Happy New Year!
We hope 2008 finds you and your family well rested and healthy. Please look carefully at the January calendar. We have no school on Friday, January 18th (Learning Day) and Monday, January 21st (MLK Day). We also have our big night performance of "Anansi the Spider, and the Moss-Covered Rock" on Wednesday, January 30th.
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 1/14: ONE hobby you enjoy in winter
Week of 1/21: Dr. Martin Luther King was important because...
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 today. Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact your family room teacher.
Language Arts:
We worked on the long U sound and /oo/ sound. Besides learning letter sounds, we are also working on how to start a sentence with an upper case letter and end with a period. When your child finishes his/her book bag journal, have him/her read it again and check for proper upper case letters and periods. Don't forget to practice your 5 spelling words each night! Many students are not scoring 5 out of 5 on Fridays.
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 current strand of number sense this week. We have been practicing addition and subtraction facts, fact families, related facts, and word problems. We revisit the important strand of number sense again later this schoolyear. It is always great to practice your math facts at home each day.
Science:
We started our Weather unit this week. It's been a very exciting weather week, having partially cloudy days, strong winds, fog, and rain! Students made rain gauges so we can measure our next big storm. We are also learning how to make good observations using our senses: smell, touch, hear, and see. Students will be tracking the weather daily to keep track of clouds, percipitation, and winds.
Play Practice:
We were very impressed how many students remembered their songs, dance moves, and seating arrangements after our long break. Ask your child to sing you songs and practice his/her dance steps over the weekend. We are working on rhythm. Thanks again to our many parents who have volunteered to help out! Us teachers are very excited to see all the great costumes and backdrop in action.
Thank You's:
Thank you to the parents who chaperoned on the field trip today. We saw a great play, "Peter Rabbit and Friends", at Santa Clara University.
Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers
Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Little Blue Bulletin: 12/3-12/7
Dear Parents,
Next week is another busy week! We hope to see you at the movies on Tuesday afternoon at 3:20pm and at BJ's for pizza afterwards.
Our field trip to San Jose Museum of Art is on Wed. so you will need to send a sack lunch with your child.
Check attached calendar for upcoming dates!
Sharing:
Week of 12/10: Ways your family celebrates the season
Week of 12/17: How you will spend winter break
Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about.
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 worked on the short and long sounds of "E". Besides learning letter sounds, we are also working on how to start a sentence with an upper case letter and end with a period. We have lots of lazy writers, so check your journals and follow these rules.
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 went back to our math skills groups and worked on addition facts, fact families, related facts, and word problems. It is always great to practice your math facts at home each day. This will help you throughout school!
Social Studies:
We continued our study about being a good citizen. We read The Boy Who Held Back the Sea and discussed what it means to have individual responsibily, determination, and courage.
Play Practice:
Have you heard your child singing It's so hot and wondered what's going on? That's right! We have been practicing singing our songs for our upcoming play. Next week we will learn some dance steps to go with them. Practice your songs at home! This is a great way for the Little Blue Village to work as a team and become a good citizen of Portal.
Thank you,
Little Blue Teachers
Next week is another busy week! We hope to see you at the movies on Tuesday afternoon at 3:20pm and at BJ's for pizza afterwards.
Our field trip to San Jose Museum of Art is on Wed. so you will need to send a sack lunch with your child.
Check attached calendar for upcoming dates!
Sharing:
Week of 12/10: Ways your family celebrates the season
Week of 12/17: How you will spend winter break
Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about.
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 worked on the short and long sounds of "E". Besides learning letter sounds, we are also working on how to start a sentence with an upper case letter and end with a period. We have lots of lazy writers, so check your journals and follow these rules.
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 went back to our math skills groups and worked on addition facts, fact families, related facts, and word problems. It is always great to practice your math facts at home each day. This will help you throughout school!
Social Studies:
We continued our study about being a good citizen. We read The Boy Who Held Back the Sea and discussed what it means to have individual responsibily, determination, and courage.
Play Practice:
Have you heard your child singing It's so hot and wondered what's going on? That's right! We have been practicing singing our songs for our upcoming play. Next week we will learn some dance steps to go with them. Practice your songs at home! This is a great way for the Little Blue Village to work as a team and become a good citizen of Portal.
Thank you,
Little Blue Teachers
Friday, November 30, 2007
Little Blue Bulletin 11/26-11/30
Dear Parents,
It was nice to see some of you on Barnes and Noble night this past Tuesday. The children enjoyed all the Tacky stories. We will have another social event coming up on December 11. We are inviting all K/1 families to see the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at AMC Theater in Saratoga. We will announce the showtime later! There is a fund raiser at BJ's as well that night. So you can enjoy a movie and then hit the pizza place for dinner!
Don't forget: Please turn in your permission slip and check for the trip to San Jose Museum of Art.
Check attached calendar for upcoming dates. Read again. We added some more dates!
Sharing:
Week of 12/3: Something from another country
Week of 12/10: Ways your family celebrates the season
Preparation Tips:
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. Try to come up with an interesting introduction.
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. There will be no book bags during Thanksgiving week, so take this time to read a book about the first Thanksgiving. Talk about the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
Language Arts:
We worked on the short and long sounds of "E". Please remember to help your child study for the test each week.
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 stayed in our family room for math investigation. We made a class calendar for 2008 filled with children's art work for each month. We also reviewed elapsed time by coloring blocks of hours for different events throughout the day. To integrate math with technology, each child took turn to paint a picture on the computer illustrating what they do during the day and at night. For math centers, everyone enjoyed fun math games that reinforce clocks, greater/less than/equal to, and addition facts.
Social Studies:
We started a new unit about being a good citizen. We read The Empty Pot and discussed what it means to be honest. We also had a class meeting to talk about following rules at home and at school.
Thank you,
Little Blue Teachers
It was nice to see some of you on Barnes and Noble night this past Tuesday. The children enjoyed all the Tacky stories. We will have another social event coming up on December 11. We are inviting all K/1 families to see the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at AMC Theater in Saratoga. We will announce the showtime later! There is a fund raiser at BJ's as well that night. So you can enjoy a movie and then hit the pizza place for dinner!
Don't forget: Please turn in your permission slip and check for the trip to San Jose Museum of Art.
Check attached calendar for upcoming dates. Read again. We added some more dates!
Sharing:
Week of 12/3: Something from another country
Week of 12/10: Ways your family celebrates the season
Preparation Tips:
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. Try to come up with an interesting introduction.
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. There will be no book bags during Thanksgiving week, so take this time to read a book about the first Thanksgiving. Talk about the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
Language Arts:
We worked on the short and long sounds of "E". Please remember to help your child study for the test each week.
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 stayed in our family room for math investigation. We made a class calendar for 2008 filled with children's art work for each month. We also reviewed elapsed time by coloring blocks of hours for different events throughout the day. To integrate math with technology, each child took turn to paint a picture on the computer illustrating what they do during the day and at night. For math centers, everyone enjoyed fun math games that reinforce clocks, greater/less than/equal to, and addition facts.
Social Studies:
We started a new unit about being a good citizen. We read The Empty Pot and discussed what it means to be honest. We also had a class meeting to talk about following rules at home and at school.
Thank you,
Little Blue Teachers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)