K-C News
January 6, 2017
What you really need to know
Welcome back! We are already off to a great start in the new year and I am unbelievably preparing for our annual February orientation program for our next class of kindergarten families.
Thank you for helping your children practice their sight words at home! Believe me when I tell you it makes a big difference in their confidence and self-concept as READERS. Look in your child's folder for new cards for their words rings (see, and) and some optional practice pages due back by Friday, January 20.
You should also have received an introductory letter to online reading activities using Kids A-Z (formerly RAZ Kids). Your child's username, student picture code and password are attached to the letter.
January Scholastic book orders are due by Friday, January 13. If it's your first time ordering, our class activation code is HVXFH. Click here to view January Book Flyers
Thanks to Luke's mom Heather, who was our last Mystery Reader in 2016. She shared the story A Visitor for Bear, complete with silly character voices!
Coming Attractions
Our Bloomz calendar also lists all important NPS dates for the remainder of the year.
No School, Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday
Monday, January 16
Delayed Opening grade 1-5/No AM Kindergarten
Tuesday, January 17
"Early" Release at 12:15
Tuesday, January 31
"Early" Release at 12:15
Tuesday, February 14
No School, February Break
February 18-February 26
School Resumes
Monday, February 27
What we've been up to.
- As we have been working on spelling, writing and recognizing sight words as our go-to reading strategy, this week we looked through emergent readers (predictable texts with a few words on each page, loaded with sight words) in search of words we know. Everyone likes to mark up books with post-its to show the words they can read!
- We began to discuss Dr. King's legacy of kindness, fairness, peaceful discourse and tolerance.
- We are getting into our study of teen numbers and have begun to focus on the teens by recognizing them as "ten and some more". We are also playing games focusing on using double ten frames to show teen values and learning to tell one more/one less as an introduction to addition and subtraction.
- Our little mascot "Gingy" the gingerbread man escaped from K-C. We followed his clues and went on a scavenger hunt around the building to bring him back. We found him waiting for us in the bathroom in our classroom :)
- We used our iPads with Mrs. Slotnick, our literacy specialist, to learn how to log on and listen to/read stories on Kids A-Z.
- Before 2016 ended we earned 100 fuzzies and had a fun sharing day! We also celebrated the arrival of winter with a crafts party. We created snowflakes, snowmen and gingerbread art with the help of many parent volunteers. Thank you to all!
Links of the week.
Login to Kids A-Z to practice reading at home!
Click and drag shapes to make three in a row and earn points.
Make your own story using lined paper and drawing tools.
Read the thermometer and place the objects in the right environment
Sight word memory game (just click on "play full screen", no download needed):
The things kids say. For real.
Though I had spent the previous night in the ER with a kid with a concussion (one of mine, not one of yours), had a freshly-licensed teen driving himself to school for the first time (mine, not yours) and had endured a series of bracingly cold showers due to a faulty water heater (just, no), the first week back at school in 2017 sure did make all that a lot easier to take.
As I escorted the class to recess on Wednesday, one of the students, spontaneously leapt in the air and yelled, "I LOVE SCHOOL!" and another just grabbed me and hugged me and then ran off to play. I had also been gifted with three original drawings, made at home so I knew they were thinking of school, by kinder-artists since their return to school 24 hours prior.
So yeah. If your water heater ever breaks, come to kindergarten and we'll make it all better.