Weekly News February 29-March 4

We'll see if March will come in like a lamb or a lion, but either way it will be another exciting month in kindergarten world.  Field trip permission slips for our K-4 trip to the Performing Arts Center are due this week Thursday.  Also, watch for conference confirmation forms to come home later this week.  Here is the homework calendar for March as well as the lunch menu!   

We will be wrapping up our Wood and Paper science unit next week. If you have any wood and/or paper scraps that you are able to donate, please send them to school with your child by this Thursday.  The only stipulation for these donations is that they are a size the students will be able to carry independently.  Paper scraps might include boxes, cardboard, paper towel/toilet paper rolls, etc.

Upcoming Dates:
February 29th: Music and Masterpieces Family Night--Doors open at 5:30
March 11th: Author's Breakfast--stay tuned for more details soon
March 14th: Culvers Night
March 17th: K-4 Field Trip to the Performing Arts Center
March 21st and 22nd: Conferences
March 23-28th: No School--Spring Break!
March 31: Jump Rope for Heart

Reading:  We are starting a new reading unit this week focusing on reading non-fiction texts.  In this unit we will find ways that books are like teachers, helping us learn all sorts of information about the world.  We will spend some time sorting our classroom library into fiction and nonfiction sections as well as some topic favorite topics to help students book shop for texts that will support this work. We will focus on looking closely at the entire page, pointing and talking about details, and asking who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
 ***Students will not bring home books to read Monday night because of our extensive library sorting.  In this unit, students will be reading mostly nonfiction texts selected from at reading level and also a couple high interest topic books.  The topic books may not be right at your child's reading level so if you notice a drastic change in a text your child brings home some night, it is most likely their topic book selection.***  

Writing: We have been working hard to put our hearts and souls into our writing, making sure our letters are easy to read so that the people who get them can actually read them. When we write to try to change a problem we see, we tell our opinion with a little story, give LOTS of reasons, and suggest a fix-it-idea as a solution to these problems. You may even be the receiver of one of these persuasive letters, convincing you to help change the world from a kindergartner's point of view! 

Math: We are continuing to work on counting and comparing, matching and seeing the extras, adding and subtracting with grocery store items, and identifying the partners of 10. This week the concepts of "Math Mountains" and "Tiny Tumblers" will be introduced along with exploring the attributes of 3-dimensional shapes.
These are the centers for the week:

                                                         ·         Playdoh shapes

                                                         ·         PG 390 Challenge w/ partner

                                                         ·         Stamp pad math mountain

                                                         ·         Minus One Game

Science:  We will paint the paper mache bowls we made last week.  We will continue to explore paper and the many types of paper products by deconstructing paper boxes and trying our hand at weaving.

Word Work:  New sight words: on, are, an, up, this.  If you're looking for a fun website to practice a variety of skills, check out abcya.com  It's packed full of activities sorted by subject and grade level!