September 25, 2009

Upcoming Dates

Next Week’s Sharing: Something that starts with the letter S.

Thursday, October 1st: September Homework Due
Please return the September homework page (from Back-to-School night) showing which activities you and your child completed at home. The October Homework page will go home on this day as well.

Monday, October 5th: October Book Orders Due
Today you are receiving the October Scholastic Book Orders for Firefly and Seesaw. Please look over the books and if you would like to purchase one, please return the form to me with ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs, or purchase them online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs (User Name: Beebear, Password: MrsYu – no spaces or period).

Monday, October 5th – Tuesday, October 13th: Parent Conferences
On Monday this week, you should have received your 20 minute conference day and time. If you have not returned the confirmation sheet, please do so on Monday, September 28th. Please make sure you arrive on time because we have back-to-back conferences and we cannot go over the time allotted to you. All the kindergarten teachers will have a substitute for three full days during conferences. I will be meeting with each of you in the UPPER GRADE WING – CONFERENCE ROOM (Next to Room 17).

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Dear Families,

Time is flying by quickly. I can’t believe it is already the end of September and that October is around the corner! Starting next week, your child will start bringing home a homework folder on Monday. Inside will be some optional math and language arts pages. In a few weeks, we will also add the library book and library journals. Please return these folders every Friday (if there is no school on Friday, please return it on Thursday!).

Great job with our first sharing this week! Today you will see a half sheet of yellow paper that shows how your child did on sharing this week. Our goal is to try and get a “4” in all areas. Some of the students were very comfortable in front of the class, and some of the students were extremely shy. Either way, I was proud of everyone for trying their best and bringing something special to share with the class. Great job!

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: We have finished working on all of the uppercase and lowercase alphabet letters, and learning their sounds. Everyday, we will continue to practice our handwriting and phonics, but at least now everyone has been introduced to all the letters and the vowels. We have been learning a song that teaches us all of the vowels, and we have been reviewing a song about how many syllables we have in our name. On Thursday, we tried to write all of the letters independently. Keep practicing at home everyday!

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Tanisha, who was chosen as our fourth Star of the Week! You can read about her in the “Classwork” section of our website, and click under “Star of the Week.”

• Science: We are studying about apples this week. We made a minibook about what colors apples should be. We also tasted four different types of apples to see which was our favorite. In addition, we worked on the life cycle of apples during Friday Centers by learning about seeds, trees, leaves, blossoms, and apples!

• Math: We finished our fourth chapter on plane shapes and our fifth chapter on patterns. We practiced patterns by colors, shapes, sizes, objects, and by letters. We also made a math art picture of a beehive using rulers. We learned how to make straight lines and how to make curved lines. We used fingerstamps for the bees and placed a bee inside, outside, and on the beehive to reinforce math vocabulary.

• Computer Lab: This week we learned how to open up files from our folders on the servers. This was very difficult for some students because they are not used to clicking and double-clicking on icons. We are practicing this skill. Then, we began illustrating a poem about an apple tree. We used the shape tools, painting tools, stamps, and also learned to type our names by finding our letters on the keyboard. Thank you to Caroline and Keona’s mother for helping out in computer lab! It really helps to get all the students to successfully complete the projects. We will be continuing this lesson next week and hopefully will be able to print and save all the pictures!

• Assembly: This week, we had a special puppet show assembly on Trickster stories. We are remembering how to be a polite audience and to clap for others. During sharing, we also are trying to learn to be good listeners.

• Art: This was our first art class with Mrs. Abada! She taught us how to make a cityscape using different materials such as paper, wallpaper, and fabric. We glued on our cityscape buildings, then decorated with markers and stickers. Thank you to Michael, Sean, and Shaunak’s mother for helping out during art class!

September book orders went home on Wednesday with your children. I told them to put it inside their backpacks, so hopefully the books made it home safely! Today you will see the October book order forms if you are interested!

In school, we are learning to follow rules such as keeping our hands and feet to ourselves, and treating others nicely. We are also learning to take turns and to share. Also, we are learning to line up instead of cutting or pushing our way to the front. Please help to teach this skill every morning when you arrive with your child. Make sure they go to the back of the line when they come to school and not stand wherever they want to. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!