Week of Dec. 13th-17th

**Report Cards Went Home in the Friday Folder Today (December 17th)!!**

I just finished my Christmas party snack and I think the kids would agree with me when I say it was the BEST Christmas party ever! I would like to thank all the parents who showed up to help us celebrate and a HUGE thank you to our room parent, Stephanie Perenyi, for another great holiday party! I think that the whole class is really in good holiday spirits now. A parent who took pictures offered to email them to me, and as soon as I get them I will be sure to post them on this blog so that you may all see the fun we had! (Edit- See below! Thanks for the pictures, Lisa!)

This week was so fun and busy for the kids. We worked on the letters "v" and "w," reviewed units 2 and 3 in math, and read many holiday stories together. The kids were able to make wrapping paper using splatter painting that I think they really enjoyed. This paper was used to wrap those check boxes (and tissue boxes I used when we were short a few) you brought in to make a holiday craft. That is for you, the parents/guardians, to keep and it is made with lots of love from your kid. We also went to Heritage Square for a field trip on Thursday. We watched the play Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus! This play was particularly good for kids as it was very interactive. Many parts included audience participation, like throwing fake snowballs and singing songs! Some lucky kids were even chosen to go on stage and help with other parts in the play.

I've had a few parents ask me what they should be doing with their child over the break to make sure they stay successful. My answer is simply to read with/to your child, and just have a very relaxing and fun break! We have all worked hard to get here and the kids need some play time to come back refreshed. Just keep their love of reading alive and that will be the perfect thing to do over the break!

I would like to give another HUGE thank you to my class! Because of you, I feel very loved and I enjoy teaching you every day of the school year. I hope you have a fabulous Winter Break and that it snows so you can do a lot of sledding! Be safe, have fun, and I will see you in January for 2011!

Week of Dec. 6th-10th

This week in the classroom, students worked on the letters "p" and "j." They practiced writing these letters and also writing about topics like "puzzle," "jar," "pie," and more. In reading, they worked on decoding strategies in their groups to try to figure out words before asking for my help. When you read with your child at home and they ask you what a word is, ask them what are some things they can do to try to figure it out. They can put a sound for every letter, look at the picture, cover up part (we call it "chunk the word" because they are breaking it into smaller chunks), or look for a word inside of the word they know.  In math, we worked on probability a little more with discussing what is certain, likely, or unlikely to happen. We also learned a new math game called Growing and Disappearing Train. This helped students work with addition and subtraction.

Next week is very busy! We have our field trip on the 16th, then our Christmas party on the 17th (11-11:45). All parents are welcome to join us and help celebrate! Report cards will also go home on the 17th, so be sure to find those in your student's backpack.

Week of Nov. 30-Dec. 3

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving holiday! Grandparent's Day last week was wonderful! The kids worked so hard on the show and I know that this was a memory that will stick with them when they think back on their days in kindergarten.

Please continue to send in check boxes for our holiday craft coming up! I know that we will need extras for kids that may not get any in.

This week in the classroom, we continued to look at word families by completing an -op family book. All the groups are working on decoding words using different reading strategies. Kids are learning how to use the picture cues, put sounds to every letter (sound and say), and to chunk large words into smaller. In math we worked on probability by reading the book And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street then discussing what is impossible, what is certain, and what might happen. In writing, we continue to work on spaces between words and end marks at the end of a sentence. Be sure to reinforce this at home as kids write. I've noticed a lot of periods put after names and at the end of lines, even if it isn't a sentence. So help me catch this and explain why both things are not a sentence! In Fundations, we are starting three letters a week as we finish up the alphabet. This week we did l, k, and h and wrote about topics that started with these letters like, "lollypop," "kangaroo," and "horse."