Week 19: January 22-25

Chance's Brother, Reese, visits for a birthday celebration on Wednesday.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Morgan and Bryant battle with mini-flyswatters
to match the sound.

What a fun week we have had! Although it was short we accomplished a lot.  I hope everyone enjoyed their extended weekend.  We had quite a chilling week as well.  The freezing temperatures kept us from going outside most of the week, but we look forward to going outside next week as the temperatures approach two digits. Wahoo! 

ELA and Phonics:   We are wrapping up our phonics sounds this week with /ou/, /er/ and on Friday, /ar/.   I also introduced the alternate spellings for the sounds /ou/ with ow and /er/ with ir, and ur.   We are playing some fun sound games to reinforce their learning.  To the right you can see Morgan and Bryant with tiny flyswatters ready to swat  the correct letters to the sound I made.  

Go Team!

Here you can see the teams: the Evens and the Odds silently cheering on their friends! With the short week, I was unable to get the reading logs out, but they are included in today’s folder.  Please try to read with your child and record the reading on a daily basis.  In addition, some of your children have been given a tin of decodable words.  Please have your child practice their words with you. I am still putting the tins together so all the children should have their tin by next week. Your children are beginning to put their knowledge of the individual sounds together to the task of reading.   In order to help support your children at home, Ginny White, Theresa Symancyk and I are offering a Reading and Writing Workshop for parents of early readers on February 5, 6:30-7:30pm.  The hope that we can help you support your child at home using the same techniques we are using at school.  Please see the attached invitation for more information. We hope you can make it!

We also finished our Animal Rhymes:  A barnyard of Rhyming Fun book that they were working on during morning task. Your child should be able to read their books to you and tell you about their pictures! 

Conner shares his Memory Box.

Social Studies:  This week the children began presenting their Memory Boxes to each other.  They are enjoying the opportunity to share their favorite memories and to be respectful listeners.  Next week we will begin working on their family trees. 

Paige, Reid, and Zane
 enjoying the lesson.

Science:  We are still reading and learning about the cycles of the moon, and the night sky. This week we enjoyed extra science lessons sponsored by Farm to School and ELF.  On Thursday, both K classes were put together  for a Barnyard lesson put on by Kelly Meacham and Amy Richardson  The focus was on the variety of animals that can be found on farms, their adult names and appropriate baby names, i.e., cow and calf. They enjoyed an interactive lesson in the form of a game that used their sense of hearing.  In ELF we enjoyed the lesson titled: Hunters and Hunted by Dave Broder, Lori Beland and Justus Keith.  The children watched a puppet show about wolves and rabbits and were introduced to the concept of predator and prey. They also learned about balance in the wild kingdom and how predators and prey interact.  They concluded the lesson by acting out some short plays about a variety of different predators and prey. 

Share:  We enjoyed shares that included lots of /l/ shares:  lion, balloon, lamb, elf ears, motorcycle, and Santa’s coal!  Next week’s share will be something that begins with or has the sound /f/.  

Ready, set, swat the sound /ou/!

CALENDAR:

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Group Snack: Thank you to Paige’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed delicious snacks throughout the week from Chex Mix, Bananas, Popcorn, Cheddar Cheese and Crackers, and birthday celebration cupcakes for Paige on Friday! Thank you!  We are delighted that the children are enjoying a variety of delicious and nutritious snacks.
  Bryant’s family is signed up to contribute next week’s snack. 
  
  
• Paired Reading Workshop: February 5th at 6:30-7:30.  Please RSVP to let us know you are planning to attend. Light refreshments will be available. Invitation enclosed in Friday Folder.

• If your child has an extra pair of boots, snow pants, or even sneakers, that they can keep at school let me know. It will be easier for them as they won’t have to carry them home daily.  Snowpants tend to get wet with snow, which makes packing them difficult. Send in a note to let me know!
  

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Bodnar 

Week 18: January 11, 2013

Keira makes a snow angel.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

The milder winter weather has allowed us to enjoy our time outdoors.   On Friday last week our weather reporter began reporting from inside our brand new weather television studio! See Tylor pictured below.

Tylor reports on the weather.

Phonics:  We had a very busy Jolly Phonics week with the introduction of 6 new sounds: /y/, /x/, /ch/, /sh/ and /th/ and /th/.  They are catching onto these sounds quickly and love the stories and actions that are used to introduce the sounds.  It is exciting to see them use the actions to help them decode as well as write words. 

Social Studies:  Most of the children have returned their Family Tree, Family History and Memory Box forms, but if you haven’t completed it yet, don’t worry, take this weekend to fill them out and send them in on Monday. We will be working on these projects next week.  Also, if your child hasn’t brought in a shoe-size or boot size box, please send one in by Monday with items that support their Memory Box form (see backside of the form).  I plan on having them decorate the outside of their box early in the week and later in the week they will be presenting their Memory Box to the class.  If you don’t have a box I will try to bring in a few extra boxes for those who don’t have a box to bring from home. 

Science: In science we are learning about the night sky.  To kick off the topic we read two fiction books, New Moon, by Pegi Deitz Shea, and Papa, Please Get Me the Moon, by Eric Carle.  We talked about the moon cycle and the names for the different phases of the moon: Full Moon, Half Moon, Quarter Moon (Crescent). We learned that when the moon disappears it is called a new moon and when it reappears we first see it as a crescent and it continues to grow back to the full moon phase.  On Thursday, we re-read the story, Papa Please Get Me the Moon, and then recalled the beginning, middle and end. They were asked to draw pictures to illustrate these 3 major parts. They then wrote a sentence about their favorite part. 

Counting out and matching to numbers. 

Math:  Our math lessons have expanded to include a variety of math centers which allow the children to explore math tools like Cuisenaire Rods, Pattern Blocks and Numbers and Object Counting Puzzles. 

Share:  This week’s share was the sound /n/.  We enjoyed shares that included a variety of stuffed animals that began with the sound /n/ or had it in it. Next week’s share is something  that begins with the sound /g/.  Please help your child choose something that begins with the sound.  It can be something they find outside or treasure from nature they already have. 

We love the snow!

CALENDAR:

• On Friday 1/11 and Monday 1/14 I will be assessing the progress your child has been making since the beginning of this school year in reading and math skills If you have any questions, please let me know.
  
• No School (Teacher inservice) on Friday 1/18) No school on Monday, 1/21 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.   Early Dismissal on Wednesday, January 23rd.
  

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Group Snack: Thank you to Lucia’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed delicious snacks throughout the week from homemade pumpkin muffins, chocolate chip cookies, carrots and dip, and even pasta with parmesan cheese! Thank you!
  
• Tate’s family is signed up to contribute next week’s snack.  Thank you to you all for returning` the sign up forms, for being flexible, and for contributing to our third round of weekly snacks.
  
• T-Shirts/sweaters and sweatshirts:  With the colder weather comes the need for layers. Please send your child to school wearing additional layers. T-shirts under shirts are especially helpful in keeping them warm as the room tends to run cool during the winter months. A light sweater or sweatshirt is also a great layer to keep at school.
  
• If your child has an extra pair of boots, snow pants, or even sneakers, that they can keep at school let me know. It will be easier for them as they won’t have to carry them home daily.  Snowpants tend to get wet with snow, which makes packing them difficult. Send in a note to let me know!
  

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Bodnar 

Week 17: January 4, 2013

Chance counts out his pebbles.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS  

Winter has arrived with a vengeance.  While we welcome the recent snowfall’s blanket of snow on our playgrounds the extreme cold weather has sadly limited our access to outdoor recess.  It has been a short week but we have settled right back into our routines.  We came back from school ready to tackle our new lessons from social studies, science and english language arts. 

Math:  We picked up where we left off with counting and learning to put objects in groups of ten when learning to identify and recognize a group of objects. We are learning to write our numbers greater than ten by counting the number of groups of ten and then writing the number that is left over. Our focus is on numbers between 10 and 20, but as we develop more confidence we will be writing numbers greater than 20. 

Phonics:  We learned two new important sounds this week: on Thursday /ng/ and Friday, /oo/.  The sound /oo/ can make two different sounds, so we are learning how to try both sounds to see what sound makes sense. This is an important strategy as they begin to learn to read as letters can make different sounds. They need to remember that reading needs to make sense.  

Kwanzaa mat making.

Social Studies:  As a follow up to holiday traditions and celebrations we re-read a book about Kwanzaa,. We wove a harvest mat using the Kwanzaa colors, red, black and green.  In an effort to investigate our own family traditions and celebrations we are beginning a new unit of study, My family and Me.  Enclosed in this week’s folder is a packet to be completed with your child.  Please send in a shoebox next week for your child to decorate.  They should put in a few objects to help create your child’s memory box.  Their memory box can recall an event or an important person in their life.  It is open ended.  They should choose something that they feel comfortable sharing with the class. The family tree homework will be preliminary to creating a 3-D tree in class. If you have family pictures that they can use in the project, I will be making copies and will return the original photos in their folder.   

Share:  Next week’s share is something  that begins with the sound /n/.  Please help your child choose something that begins with the sound /n/.  It can be something they find outside or treasure from nature they already have. 

Building Buddies.

CALENDAR:

• I will be out this coming Monday attending a supervisory union assessment meeting as a follow up to our ELA assessments this fall.
  
• In the next two weeks I will begin mid-year assessments for writing and reading as the end of our second quarter comes to a close the end of the month.

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

• Group Snack: Thank you to Isaac’s family for contributing this week’s healthy snack! We enjoyed excellent healthy snacks throughout the week with berries, yogurt, and banana bread and crudites of carrots, celery and tomatoes!
  
• Lucia’s family is signed up to contribute next week’s snack.  Attached to the newsletter you will find the 2013 Snack Sign Up sheet. Please make a first and second choice in case your first choice is taken. Please return it next week. Thank you!
  
• T-Shirts/sweaters and sweatshirts:  With the colder weather comes the need for layers. Please send your child to school wearing additional layers. T-shirts under shirts are especially helpful in keeping them warm as the room tends to run cool during the winter months.

• Thank you for all the delicious and thoughtful holiday gifts. I am sorry I was absent the last day of school, but I finally to succumbed to the virus that was going around the classroom before the holiday break. The talented and very capable Mrs. Spaulding and Mrs. Lancaster were able to cover for me with the help of other support personnel during the last day of school.  Many thanks to all!
  

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Bodnar