Week of October 29-November 2, 2018

Reading: “Animal Babies in Grasslands” is our story this week. This informational text will discuss the special animals that live in grasslands with their babies. Determining the main idea in a story is the reading skill we will use to develop comprehension. Adjectives for colors and shapes will be introduced. The amazing words presented in the story are: calf, cub, joey, grassland, pup, and foal. Three new sight words will be introduced: we, my, and like.

Phonics:  Pp is the letter of the week. The sound we will focus on is /p/ as in penguin. We will practice the sound in the beginning, as well as at the end of words. We are learning to blend letter sounds to read words.

Math: 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes continue this week. The shapes we will focus on include: triangle, square, rectangle, circle, rhombus, trapezoid, hexagon, oval, sphere, cube, cone, cylinder, pyramid, triangular prism, and rectangular prism.

Reminders:

- Red Ribbon Week continues through Monday and Tuesday.

- The school nurse will be conducting vision screenings on Tuesday. If your child is required to wear glasses, please be sure he/she wears them to school.

- Wednesday is our Halloween parade/celebration. Information was sent home. If you need another copy of the information or have questions, please let me know. Be sure to be on time for the parade. Kindergarten is scheduled to start promptly at 2:00.

- We are still collecting money for parties throughout the year. Please remember to send in your $5.00 donation if you have not done so yet.

- October Reading logs will be collected on Thursday. The goal is to record 15 books you have read together. Children who meet this goal receive a free pizza coupon from Pizza Hut.  

-We do go outside during recess for 30 minutes each day unless it is raining. The days are becoming much colder. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. Also practice putting coats on (including fixing sleeves that are stuck inside!) and zipping/buttoning.

-Please review the letters of the alphabet, the letter sounds, sight words, and counting to 100 daily. Other skills to practice include syllables and rhyming.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and have a pleasant week!

~ Mrs. Green

Week of October 22-26, 2018

Reading: “Nature’s Spy” is this week’s nonfiction story. It teaches us how we can appreciate the world around us when we look closely at the natural environment. We will discuss setting throughout the week and proper nouns will be introduced. Our amazing words are: discover, nature, spy, acorn, pod, and pattern. We will continue working with the sight words have and is.

Phonics: The focus letter for the week is Ss. The sound is /s/, as in sun. This sound will be taught in the beginning and the end of words.

Math: We will continue working with shapes this week. Children will be introduced to 3-dimensional shapes. 2-dimensional shapes, sorting rules, attributes, and positional words will also be practiced.

Reminders:

~ The weather is becoming chillier. Please be sure your child is wearing a warm jacket to school. We do go outside for recess daily unless it is raining.

~ Monday starts Red Ribbon Week. Please refer to the October calendar for daily themes.

~ We are collecting money for parties that will take place throughout the year. Please send in your $5.00 if you have not contributed yet. 

~ The Kindergarten Fall Festival will take place on Friday, October 26^th. This fun filled event will be celebrated outside. Therefore, please be sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. Students may wear a Spartan shirt along with jeans or sweatpants and sneakers.

~ The Halloween Parade will held be on Wednesday, October 31st at 2:00pm. Kindergarten will lead the parade through the Spartan Stadium in front of the home bleachers. Costumes should not be worn to school. Children may bring their labeled costumes to school in a labeled bag in order to prevent lost items. We will have a limited time for a large group of children to get dressed in the classroom. Therefore, it is advised to keep the costumes simple. 

~ Please continue to practice sight words daily. This repetition will help your child learn the 96 required sight words, leading them to become a more fluent reader. Also take some time to practice the following skills: letter and sound identification, rhyming, syllables, counting to 100, and writing numbers 0-20. 

Have a super week!  

~ Mrs. Green

                    

Week of October 15-19, 2018

Reading:  This week begins Unit 2: “Look at Us.”  The stories will discuss how plants and animals are unique. “Flowers” is the first story. This nonfiction book explains variations of flowers and labels their parts. We will use the compare and contrast skill to make connections between two subjects in a text. Nouns for more than one are presented in the story. The amazing words unveiled are: seeds, buds, bloom, fruits, stem, and petals. Sight words to focus on are: have and is.

Phonics:  Aa is our focus letter. Words with the initial and medial /a/ sound will be taught (example: alligator, mat). The long /a/ sound will also be presented (example: ate, same). Segmenting (breaking apart words into sounds), blending (combining sounds to read words), rhyming, and syllables are constantly being taught. Please practice these skills at home.

Math: We are continuing to work with 2-dimensional shapes. We are sorting, identifying, and describing attributes of these shapes. Positional words are also practiced this week.

Reminders:

- The school-wide book fair will take place on Monday evening in the library from 4:00-7:00pm. Our class buying day is Wednesday, October 17^th. Please remember to label envelopes before sending money to school.

- There will be a brief Fall Festival  meeting on Monday, October 15^th at 5:00.  Anyone who plans on attending should meet in front of the school store.

- Friday is a $1.00 Spartan dress down day.

-Next week is Red Ribbon Week. Please check your calendar for dress themes.

- Picture Re-Take Day is scheduled for Tuesday, October 23^rd. 

-It is very important to practice sight words daily. This repetition will help your child learn the 96 required sight words, leading them to become a more fluent reader. Counting to 100 and writing numbers 0-10 are other important skills to practice!

Have an amazing week!  

~ Mrs. Green 

Week of October 9-12, 2018

This week’s Reading story is called “Dig, Dig, Digging.” It is a concept book that will explore how machines do many different jobs in order to get work done. To build comprehension, we will classify and categorize information in a story. As we read, we will learn that nouns can be places and things.  The amazing words for the week are: scooping, swooshing, squelching, gobbling, spinning, and rumbling. The sight words featured this week are: a and to.

Our Phonics focus letter of the week is Tt. We will focus on the initial and final /t/ sound in words. We are also continuing to practice syllables, rhyming, letter sounds, and blending.

The Math Topic this week teaches how to classify and sort objects. Our lessons this week introduce the following 2-dimensional shapes: triangle, circle, square, and rectangle.

Reminders:

-Unfortunately, due to rain in the forecast for Thursday, October 11th, our Kindergarten Field Trip to Rohrbach’s Farm has been cancelled. Information will be sent home when a new Field Trip is planned.

-This is homecoming week. The students are encouraged to participate in themed days throughout the week, ending with a Pep Rally on Friday. (Please check the October calendar for themes.) These events help build Spartan Spirit. This spirit creates a positive attitude that inspires students to try their best.

-There will be a brief Fall Festival planning meeting on Monday, October 15th at 5:00.  Anyone who plans on attending should meet in front of the school store.  

-Book Fair Week will begin on Monday, October 15^th with a Parent Night from 4-7pm. Buying Day for our class is scheduled for Wednesday, October 17^th.

-As always, continue to practice letter names and their sounds along with sight words daily. Also practice counting to 100 and writing numbers 0-10.

 Thank you for your continued cooperation and have a terrific week!

~Mrs. Green

 

Week of October 1-5, 2018

Reading:  The title of this week’s story is “Smash! Crash!”  The characters in this fantasy are vehicles that interact with each other. This selection will encourage students to discuss activities they do with their friends. Nouns will be introduced this week. The amazing words presented are: signals, dud, proper, pirates, perfect, and fabulous. The sight words spotlighted are: a and to.

 Phonics: We are beginning to focus on individual letters and sounds. The first sound we will learn is /m/, which is made by letter Mm. We will practice initial sounds, ending sounds, blending, and discriminating words that contain the same sound.

Math: Our first topic will be tested this week. The test will cover how to read write, and count numbers 0-10. The next math topic introduces shapes. Classifying and sorting a variety of shapes will be the focus. 

Reminders:

-September book logs are now due. Students who have read 15 or more books will receive a treat. October Book Logs will be placed in folders on the first of the month.

-There will be a PTO meeting on Monday, October 1^st at 6:30pm.

-It is important to practice sight words daily. Many students are advancing quickly. These students are seeing the benefits of knowing the words. They feel more confident when participating in reading activities containing their sight words.

-The PTO will be hosting a Fall Festival for Kindergarten on Friday, October 26^th. An individual $3.00 donation was requested in order to provide a fun-filled day for your child. Please send in your donation if you have not already done so. Thank you for the donations we have received!

- Friday, October 5^th is an Act 80 day. Students will be dismissed at 12:00.

-Monday, October 8^th is an In-Service Day. There will be no school for students.

-Next week is Homecoming Spirit Week. Please refer to the information that was sent home for daily dress themes.

Have a marvelous week!

~ Mrs. Green