Week Eighteen

* Just a reminder that there is no school next Friday, January 29th. We get the day to do report cards! I did have a few parents bring to my attention that they did not know about the day off- make sure you're always checking my calendar tab on my blog as well as reading the Pride that is e-mailed to you each week from Lakeside. Important dates are put on these calendars in advance so parents are aware of upcoming events.

* February volunteer opportunities have been posted. If you'd like to volunteer in our classroom, please sign up!

* Our Valentine's party will be on Thursday, February 11th from 1:00-2:00. Everyone is welcome to join us! Beginning the first week of February, we will be collecting 1 gallon milk cartons to use for our valentines. Please make sure to give these a good rinse (with soap/a splash of bleach) before sending them in.

* Friday folders:

- A snowman craft- please take a look at the round snowballs that your child cut out all on their own! Cutting is something we work on a lot in kindergarten. Cutting circles is often very challenging, so if you notice that your child's snowballs aren't looking too much like a circle, take some time to practice cutting with your child at home! We're working on turning the paper, NOT our wrists =)
- Handwriting books
- Activities from literacy/math centers this week

What we are learning in school...

* Literacy: This week we learned a new concept- ABC order! I was impressed at how quickly everyone picked up on this concept!

* Writing: We continue to work on our how-to writing pieces. This week we practiced acting out our how-to's so that we could see if we were forgetting any important steps/details. We also started using a how-to check list to make sure we are remembering to do everything good writer's do, no matter what kind of writing we are working on. (i.e. spacing our words, stretching words slowly, adding a detailed picture, etc.)

* Math: We started a new unit this week focusing on teen numbers. We are learning that the teen numbers consist of a group of ten and some ones. ( i.e. 13 is a group of 10 and 3 ones). This unit also ties in addition because they are asked to look at two ten frames that make a teen number and decide which number sentence goes with those ten frames (i.e. 13= 10+3)

* Science: We are learning about our five senses. This week we focused on our sense of taste and our sense of sight. We are learning about the important of using descriptive words to help describe objects.