Sunday, February 22, 2015

February news

Many thanks again to Mrs. Morello, Mrs. Vogt, Mrs. Sokolowski, and Mrs. Oliveto for a great Valentine's Day party!  The kids had a lot of fun!

I hope all the kids enjoyed their week off!  It looks like the cold weather isn't going away, please make sure your child has his/her warm outdoor clothing for recess.

We now have all our sight words on our word wall.  They are...a, am, and, at, can, dad, go, I, in, is, it, like, look, me, mom, my, on, see, the, to, we, and you.  The "trick words" for the Fundations unit we are in are...by, he, she, for, of, with, said, and are.  (you should've received those before vacation)

Hopefully your child got a chance to read his/her "RAH" (Reading At Home) books.  These books are at his/her independent level and should not be challenging for your child.  These are meant to increase their confidence and the kids should not need too much support with them.  Please refer to the papers that were included in the bag for answers to most questions.  When your child brings the books back then they are able to borrow new books.  It is always exciting to take home new books!

I think the 26th will still be our 100th day!  The kids received a paper explaining that they may bring in a collection of 100 objects.  They can be glued onto a poster, a t-shirt, or put in a baggy...whatever works for you!  It is always fun to see what 100 really looks like!  Make sure it is something your child can easily transport to school.

You should have received an email with sign up information for the March conferences.  If you did not receive it, please let me know.


Wednesday, February 4, 2015

February News

It looks like Punxsutawney Phil was right....6 more weeks of winter!  The children have been outside for recess even with all this snow!  Please make sure to label all of your child's belongings, after recess there are mittens, gloves, hats and even random boots floating around in the hall!  They have been doing a pretty good job with dressing and undressing themselves (some tricky snowpants straps and a few hard to get on mittens, but otherwise they are independently getting ready!)

We will be having a special presentation on February 12th called "Star Lab", the kids will be able to see what all the constellations look like at night and find out cool facts and information about stars.

Our  Valentine's Day party will be held on the 13th, you will be receiving a class list tomorrow to help your child with cards.  Please make sure each child in the class receives a card.  I know our room moms are hard at work preparing for another wonderful party for our class!  Many thanks to Mrs. Morello and Mrs. Vogt in advance!  I appreciate all the goodies and supplies sent in as well.  Thank you to all who help make the parties a success!

It looks as though our 100th day of school will be after vacation.  Possibly the 25th of February?  (if we do not have any more snow days!).  Before vacation you will receive some information about putting together a group of 100.  This is an optional project you can do with your child and send in to be shared.

We continue our work on CVC words, they are getting very good at "tapping out" and "blending" the sounds.  Ask your child to tap out some simple 3 letter words for you!  The middle sounds (vowels) can be very hard for many.  You should have received the Unit 3 packet for Fundations, you will find some flash cards to cut out and practice.  They are referred to as "trick words" in this program (similar to our sight words or word wall words).

We have been writing in Writer's Workshop!  The boys and girls love being referred to as "writers."  They are writing about "what they know."  A good writer writes about what he or she knows and can teach someone else.  We have learned that "when you are done, you have just begun".  This means you can always add some detail, drawing, color or more words to your piece.

We have been learning about 3D shapes (they are responsible for knowing cube, cone, cylinder, and sphere).  We've made shapes with playdough, looked at some real life objects in our class (such as our globe, paper towel holder, party hat and tissue box) read some books about 3D shapes, and worked on a 3D book (even counting the "faces" of shapes).

Stay warm....