Ringing in the New Year!
Starting this month, I will be assessing your child on their phone number. Memorizing an emergency contact number is an important life skill. Please email me by Friday, January 6th with the phone number you are teaching to your child. I will start “calling” them over to tell me their phone number starting the week of January 16th.
Thank you for your continued support of our enrichment program. I appreciate the generous donations that allow me to purchase the needed items. The children really enjoyed their most recent experiences of shucking corn and making butter from scratch. Additionally, the Hunt for our Gingerbread Man was a huge hit! They gained so many skills within these activities. Your thoughtfulness and support are greatly appreciated.
During the break it will be helpful for you to continue to review past sight words and start introducing the new words that we will be doing the first week of January: on be will into. Encourage them to write their numbers and letters, as well as, count as much as possible. Play games and allow them to be the score keeper. Painting and playing with clay/play dough are also some fun ways to express their creativity while on break. They will always enjoy reading with you. So I encourage you to pick up a good book and read with them as much as you can while on vacation.
Also, please give your child opportunities to write sentences at home. I find that many are still struggling with putting a finger space between words and forgetting to start with a capital letter/end with a period. Having them write a simple “thank you” note for each of their gifts will be a great way for them to practice this skill. Here is an example:
Dear_______,
Thank you for the ________.
Love,
______
If your child is able, they can add another sentence about the gift. Helping them to stretch out the words, hearing the letter sounds within the word, will give them confidence.
Mark Your Calendar:
Tuesday, January 3rd> Students Return; HW packet goes home and is due Friday, January 20th
Friday, January 6th> Quick Check Assessment
Monday, January 16th> No School; Phone Number Check to begin…
Friday, January 20th> Quick Check Assessment; HW packet due; Father Daughter Dance (see school website for information)
Week of January 23rd> Sight Word Review week;
Schedule of Specials:
Tuesday and Thursday (PE): children wear PE short and shirt with approved tennis shoes and plain white socks. Light-Up shoes and socks with color/emblems are not allowed.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday (Spanish, music, guidance): children wear regular uniforms (no PE). Approved shoes and navy socks are required. Tennis shoes are not to be worn on these days. Belts are required if there are belt loops. Hair accessories are limited to the colors found in the uniform.
Academic Themes for the Week
Topic: Happy New Year!
**Emergent Reader will not go home this week.
Look for their Weekly Emergent Readers to go home on Fridays. I encourage you to save these weekly emergent reader books in a special place: a treasure box or special basket. Whenever they want to pull out a story to read to you, they can select a story from their special story box.
Reading Block: Capitalization & Punctuation; Blending; Writing a Complete Sentence; Rhyming; Questions
Word Study:
Writing: New Year Themes all week: Class New Year Promise; New Year Poem…
Sight Words: on will be into
Math Block: introduction and exploration of geoboards; placing an item on a real graph;
Science/Social Studies/Art: Review of classroom rules and expectations; begin memorizing our phone number
Religion: Original Sin; Baptism, Epiphany
Enrichment New Year Celebration! Class Promise and Fireworks Painting
Mad Scientist: Soda Science
Foodie Fun Day: Ball Drop Snack
To Work On At Home:
writing their first and last name
blending sounds together to read words>reading and writing simple sentences
memorize phone number and address
tie shoelaces
correct letter and number formation (top to bottom, left to right)>Many are still struggling with this.
cutting with scissors and gluing neatly
