Twenty....A Wonderful Number

The best news ever is that we have a new member of Room 114.  Our new classmate loves art, trying new things and is super kind.  Next time you eat lunch with us, please make a point to tell our new friend hello.  So proud of the "old hands" in Room 114 and how everyone has worked together to make our new friend fit right into our classroom.  Life is good in Room 114!  Our class enrollment is twenty...a wonderful number.

I'm still having trouble embedding slideshows and haven't found the time to assess the problem.  So just click on the blue links and you can see all the learning and fun from Room 114.

Wow!  Accelerated Reader is going smoothly and successfully in our classroom.  Several of the students have already reached the 5 point status so new goals had to be set for them.  Students are responsible for telling me when they need to test.  I expect your child to take at least one AR test a week. 

Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00.

For the next two weeks, we will be investigating the letter Oo in reading. High frequency words are:  they, you, of. 

In math, the children are doing an excellent job of understanding addition.  This week I'm going to add the word "sum"  (another word for answer) into instruction.  Begin to use both words at home when looking over homework and asking your child questions about number sentences.

Our poetry journal "song" last week was a fun one to act out as a class. I'm trying hard for the children to recognize number words instantly and accurately and that song was perfect for number words one-five.  This week will have two new entries.  Heads up:  one is a tongue twister and remember how addictive tongue twisters are to a Kindergarten student.  I'm sure you will hear the tongue twister all week long starting Monday afternoon.  Just embrace the addiction and go along with the fun of trying to say it five times fast!

Classroom Need:  bandaids. Thanks for helping to make sure the learning in Room 114 doesn't have to stop because of an "owie." 

I tried something new on Friday afternoon.  Simultaneously I had a science activity that required a parent, an art activity with a parent, silent reading to practice our emerging reading skills and one group was working with me on addition instruction.  Check out as the students discovered that matter takes up space as they counted how many mini marshmallows, jumbo marshmallows and Hershey kisses it took to fill a cup.  It required measuring, counting and logic that comes only with a Kindergarten mind.  Our art activity was painting with the tip of a pencil eraser.   The activities went smoothly and were successful.  I'll be planning more afternoons like this so look for an email soon about how to volunteer if you are interested.  Click on the link to see more photos from our afternoon.  Marshmallows and Kisses

We love to hear new voices read books so excitement came the day this dad arrived with books in hand to celebrate his daughter,   Check out the slide show from her week of being the Special Person of the Week.  Special Person #9

We celebrated another very special member of Room 114. We love to hear the answers to all the questions and compare and contrast them to the answers of the previous special people of the week.  We are discovering that pizza is a favorite food for a lot of people in Room 114.  It is such a sweet, sweet time as we write a book for our classmate. Check out the tenth celebration of a very special person. Special Person #10









 

 Friday is the day we will celebrate the 100th day of school.  Don't forget to send in a collection of 100 pennies by Friday.  I can't wait to see how the children come to school dressed as 100 year old ladies and gentlemen on Friday.  Please feel free to join us for lunch (10:40-11:05), especially if you like to eat with the geriatric crowd.  We will do everything the 100 way all day long.  But we will take a break during the day to have some Groundhog Day fun.  Groundhog Day is Sunday, February 2.  Please assist your child in finding out if the groundhog saw his shadow or not.  Here is Punxsutawney Phil's official website Groundhog Day to make things easier for you on Sunday morning.

This entry will end with an updated class picture. Contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Upcoming Events:
1.31  Dress up as 100 year old ladies and gentlemen
1.31  Box Top Collection
2.3  Stephen Fite concert:  dress up as a superhero (yellow t-shirt must be visible)
2.4  PTA Meeting/ Multicultural Night @ 6:00
2.11 and 2.12  Donuts with Dad
2.14  Valentine's Day Party  1:30-2:15
2.17  No school for students:  teacher in-service day
2.21  Box Top Collection
3.14 Room 114's March Crafternoon  @ 1:30  (Come at 1:00 to set up)
3.24-3.28  Spring Break