Weekly News: April 29-May 3

We are watching our caterpillars grow and we think they will be in their chrysalis soon!  

IT'S TIME! Community Service Projects are due and will be presented THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS! 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 10th. 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!

We are getting ready for our very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 10th from 11:00-12:30 and hope all of you mommies can make it. If all of our mommies could please email me a "Mommy and Me" picture of your child with mommy (email: jcbess@inlandleaders.com), we are using it for something special! Also, please make sure you have childcare for your little ones. We are so excited to celebrate together! 


Upcoming Events:
Friday, May 10: Mother's Day Celebration 
Monday, May 27: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 5: 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! Since we have learned all of our letter teams for the year, we are having a competition to see who knows ALL of their letter teams. We have a special 100% Letter Team Club poster hanging on our wall that students have been excited to sign! 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, ways to make 10, 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! I am excited to see what amazing leaders we have in our classroom these next two weeks as you present your community service projects! 

Homework: April 29-May 3

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 100% Letter Team Club!  

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 passages, paper books, sight word and letter team pages, 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. 

DON'T FORGET TO WORK ON YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS AND PRESENTATIONS! THESE ARE DUE THE NEXT TWO WEEKS! 

Weekly News: April 22-26

We had so much fun celebrating Easter together. Check out some pictures on ParentSquare. On Monday, we will have a fun Earth Day celebration with fun Earth Day centers. We will also perform our Earth Day skits to our friends in class.  

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!

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 10th from 11:00-12:45. 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 10th 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 6-10. Please see our Community Service Tab for more information and feel free to email me if you have any questions. 


Upcoming Events:
Monday, April 22: Earth Day Centers 
Friday, May 10: Mother's Day Celebration 
Monday, May 27: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 5: 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 and flow map 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 22-26

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 passages, paper books, sight word and letter team pages, 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. 

DON'T FORGET TO WORK ON YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS AND PRESENTATIONS! THESE WILL BE DUE THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY! 

Weekly News: April 15-19

We will celebrate Easter together on Friday with an egg hunt, some fun games, and bunny crafts! If you are able to donate items, please sign up on ParentSquare. 

Next Monday is Earth Day! All week long, we will be learning all about recycling and discussing ways to help the Earth. In reading groups, we will learn about readers theater and practice reading a special Earth Day skit, then perform that skit for our classmates. We will also have a special Earth Day Homework this week. Check out the Homework tab for more information!  

Our Read-A-Thon week was so much fun and has come to an end. Please help your child count how many hours he or she has read (remember - 4 stars=1 hour!) on the Reading Rockstar Form, sign the bottom, and return to school next week. You may return these forms even if you did not collect pledges so that your child can be entered into the Read-A-Thon Participation Raffle for some fun prizes. If you DID receive pledges, make sure you also return your pledge forms and pledges this week, no later than Friday. Thank you for all of your support!


Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 10th from 11:00-12:45. 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 10th 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, April 19: Read-A-Thon forms and donations due
Friday, April 19: Easter/Spring Centers
Monday, April 22: Earth Day 
Friday, May 10: Mother's Day Celebration 
Monday, May 27: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 5: 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, as well as fun books about Easter and bunnies. 

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. Ask your child about all of the different math strategies they are learning in class! 

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

Homework: April 15-19

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. 

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 8-12

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 first ever Read-A-Thon is THIS WEEK! Monday, your child will be coming home with their "Reading Rockstar Form". For every 15 minutes your child reads, color a star. Be sure to send these back to school every day so students can color stars for minutes read at school as well. We are going to have fun reading events every day in class. Here's what our week of reading will look like: 

Monday: Buddy reading with friends from Mrs. Stanley's class 
Tuesday: Outdoor reading 
Wednesday: Read to a stuffed animal friend (bring your favorite stuffed animal!)
Thursday: Reading in the dark (if you have a flashlight from home, bring it to help you have fun reading in the dark!)
Friday: Relax and Read in our PJs. Wear your jammies! 

Keep collecting those pledges! Pledge forms, star forms, and money will be due back to school next Friday, April 19th. We are so excited to raise money for our partner school in Ghana!

We are also having a Read for Ghana Lemonshark Poke day on Tuesday, April 9th. Come grab some yummy food at Lemonshark Poke any time during the day and 20% of your proceeds will go towards the students in Ghana. There will be ILCS teachers reading at this event too! If you come at 6:00, I will be there doing a special read aloud then having dinner with my family. Join me! 

Save The Date: We will be having a very special Mother's Day celebration on Friday, May 10th from 11:00-12:45. 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 10th 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:
Tuesday, April 9: Read for Ghana Lemonshark Poke Day! 
Friday, April 19: Read-A-Thon forms and donations due
Friday, April 19: Easter/Spring Centers 
Friday, May 10: Mother's Day Celebration 
Monday, May 27: NO SCHOOL 
Wednesday, June 5: 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 have been learning how to make THINKING MAPS all year 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: This week, we will learn a fun card game called Got Your Number. This game helps us with addition, decomposing numbers, and composing ways to make ten. We are sending home directions for this game so that you can have fun playing at home! Students will continue to take math tests on addition and subtraction facts and number bonds. 

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

Homework: April 8-12

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. 

SPECIAL Turn-In Homework:  We had a special Sharing Homework last week. If you have not turned this in it, please bring it 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!