Weekly News (and Part 2 from last week!)

Hello Kindergarten Families!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I can't believe it is back to being cold again!  BOO!  =(  Warning... this is a lengthy blog post... 

LAST WEEK
Last week we had an awesome field trip to Discovery Place Kids.  The students learned about maps and had a great time learning through discovery and play.  The museum is a great place for our students to explore their interests and be engaged in imaginary play where they learn so many important social skills (playing with others, sharing, getting along, using their imagination, following rules and guidelines, etc.).  Overall our class did an AMAZING job following the rules and directions.  I'm so proud! 

We also had a successful trip to the public library last week.  It was very quick since it was raining and we went during an Imaginon play and little kid story time was happening.  =)  Please make sure your child has returned their public library books (or brings them to school to return) before our next trip on April 16th. 

We continue to visit the school library every Wednesday.  Many students do not have their books or bags and cannot get books.  Please make sure you are reminding your child to bring back their books on Wednesdays.   

THIS WEEK
Dr. Jason Sperati will be coming to our class to talk about teeth and healthy teeth cleaning habits on Tuesday morning.  He was originally scheduled to come during February when we focused on healthy bodies but had to reschedule due to snow days.  

We are going to McDowell Nature Preserve on Thursday.  The weather is unpredictable, so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for Thursday's weather.  Lunch containers will go home on Wednesday.  Please make sure you pack your child's lunch in them.  A separate snack may also be packed.  Please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes.  We will be going on hikes in the woods and learning about nature so tennis shoes are mandatory.  Nandita and Ranjani will be the chaperones riding the bus.  Deepa, Uma, and Smita will need to drive separately or meet us at McDowell.  Please email me or write a note letting me know if you plan to meet us at McDowell instead of at school.  

No spelling test this week due to the short week and all-day field trip on Thursday.  No student of the week either. 

No school on Friday or next week.  I hope everyone enjoys their Spring Break and time with their family.  I know Corvan and I will be having a blast! =)

General Information  
So... some additional important information... 

• Please be aware that you cannot hit "reply" to the emails containing the blog post for the week.  I am learning that several people are replying to the weekly blog email and then they never receive a response from me.  I do not get those emails.  The blog emails are sent out by a 3rd party email address from the blogging website and lost in cyber space.  Please email me separately/directly if you have questions, concerns, etc.  

• Please make sure you fill out the Grandparent's Day form here.  Mrs. Ellis needs it in order for your child's grandparent to be invited.  If your child's grandparent(s) cannot attend they are able to write a card and mail it to the school so your child receives a special note that day.  

• The school's Town Hall meeting is this Tuesday, March 31st from 5-6pm.  It's a great event if you'd like to know what concerns there are within the school.  

• We've been working on unknown number addition and subtraction, associative property, commutative property, prefixes and suffixes, ending blends, problem and solution, making words, graphing by units other than 1, comparing numbers, reading comprehension, matter, and starting to write our own personal books patterned after the stories written by Eric Carle.   

• We are entering into 4th quarter.  I can't believe it!!!  It's bittersweet the the year is ending.  It feels like it is flying by.  As we enter 4th quarter please be aware that the skills we are teaching are getting increasingly more difficult and building on previous learning.  We will also be setting dates for class and school events, so keep your eyes out on the blog and through school newsletter emails. 

• Reading folders were reevaluated.  I went through and did a "snapshot" reading level assessment for everyone last week or today before giving out the new books.  I want the students to read their books and switch them out as much as possible so please incorporate these books into your nighttime reading routines, while driving, etc.  The more exposure they have to different books the more complex of a reader they will become.  
• They still need to read each book 3 times before getting a new book.  Please fill it out on the new reading log that was sent home. 
• We are going to have a contest to see how many books we can read 4th quarter.  For every 100 books we read we will have a reward to reflect and then plan our next reward.

• Junior Great Books will no longer be sent home in the books.  We have had an issue with several students reading ahead, reading stories we haven't covered yet, etc.  When that happens we cannot use the program the way it is intended to be used where we make predictions, evaluate vocabulary, and use higher-order thinking skills.  I will email the story with the "to be read by due date" whenever we are working on a story.  Please keep your eyes out for these emails and read the story with your child.