Weekly News: February 2-6

News: 

We had so much fun celebrating our 100th Day of School! Thank you for all of the help, donations, and snacks!! I can't believe we are more than half way through our school year together! I am so proud of your children for working so hard and for everything they have learned so far.

This week we will be learning all about our country and state. Please see our Reading section for more information. You and your child can use the following website to check out fun facts on our National Symbols. http://bensguide.gpo.gov Just click on the K-2 section on Ben's kite and have fun learning! 

Upcoming Events:  

Monday, February 9: NO SCHOOL 

Friday, February 13: Valentine's Day Centers 

Monday, February 16: NO SCHOOL 

March 2-6: Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss Celebration {more info coming soon!}
March 2-12: 2nd Trimester Parent Conferences {sign-ups coming soon!}
Friday, March 13: SPECIAL ST. PATRICK'S WEAR GREEN CELEBRATION
March 16-27: SPRING BREAK!!!


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
LOTS AND LOTS OF VALENTINES STICKERS!!!!
Gallon Ziploc Bags
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: QUESTION, WRITE, WITH, SAW, FROM.

Letter Team: QU (we are learning that QU are married because they are always together!) and WR (the W is silent!) 

Reading: This week we are reading books all about our country and our state. We will be learning all about our American symbols (flag, liberty bell, bald eagle, White House, Mount Rushmore, etc.) and our California symbols (state flag, state flower, state bird, etc.). We will learn the meaning behind the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a note coming home on Monday with the words and the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance. Please go over this with your child and discuss the meaning, as we will be doing the same in class. 

Writing: We will continue practicing writing a Step Up to Writing paragraph with a topic sentence, three things about that topic, and a conclusion sentence. 

Math: Since we have passed our 100th Day of School, we will start working on place value to the hundreds. We'll be learning that Zero the Hero (I'm sure you heard a lot about him on Friday!) is now our place holder in the tens place. This week, we will focus on Ways to Make Five (addition and subtraction). 

Leadership:  Our leadership trait this month is CREATIVITY.

Homework: February 2-6

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (QUESTION, WRITE, WITH, SAW, FROM), and letter teams (QU and WR). 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, read your fluency passage, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, visit Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Discuss "Ways to Make Five" with your child through addition and subtraction number sentences and story problems. For example, "We need five books, but we only have three. How many more do we need?" or "10-__=4. What would go in the blank? How did you figure that out?" Continue to practice the “Doubles Song” on the back of the homework folder and reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5.   Count the money in your bank.

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal.Practice writing your sight words and write stories with three sentences on the same topic.

SPECIAL SHARING HOMEWORK!!!!!!: On Friday, we sent home our  sharing project for the week. It is a little book called "Me on the Map". It is meant to teach your child where he or she lives from the big picture (North America) to the small (your street address). We sent it home Friday so that you can start working on it over the weekend - please fill it out together and return it Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of this week for your child to share.

Weekly News: January 26-30

On FRIDAY, WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL! We will be celebrating the 100th day with special 100th day Fun Friday Centers!  

We are asking that each student bring a snack item to be shared with the class ANY DAY THIS WEEK!!  Some examples include:  a box of goldfish crackers, large bag of gummy bears, large bag of skittles, box of cheerios, large bag of mini Oreos, etc.  The students will be sharing the snacks with their classmates to make “100 Day Hash” in celebration of  our 100th day!! 

If you would like, you may join us in class at 12:00 on Friday as we watch our special video from our first 100 days of school. I can't believe that we have already been in school for almost 100 days! I am so proud of your kids and how far they have come! 

We are STILL in need of LOTS AND LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you! 

Upcoming Events:  

Friday, January 30: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Monday, February 9: NO SCHOOL 

Friday, February 13: Valentine's Day Centers 

Monday, February 16: NO SCHOOL 

Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE.

Letter Team:  ONG (like in SONG) and ONK (like in HONK).  

Reading: This week we are reading books all about our 100th Day of School! 

Writing: We have some fun writing assignments this week. We will be writing all about our first 100 days of school, what we would do if we had $100, and what we would look like if we were 100 years old. 

Math: We will continue our unit on measurement. This week we will focus on weight.  We will use our balances to see what eight more or less.  We will also continue taking our math timed tests and continue singing our Doubles Song. We are also working on ways to make ten, and decomposing numbers. You can help at home by asking your child questions like, "If I have 4 apples and I need 10 apples, how many more apples do I need?" or "Grandma has ten dogs. 6 dogs are black. How many dogs are white?"

Leadership: This month, our leadership trait is HONOR. Our kindergarten definition of honor is great respect and reputation received.

Homework: January 26-30

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE), and letter teams (ONG and ONK). 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, read your fluency passage, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, visit Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Discuss the weight of items.  Ask your child to predict if items are heavy or light in weight.  Ask them to compare items to predict what would weight more or less.  Example, does the fork weight more or less than the plate?   Continue to practice the “Doubles Song” on the back of the homework folder and reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5.   Count the money in your bank.

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal.Practice writing your sight words and write stories with three sentences on the same topic.

SPECIAL SHARING HOMEWORK!!!!!!: We would like our students to practice counting to 100 by collecting 100 things to bring to school. Help them choose something small like beans, buttons, pennies, Cotton balls, etc. Help them put their collection into a paper “mystery bag” (like a brown paper lunch bag that we cannot see through!). When they bring it to school, the class will try to guess what they brought! We will be doing fun activities with these collections all week long! Students may bring their collection in any day this week, just like they would sharing. Please bring it in before Friday!

Weekly News: January 19-23

News: 

I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing three-day weekend with your families! 

We are in need of LOTS AND LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you! 

This is the last week for our Scholastic Book Order. Get those orders by Friday and receive your books before Valentine's Day! 

Please remember that Sharing Homework is the ONLY homework we ask that you turn in and is an important part of our curriculum. Many students have not been turning in their Sharing Homework. Starting this week, students who do not turn in homework will be responsible for completing that assignment during Friday recess. We have a very special Sharing Homework this week. Please visit our Homework Tab to learn more. 

Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

Upcoming Events:  
Friday, January 30: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
Monday, February 9: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 13: Valentine's Day Centers 
Monday, February 16: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Gluesticks 
Headphones 
Baby Wipes
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WOULD, COULD, SHOULD, WALK, TALK.

Letter Team:  ANG (like in HANG, SANG) and ANK (like in TANK, BANK). 

Reading: This week we are studying and reading about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and equality for all people. 

Writing:  We are learning how to write a five sentence paragraph. I have been modeling a structure for paragraph writing called, "Step Up to Writing" for the students. Kindergarten Step Up to Writing is writing a paragraph with a topic sentence, three sentences about that topic, and a conclusion sentence. For example, "We had a great day at school today. First, we learned about measurement in math. Next, we colored snowmen at centers. Last, we read books about Martin Luther King Jr. As you can see, we had a fun time at school." 

Math: We will continue our unit on measurement. We will also continue taking our math timed tests and continue singing our Doubles Song. 

Leadership: This month, our leadership trait is HONOR. Our kindergarten definition of honor is great respect and reputation received. 

Homework: January 19-23

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (WOULD, COULD, SHOULD, WALK, TALK), and letter teams (ANG and ANK). 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, read your fluency passage, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, visit 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 discuss measurement and help your child to measure items at home. Reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5. Count the money in your "bank" each day. Tell addition and subtraction word problems to your children and have them explain to you how they got the answer.

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal.Practice writing your sight words and write stories with three sentences on the same topic.

Sharing: We have a very special sharing this week! Since we have been studying measurement in math, we would like each child to bring in something that they have measured at home. Be prepared to tell the class: what you are measuring with that item (example: length, capacity, weight, height, etc.), what you USED to measure the item (it can be a standard OR non-standard unit), and what the final measurement was. If you measured something that you CANNOT bring into the classroom, you may write a paper about your measuring. For example, "I measured the length of my bedroom using my hands and my bedroom was 36 hand-spans long." 

Weekly News: January 12-16

News: 

There is no school next Monday, January 19th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Enjoy the three day weekend with your families!

Students have been doing such a wonderful job on writing last names! If your child is still struggling with this, please practice at home!

Students did a great job on the dictation test as well as our first math timed test. Continue to practice those spelling words and addition and subtraction facts each week. 

Our Scholastic Book Order is due Friday, January 23rd. Get those orders in if you would like to order winter books or books for Valentine's Day.

Our "banks" have been a big hit in the classroom! Students are excited to "earn money" for staying on yellow and green, for making good use of classroom time, and for good behavior throughout the day. On Friday, we had our first visit to the classroom store. Students have the opportunity to trade out their money for larger coins (5 pennies for a nickel, etc) and choose to spend money on a prize or save it for a larger prize later. Please continue to count money received everyday and reinforce the responsibility of taking care of banks. Also, if you are able, we'd love more prizes for our "class store"!!! Thank you for your continued support!   

We are in need of LOTS AND LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Community Service Project: We want to remind you that every student at Inland Leaders is required to participate in a Community Service Project of his or her choosing. The requirement for kindergarten students consists of 6-8 hours of service. These individual Community Service Projects will be due at the end of May, but you might want to start thinking about what you'll be doing now. Please visit our "Community Service Project" tab for more information. 

Upcoming Events:  
Monday, January 19: NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 30: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
Monday, February 9: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 13: Valentine's Day Centers 
Monday, February 16: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Gluesticks 
Headphones 
Baby Wipes
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: OF, BACK, SAY, SAYS, PLEASE.

Letter Team:  CK (We are learning that CK makes the K sound and helps the vowel to say it's short sound, like in BACK, NECK, PICK, LOCK, DUCK)

Reading: This week we are studying and doing projects with "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. We will discuss and record story elements such as author, illustrator, setting, and characters. We will read books about winter and other stories by the author, Jan Brett. 

Writing:  We will continue working on writing three sentences on the same topic and begin thinking of good topic sentences to begin our writing.

Math: Last week, we started our math unit on measurement. We are learning different ways things can be measured, including length, height, width, weight, and capacity. The students are having so much fun measuring everything around our classroom, from "how many pencils long is the carpet" to "how many bears will fit in this cup". You can help by discussing measurement at home.  We will also continue taking our math timed tests and continue singing our Doubles Song. 

Leadership: This month, our leadership trait is HONOR. Our kindergarten definition of honor is great respect and reputation received. 

Homework: January 12-16

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (OF, BACK, SAY, SAYS, PLEASE), and letter teams (CK). 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, read your fluency passage, book boxes, books on RAZ Kids, visit Smarty Ants, and books on We Give Books. We want to give you plenty of resources and opportunities to READ, READ, READ.

Math: Discuss measurement and help your child to measure items at home. We are learning about standard ways to measure (rulers, measuring cups, measuring tape, etc.) and non-standard ways (our hands, cubes, paces, etc.) Measure some things around the house - like the length of your bedroom, the height of your bed or the capacity of a bowl. Continue to practice the “Doubles Song” on the back of the homework folder and reinforce addition and subtraction math facts through 5.

Writing: Write EVERY SINGLE DAY in your At-Home Journal.Practice writing your sight words and write stories with three sentences on the same topic.

Sharing: Sharing for our second trimester will consist of TWO or more sentences and a picture. For sharing this week, please write TWO or more sentences about honor. Please remember that sharing is due BY THURSDAY.  Please make sure your child is responsible for his/her own writing as we are no longer accepting dictated sentences for sharing homework.

Weekly News: January 6-9

News: 

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and fun two weeks off with family and friends!

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO READ THIS ENTIRE SECTION AS THERE IS A LOT OF NEW INFORMATION FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

There is no school this Monday, January 5th due to a Teacher Inservice day. There is also no school on Monday, January 19th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Starting this Friday, we will no longer be taking a spelling test. We WILL still be writing a dictation sentence every Friday using some or all of the sight words of the week. We will be using this dictation sentence to assess student's spelling, capitalization, spacing, and punctuation. You will not know which words we will be using in our sentence, so it is very important that you still study all of our words (and letter teams!) for the week. 

We will also begin taking Math Fluency Timed Tests. Our Common Core Standard is that by the end of kindergarten, students will fluently (meaning without fingers or manipulatives) be able to add and subtract within five. We will take these tests every Wednesday at math time. Students will be timed for two minutes in the beginning and once mastered, they will be timed for one minute! Please remember that we would like all students to master this standard by the end of the year. My hope is that each week, we will accomplish a little bit more on these tests. Please reinforce and practice these skills at home. Thank you for your support! 

Be on the look out for our January Book Order coming home this week, - order now and receive great books before Valentine's Day! 

Beginning after the holiday break, we will now have each student write his/her first and LAST NAME on all papers, homework, etc.  If your child does not know how to write his/her last name, please practice this at home (it can become part of homework writing!). We will be practicing at school as well. Each student will now have last names written on their NEW Take Home Folders and name tags for support in the classroom. 

Yes, we have NEW Take Home Folders! These will be the LAST Take Home Folder for the year, so we will be discussing responsibility and handle and care of these folders in the classroom. There might even be prizes awarded throughout the rest of the year on "Who has the nicest and cleanest Take Home Folder"! Please remember to bring these folders EVERY DAY!! 

Also beginning after the holiday break each child will have a “bank” attached to his/her new folder. The “bank” is a ziploc baggie taped to the folder. Each day your child will have the opportunity to earn money at the end of the day - the money will replace the stickers! Students will receive a penny for staying on yellow and green for the day. Students will also have the opportunity to receive nickels and dimes in the classroom as rewards for behavior throughout the day. Instead of Treasure Box on Fridays, now they will visit the CLASS STORE! Each student will count money, trade money (example: five pennies for one nickel) and have the opportunity to spend their money on the items that are now “on sale” at the class store. Of course, bigger treasures will cost more money, which I hope will reinforce self-control and teach students about saving. Each child will be responsible for keeping track of their own bank and for counting the money in it. (This too will be great math homework practice). Please encourage your child to take care of and keep track of his/her bank, as lost money WILL NOT BE REPLACED!  Also, if students forget folders at home, they will not receive money for that day. The bank is designed to teach responsibility and accountability as well as reinforce math skills. This is a great life skill your child will benefit from in the future!! Thank you for your continued support.

In your child’s book bag, you will now find a fluency passage. Your child is practicing reading fluently in our reading groups. Fluency refers to a student’s speed, smoothness, and ease of reading out loud. Fluent readers read more quickly and smoothly, allowing them to focus on comprehension. Fluent readers gain more meaning from the text they read. Because fluency leads to comprehension, fluent readers enjoy reading more than students who devote all their energy to “sounding out” words. Some fluency passages have word family practice that should be practiced daily. Some fluency passages also have comprehension questions at the end of the story. Please have your child practice reading the fluency passage each night. Fluency passages should remain in our book bags so that we can practice reading them every day at school and every night at home. Thank you!  

We are in need of LOTS AND LOTS of empty Capri Sun boxes!!!! If you have any please send them to school with your child! Thank you very much!!! Note: if you could please open the boxes at the side (not in the middle around the edges) that would really help us out! Thank you!

Electives will continue this week! 

Upcoming Events:  
Monday, January 5: NO SCHOOL
Monday, January 19: NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 30: 100th DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
Monday, February 9: NO SCHOOL 
Friday, February 13: Valentine's Day Centers 
Monday, February 16: NO SCHOOL 


If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Gluesticks 
Headphones 
Baby Wipes
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: WORK, ALL, AWAY, JUST, US.

Letter Team:  WOR (the OR sounds like Mr. ER, like in work and word) and TION (sounds like SHUN like in vacation, invention, connection). 

Reading: This week, we will read many books about winter and snowmen. We will read our new fluency passages in our reading groups. We will continue to pick out "Good Fit Books" for our Read to Self time. 

Writing:  We will continue working on writing three sentences on the same topic and begin thinking of good topic sentences to begin our writing.

Math: This week, we will make a list of all the addition strategies we can use to solve addition problems. We will practice solving addition problems and story problems using these various strategies. We will also begin taking our math timed tests and continue singing our Doubles Song. 

Leadership: This month, our leadership trait is HONOR.