1. Math This week in math we have started our new unit on Measurement. We have learned such concept words as: Longer/shorter….taller/shorter…larger/smaller…and medium sized. We have also started to use snap cubes and paper clips for units of measure and will be testing out some Measuring skills of our own too at home with our next Family Fun Homework. Be on the lookout! Reader’s Club We have been working on all kinds of stories about Weather during our small group reading time. Ask your kiddo about the two books they read this week. All our books focused on our theme question: What can I learn when I explore the outdoors? We also worked on our sight words by writing them and playing a memory card matching word game. We had our each child write illustrate his/her favorite weather and season. Keep working on those reading and writing skills at home too. At the listening center we had a great new book called Hibernation Station…ask what was your kiddos favorite part? Next week we will be working on more writing activities and sight word practice. Reminders Monday, January 21 ~ NO SCHOOL…Martin Luther King Jr. Day (professional development day) Tuesday, January 22 ~ Sound/letter binders will go home Friday, January 25~ Binders are due! Math Measurement Homework is due! EARLY DISMISSAL ~ AM ~ 8:50-10:50 am PM ~ 11:45-1:45pm PTO FAMILIY FUN Movie Night will be from 6:30-8:30pm FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15 th ~ WE WILL HAVE SCHOOL and this year we will be COMBINING the 100 th Day and Valentine’s Day Party together. Please be sure to mark your calendars if you signed up as a volunteer. Be on the lookout for a letter with more details closer to the date. Mrs. Hein’s Weekly Newsletter January 18, 2013 Language Arts We started our next unit all about Earth Science and Outdoor Exploration. We have been learning all about the 4 seasons and the weather. Our Focus Question this week is: What weather can I observe each day? Also, this week’s reading strategy has been all about Making Connections Letters for the Week: This week we continued to work on the letters we already know and the sounds for each. We also had our first letter/sound test and results will come home with report cards for you to see. We have been practicing reading Nonsense words too (which help us with the “short” vowel sound in words.) Outdoor/Indoor Explorers! On Wednesday we did some indoor exploring for some outdoor things! Since our theme is science based, we did a little project related to this on Wednesday. We used our magnifying glasses to “explore” the room with a partner and discover a hidden treasure. Each group found bags with elements needed to plant a seed indoors! We planted Calypso Beans…black and white bush beans that are now in our classroom window. We will continue to be explorers as we monitor their growth in the coming weeks! It was fun to bring the outdoors indoors in January! Other Skills to Work on We continue to work on Phoneme segmenting and onset rhyme with words. Have your kiddo work on breaking words into sound parts too. Ex: dog would be D - O - G … hat would be H - A - T SIGHT WORDS We have now learned 23 new sight words. Next week we will learn: Not and On. Please continue to read with your child to practice the words using expression, fluency, and pace. Try to have your child practice these words using flash cards, reading the charts, and writing sentences using these words too. Continued practice of these skills helps us to become better readers! Also…try using your sight word flash cards to different songs too. Like…Row, row, row your boat OR Twinkle Twinkle This is a fun way for you and your kiddo to practice these words together. STARS of the DAY Kaela Seifert, Tori Smith, and Djibril Sylla **Ask your kiddo to tell you something new they learned about their classmates. We have been working on Asking Questions and Giving Compliments to our friends.