News From Mrs. C
Our class news for the week of Feb. 19-22nd
Tidbits From the Teacher
Where has February gone?!?!
I feel like the picture I've posted as my inspiration for this week. It's a funny and great picture of a funny and great kiddo in our room.
Kindergarten Round Up is coming. Trees are budding. The weather has become truly unpredictable. It true. It's almost spring break time.
Wow.
I am trying to get back in the hang of sending home notebooks on Thursdays. Just remind your child to bring them BACK home if you need another day or the weekend to really look over the changes your child has made over the year.
I am trying to put more grades and information on pages these days. I just hope I can keep up!
One last thing. Our class has been lucky enough to be asked to help mentor in a pre-school special education program. One of our students' mom is a teacher in the room. We would like to send two children during our recess to eat lunch with the pre-school class then work on social skills during their recess which would be our lunch time. It would not be daily and students would rotate in and out based upon need. No instruction time would be lost but stallion behavior and finished work are a must. If you DO NOT want your child to participate, please email me. If you want more information, email me and I can send that home.
Things to Return:
-Homework on Monday
-Field Trip Form and $4
Dates to Remember
Feb. 26th & 27th: Indoor Recess due to STAAR ready testing (Thank you Nathan for the games!!)
Mar. 5th: Kinder Round Up-pass the word along to parents of wee ones!
Mar. 6th: Early Release @ 12:45
Mar. 11-15th: Spring Break!!!
Mar. 28th: Field Trip & Report Cards
Mar. 29th: Spring Holiday
What We'll Be Learning...
We are moving into multiple step problems. We've done a few here and there but from now on math will typically involve solving one step in order to use the information to solve a second step and get the actual answer to the problem. There's a great example in the math section of the homework. It's choice #1.
**What you can do at home: Continue to practice place value skills using the website recommended or other favorites you have. Play 'Math Roller Coasters' when you have a few minutes. Tell your child to "Buckle your seat belt. Lower the bar on your seat. Hang on because we're going to loop-de-loop! Here goes! 10...+50....+20...+20....take away half....take away half again. What's the answer?" -great way to work on mental math skills and have children hold onto numbers before blurting out the final answer!
Science- The class is noticing several patterns in our weather. We might have a future meteorologist or two in our midst! Up next is a fun unit on the weather cycle. We spend time experimenting and building a strong foundation on the understanding of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. The kids love all of the experiments we do in order to better understand the predictable cycle or pattern of water in our world.
**What you can do at home: Start talking and asking what is known already about evaporation. Put a glass of water in the window of the kitchen. Mark the glass each day and discuss what is seen happening to the water. Observations are so important.
Writing- We get to spend a bit longer working on small moments. We have peppered our writing time with other kinds of writing but honestly I grin when I hear the class grumble about having to stop for the day. They are in love with writing their stories. Isn't that great?
Our "Popcorn" similes are hanging outside of our classroom and we're currently finishing up a poem about a color using sensory language.
What you can do at home: Ask them what they are writing about. Then ask them which part are they slowing down. When they tell you, see if they are adding details and telling you step by step about that moment. **Remember that small moments are little parts of our day that we notice that others might not. It's a great way to hear about your child's thought process.
Reading- Each reading unit is my favorite! We are moving into comparing and contrasting the same folktale across cultures. It's the beginning of an amazing and in-depth study of folktales, fables, legends and myths. We'll get familiar with fiction again and remind ourselves about characters, setting and plot.
What you can do at home: Ask your child to retell you the folktale heard that day at school. Ask how the tale is different from how they thought it would be. Ask them how they could tell the culture that the tale came from by using the pictures.
Spelling/Handwriting- I am trying to take more grades or give some type of feedback about spelling and handwriting now. Look for notes in work to alert you to what may need more attention or praise.
What you can do at home: If you notice your sweetie not gripping a writing tool correctly, gently tell them to "check your grip." I have other tricks if you need help with this. Just email me and let me know!
Spelling is also coming along. Students should really know what vowels and consonants are. They should be able to point out patterns studied in words read during reading times.
What you can do at home: Ask your child what spelling rules he/she is studying. Can he/she talk to you about the words being sorted?
Class Wish List
The class has requested:
-smelly stickers (Mardel and Lakeshore carry these.)
-We'll take gift cards in small amounts too! Those add up and can buy lots of things for us.
**Thank you to everyone who sent in styrofoam cups!