25-29 de enero

 ¡Hola Familias!

Wow--100 days of school! Can you believe it?! I have to admit, if you had told me at the beginning of the school year that we'd make it to 100 days in person, I might not have believed you. What an incredible blessing it is to be learning in person together! 

We had a very special day today--first, we had a special guest teacher named Doña Raquel come visit our class. You may recognize her in the photo below. ;) She helped the kids practice the verb form Usted, which is used for older people and in more formal situations. It was a lot of fun, and she gave Maestra K-L a very good report! During our day we also made a 100-piece snack mix, read 100 words together, made certificates, and counted to 100 by 1s and 10s on our field trip to Pigeon Creek! We also enjoyed the sunshine while we played in the woods!

Here's what else we've been working on...

Reading / Lectura: Our syllables of the week were ra, re, ri, ro, ru. We already know LOTS of vocabulary words and are champs at finding the syllables all over the classroom! Additionally, we practiced classifying verbs into the yo (I), tú (you), and nosotros (we) forms.

Writing / Escritura: This week we have continued to work on instructivos, or how-to writing. We enjoyed some chocolate caliente con bonbones (hot chocolate with marshmallows) and practiced writing the steps!

Math / Matemáticas: Obviously, we did lots of work counting from 1-100 this week, both by 10s and by 1s. We also practiced recognizing teen equations and finding the missing part of a number (example: 7 = 3 + ?). 

Bible / Biblia: This week we learned how the israelitas were taken captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Even though these were dark times for Israel, God was always with them. We also learned about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who stood up for their faith even when standing alone. What powerful lessons we can take away from God's word!

Science / Ciencias: We continued our study of pushing and pulling by writing and drawing pictures of both actions.

Announcements

Families, please be sure your child has PE shoes on gym days. Boots are not as speedy and kids can't jump as high as they like when they're weighted down with big winter boots (it also creates quite a mess on the floor 😜)

Speaking of clothing....pants! We need pants! Our students have been in need of dry pants at various points throughout the day. We love to take them into our supply room for a nice, dry pants choice! Mrs. Chase, Mrs. Pereira and Mrs. Rynsburger have emptied out their stash of clothing from home. If you happen to have any old children's pants that still have life in them, we'd be so appreciative to take them off your hands! They'll be put to great use in our supply room! 

Wacky Wednesdays are Back!

Don't forget that this Wednesday, February 3rd, is Wacky Hair Day! This is always a popular one in my house! Can't wait to see the wackiness. :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and enjoy the sunshine today!

19-22 de enero

 ¡Hola Familias!

We are wrapping up a short, yet jam-packed week in Kindergarten! I hope you enjoyed the day off on Monday and were able to remember the legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left with us. This week we did more activities to learn about his story, his dream, and how we can practice fairness, justice, and equality in our daily lives at school. 

Here's what else we've been doing this week!

Reading / Lectura: This week we studied the syllables que and qui. That's right--there are only 2 syllables with the letter "q" in Spanish! We also reviewed similar-sounding syllables with "k" and "c". Finally, we practiced conjugating verbs into different forms, including yo (I), tú (you--informal), and él (he), ella (she), and usted (you--formal). 

Writing / Escritura: Continuing our how-to, or instructivo, unit, we learned how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this week! We learned new vocabulary words including unta (spread) and junta (put together). It was a fun and delicious activity!

Math / Matemáticas: This week we took our MAP growth tests during math time. I have been impressed with the growth I have seen in the kids! We also started using new math centers, practiced forming and counting numbers from 11-20, and worked on recognizing 5-groups within numbers.

Bible / Biblia: In Bible this week we finished our study of Eliseo (Elishah) and how he helped share God's love with others, including Naamán. We also learned about the boy king Josías as well as Estér, a brave queen who defended her people.

Science / Ciencias: This week we continued to practice using force and motion, emoujando y jalando (pushing and pulling) different toys and objects in the classroom in different ways. 

Report Cards

Your child's semester 1 report card went home on Wednesday this week in a sealed envelope. Please look it over and reach out to me if you have any questions. :)

100th Day of School

WOW! We've almost made it to our 100th day of school--IN PERSON! I am so incredibly thankful for this gift, both as a teacher and as a parent. :) We will be celebrating our 100th day of school this coming Friday, January 29th. Would you be willing to help us make a 100-piece snack mix? Check out our signup here.

We will also use the 100th day of school as an opportunity to practice the Spanish verb form for Usted, which is the formal "you" (e.g., when speaking to a teacher, a grandparent, or another person to whom you want to show respect). To practice this, we're going to dress up as if we are 100 years old on Friday!

Immersion Tip of the Week
We have been practicing simple addition and subtraction problems in math (mostly with numbers 1-5 and occasionally 1-10). This skill should easily transfer over into English. For fun, use a white board and write out a few problems. Ask your child how to do them--in either English or Spanish!

Reading Tip of the Week
When you are reading to your child this week, spice things up by reading with lots of expression. We have talked about some punctuation marks like puntos (.), signos de exclamación (!), signos de interrogación (?) and comas (,), so exaggerate them when you see them--or ask your child, "What does this symbol mean?"

Have a great weekend!

11-15 de enero

 

¡Hola Familias!

We're closing out another great week in kindergarten! This week we have been busy playing in the snow, cooperating together, and speaking LOTS of Spanish. I'm so proud of all of the kids for giving their best every day!

Here's what we've been up to...

Reading / Lectura: We have been studying the syllables va, ve, vi, vo, vu. We've also been working on differentiating between verb forms with yo (I) and tú (you, informal). This week I also completed another round of running records to see where each student is at in his/her reading. More information will come on your child's report card.

Writing / Escritura: This week we started a new theme of instructivos, or how-to

writing. We made some delicious limonada (limeade), a popular drink to make where I used to live in Mexico and south Texas. The kids had fun learning the word exprimir (squeeze) and practicing getting all the juice out of the limes!

Math / Matemáticas: This week we've been playing the "secret rule" game when we classify different objects. We have also been practicing seeing the parts in numbers, forming numbers 11-20, counting from 1-100, and even starting to write from 1-100! 

Bible / Biblia: We learned this week about the prophets Elías (Elijah) and Eliseo (Elishah) and how the listened to God and told the Israelites about Him. We learned how, in one of my favorite stories, Elías shows the prophets of Baal that his God is the one true God!

Social Studies / Estudios Sociales: We learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. by reading a book about how we are alike and different and how we can accept and love each other. We also wrote about our sueños (dreams) to make the world a better place.

Science / Ciencias: This week we continued practicing using force and motion by empujando (pushing) and jalando (pulling). We did this by making a class snowman and by playing on the swings together!

Reading Tip of the Week

Try introducing your child to a new book series. Some of our favorites are Hombre Perro, the Berenstain Bears, and the Magic Tree House books. If you aren't sure where to start, visit the library and try out some different ones!

Immersion Tip of the Week

Do you have Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu? Does your child have a favorite show or series? Try changing the language to Spanish this week! Or, search for some videos in Spanish on YouTube. Peppa Pig en español or Pocoyo is a great place to start.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy some more photos below!