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!