K-3 Newsletter

                           Mrs. MacIntyre

Dear Families,

January 26, 2018

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  have not yet voted on our class favorite Jan Brett book, we still have a few more to read. We are comparing The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Thanks for sending them in! 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.  Many of you have multiple books out.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, March 1st 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, “Cc”. We practiced the soft c and hard c and brainstormed a list of words for each category. Our tongue twister was “Cindy celebrates with cider and celery..”

In math, we practice identifying and writing our tricky teens. We also practiced addition .within 5 and we practiced recognizing and writing teen numbers.

In Writer’s Workshop, we created a shared story called Fabulous Francis. Each student added a detail to the story and added onto each other’s thought. We read it aloud and then each student made an illustration to match the story. It was a great activity.

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 87th 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!

You have plenty of time to hand in the bag, I just wanted to give you some time to think of some creative ideas.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. MacIntyre

 K-3 Newsletter

                     Mrs. MacIntyre

Happy 2018!

January 12, 2018

Dear Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday vacation with your families. This is really our first full first week of school since our Holiday break!

The students had a great week and seem very happy to be back.

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

We are beginning our author study of Jan Brett this month. So far, we have read The Mitten, Annie and the Wild Animals and Comet’s Nine Lives. We will read many more this month and at the end of the month we will graph our class favorite.

In Writer’s Workshop, the students wrote about their vacation, They also wrote about their favorite animal in The Mitten. We also colored and cut out our own paper mittens and animals and put a poem about The Mitten inside.  During Writer’s Workshop, we also wrote about feelings and I am really encouraging them to sound out their words and use their wall word in their writing. They can do it! I am also asking the class to write their first and last names on their papers now that we are in a new year. You can encourage good kid’s spelling and writing at home by letting your child write notes to family members or friends. Encourage them to write the sounds they hear in the words that they  want to write. They shouldn’t worry if it is right or wrong… they will be close enough and they will feel proud of their independent work when they are praised for it.

We had some great discussions about Martin Luther King and the kind of man he was. I referenced to the students his “I have a dream” speech and its importance. We described him as a “peacemaker” and someone who wanted equality for all. The students wrote their own “I have a dream” writing pieces and wrote about what they dream for… You will see them when the January writing comes home.

In math, we continue to practice with addition , sorting by attributes and recognizing 2D and 3D shapes.

We are continuing with our Spanish lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as adding a Social skills lesson on Wednesdays. This is led by our school social worker Mrs.Soares. I sent an information letter about our Kelso Choice Social SKills program, please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you all for sending in snow gear. The students are having a lot of fun outside in the snow.

Have a wonderful long holiday weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. MacIntyre