May 7 - 17, 2012

Wow! Can you believe that it is the end of the year? It is so much fun to reflect and see how much our children have grown this year. I'm always a little sad this time of year to think that my "babies" will leave me, but I feel privileged to teach at Trinity where I can watch them grow up over the years! I know I've said it a number of times throughout the year, but I want to thank you once more for sharing your children with me. I count that a wonderful blessing!

You will notice that we will spend most of our time reviewing, practicing, and using the skills we have learned throughout the year. Remember that I will send some summer practice activities next week.

Tomorrow is our field trip to Handey's Greenhouse. We will leave Trinity at 8:15. Students should wear their regular uniform.

Remember to check the "Important Dates" section on the left hand side of the blog for end of the year activities and early dismissals.

Language Arts:

• No spelling list this week!
• r controlled vowels (ar, or), phonics review
• Story structure, challenge book sharing (Please try to send classroom books back to school by Friday.)

Math

• Complete graphing study
• Review addition, subtraction, patterns, money, and place value

Social Science

• Mother's Day
• Growing Things

Bible

• "Paul -- The First Missionary," Ref. Acts 4:1-22
• "Paul Spreads the Gospel," Ref. Acts 4:8-18

April 30 - May 4, 2012

Language Arts:

• Spelling-- clue, blue, cue, due, glue, hue, done, bear; Bonus: true
• Comprehension-- Story Structure; Problem/Solution
• Vocabulary -- Synonyms
• Phonics focus-- long vowel patterns (long vowel u)

Math: Graphing

Social Studies: Growing Things

Bible: "Jesus Begins His Church" 

           Reference: Acts 3:1-26 

           Target Truth: God wants us to learn how wrong sin is and how much it hurts us.

Important Notes: School is quickly coming to an end. Don't forget to check the "Important Dates" section on the blog to stay up to date with our final school events. Also, our field trip to Handey's Greenhouse is May 8th from 8:15 - 10 a.m. Please e-mail me if you plan to attend. I encourage all available dads to attend (we will do something special for mom). Thanks!

April 23 - 27, 2012

Brian is our Star!!!

Reading

Long vowel practice continued; Fluency practice (automatic recognition of words)
Spelling (oa vowel team) boat, goat, coat, moat, load, toad, want, now; Bonus; throat

Comprehension: Sequence, retelling a story

Math

Addition practice : adding with doubles

Subtraction problems

Mental Math: adding or subtracting 1 or 2

Counting tens and ones

Social Studies/Science

How a seed grows

Bible

The House on the Rock

Scripture Text: Matt. 7:24-27

Target Truth - We need to build our lives on the rock, Jesus.

April 16 - 20, 2012

Towns is the Star!


Mid-term progress reports come home this week.


A look ahead: We have one more field trip! We would love to have the dads join us on this trip as we will be doing something special for mom! May 8th we will go to Handey's Greenhouse (Yes, they are cousins of my husband!). We will leave the school at 8:15 a.m. and return by 10 a.m. 


Reading

• Spelling: she, he, day, say, pray, may, stay, bay; Bonus: today (ay vowel team practice) 

• Phonics Focus: Continue vowel team practice (examples: ay, ai, oa, ie)

• Vocabulary: Plant words

• Continue reading "challenge books" nightly

Math

• Complete Calendar and Temperature unit

• Number Order Practice

• Addition/Subtraction Practice

• Measurement Review

Social Studies/Science
Spring:  The Garden/Plants


Bible
The Good Shepherd
Scripture Text: Luke 10:25-37; John 10:1-42Memory Verse: Psalm 100:5

He is Risen!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebrating the joy of our risen Savior! Thank you so much to the Jones' family for hosting our egg hunt on Thursday! Below is a look at what we are learning! Have a wonderful week!


Luke M. is our Star!

Reading

• Phonics Focus: vowel teams where the first vowel says its name (examples: ea, ee, ay, ai) We had fun sorting words with ee like Peeps and ea like jelly beans last week!
• Vocabulary: Question words (who, what, when, where, why)
• Spelling: read, eat, feet, meet, what, of, thin, ring; Bonus: street

Math

• The Calendar: Days of the Week, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,  Numbers on the calendar
• Number Order Practice
• Addition/Subtraction Practice
• Measurement Review

Social Studies/Science

Spring:  The Garden/Plants

Bible

Jesus Lives Again!

Scripture Text: Matthew 28:1-10

Memory Verse: John 3:16

Check out the videos our students did with Mrs. Helms' Public Speaking class. They made commercials for reading! Enjoy!


Video 1


Video 2

Video 3


Remember our field trip to Lanark is Thursday. Science Fest is Friday and we will dismiss at 11:30. Then we will enjoy a week off for Spring Break! Below is a peek at our week ahead!


Ella is our Star!

Reading

• Phonics Focus: Recognizing and reading long vowel words with silent "e"
• Comprehension: Identifying fiction and non-fiction text
• Vocabulary: Question words (who, what, when, where, why)
• Spelling: you, with, mop, mope, kit, kite, tub, tube;  Bonus: they

Math

Subtraction practice, Missing number practice, and time review

Social Studies

Insects

Bible

"Jesus Heals the Sick" from Mark 10:46-52

Memory verse: Psalm 100:4

Target Truth: Jesus did many miracles by making sick people well.

I'm Back!

Dear Sweet Parents,


Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement while I was home sick on Monday and Tuesday. I went to the doctor Friday after school and found out that I had walking pneumonia. I don't know why they named it that because from Friday evening until Tuesday I did very little walking! I was so pleased that Mrs. Lowery was able to step in for me. She is an experienced kindergarten teacher who loves our children. They didn't miss a beat without me, but I missed them terribly! The students made me get well cards and sent them home through my son Joe. It made my day. Thank you again for your prayers and sharing your sweet children. They are great blessings!


We have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of weeks. Remember to go to the blog to see the important dates. This week we will have class pictures on Wednesday, Report Cards will go home Thursday, and Eric Litwin (author of Pete the Cat books) will visit on Friday! The following week we will go to Lanark on Thursday the 22nd. Then Science Fest will be the the 23rd. Please remember that we will dismiss at 11:30 on the 23rd and be off for Spring Break! Can you believe it?


I hope many of you will participate in this weekend's "Run the Race!"


Here is a peek at our week ahead:


Will is our Star!


Reading

• Phonics Focus: Recognizing and reading long vowel words with silent "e"
• Comprehension: Identifying fiction and non-fiction text
• Vocabulary: Question words (who, what, when, where, why)
• Spelling: and, he, play, see, cap, cape, at, ate;  Bonus: skate

Math

Subtraction practice, subtraction story problems, mental math 

Social Studies

Insects

Bible

"Zacchaeus and Nicodemus" from Luke 19:1-10

Memory verse: Psalm 100:3

Target Truth: Jesus gives us a new heart attiitude. He helps us know how to act and how to treat others.

March 5 - 9, 2012

Enjoy the pictures above of the two full day classes at the museum on Tuesday!

We have had a fun, busy week celebrating Read Across America and studying Dr. Suess! The students continue to impress me with their skills. I am having a lot of fun finding new ways to challenge them each week. We have been very blessed to once again team up with Mrs. Helms' 7th graders this week. They are helping us learn about persuasive writing and speaking.  The K5 and 7th grade students will join forces to make commercials trying to persuade others to read. I will certainly post the videos when they are complete! 

I am very excited about the stories the student wrote this week too. They each wrote their own story about "The Adventures of Thing One and Thing Two." The stories are wonderful! The students began with a rough draft and then edited their work and wrote final drafts. I have no doubt that you will enjoy them as much as I have! They will be posted in the hallway outside of our room soon.

Below is a peek at our week ahead:

Kensley is our Star!

Reading

Phonics: Introduce long vowel words with silent e

Comprehension: Categorize and Classify

Vocabulary: Insect words

Spelling words: are, for, my she, big, quit, pig, kit

                Bonus: kite

Math - Subtraction

-Story Problems About Take Away and Comparing

-Using the Minus Sign

-Finding the Difference

-The Money Game

Social Studies

Insects  (BUGS)

Bible - Jesus And The Children

Scripture Text: Matthew 19:13-15

Memory Verse: "Let the little children come to Me." Mark 10:14

Target Truth:  God loves little children very much and has a special plan for each one.

February 27 - March 2, 2012

We owe a big thank you to Mrs. Helms and her 7th grade public speaking class for putting together a video of the Handey Helpers sharing their favorite February journal writing! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!


Bentley is our Star!

Language Arts:

• High Frequency words: on, this, jump
• Vocabulary/Writing: using rhyming words
• Phonics focus: automatic recognition of short vowel words
• Phonemic awareness focus: syllables in words
• Spelling Practice: a, is, here, said, can, plan, clap, nap
• Bonus word: scrap

Social Science: Author Study of Dr. Suess in honor of Read Across America

Math:

• Time - telling time to the hour and half hour ***Students that demonstrate mastery of this skill by Friday will earn a certificate!
• Addition practice (story problems, mental math, and sums to 12)
• Adding money practice

Bible:

• "Jesus Chooses His Helpers"
• Target Truth: We can be disciples of Jesus as we learn to trust and obey Him,
• Scripture Text: Luke 5:1-11, Mark 4:35-41
• Scripture Memory: Psalm 100:1 "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands!"

***Don't forget our field trip to the museum Tuesday! We will leave Trinity by 12:30.

February 21 - 24, 2012

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend! We started the week with a visit from the Dental Magician who taught us about dental health. Dr. Cumbus graciously sent him and prizes too! I am so proud of how much the students have grown and learned. It is a joy to present them with new challenges each week. This week I am challenging them with a spelling "test." The goal of the "spelling test" is to let them learn about what they will do next year, but also to help them move from "best guess" spelling to conventional spelling. You will see the words below that we are working on this week. Today we did a practice/pre-test. They did a fabulous job!!!

On another note, we will keep the same homework books this week since we only were able to practice them a couple of days last week. Thank you for your support of this activity. I know your interest in their reading is a big part of their growth. Way to go!

Also, please note the Trinity Run the Race 5K & Fun Run will be Saturday, March 10, 2012. This will be a fun way to support our school and have fun together. I would love to see as many of us attend as possible!

Please see our plans for the week below!

Julianna is our star!

Language Arts:

• High Frequency words: want, was, know
• Vocabulary/Writing: Informational text writing about dental health
• Phonics focus: short vowels, blends, digraphs
• Spelling Practice: like, the, have, go, sat, chat, flat, cats
• Bonus word: scat

Math:

• Money -- Identifying and counting coins***Students that identify coins and their values (penny, nickel, dime, quarter) by Friday will earn a certificate!
• Introduction to time -- Parts of a clock, order of events, telling time to the hour and half hour
• Addition practice

Social Science: Dental health

Bible:

• "Jonah and the Great Fish"
• Target Truth: God wants us to obey His word.
• Scripture Reference: Jonah 1 - 3

***Don't forget our field trip to the museum next Tuesday, February 28th!

February 13 - 16, 2012

We had a wonderful Valentine's Party! I was so proud of the big kid manners the children used. Thank you to all who worked to make our party special! I am very excited about our upcoming field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts on Tuesday, February 28th. We look forward to viewing the art and participating in an art activity. We also have a trip scheduled Thursday, March 22nd to the Lanark Wildlife Federation where we will explore bugs! Please be sure to look at the "Important Dates" section on the left side of the blog. It has been updated to include all of our upcoming "Stars," holidays, and field trips for the next couple of months! Also, you will find information about "Star of the Week" posted below the "Important Dates."


Monday and Tuesday Mrs. Lowery, an excellent certified teacher, will be teaching for me. The students will not miss a beat! I will be at school, but will be participating in the testing sessions for the prospective students. Please pray for our school and the prospective families during this time.


This past week we continued our short vowel practice with blends and digraphs, practiced addition, and began introducing money. Thank you for signing and returning the Midterm Reports. I hope you found that information to be helpful. Below is a look at what to expect in our week ahead.


Dalton is our Star of the Week!

Language Arts Skills:
High Frequency Words: Practice and review
Language/Writing Skills: using action words
Phonics Focus: Short vowel words, blends, digraphs
Comprehension skill focus: Sequence of events
Math: Money (coin identification, identifying value of coins, adding coin values)
Social Science: Valentine's Day/President's Day
Bible: "Demonstrating God's Love" 
Scripture reference: 1 Corninthians 13:4-8
Memory: "A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17

January 30 - February 3, 2012

Above is a glimpse of our Spanish Spotlight Day!

What to expect this week:


Lena Grace is our Star of the Week!


Language Arts Skills:

• New High Frequency Words: said, he, she, play
• Language/Writing Skills: writing with rhyming words; continue practice of using quotation marks
• Phonics Focus: /y/; words with short e; continue blending with digraphs (examples: ch, sh, th) and blends (examples: st, bl, cr)
• Comprehension skill focus: drawing conclusions

Math:  Addition to sums of 10


Social Science: The Farm


Bible: "Daniel and His Friends" 
Scripture reference: Daniel 1 and 3
Memory: "Do not be afraid." Deuteronomy 31:6

January 23 - 27, 2012

I had so much fun at Thursday night's Open House sharing about what we do in K5! I set out our class journals for our visitors to glance through and they were most impressed! I hope that you noticed how much our children have progressed from the beginning of the year. They are still using "best guess spelling" (which is developmentally appropriate), but you should notice that they now include more letters representing more sounds, vowels in their words, spaces between their words, capital and lower case letters are used more appropriately, and  ending punctuation. I am very proud of them!

We have a big week ahead! Wednesday is our 100th day celebration and Friday is our Culture Study Showcase.  We have two holidays that we are planning to showcase on Friday. The first is Festival de los Patios which we have been working on by making tissue paper flowers to transform our Common Area into a Spanish patio. Becky Miller's (Luke's mom) set design class is helping us a great deal with this transformation. We are grateful for their partnership! Friday we began studying about St. Isidore. In Madrid they have quite a celebration honoring this saint! Friday we will dress up as a part of our presentation. Read the description below for details about these costumes.

"...typical dress with the men wearing a flat check cap, waistcoat and handkerchief around their necks and the women wearing elegant dresses, a head scarf and a shawl." (Information from http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/san-isidro.htm)


We have some supplies to make vests (waistcoats) for the boys and head scarves for the girls. However, I would love the boys can come to school wearing dark pants and white shirts  and the girls to wear a bright colored dress to add to our costume. Also, if you have a scarf or shawl for your daughter to borrow that would be great too! Do not go shopping for anything--we will work with and enjoy whatever comes close! 


Below is a look at what we will be doing next week:


Charlie is our Star of the Week!

Language Arts Skills:
High Frequency Words: the, said ( Look for a certificate to come home this week celebrating those who can read all of our previous HFWs: and, go, for , see, my, like, have, a, is, to, I, here)
Language/Writing Skills: using naming words, making lists
Phonics Focus: /w/; words with short i and short o; blending with digraphs (examples: ch, sh, th) and blends (examples: st, bl, cr)
Comprehension skill focus: fantasy/realism
Handwriting: sizing, spacing, and formation focus, letter review
Math: Fractions and Measurement:  Measuring length, measuring circumference, comparing weight, numbers to 100 (100 Day Celebration!)
Social Science: Spanish Culture Study
Bible: "Elisha the Prophet" 
Scripture reference: 2 Kings 5:1-15
Memory: "Even small children are known by their actions..." Proverbs 20:11

January 17 - 20, 2012

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Below is a look at what we will be focusing on this week!


Mary Carter is our Star of the Week!

Language Arts Skills:
High Frequency Words: Practice and review
Language/Writing Skills: using opposites, making lists
Phonics Focus: /x/; words with short i and short o; blending with digraphs (examples: ch, sh, th) and blends (examples: st, bl, cr)
Comprehension skill focus: predictions
Handwriting: sizing, spacing, and formation focus, letter review
Math: Fractions and Measurement: Ordinal Numbers to the tenth, Measuring length, measuring circumference 
Social Science: Spanish Culture Study
Bible: "King Solomon" 
Scripture reference: 2 Kings 5:1-5
Memory: "Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." Proverbs 16:32

January 9-13, 2012

We had a great start back to school! I was so happy to see all of my sweet friends back at school. We were also blessed to welcome a new friend to our classroom. I am so proud of the way everyone made Sarah Elizabeth feel welcome!

Friday we departed on our imaginary airplane to Spain as a part of our month long culture study. The Kindergarten classes will focus on Spanish Holidays and have an opportunity to showcase what we have learned for the rest of Lower School at the end of the month. We are very excited to have Luke M.'s mother's senior set design student assisting us in our efforts to recreate some of the Spanish atmosphere in the Kindergarten Commons. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting endeavor. If your child has not filled you in on the take off experience complete with tickets, passports, suitcases, and baggage claim be sure to ask about it!

January will be a busy month. It is always an exciting part of the teaching year to me. I told the students that I believe Santa must have brought them an extra dose of maturity because they seem very grown up. I look forward to all of the learning experiences ahead! Take a peek below at what is in store this week.

Coleman will be our first Star of the Week!

Language Arts Skills:
New High Frequency Word: have
Language/Writing Skills: using position words
Phonics Focus: /z/; words with short i and short a, ***Ask your child about our daily vowel blending routine (Hint: they each lead the class with the words,"Get set. Ready blend.")
Comprehension skill focus: summarizing and personal connections
Handwriting: sizing, spacing, and formation focus
Math: Fractions and Measurement: Equal Parts, Halves, Problem Solving, Ordinal Numbers to the tenth
Social Science: Spanish Culture Study
Bible: "Jesus Grows Up"
Scripture reference: Luke 2:39-52
Memory: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to everyone coming back to school tomorrow! I hope you had a wonderful break! We will spend the next couple of days reviewing what we learned first semester.  January is full of excitement I will be posting all of the important dates very soon, but I couldn't wait to share some exciting news with you. We have a new Handey Helper! Her name is Sarah Elizabeth. I know that you will help me welcome her to our classroom. You can see her picture below. She will be a wonderful addition to our class. I've missed you all and I can't wait to see you in the morning!