Hello Families,


Thank you so much for your generous donations!  I am so excited to buy some new books and art supplies needed for our class! I am so thankful to all of you wonderful parents!!!!

This Thursday,  Feb. 6, Courtney (Gigi's mom),  will be visiting our class to take pictures  for the yearbook,  She had the fantastic idea to have them write on a chalkboard what they would like to be when they grow up. If they would like to dress up as the part, they could do that too! (ie-If they want to be a firefighter they could wear a fire helmut, doctor- a lab coat, etc.)  

This week, we had so much fun learning about polar bears and penguins and how animals adapt to the cold areas.   We also did a science experiment on animal blubber.  Ask your child about what they learned about blubber.   

On Monday, we are celebrating  the 100th day of school.  The kiddos are so excited! We have fun centers planned to celebrate with the number 100!!!!  

word wall words: friend, from

Math:  Wow! I was so impressed with our CGI word problem this week!  Students are starting to understand so many ways to solve both addition and subtraction word problems.  Celebrate your child at home with how amazing their math knowledge is becoming with subtracting and adding!  Continue to practice mental math by sharing real world word problems to see if they can figure it out at home.  
.

 Valentine's project:

We need large grocery paper bags to decorate and collect our Valentines. Please send in, if you have any extras! Our Valentine Party will be on Friday, the 14th from 10:30-11:20. 

Reminders:

Feb. 10-No school

Feb. 17-No school


I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Hello Families,

One more week of January and then February!  Time is sure flying by!

100th Day of School Project:   I thought it would be fun for our class to bring in a project for our 100th day of school coming up on Feb 3!  It is 100 of anything!  You can have a display or a container to share your 100 collection.  I saw some cute ones in the other classes.  One student did 100 stickers in groups of 10.  One student made the number 100 out of a hundred rocks.  One student had 100 beads.  One student built a Lego design with 100 Legos.  It's your choice of what you would like to share.  Bring it any at anytime this week or next so that we can start sharing our collections.

Science: We will continue our theme on Winter Animals  We will learn many facts about the different types of penguins that live in the Southern Hemisphere.  We will also talk about Polar Bears that live in the Northern Hemisphere. We will talk about how these animals adapt with the type of feathers and blubber to make them able to live in coldest areas of the world.

Math: This next week, we will be back to a full week with counting collections, math games in centers, learning to count on, etc.  Please continue to practice counting to 100 by 1's , 5's, and 10's.

word wall word for the week: has, had

We have a few more celebrations coming up.  We have our 100 days of school on Feb. 3.  and Valentine's Day on Friday, Feb. 14. We also celebrate President's Day with no school on Feb. 10 and 17th.

Donations Needed:  I am wondering if anyone would like to donate the following items:

the thick pretzel sticks from Trader Joes (to make log cabins for Abe Lincoln)
Cotton balls for comparing Polar bears to grizzly bears
Crisco large tub (for our science experiment about animal blubber)
100 red cups (for 100 day celebration)

This year, some of you have donated Amazon cards and Target gift cards for me to buy things.  I also use my own money but it gets very expensive.  We love doing projects and don't want to give that up.  I really appreciate all the help and thank you all!!


Reminders:
Science Fair January 31
Morning Assembly  Wednesday Feb 5
No school on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17
Math Festival: February 6

Thank you all! Have a great weekend!

Jan. 21-25

Jan. 21-25

Dear Families,

We had a great first week back from Winter Break!  We are ready to start 2020 off with a bang.  

There will be no school this Monday, Jan. 20 to observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  We read a couple of stories about this amazing man and had a discussion on how he wanted all people to be equal and be treated fairly.  We read a poem called "The Crayons that Talked".  It is about how each crayon is unique and when you put them all together it creates a beautiful picture.  I talked about us being that box of crayons and we all have different talents that come together to make a beautiful picture.

Chinese New Year : Next Friday, we will march through the classrooms to celebrate Chinese New Year.  If your child would like to bring in a "noisemaker" (ie tamborines, bongos, bells, maracas,etc.) they are welcome to bring in on Friday. It should be lots of fun!

Language Arts:
 Our new theme is winter animals!  We already introduced owls and penguins and will talk about how winter animals adapt to their environment during the winter months by hibernating, growing more fur, storing food, etc.  This week and next, we will have center activities focusing on  owls. and penguins.

In the next few weeks, we have a few holidays/occasions to celebrate.  We celebrate Chinese New Year, Groundhog Day,  100th day of school, Valentine's Day, and President's Day.  This makes these next few months go quickly!

Word wall words: this, that

Math:  We will continue to work on number bonds and practice word problems as well as addition to 10.
  

Please continue to practice counting to 100 , and counting by 5's,and  10's.

Math Festival coming up on February 6th!!!! We need parent volunteers.  
We need 2 volunteers for both sessions:
First Session: 7:55-10:35
Second Session 11:35-2:10
Volunteers will be assisting with classes, grade K-6th, as they filter through the MPR to explore math activities and games.  
You do not need to teach any math or know the skills, you will be more of a facilitator at a center- cleaning up materials  between each class, helping younger students read the directions, etc.
If you are interested and can commit to one of the sessions, please email alyssa_davis@pvusd.net (our academic coordinator).  We definite need volunteers for this to run smoothly.

Classroom Needs/Donations:

red lunch or dinner size plates

white paper plates

paper grocery bags (need 25)

Paper towels

Clean-up wipes

Crayola twistable crayons

Fruit loops/necklace string (for 100 day project)

Individual boxes of conversation Valentine hearts(for math activities)

Trader Joes's brand whole wheat pretzels (for Abe Lincoln log cabin)

Reminders:
No school this Monday- Jan.20
No school Monday Feb. 10
No school Monday Feb. 17
Math Festival Tuesday, Feb. 6

Have a great week!

Dec. 16-19

Dec. 16-19

Hello Families,

This week is going to go quickly!!!! We will not have centers this week.  Students are ready for the holidays and have a lot of energy!!  We will be doing lots of fun activities and continue to explore our winter theme and talk about how animals adapt in the winter.

Math: We will be continuing our CGI (word problems) using subtraction and finding the missing addend.

www: with

 Our winter party will be on Thursday at 9:30-10:40.  Students can wear their pajamas on Thursday.

There is no school on Friday, Dec. 20.

School will resume on Tuesday, January 14.

When we get back, we will continue our theme on winter animals and their adaptations.  We will have a few owl and penguin projects.  Besides winter animals, we will discuss Martin Luther King, Jr. and how we treat everyone fairly.  We will read a poem "The Crayon Box that Talked"by Shane DeRolf.  It talks about how every crayon is unique and special.  "And when we get together the picture is complete!"

Have an amazing and relaxing break and I will see you next year!!!

Hello Families,

This week, we will be finishing up talking about the different gingerbread stories and having a hunt to find one that escapes from our room!!!!(Shhh, please do not tell them) . We will finish up our gifts to our buddies and making them special cards. We will be talking a lot about how to be kind and mindful of others.  The class is getting excited about the holidays! Please remind them that we still need to be nice and respectful to peers and faculty.

We are starting our "stick it to hunger" fundraiser to raise money for people in need.  We will be sticking the principal to the wall next Wednesday,Dec.18.  More information and details will be sent home soon.

Word Wall Words: come, as


In writer's workshop, we just finished our narrative writing piece and will read it with our friends. Our next writing will be on informational text.  We will be writing "How to" books. 

In math, we will be doing a couple of word problems  and solving using  2 different strategies.  We will counting to 100 by 2's, 5's , and 10's.  We are also talking about place value.

REMINDERS:
No Centers next week
Winter party on Thursday, December 19
No School on Friday, December 20

Have a super week!

Hello Kindergarten Families,

          I look forward to meeting with all of you this week to discuss your child's progress.  It is regular schedule for all Kindergarten and No Centers until after Thanksgiving break.  Centers will will resume the week of Dec. 2.

Here is a peek at our week:

A butterfly expert that raises monarch butterflies will be bringing her butterflies and the different stages of the butterfly to show the Kinder classes.  She is so excited to share with our class and have them understand how important butterflies are to our environment.

         

 Words of the Week:  review

In Math, we will continue looking at solid and flat shapes.  Please point out real world solid and flat shapes when driving or walking around town.  Please work on counting and writing numbers to 10 and beyond.  

In Writer's Workshop, students will be editing and publishing a story this week.  We will celebrate on Tuesday, Nov. 26th.  Students will bring in a stuffed animal to read their story to and read them to their buddy class.

          Star of the Day:  

                I will be sending a note home today about our new assignment for Star of the Day. This is not a stuffed animal share.  Please have your child bring in either a picture, award, souvenir, trophy, etc. that is a special moment or event that they can explain and share.  Please return as soon as you can.  

Reminders: 

Regular schedule for Kindergarten next week!

No centers until Dec. 2

Spirit day: Wednesday, Nov. 20 (sports day)

Have a great week!  

Hello Kindergarten Families,

Conferences are coming up!  Please arrive 5 mins early so that we can start on time and end on time.  Thank you for all of your support this year!  I'm looking forward to another fun trimester with this adorable and sweet class! I will be sending home your conference time reminders in their folders on Tuesday.

No School Monday, Nov. 11.

Language Arts:  We are continuing to blend and segment sounds to make words.  You can do this at home or in the car.  Ask them to sound out the words, For example, you say, "cat" and then they repeat with only sounds (C-A-T).  Then you can say the sounds (C-A-T) and they say the word.  Besides blending and segmenting, we are reading nonfiction books on butterflies and discussing the different stages of life cycle.  We will read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and talk about how Eric Carle, the author talks about time.  We talked about how long a butterfly lives  from egg to butterfly.

We will be beginning to talk about Thanksgiving.  We will discuss things that we are thankful for and how we can say thanks to people who have helped us.  We would like to give a big thanks to all of the families for the support in the classroom with donations to class funds, parent help for centers and parties, and supporting our school with fundraisers! 

Handwriting: We are finishing up our last handwriting letters of the alphabet and will begin reviewing how we write letters in modeled writing. Some students are still needing practice in writing letters of their name.  We have started writing sentences using capital at beginning of the sentence and having spaces between words.  This is something we will continue to practice.  We will be using different types of paper to show them where the letters should be on the lines.

Words of the Week:  play, here

In Math, will start doing our "Number of the Day" poster to strengthen our math strategies.  We are studying solid shapes now, and the students will go on a "shape hunt".  Please continue to practice number writing, and remember, reversals are normal at this age.

In Writer's Workshop, we will continue writing about "first moments".  We  are learning about how to write a story and what it needs to be a story.  Students will continue stretching out words and writing down the sounds that they hear.  Students will pick one of their stories to finish the writing process of editing and then publishing their piece.  We will celebrate in a couple weeks with our buddies.

Reminders:

No school Monday, Nov. 11.

Conference Week: November 18-22

Thanksgiving break Wed. Nov. 27-29

Morning Assembly: Dec. 4

Have a fantastic three day weekend!