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Dear Families,

Every week, I try to send home a newsletter in the Friday Folder as well as upload it on this Newsletter page. I include important upcoming dates as well as highlights from activities that we completed during the week. Please read these newsletters each week to stay current with your child's learning and progress in the classroom!

See you in February!

Mrs. Yu

March 11, 2011

Dear Families,

Thank you for all of the cute cards, flowers, and gifts to help me celebrate my birthday this past Thursday. I am sad to have missed school. I actually went home Tuesday halfway through the day because I wasn’t feeling well and tried to make it through Wednesday. Unfortunately, I still felt sick and took off Thursday and missed out on the class photo too =( My first time in 9 years! I’m hoping to rest as much as possible this weekend.

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Star of the Week: Anthony – His information will be up soon!
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)

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

• Story of the Week: What is the Sun?

• Math: In continuing our practice counting to 20, we learned a faster way to count this week, using a “ten-frame.” Instead of counting from 1, we learned that we can count on from 10, 11, 12, or even skip count by 5’s such as 5, 10, 15 and then count on to 16, 17, 18… We are learning tricks to help us notice patterns of 5 or 10 and help us count faster. We also worked on graphing this week and reviewed how to make a bar graph about our favorite sea animal. Finally, we talked about the difference between estimating (making a good guess such as 10, 20, 30..) vs. counting (exact number such as 13 or 22).

• Computer Lab: Our March poem of the month is called, “Plip! Plop! Raindrop.” Students have memorized the words to this poem and had to recite it back to me independently. During our computer lab, we used Kidpix to illustrate this poem by drawing an umbrella. Afterwards, we added a person and decorated the background with appropriate pictures for a rainy day. These pictures turned out great! You can see them in the “Classwork” section of our website.

• Science: This week we reviewed what a concrete poem is again. We remembered making a Valentine’s concrete poem in the shape of a heart. This week our theme has been rain, so we wrote a poem in the shape of rain. We started by reading several rain poems and short stories. Afterwards, we brainstormed our favorite words or phrases that reminded us of rain. We wrote these words down in our own rain poems and illustrated them.

• Social Studies: This week, we started talking about the difference between winter and our next season spring. We read some books about spring and then wrote a spring poem describing spring. We decorated and cut out our spring poems.

• Buddies: We saw our buddies on Thursday. We wrote a fiction story with our buddies about leprechauns and how we would catch them! We started reading about leprechauns and St. Patrick’s Day this week and we also made a shamrock during Friday centers.

• Music: On Tuesday, we saw Ms. Disney. We danced as she played a drum and froze when she stopped. We also learned new songs and games.

Remember to fill out the Eaton Survey by Monday! PTO is trying to get 100% participation at Eaton and that is why they are giving out pencils as an incentive for students to encourage their parents to complete the survey. Please print out the confirmation page at the end of the survey and make sure your child’s name is on it, in order to receive the pencil!

Nobuaki’s family will be moving and his last day with us is next week on Wednesday, March 16th. Please plan on saying goodbye to Nobuaki and his family, and your child can make a card or something special for Nobuaki!

Have a great weekend!

March 4, 2011

Dear Families,

I hope you had a nice week of vacation last week! My trip to Colorado was wonderful and we snowboarded in Breckinridge, Keystone, and Vail. Later in the trip it started snowing and it was so amazing to snowboard in fresh powder! Of course, adjusting to the high altitude was a little challenging!

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Star of the Week: Kai-Ting
(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: Pip and Squeak

• Writing: In our journals on Monday, we wrote about what we did over vacation. Also, the week we were assessed on whether we are writing our sentences with capitals, spaces, and periods. We wrote about our favorite season and explained why.

• Language Arts: We have been learning about Dr. Seuss this week because his birthday was on Wednesday. We read many of his books and practiced our rhyming words. 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! On Tuesday, we had a special visitor from the Cupertino Rotary come to read us the story, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!” Also, Mrs. Rowe and Roselyn read us Dr. Seuss stories!

• Math: We started a new unit this week on more numbers from 11-20. We have been practicing writing our numbers from 1-20 (or more) and we also reviewed our shapes, sorting, patterns, and identifying the days of the week and months of the year. In addition, we reviewed showing more than, less than, and equal to, using two groups.

• Computer Lab: Since it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week, we did a rhyming activity using Kidspiration. We had to match pictures of different objects that rhymed. You can see an example of a finished project on the “Classwork” section of our website. Please continue to review rhyming words with your child!

• Science: Our focus for the next few weeks in science is to talk about weather, specifically rain. This week we introduced the poem, “Plip! Plop! Raindrop!” and started learning about the water cycle. Students began learning some big vocabulary words such as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

• Social Studies: In Friday centers, we learned how to make origami fish! This activity was related to Dr. Seuss’ book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Our Friday parent helpers, Madhav and Madeline’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.

• Art: On Thursday, Mrs. Abada read us the story, “Where the Wild Things Are.” Afterwards we talked about opposites. Using tear art, we made a picture of a monster and then the opposite of a monster. Also, we got to take home our clay bird nests that we made last month! We were very excited.

• Assembly: Today we had a kick-off assembly for the Walk-a-thon on Wednesday, March 23rd. All kindergarteners need to come in the PM Session. Also, we had Madeline and other Kindergarteners from Room 1 perform a play that they prepared for Destination Imagination!

Since it is raining on and off, I’d like to remind everyone where to wait when you come to school. AM Kinders, if it is raining, you can wait by the covered lunch tables in front of Room 8’s door. PM Kinders, if we are having an indoor recess, then you can wait in the hallway side of Room 8. However, if you see the rest of the school outside for recess (even though it may be sprinkling), please continue to wait in our regular spot. This has to do with student supervision. If 1st-5th grade is outside playing, then no one can supervise the hallway area. Thank you for understanding.

Finally, Nobuaki’s family will be moving and his last day with us is on Wednesday, March 16th. Please plan on saying goodbye to Nobuaki and his family, and your child can make a card or something special for Nobuaki!
Have a great weekend!

February 18, 2011

Dear Families,

Thank you for eating out this week to support the CEEF “Great Schools Week” program. I hope you were able to bring the “Golden Ticket” with you to help raise money for next year. If you are free tonight, today is the last day to participate! You can go to www.ceefcares.org/gsw to see which restaurants will be participating today.

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Last week, we chose Jon as the Star of the Week. This week, Yuko was chosen. You can read about both Jon and Yuko on the “Classwork” section of our website.

• Next Week’s Sharing (after vacation): Something green
Try to be creative and find something unique to share about. Remember to prepare at least 4 complete sentences about the object or sharing (not including the introduction).

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

• Story of the Week: Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse!

• Book Fair: We had a great time visiting the book fair on Wednesday during our regular computer lab time. Students who brought money were able to purchase books to bring home. Other students were able to read and look at all the different books. Thank you for supporting our fifth graders!

• Social Studies: This week we learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We learned about qualities that make a good president such as someone who is honest and does good deeds. We talked about how at Eaton, we try to be Peacebuilders too. We want to say nice things to others and help each other whenever we can (i.e. picking up someone’s jacket, pushing in someone’s chair, etc). We made Lincoln’s log cabin today and we saw how different presidents are on different coins.

• Happy Valentine’s Day: On Monday, we learned how to make a concrete shape poem. We brainstormed words that remind us of Valentine’s Day and we wrote them in a heart shape. Afterwards, we used tear art to decorate the hearts. During overlap time, we had a great time passing out our Valentine cards! We enjoyed receiving all of the special cards and candy! Thank you for preparing the cards! Today, we also made a bear heart frame for all the children to take home. We hope you like them!

• Math: We finished our unit on addition and subtraction sentences this week. We took our test today to show if we remember how to solve different math sentences using pictures and objects. This week we also practiced solving missing addend problems such as 4 + ? = 7 and learned how to use pictures to help us figure out the answer.

• Music: Mrs. Disney started by teaching us a “Postman” song. While we sang, some of us received a “letter” in our hands that showed a picture of an instrument. We were able to play that specific instrument and then we would start the song over. We learned how to play the triangle, cymbals, maracas, drums, and many other instruments! Afterwards, we sang and danced our Valentine partner game!

• Buddies: We saw our fourth grade buddies this week and we made heart critters. We used different colored construction paper to make different sizes of hearts. Then we created different insects and animals using only hearts. We had a great time!

• Assembly: Today, we had a special assembly by the Fratello Marionettes. They performed the “Frog Prince” play using their marionettes and classical music.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful week of vacation. Sometimes vacations are difficult for children because they seem to forget how to come back to school afterwards. Please spend some time Sunday night or Monday morning before we return to school to remind your child of the classroom rules and expectations. We have been in school for over 100 days now and they should be able to follow all of our rules independently! Thank you!

February 11, 2011

Dear Families,

Thank you thank you thank you! What a special week! I really felt appreciated and was so touched by all the surprises each day. Thank you for thinking of me and being so generous with the flowers, cards, gifts, books, food, etc. I can tell a lot of you put so much thought into your gifts and made it a very personal gesture. Another huge contribution was taking all of the teachers’ recess duties!!! Those extra 20 minutes are incredible, I can’t even explain. Teachers have this strange life where we are ruled by bells and schedules, and even finding time to eat or go to the restroom is a challenge. Thank you for volunteering to cover our recess duties and then providing treats for us each day in the staff room! Also, if you were involved in any of the planning or preparing the lunch for the teachers, thank you for your time and hard work as well! The teachers all feel very special and it really made this week wonderful! So wonderful.

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Next Week’s Sharing: Something that you love.
Try to be creative and find something unique to share about. Remember to prepare at least 4 complete sentences about the object or sharing (not including the introduction).

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

• Story of the Week: If You Were a Penguin

• Writing: We wrote in our journals this week about something we wish we had 100 of. Students wrote a sentence and drew a picture to illustrate their thoughts.

• Science: We continued learning more facts about penguins, and we read a National Geographic Kids book about the 17 different kinds of penguins. Then, we learned how to write a short paragraph using three facts we knew about penguins. We learned about a rough draft and a final draft. We put our writing together into a penguin project. Students are remembering to stay in the lines when they write, use spaces between words, and identify sentences by using a capital and period.

• Book Fair next Wednesday: Next week, we will not have computer lab because there is a special 5th grade book fair to raise money for science camp, that we are scheduled to visit at the same time. If you want, your child can bring in a few dollars and buy some books next Wednesday. Please just make sure they have it in a safe place and are responsible to carry the money!

• Computer Lab: Since there is no computer lab next week, this week we illustrated our Valentine poem for February. We made a tree of hearts using stamps in Kidpix, and you can see these projects on our website under “Classwork.”

• Social Studies: Since President’s Day is coming up, we have been continuing to learn about the different presidents. We are learning a song to teach us some of the names of the presidents and we also read more books about the different presidents.

• Math: Now we are mixing up our addition and subtraction problems, and practicing how to show the problems using pictures. Please practice this at home! There is a lot of confusion when we switch back and forth from subtraction and back to addition. We will be taking our test next week.

• Art: We saw Mrs. Abada on Thursday and continued our clay projects from last month. Mrs. Abada put our clay birds and nests into the kiln so that they were hardened. Yesterday, we used glaze to paint our nests brown and our birds yellow or blue. Mrs. Abada will be putting our bird nests into the kiln one more time. Mrs. Abada also let us see the kiln and see how it was different than a regular oven. We are excited to see the final project!

If you haven’t seen the “Photos” section of our website yet, I have posted pictures of our classroom decorations for the month of February. Also, in today’s Friday Folder, there is a “Golden Ticket” for next week’s “Great Schools Week.” Remember this is a huge fundraising opportunity to try and save class sizes, especially for your kids next year in first grade. Last year’s Golden Ticket was very successful and raised a lot of money. Make sure to bring the paper with you to all of the restaurants and services in order to get the donation for Cupertino. Please join us and help to raise money for our kids!

February 4, 2011

Dear Families,

Last week or early this week, you received a notice for Fifth’s Disease. Please make sure your child is healthy if he/she comes to school. Usually this means they should be fever and symptom free (throwing up) for at least 24 hours before coming to school. They should not be on any medication either, or else they should be kept at home. Please follow these sickness protocols so we can keep everyone else healthy! Also, take the opportunity to teach your child certain skills such as: covering their mouth when they sneeze, getting a tissue and throwing it away, etc. Thank you!

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Next Week’s Sharing: Something that gets wet
Try to be creative and find something unique to share about. Remember to prepare at least 4 complete sentences about the object or sharing (not including the introduction).

• Star of the Week: Konoka
(On our website under “Curriculum” and “Star of the Week.”)

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

• Story of the Week: The 100th Day of School

• Literacy Centers: We had our centers on Tuesday this week since Wednesday was Groundhog’s Day. Keep working on trying to get 4 stars in all the categories!

• Computer Lab: To celebrate the 100th day of school, we used Kidpix stamps to make a 100 picture. We have been practicing how to skip count by 2, 5, and especially by 10. Keep practicing at home! You can see our 100 pictures on the “Classwork” section of our website.

• Social Studies: There have been a lot of special holidays this week! On Wednesday, it was Groundhog’s Day. We learned about the Groundhog and about our shadows, then we made an art project to show what happens if the Groundhog sees or does not see his shadow. On Thursday, it was both the 100th Day of School and Chinese New Year! We celebrated 100th Day by making a necklace using 100 beads. They were supposed to make a pattern using the beads, and it should be symmetric on both sides. Some students had a difficult time so their necklace may not have 100 beads or may not have correct patterns. Those students who had time also finished making a 100 pair of glasses! For Chinese New Year, we learned about some of the traditions, such as passing out red envelopes. We also learned that every year is a different animal, and this is the year of the Rabbit! During centers today, we made lanterns to celebrate!

• Math: We are continuing our math addition and subtraction booklets. We didn’t get to finish our chapter this week because of the other special holidays, but we will continue next week! We are getting better at showing math sentences using numbers, pictures, and words!

• Special Assembly for Kindergarteners: Today, we attended an “in-house” field trip for Kindergarteners during overlap time. We invited a special guest to teach us about an important symbol in America, the Statue of Liberty! On Monday, we also read some stories about the Statue of Liberty and made a project showing what it looks like.

• Music: We did a rhythm song using patterns and tapping. We tried imitating different rhythms that Ms. Disney made. Also, we saw real shells and sang a “Little Shell” song as well as another shell song. Then, we celebrated Chinese New Years by dancing with firework ribbons. We listened to a Chinese song with different tempos and moved our ribbons to match the song. We had a great time!

• Buddies: On Thursday, we also saw our fourth grade buddies for 100th Day. Students chose from different 100-related tasks such as thinking of 100 different foods or drawing 100 hearts. These were all great ways of practicing how to count to 100 in a fun way!

Have a great weekend! Superbowl time!

January 28, 2011

Dear Families,

On Monday, we will be getting another new student. Her name is Sindhuja and she will be joining our classroom. Please add her name to the Valentine cards for our party, and also welcome her family if you see them before or after school.
Here are some highlights for the week:

• Next Week’s Sharing: Something that is square
Try to be creative and find something unique to share about. Remember to prepare at least 4 complete sentences about the object or sharing (not including the introduction).

• Star of the Week: Jimin
(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: Firefighter Ted

• Literacy Centers: We have been acknowledging all the students who are receiving 4 stars in each category! We have a goal of every student receiving 4 stars! Every Wednesday, you will see your child’s literacy center paper. Please encourage them to finish their work, especially in dictionary center. If your child struggles to receive 4 stars in listening center, please practice answering the questions on the worksheet using a book at home. They should be able to identify the main character, setting, and express their favorite part of the story in a complete sentence beginning with, “I like when _____________________.” Reinforcement at school and at home will help your child succeed!

• Fire Station Field Trip: We are thankful for beautiful weather, especially this past Tuesday when we walked to the fire station. Thank you to our volunteers who came with us! When we arrived, we got a tour of the fire station and saw their offices, exercise room, TV room, kitchen, sleeping area, and the garage. They spent some time reviewing safety issues such as wearing a seat belt in the car, turning a pot handle to the side if it is on the stove, checking your smoke alarm, and learning how to escape if there is a fire. The firefighters also gave us homework! They asked all the kids to go home and find out what your emergency plan is at home, specifically, where the exits are in the house, and picking a family meeting spot outside of the house. If you haven’t discussed emergency plans for your family, we highly recommend starting now! Afterwards, we went into the garage to see the fire engine and they demonstrated putting on all of their gear! Fortunately, only one unit got called out for an emergency, and there was another unit to continue giving us a tour. They let us sit inside of the fire engine! We learned a lot about how to stay safe!

• Computer Lab: This week, we explored a fire safety website called www.dangerrangers.com. On this site are different games and activities to teach about fire safety. Some examples are learning important signs such as EXIT or hazard signs, or identifying which objects in the house are dangerous versus safe. You are welcome to explore this website some more at home!

• Science: We have continued reading about penguins and learning more penguin facts. On Monday, we wrote one fact about penguins in our journals and we illustrated them. We are also doing many penguin projects, especially since today was Penguin Day! We dressed up in all black and made a rockhopper penguin mask! Rockhopper penguins are very unique because they have yellow feathers sticking out of their head! Also, we made a stand-up penguin puppet with Ms. Shama. Ask your child to sing “The Penguin Song” to you too!

• Math: We started our new unit on more addition and subtraction. We are making sure to remember to use a + and = sign or – and = sign when we write our math sentences. We are also practicing telling stories in words and drawing pictures to show our math stories. Yesterday students took home a butterfly mini-book. Make sure to check their work to see if they wrote the math sentences correctly!

• Social Studies: In February, we celebrate Presidents Day. Since this week was the State of the Union Address, we talked about who our American president is, Barack Obama. Students made a portrait of President Obama and we learned a little about him. If you did not get to hear the State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, I have attached the section he spoke about specifically on education in America. If you have a moment, I highly recommend reading it as it applies completely to your child’s generation!

If you haven’t seen the “Photos” section of our website yet, I posted photos of some of our January classroom decorations. Most of our classroom is covered in winter scenes such as snowmen, snowflakes, and mittens. We also have our New Year Resolution projects on the walls as well. Take a look and be sure to share the website with your child too! Remember there is always something new to look at every week! Have a great weekend!

------------------------

State of the Union Address – January 25, 2011 by President Obama
(only part of his speech on Education is below)

Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America's success. But if we want to win the future - if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas - then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.

Think about it. Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us - as citizens, and as parents - are willing to do what's necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don't meet this test. That's why instead of just pouring money into a system that's not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all fifty states, we said, "If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we'll show you the money."

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids.

You see, we know what's possible for our children when reform isn't just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities.
Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college. And after the first year of the school's transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said "Thank you, Mrs. Waters, for showing... that we are smart and we can make it."

Let's also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child's success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as "nation builders." Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child - become a teacher. Your country needs you.
Of course, the education race doesn't end with a high school diploma. To compete, higher education must be within reach of every American. That's why we've ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit - worth $10,000 for four years of college.

Because people need to be able to train for new jobs and careers in today's fast-changing economy, we are also revitalizing America's community colleges. Last month, I saw the promise of these schools at Forsyth Tech in North Carolina. Many of the students there used to work in the surrounding factories that have since left town. One mother of two, a woman named Kathy Proctor, had worked in the furniture industry since she was 18 years old. And she told me she's earning her degree in biotechnology now, at 55 years old, not just because the furniture jobs are gone, but because she wants to inspire her children to pursue their dreams too. As Kathy said, "I hope it tells them to never give up."

If we take these steps - if we raise expectations for every child, and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day they're born until the last job they take - we will reach the goal I set two years ago: by the end of the decade, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.

Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, let's agree to make that effort. And let's stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation.

January 21, 2011

Dear Families,

I absolutely love the sun. The weather has been beautiful, sunny, and warm! Winter is usually difficult since we have to stay indoors, but lately we’ve been able to run around at recess and lunch. I know the rain will come again, but in the meantime, it’s so nice to wake up to sunshine each morning! I am glad we will also have sunshine next week when we walk to the fire station (whew!).

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Next Week’s Sharing: Something you use in the winter
Remember to prepare at least 4 complete sentences about the object or sharing (not including the introduction).

• Star of the Week: Rylee
(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: Bear’s First Winter

• 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 also learned a poem about his famous poem, “I Have a Dream.” We completed different activities including a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. We also learned some of his famous quotes and made a poster with different colored hands surrounding a heart to show peace.

• Geography: We have started learning about the Earth and the continents and oceans. Students should be able to locate land and water on a map, and may also be able to identify the different continents and oceans! We learned a song to help us remember all of the names. Have them sing the “Continents and Oceans” song to you!

• Writing: Our journal entry on Monday was to write about what we dream to be when we grow up. We thought about how we want to make the world a better place, and what we could do to help others.

• Math: We finished our first addition and subtraction unit. Continue practicing telling addition and subtraction math stories orally and using pictures (such as circles) to show how to solve the problems. We are also reviewing numbers sentences and practicing when to use plus or minus. The next unit will be a continuation of more addition and subtraction problems.

• Computer Lab: This week, we used Kidpix to draw a self-portrait of ourselves. Since our theme was Martin Luther King Jr., we showed that each of us have different skin color, hair, eyes, and faces. You can see these self-portraits in the “Classwork” section of our website, called “Faces of Room 8.”

• Music: We saw Ms. Disney on Tuesday and did a much better job following directions. She had us listen to an underwater ocean song and we used colorful scarves to dance with. We also learned a fun partner dance for Valentine’s Day.

• Buddies: On Thursday, we saw our fourth grade buddies from Ms. Allen’s class. We worked with our buddies to think about how we would like the world to improve in 50 years. We drew our dreams together.

• Science: As part of our Winter unit, we are learning about places around the world that are cold. We learned about Antarctica and we started learning about the largest penguin in the world, Emperor Penguins. We read some stories about the life cycle of penguins and how father penguins take care of the egg and chick. On Thursday, we completed a sequencing activity about the life of penguins and chicks. We will be continuing this Winter Penguin unit for the next few weeks. Ask your child what they have learned!

Next week is our Fire Station field trip. I will send home a reminder sheet with more information on Monday in the homework packet. Please look over the sheet for all the details!

January 14, 2011

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. Also, there is no sharing next week since it is a short week.

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Shaunak
(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 Hat

• Language Arts: This week we read many snowman books and talked about how to make a snowman. On Tuesday, your child brought home a snowman sequencing activity to tell a story about a boy and his snowman. Some students had difficulty with this activity. Take a look at their project to see if they understood sequencing correctly!

• Science: We have been talking about the season of Winter. We describe how Winter is different from all the other seasons. We made Snowman glyphs this week. A glyph is a project that has specific clothing and items that tell details about the person who is making it. Each snowman then becomes unique! Also on Friday, we made another snowman out of cotton balls. In addition, we used yarn, buttons, pipe cleaners, and glitter, to decorate them!

• 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. In our homework packets, please continue to work on writing the alphabet letters and the numbers with proper handwriting. It is important that students continue to try their best to write neatly on all their work, and not rush or be messy. This applies to writing as well as everything else we do, such as coloring, cutting, or gluing.

• Math: We focused on telling subtraction stories and sentences this week. 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. Here is an example of a subtraction sentence and what I expect the students to be able to verbalize, and show in pictures and numbers.

There are 8 ducks in the pond. (Students draw 8 circles).
5 ducks swim away. (Students cross out 5 circles).
How many ducks are left? (Students write the math sentence 8-5= and
complete the answer by counting how many circles are remaining).
There are 3 ducks left. (Students answer 8-5=3)

• Computer Lab: This week, we finished our projects from last week and from before vacation. We illustrated our January poem, The Snowman, as well as our December Poem, “First Day of Winter.” Take a look at our drawings on the “Classwork” section of our website.

• Art: We saw Mrs. Abada on Thursday and we worked with clay! We shaped clay into a nest and we learned how to make a bird as well as some eggs to put in our nest. Mrs. Abada will put our clay projects into the kiln to harden them and next time we will paint glaze on them!

We are doing a much better job trying to focus on assignments and finish our work on time. Continue to monitor your child at home and give him/her time limits to work independently. We are still reinforcing all of the classroom rules and how to be a Peacebuilder to others. This week, we talked about following the rules and being nice to others, even when no one is looking. For example, many students are able to follow directions when I am standing in front of them, however, if I turn around, they start breaking the rules. We talked about why we want to make the right choices, and how we can control ourselves from following others who are not doing the right thing.

Have a great three-day weekend!

January 7th, 2011

Dear Families,

Happy New Year! It was a nice sunny week to return to school this week. I hope all of you had a great vacation filled with family time and happy memories. I did not go anywhere this year because my husband had to work (even Christmas and New Years!), but it was still nice to be able to relax and run errands in the middle of the day.

I’d like to welcome a new AM student to our class. Her name is Aishwarya and she has a twin sister named Aditi in Mrs. VanDick’s class. They both were at John Muir for the beginning of Kindergarten and started at Eaton on Monday. Please say hello to her family!

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Star of the Week: Mia
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. At this point of the year, it is important that students are able to use inventive spelling (saying a word slowly and writing down the sounds/letters they hear) to express their thoughts. Remember, it is ok if the spelling is not correct! The purpose is to be able to share their own thinking (not copying words from the book) and be unafraid of writing. Every week in homework, the library book and journal serves as practice for inventive spelling. Use this opportunity to help your child practice writing on his/her own (guide them, but help them to become independent in the process).

• Letter of the Week: C
In literacy center on Wednesday, we tried to all get 4 stars in each category. Please encourage your child to finish all their work on time each week! You can see our computer center drawings for the letter C in the “Classwork” section of our website.

• Sharing: Next week’s topic is Something Blue. 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!

• Math: We have been reviewing the terms, addition, or adding. This week, we practiced saying math addition stories using animals and different hands-on manipulatives. We learned that in addition, the magic word is “in all” or “altogether.” 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 have been reading stories from Jan Brett, including The Mitten and The Hat. We learned about different clothing we wear for different seasons, and completed two mitten activities this week. One of the activities was the Mitten story that the students brought home on Thursday. I asked the kids to keep them in their Keep Book shoeboxes to read and re-read. Your child should be able to orally retell the whole story to you, from the beginning with the characters (Nikki asking Baba for mittens), the middle (all the animals entering the mitten), and the end (Nikki finding the mitten and going home). They really enjoyed this activity!

• 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. We will continue these pictures next week.

• Assembly: Today we had an assembly by the Silicon Valley Brass. They performed a Jazz music set. It was a good opportunity for the kids to see different types of instruments!

• Music: This week was a little tough on the students as far as remembering the classroom and school rules. Unfortunately, our behavior was not good in music and we ended up losing some music time. Please continue to speak to your child about being a good listener (not talking) and keeping their bodies to themselves. Thank you!

December 17, 2010

Dear Families,

Thank you for the generous gifts and surprises this week. Thank you also for the cards and kind wishes. I appreciate all the support and generosity! A big thank you goes out to all of our volunteers who come to our classroom each month, every other week, every week, or some even twice a week! We depend on you and we are so lucky to have your help in our classroom! Thank you also for the volunteers who prepare weekly homework or math packets at home, and our room parents! We are thankful for all of you!

This week was filled with many busy activities. We spent much of the time finishing our holiday presents for you! These presents are a combination of writing, art, social studies, and computer skills. We also learned how to make pop-up cards for you! We hope you like our gift and will be able to use it next year! There is also an ornament for you to keep!

Our specials this week were: library on Monday, Star of the Week for Evan on Tuesday (you can read about him on our website!), computer lab on Wednesday, and making snowflakes with our buddies on Thursday. Mrs. Rowe announced the WOW (Walk One Week) raffle winners and congratulations to Tess who received a ribbon and Sydney who received a Baja Fresh coupon! Every classroom had at least one raffle winner. In computer lab, we tried our best to finish two ongoing projects. One project was for the cover of your gift, and the other project was our illustrations of the “First Day of Winter” poem. Unfortunately, some students were not finished with their cover pages, but we had to print it out anyways.

Today was our Polar Express Day! The classroom was set-up like a train when the kids arrived in the morning. They sat down in the train just like the children in the book (who are also wearing their pajamas!). I read them the Polar Express story and each child received a bell just like in the story. The children on the Polar Express drank hot chocolate and had cookies, so we did too. We also did a kindness activity where we delivered hot chocolate to all the teachers and staff around the school. One of the most important concepts for me during the holiday season is for students to understand “giving”. So often, kids are focused on only themselves and receiving gifts. I hope that we can teach kids that giving and helping others is so much more rewarding then getting something. Afterwards, we watched the movie version of Polar Express!

I hope your family has a wonderful holiday vacation. I plan on staying local both weeks to spend time with my family and my nieces. For those of you who are traveling, I hope you have safe travels! Today, we had to say a sad goodbye to Nanaka and her family. We will miss you very much! Please keep in touch!

I will see you on Monday, January 3rd! There will be a new AM girl joining us, her name is Aishwarya and she will have a twin sister in Mrs. Van Dick’s classroom. Please welcome her and her family to our class! Our sharing will be a New Year’s resolution when we return. Happy 2011!

December 10, 2010

Dear Families,

Our classroom is decorated with different holiday projects! If you haven’t already, you can see photos of our December decorations in the “Photos” section of our website! We have lots of work from different holidays around the world! Plus, I always love to decorate the classroom during this time of the year to make it festive! Enjoy!

Remember to check the “Classwork” section of our website and click on the “Dear Santa” picture! Each child shared 3 reasons why they think they were good this year, and then they wrote down what they wish to get this year. Take a look at their letters!

Your family turkey feather is also coming home today. Everyone did such a beautiful job on their feathers, and they were so creative. Thank you for spending time together as a family to make them so special. Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: This week we started reading some Gingerbread Man stories. There are a lot of variations of the story, but we read the Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Pirates, Gingerbread Baby, and Gingerbread Friends. During our Friday centers, we made our own gingerbread men using white paint and brown paper. We also made a mini book about eating different body parts of the gingerbread man!

• Social Studies: We are continuing our 3-week Social Studies project on the holidays, seasons, and months. Also, almost all of us have some sight words memorized such as the, month, for, and is! It is really important that at this time of the year, the children begin mastering their handwriting of little and big letters. We have been reading stories about different holidays around the world. We continued learning about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and we also learned about Mexico and the special meaning of poinsettias.

• Writing: In our journals this week, we wrote a sentence about what we think of when we hear “December.” We illustrated our pictures and checked our handwriting. We are trying to get into the habit of using capitals, spaces, and periods! It is still hard for some students to remember to check their work.

• Math: This week we continued reviewing our numbers and worked on 8, 9, and 10. We are practicing to identify 10 quickly by using a ten-frame. We are also continuing to write math sentences using the plus and equals sign. Another vocabulary word we use often is “in all.” One area that is difficult for students is to answer “How many more?” in word problems using illustrations. An example is (and I would read this orally): There are 3 soccer players. 10 players are needed to play a game. How many more players do they need? We practiced this type of word problem this week. The math sentence would be 3 + 7 = 10. They need to be able to solve the problem using numbers, words, and pictures. In pictures, we show how to solve the problem by first counting the 3 players, and then we draw circles and continue counting from 4 until 10 to show the remaining players. Please practice at home!

• Music: We saw Ms. Disney this week and we sang some holiday songs! We sang Jingle Bells and used sticks as well as bells to accompany the song. We also walked and galloped like the horses on Santa’s sleigh! Another song we learned was about Hanukkah. We learned about a game they play using a dreidel and we learned some Hebrew words! Finally, we learned movements to a song about a bunny eating a snowman’s carrot nose!

• Computer Lab: This week we used Kidspiration to work on a Social Studies picture about the seasons and months of the year. For our lesson, we chose pictures to match the different months of the year. We had to think about different special days throughout the year and make sure our pictures fit the season or month. This lesson will continue next week.

• Assembly: Today we had a special assembly called Earth Dome. It taught us facts about our Earth and geography. They even brought in a 12 foot dome for us to see and learn about the Earth.

Now that the rain has started, we have a few extra rainy day procedures in place. When you arrive at school and it is little to no rain, then please line up in our regular spot. If it is raining, then:

* Morning Class Drop-Off: If the doors are open, you can drop your child off. If the door is closed, that means I might be in a meeting or I am not in the classroom. You can then line up in the lunch table area that has an overhang directly across from our classroom door (where you pick up your child after school). Please stand in line behind the blue pole facing my door.

* Afternoon Class Drop-Off: If it is raining, you can wait in the hallway door entrance until 10:55am (or 10:35am on Tuesdays). Please wait in line with your child in the hallway until I open the door. Please make sure they are quiet, especially Tuesdays.

* Pick-Up for Morning and Afternoon Classes: Wait in our regular spot by the lunch tables unless it is raining hard. If it is windy and raining hard, I will dismiss the kids from the door leading to the hallway.

Remember that Nanaka’s last day with us is on Friday, so if your child would like to make or give Nanaka a goodbye card/present, you are welcome to do so! Have a wonderful weekend!

December 3, 2010

Dear Families,

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It was so nice for my family because of the twins and of course, because my sister is home and getting better. I hosted this year! I was thankful for the entire week off to go grocery shopping and prepare for the all day event!

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: During the next 3 weeks, we will not be doing our regular language arts activities such as letter of the week or literacy centers. Instead, we are working on our reading and writing through a social studies project. We are learning about the months of the year and special days that occur each month. We are writing a sentence that describes something about each month, and we are making crafts to match our writing. We are remembering to use capitals, spaces, and periods in our sentences.

• Writing: In addition to our social studies project, we read some stories about Santa this week. We tried to write a letter to Santa and tell him three reasons why we have been good this year. Then we wrote what our wish was. Some students had a difficult time with sounding out the words and using inventive spelling to write down their ideas. Some students told me what they wanted to write and I wrote it down for them. During weekly library journal homework, please encourage your child to write down their own sentences versus telling them the letters and spelling. They need to practice writing independently. Again, spelling is not important. I am looking for breaking down the sounds they hear and their effort. These Santa letters are always very adorable, and you can read them on our website under “Classwork!”

• Math: This week we continued reviewing our numbers and worked on 6 and 7. We are starting to practice writing math sentences using the plus and equals sign, such as 3 + 2 = 5. In addition to writing the math sentence, we are learning to orally tell a story about the math sentence, such as: There are three ducks in the water. Two ducks join them. How many ducks are there now? There are five ducks in all. We are learning the magic words, “in all,” which mean addition. Students need to demonstrate understanding of math concepts using not just numbers, but words and pictures too.

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Saad, who was chosen as our twelfth Star of the Week! You can read about him in the “Classwork” section of our website, and click under “Star of the Week.” In addition to our months and special days project, we are learning about holidays around the world. This week we learned about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We read some stories to teach us about these special holidays. Today, we made a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah, which is the object that holds all the candles. Also, we learned about another holiday called Kwanzaa and made a unity cup that is used to show unity within family members.

• Computer Lab: We illustrated a poem this week called, “First Day of Winter.” We learned that December 21st is the first day of winter, and we drew a picture that shows what a snow scene would look like from inside our homes. They drew snow, icicles, and snowflakes! Some students were able to finish this week, but we will be continuing this project next week.

• Art: We saw Mrs. Abada on Thursday for our December art class. We learned about different directions such as horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. Then we learned to make different types of lines such as zig zag, dashed, hairy, castle, spiral, wavy, etc. Afterwards we used watercolor to paint different sections on our pictures!

I found out on Monday this week that Anika is no longer in our classroom. Her last day was before Thanksgiving break! We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to her. Also, Nanaka’s last day with us will be in two weeks on December 17th. Her family is moving back to Japan and we will definitely miss her!

If your family plans on leaving Eaton during the year, please try to let me know at least 2 weeks in advance. We have many projects that I have to collect and return to you, so knowing ahead of time is very helpful. Thank you!

November 19, 2010

Upcoming Dates

Monday, November 22nd to Friday, November 26th: No School – Furlough Days
Enjoy your week of vacation! Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for time spent with my family!
Next Sharing: Something you are proud of

Monday, November 29th: December Scholastic Book Orders Due Online -
1) Please go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2) Log in with your own username and password. If it is your first time, you need to enter our Class Activation Code: GQ68Q
3) Browse books online and pay with your own credit card!
4) Books will arrive at school 2 weeks from our due date and I will send them home!
Wednesday, December 1st: November Homework Due
I will send home the December monthly homework in the homework folder.

Friday, December 3rd: First Trimester Report Cards Go Home
Please return the report card manila envelope, but you can keep the report card papers at home.

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Dear Families,

November is a short month! I hope you were able to have a nice four-day weekend with your families last weekend. The Cupertino teachers took 5 furlough days for 2010-2011 in order to save 100+ teacher jobs, so that is why we don’t have any school next week (in a regular school year, we come on Monday and Tuesday). I hope you have something special planned! I will be spending time with my sister and her babies. She finally was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday of this week (after being there for almost one entire month), and she still has a central line that is connected to some different medications. Nevertheless, I am definitely thankful she is not in the hospital anymore! Thank you so much for thinking of her and asking about her these past few weeks. We have so much to be thankful for, and often we take for granted our health and ability to walk, run, move…

I have updated a few more things on our website. Be sure to check out the “Photos” section of our website to see our November classroom decorations, and check out our newest “Classwork” with our turkey computer lab pictures and the latest literacy center illustrations!

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Language Arts: We had our literacy centers on Tuesday last week and Wednesday this week, and our letter of the week was H and then V. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter H and V in our website, under “Classwork.” The story of the week was called Lunch and this week we heard Turkey Trouble. This week we have been reading many stories about Thanksgiving and the meaning of giving thanks. We have been talking about what we are thankful for. We wrote in our journals this week about what we are thankful for in our lives.

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Clarissa, who was chosen as our tenth Star of the Week! Last week, Evelyn was chosen as our eleventh Star of the Week! You can read about them both in the “Classwork” section of our website, and click under “Star of the Week.” Also, we have continued to learn about the first Thanksgiving story. We learned about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, and about their first feast together. We learned about what it looks like to help others, to teach others, and to respect people who are different than us. We finished our Thanksgiving stories. Have your child teach you all about the very first Thanksgiving!

• Math: We are starting a new unit this week on more numbers to 10. We have been practicing writing, counting, and naming numbers. Keep practicing the numbers, especially on reversals! We are also working on more complicated pattern sequences.

• Computer Lab: We continued making our November illustrations that go along with our poem of the month called, “Here is a Turkey.” We are using Kidpix for this project, and this week we finished the background for our turkeys. The setting of our poem is on the farm, so we drew a barn and tried to draw many details in the background. You can look in our “Classwork” section of the website to see these pictures!

• Music: On Tuesday we saw Ms. Disney. We have been learning a lot of songs about specific animals. This week’s animal was the chicken. We heard an instrumental song that sounded like a chicken pecking and moving. We imitated the movements of chickens and also practiced walking to the beat of the song.

• Buddies: We saw our fourth grade buddies and they helped us to weave our Thanksgiving mats. This actually was quite challenging for many students (even 4th graders =) We learned to weave the color strips over and under, over and under, and we learned how to make pattern squares on our mats. This is a good skill to keep practicing at home too!

• Field Trip: Thank you for being flexible today with the arrival and dismissal time. We often run into traffic on the freeway, so it is better to have more time versus less. Thank you also to Evelyn’s mom, Teresa, for being our chaperone this time!

In today’s Friday Folder, you will find a Thanksgiving paper of all the things our class is thankful for. This is one of my favorite activities to keep because sometimes the things Kindergarteners think of are little reminders for us as adults to appreciate!

Enjoy reading and have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

November 5, 2010

Dear Families,

Thank you to those of you who helped with our traffic duty this week! Eaton school really appreciates all your help to keep our school drop-off and pick-up areas to be safe places. Look for your name in the Eagle Eye! No more traffic duty until next year =)

Thank you also for completing the beautiful turkey feather family projects! We collected all the feathers on Monday and put them together on our class turkey bulletin board. I will be posting pictures of our class turkey and putting them on our website!

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Language Arts: We had our literacy centers on Wednesday this week, and our letter of the week was N. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter N in our website, under “Classwork.” The story of the week was called Pick a Pumpkin, Mrs. Millie. This week we also read many turkey stories and made a project where we pretended we were turkeys that did not want to be eaten! We wrote about ourselves and then created our turkeys. I will be putting up our November decorations on our website in the next few days, so you can see our turkeys soon!

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Ava, who was chosen as our ninth Star of the Week! You can read about her in the “Classwork” section of our website, and click under “Star of the Week.” Also, we are starting to learn about Thanksgiving. We started making a few pages in our Thanksgiving books and we are learning about the first Thanksgiving. We started learning a little bit about the Native Americans and the Pilgrims.

• Math: This week’s chapter was all about the numbers from 0-5. Keep practicing the handwriting of the numbers. Sometimes it is easy to reverse the direction. We are practicing counting using pictures, numbers, words, and graphs.

• Computer Lab: We started making our November illustrations that go along with our poem of the month called, “Here is a Turkey.” We are using Kidpix for this project, and this week, we made the turkey picture.

• Music: On Tuesday we saw Ms. Disney. We sang a song about a lion and we learned movements to pretend to be lions. We then used cymbals to play during certain parts of the song.

• Buddies: We saw our fourth grade buddies yesterday and we made turkeys using our handprints and footprints. Our buddies helped us to trace our feet on brown paper for the turkey body, and our hands on colored paper for the feathers.

• Art: Today in centers we made our November quilt squares using fall colors. We also made handprint turkeys using paint, and a corn mosaic picture.

An update on my sister, she is still in the hospital but things are looking better. They have narrowed down the bacteria that has been infecting her uterine cavity and she is finally starting to respond to some of the antibiotics and medicine. Hopefully she will be able to go home soon! The babies definitely miss her!

Next week is a short week. I will not be sending home a newsletter so this letter should have all the important upcoming dates that you will need to know. Have a great weekend!

October 29, 2010

Dear Families,

I hope this week went well with the substitute. I am sad to have missed the Halloween parade and party today. I asked the substitute to take lots of pictures, so hopefully I will get to see all of the cute costumes!

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: We had our literacy centers on Tuesday this week, and our letter of the week was B. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter B in our website, under “Classwork.” The story of the week was called The Spooky Wheels on The Bus. We hand fun singing to this song, which is similar to “The Wheels on the Bus.” We also read and colored a mini book called, “Orange Pumpkin, What Do You See?”

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

• Math: This week’s chapter was all about the numbers from 1-3. We practiced writing and counting objects. Please remember to start on the top line when we write numbers and letters. We usually write from top to bottom, left to right. These are skills that help overall when we are reading books. Also, we practiced reading picture graphs and answering questions about graphs, such as, which set has more animals? Which set has less animals? In addition, we practiced making our own graphs and collecting our own data.

• Computer Lab: We had exploration time this week on the website, www.starfall.com. This is a website that I recommended during Back to School night. This week we read some of the holiday stories, including “Pumpkin,” and also read different alphabet books.

• Red Ribbon Week: This week we celebrated red ribbon week and the theme was, “Making Healthy Choices.” Red ribbon week is about educating children to stay healthy be eating well, exercising, and staying away from negative influences such as drugs, alcohol, or smoking. For the Kindergarteners, we focus on healthy eating and how we can take care of our bodies. We made a poster about our healthy choices and also the PTO organized little activities for us to do each day this week!

• Art: This week we saw Mrs. Abada on Thursday and she read a story about Shapes to us. Then we made prints using foam shapes and paint.

• Assembly: Today we had a presentation by the Wildlife Associates. They always bring in real animals that have been injured and need extra care. They teach us lots of great facts about the animals. Ask your child about today’s assembly!

• Halloween Party: Today the students drew a self portrait of themselves in their costumes and the substitute also took individual photos of the students! In the afternoon, we had our snack and then met our fourth grade buddies for the school parade. Afterwards, we made Halloween necklaces!

Thank you for many of you who have been asking about my twin nieces. It’s actually been a tough 2 weeks for my family. My sister started getting an on-and-off fever 2 weeks ago, and she ended up going to the ER last Friday for extremely high white blood count and extremely low blood pressure. They discovered that she had some complications from her C-section 4 weeks ago, and had to get 2 surgeries done last Saturday. After that, her fever still continued to exist and her white blood count continued to rise. So she is still in the hospital this week, and they are trying to give her all sorts of antibiotics to fight the infection. Since she and my brother-in-law have been in the hospital, my mom and I have been on full-time duty taking care of the twins. They are doing great and have gained almost 2 pounds in the last month, but I am just worried for my sister. Please send some positive thoughts and prayers for my sister’s health… thank you.

Have a safe time trick-or-treating on Sunday. Happy Halloween!

October 22, 2010

Dear Families,

This was a fun week for us! Next week is a short week and it will also be filled with lots of special activities. It is Red Ribbon Week, and we have our Halloween parade and party too! Unfortunately, I will not be at school from Wednesday to Friday next week. I am very sad to miss Halloween especially because I love to take pictures of all the children in their costumes =( My husband has a conference that he is presenting at and I will be flying with him to attend the conference. We have a substitute coming and it is very important that the kids remember to follow the rules. Please remind them to be on their best behavior!

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: Our journal entry this week was to write about spiders. We practiced capital letters, spaces, periods, and sounding out words. We also learned how to draw a spiderweb! In literacy centers, our letter of the week was T. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter T in our website, under “Classwork.” The story of the week was called Alice and Greta. Keep practicing writing the listening center sentences about your child’s favorite part. We start the sentence with: I like when __________.

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

• Math: We started our next chapter on comparing sets. We learned to use the words more, less, fewer, greater, equal, and same, to compare two sets of objects. We also learned how to use the > greater than, < less than, and = equal sign to compare numbers. The last few problems in our math worksheet had us practice word problems such as: Draw more ducks than ponies. We practiced how to solve these problems.

• Computer Lab: This week we finished our October Kidpix illustrations of our Pumpkin poem. We practiced making a background for our pumpkins including a ground, sky, moon, and stars! You can see these drawings in our “Classwork” section of our website!

• Science: We finished our Pumpkin, Pumpkin books about the life cycle of a pumpkin! Have your child share with you the stages of how a pumpkin grows: seed, sprout, plant, flower, pumpkin, green to orange, and then it is picked and carved out to become a Jack O’Lantern!

• Enrichment Day: Thank you to all the parents who came to help during this special school-wide event! Our first presentation was by two dentists, and they taught us how to take care of our teeth. They gave us toothbrushes! Our second presentation was by the sheriff and they gave us stickers that looked like badges! The third presentation was by the librarians from the Cupertino Public Library. They gave us applications for library cards, if you don’t already have one! The last presentation was by several Kindergarten moms, and they taught us how to make pumpkin pie! The recipe is in today’s Friday folder!

• Pumpkin Patch: Thank you for all the parents who came to chaperone on this trip. We decorated our own little pumpkins and also pet some farm animals. We had a great time!

Eaton has had some problems recently with the silly band bracelets that have been in fashion lately. If your child has them, that is fine as long as they keep it on their wrist. However, they cannot trade them or give them away, because of Eaton’s policy against toys. Please make sure they wear them and are not playing with them!

Another reminder is to please come to school on time! Once the kids enter the classroom door, then school has officially started. Unfortunately, if you come in after we have closed the door, your child is marked “Delayed.” This record will be counted on your child’s progress report.

Have a wonderful three-day weekend!

October 15, 2010

Dear Families,

In the next 2 weeks we will be having lots of special events at school. If your child is allergic to any of the following, please email me asap: milk, canned pumpkin, instant vanilla pudding mix, cinnamon, ground ginger, graham crackers, raisins, cookies (without nuts), juice.

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: Our journal entry this week was to write about pumpkins. We practiced capital letters, spaces, periods, and sounding out words. In literacy centers, our letter of the week was R. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter R in our website, under “Classwork.” For listening center, if your child had trouble sounding out the words to write their favorite part, please practice this skill with them at home. I say it is like a rubber band and we’re stretching out the word, saying it very slowly to hear all the letters. Keep practicing!

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Paul, who was chosen as our sixth Star of the Week! You can read about him in the “Classwork” section of our website, and click under “Star of the Week.” On Monday, we learned about Christopher Columbus since it was Columbus Day. We made a project that taught us that the world is shaped like a sphere, and that Columbus sailed in a ship from Spain in 1492. Ask your child to tell you about him!

• Math: We finished our second Unit on identifying patterns and shapes. We reviewed the skills from this chapter and took our Unit test today! We started glancing at the next chapter on numbers from 1-5 and comparing sets using the words: more, fewer, and same.

• Computer Lab: This week we started our October Kidpix illustration about a poem we have been learning called, “Pumpkin.” We practiced using the oval and rectangular tools to make our pumpkins, and we added faces on our pumpkins to make them Jack O’Lanterns. We will finish the background next week.

• Science: In the next two weeks, we are learning the life cycle of pumpkins. We read several non-fiction books about how pumpkins grow and change. We are comparing the life cycle of pumpkins to the life cycle of apples that we had learned in September. This week we learned some vocabulary words such as seeds, roots, sprout, buds, or vine, and we are making our own books to learn about the pumpkin life cycle. Have your child teach you about how pumpkins grow!

• Library: We will not be visiting the library or having library journal homework for the rest of October because this week and last week was the book fair, and then we don’t have school on the last Monday of October. Instead, I will just pass out the homework packets on Monday in your child’s daily folder. I encourage you to keep finding books and reading daily to your child! On Monday, we did get to visit the library and make a wish list of books that we wanted. Thank you for those of you who bought books for our classroom from the book fair! I appreciate your generosity!

• Friday Fun Centers: This week we started learning about scarecrows and we read many books about scarecrows. We took a close-up picture of our faces and made a scary expression. We used these photos to make our scarecrows, using square wallpaper pieces and other decorations. Also, we made a spider hat and learned a short poem about spiders!

• Fall Portraits: Today we took individual pictures which are used for school files. Thank you for turning in the photo envelopes today if you were interested in purchasing them. If your child was absent today, there will be a make-up picture day next month.

Make sure to visit our website! I have been updating it every week with information about the Star of the Week and now computer center drawings that we do for each letter of the week. In addition, about every 2 weeks I upload the computer lab drawings we make, as well as photos of our classroom decorations. Take a look at this month’s artwork in our classroom! I also took a few pictures to show you what our literacy centers look like. There are no close-up pictures of the students, but you can see them in action during listening center, computer center, and vocabulary center.

Have a wonderful weekend!

October 8, 2010

Dear Families,

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: Now that we finished previewing the alphabet keep books, we are starting to put the letters and sounds together to form words. This week, we started our writing journal on Monday. Every Monday we write in our journals. We always complete the front page together and then students have free writing on the back, as long as they stay on topic. We learned why it is important to write the date on our journal entries, and we practiced writing a complete sentence about Fall altogether. This is an opportunity for me to teach students what a complete sentence looks and sounds like. We talked about how there is a capital letter in the beginning of sentences and a period at the end. We also used a “two-finger space” or some used their erasers to mark spaces between words. Students illustrated their journals and on the back, they tried to write their own sentences about Fall.

• Literacy Centers: Our letter of the week was M. You can see our computer center illustrations for the letter M in our website, under “Classwork.” For listening center, we tried writing and drawing about our favorite part in the story. It is similar to what they do in their homework each week with our library journal and books.

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

• Math: We worked on the next chapter in math, which was more on patterns. We are practicing being able to say the patterns and use letters to identify the patterns. Students have to be able to create their own patterns as well. Please look over your child’s work and practice having them show you different patterns.

• Computer Lab: This week we continued working on our fall patterns page in Kidspiration. We used different fall foods to finish our patterns, and then we made our own patterns at the very bottom. You can see these fall pattern pages on our website, under “Classwork.”

• Science: We continued talking about Fall. In addition to learning about fall leaves, we also talked about how some animals prepare for winter. Some animals, like squirrels, collect food in the fall, or other animals, like bears, may get ready to hibernate. We also have been talking about pumpkins and we learned a song called, “5 Little Pumpkins!”

• Buddies: We saw our buddies on Thursday. We read the story, “Rainbow Fish,” which is about a beautiful fish who finds that sharing and being happy is more important than being selfish and lonely. We talked about how being kind to others is important. Then, we made our own fish using tissue paper and foil.

• Art: Today in Friday centers, we made handprints of a spider and we also made a pumpkin project.

• PE: We practiced skipping, jumping, hopping, galloping, and balance skills!

On Monday, we will be visiting the book fair. At the book fair, we get to browse all the books, and students try to write down a “wish list” of titles they would like. They bring home these wish lists to you so that if you go back to the library, you will know which books to purchase. If you are able to help write titles for the children, please come to the library at the following times. The more help, the better, so anyone is welcome.

AM Book Fair Visit: 9:10am – 9:30am
PM Book Fair Visit: 1:10pm – 1:30pm

October 1, 2010

Dear Families,

Thank you for coming to your parent-teacher conference this past week! I really enjoy the time to meet with each of you and get to know your child a little bit better. A copy of your conference will be sent home next week for you to keep. It is always difficult having a substitute in the classroom because they are unfamiliar with our procedures and routines. Mrs. K let me know that everything went ok and hopefully the children enjoyed having her as a substitute! I will be back in the classroom on Monday.

Here are some highlights for the week:

• Language Arts: We finished our letter books by working on W, X, Y, and Z. Also, we had our first literacy centers experience on Wednesday. Every Wednesday, we will get to listen to a story and complete a listening worksheet, draw a Kidpix picture of the letter of the week, and we will work on a page in our dictionaries. This week’s letter was S. For the dictionary activity, I provide 15 different S words and pictures. Students get to choose 8 S words of their choice to write and illustrate in their dictionary. In listening center next week, I will be having them draw and write about their favorite parts. In computer center, they need to draw a large picture starting with the letter of the week.

• Social Studies: Congratulations to Tess, 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.”

• Math: We worked with Mrs. K this week on patterns. We practiced naming different patterns by saying the object (apple, orange, apple orange, etc) and by using letters (A, B, A, B, etc). We also practiced the ABB, AAB, and ABC patterns. Also, today in Friday centers we did a fun project that goes with the book, “Ten Apples Up On Top.” We glued a picture of ourselves with 10 apples on our head! Then we practiced writing our numbers from 1 to 10.

• Computer Lab: This week we used a new program called Kidspiration. We began by learning about the program, typing our names, and working on a patterns page. We used different fall foods to finish patterns. We will be continuing this activity next week.

• Social Studies: We read about Johnny Appleseed on Monday. His birthday was on September 26th and he is famous for planting many apple trees! We learned how to make applesauce in class. Thank you to Madhav and Shaunak’s mom for peeling, coring, cutting, and boiling all the apples you brought last Friday. In class, we used potato mashers to smoosh the apples, then we mixed in water, cinnamon, and sugar. Afterwards, we ate our yummy applesauce!

• Science: We are talking about the Fall season. We learned that leaves changed color. Today in Friday centers, we made tissue paper apples with Ms. Shama!

• Music: We saw Ms. Disney this week on Tuesday. Mrs. K was the substitute so I was not there. Ask your child what they sang! Thank you to the music volunteers for helping to manage the kids. It is really important the kids know when to be silly and when to listen to directions!

• Art: We saw Ms. Abada yesterday for art class. We used chalk and pastels to draw a beautiful pumpkin sitting on the grass at night. The office is actually using our drawings next week as decorations for the beginning of October! Please stop by the office to see our beautiful pumpkins! Thank you to all the art volunteers!

• Assembly: Today we had an assembly by Kaiser called “Healthy Living.”

Have a great weekend! Be sure to check out our website for some updated photos and work!