Upcoming Dates
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
See cover page for more details.
* Monday, February 8th: Happy Hollow In-House Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school! For this in-house field trip, we don’t have to go anywhere! Happy Hollow will come to Eaton and do a presentation to our class, where they bring animals for us! Therefore, we won’t need any chaperones and kids won’t need to wear their red shirts. Please still bring your backpacks, snacks, and sharing as usual.
* Friday, February 12th: Valentine’s Day Party
We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day by exchanging cards. Every child must prepare Valentine cards for every student and bring them to school on Friday in a bag. They can be homemade or store-bought cards. Here is a list of all the students' names in our class. Please have your child write: To: (student name) and From: (your child’s name) on each envelope and prepare 28 cards (29 if they want one for themselves). Here are the students’ names in our class:
Aditi Aditya Caroline Chris Colleen Connor
Daniel David Edison Grace Jennifer Jewel
Kavya Keona Kristina Kumiko Lauren Leah
Matthew C. Matthew N. Michael Raphael Sara Sean
Shaunak Tanisha Woojin Yash Yuma
* Monday, February 15th to Friday, February 22nd: No School – Mid-Year Recess
Enjoy your week of vacation!
------
Dear Families,
Since we have our field trip tomorrow, students will not be bringing their daily folders to school. Therefore, I’m sending the newsletter today instead. Other papers such as sharing or old homework/ classwork will be filed in next week’s Friday folder. Thank you for understanding!
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Chris
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)
• Letter of the Week: F
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)
• Story of the Week: The Emperor’s Egg
• Language Arts: We read the story, The Way I Feel, this week. We talked about all the different feelings we learned from the book and practiced showing what our faces would look like with the different emotions. We also discussed how everyone experiences all sorts of feelings throughout the day and we should be sensitive to others. We completed a project where we chose three different feelings and wrote about situations in our lives that made us feel that way. Mrs. Rowe came to visit our classroom to observe this lesson!
• Writing: We started the week by reading our story of the week and brainstormed different facts we learned about penguins. Our journal entry on Monday was to write one of our favorite facts about penguins, using the sentence starter: Penguins ____________.
• Science: We are starting to read many stories and learn many facts about penguins. One of the facts we learned is about the continents on Earth. We learned that we live in North America and the Emperor penguins live on Antarctica. We also learned about the life of the male and female Empereor penguins, including how they take care of the chick and what they eat. We completed a project where we wrote three of our favorite facts and made a penguin book to decorate our writing. Everyday we repeat facts from what we have learned in class, and at the end of each unit, I individually ask students questions from our unit. It is important that students are listening and showing understanding of what we have learned. This is how I informally assess students on the report card.
• Math: This week we’ve been reviewing the concepts from our previous chapter. We made our addition and subtraction sentences using different real life situations, such as using our own bodies (how many boys + girls?) or different objects in the room. We practiced verbally saying our math stories. Students need to be able to tell their math stories independently!
• Computer Lab: We talked about weather and seasons this week in computer lab. We used a Kidspiration project to decide which types of clothing children should weather in different seasons. Students had to think about clothing for our head, torso, hands, legs, and feet. Some students finished the project, but we will have to continue it another session. Therefore, this lesson will not be posted on the website yet.
• Buddies: On Tuesday, we saw our fourth grade buddies from Ms. Allen’s class. We made a “double doodle” picture with our buddies. We each took turns to draw one shape or line and then our buddies had to add onto the picture. This was practice for students to learn to share and to be creative to transform their pictures into different things.
• Music: We saw Ms. Disney on Thursday to have our regular music class.
• Field Trip: Tomorrow we will be going on our field trip to the Children’s Discovery Museum. Thank you to all the chaperones who are coming with us. Please remember that if you would like to chaperone next time, you will need to have a current TB test on file in the office.
Another big thank you goes out this week to Raphael and his family! They gave us a generous gift card to Lakeshore to celebrate Raphael’s birthday with the class. We really appreciate your kindness! Thank you!
See you all tomorrow at 9:00am!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
January 22, 2010
Upcoming Dates
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We still need 3 more chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please let me know if you are interested in being a chaperone! So far, our chaperones are: Jon, Yoshiko, Jane, Sue, and Haksoon.
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
* Monday, February 8th: Happy Hollow In-House Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school! For this in-house field trip, we don’t have to go anywhere! Happy Hollow will come to Eaton and do a presentation to our class, where they bring animals for us! Therefore, we won’t need any chaperones and kids won’t need to wear their red shirts. Please still bring your backpacks, snacks, and sharing as usual.
* Friday, February 12th: Valentine’s Day Party
We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day by exchanging cards. Every child must prepare Valentine cards for every student and bring them to school on Friday in a bag. They can be homemade or store-bought cards. Here is a list of all the students' names in our class. Please have your child write: To: (student name) and From: (your child’s name) on each envelope and prepare 28 cards (29 if they want one for themselves). Here are the students’ names in our class:
Aditi Aditya Caroline Chris Colleen Connor
Daniel David Edison Grace Jennifer Jewel
Kavya Keona Kristina Kumiko Lauren Leah
Matthew C. Matthew N. Michael Raphael Sara Sean
Shaunak Tanisha Woojin Yash Yuma
* Monday, February 15th to Friday, February 22nd: No School – Mid-Year Recess
Enjoy your week of vacation!
-----
Dear Families,
Rain, rain go away! Actually, I can’t complain because I know we badly need the rain, and fortunately, we’ve been really lucky because the rain has actually cleared up during lunchtime on most days. It is just so hard when the kids do not get to go outside and breathe some fresh air! Hopefully the rain will ease up over the weekend. Remember that if it is a really rainy and windy day, I will leave the hallway door open for your child to come in, and I will also excuse children from that same door if necessary. If it is just sprinkling, then I will excuse them from the regular lunch table door. Afternoon class, if you do not see kids playing outside during recess, then that means you can come directly to room 8 when you arrive to school. If there are kids playing outside, then please line up as usual. Hopefully this will help with some of the confusion. Thanks for your patience!
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Jewel
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)
• Letter of the Week: G
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)
• Story of the Week: The Hat
• Language Arts: Our homework cover sheet is practicing our alphabet and numbers again. At this point of the year, students should begin to master their handwriting and really work on not reversing their letters or numbers. We are continuing our study of Jan Brett and this week we read her story, The Hat, which is another hilarious story about animals and winter clothing.
• Social Studies: Most of our week was around the theme of Martin Luther King Jr. We read several stories to learn about what Martin Luther King’s life was like, and learned why we celebrate his birthday every year. We completed different activities including a portrait of him and a friendship circle. We also learned some of his famous quotes and made a poster with different colored hands to show peace.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about our dreams and what we want to be when we grow up so that we can help others. We started with the sentence, I have a dream to be a ____ and students wrote about different community helpers.
• Math: This week is more practice on addition and subtraction sentences. Students have to show their work using drawings or using manipulatives. I am noticing that many students have difficulty showing their work correctly when addition and subtraction problems are mixed together. I am reminding them to always look at the “sign” (plus or minus) to make sure they are adding more or taking away.
• Computer Lab: This week, we did another math extension activity in Kidpix. Students had to demonstrate their understanding of subtraction sentences this time. We used the same format as last week, where students chose stamps to illustrate a subtraction sentence, but this time they had to also “cross out” stamps. They used number stamps to make the subtraction number sentences. You can see these also in our “Classwork” section of the website.
• Art: We saw Ms. Abada this week on Tuesday. She started by reading the story, “White Rabbit’s Color Book,” which is about a rabbit that jumps into different pails of paint. The story teaches about color mixing. We used a rabbit stencil and learned how to do crayon rubbings. We mixed colors like the story, and then afterwards we were able to choose our own stencils and colors to decorate our paper. Students took these drawings home Tuesday.
Thank you to Leah’s family for donating a Lakeshore gift card to our classroom to celebrate Leah’s birthday! Lakeshore is the greatest place for teacher resources and supplies, and we will be able to get more resources for the classroom because of their generosity. Thank you!!!
Also, on Thursday morning, Sahithi’s family told me that it was her last day of school at Eaton!!! They are moving and will be attending school in Fremont. This was a total surprise, and unfortunately, we didn’t get to give Sahithi a proper goodbye. We will miss her and her family, but they have promised to keep in touch! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We still need 3 more chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please let me know if you are interested in being a chaperone! So far, our chaperones are: Jon, Yoshiko, Jane, Sue, and Haksoon.
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
* Monday, February 8th: Happy Hollow In-House Field Trip – ALL KIDS ATTEND AM!
All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school! For this in-house field trip, we don’t have to go anywhere! Happy Hollow will come to Eaton and do a presentation to our class, where they bring animals for us! Therefore, we won’t need any chaperones and kids won’t need to wear their red shirts. Please still bring your backpacks, snacks, and sharing as usual.
* Friday, February 12th: Valentine’s Day Party
We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day by exchanging cards. Every child must prepare Valentine cards for every student and bring them to school on Friday in a bag. They can be homemade or store-bought cards. Here is a list of all the students' names in our class. Please have your child write: To: (student name) and From: (your child’s name) on each envelope and prepare 28 cards (29 if they want one for themselves). Here are the students’ names in our class:
Aditi Aditya Caroline Chris Colleen Connor
Daniel David Edison Grace Jennifer Jewel
Kavya Keona Kristina Kumiko Lauren Leah
Matthew C. Matthew N. Michael Raphael Sara Sean
Shaunak Tanisha Woojin Yash Yuma
* Monday, February 15th to Friday, February 22nd: No School – Mid-Year Recess
Enjoy your week of vacation!
-----
Dear Families,
Rain, rain go away! Actually, I can’t complain because I know we badly need the rain, and fortunately, we’ve been really lucky because the rain has actually cleared up during lunchtime on most days. It is just so hard when the kids do not get to go outside and breathe some fresh air! Hopefully the rain will ease up over the weekend. Remember that if it is a really rainy and windy day, I will leave the hallway door open for your child to come in, and I will also excuse children from that same door if necessary. If it is just sprinkling, then I will excuse them from the regular lunch table door. Afternoon class, if you do not see kids playing outside during recess, then that means you can come directly to room 8 when you arrive to school. If there are kids playing outside, then please line up as usual. Hopefully this will help with some of the confusion. Thanks for your patience!
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Jewel
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)
• Letter of the Week: G
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)
• Story of the Week: The Hat
• Language Arts: Our homework cover sheet is practicing our alphabet and numbers again. At this point of the year, students should begin to master their handwriting and really work on not reversing their letters or numbers. We are continuing our study of Jan Brett and this week we read her story, The Hat, which is another hilarious story about animals and winter clothing.
• Social Studies: Most of our week was around the theme of Martin Luther King Jr. We read several stories to learn about what Martin Luther King’s life was like, and learned why we celebrate his birthday every year. We completed different activities including a portrait of him and a friendship circle. We also learned some of his famous quotes and made a poster with different colored hands to show peace.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about our dreams and what we want to be when we grow up so that we can help others. We started with the sentence, I have a dream to be a ____ and students wrote about different community helpers.
• Math: This week is more practice on addition and subtraction sentences. Students have to show their work using drawings or using manipulatives. I am noticing that many students have difficulty showing their work correctly when addition and subtraction problems are mixed together. I am reminding them to always look at the “sign” (plus or minus) to make sure they are adding more or taking away.
• Computer Lab: This week, we did another math extension activity in Kidpix. Students had to demonstrate their understanding of subtraction sentences this time. We used the same format as last week, where students chose stamps to illustrate a subtraction sentence, but this time they had to also “cross out” stamps. They used number stamps to make the subtraction number sentences. You can see these also in our “Classwork” section of the website.
• Art: We saw Ms. Abada this week on Tuesday. She started by reading the story, “White Rabbit’s Color Book,” which is about a rabbit that jumps into different pails of paint. The story teaches about color mixing. We used a rabbit stencil and learned how to do crayon rubbings. We mixed colors like the story, and then afterwards we were able to choose our own stencils and colors to decorate our paper. Students took these drawings home Tuesday.
Thank you to Leah’s family for donating a Lakeshore gift card to our classroom to celebrate Leah’s birthday! Lakeshore is the greatest place for teacher resources and supplies, and we will be able to get more resources for the classroom because of their generosity. Thank you!!!
Also, on Thursday morning, Sahithi’s family told me that it was her last day of school at Eaton!!! They are moving and will be attending school in Fremont. This was a total surprise, and unfortunately, we didn’t get to give Sahithi a proper goodbye. We will miss her and her family, but they have promised to keep in touch! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Friday, January 15, 2010
January 15, 2010
Upcoming Dates
* Sunday, January 17th: Scholastic Book Orders Due (attached to last week’s newsletter)
Please try to order your books online. Our class earns free books with online purchases. Thank you!
1. Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. Class User Name: Beebear
3. Password: MrsYu (no spaces or periods)
4. Browse books and place order using your credit card (no need to send money to school)
5. About 2 weeks after I receive all the orders, your books will be delivered to school!
* Monday, January 18th: No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Enjoy your three-day weekend!
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We still need 6 more chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please let me know if you are interested in being a chaperone!
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
-----
Dear Families,
Since there is no school on Monday, we will not be visiting the Eaton library and checking out a book that day. Therefore, your child will not be bringing home the large manila homework envelope next week. Homework will be separate and will go home on Tuesday in their daily folders.
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Kristina
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)
• Letter of the Week: P
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)
• Story of the Week: The Mitten
• Language Arts: We read The Mitten this week by Jan Brett and completed an activity to help us orally retell the story to you. We made a mitten like a pocket and added all of the animals from the story inside. Your child should have brought these mittens home on Thursday. Have your child retell the story to you, from beginning to end!
• Science: We continued our Snowman glyphs from last week in Friday centers. We are using different types of winter clothing to decorate our snowman. We also made another snowman using cotton balls, yarn, buttons, pipe cleaners, and glitter, and talked about snowy weather.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about things we see in Winter. We started with the sentence, In winter, I see ____ and students wrote about different winter objects. They illustrated their picture. Our homework has been practicing writing a complete sentence using capitals, periods, and spacing. Students need to remember these whenever they write, especially in our weekly journals! Also, I have noticed some small changes in handwriting since after the winter vacation. Please continue to work on writing the alphabet letters and the numbers with proper handwriting. I will start adding the handwriting pages to our homework packets again for extra practice.
• Math: We continued reviewing the terms, addition and subtraction, as we start our new unit. I taught the children how to show their math sentences using counters and using drawings. Remember, students need to practice explaining their logic and thinking, not just computing answers from math problems.
• Computer Lab: This week, we did a math extension activity in Kidpix. Students had to demonstrate their understanding of addition sentences by using stamps to illustrate a picture, and then showing the math numbers that match. These addition sentences are posted on the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Music: We saw Ms. Disney this week and sang some of our old songs such as Skip to My Lou, but also learned some new pattern songs about the Days of the Week and a rhyming, body movement song. We also went on a bear hunt and went looking for a bear in the forest. This was a fun movement song as well.
• Earthquake Drill: On Monday, we practiced what to do if there was an earthquake. Students know to quickly hide under their desks, covering their head, and ideally grabbing one of the table legs. Then when the shaking stops, they quickly line up to go outside to the field. Eaton practiced this altogether.
We are still spending a lot of time each day going over the school rules. We need to remember to walk quietly from place to place, and keep our hands to ourselves. In the classroom, we have been working on our listening skills and following directions. Many students have needed directions repeated many times or have gotten warnings. Please continue having a conversation with your child everyday to remind them to follow school rules. Thank you for your help.
Have a great three-day weekend!
* Sunday, January 17th: Scholastic Book Orders Due (attached to last week’s newsletter)
Please try to order your books online. Our class earns free books with online purchases. Thank you!
1. Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. Class User Name: Beebear
3. Password: MrsYu (no spaces or periods)
4. Browse books and place order using your credit card (no need to send money to school)
5. About 2 weeks after I receive all the orders, your books will be delivered to school!
* Monday, January 18th: No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Enjoy your three-day weekend!
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We still need 6 more chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please let me know if you are interested in being a chaperone!
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
-----
Dear Families,
Since there is no school on Monday, we will not be visiting the Eaton library and checking out a book that day. Therefore, your child will not be bringing home the large manila homework envelope next week. Homework will be separate and will go home on Tuesday in their daily folders.
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Kristina
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)
• Letter of the Week: P
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)
• Story of the Week: The Mitten
• Language Arts: We read The Mitten this week by Jan Brett and completed an activity to help us orally retell the story to you. We made a mitten like a pocket and added all of the animals from the story inside. Your child should have brought these mittens home on Thursday. Have your child retell the story to you, from beginning to end!
• Science: We continued our Snowman glyphs from last week in Friday centers. We are using different types of winter clothing to decorate our snowman. We also made another snowman using cotton balls, yarn, buttons, pipe cleaners, and glitter, and talked about snowy weather.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about things we see in Winter. We started with the sentence, In winter, I see ____ and students wrote about different winter objects. They illustrated their picture. Our homework has been practicing writing a complete sentence using capitals, periods, and spacing. Students need to remember these whenever they write, especially in our weekly journals! Also, I have noticed some small changes in handwriting since after the winter vacation. Please continue to work on writing the alphabet letters and the numbers with proper handwriting. I will start adding the handwriting pages to our homework packets again for extra practice.
• Math: We continued reviewing the terms, addition and subtraction, as we start our new unit. I taught the children how to show their math sentences using counters and using drawings. Remember, students need to practice explaining their logic and thinking, not just computing answers from math problems.
• Computer Lab: This week, we did a math extension activity in Kidpix. Students had to demonstrate their understanding of addition sentences by using stamps to illustrate a picture, and then showing the math numbers that match. These addition sentences are posted on the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Music: We saw Ms. Disney this week and sang some of our old songs such as Skip to My Lou, but also learned some new pattern songs about the Days of the Week and a rhyming, body movement song. We also went on a bear hunt and went looking for a bear in the forest. This was a fun movement song as well.
• Earthquake Drill: On Monday, we practiced what to do if there was an earthquake. Students know to quickly hide under their desks, covering their head, and ideally grabbing one of the table legs. Then when the shaking stops, they quickly line up to go outside to the field. Eaton practiced this altogether.
We are still spending a lot of time each day going over the school rules. We need to remember to walk quietly from place to place, and keep our hands to ourselves. In the classroom, we have been working on our listening skills and following directions. Many students have needed directions repeated many times or have gotten warnings. Please continue having a conversation with your child everyday to remind them to follow school rules. Thank you for your help.
Have a great three-day weekend!
Friday, January 08, 2010
January 8, 2010
Upcoming Dates
* Sunday, January 17th: Scholastic Book Orders Due (attached to today’s newsletter)
Please try to order your books online. Our class earns free books with online purchases. Thank you!
1. Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. Class User Name: Beebear
3. Password: MrsYu (no spaces or periods)
4. Browse books and place order using your credit card (no need to send money to school)
5. About 2 weeks after I receive all the orders, your books will be delivered to school!
If you prefer not to order online, you can return the order form directly to me with ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. Please hand it to me by Friday, January 15th.
* Monday, January 18th: No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Enjoy your three-day weekend!
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We need about 8 chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please email me if you are interested in being a chaperone!
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
-----
Dear Families,
Happy New Year! Welcome back to school! I ended up staying around here for the vacation because my husband sprained his ankle. We will have to make a trip to Tahoe another time! It was so nice to relax and spend time with our families and friends. I hope all of you had a wonderful vacation too! It was hard to return back to the regular school schedule, but it helps that this week has been sunny and somewhat warm! I am definitely a California girl! =)
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Grace and Aditya
You can read about our Star of the Week on our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”
• Story of the Week: Snowballs
For listening center, now students have to describe who the main character is and the setting of the story, in addition to writing about their favorite part. I am reminding students to make sure they write complete sentences for their favorite part, instead of starting with, “when…” Remember capitals and periods too!
• Letter of the Week: C
You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Language Arts: I am really noticing some great improvements with everybody’s sharing, especially with speaking louder and keeping eye contact with the class. Remember to prepare at least four complete sentences about each sharing topic, not including any introductions. Also, I would like to see the children holding their sharing while they talk and keeping their body still. Other than that, sharing is going very well and is a pleasure to listen to! Thank you for helping your child present each week!
• Social Studies: This week we talked about New Year Resolutions. We discussed what resolutions are: goals, or areas for us to improve or get better in the upcoming year. We wrote four resolutions for ourselves in 2010. Then we made a flip up project to showcase our goals.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about our vacation. We started with the sentence, On vacation, I ______., and students wrote about what they did during vacation. They illustrated their pictures and had the option of writing as much as they wanted. This allowed me to hear about some of the fun activities that your families did over vacation! I posted some of their writing on the homepage of our website. Take a look at some of their resolutions!
• Math: We have been reviewing the terms, addition and subtraction. We are trying to practice knowing when to use a “plus” or “minus” in our math sentences. This week, we practiced saying math subtraction stories using animals and different hands-on manipulatives. We learned that in addition, the magic word is “in all” or “altogether,” and in subtraction, the magic word is “left.” It is important that students not only know how to compute numbers, but also how to explain their thinking.
• Science: We are learning about weather and seasons, especially Winter. We made a snowman glyph during Friday Centers where we personalized our snowman depending on different questions. We also talked about how our clothing changes during the different seasons, and we made mittens and a cap to show what we would wear in the Winter. We are talking about changes in our environment as well, especially noticing the seasons of a tree!
• Computer Lab: We illustrated our January poem this week called, The Snowman. It was about a snowman that somebody made and it specified certain things to put on the snowman. We used Kidpix and added extra details to make our snowman special. You can see these pictures in the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Assembly: Today we had an assembly by the Lawrence Hall of Science. They presented a show about the Human Body. We learned about our mysterious body, how it functions, and its different parts.
This week was a little tough on the students as far as remembering the classroom and school rules. We’ve had many reminders to keep our hands and feet to ourselves, both in the classroom and out on the playground. I’m sure behaviors will improve as the students get settled into the school routine again. Have a great weekend!
* Sunday, January 17th: Scholastic Book Orders Due (attached to today’s newsletter)
Please try to order your books online. Our class earns free books with online purchases. Thank you!
1. Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. Class User Name: Beebear
3. Password: MrsYu (no spaces or periods)
4. Browse books and place order using your credit card (no need to send money to school)
5. About 2 weeks after I receive all the orders, your books will be delivered to school!
If you prefer not to order online, you can return the order form directly to me with ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. Please hand it to me by Friday, January 15th.
* Monday, January 18th: No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Enjoy your three-day weekend!
* Friday, January 29th: Children’s Discovery Museum Field Trip
1. All Kinders come from 9:00am – 12:20pm! Please arrange to pick up your child on time after school!
2. Remember to wear your red t-shirt to school (layer underneath, we will be mostly indoors).
3. We need about 8 chaperones to each take a group of 3-4 children around the Discovery Museum. Chaperones will need to arrange their own transportation to the museum because there is not enough room on the buses. Please email me if you are interested in being a chaperone!
4. Do not bring your backpacks or snacks that day, just return your Friday homework envelope in the morning.
5. Friday sharers, please prepare your sharing the day before on Thursday, January 28th!
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Dear Families,
Happy New Year! Welcome back to school! I ended up staying around here for the vacation because my husband sprained his ankle. We will have to make a trip to Tahoe another time! It was so nice to relax and spend time with our families and friends. I hope all of you had a wonderful vacation too! It was hard to return back to the regular school schedule, but it helps that this week has been sunny and somewhat warm! I am definitely a California girl! =)
Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Grace and Aditya
You can read about our Star of the Week on our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”
• Story of the Week: Snowballs
For listening center, now students have to describe who the main character is and the setting of the story, in addition to writing about their favorite part. I am reminding students to make sure they write complete sentences for their favorite part, instead of starting with, “when…” Remember capitals and periods too!
• Letter of the Week: C
You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Language Arts: I am really noticing some great improvements with everybody’s sharing, especially with speaking louder and keeping eye contact with the class. Remember to prepare at least four complete sentences about each sharing topic, not including any introductions. Also, I would like to see the children holding their sharing while they talk and keeping their body still. Other than that, sharing is going very well and is a pleasure to listen to! Thank you for helping your child present each week!
• Social Studies: This week we talked about New Year Resolutions. We discussed what resolutions are: goals, or areas for us to improve or get better in the upcoming year. We wrote four resolutions for ourselves in 2010. Then we made a flip up project to showcase our goals.
• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about our vacation. We started with the sentence, On vacation, I ______., and students wrote about what they did during vacation. They illustrated their pictures and had the option of writing as much as they wanted. This allowed me to hear about some of the fun activities that your families did over vacation! I posted some of their writing on the homepage of our website. Take a look at some of their resolutions!
• Math: We have been reviewing the terms, addition and subtraction. We are trying to practice knowing when to use a “plus” or “minus” in our math sentences. This week, we practiced saying math subtraction stories using animals and different hands-on manipulatives. We learned that in addition, the magic word is “in all” or “altogether,” and in subtraction, the magic word is “left.” It is important that students not only know how to compute numbers, but also how to explain their thinking.
• Science: We are learning about weather and seasons, especially Winter. We made a snowman glyph during Friday Centers where we personalized our snowman depending on different questions. We also talked about how our clothing changes during the different seasons, and we made mittens and a cap to show what we would wear in the Winter. We are talking about changes in our environment as well, especially noticing the seasons of a tree!
• Computer Lab: We illustrated our January poem this week called, The Snowman. It was about a snowman that somebody made and it specified certain things to put on the snowman. We used Kidpix and added extra details to make our snowman special. You can see these pictures in the “Classwork” section of our website.
• Assembly: Today we had an assembly by the Lawrence Hall of Science. They presented a show about the Human Body. We learned about our mysterious body, how it functions, and its different parts.
This week was a little tough on the students as far as remembering the classroom and school rules. We’ve had many reminders to keep our hands and feet to ourselves, both in the classroom and out on the playground. I’m sure behaviors will improve as the students get settled into the school routine again. Have a great weekend!
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