Week of January 26

Our Resources for the week are: Monday- #1-18 MEDIA and #19-37 ART, Wednesday- #1-18 P.E. and #19-37 MEDIA and Thursday-ART . 
Wednesday is an Early Release Day~ Please remember our lunch is at 10:00 that day. Also, Report Cards are expected to go home on Wednesday. Please sign the report card slip and return it the following day in the Report Card envelope. 
**ATTENTION ATTENTION** Thursday is the last day to pay for the Zoo Field Trip!! Don't forget or your child will not be able to accompany us on the Field Trip.
Fun Friday's activity is Slippers in the Class!! Please make sure your child comes to school with the slippers in their backpack. We will only be wearing the slippers in our classroom. London will be bringing in Fun Friday Snacks. :)
We have two students joining the 6 Year Old Club on the SAME DAY!! Elijah and Colie both turn 6 on Tuesday, January 27. :)

MATH 

For the next 2 weeks we are working on mastering Geometry standards. First, the students will identify shapes as 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional. (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres).

Then we will tackle the next standard in which the students will analyze and compare two- and three-dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, parts (e.g., number of sides and vertices/“corners”) and other attributes (e.g., having sides of equal length).

So….discuss shapes around your house, ones you see while driving and shapes your child encounters in his daily life. Make shapes come to life!! Here is a fun 3-D shape video we will watch in class. Enjoy!

 
ELA

(English Language Arts~ Reading and Writing) 

The sight words we are focusing on are do, been, or and your.  This quarter we will be doign LOTS of work through our Reading Skills Block. :)  We will practice rhyming through word families. The word family for this week is -at. We will practice segmenting sounds in words ("chopping it up"), an example is "sad." When the students segment this word we expect to hear three separate sounds= /s/  /a/  /d/. We will be practice ending sounds for words and writing lowercase letters. 

Our Reading lesson for the week is figuring out unknown words in a text. We will learn how to figure out the words based off of the illustration and by listening to how the word is used in the sentence. We will be working on this standard by using Gail Gibbons book Horses. The unknown words I have chosen for us to focus on are: grazing, withers, gait, hind legs, grooming and herbivores. 

Our writing will be an informative piece where we write about facts we know/ learned about horses. **PLEASE make sure your child does their writing homework. They need this practice! Parents can help their child sound out the words, but do not tell them what to write or write for them. 

SCIENCE

We finally finished discussing sound! We move on to a new topic which is more complex for a Kindergarten brain! We are ready to explore Earth’s place in space. We will observe that things can be big and things can be small as seen from Earth. Then we will observe that some objects are far away and some are nearby as seen from Earth. We will master these challenging concepts with fun interactive activities!

Week of January 12

Our Resources for the week are: Monday- #1-18 P.E. and #19-37 in the classroom, Tuesday- #1-18 ART and #19-37 MUSIC and Wednesday- MUSIC. There is no school on Friday. :) It is a Teacher Planning Day.  Also, there is no school on Monday, January 19. We hope everyone enjoys the extra long weekend!!

MATH 

This week we began foundational skills directly related to addition and subtraction- the concept of one more and one less. We will use the number line, stair towers and pictures to find one more and one less of a given number. I found a fun ice cream scoop song. The tune is very catchy. (I found myself singing it in my head all day! haha)  Hope you enjoy it!

 ELA

(English Language Arts~ Reading and Writing) 

The sight words we are focusing on are part and how. We are going to be reviewing a few skills and testing on them for a grade~ reading at least 50 sight words, correlating letters with sounds, blending, writing uppercase letters (this is done outside the classroom, students are not looking at an alphabet line but rather doing this by memory).

We will be using Jan Brett's book The Mitten and retelling the story. The students will be expected to retell the story using pictures to help guide their memory. Here is a link to Jan's website, you can find everything you'd ever want on this book and many others written by her! 

Enjoy the Youtube video of Jan Brett reading the story. :)

SCIENCE

Sound is vibration that travel and can be heard in a person’s or animal’s ear. The benchmark for kindergarten is observe that things that make sound vibrate. We will explore sound and vibration for the next 2 weeks. Check out this link to learn more about sound.

Scarf Day

We worried a little bit about having a Scarf Day, because the temperature is very unpredictable... Well lucky for us it was cold. :) Outside and inside the classroom. So our Scarf Day was PERFECT!!

Enjoy our slideshow!!

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Upcoming ZOO Field Trip for 2/12/15

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

Today the Zoo Permission Slips are going home. Woohoo!!

The Zoo Field Trip is the largest Field Trip we offer in Kindergarten... We can have as many approved Chaperones as we want!! :)

All permission slips (please make sure to fill out all the highlighted areas or we will be sending the form back home with your child) and money are due by January 29 at 10:00a.m. Students are $9.50 (this includes admission and lunch). Chaperones are $12.95 and if you wish to buy a lunch it is $5.35.
 Any Chaperones that do not pay ahead of time, may pay at the gate, however the admission at the gate will be a little more... we aren't sure how much, but you can find out on the Zoo's website.

Week of January 5, 2015!!

Our Resources for the week are: Monday- #1-18 Media and #19-37 P.E., Tuesday- Music, Thursday- #1-18 P.E. and #19-37 Media and Friday- Art. Wednesday is an Early Release Day and Friday is Scarf Day. (Make sure to wear your scarf. We've got to win the trophy back!! haha) Carson will be bringing in Fun Friday snacks for the class.

MATH 

We didn't get the unit on measurement completed, so we will continue measuring! Please remember that we are working with Non-standard units ~such as sticks, cubes, paper clips. Please remind your child when measuring an item, we go from one end of the time to the other end. 

Here is a great Sid the Science Kid video about Measurement.

ELA

(English Language Arts~ Reading and Writing) 

The sight words we are focusing on are come, time, for and we. We are going to review rhyming words, blending sounds, writing uppercase letters and writing the letter whose sound matches the one made by the teacher.
The book we are reading is Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow. We will be using the book to review school rules and discussing how we will not be like Howard from the beginning of the story... but be respectful like Howard was at the end of the story. We will also be using the book to practice retelling stories with key details.

I found a site that offers this story as an animated book, along with many other books about Howard. :) They also have songs and games to play! Check it out at https://wedolisten.org/

Be ready for your child to be singing the songs...Especially the song Listen Up! It's too cute!!

SCIENCE

We will continue discussing gravity and what life would be like if there was no gravity. Then we will discuss sound and how sound is made with many vibrations. 
Because of Wednesday's Early Release Day, we will not be having Science that day.

This video is a recording from the Children's Museum of Virginia. Enjoy!

School Choice Expo 2015

 
The event showcases magnet programs, career academies, charter schools, high school acceleration programs and neighborhood schools for all grade levels. Teachers, principals and students from every school will be on hand to talk with parents and students about their academic offerings. Vendors supportive of education will also have exhibits. 

 Duval County Public Schools' annual 2015 School Choice Expo will feature an array of educational options for the 2015-2016 school year, reflecting the district's initiatives for all schools and programs. The expo will offer attendees a chance to learn about programs throughout elementary, middle and high schools. Many of the district’s programs are designed to hone a child's special interest, talent, gift or skill to maximize their opportunity for success. Expected attendance will be around 10,000. 

When:      

Saturday, January 10, 2015 - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m

Where:     

Prime Osborn Convention Center is located
1000 Water Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204

   

Cost:

Admission and parking are free

**Mrs. Pitts and I plan on being there. :) Maybe we'll see you at the Chimney Lakes Booth.**