Fun pictures!

Here are the pictures from our Holidays Around the World Celebration and the last day of school before winter break!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kgkXtjiXLzn5RMyz6

Week 19- December 17- December 19

I hope everyone had a fun weekend! We have a short 3 day week coming up before Winter Break. A couple reminders Tuesday and Wednesday are both half days, dismissal starts at 11:45. This means there is no lunch, unless your child goes to Athenaeum. Please pack an extra big snack for Wednesday.  Tuesday is our Holidays Around the World celebration in kinder! Our class book exchange is on Wednesday, please send your child with a new or gently used wrapped book to exchange. 

We celebrated lots of birthdays and half birthdays this week!

Happy Half Birthday Beckett!

Happy Half Birthday Kelly!

 

Happy Half Birthday Emily!

Happy 6th Birthday to Archer!

Here's a look at our short but sweet week:

Spalding: This week we will review words and phonograms. There will be no test.  Please continue to review phonogram cards each night.

We recently learned the "ers," in Spalding and they can be a little tricky. We use the sentence "her first nurse works early" to help students remember each "er".  We use the words as cues so the students know which "er" we want them to write or say. When you are practicing at home you should be saying these cues as well. 

er (as in her)  ir (as in first)

ur (as in nurse) wor (as in works)

ear (as in early) 

Sight Words: Review lists 1-3

Literature: This week we will explore the silly Story/Poem, “There was an Old Lady.” We will read different versions and compare/contrast them as well as sequence the events.  We will still be reading with students this week so please be sure to send your child with their book bag. This will give students an opportunity to get a new book to read before break.  Please be sure to keep reading while away from school. 

Math: We will complete the first semester by reviewing some topics from the year.  Students will work on both Monday and Tuesday to complete pages in their Math Book A.  Once completed, students will be bringing their books home with them to keep.

History: We will learn all about the real life of Saint Nicholas. Students will learn that he gave to those in need out of love and kindness. Students will get to make a craft to give to someone they love. 

Library Volunteers

Our Archway Arete library has officially launched, and we are looking for volunteers to help students check out books. Sign up here to serve! Our class will visit the library on January 11th, February 15th, March 8th, April 5th and May 3rd. 

Week 18- December 10-December 14

Whew! Can you believe we've made it to the last full week before winter break? Our semester together has flown by! Jay and I got to see one of our very good friends marry her favorite person this weekend! We love weddings!

Megan and Andrews Wedding!

Congrats Elina for being our Virtue of the Month award winner!

All the kiddos got to pick a name for our elf
to be voted on! And the winning name was...
Snowflake!

                            

                           

Here's what's happening in kindergarten this week.

Spalding: This week we will learn two more partner phonograms ew and ui (cue: not used). We will have five spelling words again can, see, run, the, in ; refer to your child’s homework for the correct markings of words. We will continue to add two phonograms to the homework.  Please be sure that you are reviewing phonogram cards on a daily basis as our phonograms increase in difficulty. 

Sight Words: We will review list 3 and test on Friday. 

Literature: We will continue reading the Velveteen Rabbit and finish our story this week.  To finish off our unit students will be allowed to bring in one small, non-pop culture, stuffed toy to school on Friday!  This can be an animal or doll that is special to your child, however, it may not be a character from a show or movie.  Please limit the size so that it is able to sit in their lap at their desk, and not interfere with the learning environment. This week we will also be making cards to bring to a nearby nursing home to spread holiday cheer! We will send out more information soon on the time and place so that your family may join us in delivering the cards and singing Christmas Carols!  Our Poem will be “Little Jack Horner."

Math: After working on sets that have more, this week we will work on sets that have less.  We will then review more or less and have an assessment on Friday.

Geography and Science: We will be exploring the continent of Antarctica and the Arctic this week. Scholars will learn about the weather and climate at the north and south poles of the world. They will learn all about polar animals and how they survive in the cold. We will do an experiment on blubber to see how that extra layer of fat helps keep some animals warm. Students will learn more about penguins too!

Making snowflakes!

                       

Teddy graham math!

                        

                            

Reading to our "Reading Buddies"

All about blubber! We got to see how it feels to have our hands
in ice water with a blubber protection and without. 

Week 17- December 3- December 7

Happy Sunday! I hope you all stayed cozy on this chilly weekend. Thinking of gift ideas for the upcoming holidays? Why not snag a few books as gifts for your little ones? We will submit another Scholastic Book Order on Friday, December 7^th. This way there will be plenty of time to receive the books before the last day leading up to Winter Break. 

Order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and use our class code: QDR6N . You can pick a free book when you order $25 or more of books. Use the code: READS to get a $5 free book.        

This week we will be introducing a new friend in our classroom; A Kindness Elf. I know many of you use this messenger in your own homes as well. Our elf will not only bring excitement to our classroom, he will also bring acts of kindness each day. He is a lot of fun and it is a great way to bring out positive and loving behavior in our little scholars! I am excited for them to meet him and give him a name. 

Here's a look at our upcoming week in kinder!

Spalding: Can you believe we have almost learned 50 phonograms? Kindergarten is flying! This week, we will learn two new phonograms: or and ck (cue: two letter). When reviewing phonograms daily, you only need to review about 20 at a time.  We pick 20 phonograms to review each day, and we switch the phonograms around, so that we are practicing all of our two letter phonograms each week.  You can do the same at home.

Our spelling words this week will be: a, it, is, she

Both a and she use rule 4.  The vowel may say its name at the end of a syllable.

Sight Words: This week we will review list two then test on Friday. Please be sure to review these words in addition to your child’s nightly reading. 

Literature: We begin our unit on The Velveteen Rabbit this week.  Please hold off on reading this story until after we have completed the book.  We love to see how the students explore and discover the story for the first time. Students will not be required to bring the book in.  We have learned in the past that it becomes more of a distraction.  This year, we want to students to just enjoy listening to the story, and then have it in their library at home for the future. Our Poem will be Pease Porridge Hot.

Math:Students will be comparing sets to determine which set has more.  We will use every day items such as cups and straws, cards, and cubes.  We will also be looking at numbers and writing numbers that are one more than the one shown.  For example, if they are shown 8, they will write 9 as one more than 8.

Science: It’s almost the winter season! We will be exploring water in three different states; liquid, solid, and gas. Students will learn the states of matter and will be able to identify various things in each category. We will learn about snowflakes, how they form and that each is unique. At the end of the week we will discuss what a habitat is and that many animals in a cold habitat have blubber to keep warm.