Friday Note - 5/18/18

Events of the Week:

Language Workshop: This week we finished our unit on Summer.  We read books about the season and shared our fun plans for this summer.

Writing Workshop:  We made a memory book about our kindergarten year!

Word Study: This week we reviewed and assessed over the sight words and bonus words.  These assessments were sent home earlier this week.  Please make sure your child is practicing all of these words over the summer.  Your child will be expected to be able to read them when entering 1st grade.

Math: We continued to explore shapes and how to build new shapes.

Important Dates:

·         May 21 - Reading Journey Due

·         May 22 - Field Day at the HS Track

·         May 23 - Last Day of School!! We will dismiss at 12:00.

·         Breakfast and sack lunches will be served that day.

·         May 29 - Summer School begins

Class Pictures

These are still available for purchase ($2).  

Information about the End of the School Year:  

• Please make sure your child dresses appropriately (shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes) for Field Day on Tuesday, May 22nd.    
• School will be in session on Wednesday, May 23rd.  Breakfast and lunch will be served that day.  We will dismiss at 12:00.  

• Progress reports will be sent home on Wednesday.
• Lunch balances and overdue library books need to be taken care of ASAP.  If your child does not return his/her library book, he/she will not be able to check out a book when school starts.

Have a great weekend!!

-Mrs. Vestal

Friday Note - 5/11/18

Events of the Week: This week we have been busy doing our NWEA test in Reading and Math. We also finished our reading level assessments this week and started completing quarterly assessments.

Language & Writing Workshop: This week we began our unit on Summer.  We read informational texts about the season and wrote about the key details in our reading logs.

Reading Workshop:  While students are working independently, I completed end of year reading assessments.  I am so proud of the overall reading growth this school year! 

Word Study: This week we focused on reading and writing our sight words.  We also reviewed nouns and verbs.

Math: We analyzed, compared and composed shapes this week. We also rotated through different math stations and explored with different manipulatives.  

Important Dates:

·         May 12 - Clever Bands Car Show at the HS

·         May 15 - Cox Care Mobile

·         May 21 - Reading Journey Due

·         May 22 - Field Day at the HS Track

·         May 23 - Last Day of School!! We will dismiss at 12:00.

·         Breakfast and sack lunches will be served that day.

·         May 29 - Summer School begins

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I   is   like   see   my   a   the   be   have   it   he   she   to   can   with   go   we   me   you   and   are   they   in    do   not   at   said   was   for   this   what   so   no  am

**Reminder...these words have to be recognized by sight within 3-5 seconds to count on an assessment.  

***These are all the sight words for the year!  

I will complete the final sight word assessment for progress reports on Monday, May 14th.  

Individual and Class Pictures

Spring pictures or payment were due Monday.  If you have not paid for or returned your child’s pictures, please do so on Monday, May 14th.   Class pictures are still available for $2.00.

Information about the End of the School Year:  

• Please return your child’s book bag if you have not done so already.
• Please make sure your child dresses appropriately (shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes) for Field Day on Tuesday, May 22nd.    
• School will be in session on Wednesday, May 23rd.  Breakfast and lunch will be served that day.  We will dismiss at 12:00.  
• Lunch balances must be paid and library books must be returned before your child’s progress report will be sent home.

Next Week:

·         We will continue our theme of summer.

·         In math we will continue composing shapes and begin decomposing shapes.

·         We will participate in some fun end-of-the-year activities.

·         We will continue completing end of year assessments.  

Happy Mother’s Day!

-Mrs. Vestal

THANK YOU!!!

I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for all the goodies—the candles, snacks, candy, water bottle, nail polish, shirt, sweet tea, gift cards, and all the other goodies! You all have made me feel so special--not just this week but all year long. I appreciate all your support, love, and kindness this past school year. I am really going to miss these sweet kiddos next year! Thank you all for making this school year AMAZING!!

~Mrs. Vestal

Friday Note - 5/4/18

Events of the Week: We had beautiful weather for our field trip!  It was such a fun day.  Our superintendent, Mr. Carvajal, surprised the kids with Wendy’s cheeseburgers at the park.  What a fun surprise! 

• Math: We completed our math module on numbers 11-20.  We will continue to review and complete reassessments on these skills over the next couple of weeks.  We spent the end of the week talking about money.  Since President’s Day, we have been learning to name each coin correctly each day during calendar time.  This assessment is coming home today.       

• Language Workshop: This week we completed our author study on Laura Numeroff.  We enjoyed some of her other books.  One of our favorites was Dogs Don’t Wear Sneakers.  The students also enjoyed her book of poems, Sometimes I Wonder if Poodles like Noodles.  Your child is bringing home the packet we put together with all of our book responses.  Be sure to look through it with your child and ask them about their favorite book. 

• Writing Workshop: We continued working on our writing. We wrote responses to the books we read.  We completed an opinion piece about our favorite special class.  We also wrote a series of events piece about our field trip.

• Reading Workshop: Students are working daily in Literacy Centers.  While students are working independently, I am reading with individual students and completing end of year assessments.

• Word Study: We learned about nouns and verbs.  We enjoyed listening to several different fun songs to help us remember the difference between a noun and a verb.  We made a chart with nouns (naming words) and a chart of verbs (action words).  We practiced sorting different picture cards into nouns/verbs categories.  

• Content:  We spent the week exploring and experimenting with different scientific tools.  We watched several short videos online and read different books such as, Push and Pull and Floating and Sinking.  Ask your child about the sun shade they made this afternoon and the reason they created it.  Our field trip to the Discovery Center was a great place to visit while learning about this in the classroom.   

Important Dates:

·         May 7 - Spring picture packets or money due

·         May 7-10 - NWEA Testing

·         May 12 - Clever Bands Car Show at the HS

·         May 15 - Cox Care Mobile

·         May 21 - Reading Journey Due

·         May 22 - Field Day at the HS Track

·         May 23 - Last Day of School!! We will dismiss at 12:00.

• Breakfast and sack lunches will be served that day.

·         May 29 - Summer School begins

Thank you so much to all the parents that came and helped with our field trip!  It was a fun day!! ☺

Individual and Class Pictures

 If you have not paid for or returned your child’s pictures, please do so on Monday!  

Group/Class pictures are also available.  If you would like one, please send $2 in an envelope with your child's name on it and “class picture” written on the outside.  I will then send a class picture home with your child.  Thank you.

Reading Journey

Please remember the goal is to be reading at least fifteen minutes each day with your child.  Our reading journey goal is to complete at least 20 activities by May 21st.  If you are having a hard time finding specific books to meet the challenge, feel free to read any book that your child will enjoy and just write the title on the back of the page.  

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I   is   like   see   my   a   the   be   have   it   he   she   to   can   with   go   we   me   you   and   are   they   in    do   not   at   said   was   for   this   what   so   no  am

 *These are all the sight words for the year! We will be assessing these words soon. Reminder...these words have to be recognized by sight within 3-5 seconds to count on an assessment.

Information about the End of the School Year:  

• Please return your child’s book bag if you have not done so already.
• Please make sure your child dresses appropriately (shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes) for Field Day on Tuesday, May 22nd.    
• School will be in session on Wednesday, May 23rd.  Breakfast and lunch will be served that day.  We will dismiss at 12:00.  
• Lunch balances must be paid & library books must be returned before your child’s progress report will be sent home.

Next Week:

·         Our theme will be summer.

·         We will NWEA test.  

·         In math we will begin to analyze, compare, and compose shapes.

·         We will participate in some fun end-of-the-year activities.

·         We will be completing end of year assessments.  

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Vestal

Friday Note - 4/27/18

Events of the Week:

• Math: We have started learning to compose and decompose numbers 11 to 19 into sets of tens and leftover ones.  We are also writing the number sentence to match (example: 10 + 8 = 18). IXL is a great way to practice at home.  

• Language Workshop: This week we continued our Author Study on Laura Numeroff.  We read several “If you give books”. The students enjoyed hearing about the cat, dog, pig, and moose. We identified the characters and setting in each of the books and compared the stories.  We are putting a packet together that includes our response pages from this author study. 

• Writing Workshop: We continued series of events writing.  We wrote about the If You Give a Cat a Cupcake book.  We also completed our first series of events writing assessment by writing about our morning routine.  

         

• Reading Workshop: We are continuing to work every day on applying the reading strategies to figure out unknown words in our books.  I am excited about the progress the girls and boys have made so far this year.  I will be assessing end-of-year reading levels beginning next week.  Please encourage your child to use the reading strategies when he/she is reading with you at home.

         

• Word Study: Our sight words for the week were “no” and “so”. We spent the beginning of the week reviewing building and spelling simple words.  We completed the assessments this week also.  Be sure to look over these assessments and continue to work on these skills at home.  If your child does not know all of his/her letter sounds, please be practicing daily with them.   

Important Dates:

·         May 2 - Kindergarten Field Trip

·         May 4 - Summer School registration ends

·         May 15 - Cox Care Mobile

·         May 21 - Reading Journey Due

·         May 23 - Last Day of School!! We will dismiss at 12:00.

   Breakfast and sack lunches will be served that day.  

Kindergarten Field Trip

The kindergarten field trip will be Wednesday, May 2nd.  We will travel to J.R. Martin Park in Republic to play and eat lunch before heading to the Discovery Center in Springfield.  If you are joining us for the field trip please be in our classroom by 8:35 to find out who you are helping chaperone during the field trip.  

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I   is   like   see   my   a   the   be   have   it   he   she   to   can   with   go   we   me   you   and   are   they   in    do   not   at   said   was   for   this   what   so   no

**Reminder...these words have to be recognized by sight within 3-5 seconds to count on an assessment.  

Reading Journey

Please remember the goal is to be reading at least fifteen minutes each day with your child.  Our reading journey goal is to complete at least 20 activities by May 21st.  Make this a special time with your child.

Next Week:

·         We will continue our author study on Laura Numeroff.

·         In math, we will finish our module over numbers 11-20.

·         We will continue working on sequence of events writing.

·         During word study, we will learn about nouns and verbs.

·         Our sight word will be “am”.  

·         We will go on our field trip!!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Vestal

Thursday Note - 4/19/18

No School Tomorrow or Monday!

Events of the Week: This week we started an Author Study on Laura Numeroff. 

• Language Workshop: We learned about Laura Numeroff and read several of her books, including If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Dog a Donut, and If You Take a Mouse to School.  We identified the characters, setting, and story events.  We practiced retelling the stories and sequencing the events.  We compared the books from the week to see how they were alike and how they were different.  

• Writing Workshop: We introduced series of events writing.  We spent the week putting events in the correct sequence and then writing about each event.  We discussed that in order for our writing to make sense, it has to be written in the correct order.  We practiced this by writing a whole group paper sequencing the events of eating cake at a birthday party.  Then the students independently wrote about a girl getting ready to go out in the rain.  Please look at this paper with your child and have him/her read it to you. 

           

• Reading Workshop: We are continuing to work every day on applying the reading strategies to figure out unknown words in our books. I am excited about the progress the girls and boys have made so far this year.  I will be assessing end-of-year reading levels in the next couple of weeks.  Please encourage your child to use the reading strategies when he/she is reading with you at home.

           

• Word Study: Our sight word for the week was “what”.  We are working on building and spelling simple words.  We’ve worked extensively on changing the beginning sound to make new words (for example: pig, dig, wig) and now we are working on changing the middle (pat, pit, pot) and ending sounds (hot, hop, hog) to make new words.  Please use the construction paper letters that were sent home this week to practice this skill with your child.

• Math: We have continued to work on counting objects to 20.  We are grouping them into sets of 10 and leftover ones.  We have done this both with ten-frames and without.  Your child’s numbers to 20 assessment is coming home today.  If your child cannot identify all the numbers to 20, please continue to practice at home.

Important Dates:

·         April 20 - No School!

·         April 23 - No School!

·         April 27 - Kindergarten Screening - Kindergartners WILL attend school this day!!

·         May 2 - Kindergarten Field Trip

·         May 21 – Reading Journey Due

·         May 23 - Last Day of School!!!

Kindergarten Field Trip

The kindergarten field trip will be Wednesday, May 2nd.  We will travel to J.R. Martin Park in Republic to play and eat lunch before heading to the Discovery Center in Springfield.  You should have already returned your child’s permission slip and money.   

We Need Your Help!

Kindergarten screening for next year’s kindergartners will be held on April 26^th and 27^h.  If you know someone who will have a child in kindergarten next school year, please remind them to call the school to schedule an appointment for Kindergarten Screening (743-4810).  All children will need to have the following documentation:

·         Birth Certificate

·         Shot Record

·         Proof of Residency (if NOT enrolled in Parents as Teachers)

Sight Words—Keep practicing!

I   is   like   see   my   a   the   be   have   it   he   she   to   can   with   go   we   me   you   and   are   they   in    do   not   at   said   was   for   this   what

**Reminder...these words have to be recognized by sight within 3-5 seconds to count on an assessment.  

Reading Journey

Please remember the goal is to be reading at least fifteen minutes each day with your child.  Our reading journey goal is to complete at least 20 activities by May 21st.  Make this a special time with your child.

Next Week:

± We will continue our author study on Laura Numeroff.

± In math we will continue learning about numbers 11-20.

± We will continue working on series of events writing.

± During word study, we will continue to make and spell words.

± Our sight words will be “no” and “so”. 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Vestal