Mrs. Jones’ Weekly News October 12, 2012 Language Arts This week we have continued on with our theme about how we are all special, but we talked about friends and what makes a Friend Special. We have learned about how to make an Inference in a story…especially for the story, A Splendid Friend, Indeed. We are practicing reading our poem Play Day (just right) pacing, fluency, and expression. We have been reading and playing some fun games with our sight words. So far we have covered a, am, an, is, I , here, the, play, special, and splendid. Our new word is SEE!  Please continue to review these words at home with your kiddo. We have also introduced syllables (sound parts) in words. Have fun sliding with your family while acting out sound parts in words.  Fantasy vs. Reality This week we have been learning about how some stories contain characters that have taken on “human” characteristics, BUT are not real…they are stories that are Fantasy. Ask your kiddo to tell you if a story is Real or Fantasy (Make-Believe). We have been discussing main characters in a story and how to identify them. Try to do this each time you read a book with your kiddo at home too. Social Studies This week we learned about who Christopher Columbus was and about his journey to discover….the BAHAMAS (not America…like many people think). Ask your kiddo to tell you all about this brave adventurer. Ask your kiddo which ship was his/her favorite name…Was it the Pinta, Nina, or the Santa Maria!!! Math In math this week, we have been continuing on with real, picture, and bar graphs. We even had fun with making an M &M graph and taking a survey of our favorite colors. We also read a wonderful Leaf Story about Friendship and did a picture and bar graph of the various leaves found in the story. Plus, we are having fun decorating a Leaf Person of our own…which will be on display in the hall. We had our 2nd math test and these will be going home for you to see next week!  I have to tell you that I am very impressed with the creative graphs your kiddos have been turning in for his/her homework! WAY TO GO! We are moving on to Patterns next week. Be on the lookout for another family fun homework activity to come home soon. Parent Visitation It was nice to see so many parents “pop-in” to kindergarten to take a “sneak peak” into a day in the life of your kiddo at school. I hope you have a little better understanding of some of the activities your child does while he/she is at school. Thank You for stopping by.  LEAD 21 ~ Access to the website for Lead 21 was sent home today. If you have any technical difficulties, be sure to check the Parkland Website for a Plug- in access to update your information. Any further questions…Please contact our Reading Specialist…Miss Gelfo *21145 Rainbow Reward! Wow…The boys and girls have really been working very hard on their manners and this week…they were focusing in on their “Being READY” skills! Ask your kiddo if they earned all 4 paws this week!  IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Monday, Oct. 15th ~ Lead 21 homework will be sent home Friday, Oct. 19th ~ FIRE SAFETY family fun homework is Due! Alphabet Fun We have continued on with our special Letter a Day activities! We did letters Kk and Ll. We are still writing down the names of the boys and girls that have these letters in his/her name. Ask your kiddo all about WHO LET THE LETTERS OUT?!?