December Press Release
News and Notes:
* Please remember to send 25 peanut free snacks for our snack bucket at the beginning of this month. Thanks for keeping our snack bucket full!
*I will not meet with small reading groups or send home reading books this month. Please remember RAZ kids is a great free reading resource! http://www.raz-kids.com/login/kpandov
* Please remember to notify the school of absences and dismissal changes!
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Upcoming Events:
Dec. 3 Collaboration Day (School starts @10:40am)
Dec. 18 Mrs. Pandov's last day/Last day before Winter Break/Winter Party (More info coming soon!)
Dec. 18 Mrs. Pandov's last day/Last day before Winter Break/Winter Party (More info coming soon!)
Dec. 21- Jan. 1 Winter Break (No school!)
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December Trojans & IB Theme "Where We Are In Place & Time":
Week of:
Week of:
Dec. 7 Kap/ Social Studies: Holidays Around the World & Family Celebrations
Dec. 14 Eric/ Social Studies: Holidays Around the World & Family Celebrations
*We can’t wait to see your child’s personal poster and “show and tell” bag! Click on the Trojan of the Week Information tab above for more information!
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Curriculum Highlights:
* Word Work (Spelling)— We will finish learning the remaining letters this month! I encourage you to regularly check that your child can identify ALL letters and letter sounds!
*Writing— Since finishing our writing unit on illustrations, we began a new writing unit called "Words Add Meaning". We are seeing how important our words are in our stories because our text gives our readers more information than illustrations do alone. We continue to focus on writing conventions (using capitals at the beginning of our sentences, spaces between our words, and an ending mark at the end) and stretching out words (like a rubber band) to help us write. Please help your child practice saying words slowly, listening to each part of the words, and write the letters that they hear!
*Writing— Since finishing our writing unit on illustrations, we began a new writing unit called "Words Add Meaning". We are seeing how important our words are in our stories because our text gives our readers more information than illustrations do alone. We continue to focus on writing conventions (using capitals at the beginning of our sentences, spaces between our words, and an ending mark at the end) and stretching out words (like a rubber band) to help us write. Please help your child practice saying words slowly, listening to each part of the words, and write the letters that they hear!
*Math—We are continuing our math unit on Operations and Algebraic Thinking. Adding, subtracting, and decomposing numbers are math skills we are focusing on in this unit. Please help your child practice identifying and writing numbers 0-20. Remember counting to 100 by 1's and 10's is our end of the year goal!
*Reading— We will use various holiday stories this month to explore holiday traditions around the world, practice retelling stories, to make personal connections to the stories we read, and to learn story elements such as a main character, setting and a plot that involves resolving a problem. Good readers learn to recognize and ask questions about this basic story grammar. Please read 20 minutes daily with your child and ask questions about the story to see how well they understood the book!
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IB News:
* An IB attitude that we are investigating is open mindedness. Being open minded is the ability to be receptive to new ideas and allows people to feel free to express their views even if they differ from our own. Please continue this conversation at home to help your child see the value of being open minded to others.
* An IB attitude that we are investigating is open mindedness. Being open minded is the ability to be receptive to new ideas and allows people to feel free to express their views even if they differ from our own. Please continue this conversation at home to help your child see the value of being open minded to others.
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Homework Suggestions:
*Please help your child practice shoe tying.
*This month, I will send another sight word booklet like the one I gave you at fall conferences. Use it (or not) as you wish!
*Practice writing first and last name the kindergarten way (capital at the beginning the rest lowercase).
*Read the underlined sentences above under Curriculum Highlights for other homework suggestions.
*Family Craft: This month I will send home a 11x17 piece of construction paper for your family to create a poster about one (or some) of your favorite family traditions! You can add photos and/or draw illustrations of your traditions and write any information you would like to share on it. Below are some poster designs I found. If you like one of these, just draw the design on your piece of construction paper if you wish! Feel free to design your poster any way you want! Please return these promply so they can be displayed!
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THANK YOU:
I just want to thank you all for sharing your children with me. I love your kids and will miss them! It is very bittersweet leaving but I know they will be in great hands with Mrs. Elseman! All your support has meant so much to me! I hope 2016 is the best for you and your families!
