Little Blue Bulletin: 2/25-2/29

We hope you had a restful break. Conference slips were sent home on Thursday. Please send your response slip back as soon as possible so your teacher can prepare. If you need to reshcedle, please call the office promptly to reschedule with our secretaries. We look forward to meeting you all at conferences.

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
Start the week off right by getting to school on time. Students should be dropped off between 7:45-7:55. It's important that your child has time to unpack and get ready for the day. It's very disruptive when your child is late!

Sharing:
Week of 3/03: Ways to spend a rainy day
Week of 3/10: Memorize a spring song or poem

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Book bags resume this week. There is no school on Friday. It is very important that bags (journals, book, direction sheet, and homework) return on Thursday so we can pass out bags again that day. If your child is sick, please send the bag with another student or drop it off before school. Thank you.

Language Arts:
This week we practiced our beginning blends. Do a word search around your home to find objects that start with str, st, sp, sr, or sw.

On Monday, we had a great assembly from Burst! The students enjoyed learning more about being creative and using their imagination. We returned to reading response journals on Wednesday. The students are making great connections, especially the newly introduced "text-to-world" connection. We read a farm book to kick off our new unit. We finished off the week by doing activities kick-off our big farm unit starting on Monday. Beware... your students may want to shout "Yee-haw" and ask you to buy some chickens for the backyard.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.

Math:
We finished our investigations on measurement this week. We learned more about capacity and measurement. Ask you child if he/she is a square or a rectangle.
Please practice counting coins at home for preparation for our next unit. Students are learning how to identify coins and count coins.

Social Science:
Today we learned a little more about leap year. We discussed the rotation of the Earth around the sun and the days in a year. We also made origami "Leaping Frogs" to celebrate the special day. It was interesting to see the students follow multi-step directions. Many were able to make more frogs on their own.

March 2 is Dr. Seuss's Birthday!
Visit the website to learn more about our favorite author. Bring a book by Dr. Seuss to share on Monday!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

February 11-15

Vacation February 17-22. Please take the time to rest, play, and relax. Our students all need some time to get healthy again. Have fun! See you on February 25th.

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
Start the week off right by getting to school on time. Students should be dropped off between 7:45-7:55. It's important that your child has time to unpack and get ready for the day. It's very disruptive when your child is late!

Sharing:
Week of 2/25: If I were President of the United States
Week of 3/03: Ways to spend a rainy day

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
No book bags the week of Febuary 25th. Please look for a homework packet in your child's spelling folder on Monday. Book bags will resume on February 29th.


Language Arts:
This week we worked on oi/oy and ay sounds. Practice these word families at home.

This week we continued learning about the many holidays in February. We read more about Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, and George Washington, our 1st president. It was interesting learning why these two men where good citizens.
The kids did a great time prepping valentines this year. They loved exchanging valentines. It was fun to see how creative our students can get.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
We started our math investigations strand this week. The students did projects in his/her family rooms. We spent time measuring classroom objects, learning about symmetry, and practicing our graphing. It was busy and active this week.

Science:
Do you know what fabric is the best to wear on a rainy day? We did experiments this week to test different kinds of fabrics with water. Ask your child about the results. You may change your jacket next time you go out in a rainstorm.



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 2/4-2/8

Thank You's
Special Thanks to all the parents who came in to present and help out during Chinese New Year. It was awesome!

• Valentine's Day is coming! Please check your child's book bag for special directions about our valentine exchange on Thursday, February 14th.
  

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
It's important that students arrive to school BEFORE 8:00 A.M. The drop off is very light between 7:45-7:50. Remember to get a head start on rainy days. We have too many students arriving after announcements start. This is very disruptive to the class, and doesn't give your child significant time to prepare for the day.

Sharing:
Week of 2/11: Measurement project: How I measure my room
Week of 2/25: If I were President of the United States

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If your child is going to be absent on Thursday, please arrange someone else to drop off the book bag. Thank you!


Language Arts:
We are working on long e words this week. Please check in your child's spelling folder for his/her 5 study words.

In reading investigations, we learned about Chinese New Year and Abraham Lincoln. With our wonderful parent volunteers, we had a great celebration consisting a slide show, food tasting, red envelopes, and craft. In this week's Scholastic News, children learned about how Abe Lincoln lived in a log-cabin and had a very different lifestyle from us. We also brainstormed how to show confidence in our daily activities.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
The highlight of the week was the 100th days of school. We made a crown to wear throughout the day, and we counted and mixed many hundreds of snack gorps that consist of cheerios, rice chex, marshmellow, prezels, and goldfish. They had a lot of fun!

This week we continued learning new things about measurement. Students worked on using a ruler to measure length accurately. We learned the difference between inches and centimeters. We are also learning about weight, and capacity. This is a great way to practice using the measuring cups in your kitchen. Try baking together!


Science:
We are winding down on our science unit. Children continue to record weather by tallying in their science journal. We also had hands-on activities on reading temperature and comparing different fabrics.



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 1/28-2/1

The Performance is done!
Yeah! Our children have done a wonderful job performing on Wednesday night. A special thank you to all parent volunteers who helped throughout the entire production.

A few things are happening in Little Blue Village:

• Valentine's Day is coming! Please check your child's book bag for special directions about our valentine exchange on Thursday, February 14th.
  
• Groundhog's Day is tomorrow! Check the website tomorrow to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. And maybe spring is on its way! www.punxsutawneyphil.com
• 100 days of school celebration We will celebrate 100th days of school on Monday. Children will be counting and enjoying healthy treats in class. Make sure you congratulate them for what they've achieved this year!
  

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
It's important that students arrive to school BEFORE 8:00 A.M. The drop off is very light between 7:45-7:50. Remember to get a head start on rainy days. We have too many students arriving after announcements start. This is very disruptive to the class, and doesn't give your child significant time to prepare for the day.

Sharing:
Week of 2/04: How you would spend $100
Week of 2/11: Measurement project: How I measure my room

Please remember to turn in your Measurement Project by Feb. 7th.

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact your family room teacher.


Language Arts:
We are working on long e words this week. Please check in your child's spelling folder for his/her 5 study words. If you have not returned your child's spelling folder, please have it at school on Monday.

In reading investigations, we continued our study about snow. We practiced how to build good sentences by adding describing words and prepositional phrases. Earlier this week, we spent some time preparing for our play. Finally we finished the month of January by writing about our favorite memory this month and talking about our megaskill, effort.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
This week we continued learning new things about measurement. Students worked on using a ruler to measure length accurately. We learned the difference between inches and centimeters. We are also learning about weight, and capicity. This is a great way to practice using the measuring cups in your kitchen. Try baking together!


Science:
What a crazy weather week. We had rain, fog, and sunshine! Little Blue has many meteorologists in training!



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers