Short week: Martin Luther King, Jr.

I hope you enjoyed your day off if you had one...and I hope there was talk of MLK. I challenged the kindergartners to do something nice for anyone today. We will be learning more about Martin Luther King this week. To do or learn more...click here.

Reading this week...
We will be reading Little Panda (non-fiction) to carry over last weeks' unit on Asking Questions before, during and after reading a text. We will be comparing both fiction and non-fiction during reading and writing. We will be completing Martin Luther King journals during class this week too. Our journals will focus on ourselves, our dreams, and our goals.
Letters of the week: Nn and Bb
Snap words this week include: was, with, me, she
Practice nonsense words as home such has: jip, zep, nez, lek, etc....to develop phonemic awareness.

We got our DIBELS results back from Ms. O'Brian. The Kindergarten class as a whole looks great. I am more than happy to discuss the results with you after school if you wish. Otherwise I will be sharing the results with your at our March conferences. Since March is so far away, please let me know if you would like to just do a quick catch up sometime between now and the end of the month. I am happy to sit down with you.

Math this week...
Number writing practice
Number card games (example: top it, it's like WAR with cards...you can play it at home.)
Count by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's...Count backwards from 20.
Probability stories (introducing language of probability)
Probability tray (develop understanding of probability)
Pan Balance: Level 2 Heavier versus lighter

Writer's workshop...
We will continue to plan, map and create our SMALL moment stories.
This week will focus on setting, plot, and GOOD LEADS...
Try reading stories at home and notice what makes a story good...try reading books like the following:
My Mama Had a Dancing heart
Owl Moon
Too Many Tamales
STrong to the hoop
Mud
Alexander and the TErrible, Horrible, No good, very bad day

Other things...
I am working on my ABC tubs at school. I am filling them up with tiny little objects...for example for
B-button, black fabric, baby, bear
I am looking for little objects to add to my ABC tubs...let me know if you have junk or things lying around that you want to donate.

Friday, January 20th we will be taking pictures around the school of ALTA kids doing the four B's!
BE SAFE
BE RESPECTFUL
BE RESPONSIBLE
BE FRIENDLY
We will be trying to capture images of the kids doing the right thing. We are making POSITIVE BEHAVIOR posters for our school. We are very excited about this project at our school.

NATIONAL handwriting day is Monday, January 23rd and we are still looking for STATIONARY, note cards, postcards, fun paper...envelopes so please send it in my this Friday. I have a white bucket by the door that you can drop it right in. THANKS! Remember we will be celebrating by writing handwritten letters to friends, family or someone who just might appreciate it.

Check back later this week for some pictures!! And some video!