Kindergarten Choice Board

Kindergarten Choice Board for At Home Learning
Below is a link to lots of choices for learning at home. (I will also email a copy of the PDF of this document)

Kindergarten Choice Board- week 3

e Learning

e learning directions-
click on the link below to access a list of suggestions and ideas
(I will also email everyone an attachment of the PDF of this same document)

e learning directions

Important Notes

I will send home an April Snack Calendar as we get closer to starting school again. I plan on celebrating our April birthdays the first few days back and also allowing those who missed their days this month to have a turn.

** We are in need of NAPKINS! If you could send in a package when we return, we would appreciate it!**

Also, we had a couple of Imaginext toys (a spaceship and a pirate ship) donated to our class. We could use some figures/characters to go with them. If you have any that you could donate to our class, we would love it! They don't need to be certain specific characters, they can just be 'space guys, or pirates, ninjas, etc...'.

Here are a few notes to help you understand some of the things that were sent home today. In addition to the items listed below, the students were also allowed to check out a couple of library books and for the first time they were allowed to choose a Magic Tree House book! They also brought home about 6 books that they can practice reading throughout their time off. I will miss the students so much and I look forward to seeing them in April. I will be in contact with you by next Wednesday morning! Enjoy some extra time together as a family!!!!

Also, if you or someone you know is in need of childcare over the next few weeks, my daughters are 15 and 13 and have quite a bit of babysitting experience. Please let me know if you could use them!!!

​

Newsletter 19

Upcoming Events

*March 5 and 6 – ½ Days of School

*March 4, 11. 18 and 25 - Late Starts

*March 12- Kdg./Y5 Round Up

*March 24- Field trip to Upton Planetarium

*April 3- ½ Day of School

Important Reading Month Dates 

• Kick Off Video Played on News- Thursday, March 5th
• BOOK FAIR: March 9-13
• Book Fair Family Night: Thursday, March 14
• Reading Month Celebration Movie(s):  Friday, April 3rd (Movie and Time TBD)

Fun Friday Dress up Days!

• Dress like a Superhero - Friday, March 6th
• Dress as your favorite book character - Friday, March 13th
• Flashlight Friday & Fuzzy Socks - Friday, March 20th
• Be a Bright Reader (Neon Day) - Friday, March 27th
• Slipper and PJ day- Friday, April 3rd

This Cycle

We have had a very busy couple of weeks. I have spent lots of time assessing your child’s growth in math, reading, and writing.  EVERYONE has made SO much progress this year!!! In phonics we worked on the letter Ee sound, which can be the most challenging vowel sound.  We are now spending extra time on the short vowel sounds in words. It can be easy to get the vowels confused so extra practice on these is a good idea at home too. In math we are working on drawing addition and subtraction number stories, as well as representing them using numbers and the plus, minus, and equal sign.  In writing, we are finishing up our ‘All About’ books and will begin writing opinion pieces in the next week!  

Report Card Scoring

Your child’s report card will be sent home next week.  Please remember that the scores are based on the end of the year expectations.  A lot of students will have a 1 in sight words since we haven’t learned all of our words yet. Keep practicing as the words come home and your child will be at or near a 3 by the end of the year. A 3 is where we want them to be by the end of the year, so a 2 right now in any area means they are progressing toward the final goal, as they should be.  I tried to make sure I wrote in the comment section if there was an area that needed extra practice or was of more concern. If you have any questions after reviewing the report card, please let me know.  

Thank you!

March Leader Calendar

Newsletter 16

Upcoming Dates to Know!

*February 5, 12, 19, 26 -Late Start Days

*February 6– 100th Day of School Celebration

*February 12 Count Day

*February 14-Valentine’s Party

*Feb 28 -Half Day

Solid Shape Museum

We have started learning about the 3D shapes cube, sphere, cylinder, cone, and pyramid.  If you have items at home that have any of these shapes, please send them in with your child so we can practice recognizing these shapes in our environment by making a solid shape museum in our classroom. (Please label the items if possible and please do not send in fragile and/or valuable items as the children will be touching these).   

Folders

Please remember to check/clean out your child's folder EVERYDAY!!! It is not easy for me to see if there is anything you are sending in or back when the folder still has all of the papers that were supposed to stay at home in it. It also makes it difficult for them to get the new papers in at the end of the day and keep things organized! Thank you!!!

100th day/Valentines Day Volunteers

Please see last week's blog and the papers sent home for information about the 100th day and Valentine's Celebrations! If you are on the volunteer list for the 100th day party, please be here at 10:20 am- 12:00 pm.  If you are on the list for the Valentine party, that also will start at 10:30 and go until about 12:00. I will be emailing those parents to organize snacks and games or crafts. 

At Home Reading Program

Starting tomorrow, I will be sending a book home with your student. 

The idea of this program is for your child to practice using picture

clues, letter sounds, and high-frequency words to read each book independently. They may need your help and encouragement in this process. You can help by:

1. Read and point to the title of the book.

2. Tell your child a little about the book using any vocabulary that you think

may be difficult (for example, if the book uses the word couch but you

call it a sofa, be sure to point that out).

3. Have your child to point to the first letter in each word as he/she is

reading. This helps to focus on each word and make the connection

between what they say and what they see in print.

4. If your child gets stuck, you can:

Say “Look at the first letter and make the sound.”

Say “Can you think of a word that makes sense there?”

Books can be returned as soon as your child has read it a few times and is ready for a new one. They can return it everyday to pick out a new one or just a couple times a week. I am excited for you to see their reading grow as the year goes on!

Homework!!!

I know with the homework calendar, the math bags, the websites and now the take-home books, it seems as though there is a lot to do! First of all, I don't plan on introducing anything else for the rest of the year! Secondly, please don't feel like you HAVE to do these things every night. Your child will not get in trouble at school if they don't do one of these or bring it back. I am sending these home because they are good enrichment/practice for the things we are learning and doing in class.  Also, most children at this age find it 'fun' to do homework and some families don't have the resources or ideas to do learning activities at home so I am providing you with some options and ideas. Please use as these activities as much or as little as you have time for and your child has interest in. Although these activities can only benefit your child's learning, I don't want them to be a source of stress or conflict for your family! PLEASE let me know if you have any questions or concerns!!!

February Calendar

Newsletter 15

Happy New Year and Welcome Back! 

Upcoming Events

*January 24- Half Day of School.

* Dismiss at 12:06

*January 29- Late Start

Needed: Photos

We are in need of photos of our class for our page in the Lincoln School Yearbook. Below is a link to a Google Album that you can put your photos into to make it easy for our parents that are organizing this to get them. Please take a few minutes to add some pics of our fun activities!

Thank you!   

Mrs. Bartz's Photo Album

NWEA

Last week we went to the computer lab to take the NWEA test to show your child’s growth in Math and Reading. Each test was about 30 minutes. We will do these again at the end of the year. 

           

           

Sight Words

We will be starting something new to help us learn our sight words.  We have 6 lists of words, one for each color in the rainbow, going in order from red to purple.  When your child can read a whole list, he/she can color in that strip on a rainbow we have here at school.  When all the colors are colored in, on their rainbow, meaning that your child knows all of our Kindergarten sight words, they will bring home their rainbow and a pack of Skittles, and a special surprise to celebrate.  We are going to be checking how they are progressing from now until the end of the year.  When your child gets to a word he/she does not know, they will bring that list home with the word circled.  Please practice that word and the words after it on that list.  They can then have another chance to read the list correctly and color in the corresponding strip on their rainbow.  They will then move on to the next list. 

Math Bags

Math bags will come home every Tuesday. You have two nights to do the activity as many times as you want. Each bag has a math activity to help your child practice skills they need this year.  Do your best to help your child play the game/complete the activity.  The extra practice will be helpful.  Sign the yellow form, and send the bag back on Thursdays. We appreciate questions and feedback to make these learning experiences even better. I hope you’re having fun! Thank you!

  

This Cycle

In language arts we read “Katy’s First Day of School”.  We talked about what we remember about our first day of school as we made connections between the story and our lives. We also worked on using pictures and things we know to make inferences about what is going on in the story. There are so many things we can figure out about a story without the author actually telling us.

In math we are working on adding and subtracting by drawing pictures and using the plus and minus signs.    

In phonics we have been practicing the letter Bb will be working on the short Uu sound.  This sound can be difficult as a lot of children want to use the Yy sound.  Please practice this sound at home with your child and point it out when reading.

In science we began to learn about motion and forces.  We will learn that everything needs a force, a push or a pull, to get moving. In math we are learning about 3D shapes and how they are different from 2D shapes. We are also practicing using the + and = signs. In Writing, we are learning how to write informational text about an animal, a person, or an activity we know all about!

Homework Websites

Please remember that you have access to Lexia,  IXL math and Raz-Kids websites at home. These can be used on the computer or ipad and are an excellent way for your child to practice their skills at home! The links to these sites can be found on the Lincoln School Media Center Symbaloo.

Valentine Cards

Your child will be bringing home name labels for their valentines.  Please USE these.  Have your child cut out the squares and glue them on the envelopes so they are visible.  If the valentines do not have envelopes, glue them on the valentine so they are visible.  Your child will be doing a matching activity with these at the party.  Please send in your child’s valentines no earlier than Monday, February 13^th.  They will be decorating a bag to collect their valentines in so they will not need to bring in a Valentine box.

100^th Day

We will celebrate our 100^th day of school on Thursday, February 6^th.  A letter will come home explaining the project you and your child are to do and bring in on the Monday before the 100^th day.  We will display these for the week in the hallway and then return them home at the end of the week.  The projects can be a collection all together in a container, a collection displayed in a creative way, or items in groups of 5’s or 10’s.  Our 100^th day is coming soon so start planning now what your child would like to bring in for their project!

This Week in Kindergarten

*December 17 – Ice Skating and Ugly Sweater Day

*December 18- School Store at lunch

*December 20 – Holiday Party and Dress like an Elf Day

Gingerbread Houses

Thank you SO MUCH to Theresa Rahn, Brooke's grandma, and Amy Matson, Benson's mom, for gluing our gingerbread houses together! A HUGE Thank you also to Theresa Rahn, Sheila Soler (Phonenix's mom), and Amy Sweetin (Nola's mom) for helping set up, decorate and clean up this fun project! Thanks to EVERYONE who sent in items to build and decorate with. The kids had a great time! I sent home the houses last Friday with those that get picked up. If your child rides the bus, you can stop in anytime this week and grab it. Thanks! 

Ice Skating

Thanks to our PTO, our Lincoln School students will be able to ice skate for free at the Howard Ice Arena on Tuesday, December 17th.

Our students will walk with their buddies and teachers to and from the ice rink.

The ice-skating and skate rental is FREE for our students and any parents that can come and help.  The more adults we can have helping students with skates, the better! Students are encouraged to bring their own ice skates.  The number of skates per size is limited.  If your child has their own skates, label with their name and allow them to bring them that day.  Skates brought to and/or from school on the bus must be in a duffle bag or a brown paper bag.  Safety/protective helmets are also encouraged & welcomed.  This is our schedule for skating that day: 

We will leave Lincoln at 1:45 pm. We will skate from 2:00- 2:30 pm and return to Lincoln around 2:45 pm. You are welcome to come to school and walk with us or meet us at the ice rink! We would love to have you be part of this fun event!

Christmas Trees

Thank you for turning in your decorated Christmas Trees. They will look wonderful in our hallway! Stop by and see how creative all of our families are!

Holiday Party

Our party will be on Friday, December 20th  at 10:30am- 12:00pm. The parent in charge will be in contact with the volunteers soon! There is NOT going to be a gift exchange for the students.

Tardiness
As someone who has to put forward a bit of effort to be on time I understand how difficult it can be.  That being said, I have a concern with how many students are tardy each day.  I start the day promptly at 8:35 so if your child comes in after that time, they are already starting the day behind.  Research conducted by the US Department of Education on truancy shows that students "who are frequently tardy have lower grades, scores on standardized assessments, and graduation rates. Chronic tardiness in elementary and middle school is associated with failure in high school."  PLEASE consider what being late is doing to your child's start of the day and the start of his or her education.  Thank you for your consideration.

**Please continue to practice sight words and work on Lexia over the break! Be sure to read everyday and enjoy the extra time together!**

Have a wonderful Winter Break and I'll see you in 2020!