Next week, we will be celebrating the 100th day of school with a variety of activities. Students are invited to dress like they are 100 years old, should they choose to participate. I will send a reminder home as soon as the date of our 100th day is confirmed school-wide.
Thursday, February 14th is Valentine's Day. We will not be celebrating "Valentine's Day" with an exchange of Valentines and a party but will instead be spending time doing activities that focus on friendship and cooperation. We will also share a special "friendship snack" in the afternoon. I understand how much many children enjoy this holiday, so, if your child would like to make or bring in a Valentine for their classmates, I will give them an opportunity to share them with their friends. I do ask that anyone who chooses to bring Valentine's for their classmates please be sure to bring one for all of their classmates. Students in our class are: Samantha, Carsyn, Hadley, Ian, Ezra, Braun, Emmett, Ava, Colton and Camille.
Thank you to Betsy Brown and Karen Parker for coming to visit the Kindergarten last week to teach us about air during our recent Four Winds lesson. During this visit, students participated in a variety of activities that helped them explore air and were given the opportunity to design and test parachutes.
Curriculum Update
Math - We have recently begun a new unit in math which focuses on solving addition and subtraction problems, computing with pennies and nickels, and measuring length using non-standard units. We will also continue to practice counting forward and backward between 0 and 50, starting with any number in that range. This week, we built a number line 0 to 10 which we have used to: determine missing numerals in a sequence, practice putting numerals in correct order and practice using positional language (before and after) to describe the relationships among numbers.
Literacy
- Fundations - This week we have been practicing uppercase and lowercase letter formation of the alphabet and writing and reading CVC words such as: cat, mop, red, win, mud, etc.
- Reading - During reading time, students continue to practice reading sight word books using early reading strategies. We practice tracking print with our index finger, look for words we know, and use pictures and initial letter sounds to solve unknown words. Students bring home red sight word books each week to keep. All students would benefit from practicing their reading at home each night.
- Writing - Students continue to write personal narratives while practicing saying words slowly and using details in their pictures and words. Last week, students wrote their first informational text about penguins.
- Sight Words - During literacy time, students have been practicing reading and writing the words: a, and, an, at, am, can, I, is, like, my, on, the, see, to, look, he, she, it, we, be, do, are, go, and this.
- Science - We are wrapping up our unit on hibernation, migration and adaptation this week. We have read several books about how animals prepare for winter and watched a few science videos to support learning on this topic. Next week we will begin a new unit on pushes and pulls.
Additional Information
Parent Conferences - Spring conferences will be scheduled in early March, prior to March 8th. I will be sending home a letter soon offering a variety of dates and times for you to choose from to meet with me. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's academic and behavioral progress this year.
Extra Clothing and Shoes - Please consider sending in new spare clothes and indoor shoes for students to change into.
Recyclables Needed - We are looking for some clean recyclables to use in the classroom for a variety of upcoming projects. If you have any cardboard, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, we would gladly take them.
Book Orders - If anyone is interested in placing an order for books through Scholastic, please visit our classroom page online by clicking this link and use our class code HDK8K or send in paper orders to school with checks made payable to Scholastic by Friday, March 1st.
