Friday, September 30, 2016

Week of October 3-7, 2016

Hello Room 4 families!
It's hard to believe we are beginning the second month of school. We have had such a fantastic September getting to know each other and working together.

Here is what we have coming up:

Monday, 10/3:  Golden Dragon awards at morning announcements. Congratulations to Room 4's September Golden Dragon, Strummer.

On Monday at announcements the kids will hear about our Home Run Reader program. The October newsletter contained a reading log for the program, which will run through February. Please help your child keep track of how long you read together each day and log the minutes. The logs are due at the end of each month, and kids who read at the "home run" level will be eligible for lots of prizes, including a ticket to a River Cats game!

On Monday we have an art lesson with Ms. Jane from 8:15 until 9. She has requested a couple of parent helpers for this lesson, so if you'd like to help out, please let me know.

Thursday, October 20: field trip to Dave's pumpkin patch in West Sacramento. Thank you to those who have sent in the permission slip and $5.50 for your child's trip. Remember these are due this Thursday 10/6. This is my last call for chaperones. We have plenty of adults signed up to attend, but if you'd like to join us please let me know by this Monday 10/3. Chaperones don't have to pay.

Language arts
This week we continue to work  on telling stories from pictures-both reading stories and writing our own. The kids have been very creative as we have practiced the difference between reality and imagination, how to add details, and the importance of the setting.
We will focus on letters Mm, Nn, Oo, and Pp.
New sight words: and, we

Math
This week we begin chapter 3 of our math curriculum on numbers 6-10. Look for lots of counting and writing practice in the homework.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope to see you all at MOVIE NIGHT tonight!
If you have questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me: carrie.relles@gmail.com







Friday, September 23, 2016

Week of September 26-30, 2016


Hello everyone! Happy Friday. This week we started centers with our awesome parent volunteers. We've been writing, comparing numbers, working on penmanship, reading lots of books, singing, and working together.
Parents are always welcome to drop in and help. Just let me know by the day before so I can be sure to have things for you to do.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Monday, 9/26 kindergarten apple day. We will read a little bit about Johnny Appleseed and do several lessons with our apples before we eat them. The kids' apples can be any size, variety or color.

Thursday, 9/29 "Green Out" spirit day. Kids are encouraged to come in all green to show school spirit.

Friday, 9/30 Family movie night, 6:30 pm on the big field behind the school. This is such a fun night! Bring some low chairs, a blanket, and some snacks and watch a movie on the huge screen.
This will also be a free dress day (the last Friday of every month is a free dress day). Kids can wear school-appropriate clothes of their choice! All of the shoe and sock guidelines still apply.

Thursday, 10/20 Field trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch, 9:00 am-12:30 pm.
The kids are going to love this! We will take a school bus with the other kinder classes to Dave's where everyone will take a hay ride, bounce on the bouncing pillow, and choose a pumpkin. We will have a picnic lunch before we head back on the bus. The cost for this trip is $5.50 per person, which includes the cost of the small pumpkin. You can send this in to school beginning today. The money is due no later than Thursday October 6. Parents, if you would like to accompany us on this trip and you have been fingerprinted with the district, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you to those parents who have already volunteered.

Golden Dragon awards
Each month one student from each Phoebe classroom is given the Golden Dragon award. The Golden Dragon is someone who models the Phoebe Hearst Dragon Values (check them out on the poster in Room 4) and of course fills others' buckets. For the first couple of months I will choose the Golden Dragon and later in the year I will have the kids vote. The Golden Dragon winners are announced at morning announcements in front of the school and then have a celebration breakfast in the library with Mr. McGill. September's awards should happen during the first week of October.

Language Arts
This week we will continue focusing on one letter sound and shape each day.
The kids are gaining confidence with penmanship, and some are beginning to take risks with sounding out their own words. When kids write independently they will use phonetic spelling, meaning they will write the sounds they hear. For example, if your child spells the word cake as "kak" this is fine. Encouraging them to sound out their words builds their writing and spelling skills tremendously.
Letter focus: Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll
New sight words: This week I introduced a, an, here, and is. Next week will be I and see.
Comprehension lessons will focus on telling stories from wordless books. The kids are having fun with these. We will talk about authors, illustrators, characters, setting, the beginning, middle and end, and the problem or conflict in the story.

Math
This week we will continue to work on comparing numbers and then will do work with the number 0 and ordering numbers 0-5. The kids will take the chapter 2 test on Friday.

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


Friday, September 16, 2016

Week of September 19-23, 2016

Hello Families!
We survived our first full week of school. The kids are most likely tired after a long week of lots of hard work and fun with their new school friends.
Thank you to everyone who came to Back-to-School night on Wednesday. It was great talking with many of you after my presentation. I am so excited about this class of bright, happy kids and the year we are having!

Here is what we have coming up:

Important dates:

Monday, 9/19: Room 4's second art class with Ms. Jane, 8:15-9:00. During this class Ms. Jane will introduce types of lines used in art. The kids will experiment with line using cooked spaghetti! It's lots of fun. Be sure to ask your child about this lesson on Monday afternoon.

Monday, 9/26 kindergarten apple day. We will read a little bit about Johnny Appleseed and do several lessons with our apples before we eat them. The kids' apples can be any size, variety or color.

Friday, 9/30 Family movie night, 6:30 pm on the big field behind the school. This is such a fun night! Bring some low chairs, a blanket, and some snacks and watch a movie on the huge screen.
This will also be a free dress day (the last Friday of every month is a free dress day). Kids can wear school-appropriate clothes of their choice! All of the shoe and sock guidelines still apply.

Thursday, 10/20 Field trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch, 9:00 am-12:30 pm.
The kids are going to love this! We will take a school bus with the other kinder classes to Dave's where everyone will take a hay ride, bounce on the bouncing pillow, and choose a pumpkin. We will have a picnic lunch before we head back on the bus. The cost for this trip is $5.50 per person, which includes the cost of the small pumpkin. You can send this in to school beginning today. The money is due no later than Thursday October 6. Parents, if you would like to accompany us on this trip and you have been fingerprinted with the district, please let me know as soon as possible. If you haven't done your fingerprinting yet, there is still plenty of time if you go within the next week. Please let me know if you have questions about this.

Language Arts
This week we will continue to focus on one letter shape per day. The kids are building their fine motor skills with lots of writing practice. Many have difficulty with lower case letters, especially b and d so far. If they have an interest in practicing letter writing on their own, please encourage this! The back of the homework folders has a penmanship guide.
We have been reading lots of rhyming poems and books about starting school.
The kids have been writing in their journals daily. We will continue this week with writing sentences and then drawing an illustration to go with the words. Writing can be very frustrating for kids at the beginning of kindergarten, but these kids have not let mistakes get them down! They always try their best, which I appreciate so much.

Math
This week we will begin working on the concepts of more, fewer, and same as. Just like with letter writing, number writing can be difficult at this time of year. If kids want to practice writing numbers at home, this is fantastic.

Thank you for reading, everyone! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or concerns.
Have a super weekend.



Thursday, September 8, 2016

Week of September 12-16, 2016

Hello Room 4 families!
I keep this webpage instead of sending home weekly newsletters. Please check here on Fridays to find out what is happening in room 4 and at Phoebe Hearst.

You have truly wonderful children. They have done a marvelous job this week with learning our school and classroom rules, getting to know one another, and working on some kindergarten curriculum! Hopefully your child has talked to you about some of his or her new friends, what it means to be a Bucket Filler, and some of the things we have been working on in class. Please check your child's backpack daily for completed work. All work that is completed and sent home does not need to come back to school.

Here is what we have coming up:

Wednesday, September 14: Back-to-School night, 5:45pm This is a night for parents to come and hear about everything we do in room 4. I will go over our day, curriculum, kindergarten standards, and answer any questions you have. Please meet on the main playground first for some information from Mr. McGill before heading over to room 4. Of course if you need to bring them kids are welcome at back-to-school night, but this event is mostly for adults. In the spring we have Open House when everyone is invited to come check out our classroom.

Friday, September 30:Phoebe Hearst movie night, 6:30pm
This is one of my favorite events of the year! Bring some snacks and blankets and watch a movie with friends under the stars.

Monday, September 26: Kindergarten Apple Day. On this day we ask all kinder students to bring an apple to school. We will use them for several lessons throughout the day and then have a nutritious snack! The apple can be any size or color.


5th Grade Reading Buddies
Thursday the kids met their 5th grade buddy from Mr. Goul's class in room 8. We will meet with our buddies on most Friday mornings to read, work in the garden, and complete projects together. Be sure to ask your child about his or her buddy!

Language Arts 
Next week we will begin focusing on a letter each day. We will work on correct letter formation and talk about the sounds the letters make. We will read poems that focus on the letters and complete workbook pages.
I will introduce the first sight word next week: the

Math
Next week we will continue working on numbers 1-5. We will take our first math test at the end of the week.

Homework
I sent the first homework packet via email today. I send these on Fridays to give everyone plenty of time to get them printed, etc. These are due back the following Friday in the homework folders, which are going home today.  I will cover homework at back-to-school night, but until then know written homework shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to complete. Please let me know if you have questions about the homework.

Classroom centers/group time 
Thank you to those parents who signed up to help during our centers time from 8am until about 8:50 on a once weekly basis.  We will begin centers on Monday, September 19. If you would like to help, we are still looking for volunteers, especially for Thursday mornings. The sign up sheet is in the back of room 4.

Thank you for reading, everyone!
Please do not hesitate to email, call, or come by room 4 if you have questions or concerns. I look forward to speaking with all parents on Wednesday at Back-to-School night!