Bristol Audubon Fieldtrip

                            K-3 Newsletter

                           Mrs. MacIntyre

Dear Families,

January 27, 2017

Here we are at the end of January! The student’s have enjoyed our Jan Brett author study this month. I hope that are sharing some of their favorite books that we have read with you.  We voted on our class favorite Jan Brett book.. You child should be able to tell you which book received the most votes. Remember to visit your local library to check out any Jan Brett books that your child may mention that they enjoyed. Also, please remember to return all your school library books on Fridays. If you forget, you can always send them in with your child on Monday and I will be sure to get them up to the library for you. Thank you in advance.

In February, we will be focusing on Chinese New Year. We will study about China, it’s location and its customs and traditions concerning Chinese New Year. We will be planning a Chinese New Year dinner here at school. The date is set for Thursday, February 23rd at 5:00 pm. Each family will be asked to bring something and it is sure to be a wonderful evening. I will keep you informed of the details as soon as they are decided.

Our letter of the week was, “Zz”. We practiced the soft c. Our tongue twister was “Zach zigzagged through the zoo with Zannie..”

In math, we practice with subtraction within 5 and we practiced recognizing and writing teen numbers. I am sending home usernames and passwords for Splash Math. I have attached a parent letter explaining what Splash Math is. Feel free to use it at home and if you have any questions please let me know.

In Writer’s Workshop, we worked on a shared story about the playground. The students added to the story by writing about how they feel on the playground and also about things they do on the playground.I will be sending home your child’s January writing folders next month and I think you will be very proud of your child!

The student’s enjoyed their trip to the Bristol Audubon Society and wrote about their favorite part of the trip today. It was brought to my attention that a student found a tick on them so please be sure to check your child for ticks over the weekend.

I am in need of shoe boxes for an upcoming project, if each student would please bring a shoebox in if they have one that would be great!

Today is our 90th day of school, our 100th day of school  is fast approaching. To celebrate I am asking each student to put 100 of something in a paper bag and put 3 clues about what is inside the bag on the outside of the bag. The students will try to guess what is in each other’s bag. The students love doing this each year.

You can be creative as to what you put in the bag.. Even use things from nature!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. MacIntyre

                         K-3 Newsletter

                         Mrs. MacIntyre

January 20,2017

Dear Families,

Our field trip to the Bristol Audubon Society is coming up this Wednesday, January 27th. I have parent volunteers already to go.. thank you in advance for coming.  I am not sure what the weather will be like so,please be sure to dress your child accordingly to the weather that day. We will be taking a nature walk and looking for animal prints in the snow, if there is any. Please send your child with boots that day. If there is snow then send snow clothes.

For the field trip also please send your child with a PAPER BAG LUNCH no lunchboxes please. This way you do not have to worry about it getting left behind in Bristol.  Please do not send peanut butter in your child’s lunch bag for the field trip as we will all be eating together picnic style.

We will not be having snack before we leave in the morning so PLEASE make sure your child has a big breakfast as we will not be eating lunch until around 11:30 or 12:00 p.m. At school, we usually have morning snack at around 9:45 and lunch at 11:00!! Yikes!

Our letter of the week was “Yy”. Our tongue twister was, “Yolanda and Yazmin yell for yellow yo-yo’s.”

In Writer’s Workshop, we have been retelling and writing about the characters in many Jan Brett books we have been reading.

We have also been discussing and identifying vowels. The students are finding the vowels in their names and connecting them to the number of syllables in their names. Good job kindergarteners!

In math, we introduced subtraction (within 5). We are using manipulatives to see how when you subtract you end up with less than you started with. We can not use food in school to demonstrate subtraction, however, at home you can use raisins, cheerios, goldfish or anything like to provide a great visual for your child.

Thank you all so much for sending beach towels in.. that is very helpful!! I am sending them home to be washed, just send them back again on Monday Thank you!

Please continue with the homework books and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a fabulous weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. MacIntyre

                        K-3 Newsletter

                        Mrs. MacIntyre

January 13, 2017

Dear Families,

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The students have learned about the  importance of Martin Luther King Jr. and the effect he has had upon history. We describe him as a peacemaker. I have not identified it as a black and white issue only but as a person who wanted all people to be treated equal and be a peaceful problem solver. We wove him into a Writer’s Workshop prompt. After talking about King’s “I have a dream” speech, the students had to write what they would dream for if they were to make a speech. I am very fortunate to have such a caring and empathetic group of young students. They are so much fun to work with.

In Literacy, we have been reading many Jan Brett books. We have made a list of the books we have read so far and will continue to read more next week. We are paying special attention to The Mitten. We will be acting it out in class and doing many sequencing activities to practice with retelling and sequencing.

We are looking for items to put on our winter table…. If you see any signs of winter send them in .. no snow please!! Speaking of snow, this class definitely gets an award for the best prepared for snow class!! Everyone has snowpants, boots, hats and gloves !! Thank you so much!

You have probably been noticing some interesting things coming home that we have been creating in Makerspace We have always gone to the Maker’s Space room to work with legos, riga-ma-gigs and create things from scrap. We now have Miss Haley working in the Makerspace room. She has been teaching the students about 2D and 3D shapes as well as inclines. We have made various things from nature and from cardboard. If you have any questions about Makerspace feel free to ask me or come check the room out for yourself.. it is a great space for the students to be imaginative and creative.

In math, we continue to practice counting to 100 and writing our numerals 0-20. This is something you can practice at home. Most of the numerals should be going in the right direction at this point, but it is very common for them to be reversed at this age, so do not be concerned if your child is still doing that. I will begin introducing subtraction next week. The class is doing an excellent job at adding within 5 and writing the equation. Good work!

Thank you all for doing such a great job with the homework books. I am working with reading strategies here at school. Please encourage your child to use their pointer finger and place it under each word as the read. This encourages word matching and word correspondence. They are beginning to see some words have more than one syllable and this is something we practice at morning meeting. Thank you in advance.

Our field trip is planned  for the Bristol Audubon Society. We will be going on Thursday, January 26th.

We will leave around 9:00 am and should return around 1:30. If you would like to take the bus or meet us there please let me know. The entire trip for the students will be paid for by the school.The cost for chaperones is $10.00. We will be taking a nature walk and looking for animals prints.We will listen to a nature book and explore the indoor museum.It is a really fantastic field trip,

Remember to check my blog on the Jamestown School website for periodic photos.

Please remember there is no school Monday, January 16th.

Finally, Please send in a beach towel with your child on Tuesday for rest time. Many students are forgetting the towels and I really would rather that they not lay on the cold floor. Feel free to send a couple of books and/or a small writing pad.

Have a nice long weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. MacIntyre