1/6
We worked on the zero page in our number writing book. The children did a much better job paying attention to the lines today.
The 3rd graders led us in a very nice Mass celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany. Father Kevin talked to us about the unknowns surrounding the magi--we really don't know how many there were, if they were all men or if there were also women, nor do we know their names (they were given names at a later time).
We read the book
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert-ask your child to tell you about it. We created our own snowmen using doilies and other "good stuff". We will add some white paint (hopefully tomorrow) for the snow and then display them for the snowman celebration.
We read the book
Rainforest Homes and discussed why saving rainforests is important.
We used Unifix cubes to create AB, ABB, ABC and AABB patterns. Most children are getting quite good at creating and labeling patterns. The ABC pattern was the most difficult.
1/5
If you would like to order a copy of the school Christmas Concert and Kindergarten nativity play, there is a form on the school webpage to download and send into school with your child. The cost is $5 which covers the cost of the dvd and case. The address of the school website is:
http://www.saintwenceslaus.org/school_index.html
We are working more in our handwriting books. In the morning, instead of reading books, the children will be doing some handwriting work.
We talked about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose feast day was yesterday) and the Feast of the Epiphany (which is tomorrow). We read the Tomie dePaola book
Three Wise Kings.
We cleaned out our book bins and got new books. All of the color books we made came home today.
We are working hard on our songs and poems for the snowman celebration next week. I'm hoping we'll be able to sing 2 short songs and do one short poem. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.
1/4
Wow-did that school break go way too fast! The children were very tired today. If it was hard to get them in bed last night (like in my house!) it should be much easier tonight!
This is our last week with bus buddies. Starting next week, the kindergartners will walk out in a bus line with a teacher and the car rider line with a teacher. Mrs. Stavos and I will combine our classes on M-W-F and each take a line out. On Tues/Thurs. I will take both lines out.
The January book orders are coming home tomorrow. They are due on Thursday Jan. 14.
Here is the ordering information:
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
User Name: mrswetschka1st
Password: StWenc
Our new letter this week is Rr.
In religion we talked about the Feast of the Holy Family and did a Promise magazine from Christmas (there was just too much to get done before break to get them all in!).
We practiced writing our 2 new high frequency words (he and was) on our white boards-more fun than paper and pencil!
We looked back at some of the events in 2009 in a Time For Kids magazine.
In the computer lab, we worked on a new program called "Kidspiration"-it is a drawing and writing program for children. Each child "drew" a snowman on the computer and then created a sentence about it. We didn't worry about learning how to make capitals today, there was enough new information flying at them! We did use our best phonetic spelling, although it was difficult sometimes because it was hard to find some of the letters on the keyboard. For our first attempt, I thought it went great! Look for your child's project to be on display at the snowman celebration on January 14. We will be creating more snowman projects over the next week and a half.
We did some finger counting to help us see how we could make numbers in different ways (ex. to show 8, we could put up 3 fingers on one hand and 5 on the other or 4 on each hand). These kinds of activities lay the foundation for understanding addition.
We began a unit on the rainforest by creating a chart about what we know and want to learn about the rainforest. We also read the book The Umbrella by Jan Brett. Ask your child what other book we have read that is similar to The Umbrella.
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12/29
Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts and kind words that you shared with me! The greatest blessing is having your child in class and partnering with you in helping your child grow this year!