Newsletter ~ December 6

Merry Greetings Rascal Families,

WOW!  The Rascals are known to spread good news quickly….Art class started on Tuesday with Mrs. White.  You heard all about it!  We are happy to inform you that Art will take place every Tuesday until February. 

 

White stuff is in the forecast!   Winter weather is fast approaching!  During the cold, snowy weather days, we will be going out to recess on Thursdays only.  There are NO specials on that day, therefore we will have time to dress in our “extra” outer clothing and play outdoors.  Every Thursday, your child will need to dress in winter coats, hats, mittens, snow boots and pants.  If your child wears snow boots to school, please remember to send slippers (with soles) or shoes/sneakers to change into.  Stocking/knit slippers are not allowed for safety reasons.  Our classroom is much too hot to stay in snow boots all session.  One BIG request from little old me…have your child practice putting winter clothes on and taking them off independently.  It’s great to see them help each other get dressed.

 Dressing and undressing 19 kinders is a monumental task!!!!  Thank You! I hope this is helpful for planning your child’s clothing needs for each school day throughout the winter season.

Next week is packed with eventful activities.  We’ll be working hard to complete lessons and projects, so it is important to send your child to school each and every healthy day.  Keep in mind that kindergarten is the year for huge building blocks.  It’s the perfect time to practice good attendance and punctuality with the goal of developing admirable habits for a lifetime. (Of course, sickness is at its highest during this season and a sick child should stay out of school.)  Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Ever Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is so applicable to the five and six year old child.

School work and holiday happenings are part of the schedule.  Throughout December days, we will continue to review lessons in Unit Four of the Reading Series, Imagine It!  The theme in this unit is, By the Sea.  We will be reading poems and stories that focus on life around the oceans.  Nonfiction books about sea animals are a favorite!  Send in any pictures related to the sea for our class inquiry bulletin board.  Thank you!

It is true….letter sounds /l/, /n/ and /i/  will be introduced during the remaining 2012 days.   New sight words:    as – have – it - is   are in the plans.  The Sight Word Assessment results will be sent home this week.  Look at us practicing sight words at school during workshop. 

Amazing progress, don’t you think?

For Show and Tell on Monday, let’s reinforce the letter sounds introduced in Unit Four of Imagine It.  Have your kinder bring items to school that begin with Hh, Tt, Ll, Nn and Ii…a total of 5 items.  (For example:  h=hat, t=tinker toy, etc.)  Organize S & T items in a bag.  Remember to put your child’s name on each object.  All items will be sent home in January.   We will sort these objects by sound.  It’s a fun way to practice all the letter sounds we’ve been learning about.

The core academic instruction in kindergarten focuses on reading and math.  Games/activities that reinforce counting, number stories, addition and subtraction are happening in Math.  The advent calendar was great practice for counting to 20 plus....a goal some of us have mastered; others are determined to get there.  

Once we counted, we compared the length of the chain to our height.  Who is taller?  Who is shorter?  How many links tall are we?  Ask us what is going to happen to the size of the chain if we add more links or snip a link off every night...

Tis the season to keep thinking about numbers…. Do you believe subtraction equations have been embraced by all?  Each day we take away one candycane from our peppermint stick tree

and put it in a Rascal’s sock displayed on the mantel of our class fireplace. 

Though subtraction is a difficult concept for kindergartners, our class peppermint stick tree has helped us solve subtraction stories seamlessly.   Bragging is in order!!!

  

Lessons and assessments will be ongoing with holiday projects included in the mix. Gingerbread Houses will be constructed on Thursday, December 20.  If we have a snow day on Thursday, Gingerbread Houses will take place on Friday, December 21.   Please mark this snow date on your calendar.

Report cards go home on Friday.  Keep the report card for your files.  Return the signed envelope only to school by Monday.  Merci!!!!

             Let  it  SN*W!!! 

             June A. Rich