Back Into the Swing of Learning

As I update the blog, school has been canceled for Monday.  At my house, we keep looking outside the window waiting for the snow to start falling.  Have fun on Monday!!  Be sure to check the local news on the status of Tuesday's school.

We quickly returned to learning in Room 115 without missing a beat.  Christmas brought new items to our classroom and the children were quick to find them without any mention from me.  A popular item is the alphabet mats shown to  the left.  A difficult game is mixing up all the mats, removing three and having a person put the mats in ABC order while figuring out the missing letters.  The mats became a popular center this week.

We will be investigating the letter Pp as in "policeman in the park."  The word wall words are:  find, had, play, come, have.  Be sure to check for reading homework each night.  We are getting into the reading units where it is important for the children to be reading their homework in a fluent manner (not choppy).  I'm instructing the children to read the stories in the same way they talk:  smooth and with expression.  The way to practice this at home is to read and reread the homework sheets.  Tell your child to smooth blend a word that can be sounded it.  Do not let your child sound out tricky / word wall words.  We are working hard in the classroom to train our brains to know those words instantly.  If your child struggles with a homework sheet, then save it to practice the following the night. 

In math, we continue to work on number combinations.   One game we play is Cup Lineup.  This is an easy game to play at home and it helps your child to build a better understanding of early addition.  The only item  you need to play is plastic drinking cups!  

• Pick a number between 4 and 10 (for example:  5)
• Line up 5 cups
• Turn some of the cups over.  (ex. 2)
• Ask your child to say how many are turned over (2 cups), how many are right side up (3 cups).  Then ask your child to say the number sentence that shows the total number of cups (2 cups and 3 cups makes 5 cups).
• Take turns, letting your child be the one to line up and turn over the cup, while you report on the cup lineup.  Kids love playing "teacher!"
• A challenge is for you and your child to find all of the ways to show 5 using the cups.

 I will be sending home three book orders when we return to school.  They will be due on Friday, January 14.  If you choose to order online, click on the link to the right and our code is GL88R.  Book orders are optional.


Last Friday was the 90th day of school.  Time is moving quickly in Kindergarten.  Our 100th  day celebration will now have to be rescheduled due to the winter storm.  The new date will depend on the number of days we miss.  I hope you are thinking of ways to dress your child up as a 100 year old man or woman.  Look for more information soon about the 100th day of Kindergarten.  It is a fun day where we do everything the 100 way all day long!

The children had fun with the way Fuzzy Wuzzy sounded on their tongues.  They were getting quite good at saying it 10 times fast!  Be sure to send the poetry journals back to school so that we can start enjoying another poem.  Look for poetry journals every Friday.

There will be no school on January 17 and 18 in observance of MLK/Lee birthdays and a professional development day for teachers.  If you are sending money next week for snack, please only send $1.50 per item.

  Thank you for your support of Room 115. It is a very enjoyable place to work and play.  Report cards are to be issued on Thursday at 3:00.  Be sure and hug your child for his/her hard work.  Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Even though there is a family in our classroom from Oregon, I just have to say it....WAR EAGLE!