March Newsletter

What We've Been Working On In March: · Language Arts/Reading: We have been working on beginning and ending sounds. Please keep working on reading with your child. They have all grown so much in this area! · Math: We learned the penny, nickel, and dime, how much they are worth, and how to exchange them. We’ve also focused on simple addition and writing a number model (1 + 4= 5). The students have also learned some subtraction! · Social Studies: We have started to learn about maps (how to read a map, what things are on a map, what we can make maps of, etc.). This ties in with our Everyday Math Project for Unit 6. · Writing: Students have been working hard on using a finger space between each word in a sentence, using only an uppercase letter at the beginning of a sentence, and some form of punctuation at the end of the sentence. Please keep working at home with them on their writing. I am so proud of their progress! · Thank you for those who attended parent-teacher conferences! It’s always nice to talk with parents/guardians to see what they are working on at home. Important Dates: April 11-13th—No School Kindergarten Round-Up April 18th-Click, Clack Moo Field Trip April 22nd-No School Special points of interest: · Please continue to work on tying shoes at home. I still have a lot of kids who don’t know how to tie their shoes! · If you have not turned in the envelope that held your child’s report card from January, please send it back to school so we can use them again in May. Also, if you'd like to place a book order online, here is the information you'll need: Online Class Code: GT8GF www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Thanks! Ms. Holden

Kindergartners Doing What?!?

I was very impressed with our Math skills today! These kindergartners (yes, kindergartners not first or second graders) were writing addition and subtraction models! We knew we were smart, but whoa. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We came into our room this morning and something terrible had happened! There were green footprints and green glitter EVERYWHERE! A leprechaun had snuck into our classroom and knocked over tables, chairs, three stuff off the kids' desks, and left his trail of green glitter behind. I wish I could have had a video of this morning because the kids were so loud and excited! :)

Kacey and Cayden feeling like the Leprechaun was crazy!

Tevin's face is PRICELESS! :)

Some of the kids' reactions when they walked in.

Grace trying to understand what happened.

FFA Visit

We had a couple of ladies from the high school FFA come in to read a couple of stories about agriculture with us. They also helped us do a craft--deciding what fruits and veggies grow on trees, vines, and underground.

February Newsletter

What We Have Been Working On In February:

· Language Arts/Reading: We have been working on blending and segmenting and also beginning and ending sounds. Challenge them with these skills whenever you have a few minutes. These are important skills when reading and all the students are reading, even if its only a word they see up around the room. It is a very exciting experience for us!
· Math: Our main focus has been measuring using our feet and standard feet and making sure we use a label (F for feet). We’ve also focused on simple addition and writing a number model (1 + 4= 5).
· Science: Nathan from Jasper County Conservation was here to talk about Groundhogs Day and also about fish.
· Social Studies: We learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
· Writing: Students have been working hard on using a finger space between each word in a sentence, using only an uppercase letter at the beginning of a sentence, and some form of punctuation at the end of the sentence. They have come so far since the beginning of the year. Please keep working at home with them on their writing. I am so proud of their progress!


Important Dates:

March 17th and 22nd– Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 23rd-27th– Spring Break-No School


Special points of interest:

· Please continue to work on tying shoes at home. I still have a lot of kids who don’t know how to tie their shoes!
· Please remember to try to get your student to school on time (before 8:10) each morning.
· Conferences will be held at the same time you signed up for last Fall. I will be sending a note home next week with the time and date of your conference. Please let me know if this doesn’t work for you.


Please feel free to contact me at any time!
Phone Number:
(641) 792-2498 ext. 1548
Email:
holdenm@newton.k12.ia.us

Everyday Math

We have been working really hard the last couple of weeks. Some of the main areas we have focused on for math are: symmetry, simple addition (to 12), bigger/smaller numbers, making/identifying shapes. Today, we learned a new game called Attribute Spinner Game. Students spin three different times on different spinners (shape, color, size) and choose the shape out of the bag that matches.

Some pictures include students playing a game called Top-It. This is kind of like War. The student with the bigger number gets to keep the cards. What amazed me was when three of my students asked if they could play the game a different way. I asked them what they meant. They wanted to play a version where the person with the lowest card gets to keep the cards. I definitely encouraged this and we named this version Drop-It. :) What smart kids!

Enjoy these pictures!

Working hard on a Symmetrical Snowflake!

Students at this center are playing Top-It.

Here, students are rolling two dice. They have to add the two dice together and mark the sum on their graphs.

At this center, students are playing the Disappearing Train Game. Students start with ten cubes and they roll the dice to see how many to take away. There are two other versions of this as well. The Growing Train game--Student start with zero blocks and they roll the green dice to start making their train (goal to get to 10). The other version is the Growing/Disappearing Train game. For this game, students roll the yellow dice. If the number on the yellow die is green, they add. If it is red, they take away (goal to get to 10).

These last few pictures are of students playing our new Attribute Spinner Game that we learned today.

January Newsletter

What We Have Been Working On In January:

· Language Arts: We have been working on blending and segmenting and also beginning sounds. Challenge them with these skills whenever you have a few minutes.
· Math: We are starting to do simple addition problems! Students also have worked a lot on number stories (word problems).
· Science: Katie Cantu from Jasper County Conservation was here to talk about the story The Mitten. We also enjoyed studying penguins. The kids loved seeing the pictures and videos of the different species of penguins.
· Handwriting Without Tears: Students have learned all the uppercase and almost all the lowercase letters. They are starting to build sentences on their own and it is very exciting to see their progress! Please have them practice writing at home.
· For our Valentine’s Day Party we need milk jugs to use as our Valentine holders. If you could please wash out and bring in any milk jugs, I would appreciate it!
· Please contact Holly Dale (swthrt_26@hotmail.com OR 641-791-2347) or Stephanie Foye-Huegel (ssfoye@yahoo.com) if you are willing to provide for our party. Here is what we need: 22 plates,22 napkins, 22 cups, 22 treats, and something for the kids to drink.


Important Dates:

February 14th– Our Valentine’s Day Party
February 18th– No School
February 21st– No School


Special points of interest:

· Please send your child’s collection of 100 things to school on Monday!
· Book Orders: due February 11th. Online code: GT8GF
· Also can you please work on tying shoes at home? I still have a lot of kids who don’t know how to tie their shoes!


Please feel free to contact me any time! :)