Week of January 5-9, 2015

Hello Room 4 families!

It's hard to believe we are heading into 2015. I am so proud of the work the kids have done so far this year. They have learned so much, and there is no stopping them!

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates:

TODAY, December 19: Free dress day; Room 4 holiday celebration, 11:45-12:45 pm. Thank you to everyone who has been sending in supplies for this. I think we have everything we need, and plenty of parent helpers!

12/22-1/2/15: NO SCHOOL; Happy holidays!!

Monday, 1/19: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; no school

Friday, 1/23: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:45-9:30 am. Please let me know if you'd like to come help out that day.

Friday, February 13 (PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE!) : Field trip to the Sacramento Children's Theater production of The Artful Mouse.
We are limited to 3 fingerprinted parent chaperones for this field trip. If you would like to attend and didn't get a chance to come to the pumpkin patch, please let me know.

Language Arts:
Letter/sound focus: /h/, /t/, short o.
New sight words: like, too
We will begin reading and writing informational text in January.

Math:
We will begin a new chapter on understanding addition. Watch for lots of practice with this in the homework!

Thank you for reading, everyone! I hope you all have a relaxing, enjoyable holiday with your families. I will see everyone in January.

Week of December 15-19, 2014

Hello Room 4 Families
We are so busy in room 4 learning, working, and getting ready for the holidays!

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Tonight, 12/12: Winter Craft Fair, 6-8 pm in the cafeteria.

Friday, December 19: Free dress day; Room 4 holiday celebration, 11:45-12:45 pm. Thank you to everyone who has been sending in supplies for this. I think we have everything we need, and plenty of parent helpers!

12/22-1/2/15: NO SCHOOL; Happy holidays!!

Monday, 1/19: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; no school

Friday, 1/23: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:45-9:30 am. Please let me know if you'd like to come help out that day.

Tuesday, February 3: Field trip to the Sacramento Children's Theater production of The Artful Mouse.
We are limited to 3 fingerprinted parent chaperones for this field trip. If you would like to attend and didn't get a chance to come to the pumpkin patch, please let me know.

Language Arts
Letter/sound focus: long o, long u, /p/,  and short a.
New sight word: at
Writing: This week we will write about what we would do if we were an elf, and begin a procedural paragraph on how to dress a snowman.

Math

This week we will review what we have learned so far this year. Near the end of the week the kids will take a test on the first 5 chapters we have covered on numbers 1-100 and comparing numbers 1-20.

Parent help during centers
We are looking for someone to help out on Tuesday mornings during centers time from 8:10-9:00am.
This would be every other Tuesday  begining on the 13th of January. If this is something you're interested in, or want more information, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, everybody! Enjoy your weekend. If you have questions email me at carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of December 8-12, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!

We have been very busy in Room 4 this week. 

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates:

Monday, 12/8; Craft Fair preparations; 8:10-9:00 am in the cafeteria. If you would like to help please see or email our room parent Heather Yetter. Thank you to everyone who has sent in money to help cover the cost of our craft. Please send your $4 to school as soon as possible, so we can reimburse the people who bought our supplies!

Wednesday, 12/10: picture retake day. Free dress only for those students taking photos.

Friday, 12/12: Winter Craft Fair; 6-8pm in the cafeteria

Friday, 12/19: Free dress day; winter holiday celebration 11:45-12:45in Room 4. I would love to have 6-8 parents or grandparents to help during this time. Please let me know if you'd like to volunteer.

12/22-1/2: NO SCHOOL

Language Arts

This week we began our big focus on letter sounds, listening for those sounds in spoken words, and writing the letters and sounds. We worked on the long a and the /s/ sounds this week. Next week we will focus on long e, /m/, long i, /d/, and long o.

New sight words: can, what, you

In writing we are finishing up an opinion paragraph on which season we prefer, fall or summer.

We will also finish up our unit on telling stories from pictures.

Math

We will take our chapter test on numbers to 20 today (Friday, 12/5) and then begin a chapter on numbers to 100 on Monday 12/8.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please don't hesitate to stop by or email if you have questions or concerns. 

carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of December 1-5, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!
I enjoyed meeting with all of you this week during conferences. Thank you for taking time out of your busy days to come talk about your child's progress.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates:

12/1-12/5: Scholastic Book Fair in the library. Kindergarteners can visit the book fair with parents after school or on Wednesday, when it will be open until 6. Please let me know if you have questions.

12/10: Picture re-take day

12/12: PH Craft Faire; 6-8 pm in the cafeteria

12/19: free dress day

12/22-1/2 HAPPY HOLIDAYS! No school

Language Arts
This week we will finish up our unit on telling stories from pictures. The kids have been doing an excellent job talking about setting and what the characters are doing, saying, and feeling.
We have begun to do a lot of blending sounds to make words. The kids are excited about this, and they have been very successful. Keep reading every day for at least 20 minutes!
New sight word: on
This week we will begin our first opinion writing piece about which season we prefer--Fall or Summer.

Math
This week we will finish the chapter on numbers to 20. We will plan to take the chapter test on Friday.

Thanks for reading, everyone!
I hope you all have a relaxing Thanksgiving Holiday with your families.
Please don't hesitate to email carrie.relles@gmail.com or stop by if you have questions or concerns.

Week of November 10-14, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!
We had another super week in Room 4. I've been doing a lot of testing in preparation for report cards and parent/teacher conferences, and the kids are really showing what they know!

Important Dates
Monday, November 10: picture day; free dress. Please send your order form and payment on Monday with your child. Our scheduled picture time is 9:25 am

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans' Day; NO SCHOOL

Thursday, November 13-Friday, November 21: Parent/teacher conferences; early dismissal. I will walk the kids to the cafeteria at 11:50. You can either pick them up there then or after they eat at 12:20.

Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28: Thanksgiving Holiday; NO SCHOOL

Monday, December 1-Friday, December 5: Book Fair in the library

Wednesday, December 10: Picture re-take day

Language Arts
Letter experts: this week your child was given a letter to be the "expert" of. Ask your child what his/her letter is. Beginning on Monday I will encourage them to bring in small items from home that begin with their letter sound. For example, if they are the Bb expert, they could bring in a bouncy ball, a book, etc.
This week's new sight words were go, up, down. Next week's new words are do, has, who.
Next week we begin focusing on putting sounds together to make words orally.

Math
This week we continue our chapter on comparing and ordering numbers to 10. We will take the chapter test at the end of the week.

Thank you for reading, everyone! Have a fantastic weekend. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of October27-31, 2014

Happy Friday, everyone!
We had a wonderful field trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday! Thank you again to the parents and grandparents who accompanied us. Field trips are not possible without our fantastic volunteers.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Today: We will be working in the garden at 8:30. Be sure to ask your child what we did out there!

Saturday, October 25: Harvest Festival; 3-6:30 pm. Thanks to everyone who volunteered to work at our class booth and in other ways. Our school is able to have enrichment programs because of fund raisers like this!

Friday, October 31: Free Dress day (no costumes!); jog-a-thon. I will send out information about what time kindergarteners run as soon as I receive it. If you can, come cheer us on!

Monday, November 10: School picture day

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans' Day; NO SCHOOL

Thursday, November 13-Friday, November 21: Parent/Teacher conferences. Kindergarteners are dismissed at 11:50 for lunch in the cafeteria. YOu can pick them up before they eat at 11:50, or they can eat and then be picked up at 12:20 in the cafeteria.

November 24-28: Thanksgiving Holiday; NO SCHOOL

Language Arts

This week we finish up working on familiarity with letter names and shapes. We will begin focusing on letter sounds and how sounds work together to make words. We will begin oral blending of word parts, which leads to early success with reading. Ask your child about blending time later next week.
New sight words: it, no, this

Writing: We will finish up paragraphs on what we do to get ready for school.

Math: 
On Monday we will take our test on numbers 6-10. Then we will begin chapter 4 on comparing and ordering numbers 0-10.

Science
This week we will wrap up our unit on plants/pumpkins. The kids will take home their pumpkin seedlings, which they have been watching grow for two weeks.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of October 20-24, 2014

Hello Room 4 families,
We have had a busy week reading and learning about pumpkins and how they grow, We even planted pumpkin seeds! We are ready for next week's field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates:
Thursday, October 23: Field Trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch in West Sac. We will be taking the bus. Thank you to everyone who sent in permission slips and money for the trip. Parents who volunteered to come with us, look for an email from me early next week about the trip. As a reminder, this is a uniform day. We will be eating lunch at the pumpkin patch, so it's important for all kids to bring a lunch that day. Also, please send your child to school in shoes that will be ok walking through a pumpkin patch!

Friday, October 24: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:45-9:30. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to help that day. We will see you at 8:45!

Saturday, October 25: Harvest Festival, 3:00-6:30. This is a fun event for the whole family, and an easy way to earn parent hours. Please email our fabulous room parents Heather or Carolyn if you would like to help with the Room 4 booth. Wristbands and tickets can be purchased in front of the office before and after school.

Friday, October 31: Free Dress Day (no costumes!); school jog-a-thon. In order to be eligible for prizes, envelopes with pledges need to be returned by Friday 10/17 (today!!)

Monday, November 10: Picture day--more info to follow.

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans' Day; no school

Thursday, November 13-Friday, November 21: Parent/Teacher conferences; shortened day schedule. Kindergarteners are dismissed to the cafeteria on these days at 11:50, where they can either be picked up or eat lunch until 12:20 and then be picked up. I will be sending an email about scheduling your parent/teacher conferences early next week.

Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28: Thanksgiving Holiday; NO SCHOOL

Language Arts
Letter focus: Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
New sight words: big, have, small
This week we will practice counting spoken words in sentences and putting words in order. We will begin counting syllables in spoken words and talking about how usually words with more syllables are longer words.
We will begin a writing piece on how we get ready for school in the morning. This will be the first time we go through the writing process: brainstorming, planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing.

Math
We are working on numbers 6-10. By the end of this chapter kids should be able to count objects to and write independently numbers 6-10.

Science:
We are continuing to learn about pumpkins this week. The kids will be reading and writing about the lifecycle of pumpkins.

Thanks for reading, everyone!
Please email or stop by if you have questions or concerns. carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of October 13-17, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!
We had a super week in Room 4. Your children work hard every day, and they are learning so much.

Important Dates
Thursday, October 23: Field Trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch in West Sac. We will be taking the bus. If you have not sent in your child's permission slip and $5.50, please do so as soon as possible. If you would like to accompany us on this trip and you have been fingerprinted, please let me know. As a reminder, this is a uniform day. We will be eating lunch at the pumpkin patch, so it's important for all kids to bring a lunch that day.

Friday, October 24: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:45-9:30. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to help that day. We will see you at 8:45!

Saturday, October 25: Harvest Festival, 3:00-6:30. This is a fun event for the whole family, and an easy way to earn parent hours. Please email our fabulous room parents Heather or Carolyn if you would like to help with the Room 4 booth.

Friday, October 31: Free Dress Day (no costumes!); school jog-a-thon. In order to be eligible for prizes, envelopes with pledges need to be returned by Friday 10/17.

Monday, November 10: Picture day--more info to follow.

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans' Day; no school

Thursday, November 13-Friday, November 21: Parent/Teacher conferences; shortened day schedule. Kindergarteners are dismissed to the cafeteria on these days at 11:50, where they can either be picked up or eat lunch until 12:20 and then be picked up. I will be sending an email about scheduling your parent/teacher conferences soon.

Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28: Thanksgiving Holiday; NO SCHOOL

Language Arts
Next week we will focus on the names and shapes of Ss, Tt, Uu, and Vv.
New sight words: he, she
We have been learning about vowels and what makes them special (every word has at least one vowel and vowels make two sounds). When reading with your child you can reinforce what he/she is learning at school by looking for sight words in the books you read and talking about vowels.
Next week we will also continue to count the number of words we hear in spoken sentences.
We will also begin some writing using adjectives to describe spiders.

Math
Next week we will wrap up our second chapter on comparing and ordering numbers 0-5. We will take the chapter test on Monday and then begin our next chapter on counting, reading, and writing numbers 6-10 on Tuesday.

Science
This week we will continue our life science unit on plants. We will learn about parts of plants and their lifecycles. We will read a lot about pumpkins in preparation for our pumpkin patch trip on the 23rd.

Thank you for reading, everyone! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns--carrie.relles@gmail.com

Have a great weekend!

Week of October 6-10, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!
October is off to a super start in Room 4.
Thank you to everyone who has been helping with our centers time in the mornings. It is a very important time for your kids to practice what they have been learning in small groups.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates:

Thursday, October 23: Field Trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch in West Sac. We will be taking the bus. If you have not sent in your child's permission slip and $5.50, please do so as soon as possible. If you would like to accompany us on this trip and you have been fingerprinted, please let me know. As a reminder, this is a uniform day. We will be eating lunch at the pumpkin patch, so it's important for all kids to bring a lunch that day.

Friday, October 24: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:45-9:30. We would love to have 1-2 more parent helpers for this. If you'd like to help please let me know.

Saturday, October 25: Harvest Festival, 3:00-6:30

Friday, October 31: Free Dress Day (no costumes!); school jog-a-thon. I hope everyone's jog-a-thon envelope made it home on Tuesday. In order to be eligible for prizes, those need to be returned by 10/17.

Monday, November 10: Picture day--more info to follow.

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans' Day; no school

Thursday, November 13-Friday, November 21: Parent/Teacher conferences; shortened day schedule. Kindergarteners are dismissed to the cafeteria on these days at 11:50, where they can either be picked up or eat lunch until 12:20 and then be picked up. I will be sending an email about scheduling your parent/teacher conferences in a couple of weeks.

Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28: Thanksgiving Holiday; NO SCHOOL

Language Arts
This week we continue to work on letter names and shapes, rhyming words, and identifying individual words in spoken sentences.
New sight words: and, we

Math
This week we are working on comparing and ordering numbers 0-5.

Science
This week we begin a life science unit on plants. We will focus on pumpkins in preparation for our pumpkin patch field trip. We will learn about the pumpkin life cycle, what plants need to grow, and conduct some experiments with pumpkins when we return from our trip.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. You can stop by Room 4 or email me any time at carrie.relles@gmail.com

Have a fantastic weekend!

Week of September 22-26, 2014

Happy Friday Room 4 families!
Your kids worked so hard this week. I am such a lucky teacher!

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates
Friday, September 19 (tonight!): Family Movie Night
Wednesday, September 24: Back-to-School Night, 5:30-7. I will talk to parents/guardians about room 4 curriculum, procedures, our expectations for the year, etc. I will also answer any questions you have.
Friday, September 26: free dress day/Apple Day.
Wednesday, October 1: Homerun Reader kickoff at morning announcements. We will join the 1st-6th grades on the main yard in the morning for this.
Friday, October 24: Harvest Festival
Friday, October 31: Free dress day (no costumes!)/ school jog-a-thon

I am still waiting on the transportation department about our school bus for the pumpkin patch field trip. Please stay tuned for this date and more information. Remember, if you'd like to join us, you need to be fingerprinted with the district.

Apple Day
On Friday the 26th we will celebrate apples and Johnny Appleseed's birthday. Please send your child to school with an apple. We will use them for a couple of lessons and then eat them at the end of the day. All next week we will learn about the parts of apples and how apples grow. We will also taste different items made from apples such as apple juice and dried apple bites.

Homework
The first week of homework is finally here! The kids actually cheered when I told them they would have homework next week. Each Friday I will email a homework packet to parents for you to print and your child to work on throughout the following week. There are two pages of work for each night Monday-Thursday and a reading log for each week. The homework packets are due to school on Friday morning. I will be sending home a homework folder on Monday for your child to use for turning in homework.
Watch for an email today with next week's homework!

Decodable Books
This week your child should have brought home his/her first pre-decodable book, "The Park". The purpose of these books is to practice sight words and later to practice blending new sounds to form words. I challenged the kids to read "The Park" to as many people as possible at home and to find a safe place to keep all of their decodables as they bring them home.
Next week we will have a new decodable titled "Lunch". The sight words introduced are a, an, is, here.
All of the kinder sight words are listed inside the homework folders that will go home Monday.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Have a fantastic weekend.

Week of September 15-19, 2014

Happy Friday Room 4 Families!
It's been a super week in Room 4. We are settling in to our routine and working hard every day.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates
Friday, September 19: Family Movie Night
Wednesday, September 24: Back-to-School Night, 5:30-7. I will talk to parents/guardians about room 4 curriculum, procedures, our expectations for the year, etc. I will also answer any questions you have.
Friday, September 26: free dress day/Apple Day. On this day all kindergarteners are asked to bring an apple to school. We will be using them throughout the day and then eating them at the end of the day.
Wednesday, October 1: Homerun Reader kickoff at morning announcements. We will join the 1st-6th grades on the main yard in the morning for this.

I am working on finalizing the date for our pumpkin patch field trip in October. If you think you would like to come with us on any field trips this year you must be fingerprinted with the Sac City district. You can have this done at the Serna Center. It usually takes 30 working days for us to receive your clearance, so I encourage you to have this done as soon as possible. Please let me know if you have questions.

Homework
I have had a few questions about homework--mostly from people who are anxious to get started on it! Homework will begin the week of the 22nd. Each Friday I will email parents the packet for the following week. Your child will have 2-3 pages to work on each night. Homework is due to school on Friday mornings. Look for the first packet in your email on Friday the 19th!

Language Arts
This week we continue to focus on listening for sounds, rhyming, and letter shapes.
I will introduce our first sight word this week: the
We will be reading more books about starting school and being good friends.

Math
This week we are working on sorting shapes by color, shape, and size.

Thanks for reading, everyone!
If you have questions or concerns please don't hesitate to send me an email or stop by room 4.
Have a relaxing weekend.

Week of September 8-12, 2014

Hello Room 4 Families!
Our school year is off to a wonderful start. Your children have worked very hard this week. I am thrilled to be spending my days with such happy kids.

Here is what we have coming up at Phoebe Hearst and in Room 4:

Important Dates:
Friday, 9/19: family Movie Night
Monday, 9/22: First day of our classroom centers/small group rotations. I will send an email about this to the folks who volunteered to help.
Wednesday, 9/24: Back-to-School Night. This is an evening for parents to come hear about Room 4 and our 2014-2015 school year. I will go over class procedures and policies, currilculum, and answer questions.
Friday, 9/26 Kinder Apple Day. Please have your child bring an apple (any color!) to school on this day. I will give more info about this as the day approaches.
Friday, 9/26: Free dress day
Wednesday, 10/1: Homerun Reader kickoff (more info to follow)

Language Arts
This week we will focus on the following: learning to recognize each others' names, rhyming, listening for first, middle, and last sounds, letter names, and letter formation.
We will read stories and books about starting school and being a good friend at school. We will discuss the importance of following rules and working hard in school.
We will begin to write about what we read in a journal.

Math
We are working on counting and cardinality up to 20. Your child will take home completed math worksheets almost every day. Please be sure to take a look at these so you can see what we worked on in class.

Bucket Filling???
I hope your child has told you a little bit about bucket filling. If so, you probably have some questions! Bucket filling is one of the ways I teach positive character. It's pretty simple: everyone carries around an invisible bucket. We feel good about ourselves when our bucket is full, and we feel bad, sad, and lonely when our bucket is empty. We can fill each others' buckets with our kind words and actions, and we can dip into peoples' buckets when we say or do mean things.
We have read about and discussed bucket filling and bucket dipping at length in class. I encourage you to talk with your child about bucket filling this weekend. If you'd like, there are several kids' books about this as well, including one in the Scholastic book order forms going home today!

Class Volunteers
Thank you to everyone who signed up to help in the classroom this year. If you haven't signed up, it's not too late. We still need people on Monday and Tuesday mornings from 8:10-9:00.
We would also love to have one more person to help check in homework on Friday mornings at 8:10.
Please let me know if you're interested. Thank you!
If you are signed up to work in the room, you need to have filled out and returned the volunteer level II form.
If you want to accompany us on any field trips this year, you will need to take the level III form to the Serna Center to be fingerprinted. This is for the safety of all the kids. I encourage you to do this as soon as possible, since it does usually take 30 working days for us to receive clearance after you're fingerprinted. The fee is $45, which can be used towards your parent hours for this year ($5=1 hour)

5th Grade Buddies
Today your child will meet his/her 5th grade buddy. On Friday mornings we will get together with Mr. Burkhouse's 5th grade class to read, work in the garden, and do projects together.
This is always a favorite time for kindergarteners and 5th graders!

Thank you, parents and families, for everything you do!
Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns: carrie.relles@gmail.com
Have a super weekend; I will see you Monday.

June 2-6, 2014

Hello Room 4 families,
What a week! Thanks to everyone who came  to Open House on Wednesday. We had a fantastic turn out, and the kids LOVED showing off their classroom and their work.
Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates
Tuesday, June 3: Kinder sports day 8:30-10:00. Please be sure to send your child in athletic shoes and socks and to apply sunscreen. We will be outside this whole time!
MOnday, June 9: Staff vs. 6th graders kickball game; 8:30 am on the baseball fields. If there are any parents who would like to sit with the class during this time, please let me know!
Tuesday, June 10: Kinder play day, 9-12; baseball fields. Thanks to everyone who has signed up to help that day. We still need some volunteers--check out the sign up poster in the kinder yard.
Thursday, June 12: Last day of school. Dismissal will be at 12:20 from the cafeteria.

Language Arts
Your children have learned so much! We have worked our way through kindergarten and many first grade standards. This week we continue to work on reading and spelling more complex words. Please continue to have your child read for at least 20 minutes every day. This is so important, especially as we move into summer.
This week we are writing kindergarten memory books and letters to Mrs. Egan and our 5th grade buddies.

Math
This week we will begin looking ahead at some of the 1st grade skills. I encourage kids to continue to practice math facts at home. Most of them love this!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Have a fantstic weekend!
Carrie Relles

Week of May 12-16

Hello Room 4 families,
We have been so busy! It's hard to believe end-of-year activities are beginning.

Here is what we have coming up:
Important Dates:

Saturday, 5/17: Art Walk; 10-2. This is a fun family event.
Monday, 5/19: final art lesson; 10-10:45 am. Let me know if you'd like to help out with this.
Monday, 5/26: Memorial Day; NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, 5/28: Open House; 6-7:30 pm. This is a fun night to come tour our room and see LOTS of our work. Don't miss it!
Tuesday, June 3: Kinder Sports Day; 8:30-10:00am. Please be sure to send your child in appropriate shoes on this day. You will also want to be sure to apply sunscreen!
Monday, June9: Staff vs. 6th grade kickball game; 8:30 am. I will be playing in the game, so it would be great to have some parents come and sit with the class on the bleachers while they cheer on the teachers!
Tuesday, June 10: Kinder Play Day (see below for info.)
Thursday, June 12: Last day of school. Dismissal will be at 12:20.

Language Arts
This week we will be writing about ocean life and what we are learning about in our "By the Sea" unit.
We will continue to work on blending and spelling words every day. The kids are becoming excellent readers. Please be sure to have them read to you every day for at least 20 minutes.

Math
The kids are doing an excellent job with patterning. We will wrap this unit up this week.

Kinder Play Day--June10
We have begun planning the activities for play day, which will be lots of  fun for all kindergarteners! We will need lots of parent helpers that day to help with the various activities and to help set up and clean up, so if you would like to volunteer your time that day (8:00-12), please let me know. We would love to have you!
All parents are invited to come eat lunch with us that day. We will eat outside at 11.
Please come celebrate the end of the year with your kindergartener!

Here are some of the items we need for the day--if you still need parent hours, remember you get 1 hour for every $5 you spend on our class!
Thank you to those families who have already volunteered to help and/or sent in items.
pillowcases for sack races
water balloons
bubbles
props or simple dress-up items like sunglasses, boas, hats for a photo area

Also, if you have an "EZ UP" tent for shade, we would love to have a few of those.

Thank you for everything, families!
Please email if you have questions or concerns
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of May 5-9, 2014

Hello room 4 families
May is off to a super start. It will be a busy month at Phoebe Hearst and in Room 4.
Here is what's happening:

Important Dates:
Today, 5/2: Art lesson; 10:15-11am. Thanks to the parents who have volunteered to help today!
Saturday, 5/17: Art Walk; 10-2. This is a fun family event. Information went home in the May newsletter on Wednesday of this week.
Monday, 5/19: final art lesson; 10-10:45 am. Let me know if you'd like to help out with this.
Monday, 5/26: Memorial Day; NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, 5/28: Open House; 6-7:30 pm. This is a fun night to come tour our room and see LOTS of our work.
Tuesday, June 3: Kinder Sports Day; 8:30-10:00am. Please be sure to send your child in appropriate shoes on this day. You will also want to be sure to apply sunscreen!
Monday, June9: Staff vs. 6th grade kickball game; 8:30 am. I will be playing in the game, so it would be great to have some parents come and sit with the class on the bleachers while they cheer on the teachers!
Tuesday, June 10: Kinder Play Day (see below for info.)
Thursday, June 12: Last day of school. Dismissal will be at 12:20.

Language Arts
This week we will finish up our Teamwork unit and begin our last unit, "By the Sea," in which we will read and learn about ocean life.
We will continue to work on blending and spelling words every day. The kids are becoming excellent readers. Please be sure to have them read to you every day.

Math
This week we will wrap up the money unit and begin a unit on patterning.

Kinder Play Day--June10
We have begun planning the activities for play day, which will be lots of  fun for all kindergarteners! We will need lots of parent helpers that day to help with the various activities and to help set up and clean up, so if you would like to volunteer your time that day (8:00-12), please let me know. We would love to have you!

Here are some of the items we need for the day--if you still need parent hours, remember you get 1 hour for every $5 you spend on our class!
pillowcases for sack races
water balloons
otter pops
bubbles
props or simple dress-up items like sunglasses, boas, hats for a photo area

Also, if you have an "EZ UP" tent for shade, we would love to have a few of those.

If you have questions or other ideas about this day, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a fantastic weekend.

week of April 28-May 2, 2014

Happy Friday everyone!
We had a great week in room 4. Your kids have been reading, writing, and working so hard on their math every day.
Here is what we have coming up:

Important dates:
April 28-May 15th: Smarter Balanced testing, 3rd-6th grades. This year the test is mostly for practice. However, we try to keep the school as distraction-free as possible during those days. Therefore everyone who volunteers in room 4 during those days will need to exit through the kinder gate so we don't disturb rooms who are busy testing.

Friday, May 2nd: Art lesson, 10:15-11am. Please let me know if you'd like to help with this.

Saturday, May 17: PH Art Walk, 10-2pm. This is a fun day for families to come check out all the art the kids have been working on this year. There will also be crafts and other fun things for kids.

Monday, May 19: Art lesson, 10-10:45 am. This will be our last art lesson of the year. Please let me know if you'd like to help out.

Monday, May 26: No School; Memorial Day

Wednesday, May 28: Open House. This is a fun night for families to take a tour of Room 4. We will have LOTS of work on display. Don't miss it! Time TBA

Language Arts
This week we continue to work on our Teamwork unit. The kids are enjoying talking and writing about the importance of teamwork.
We will work on blending and spelling words every day. Please be sure to have your child read for at least 20 minutes every day at home. This can be a combination of you reading to your child and them reading to you.
Our writing this week will be a paragraph about watching a movie in a theater or watching a movie at home.

Math
This week we will continue working on identifying and counting money.
The more practice kids get with this the better, so it's great if you help your child count groups of coins. This week we worked on finding the amount of money in groups of pennies, nickels, and dimes. Next week we will count quarters and then start counting groups of mixed coins.

Kinder Play Day--June 10
It's hard to believe I'm already writing about end-of-year activities!
We are going to do a fun play day out at the baseball fields on Tuesday 6/10 with rooms 2 and 3. This will be a fun day for kids (and parents!) to celebrate our hard work this year and to talk/play with people from other classrooms.
We will need lots of parent help to make this a super day for the kids. For now, we are just looking for ideas and resources for fun activities to have going for the kids. Some ideas we have so far are a bounce house, water balloon games, face painting, sack races, hula hooping, beading for jewelry making. If you have an idea or any resources you would like to donate for this, please let me know. Also, please let me know if you'd like to help out with planning play day.

Thank you, families for everything you do!
Have a great weekend, and don't hesitate to email with any questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of March 31-April 4, 2014

Hello Room 4 families,
Spring is off to a fabulous start in room 4. Your children work so hard every day and are learning so much.

Here is what we have coming up:
Important Dates:
Monday, March 31: Art lesson; 10:00-10:45am
Wednesday, April 2: Free dress for $1. Money raised goes to Mrs. Harris' Sutter Memorial Hospital donation campaign.
Friday, April 4: Air Rock competition at Sutter Middle School; 6pm
Friday, 4/11: Art lesson; 10:15-11:00 am
April 14-18: SPRING BREAK; no school

We are still looking for a parent or parents to help with centers on the following Thursday mornings: April 10, April 24, May 1, May 22, May 29. Please let me know if you would like to help from 8:10-9:00 am on any or all of these dates. Thank you!

Language Arts

We are working away on blending, reading, and spelling words. Please continue to read to or have your child read to you for at least 20 minutes every day.

Letter/sound focus: /x/, /z/, and /w/

Writing: we will continue to work on writing how to play our favorite sports.

Math

We are continuing to work on subtraction this week. 

Science

We started a unit on plants this week. We will focus on learning about what plants need to grow, the parts of plants, and their lifecycle. We will be observing four plants to see what happens if they don't get one of the things they need (water, sunlight or soil), and the kids will be planting their own plants and writing about their growth in a journal. And of course, we will be working in our school garden and learning about plants there!

Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any questions or concerns please email me at carrie.relles@gmail.com

Have a nice weekend.

Week of March 24-28, 2014

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is what we have going on in room 4~

Important Dates
Friday, 3/28: free dress day

Monday, 3/31: Art lesson, 10:00-10:45. We would love to have a couple parent helpers for this. Please let me know if you can help.

Friday, April 4: Air Rock competition

Friday, 4/11: Art lesson 10:15-11:00. Please let me know if you'd like to come in to help with this!

We are still looking for a parent or parents to help with centers on the following Thursday mornings: April 10, April 24, May 1, May 22, May 29. Please let me know if you would like to help from 8:10-9:00 am on any or all of these dates. Thank you!

Language Arts
This week we will finish up our "Red, White and Blue" unit and begin talking about Teamwork. If your child has any books that fit this theme please send them in! Just mark them clearly with your child's name.
Letter/sound focus: /f/, short e, /x/
We are continuing to work on blending letters and sounds to make words and to use the sounds we know to spell words.
Writing: the kids will write a paragraph this week about how to play their favorite sport.

Math
This week we will finish our chapter on addition and begin working on subtraction at the end of the week.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns-- carrie.relles@gmail.com

Have a fantastic weekend.

Week of March 17-21, 2014

Hello Room 4 families! The kids have been working away in Room 4. They are learning so much so quickly.
Thanks to everyone for helping kids with homework nightly, and a huge thanks to those who volunteer in the classroom.

Volunteer Needed! 
We are in need of someone to help with our centers time on Thursdays starting in April until the first week in June. Centers run from 8:10 until 9:00 am. If this is something you would like to do, please let me know. You don't need to be fingerprinted, just fill out the volunteer level 1 form.

Important dates:

Monday 3/17: Spirit day--wear green (free dress)

Friday, 3/28: free dress day

Monday, 3/31: Art lesson, 10:00-10:45. We would love to have a couple parent helpers for this. Please let me know if you can help.

Friday, 4/11: Art lesson 10:15-11:00. Please let me know if you'd like to come in to help with this!

Language Arts
The kids are loving our Red, White, and Blue unit. Ask them about some of the American symbols they have learned about.
Letter/sound focus: /g/, /j/
We will continue to work on using knowledge of letter sounds to make words.
The kids have been writing a book about American symbols and are working to finish a writing piece about what they would do if they caught a leprechaun.

Math
The kids did a super job with addition stories (word problems) this week. Next week we continue to practice adding numbers to 10. My goal for them is to start memorizing some math facts with sums to 10. The more they practice math facts the more they begin to remember them and won't have to use fingers, pictures, etc to find the answers.

Thanks for reading, everyone.
Have a great weekend, and please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of March 3-7, 2014

Hello Room 4 families,

We had a great week working away in Room 4. The kids have been enjoying reading and writing about Dr. Seuss. We will celebrate his birthday on Monday. 

I enjoyed meeting with all of you this week for parent/teacher conferences. Thanks to everyone for coming!

Here is what we have coming up:

Monday, 3/3: We will celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday (which is 3/2). Your child is encouraged to bring in Dr. Seuss books this week to share with the class. Please clearly label the books with your child's name so we will be sure to get them back to the correct people.

Friday, 3/7: Science Night, 6-8 pm

Monday, 3/10: art lesson; 10-10:45 am. We'd love to have some parent helpers!

Monday, 3/17: Free dress spirit day--wear GREEN!

Friday, 3/28: free dress day

Monday, 3/31: art lesson; 10-10:45 am. We'd love some parent helpers. Let me know if you'd like to come in.

Language Arts
This week we start a new unit, "Red, White and Blue," all about patriotism. We will be learning about American symbols like the flag, the bald eagle, and some national monuments.
Letter/sound focus: short o, /b/, and /c/

Math:
This week we will finish our geometry unit on solid and plane shapes. We will take the chapter tests on Friday.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. carrie.relles@gmail.com
Have a nice weekend

Week of February 24-28, 2014

We had another awesome week in room 4. Thanks to everyone who helped out this week and last, especially with the 100th day of school and Valentine's Day. The kids really enjoyed themselves!

Here is what we have coming up:

Monday-Friday, February 24-28: Parent/Teacher conferences. Dismissal will be at 12:20 from the cafeteria. I will walk the kids to lunch at 11:50, so if you'd like to pick them up before they eat, you can at that time.
I am looking forward to meeting with all of you to talk about your child's progress. I will have the 2nd trimester report card to share with you. Please see the schedule I sent last week below.
This week we are participating in the Pennies for Patients fundraiser. Kids can bring in change to put in the box at the back of our room. Money raised goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Friday, 2/28: art lesson; 10:15-11am. We'd love to have 1-2 more parent helpers. Please let me know if you'd like to help out. This is also a free dress day.

Monday, 3/3: We will celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday (which is 3/2). Your child is encouraged to bring in Dr. Seuss books this week to share with the class. Please clearly label the books with your child's name so we will be sure to get them back to the correct people.

Monday, 3/10: art lesson; 10-10:45 am. We'd love to have some parent helpers!

Monday, 3/31: art lesson; 10-10:45 am. Ditto!

Language Arts
This week we start a new unit, "Red, White and Blue," all about patriotism. We will be learning about American symbols like the flag, the bald eagle, and some national monuments.
Letter/sound focus: /n/, /d/, and short o.
We will continue working on blending sounds to make words and using sounds to spell words. We will also focus on orally changing sounds in words to make new words. For example: "What word do we get when we change the /h/ in hot to /n/? Not"
In writing this week we will write about some of our favorite Dr. Suess books.

Math
This week we start chapter 10 on solid shapes. We will work on naming and comparing solid shapes such as a sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, rectangular prism, and triangular prism.
As always, we review and preview other concepts daily with board math.

Winter Conference Schedule

Relles

	Monday 2/24	Tuesday 2/25	Wednesday 2/26	Thursday 2/27	Friday 2/28
7:30 am	Arthur	Matthew	Jared	Aundrea	Paige
12:30 pm	Mallory	Isla	Ryder	Kori	Ruby
1:00 pm	Juliet	Madeline	Travis		Mariana
1:30 pm	William	Danny	Camille	Gavin	Weston
2:00 pm	Rola	Manroop	Chance	Claire	Caleb
2:30 pm		Jaden		Karly	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
3:00 pm	Gabriel	Madalynn	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
3:30 pm	Olivia	Bridget	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
4:00 pm	Mia	Cameron	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thanks for everything, families! Have a great weekend. I will see you next week at your conference. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of February 10-14, 2014

Hello Room 4 families!
February is off to a very busy start. This week we began getting ready for the 100th day of School and Valentine's day. We also did a lot of writing, and we are getting ready for our science fair experiment this afternoon with Jaden's mom, Jen DeWald.

Here are some important dates to remember:
Monday, 2/10: No school; Lincoln's Day holiday
Thursday, 2/13: 100th day of school. We would love to have 2 more parent helpers for centers that morning (8:10-9am). Please let me know if you're interested in helping out. Also, the kids have homework due that day--they need to bring in 100 items to show the class. Some have already been turned in, and kids are getting very creative!
Friday, 2/14: Art lesson, 10:15-11:00am. We'd love to have 2-3 parent helpers. Let me know if you want to come in that day. Valentine celebration, 12-12:45pm. We will have activities and snacks. Let me know if you'd like to help out. It's also a free dress spirit day--dress in red and pink.
Monday, 2/17: no school, Presidents' Day
Friday, 2/21: art lesson, 10:15-11am. We'd love to have 2-3 parent helpers. Let me know if you want to come in that day.
Monday, 2/24-Friday, 2/28: parent/teacher conferences; shortened day schedule. The kids will go to lunch at 11:50 and then will be dismissed from the cafeteria at 12:20.
Friday, 2/28: art lesson, 10:15-11am. We'd love to have 2-3 parent helpers. Let me know if you want to come in that day. It's also a free dress day.

Language Arts
This week we continue our Stick to It unit.
Letter/sound focus: short i and /l/
We will continue to work on blending sounds and letters to make words and to spell words using the sounds and letters we have learned.

Math
This week we continue our unit on time. We will work on telling time to the hour and half hour.

Supplies
We are running very low on glue sticks. We have gone through the ones the kids started the year with plus several more. We would love any donations--many of our art projects are impossible without glue sticks! Thanks!

Thanks for reading, everyone.
Have a great weekend, and let me know if you have questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of February 3-7, 2014

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy (Chinese) New Year! Ask your kids what they learned this week about Chinese new year. We read several books, learned how to say happy new year, and made Chinese dragons.

February is going to be a very busy month!
Here is what we have coming up:
Friday, February 7: PTO family dance, 6-8pm
Monday, February 10: Lincoln's Day holiday, no school
Thursday, February 13: 100th day of school (see below)
Friday, February 14: pink/red spirit free dress day; art lesson at 10:15; Valentine celebration (see below for more information)
Monday, February 17: President's Day; no school
February 24-28: Parent/Teacher conferences; dismissal will be at 12:20 from the cafeteria. Please see below for more info on conferences.

Language Arts
We are continuing the "Stick to It" unit this week in which we are learning about perseverance.
Letter/sound focus: short a, /h/, /p/
We are working a lot on blending sounds to read words and also listening for all the sounds in words in order to spell them. The kids are doing a fantastic job with this. Thank you so much for reading with your children every night.

Math
This week we begin Chapter 9 on time. We will focus on days of the week and calendars this week and then move to telling time on a clock next week.

100th day of school is Thursday February 13
Thank you to everyone who sent in something for our 100th day trail mix.
We still need two items:
popcorn
pretzel sticks
If you can send these to school before the 13th of February we would appreciate it. We need at least 320 of each item.

The kids will need to bring in a collection of 100 items to show the class. This can be as simple or elaborate as your child wants it to be. Some examples of simple collections are 100 pennies or 100 paper clips. Some more elaborate collections could be to use 100 pieces of macaroni to make an art project or 100 legos to make a lego figure. They will share their collection with the class on the 100th day. If you have questions about this please let me know.

We would also love to have 1-2 more parent helpers for our centers time (8:10-9:00) on the 100th day--February 13. Let me know if you'd like to help.

Parent/Teacher conferences are February 24-28. I will go over your child's trimester 2 report cards and answer any questions you have. Please watch for an email this week about scheduling your day and time.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a super weekend. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of January 27-31, 2014

Happy Friday!
This week was fabulous. We started writing summaries of a story we read, we worked on numbers 21-30, we reviewed m and s and started working on spelling like first graders, and the staff did a flash mob at morning announcements!

Here is what we have coming up:
Monday, 1/27: Art lesson, 10:00-10:45.
Friday, 1/31: free dress day; Room 4 to work in the school garden at 10:15. We would love to have 2-3 parents to help during this time.
Friday, February 7: PTO family dance, 6-8pm
Monday, February 10: Lincoln's Day holiday, no school
Thursday, February 13: 100th day of school (see below)
Friday, February 14: pink/red spirit free dress day; art lesson at 10:15; Valentine celebration (see below for more information)

Language Arts
The kids are having fun with the "Stick to It" unit, which is all about perseverance. They are working with their 5th grade buddies on writing a story about a character who has to stick to it.
Letter/sound focus: /m/, short a, and /t/.
Sight words: I have introduced all of the kindergarten sight words and am just finishing testing the students on them. If your child knows all the kinder sight words, please watch out for a list of 1st grade words, which I will send home this week.
Writing: we are working on a summary of the story "The Great Big Enormous Turnip."

Math
This week we continue working on numbers to 30. We will focus on finding a missing number on a number line and comparing numbers.

100th day of school 
Thank you to everyone who sent in something for our 100th day trail mix.
We still need a few items:
M&Ms
popcorn
dried cranberries
yogurt raisins
If you can send these to school before the 13th of February we would appreciate it. We need at least 320 of each item.

The kids will have an assignment for the 100th day of school that they may want to start thinking about now:
they will need to bring in a collection of 100 items to show the class. This can be as simple or elaborate as your child wants it to be. Some examples of simple collections are 100 pennies or 100 paper clips. Some more elaborate collections could be to use 100 pieces of macaroni to make an art project. If you have questions about this please let me

Thanks for everything, families! Let me know if you have questions or concerns carrie.relles@gmail.com

Have a super weekend!

Week of January 20-24, 2014

We had another fantastic week in Room 4. Your kids amaze me every day with their kindness, intelligence, and enthusiasm. This week we made pinwheels and windsocks, wrote paragraphs about living in snow globes, explored length, weight and capacity, and worked on reading and writing words with the sounds we are learning.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Monday, January 20: MLK day; no school
Friday, 1/24: Art lesson, 10:15-11:00. We would love to have 2-3 parent helpers for this.
Monday, 1/27: Art lesson, 10:00-10:45. We would also love 1-2 more volunteers for this. Thanks to Bob Lipman for volunteering.
Friday, 1/31: free dress day; Room 4 to work in the school garden at 10:15. We would love to have 2-3 parents to help during this time.
Friday, February 7: PTO family dance, 6-8pm
Monday, February 10: Lincoln's Day holiday, no school
Thursday, February 13: 100th day of school (see below)
Friday, February 14: pink/red spirit free dress day; art lesson at 10:15; Valentine celebration (more info to follow)

Language Arts
This week we will start a new unit called "Stick to It". We will be reading stories about and discussing perserverance.
We will review the /s/ and /m/ sounds.
We will begin writing a summary of this week's story "The Great Big Enormous Turnip".

Math
We will begin chapter 8 on numbers to 30. We will work on counting objects to, writing, and comparing numbers to 30.

100th Day of School
Thank you to those families who sent items for our 100th day trail mix. We have received Cheerios, Chex, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. We still need
raisins
goldfish crackers
M&Ms
popcorn
dried cranberries
yogurt raisins
You can send these to school any time.
Thank you!

Thanks for everything, families!
Please don't hesitate to email me if you have a question or concern. carrie.relles@gmail.com
Have a nice weekend.

Week of January 13-17, 2014

Hello Families!
2014 is off to a super start. We wrote New Years' resolutions this week. They will be hanging on the windows shortly, so be sure to come check them out, and be sure to ask your child what his/her resolutions are. Some of them are fantastic.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates
Monday, January 20: MLK day; no school
Friday, 1/24: Art lesson, 10:15-11:00. We would love to have 2-3 parent helpers for this.
Monday, 1/27: Art lesson, 10:00-10:45. We would also love 1-2 more volunteers for this. Thanks to Bob Lipman for volunteering.
Friday, 1/31: free dress day
Friday, February 7: PTO family dance, 6-8pm
Monday, February 10: Lincoln's Day holiday, no school
Thursday, February 13: 100th day of school (see below)
Friday, February 14: pink/red spirit free dress day; art lesson at 10:15; Valentine celbration (more info to follow)

Language Arts
This week we will focus on the short o sound and the sounds of /t/ and /n/.
New sight word: not
We will finish up our unit on the wind this week by reading, discussing and writing about a story called "Wind Says Goodnight".
We will begin writing paragraphs about what we would do if we lived in a snow globe.

Math
This week we continue the chapter on measurement. We will focus on weight and capacity.

100th Day of School
We have been counting our days in school all year and looking forward to the 100th day.We will celebrate the number 100 all day. Part of the homework that week will be for the kids to bring in a collection of 100 items. This can be something simple like 100 pennies, or as creative as they want to be.
We will be making 100th day trail mix that day during centers, so I am asking families to send ingredients for this. We need:
raisins
cheerios
marshmallows
goldfish crackers
M&Ms
popcorn
dried cranberries
yogurt raisins
chex cereal
chocolate chips

Please let me know if you can provide any of these for us.

Thanks for reading, everyone!
Have a super weekend, and please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com