jonesjems: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

February

We made it through January, testing and getting back into the groove of school. Now we are on to February. I am working on progress reports. They will be sent home soon. Please look them over as well as the copy of your child’s assessment. This is what we have going on this month:

Literacy: Reading sight word list 5 and bonus list 1. Rhyming words.

Writing: Using the 3 things good writers use (uppercase, spaces and punctuation), writing 1 letter for every sound we hear, writing all letters correctly (including uppercase or lowercase, going the right direction, and starting at the top!) Parents, please help reinforce this at home. If you see your child writing incorrectly, have them fix it!

Math: counting to 100! (our 100 day is coming soon) counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s and learning odd and even. Writing numbers to 20 and 30.

Social Studies: Bears, Groundhog Day (Feb. 2) Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Dental Hygiene, and Fire/Ambulance safety. Whew! If we get time we might even celebrate Clifford the Big Red Dog’s Birthday! (if not we will do it in March)

Other upcoming events:

Feb. 2 6:00 Curriculum night (come see what we’ve been doing in our classroom and visit the multicultural fair in the gym)

Feb. 8 5:30 Dual Immersion meeting (if you are at all interested in the program for next year, come find out what it’s all about)

Feb. 9 100’s Day!

Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day. We will have a class party and exchange valentines in our classroom (watch for the class list)

Feb. 21 Dentist is coming to visit our classroom.

Open Enrollment forms are in the office if you are interested They are due by the 3^rd Friday in Feb.

Also, Mr. Burton asked that we include the following:

2011-2012 School Year

We would like to express our appreciation to those who have participated in our Community Council this year. Following the selection process governed by Utah State law, the following members will make up the Community Council during the 2011-2012 school year: Steve Burton, Nathan Jenkins, Kathleen Mosdell, LeShell Murray, John Eye (Chair), Lisa Allen (Vice Chair), Maren Mellor, and Paula Stapley.

During the course of the school year, the Community Council has accomplished the following:

Appointed new council members where election positions were not filled.

Trained on community council responsibilities.

Approved a safe routing plan for students.

Approved the Parent Teacher Compact.

Discussed Trust Lands funding for the upcoming year, and how it is being

used this year.

This year’s Trust Lands funding is being used for:

Leveled library books

Library books

Lego Education kits

Take Home Library TA

Reading Intervention TA

Classroom Ipads

AR Computer program

Math manipulatives

For additional information on what the Community Council is working on, Community Council contact information, and for a final report summary, please go to the following link on our school website, http://east.ironk12.org/index.php/community-council/.

Monday, January 2, 2012

January Sight Words

who
if
all
like
me
will
would
her
my
up

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Welcome Back!
I love this time of year. I am always so excited to get back to school and see the kiddos. I love that we have so much time with so few interruptions, that the students know the routine and are getting so smart!! I love the curriculum, I love their enthusiasm, and I love spending my days with them. We have so much fun!

So, here are some of the things we will be learning about:

Winter, bears, hibernation.
Writing a sentence with uppercase at the beginning, spaces between the words, and punctuation (or period) at the end. Ask your student about "spaghetti and meatballs". We use them at school in our writing. It helps us remember spacing. A "spaghetti" space between the letters, and a "meatball" space between the words. Sometimes little brains get moving so fast and thinking about the next letter or word, they forget to leave the important spaces in between. We talk about how the spaces are as important as the letters in forming words and defining where they start and stop.
Writing our last names.
Writing numbers to 20, counting to 50 and adding numbers to 5.
We will work on beginning sounds, ending sounds and medial sounds. (we will be tested on those the 2nd week of January)

Watch for the homework packet to come home. It is practicing for our big test coming up. Please work hard on it each day so the students will be well prepared. I have seen huge improvement in class, I hope it will show as we assess the students in the next couple of weeks. We only have one more time to show what we really know! If you have questions about it please call or write me a note.

I will post our sight words for January tomorrow (I keep forgetting to bring the list home).

Remember news days, library is on Wednesdays, and students need a coat or jacket for the cold weather.

Thank you so much for the generous gifts you all gave me for Christmas. Don't worry, I ate all the candy, soaked in the tub and watched videos! I'm sure my few trips to the gym didn't begin to do justice to all the holiday cheer I enjoyed! Now I will pay for it the next few weeks as I try to fit back into my clothes! I missed the kids and thought of them often over the holiday. I had a wonderful time with my family as I hope you all did too! I appreciate you all so much. I am most thankful for the opportunity to share your children. They bless my life in so many ways. I am grateful to spend each day with them, and I am so excited to see them again! I love Kindergarten!

Upcoming:
There will be no school on January 16 for Martin Luther King Holiday.
Our Dibels test (reading) will be the week of January 16. Our Kindergarten Winter Assessment will be the week of January 23. Whew! We have our work cut out!

If any of you have time we would love to have you come spend it with us. Mon, Tue, and Fri, from 10:45-11:15 or 2:45-3:15. We love volunteers in the classroom.

Finally, here are some of the great moments our special North Pole visitor shared with us. And some pics of the read-a-thon...or eat-a-thon...whichever it was!