Friday, January 26, 2018

Week of January 29-February 2, 2018

Hello families,
We have reached the halfway point in the year, and our children have grown and changed so much already. When I look back at the work and photos from September, I am blown away by how grown they all seem now.
February is always a very busy month with fun kindergarten activities. We will celebrate Groundhog day on Friday, the 100th Day of school, Valentine's day, Chinese New Year, and we will go on a field trip on the 21st! We will finish the month by getting ready to read across America.

Here is what we have coming up:

Friday, 2/2: PH family dance. This is a fun event in the cafeteria for the whole family.

Monday, 2/12: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 2/13: the 100th day of school. The kids are super excited to celebrate the number 100 and everything they have learned so far this year! This week the kids took home directions for two assignments: First, they will need to bring in a collection of 100 items displayed in a creative way. They can get as creative as they want with this! I shared some ideas with the kids, so they should already be thinking about their project. These are due no later than Friday, february 9. On the 100th day they will share their collection.
Second, I sent home ziploc baggies with the kids' names on them this week. They will need to count 100 of some household item, put them in the bag and bring it to school . We will be using these for a few lessons while we count down to day 100. Many kids have sent these in and they are displayed on the back wall of the classroom.
We additionally need a few food items for this day for our 100th day trail mix.  I will have a sign up sheet for this in the back of the classroom beginning next week.

Wednesday, 2/14 Valentine's day. We will have a small celebration after lunch. Kids can bring in Valentine cards for the class, but I ask that they only write their names rather than writing who each card is for. This eliminates A LOT of unnecessary confusion

Monday 2/19: NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, 2/21: Field trip to the Sacramento Children's Theater production of "Rocket the Runaway Engine", 9:00-11:30 am. This is a free field trip to the theater at Luther Burbank highschool. We need 5 chaperones for this trip. I would love to give priority to those parents who weren't able to attend the pumpkin patch trip, so if you have been fingerprinted and would like to chaperone please let me know as soon as possible! **So far I only have 3 volunteers. We need 2 more please.***

Language Arts
We continue this week to work on reading and writing informational text. We are working on blending letters and sounds to make words every day. I listened to everyone read aloud this week, and used the results of this assessment to change the small groups for centers. Kids are with others of similar reading development level, which helps me when I teach small groups two times a week. I will listen to oral reading again near the end of February.

Math
THis week we will finish up with decomposing numbers to 10, and take the chapter test on Friday.

Thanks for reading everyone!
Have a super weekend

Friday, January 19, 2018

Week of January 22-26, 2018

Hello Families!
It’s been another busy week in room 4. We are counting down to the 100th day, and the kids can’t wait. Read on for some important information about our celebration.

Important Dates


Monday, 2/12: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 2/13: the 100th day of school. The kids are super excited to celebrate the number 100 and everything they have learned so far this year! During the days leading up to this the kids will have two extra homework assignments: First, they will need to bring in a collection of 100 items displayed in a creative way. They can get as creative as they want with this! I shared some ideas with the kids, so they should already be thinking about their project. These are due no later than Friday, february 9. On the 100th day they will share their collection.
Second, this Monday I will send home ziploc baggies with kids' names on them. They will need to count 100 of some household item, put them in the bag and bring it to school . We will be using these for a few lessons while we count down to day 100.
We additionally need a few food items for this day for our 100th day trail mix.  I will have a sign up sheet for this in the back of the classroom beginning next week.

Wednesday, 2/14 Valentine's day. We will have a small celebration after lunch. Kids can bring in Valentine cards for the class, but I ask that they only write their names rather than writing who each card is for. This eliminates A LOT of unnecessary confusion

Monday 2/19: NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, 2/21: Field trip to the Sacramento Children's Theater production of "Rocket the Runaway Engine", 9:00-11:30 am. This is a free field trip to the theater at Luther Burbank highschool. We need 5 chaperones for this trip. I would love to give priority to those parents who weren't able to attend the pumpkin patch trip, so if you have been fingerprinted and would like to chaperone please let me know as soon as possible!

Language Arts
This week the kids chose animals for their animal reserach projects. Next week they will begin working on their research. Their 5th grade buddies will help with using our laptops to look at the National Geographic Kids website for info about their animals.
We are continuing to work on blending sounds and letters to make words.
Our comprehension focus is learning about the features of informational text.

Math
This week we begin topic 9, More Addition and Subtraction.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions







Friday, January 12, 2018

week of January 15-19, 2018

Hello families,
We survived our first week back, and I am happy to say everyone transitioned from vacation mode to school mode very well! January is typically a month when we get a ton of work done, and we are off to a super start.
Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Monday 1/15: NO SCHOOL; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr day

Wednesday, 1/17: Room 4 to work in the school garden (weather permitting), 12:00-12:30. Everyone is welcome to join us!

Monday, 2/12: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 2/13: 100th day of school. More info to follow. We will have a couple of special homework assignments for this, and we will celebrate the number 100 all day. The kids are REALLY looking forward to it already.

Wednesday, 2/14 Valentine's day. We will have a small celebration after lunch. Kids can bring in Valentine cards for the class, but I ask that they only write their names rather than writing who each card is for. This eliminates A LOT of unnecessary confusion.

Monday, 2/19: NO SCHOOL

Language Arts
We will continue to focus on blending sounds to make words in our phonics lessons.
For writing and comprehension we will begin looking at informational text and learning about its features and how it differs from fiction. The kids will choose animals for animal reports.

Math
This week we will finish up the subtraction chapter and take the chapter test on Friday.

Thanks for reading, everyone!
Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions.