Weekly News: March 31-April 3

News: 

Welcome back and happy spring! I hope you all had a wonderful spring break and enjoyed the time off with your families! I am going to be taking some extra Family Leave time with little Jackson these next two weeks, but I can't wait to see you all back at school on Tuesday, April 14th! Mrs. Beaucaire will be our substitute and I'm sure you will all have a fantastic time together!

Third trimester electives and Success Academy will begin this week on Tuesday, March 31st.

Our field trip to the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert in Rancho Mirage is coming up on Tuesday, April 28th and it is sure to be an exciting “hands on” experience.  We will be leaving school at 8:15 and returning at approximately 1:15. Mark your calendars and adjust 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. Permission slips will be sent home in the next week or so.  We will be eating our “sack” lunches at the museum following the tour. On this day, please pack your child a lunch in a paper bag.  No lunch boxes please. If you are interested in being a chaperone please let Mrs. Bess know BY FRIDAY APRIL 10TH VIA EMAIL (jcbess@inlandleaders.com), as we need to give a final head count! Chaperones will be riding on the bus with our classes and need to pay a small fee at the Museum (Approximately $4.00) Please remember that school policy states NO SIBLINGS. Thanks! We are looking forward to a wonderful field trip!

Upcoming Events:  

Monday, March 30th:  NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, March 31st:  Electives/Success Academy begins

Friday, April 3rd: Easter Centers 

Monday, April 20th: NO SCHOOL

Saturday, April 20th: ILF Golf Tournament

Tuesday, April 28th: Field Trip to the Children's Discovery Museum

If you are at the store and happen to think of us, we'd love.... 
Push Pins 
Even more gluesticks! :)
Gallon Ziploc Bags
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: OVER, UNDER, LEFT, RIGHT, PUT.

Letter Team: DGE (sounding like "j" like in BADGE, LEDGE, and FRIDGE).

Reading: This week, we will read books many books about spring, spring animals, and Easter.

Writing: We will have fun writing fictional spring stories and step up to writing stories about things that we are learning about spring.

Math: This week, we will begin a new math unit focusing on addition and subtraction. We will discuss various strategies for solving problems, think through addition and subtraction word problems, and play fun addition and subtraction games.  We will also review flat and solid shapes.

Leadership: Our leadership theme for the month of April is SERVICE. Our definition of Service is: to help others without getting paid for the job done.    I am excited to see how our kindergarten friends have shown service through their community service projects!

Homework: March 31-April 3

Flashcards: Make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: OVER, UNDER, LEFT, RIGHT, PUT and the new letter team is: DGE - (sounding like "j" like in BADGE, LEDGE, and FRIDGE).

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?" We have been using the language “part, part, whole when working on these types of problems. Practice counting to 100 and counting on by ones from any number between 1 and 99. Practice numbers in base ten (in the number 16, how many tens and how many ones?), addition and subtraction number problems and word problems, 2D and 3D shapes, and the Doubles Song.Count the money in your bank. 

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

Sharing:  Sharing for our third trimester will consist of writing THREE sentences and drawing a picture. This week, write three sentences about our new leadership theme - SERVICE. Draw a picture to go with your sentences. Please remember that sharing homework is due by Thursday. Our definition of Service is: to help others without getting paid for the job done.  This is a good opportunity for the students to share what their service projects are.  The SERVICE PROJECTS will be due in several weeks.  

Weekly News: March 9-13

News: 

We had so much fun dressing up and celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday. Thank you for all of your help, time, donations, and to all of our guest readers! 

This week, we will celebrate St. Patrick's day with lots of fun centers and games, sharing our leprechaun traps, and reading and writing about catching leprechauns! We will also have a WEAR GREEN day on Friday! :) I can't wait to see all of those leprechaun traps you've been working on! Please bring your traps in to share any day Monday - Thursday. It is very important to have your traps in before Friday because we will be trying to catch him on Friday! 

We have NO SCHOOL for the next two weeks due to Spring Break. Spring break is a perfect time to work on your Community Service Projects! I hope you have a wonderful two weeks off with your families!

Report Cards are being sent home on Thursday! Make sure you check your child's folder for his or her report card!

Upcoming Events:  

Friday, March 13th: End of the Trimester Awards Assembly 
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.... 
Push Pins 
Even more gluesticks! :)
Gallon Ziploc Bags
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: There will be no new sight words introduced until after Spring Break.  Please take this time to review ALL of our words introduced so far.  Remember, sight words are words that your child should recognize instantly.  These are not words your child should be sounding out!  Please continue to work on these words. 

Letter Team: There will not be any new letter teams introduced until after Spring Break.  Please take this time to review ALL of our letter teams introduced so far. Many children know all of the letter teams, but have a hard time applying them into decoding words. A great idea would be to write words (or make flashcards) with letter teams in them and have your child decode the word for you, applying the letter team.  

Reading: This week, we will read books about  St. Patrick's Day, leprechauns, and Ireland.

Writing: We will write silly stories about how to catch a leprechaun and we will write a step up to writing about how our leprechaun traps work.  

Math: We will continue to work on our Daily Math Practice sheets, math stories, our fluency through 5, and composing and decomposing. 

Leadership:  Our leadership trait this month is SERVICE. This is a great time to be working on those community service projects! They will be due at the end of May. 

Homework: March 9-13

Flashcards: Study all sight word and letter team flashcards that we have learned so far! 

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: 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 a five sentence paragraph.

Sharing:  I can't wait to see all of those leprechaun traps this week! Work together as a family to build a tricky trap that you think will catch a leprechaun. Then, we will try to catch one in class. Unfortunately, we will not be in school for St. Patrick's Day, but that's not going to stop us from having some St. Patrick's Day fun! Our traps will be due this week, any day Monday - Thursday. Please DO NOT turn in on Friday! Have fun working on those traps!

Weekly News: March 2-6

News: 

HAPPY DR. SEUSS WEEK!! This week, we are celebrating Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss' birthday! It's going to be a fun-filled week with a silly something to wear each day! 

Monday: 

Silly Sock Day {come to school in your silliest socks!}

Tuesday:

Stripes and/or Polka-dots Day 

Wednesday: 

Wacky Hat Wednesday {I can't wait to see all of those wacky hats!}

Thursday: 

Rhyme Time Day {dress in rhyme - some examples are: a green queen, a fish with a dish, a cook with a book, etc. Have fun!}

Friday:

Relax and Read Day {come to school in your PJ's!}

As part of our Read Across America celebration, we are welcoming guest readers into our classroom throughout the week! We will have guest readers in our class all week long. There are still some spots open for guest readers so if you'd like to come sign up, please do! We will also be eating Green Eggs and Ham on Friday! Thank you for all of the donations to make our week so much fun! 

Upcoming Events:  

March 2-6: Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss Celebration 
March 2-12: 2nd Trimester Parent Conferences 
Friday, March 13th: End of the Trimester Awards Assembly 
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.... 
Push Pins 
Even more gluesticks! :)
Gallon Ziploc Bags
Any sort of small {or big} prizes for our class store


What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, NEXT, LAST.

Letter Team: TCH (sounds like CH, like in BATCH, FETCH, ITCH). 

Reading: This week, we will welcome guest readers and read lots of Dr. Seuss books.

Writing: This week, we will be writing all about our favorite books. We will write about our favorite parts of the story, the characters, and why we love to read. 

Math: We will review everything we have learned in math so far this year and play lots of fun math games! 

Leadership:  Our leadership trait this month is SERVICE. This is a great time to be working on those community service projects! They will be due at the end of May. 

Homework: March 2-6

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: FIRST, NEXT, LAST, SECOND, THIRD and new letter team: TCH.

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 ways to make 5 (and ways to make 10!), numbers in base ten (in the number 16, how many tens and how many ones?), addition and subtraction number problems and word problems, 2D and 3D shapes, and the Doubles Song. Count the money in your bank.

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

Sharing:  On Friday, you should have received a green flyer about building a leprechaun trap. This will be homework for the next two weeks. I wanted to send it home early so you have plenty of time to build it! You can work together as a family to build a tricky trap that you think will catch a leprechaun. Then, we will try to catch one in class. Unfortunately, we will not be in school for St. Patrick's Day, but that's not going to stop us from having some St. Patrick's Day fun! Our traps will be due any day NEXT week (March 9-12) just like regular sharing. Have fun working on those traps!