Week of April 1st

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you all had a restful, fun time with family! I really enjoyed my time with my kids :).

Spelling Words:
We have ten new spelling words this week. Remember, the first five words are kindergarten review words and the last five are introducing first grade words.

1. did
2. get
3. yes
4. can
5. had
6. each
7. which
8. out
9. about
10. day

Math:

We are finishing up our 2-dimensional shape study this week and will begin studying 3-dimensional shapes by the end of the week. We are hoping to finish up this unit by the end of next week. 

Science:

This week our class will begin studying all about trees. They will learn the main parts of the trees as well as the life cycle of a tree.

Intent to Return Letters:

Today your student brought home a letter that let's the school know if you are planning for your student to return to Vision next year. Please sign and return that paper as soon as possible so that we know how to plan for next year. 

Week of March 18th

I cannot believe we are already up to Spring Break! This year seems to just be flying by! That must mean we are having fun :).

Spelling Words:
Remember, the first five words on the list are kindergarten review words and the second five are new 1st grade words! Our words this week are:

1. it
2. at
3. in
4. us
5. an
6. then
7. them
8. these
9. their
10. than

Math:
We are continuing our work on 2-D shapes this week. We will be finishing those up this week and them moving on to 3-D shapes when we come back from Spring Break.

Art:
Our class will be studying James Whistler and his use of shape. They will be using chalk pastels and black paper to create their own replicas of one of James Whistler's pieces.

Homework:
Homework this week will be all of the usual except there is no fluency homework this week. We wanted to give those students who have missing homework to get caught up. Please look at your Parent Portal to see what your student's current grade is for homework and to check for any missing work. I can accept missing work through Friday of this week which is the last day of Quarter 3.

Spring Break:
We will NOT have school the 25th through the 29th for Spring Break! Your student is bringing home homework today, but there won't be any additional homework over Spring Break!

Roaring Readers:
Roaring readers are due by this Friday the 22nd. I will not accept any late entries this year. I will be mailing them off by the end of the day on Friday. Please make sure your student returns their log to me sometime this week.

Week of March 11th

Welcome back to another fun week in kindergarten! This week is a short week as we do NOT have school this Friday the 15th. Teachers will be at the school working and the administration will be working on the lottery for next year.

Spelling Words:
We have ten new words this week. Our test will be on Thursday since we don't have school on Friday. Starting last week we moved into our combination lists of kindergarten review words and 1st grade words. The first five are always our kindergarten words and the last five are first grade words.
Our words this week are:

1. go
2. be
3. me
4. he
5. we
6. how
7. when
8. way
9. who
10. sit

Math:
This week we are working on Geometry. We are focusing on 2-dimensional shapes to start with. Those shapes are:

1. circle
2. oval
3. square
4. triangle
5. rectangle
6. rhombus (not diamond)
7. trapezoid
8. pentagon
9. hexagon
10. octagon
11. heart
12. star
13. crescent

Their homework in math this week is asking them to find objects around their home that are the listed shapes. So for example they could say the face of the clock for a circle.

Fluency Homework:
Some of your students moved to kindergarten passages this week! The font is much smaller and more of a "book" font. You will also notice that their aren't as many sight words in it, they are still simple words that your student should be able to sound out with help. Remember the focus is to read how you talk, not like a robot :).

Book Orders:
Book orders are due by the end of the school day this Thursday the 14th. Please let me know if you want anything held back as a gift for your student :).

Snacks:
Thank you to all of you who sent in extra snacks! Our snack cupboard is restocked!! Thank you so much for your generosity :).

Week of March 4th

I hope everyone is feeling rested and better after the long weekend.

Spelling Words:
Our words this week are:

1. up
2. I
3. on
4. a
5. no
6. or
7. if
8. so
9. but
10. to

Math:
We took our test on Place Value today and it looks like they have done a great job! We will begin our unit on Geometry tomorrow. We will begin by studying two dimensional shapes and their attributes then move into three dimensional shapes and their attributes.

Book Orders:
Our book orders went home today. They are due back by the 14th. If you want to look at more of a selection, you can look on scholastic.com. Just use our class code (H7GK4) to make sure it ships with our order.

Roaring Readers:
If your student is participating in the Roaring to Read program, I need their reading log turned in by March 22nd of this month.

Week of February 25th

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this blog!

Spelling Words:
We will have our spelling test on Friday of this week.
Our words this week are:

1. what
2. was
3. with
4. here
5. she
6. her
7. by
8. my
9. small
10. all

Fluency Passages:
I have had some questions on fluency passages so I thought this might be the best way to answer them all. Fluency passages are not intended to have your student read super fast and not understand anything they read. The purpose of these is first to give many opportunities for repetitions of sight words, especially with those first passages. The second is to help students read with fluency which is necessary for comprehension. Fluency doesn't mean just speed. We explain it as reading "how you talk" or "with expression" (i.e. excited or questioning, pausing slightly at end marks and commas, etc.)

Math:
We will be finishing up our Place Value unit this week. Our test will be on Friday. I think they are going to do great!

Read Across America Week:
The remaining days for this week are:

Wednesday-Green Eggs & Ham day (wear green)

Thursday-"Read My Shirt" day (wear a shirt with school appropriate messages and writing that others can read)

Friday-"Cozy Up With a Good Book" day (wear PJs)

Roaring to Read:
I sent home flyers about the Roaring to Read program in December. If your student is participating I need their reading log back no later than March 22nd. This gives me time to get everything together and sent in before Spring Break.

Week of February 19th

I hope you all enjoyed your four day weekend! This week is going to be a little different, so please read carefully and be sure to email me with any questions or concerns.

Spelling Words:
We are NOT introducing any new spelling words this week. Last week's list was tough and our kiddos didn't do as well on the spelling test. We are going to practice the same list of words this week and re-test on THURSDAY. If your student got 100%, they do not need to retake the test and I will provide something else for them to do during that time. After they take the test on Thursday, I will take the higher score from last week or this week.
The words are:

1. as
2. is
3. has
4. now
5. down
6. the
7. they
8. there
9. this
10. that

Fluency Passages:

We will NOT be sending home fluency passages this week. Our EA that does the cold reads is only available to do that on Monday and since it is a short week, we will just skip it this week. :) 

Math:

We are continuing our work on Place Value this week. 

100th Day of School:

This Friday the 22nd is the 100th day of school! Your student is welcome to dress up as a 100 year old person if they would like. We have all sorts of activities planned for Friday to celebrate being 100 days smarter!

I wanted to give you a head's up that I will not be at school this Thursday or Friday. My son is having surgery so I will be with him. Mrs. Harmon will be covering my class so my kiddos won't miss a beat! I just wanted you to know so that if you email me, I wanted you to know it will take me a bit longer to get back to you. I will try to check my email periodically so that I can pass on any pertinent information. I appreciate your patience!

Week of February 11th

Welcome back to another fun week in Kindergarten! I hope you all had fun in the snow over the weekend!

Spelling Words:
We have ten new spelling words this week. I am so proud of how they are doing on these! I am also proud of their handwriting! It is something we have been working really hard on in class and I think it really showed on their spelling test last week!
Our words this week are:

1. the
2. that
3. there
4. this
5. they
6. as
7. is
8. has
9. now
10. down

Math:
We are continuing our work on place value this week but we will also be doing some fun Valentine's related math.

Valentine's Day:
We will be celebrating Valentine's on Thursday the 14th this week. Your student is welcome to bring in a valentine for each child in class. We will be passing those out and opening them up and having a small snack to go with it. It is a pretty low-key party. You are welcome to join us if you want to!

100th Day of School:
Next Friday the 22nd is the 100th Day of School. We will be celebrating with all sorts of fun activities. Students are invited to dress up like they are 100 years old if they would like to. I will send out more details on next week's blog.

Read Across America:
Kindergarten-5th grade will be celebrating Read Across America the week of the 25th this month.
The days are:

Monday-One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish day (wear red and blue)

Tuesday-Fox in Socks day (wear crazy socks)

Wednesday-Green Eggs & Ham day (wear green)

Thursday-"Read My Shirt" day (wear a shirt with school appropriate messages and writing that others can read)

Friday-"Cozy Up With a Good Book" day (wear PJs)