Monday, April 25, 2016

Week of April 25-29

Hello families!
We have had a busy week in Room 4. The kids have been working on writing experience stories, and they are fantastic! Some of them are displayed in the classroom if you'd like to check them out.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Friday, April 29: Free Dress day: "Rainbow Day"; room 4 will work in the garden 10:15-10:45. Please let me know if you'd like to join us.

Wednesday, May 25: Phoebe Hearst open house in the evening.

Tuesday, June 14: Kinder play day, 9-12. Please plan on joining us either all morning or for lunch at 11!

Language Arts
Now that we have turned over all of our letter cards, we have begun to work on blending and reading multisyllabic words and words with long vowels. The kids are doing great with this. From now until the end of the year we will continue this. I can tell most kids are practicing reading on their own every day. This is such an important piece of becoming an independent reader. Keep it up, everyone!
For comprehension and writing, we are still studying narratives. We will begin writing narratives using our experiences + imagination using story elements such as characters. setting, events, and a conclusion.

Math
We will finish the chapter on analyzing, comparing and composing shapes on Monday 4/25 and we will take our chapter test on Tuesday.
Then we will start working on some looking ahead to first grade lessons.

Lost and Found
I have SEVERAL sweaters, jackets, etc that have been left in Room 4 this year with no names in them. I am going to hang these items on the hooks outside the classroom so parents can look through them at pick up time. They will be out there on Monday.

Centers
For those amazing parents who have been helping during our morning centers time this year, our last week for centers will be May 16-20. The kids and I appreciate your help so much!

Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a super week. Please don't hesitate to email or stop by room 4 if you have questions or concerns.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Week of April 18-22

Hello families!
Spring is always a very busy time at Phoebe Hearst. Please read below for our room 4 updates:

Important Dates

This week, 4/18-4/22: Bike, walk or carpool to school! The kids on our Nature Bowl team have put together a contest to see which classes care for our air. We have been challenged to bike, walk, or carpool to school this week. Each person who does one of these will add a tally to our class chart. At the end of the week, the class with the most tallies will earn a free dress day.

Friday, 4/29: Room 4 to work in the PH garden, 10:15-10:45am. Please let me know if you'd like to join us.

Wednesday, 5/25: Open House in the evening. This is a fun night when families come visit the school and kids get to show off all their hard work.

Tuesday, 6/14: Kinder play day, 9-12 on the baseball fields. Please mark your calendars! We are hoping to have lots of parent helpers that day. All parents are invited, and we will have a picnic lunch at 11. More info to follow.

Language Arts
This week we are working on elements of stories in our comprehension and writing lessons. Kids should be able to identify the characters and setting of a story, and be able to  tell some of the important events, including the problem and solution. For now we are working on writing several short stories. We are working up to writing a longer story that kids will publish and share with peers.

Math
today we will take our test on position words. Tomorrow we will begin chapter 16, "Analyzing, Comparing, and Composing Shapes".

Thanks for reading! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com



Friday, April 8, 2016

Week of April 11-15, 2016

Hello Room 4 families,

It's been another busy week in Room 4. We started working on storytelling, finished our art project for The Event, took our first geometry test, and said goodbye to Ms. Larissa. Ms Larissa, our yard duty supervisor, will be starting a position as an instructional aide at Cal Middle School on Monday. The kids made cards for her and said goodbye today. We will miss her!

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Friday, April 22: Rainbow free dress day. In the past each class was designated a color of the rainbow to wear, and kinder wore red. I will let you know more info about this as I receive it.

Wednesday, May 25: Open House. This is a fun evening for families to come check out the classrooms and kids show off all of their hard work from the year. Please mark your calendars!

Tuesday, June 14: Kinder play day, 9-12. Please mark your calendars for this as well! On this day we have lots of activities for the kids and then a family picnic out at the baseball fields. We would love lots of parent help with this to make it a great celebration of the end of the year. We will have stations of activities like sack races, musical chairs, painting, etc. If you have an idea for a station or would like to  help out, please let me know. All parents are invited to bring a lunch to eat with your child at 11.

Language Arts
This week we started a new comprehension/writing unit on storytelling. We will work on story elements such as characters, plot and setting. The kids will be writing their own stories as well.
As usual, we will be working on blending sounds and letters to make words every day. THe kids are getting to be such good readers! Please be sure to have your child read to you for 20 minutes every day.

Math
This week we will begin chapter 15, Position and Location of Shapes. Look for this in our homework this week.

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

Friday, April 1, 2016

Week of April 4-8, 2016

Hello Room 4 families,
Spring is finally here and the kids have settled in after our break very nicely. We have had a super week getting back into our routines and learning.

Welcome
Your child may have told you about a new helper in our classroom, Ms. Sarah. She is a UC Davis child development major, and plans to work on her teaching credential after she graduates this June. She will be working in our classroom on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8 until 11.

Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our class gift basket for The Event next weekend, and a huge THANK YOU to Erica Leonard for organizing and putting the basket together. I think it's one of the best the Event organizers have received, because it's on display in the front office!

Important Dates
Tuesday 4/5: Royal reader Kings game. I hope to see you there!

4/15: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 10:15-10:45. Parents are welcome!

Friday 4/29: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 10:15-10:45. Again, parents are welcome!

Language Arts
This week we focus on the /x/, /k/, and /kw/ (q) sounds. The kids are blending and reading more and more difficult words every day. Please remember to have your child spend about 15 minutes per day reading to you.
We will begin a comprehension and writing unit on narrative. We will read and discuss lots of engaging stories and kids will begin working on their own personal narratives.

Math
This week we will finish up our first geometry chapter on identifying and describing shapes. Our chapter test will be on Thursday.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.