Weekly News: April 30-May 4

We have been having so much fun watching our class caterpillars grow and we think they will be in their chrysalis soon! 

Success Academy is back on this week and will continue until May 24th. 

IT'S TIME! Community Service Projects are due and will be presented NEXT WEEK! Please take some time to work on your presentations so that students are comfortable presenting in front of the class. You may bring your projects to school ANY DAY this week or next week, but please make sure projects are turned in NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, May 11th. Remember that your community service project is a required part of our curriculum at Inland Leaders.  I am looking forward to seeing all of the projects. Thank you!

Our last kindergarten field trip is ON! Thank you so much for all of the generous donations to make it possible for us to go on this trip together! We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Frederick the Mouse" on Friday, May 18th. Permission slips will be coming home soon. We are looking forward to a fun last kindergarten field trip together! 

We are getting ready for our very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 11th from 11:00-12:30 and hope all of you mommies can make it. If you have not done so already, please email me a "Mommy and Me" picture of your child with mommy (email: jcbess@inlandleaders.com). Also, please make sure you have childcare for your little ones. We are so excited to celebrate together! 


Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 11: Mother's Day Celebration 
Friday, May 18: Field trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater 
Monday, May 28: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 6: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: AUNT, UNCLE, GRANDMA, GRANDPA, COUSIN.

Letter Team:  IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER LETTER TEAM CHALLENGE! We will be competing against Mrs. Stanley's class! Make sure to practice all of those letter teams from the year. Some students will be given letter team flashcards in book bags to practice at home and throughout the day. 

Reading: We will continue to read books about caterpillars and butterflies as we study their life cycle. 

Writing: We will have a very special writing project that we are working on this week in class - make sure that you have saved the date for our Mother's Day Celebration (wink, wink!)

Math: We are working hard on decomposing, composing, addition, and subtraction through many fun math games! Please continue to reinforce these skills at home. 

Leadership: We will continue to ROAR and discuss what it means to have a growth mindset!

Homework: April 30-May 4

Flashcards: Don't forget to make new flashcards for each sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: AUNT, UNCLE, GRANDMA, GRANDPA, COUSIN. There are NO new letter teams for the rest of the year - so study ALL old letter team flashcards for our Letter Team Challenge!  

Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. 

Reading:  Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read your Book Bag every night. This includes: fluency passage, paper books, and library books. 

Writing: Practice writing EVERY day.  You can practice writing a 5 sentence Step up to Writing paragraph in your at-home journal.

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. 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. 

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. It would be a great idea to print the addition and subtraction pages as well as all the number bonds pages for your child to practice at home each day. Stick these in a page protector and use an expo marker so you can reuse them day after day and not have to print a billion copies :) 

Turn-In Homework: There will be no special turn-in projects for the rest of the year, with the exception of your community service project and presentation. These will be due the week of May 7-11. Please spend the next two weeks working on these projects and have your child practice the presentation. They will be presenting in front of the class.  

Weekly News: April 23-27

News:

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!

There is no Success Academy this week. 

Our last kindergarten field trip is scheduled for Friday, May 18th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Frederick the Mouse". We are asking for a $15 donation from each student to cover the cost of the ticket and bus. You can donate by visiting our Dollar A Day link: Dollar A Day. THIS IS THE LAST WEEK TO DONATE TOWARDS THE FIELD TRIP! Unfortunately, if we do not have enough funds BY FRIDAY, we will have to cancel. Permission slips will be coming home soon. We are looking forward to a fun last kindergarten field trip together! 

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 11th from 11:00-12:30. I wanted to let you know early in case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. The school childcare fills up quickly on this day and is on a first come first serve basis.  I encourage you to find childcare for your little ones since this is a special celebration for mommies and their kindergarten student.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.  This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Our due date is quickly approaching for those Community Service projects. TWO MORE WEEKS! These will be due the first week of May - They will need to be turned in before May 11th to qualify for the Leadership Banquet. Please spend the next two weeks finishing up your projects and working with your child on his or her presentation. Each child will present their project in front of the class the week of May 7-11. Please see our Community Service Tab for more information and feel free to email me if you have any questions.  

Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 11: Mother's Day Celebration 
Friday, May 18: Field trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater 
Monday, May 28: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 6: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

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 we study their life cycle. 

Writing: We are working on using thinking maps to help us with our writing. This week, we will make a FLOW MAP of the life cycle of a butterfly. We will use pictures to help us write each detail of the life cycle. 

Math: We are working hard on decomposing, composing, addition, and subtraction through many fun math games! Please continue to reinforce these skills at home. 

Leadership: We will continue to ROAR and discuss what it means to have a growth mindset!

Homework: April 23-27

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 work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. 

Reading:  Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read your Book Bag every night. This includes: fluency passage, paper books, and library books. 

Writing: Practice writing EVERY day.  You can practice writing a 5 sentence Step up to Writing paragraph in your at-home journal.

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. 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. Last week, I sent home directions for a fun card game we are playing in class called "Got Your Number". It will help your child with addition and ways to make 10. You can play this game at home as a family for homework as well! :) 

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. It would be a great idea to print the addition and subtraction pages as well as all the number bonds pages for your child to practice at home each day. Stick these in a page protector and use an expo marker so you can reuse them day after day and not have to print a billion copies :) 

Turn-In Homework: There will be no special turn-in projects for the rest of the year, with the exception of your community service project and presentation. These will be due the week of May 7-11. Please spend the next two weeks working on these projects and have your child practice the presentation. They will be presenting in front of the class.  

Weekly News: April 16-20

News:

Next Sunday 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 Homework this week. Check out the Homework tab for more information. 

Our last kindergarten field trip is scheduled for Friday, May 18th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Frederick the Mouse". We are asking for a $15 donation from each student to cover the cost of the ticket and bus. You can donate by visiting our Dollar A Day link: Dollar A Day. Unfortunately, if we do not have enough funds, we will not be able to go. Permission slips will be coming home soon. We are looking forward to a fun last kindergarten field trip together! 

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 11th from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early in case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. The school childcare fills up quickly on this day and is on a first come first serve basis.  I encourage you to find childcare for your little ones since this is a special celebration for mommies and their kindergarten student.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.  This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Our due date is quickly approaching for those Community Service projects. TWO MORE WEEKS! These will be due the first week of May - They will need to be turned in before May 11th to qualify for the Leadership Banquet. Please see our Community Service Tab for more information and feel free to email me if you have any questions.  

Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 11: Mother's Day Celebration 
Friday, May 18: Field trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater 
Monday, May 28: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 6: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

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. We will continue to work on our writing goals, including adding details to our stories. 

Math: We are working hard on decomposing, composing, addition, and subtraction through many fun math games! Please continue to reinforce these skills at home. 

Leadership: We will continue to ROAR and discuss what it means to have a growth mindset!

Homework: April 16-20

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 -  (another ER sound like in EARTH and EARLY).

Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. 

Reading:  Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read your Book Bag every night. This includes: fluency passage, paper books, and library books. 

Writing: Practice writing EVERY day.  You can practice writing a 5 sentence Step up to Writing paragraph in your at-home journal.

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. 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.

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. It would be a great idea to print the addition and subtraction pages as well as all the number bonds pages for your child to practice at home each day. Stick these in a page protector and use an expo marker so you can reuse them day after day and not have to print a billion copies :) 

SPECIAL Turn-In Homework: 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! Pinterest has a ton of ideas. Bring your reused, recycled project to share with the class any day this week.  

Weekly News: April 9-13

Electives and Success Academy will resume this week! 

This week we are excited to start learning about life cycles as we study the life cycle of a tadpole becoming a frog.

Our last kindergarten field trip is scheduled for Friday, May 18th. We will be going to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater in Rancho Cucamonga to see "Frederick the Mouse". We will leave the school by bus first thing in the morning and we will be returning by dismissal. We will be providing snacks for each child, so you will not need to bring a snack (or a folder!) on this day. Because we have already purchased tickets for the show in advance, we unfortunately cannot take any extra parent chaperones. Thank you for your understanding. Permission slips will be coming home soon. We are looking forward to a fun last kindergarten field trip together! 

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 11th from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early in case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. The school childcare fills up quickly on this day and is on a first come first serve basis.  I encourage you to find childcare for your little ones since this is a special celebration for mommies and their kindergarten student.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.  This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Our due date is quickly approaching for those Community Service projects. THREE MORE WEEKS! These will be due the first week of May - They will need to be turned in before May 11th to qualify for the Leadership Banquet. Please see our Community Service Tab for more information and feel free to email me if you have any questions.  


Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 11: Mother's Day Celebration 
Friday, May 18: Field trip to the Lewis Family Playhouse Theater (more information coming soon!
Monday, May 28: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 6: Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration 

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 frogs as we learn the life cycle of a tadpole.

Writing: We are learning to create THINKING MAPS to help with our writing. This week, we will use our knowledge of frogs and tadpoles to create a flow map, which sequences the steps of how a tadpole becomes a frog. We will learn how to use this flow map to help with our writing. 
 
Math: We will continue to work hard on decomposing and composing numbers within ten, as well as addition and subtraction, number bonds, and shapes. 

Leadership: We will continue to ROAR and discuss what it means to have a growth mindset!

Homework: April 9-13

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 -  (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).  

Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. 

Reading:  Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read your Book Bag every night. This includes: fluency passage, paper books, and library books. 

Writing: Practice writing EVERY day.  You can practice writing a 5 sentence Step up to Writing paragraph in your at-home journal.

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. 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.

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. It would be a great idea to print the addition and subtraction pages as well as all the number bonds pages for your child to practice at home each day. Stick these in a page protector and use an expo marker so you can reuse them day after day and not have to print a billion copies :) 

Turn-In Homework:  None this week, but if you have NOT turned in last week's special pictures and writing, please bring it this week: 

Last week's Homework: 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 at least 5 sentences about how you have changed and how you are different now. Note: YOU WILL GET THESE PICTURES BACK, I PROMISE! 

Weekly News: April 3-6

Welcome back to school! I hope you had a wonderful Easter and relaxing spring break! I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday! We will have a short, but fun first week back together. 

Electives and Success Academy will resume NEXT WEEK. 

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 11th from 11:00-12:30. More information to come. I wanted to let you know early in case you need to take the time off work or find childcare for little ones. The school childcare fills up quickly on this day and is on a first come first serve basis.  I encourage you to find childcare for your little ones since this is a special celebration for mommies and their kindergarten student.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.  This is SUCH a special celebration and we hope all of you mommies are able to make it!

Speaking of taking time off work, I will also let you know that we will be having our very special Last Day of Kindergarten Celebration on Wednesday, June 6th from 11:00-12:30. This is a celebration you will NOT want to miss, so mark your calendars NOW! :) 

Our due date is quickly approaching for those Community Service projects. ONE MORE MONTH. These will be due the first week of May - They will need to be turned in before May 11th to qualify for the Leadership Banquet. Please see our Community Service Tab for more information and feel free to email me if you have any questions.  

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 spring. We will continue to explore non-fiction texts as we discuss the main idea and key details from the text. Students will continue to read fluency passages at their levels and their self-selected good-fit books from the library. Many students have begun taking AR quizzes on books they have been reading. 

Writing: We are working on adding details to our stories. Some of us are even writing eight sentences now for Step Up to Writing, adding explanations after every "detail" sentence. For example: My spring break was so much fun.  First, I went to Disneyland.  I took a picture with Mickey Mouse.  Next, I went horseback riding.  I was a little scared but still enjoyed it.  Last, I visited my grandma.  I baked delicious chocolate chip cookies with her.  My spring break was a busy and fun time.
Math: We will continue to work hard on decomposing and composing numbers within ten. A fun game that we are learning to play in class that you can play at home: Take the face cards (jack, queen, king) out of a deck of cards so that you only have A(this is our number 1) through 9. Hold a card up to your forehead so that you cannot see it but your child can. Have your child tell you what YOU NEED to make 10 and guess your card. Take turns playing this - it is great practice for composing numbers. 

Leadership: We will continue to ROAR and discuss what it means to have a growth mindset!

Homework: April 3-6

Flashcards: Please make new flashcards for each new sight word and letter team. New words for this week are: SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN and the new letter team is: EIGH (sounding like the long "a" like in EIGHT and NEIGHBOR).

Phonemic Awareness: Please work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. 

Reading:  Play Smarty Ants for 10-15 minutes each night. Read your Book Bag every night. This includes: fluency passage, paper books, and library books. 

Writing: Practice writing EVERY day.  You can practice writing a 5 sentence Step up to Writing paragraph in your at-home journal.

Math: Play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. 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.

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. It would be a great idea to print the addition and subtraction pages as well as all the number bonds pages for your child to practice at home each day. Stick these in a page protector and use an expo marker so you can reuse them day after day and not have to print a billion copies :) 

SPECIAL Turn-In Homework:  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 at least 5 sentences about how you have changed and how you are different now. Note: YOU WILL GET THESE PICTURES BACK, I PROMISE!