Weekly News: December 3-7

We are FULL of information this week so please take a moment to read carefully so you don't miss out on anything! Thank you!

Next Monday, December 10th is Grandparents Day at ILCS! Our TK through 2nd grade classes will be performing some holiday songs in the sanctuary, then we invite all grandparents back to our classroom to do a special craft together. Times for Grandparents Day TBD so keep checking your ParentSquare emails from the school! 


Gingerbread Man Information: 

Details: We will be performing our kindergarten play, "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" on the evening of Tuesday, December 18th at 7:00. TK will have a small performance at 5:00, then Mrs. Bobrink and Mrs. Marion's classes will  perform at 6:00 and Mrs. Bess and Mrs. Stanley's classes will perform at 7:00. Because of so much going on this evening and the limited amount of parking, we are asking you to arrive at the Cub's Den (church sanctuary) at 6:45 to get your costume on and get ready. If you come any earlier, another class may still be performing/taking pictures/etc. and we want to be respectful of their time. Please arrive at 6:45. Our rehearsals have been going well and the students are having so much fun! We hope that all parents are able to make this wonderful event! 

Parent Help for the Play: We are in need of parent helpers on the morning of Monday, December 17th (8:15-9:15) to help us with our "dress rehearsal". We will also need parent helpers on the morning of Tuesday, December 18th (around 9:00) to help us with our school day performance, and will also need parents to help put on costumes for our Tuesday evening performance at 6:45. If anyone is able to come help, please let us know! The more, the better! Thank you!

Play Costumes: We are providing all of the costumes and props for your children. We ask that your child come to school on Tuesday (the 18th) morning and Tuesday (the 18th) evening wearing a plain black or white shirt and black leggings or pants so that it is easier to put their costumes over their clothes :) If you are a farmer, please wear jeans instead of black pants, but we will provide the rest of your costume. The only costume that we do NOT provide is the narrator - we ask that the narrators please dress in "Sunday Best".

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, December 10: Grandparent's Day - more info coming! 

Tuesday, December 18: The Tale of the Gingerbread Man 

Thursday, December 20: Holiday Celebration/Centers 

Friday, December 21: No School! Happy Winter Break! 

If you are at the store thinking of us, our classroom would love:

Christmas/Holiday stickers and trinkets 

Baby Wipes!!!

Black Expo Markers 

What Are We Learning This Week?:

Sight Words: OUR, WHO, THING, THINK, THAT.

Letter Team: INK (like in PINK, SINK) and ED (We are learning that tricky Mr. ED goes at the end of the word to tell us that something has already happened - making the word past tense. Mr. ED is tricky because sometimes he makes the "T" sound - like in LOOKED, sometimes he makes the "D" sound - like in PLAYED, and sometimes he says "ED" like in WANTED).

Reading: We are reading many books about the holidays. Students will continue to take home leveled Reading A to Z books and library books in our book bags. Please practice reading these sheets and these books every day at home. Please remember that everything in your book bag MUST come back to school every day! 

Writing: We will continue to work on our writing goals as we strive to write three to five sentences every day. Some students will be writing topic sentences, three details, and a conclusion sentence. 

Math: We will continue working on fun Christmas story problems and playing fun addition games.  

Leadership: Don't forget to ROAR everyday to keep earning those ROAR tickets! 

Homework: December 3-7

Flashcards: Make flashcards for our new sight words (OUR, WHO, THINK, THING, THAT), and letter teams (INK and ED). Study flashcards every day.

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

Reading: Continue to read books from your book bag. Continue to read the little paper books that come home. Continue to read TO your child every night, having conversations about the stories you are reading. Continue to log onto Smarty Ants for 10-15 at least a few times a week. 

You can find the link for Smarty Ants on the right side tab of our website. Our class username is: JCBESS@INLANDLEADERS.COM and our password is: READ.

Writing: As discussed at parent conferences, write in your at-home journal every day. Continue to work with your child on the writing goals they need to master. While we ARE all at different writing goals, the in-class expectation is now that each child will write three or more sentences every day. Please reinforce this at home with writing homework.

Math: Continue to work on number ID, number writing, counting to 100, and counting forward. Work with your child on addition and subtraction. You will start to see these tests come home - adding +0, one more, one less, and facts within five. Go over these tests and work on areas where your child may need support. 

QR Codes: Download and print the QR Code practice pages on ParentSquare. Work on these pages together. 

Weekly News: November 26-30

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 each week to read through our news and upcoming events so that you don't miss out on anything. Thank you!

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". 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. Our kindergarten classes will be doing two performances in the evening (so that hopefully all moms and dads can attend) on Tuesday, December 18th.  Mrs. Bobrink and Mrs. Marion's classes will perform at 6:00 and Mrs. Bess and Mrs. Stanley's classes will perform at 7:00. Please mark your calendars now. This is an event you will not want to miss! We will give more information about costumes, help, and times to be there as it gets closer. 

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, December 10: Grandparent's Day - more info coming! 

Tuesday, December 18: The Tale of the Gingerbread Man 

Thursday, December 20: Holiday Celebration/Centers 

Friday, December 21: No School! Happy Winter Break! 

If you are at the store thinking of us, our classroom would love:

Christmas/Holiday stickers and trinkets 

Baby Wipes!!!

Black Expo Markers 

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 will continue taking home leveled Reading A to Z books this week. These books will come back to school every day. Please read these books with your child, working on various reading strategies as we discussed at parent conferences. Students will also still self-select library books to take home each day. 

Writing: We will continue to work on our writing goals as we strive to write three to five sentences every day. Some students will be writing topic sentences, three details, and a conclusion sentence. 

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 and playing fun addition games. 

Leadership: Don't forget to ROAR everyday to keep earning those ROAR tickets! 

Homework: November 26-30

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 work with your child on: rhyming, blending, segmenting, syllables, and beginning/middle/ending sounds. Please check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Foundational Skills areas where they may still need support.

Reading: Continue to read books from your book bag. Continue to read the little paper books that come home. Continue to read TO your child every night, having conversations about the stories you are reading. Continue to log onto Smarty Ants for 10-15 at least a few times a week. 

You can find the link for Smarty Ants on the right side tab of our website. Our class username is: JCBESS@INLANDLEADERS.COM and our password is: READ.

Writing: As discussed at parent conferences, write in your at-home journal every day. Continue to work with your child on the writing goals they need to master. While we ARE all at different writing goals, the in-class expectation is now that each child will write three or more sentences every day. Please reinforce this at home with writing homework.

Math: Continue to work on number ID, number writing, counting to 100, counting forward and telling ONE MORE. Continue to play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night.  Please check your child's report card from first trimester and see the Counting and Cardinality area where they may still need support, as discussed at parent conferences. 

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Our school code for Dreambox is X2we/inlandlcs

QR Codes: Download and print those QR Codes each week from ParentSquare and have your child work on those at home!

Weekly News: November 12-16

There is no school on Monday, November 12th due to Veteran's Day and no school Tuesday, November 13th due to parent conferences. Enjoy the FOUR day weekend with your families and I will see you at your parent conference on Tuesday! 

Thank you very much for donating to our Thanksgiving Food Box! What a wonderful way to give during this holiday season :)

A big thanks to all the parents who came out to support our class at the APEX Fun Run! Make sure to check out our pictures on ParentSquare. 

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 16th. We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!  We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together! Thank you for signing up to donate items for our feast!  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 11:45 for set up.  The feast will begin at 12:15 down on the playground. We need need LOTS of help for set up and tear down! Thank you in advance!

Mark your calendars now!  We will be having our very own special kindergarten play, "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" on the evening of Tuesday, December 18th. MUCH MORE information to come, but I know December is a busy month and you do not want to miss this, so mark your calendars now! We have already started learning all of the songs and we will have "auditions" this week. Each student will have a very special role in our play. Before we leave for break, we will be sending home lyrics and CDs so that you can start practicing over break. Have fun! 

I am placing our holiday Scholastic Book Order on Friday! Don't forget to get your orders in - books make great gifts for the holidays! 

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

What Are We Learning This Week:

This week, we will have fun reading and writing about Thanksgiving and playing Thanksgiving games. We will review everything we have learned so far in kindergarten. We will also be studying pilgrims and indians and working on fun Thanksgiving projects! There will be no new sight words or letter teams until after break and no new QR codes posted. Please take this time to review ALL of our first trimester sight words and letter teams. Don't forget that you can still log on to Smarty Ants and Dreambox over break! 

Weekly News: November 5-9

There is no school on Monday, November 12th due to Veteran's Day and no school Tuesday, November 13th due to parent conferences. 

I can't believe we are already done with our First Trimester of Kindergarten! Parent Conferences are NEXT 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. If possible, please make other arrangements for your children, as parent conferences are for parents and teachers only. Thank you!

The APEX Fun Run is Thursday! Whether you have received pledges or not, every child will participate in the run. Your child will be getting a special drawstring bag to run with on this day. Please send your child to school in appropriate clothing and running shoes on this day.  Thank you!! You are more than welcome to come and cheer on our runners. More info coming your way via ParentSquare this week. 

Our kindergarten classes will be having a combined Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, November 16th. We are looking forward to a great, big Thanksgiving celebration together!  We will be making many items for our feast in the classroom together! If you are able to donate items for our feast, we would really appreciate it - be on the look out for the ParentSquare sign up coming soon!  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 11:45 for set up.  The feast will begin at 12:15. We need need LOTS of help for set up and tear down! Thank you in advance!

Mark your calendars now!  We will be having our very own special kindergarten play, "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" on the evening of Tuesday, December 18th. MUCH MORE information to come, but I know December is a busy month and you do not want to miss this, so mark your calendars now! 

I have sent home our holiday Scholastic Book Order. Scholastic books make great gifts for the holidays and they are super inexpensive. I want to give you a few weeks to shop but I also want to make sure you receive your books before Christmas, so orders will be due the Friday before Thanksgiving break, November 16th. Have fun shopping! 

What Are We Learning This Week:

Sight Words: This week we are reviewing our tricky W words - WENT, WHEN, WHAT, WAS, WANT. Please continue to practice all sight words that we have learned in the first trimester, especially those your child has misread on their Friday Sight Word Tests.

Letter Team: GE/GI (the soft sound of G which sounds like J, like in GENTLE and GIANT).

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. We will continue to read our paper books and books from our class library. 

Writing: This week, we are learning how to write a topic sentence. We will use fun fall story starter sentences as our topic sentence, then continue to write three sentences about our topic, focusing on neatness, proper punctuation, capitalization, and spacing. 

Math: We will work on fun Thanksgiving story problems and games this week. We will also begin to take addition and subtraction tests. 

Leadership: For the month of November, our whole school will be focusing on the A of ROAR: Act Safely. We will talk about what that means and how we can act safely in the classroom, while walking, and at recess. 

Homework: November 5-9

Flashcards: Study flashcards for our review sight words (WENT, WHEN, WHAT, WAS, WANT,) Make Flashcards for the new letter teams (GE and GI).   Study flashcards every day. 

Phonemic Awareness: Keep working with your child on skills such as blending, segmenting, rhyming, syllables, and sound switch.  

Reading: Continue to read books from your book bag. Continue to read the little paper books that come home. Continue to read TO your child every night, having conversations about the stories you are reading. Continue to log onto Smarty Ants for 10-15 at least a few times a week. 

You can find the link for Smarty Ants on the right side tab of our website. Our class username is: JCBESS@INLANDLEADERS.COM and our password is: READ.

Writing: Continue to work with your child on the writing goals they need to master. While we ARE all at different writing goals, the in-class expectation is now that each child will write three or more sentences every day. Please reinforce this at home with writing homework. 

Math: Continue to play Dreambox for 10-15 minutes each night. Continue to count to 30 (or 50 or 100!) every day, practice number flashcards out of order, practice writing your numbers to 20 or higher, practice identifying shapes and drawing shapes. Remember to also go over our "Daily Math" practice pages that we do every morning in class - take a moment to go over these practice pages to see if there is anything specific your child needs to work on. 

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Our school code for Dreambox is X2we/inlandlcs

QR Codes: Download and print those QR Codes each week from ParentSquare and have your child work on those at home!