Week of March 13-17, 2017

It's been another super week in Room 4. Thank you to everyone who came out to the talent show last night!

Here is what we have coming up:

Monday, 3/13-Friday, 3/17: Minimum days for parent/teacher conferences. Kindergarteners will be dismissed to the cafeteria at 11:40. They must be picked up by 12:00.

Friday, 3/17: Saint Patrick's Day spirit day: wear green!

Friday, 3/31: last Friday of the month; free dress. Fiesta de Phoebe event, 6-10pm

Parent/Teacher conferences
I have a few scheduled conferences for next week. As a reminder, if you did not get an email from me about scheduling a conference but you would like to meet, please let me know and we will find a time. For those families I do not meet with, I will send home report cards on Friday March 17.

The Event/Fiesta de Phoebe
I hope everyone is planning on attending this fun event that funds the Phoebe Hearst technology program! There are always lots of great live and silent auction items to bid on, and it's a nice way to get to know other PH parents. Thank you to the kinder room parents for organizing our wine-themed auction basket. Please get your donations in for this no later than 3/15, and direct any questions to Jacqui DeBoo.
Ms Ryerson and I are teaming up for our silent auction item: don't miss a chance to bid on the "Lunchtime Luau" in Room 4! The auction item winner from each classroom (1 and 4) will invite 4 friends to a luau during lunchtime on a date to be determined. We will have pizza, games, costumes, and prizes.
Finally, the kindergarteners have been working on a very special art piece to be auctioned at The Event. One lucky family will take home a one of a kind piece made by 96 kindergarten students!

Language Arts 
This week we will finish up working on writing opinions with our last two opinion paragraphs.
We will focus in phonics on the sounds and spellings for z, w, and k.

Math
This week we begin chapter 13 on classification.

Leprechaun Traps
This week we will work on a group project to construct leprechaun traps. The kids always have a lot of fun with this. If you have any shoe boxes or small boxes, please send them in! We can use them for the traps.

Thanks for reading! Please ask if you have questions!

Week of March 6-10, 2017

We have had such a fun week celebrating Dr. Seuss and reading. We are ready to close out the week on Friday with "If I Ran the Zoo" day and many more Dr. Seuss books! Thanks to everyone who sent in books and snacks!

Here is what we have coming up:

Monday, 3/13-Friday, 3/17: Minimum days for parent/teacher conferences. Kindergarteners will be dismissed to the cafeteria at 11:40

Friday, 3/17: Saint Patrick's Day spirit day: wear green!

Friday, 3/31: last Friday of the month; free dress. Fiesta de Phoebe event, 6-10pm

Parent/Teacher conferences
I will be sending emails to parents about conferences for the second trimester. This time around, I do not usually meet with everyone, so if you do not get an email this weekend, a conference for your child is not necessary. However, if you'd like to meet I am happy to! Please let me know and we can set up a time. If we do not meet in person, I will send your child's report card and work home on 3/17.

The Event/Fiesta de Phoebe
I hope everyone is planning on attending this fun event that funds the Phoebe Hearst technology program! There are always lots of great live and silent auction items to bid on, and it's a nice way to get to know other PH parents. Thank you to the kinder room parents for organizing our wine-themed auction basket. Please get your donations in for this no later than 3/15, and direct any questions to Jacqui DeBoo.
Ms Ryerson and I are teaming up for our silent auction item: don't miss a chance to bid on the "Lunchtime Luau" in Room 4! The auction item winner from each classroom (1 and 4) will invite 4 friends to a luau during lunchtime on a date to be determined. We will have pizza, games, costumes, and prizes.
Finally, the kindergarteners have been working on a very special art piece to be auctioned at The Event. One lucky family will take home a one of a kind piece made by 96 kindergarten students!

Language Arts
This week we continue to work on sharing opinions through writing. The kids are doing an excellent job with this.
We will work on blending letters and sounds to make words, and we have started to read increasingly challenging words. The class loves a challenge!

Math
This week we will finish up the unit on measurement and take the unit test on Friday.

Thanks for reading! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.

Week of February 27- March 3, 2017

Hello Room 4 families,
It's been a super week in kindergarten. The kids have been working hard every day, and they are getting excited to celebrate Dr. Seuss and reading next week.

Here is what we have coming up:

2/27-3/3: Read Across America spirit week. Please see below for specifics.

Thursday, 3/2: Read Across America Day. Thanks to the parents who volunteered to send in some Dr. Seuss snacks.We are all set for this. If you'd like to stop in and read a favorite Dr. Seuss book to the class, please let me know. Everyone is welcome.

Friday, 3/3: Room 4 to work in the school garden, 8:15-8:45. If you'd like to stay and help with this, we love to have lots of adults out there with us!

Language Arts

This week we continue to practice blending sounds orally and with written letters. The kids are doing an amazing job with this. I am so impressed with their progress. The best thing you can do with your child at home to support this is to have them read to you every day.

We have been working on sharing opinions through writing. The kids are for the most part proficient in telling a fact from an opinion, so this week we will focus on writing strong reasons for our opinions.

Math

This week we begin topic 12 on measurement.

ALL of the kids scored 95% or above on our last test on desomposing numbers 11-19. Nice work!

Thanks for reading!

Week of February 13-17, 2017

What a wet, rainy week! We have had LOTS of indoor recess this week, and we are looking forward to a little sunshine. If you have a chance, please come check out our 100th day displays starting Tuesday. The kids are so proud of their work, and they should be! They work hard every day and have learned so much.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Monday 2/13: No School; Lincoln's Birthday

Tuesday, 2/14: 100th Day of School/Valentine's Day.
This is a spirit day--kids can wear red and pink.

Monday, 2/20: No School; Washington's Birthday

Friday, 2/24 Free dress

100th Day of School 2/14

I am still looking for two extra helpers for our centers time on Tuesday from 8 until about 9. Please let me know if you can help out.

We are so excited to celebrate all of the learning and growing we have done during our first 100 days of school!
The two homework assignments are due TODAY, 2/10
As a reminder, here they are:
1) Kids took home a small ziploc baggie with their name last week. They should fill it with a collection of 100 items and bring it back to school

2) Creative project: kids are encouraged to get creative and make something using 100 items. Some examples are using 100 Legos to make a tower or creating a poster using 100 stickers.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to send in snacks for our 100th day trail mix. If you haven't done so already, please send these in by this afternoon so I can have everything ready for Tuesday morning.

Valentine's Day 2/14
After lunch kids will pass out their Valentine cards. I would love to have a couple of parent helpers for this. Please let me know if you'd like to volunteer. (11:40-12:40)
Valentines can be store bought or handmade. Please have your child just write their names on the cards and not put any names of recipients. This helps A TON when passing out the cards. We have 24 kids in the class.

Language Arts
We are working a lot on blending words with 4+ phonemes and more than one syllable. The kids are loving the challenge, and their growth is apparent in their reading and writing skills. This week we will do a bunch of writing around our 100th day theme.

Math
This week we begin chapter 11 on decomposing numbers 11-19.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of February 6-10, 2017

Hello families!
February is off to a great start in Room 4. The kids are getting very excited about the 100th day of school.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates

Today, 2/3: Family dance, 6-8 pm. I hope to see everyone there!

Monday 2/13: No School; Lincoln's Birthday

Tuesday, 2/14: 100th Day of School/Valentine's Day.
This is a spirit day--kids can wear red and pink.

Monday, 2/20: No School; Washington's Birthday

Friday, 2/24 Free dress

100th Day of School 2/14

We are so excited to celebrate all of the learning and growing we have done during our first 100 days of school!
The two homework assignments are due this Friday, 2/10.
As a reminder, here they are:
1) Kids took home a small ziploc baggie with their name last week. They should fill it with a collection of 100 items and bring it back to school

2) Creative project: kids are encouraged to get creative and make something using 100 items. Some examples are using 100 Legos to make a tower or creating a poster using 100 stickers.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to send in snacks for our 100th day trail mix. If you haven't done so already, please send these in by Friday 2/10.

On this day we would like to have 2 extra parent helpers for our centers time (8:00-9:00 am) Please let me know if you can help.

Valentine's Day 2/14
We will have a small celebration after lunch. During this time kids will pass out their cards for their classmates. These can be store bought or handmade. Please have your child just write their names on the cards and not put any names of recipients. This helps A TON when passing out the cards. We have 24 kids in the class.


I would also love to have 3-5 parents help from about 11:40 until 12:40 that day to help with our celebration. Please email me if interested!


Language Arts
This week I introduced the terms fact and opinion to the kids. We worked a lot on determining the difference between the two, and they did a fantastic job. This week we will work on sharing our opinions about a variety of topics through writing. We will later build on this  by giving reasons for our opinions.

Math
This week we begin chapter 10 on composing numbers 11-19.

Thanks for reading! Please email me with any questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of January 23-27, 2017

Hello Families,
We had a great week and a super pajama day to finish it off.

February is always a fun month in kindergarten. Read on to see what's coming up!

Important Dates

Friday, 2/3 PH family dance, 6-8 pm


Monday, 2/13: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 2/14: 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 10. 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.

Of course, this is also Valentine's Day! After lunch we will have a small Valentine celebration when the kids will pass out their cards. Kids can bring Valentine cards filled out with their names, but please don't put the recipients' names on each card. This creates chaos when passing them out!

Monday, 2/20: NO SCHOOL; Presidents' Day

Language Arts
This week we continue to focus on blending sounds to make words and to use our focus sounds to spell words. We will focus on short i and /l/ sounds in addition to reviewing previously introduced letters and sounds.
This week in writing I am introducing the concepts of revising and proofreading. I will teach the kids to begin to go back through their writing to find ways to make it better and to check and correct errors.

Math
We will take the chapter test on subtraction on Monday and will begin chapter 9, "More Addition and Subtraction", on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading! Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
carrie.relles@gmail.com

Week of January 16-20, 2017

Hello families!!
We've had a super first week of 2017. The kids came in Monday ready to work and learn.
Thank you to everyone for the generous and thoughtful Christmas gifts. I appreciate your kindness so much.

Here is what we have coming up:

Important Dates
Monday, 1/16: MLK Jr. Day; no school

Friday, 2/3: Phoebe Hearst Family Dance; 6pm at school

Monday, 2/13: Washington's Birthday; no school

Tuesday, 2/14: Valentine's Day celebration/100th day of school. It's always interesting when these fall on the same day! Please watch for more information soon about our two 100th day homework projects.

Monday, 2/20: Lincoln's Birthday; no school

Language Arts
The kids' reading is really taking off! This is very typical this time of year, as they are getting comfortable with sounds and blending them on their own. If your child hasn't begun reading on his/her own, or they don't love sitting down with books, please keep at it at home! The practice they get with family is so important. Remember, they should spend some time reading to you and then listening to you read each day. These two types of practice help their reading development and their comprehension.
This week the kids wrote paragraphs about their New Year's resolutions, and they are amazing! They will be hanging in the room next week. Be sure to check them out.
Next week they will write an informational paragraph on how to build a snowman.

Math
This week we continue work on subtraction. The kids will take the chapter test on Monday 1/23.

Thanks for reading! Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.