORE HOMEWORK RESOURCES!! {Class code: QCAWKCF, Class Name:  ILCS Kindergarten}

Weekly News: November 10-14

News:

There is no school this Tuesday, November 11th due to Veteran's Day.

Parent conferences begin THIS 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. Please make other arrangements for your children, as parent conferences are for parents and teachers only. Our schedule for this week is:

Monday
7:15 Gideon 

1:00 Tyler
1:30 Sloan
2:00 Grace

Wednesday

7:15 Luke

1:00 Abbie
1:30 Whitney
2:00 Gen

Thursday

7:15 Katie

1:00 Colben
1:30 John
2:00 Allison

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 22nd. We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together.  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 next Friday at 12:00. Thank you in advance for ALL of your help! We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!

A few weeks ago, I sent home our November/December Book Orders. Book Orders will be due next Friday, November 21st. They will be here just in time for Christmas! Take advantage of this wonderful offer - books make GREAT Christmas presents! 

Our canned food drive is still going on. Kindergarten's suggested canned goods are: Canned Veggies and Evaporated milk.  Thank you for contributing to make a wonderful holiday for families in need.

This will be the last week of electives until after Thanksgiving break.

Upcoming Events: 

November 1-12: Holiday Food Drive Kindergarten classes to donate evaporated milk and canned veggies

November 10-20:  Parent Conferences 

November 10:  Patriotic Day  Wear red, white, and blue

November 11:  No School - Veterans Day

November 14:  Last day of electives for this trimester

November 21: Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

November 24 - 28:  Thanksgiving Break - No School

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, our classroom would love: 

Headphones  

Treasure Box Prizes 

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: We will continue to read many books turkeys and pilgrims and Indians, as we prepare for Thanksgiving. We will practice all of our reading strategies learned so far. Students will continue to read their self-selected good fit books and paper books from their book boxes. 

Writing: We will continue to write three sentences on one topic, focusing on neatness, proper punctuation, capitalization, and spacing. I will begin Writing Conferences with students this week, where I will meet with students one-on-one to discuss individual writing goals.

Math:  We will continue to work on our Math Journals, fun Thanksgiving story problems, and ipad games. Students have been learning about different types of story problems - adding, subtracting, adding groups, sharing, and comparing. We have been working on different WAYS to solve problems, such as using our fingers, drawing a picture, counting up or counting backwards, and using resources around us. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of November is Gratefulness. What wonderful sharing we got last week on this topic!

Homework: November 10-14

Please remember the following are HOMEWORK TIPS. We would like you to meet your child where he or she is at. 

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (THROUGH, AROUND, TOUGH, ENOUGH), and letter teams (GE/GI and OUGH). Study flashcards every day.

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 bags, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Count everything! Ask your child all the different ways that numbers can be represented. Start asking your child simple word problems like, "If there are four cats playing in the yard and two more cats come, how many cats are there altogether?" and have your child explain HOW he got the answer. Visit IXL Math for additional homework practice! 

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal, using sight words and your sound chart to help you! If your children can write one sentence, start having them add sentences with details.

Sharing: With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this week, please write one sentence about what you are thankful for. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

VISIT GOORULEARNING.ORG FOR VIDEOS, BOOKS, GAMES, AND MORE HOMEWORK RESOURCES!! {Class code: QCAWKCF, Class Name:  ILCS Kindergarten}

Weekly News: November 3-7

News:

We had an exciting week learning about pumpkins and celebrating Halloween. Thank you to the many parents who helped make our week so special! Make sure to check out our pictures on our Class Facebook page. 

There is no school next Tuesday, November 11th due to Veteran's Day. Enjoy the three-day-weekend with your families!

Parent Conferences are THE NEXT TWO WEEKS (November 10-20). 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. Please make other arrangements for your children, as parent conferences are for parents and teachers only. There are many families that have not signed up for a parent conference time. If you do not yet have a time, please stop by my classroom or email me so that we can set up a time for you. Families that have not signed up by Friday will be given an assigned time. Thank you!

Our canned food drive is still going on. Kindergarten's suggested canned goods are: Canned Veggies and Evaporated milk.  Thank you for contributing to make a wonderful holiday for families in need.

The week of November 10-14 will be the last week of electives until after Thanksgiving break.

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 21st. We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together. Our fantastic room mom will be letting you know soon about sign-ups for donating your time or goodies for this wonderful feast!! Thank you! We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!

Please don't forget to bring your book bags to school every day. Friends that do not bring book bags back to school cannot take a new book home that day :( The book or books in your child's book bag will be books we are working on together in reading groups and/or books self-selected by your child. Join the ABC Club!!  Students who can write all of the ABCs uppercase and lower case correctly and neatly will join the ABC club.  Keep practicing!!!

Upcoming Events: 

November 1-12: Holiday Food Drive Kindergarten classes to donate evaporated milk and canned veggies

November 7:  Mother Son Bowling

November 10-20:  Parent Conferences  Please sign up for a conference if you have not already done so.  See above for the information.

November 10:  Patriotic Day  Wear red, white, and blue

November 11:  No School Veterans Day

November 14:  Last day of electives for this trimester

November 21: Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

November 24 - 28:  Thanksgiving Break - No School

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, our classroom would love: 

Headphones  

Treasure Box Prizes 

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, MEN, TEN).  Please help your child with word families of the week by asking them to create different words with the word families.

Reading: We will read many books turkeys and pilgrims and Indians, as we prepare for Thanksgiving. We will practice all of our reading strategies learned so far. Students will continue to read their self-selected good fit books and paper books from their book boxes. 

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 continue our unit on "Counting with Friends", along with  fun turkey and Thanksgiving math story problems. This week, I will continue assessing each student on their knowledge of numbers, counting and cardinality, and geometry and shapes. 

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of November is Gratefulness. Our kindergarten definition of gratefulness is: to be thankful and appreciate what we have.

Homework: November 3-7

Please remember the following are HOMEWORK TIPS. We would like you to meet your child where he or she is at. 

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (IN, ON, SO, GO, DO), letter teams (UR and IR), and word family (EN - hen, men, ten, etc). Study flashcards every day.

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 bags, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Count everything! Ask your child all the different ways that numbers can be represented. Start asking your child simple word problems like, "If there are four cats playing in the yard and two more cats come, how many cats are there altogether?" and have your child explain HOW he got the answer. Visit IXL Math for additional homework practice! 

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal, using sight words and your sound chart to help you! If your children can write one sentence, start having them add sentences with details.

Sharing: We are learning a new leadership trait for the months of November and December: GRATEFULNESS. Write one sentence about how you can show gratefulness. Draw a picture to go with your sentence. Sharing is due Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

VISIT GOORULEARNING.ORG FOR VIDEOS, BOOKS, GAMES, AND MORE HOMEWORK RESOURCES!! {Class code: QCAWKCF, Class Name:  ILCS Kindergarten}