Happy December

I want to start by thanking each and everyone of you who reached out to me these last few days when I've been out with bronchitis.  This is a class full of sweet kids with even sweeter families!  I have never had bronchitis before and I sure hope I never get it again; it isn't fun!  While not 100%, I am feeling much better and am happy to be back at school with your precious little ones.  The doctor said I will probably still have a cough for 4-6 weeks, but should get better each day.  I'm hoping my winter break is better than my Thanksgiving break was!  Between me and my doggie Charlie (who is still with us, but I'm afraid not much longer....he has declined greatly this week as well) it hasn't been an easy Fall.  I can promise you that I have NEVER missed as much work in all my years of teaching as I have this year and I apologize for that.  Here's to hoping 2018 is much better!

Thanks again for all of the love over the last few weeks! 

A look at our learning...

Fundations:we did not learn new letters or letter sounds this week due to me being absent.  Each day they reviewed the letters and sounds previously learned through a variety of cut and paste worksheets.  They brought these home throughout the week.  Your child should be able to sort words by beginning/ending sounds, tell you beginning/ending sounds and write simple 3 letter words by using the letters/sounds they have learned in fundations.  

Shared Reading: we read the big books He said no and What is at the zoo?  They featured our words of the week, yes and no.  They now have their own copies of these books in their book boxes to practice daily at Read to Self time.  

Next week's new words:

it

in

if

Math: we started Unit 4 this week.  Please see the handouts in the Friday Folder to see what we will focus on this unit and ways you can extend learning at home.  Please continue to also work on counting (60 is the Feb. goal, 100 end of Kindergarten goal) and writing numbers with correct formation (20 is the Feb. goal, 31 end of Kindergarten goal).

Scholastic Book Orders are in this week's Friday Folder.  They are due next Friday, December 8th, to ensure delivery before winter break.  Books make WONDERFUL stocking stuffers or Christmas presents and it is typically cheaper to order through Scholastic as opposed to a book store.  Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. Cash is not accepted.  

Don't forget to turn in November reading logs.  December reading logs are in the Friday Folder.  

November Lunch with the Principal

Yay Hendrix!

He was chosen to have 

"Lunch with the Principal"

for the month of November!

Today we made books and bracelets to help us tell the story of the First Thanksgiving.  Ask your child to tell you the story like our friend does in the video below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy a few songs from your little turkeys!

They are coming home with "thankful" crowns they made today.  They are blessed with so much and I'm thankful for all 18 of them and the wonderful families in this class!

Our week at a glance

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for the lowercase x and y.  We will not introduce new letters until after Thanksgiving break.

Please use the following verbal prompts when practicing at home:

x-slant down, slant down

y-slant down, slant dow...n

Shared Reading: we learned a few Thanksgiving poems that featured our new word wall words on and we: Turkey, Turkey and I'm a little Indian. Ask your child to sing these songs to you! We also read the books The Sandwich and We Make Cookies.

 We will not introduce new word wall words until after Thanksgiving break.

Please continue to practice reading and writing our current word wall words with your child next week, especially ones they miss on their weekly test.

Math: check your child's Friday Folder for worksheets to reinforce this week's learning at home.  Book 2 of the "math at home" booklets are also in their folders. These are for you to use and keep at home.  We have also included directions on how your child can access Everyday math games at home on a tablet or computer.  They haven't learned how to do this at school yet, but will begin learning on their next Media Center day (the Monday after Thanksgiving break.) 

playing "roll & record" to help us with
correct number formation

Playing "roll & record" to help us with
correct number formation.

Writing Workshop: 

The steps the children follow
when writing

What a Kindergarten piece of writing
looks like at this point in the year.
"I went to Lazer Lanes."

Makerspace Friday: today we visited Mrs. Fitch in the library for an hour for Makerspace time.  The children were able to explore various STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities.  They had a blast and these would make great Christmas ideas!

November Citizen of the Month

Congratulations to Max!

He was chosen, by his classmates, as our

November Citizen of the Month!

We are so proud of you!

Heroes and Grandparents Day

Today was a wonderful day!

I love our school tradition of honoring our veterans, heroes and grandparents on this day each year.

Enjoy the slideshow below and be sure to turn up the sound to enjoy the music

November News

I enjoyed meeting with everyone on Monday at parent-teacher conferences and look forward to more tonight!  I love sharing all the things your wonderful children are learning!  Have a great weekend.  Don't forget, NO SCHOOL tomorrow.

We are excited for Heroes/Grandparent's Day on Monday.
Don't forget to send your child to school in their BEU attire or our school colors of blue and green on this day.  There is an order form in this week's Friday Folder for BEU attire if your child doesn't have any.  We love for everyone to wear their spirit wear every Monday.

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we learned the lowercase letters v and w this week.

v-slant down, slant up

w-slant down, slant up, slant down, slant up

Shared Reading: we read the big book Carlos and his teacher and 3 poems: Turkey, Turkeys  and Jack and Jill to help us learn our new word wall words, and & me.

Next week's spelling words:

we

on

Math: check the Friday Folder for several ways you can extend this week's learning at home.  You can also work on counting to 60 and writing/identifying numbers 0-20.  Those are two of our goals for the end of 2nd trimester in February.  Writing numbers in the teens are always the trickiest, as they tend to write them backwards....61 instead of 16, etc.  

Writing: we are getting better and better at writing sentences to go along with our pictures.

Next week we will be cleaning out our writing folders and sending home the stories we have written so far this year.   You can look at your child's writing and see how their work compares to our goals below.  These were written by some of our Kindergarten friends this year!

Fun things this week...

watching the workers on the playground 

craft for Veteran's Day