week of September 30, 2019

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (week of September 30, 2019)

Handwriting:  We are going to take a break from the capitals and move into lowercase formations.  We will be starting with: c, o, s. v, w, and t. These first letters that we learn are exactly like their capitals, but just smaller.  We are beginning to write letters, words, and sentences in our everyday work, and we want to make sure we are using the correct formation whenever possible so that we encourage good writing habits!   
Math:  We will be finishing up our shapes unit and taking the assessment next week.  We will then move onto our first of the number units in math.  We will be working on: counting, cardinality, subitizing, number sense, and composing and decomposing numbers to 10.  We will still be focusing on number writing in Handwriting as well.  Good news!  We met our first class goal in Spring Math (counting dots and circling the correct number 1-10) and we will be moving on to our next skill! 

Reading:  We have been talking about what makes a place special.  We read a nonfiction story about a library and what a library has that makes it special.  We are identifying and reading sight words and first sounds of consonants in our Reading books.  We are also working on dragging sounds together to blend words either orally or in written form.  Just a reminder that there are two books floating around in your child’s book bag.  One of them is a library book that will need to come back by the next library class (Day 5) and the other is the one that they borrow from our “pool” and that can be exchanged daily.  All books can be logged in the monthly reading log. 

Science/Social Studies:  We are gearing up for all things Fall.  Even though it may not be Fall temperatures yet, we will be discussing the characteristics of Fall, activities that we do in the fall, and what holidays are in the Fall.  Our first one coming up is Columbus Day, and that isn’t too far away!

Reminders:
Please send in the money for the fall festival if you did not do so already.  A second reminder was sent home this week.  Thanks!
Please also check your child’s folder daily and remove the papers that have been put on “Left at Home.”  If there is something to be signed or filled out, please do so as soon as possible.  Thanks for your support!

Important Dates:
September 30- Day 1
October 1- Book Logs Due from September
Week of September 30- Homecoming Week, please refer to the handout for specifics

week of September 23, 2019

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (week of September 23, 2019)

Handwriting:  We are finished the “Frog Jump Capitals” and we will be moving into the “Starting Corner Capitals” like H and K.  We continuously work on writing posture (sitting up, using our helper hand, feet down) and holding our pencil correctly to write our very best.  We use reminders to start at the top and to make the big lines and big curves when needed.  Handwriting has really started to improve and we are so proud of the hard work everyone is doing!

Math:  We will be finishing up our “2D and 3D shapes”.  We have identified, compared, contrasted, sorted, and found objects in the real world with the same shape.  We are working in our “Spring Math” on counting dots and circling the right number.  Each day, we take turns with our partner counting beans and finding the correct number and checking to make sure we are correct. 

Reading:  We worked so hard on the “plot” of the story this past week.  We were able to retell the story along with identifying the problem and the solution.  We will continue to work on identifying the sounds in words and where the sound is in the word (beginning, middle, end) and we will continue to practice every letter and every sound.  Please continue to practice sight words and read each night to log their stories.  They can also log stories from home or if they read the weekly reading story after they bring it home.

Science/Social Studies:  We are so excited to work on our “Apple” unit.  We will learn about Johnny Appleseed’s life, taste test some apples, graph apples, and compare and contrast apples.  We will also label the parts of the apple and name what an apple tree needs to grow.

Reminders:

Just a friendly reminder that we have a working snack at the end of the day.  One snack is just perfect in terms of being able to open them and clean up while getting packed up and finished our last bit of lessons at the end of the day.  Thanks so much! J

Important Dates:

September 23- Day 4

*Book Logs Due at the end of the month!

week of September 16, 2019

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (week of September 16, 2019)

Handwriting:  We have made our way through the first week of Frog Jump Capitals.  We will be working on: B,R,N, M and reviewing all of the Frog Jump Capitals this week.  We are so impressed with the progress that we have seen in the last 2 weeks with making “Big Lines” “Big Curves” and “Little Lines” and “Little Curves”.  The numbers we have practiced thus far are: 1,2,3. 

Math:  We were so lucky to have the part of Math that describes objects in the environment using positional words coincide with our Handwriting lessons.  We used the wooden pieces to do the exact same thing to get ourselves familiar with positions and words used to describe them (above, below, in front of, behind, and next to).   We are also classifying and sorting objects and analyzing and comparing 2D and 3D shapes. 

Reading:  We sent home the Family-School Connection that explains our first Unit, Going Places.  Our essential question for the whole unit is “What makes a place special?”.  We will go over all of the story elements while reading including: character, setting, plot, and main idea.  We will also be talking about realistic fiction books and what would make a book fiction.  In our small groups, we are working on: identifying one or two sounds in given words, letter/sound correspondence, initial sounds, all sounds in a three sound word, and reading emergent text.  Keep on reading at home! The class has gotten into a routine of returning the book to the pool and taking a new one if they borrowed one to read.

Science/Social Studies:  We have explored “Why do zebras have stripes?” in our first Science Spin of the school year.  We talked about what it means to be a scientist.   We are also getting ready for our annual apple unit for Johnny Appleseed’s birthday.  That involves graphing, counting, comparing/contrasting, and using our 5 senses to describe apples.

Reminders: It is helpful to have lunch and snack separate because sometimes the students are not eating their sandwich or lunchable at lunch time but eating the extras packed with it and then still have a sandwich or main meal come snack time.  We do have a working snack so something small like a single piece of fruit, fruit snacks, single serve cookies/crackers/chips, or along those lines works the best.  Thanks so much! J

Important Dates:

Monday, September 16- Day 7

Tuesday, September 17- Fall Festival Meeting at 6pm at Roman’s

Thursday and Friday, September 19 and 20- Hearing Screenings at NSE

Friday, September 20- Spartan Dress Down Day, $1 donation if you participate

week of September 9, 2019

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (week of September 9, 2019)

Handwriting:  We have moved through our first week of “Getting Ready to Write” by practicing our name, grip, and using the wooden pieces while following directions to move them into different positions.  We will be starting our “Frog Jump Capitals” and numbers 1 and 2.  It is important to start our numbers and letters at the top as well as making sure that we are gripping our pencil correctly.  We use smaller pencils so that we can get a better grip on them.

Math: After practicing how to use the Math Manipulatives and working together in our centers, we began our unit on: “2D and 3D solid shapes”.  We have been working with circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles as well as sorting objects and pictures by color, size, and shape.  We have also been identifying what objects would be grouped together and tracing the shapes.

Reading:  We have been able to start working in our Kindergarten reading book. We have been able to identify characters in a story.  We are also reviewing how to hold a book, turn the pages, parts of the book (front cover, back cover, spine, title page) as well as talking about author and illustrator.  We have been working mainly in fiction texts thus far.  We have spent time with first sounds in words as well as identifying if a pair of words rhymes or doesn’t rhyme.  We will be introducing all letters and their sounds as we go along in both the Reading area and Handwriting.

Science/Social Studies:  We have been talking about what a school setting is as well as the rules of school.  We also have introduced “Whole Body Listening” and what is takes to be an active listener (eyes are watching, ears are listening, mouth is quiet, and body is still).  This gets us ready to be part of a group.  We review the SPARTY way each day so that we know what the expectations are in school.

Important Dates:

Monday, September 9- PTO meeting (6:30 pm)

Tuesday, September 10- School Picture Day and Fall Festival Meeting in the NSE Cafeteria (2pm)

week of September 3, 2019

Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Jones’ Newsletter (2019-2020 edition)

**There will be a newsletter each week of the school year to keep you updated on classroom and school happenings.  It will be sent home each week (email and/or paper) and then posted on our blog with the link being found on the North Schuylkill website under the Elementary tab and under Staff Emails and Homework Blogs.

**It was a wonderful first week!  We are settling in and learning our new routines and expectations.  Just a few reminders to help our classroom run smoothly:

**Please check folders each day.  Take out any papers on the Left at Home side and complete or sign any pages on the Bring Right Back side as soon as possible. 

**Reading Log books will be coming home this week.  There is no written homework but we expect children to read with someone each night.  Sometimes there will be books in their bag that they can read to you, but most times you can read to them and have your child pick out letters or words that they know.  You can use the books that your child picks from our reading “pool” or read books at home and add them to the reading log located in the folder.  There will be incentives for participation.  We are also sending home a read aloud list to give you some ideas of books that will be helpful in building vocabulary.

**Sight words should be practiced each night in place of written homework.  Begin with the first list.  We will test students and put a star under the list when they have read it correctly and then you can move on to the next list.  Cut out the flashcards as you work on them and keep them in the envelope included in the communication folder.

**Help your child learn their identification number.  This number was sent home with the welcome letter as well as on an index card If you need it again, please let us know.  It will be used to get lunch and/or breakfast, log onto the computers, and check out library books.

**Please send a snack each day.  A small snack and optional drink can be sent in a separate container than a lunch if they are a packer.  We eat snack daily at the end of the day. 

**Don’t forget to send in a dress code appropriate extra set of clothes for your child’s cubby.  Please put it in a bag (a gallon size Ziploc bag works great) and label it with their first and last name.  Please also make sure there is a spare set of underwear in the bag, thanks!

**Please label everything.  Make sure backpacks, lunch bags, coats, etc. are labeled with first and last names.  All money being sent to school must be in a envelope labeled with first and last name of the student, teacher name, what the money is for, and the amount.

**We have been reading a lot of Back to School books and one of our favorites is “The Kissing Hand.”  We even had a scavenger hunt throughout the building looking for Chester the character from our book.  We didn’t find him, but we did get to see where the nurse, office, library, and cafeteria all are located.  We also were treated to cookies from Chester!

**We have started learning how to work cooperatively in groups for Math along with the expectations for manipulatives.  There are important skills to have when working in Math centers.

**We have also built and drew Mat Mat in our Handwriting program as well as learned about Big and Little lines and demonstrated positional words.

**No school Monday, September 2 for Labor Day.  Tuesday is Day 6.

**Thanks for such a great start to the school year.  We are looking forward to lots of progress and are excited to work with all of the students and their supportive families!