K-C News
November 30, 2018
What you really need to know
For those of you who aren't counting, the kindergartners are, and we can tell you we've been in school for almost 60 days! That means we are 1/3 of the way through the year already. We have just finished our fall conferences, so no more conference days to disrupt your schedule for a while. Thank you all for coming in so I could share how much your children have accomplished already this year.
We have entered into the cold months at school and there's no turning back now! Please be sure your child wears a seasonal coat, gloves or mittens, and a hat each day. Your children already have impressive zippering skills, so thanks for that :) We will soon be dressing in snow pants and boots for our recess, on those days when the snow is covering our play area at school. And we really love to play in the snow. Snow pants and boots are required for students who wish to play on the snowy surfaces of the playground. If everything doesn't fit into your child's backpack, please provide an additional (grocery type) bag for their winter gear. Thank you.
Thank you to our mystery readers: Jenn Scheck Kahn (Eli), Reagan Shavor (Reid), Jenny Liu (David) and Supamas Schneider (Lanna).
Happy Birthday to our newest six year olds David, Thanos and Eli!
Reminders:
After school playdates between classmates are always encouraged! Please let me know if you need contact information for another family to set up a time for your children to play.
Your child's birthday is a big deal and we have you covered! Your child will be the center of attention (if they want to be) on their SCHOOL birthday. They will get a small gift and card from the class to take home. You are required to do NOTHING! Yay! How often does anyone tell you that? Just send us a six year old and we'll do the rest. No additional supplies or goodies required. If your child is a summer baby, we will honor their birthday on a day to be determined in JUNE. We celebrate everyone in kindergarten.
Coming attractions
Wednesday, December 5
December book orders due
Wednesday, December 12
NO AM Kindergarten, Delayed start for grade 1-5
December 22, 2018 - January 1, 2019
NO SCHOOL, winter break
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
School resumes
Monday, January 21
NO SCHOOL. MLK Jr. Day
Wednesday, January 30
"EARLY" RELEASE at 12:15
All in a days work...
- In math, we have introduced shapes and have been building and designing with pattern blocks. We have also tried our hand at graphing, sorting objects and pictures in to groups and telling which has the most or least. We are really working to solidify our understanding of number patterns so we can take any number and tell you what comes before and after. Practice COUNTING ON at home (as in, what comes next.. ). We have also been using number lines as tools for basic addition and subtraction, and even played a jumping turkey game to see whose turkey could jump to 30 the fastest.
- We have been using our iPads to explore our scholastic magazine Let's Find Out games and stories online. We also really love to play kindergarten and first grade math games on toytheater.com, so have a look if your child wants to play at home.
- Our newest science visitor is Hairy Potter the tarantula. Our science studies have taken a turn to the dark side! We are beginning to learn about nocturnal animals so we also have some taxidermied visitors in the house. Ask your child which other animals are in our science center!
- We have been reading up a storm and have practiced retelling The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything and The Very Busy Spider. We had our first reader's theater in which everyone had a role and we all read our parts like the professionals we are. We have even been practicing creating WORD FAMILIES, by rhyming words with the same endings (ran, man, tan, van, pan...). Stay tuned for upcoming homework opportunities to practice sight word recognition skills at home.
- Our writing skills are really taking off! You might have noticed our Weekend News stories are now on different paper. Your writers now have a choice of papers, depending upon how they want to present their writing each week. We are working to label pictures and enrich our stories with details.
- Recent choices have included bookmaking, fall mural making, a marble run and water gel beads in the water table, an airport in our dramatic play area, and pocket chart reading practice.
- We couldn't let Thanksgiving go by without reflecting upon how thankful we are for YOU! And we learned how to draw and paint some pretty fancy turkeys too.
Links to explore
we enjoyed learning and retelling the story of The Little Old Lady...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRDFgSZKkjg
practice matching upper case and lower case letters or letters to sounds.
http://www.abcya.com/letter_match_uppercase_lowercase.htm
find the teen numbers
https://www.education.com/game/number-demolition-11-20/
Practice blending sounds to make a three letter word.
http://www.education.com/game/tutu-blending-sounds-quiz/
Watch these videos to remember the numbers in the teens all start with a one!
The things kids say. For real.
Mrs. Cohen: What can you tell us about this tarantula?
Student 1: It has 8 legs
Student 2: It's a spider
Student 3: It eats insects
Mrs. Cohen: Why do you think this tarantula is called Hairy Potter? Look Closely!
Student 4: Because it can do magic!