March 5, 2010

Upcoming Dates

* Sunday, March 7th: March 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!
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, March 5th.

* Sunday, March 14th: Daylight Savings
Turn your clocks forward one hour!

* Monday, March 15th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
The teachers will come to school on this day to share classroom management ideas with each other.

* Friday, March 19th: Second Trimester Report Cards Go Home
You will be receiving your child’s report card for the second trimester. Please keep the report card at home, but please return the manila envelope to school.

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Dear Families,

We had a new PM student join us on Monday! Her name is Catherine Di and she moved here from DeVargas Elementary School in Cupertino. Please welcome her and her family to our class! Also, thank you to Connor’s family who celebrated his birthday with a gift card to Target for our classroom! Happy Birthday!

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: We picked our Star on Friday during overlap this week (and I finish this newsletter Friday mornings to print out…), so I will share the students’ name next week!
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)

• Letter of the Week: D
(You can see our computer center drawings in the “Classwork” section of our website.)

• Story of the Week: Green Eggs and Ham

• Language Arts: We have been learning about Dr. Seuss this week. We read many of his books and practiced our rhyming words. On Monday, we read Dr. Seuss’ ABC. On every page, Dr. Seuss makes up a silly story using one letter of the alphabet. In our journals, we wrote our own silly sentences using one letter of our choice. Students learned that this is called alliteration. We illustrated our silly sentences. Another activity we completed was after we read The Cat in the Hat. We made a portrait of the Cat in the Hat, and then wrote different –at rhyming words on the stripes of our cat. Students should be able to master rhyming words at this point of the year. We also made our own striped hats today during Friday Centers and took a silly picture! Finally, we learned some facts about Dr. Seuss including his real name, his birthday, and why he wrote some of his most famous stories!

• Math: This week’s math was a continuation of the numbers from 11-20. We made different math sentences and practiced counting on from a number, such as “9” (10, 11, 12…). Students had to count, draw, and master numbers from 0-20. We also practiced being able to identify whether a number is more than, less than, or equal to another group.

• Computer Lab: In following with our theme of Dr. Seuss, we did a rhyming project using a Kidspiration template. Students had to match up two pictures that rhymed by using a drag-and-drop method. When students finished, we printed out their work. You can see one example of the final finished project in our “Classwork” section of the website.

• Science: We took an assessment this week to review prior learning that we have done about weather and seasons. Students were asked to identify the four seasons, and to describe three items they would wear if it were wintertime. This assessment demonstrates whether or not students are retaining prior information and also if they are able to express their ideas orally and in complete sentences.

• Social Studies: On Tuesday, we had a special visitor from the Cupertino Rotary Club. Mr. Jackson came to our classroom because it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday. He read us one of Dr. Seuss’ books and donated that book to our classroom. We appreciated his visit! Another activity we completed in Friday Centers was related to Dr. Seuss’ book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Our Friday parent helpers, Kumiko and Daniel’s mom, helped to teach students how to make origami fish to match this book. Some students were not able to finish the four fish, however, I sent home the directions so students can finish them at home.

• Music: We saw Ms. Disney on Thursday. We started by singing a fun song about a missing dog. We practiced singing in quiet voices and loud voices. Ms. Disney had us hide the dog in different places around the room, and we would use our voices to help a student find the dog (louder voice if they were close, softer voice if they were far away). Afterwards, we practiced rhythm beats using walking and running feet. We also learned a new partner dance!

Morning class, sorry about forgetting to send home the homework envelopes on Monday! That was my fault. Thank you for understanding!

Afternoon class, please remember that on rainy days, you can come directly to Room 8 to drop off your child at 10:55am (M, W, TH, F) and 10:35am (Tuesdays). Please do not drop off your child in the classroom before the start time unless I am in the classroom. Thank you!

I hope your family has a wonderful weekend and I will see you on Monday!