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!