Ms. Nicky and Ms. Julie’s News
Happy February! We have completed our STEM Unit of Study on Friends and Family. It was so fun to see pictures of everyone’s families and to read letters from faraway family and friends. We ended the unit with a Design Challenge where all of the students had to work together, as friends and family do, to get a lost baby back to our classroom. There were a lot of creative ideas, and the students loved trying to figure it out! We will now be working on a Music Unit. Ms. Julie is working to arrange having students from Frederick High School come and perform for us, as well as arranging a field trip over to Thunder Valley to meet with music students there. Hopefully, we can get it worked out. If you are musically inclined or know somebody who is, please let me know. We would love for others to share their talent with us!
STEM Profile of the Month: Creative
“I use my imagination while making, building, and doing things.”
Books to encourage being creative:
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
the dot by Peter Reynold
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Our second round of parent-teacher conferences will be held February 7-9. Please return your day/time request form as soon as possible, especially if your availability is limited. Also, please indicate at least 2 times that would work for you, as I’m not always able to accommodate everyone’s first request. I am also available between 11:15-12:00, and right at 3:10 on those days, if it works better for you to meet right after picking up your child from class. If you would like to do that, please let me know either by indicating it on the form, or by just letting me know. I look forward to speaking with you about your child’s progress!
Working With Your Child at Home
Please continue to read with your child at home. Don’t forget-MyOn is a great resource for reading with your child. If you have lost your child’s log-on information or would like some help getting started, please let me know.
Also, while doing the GOLD assessments, an area that I noticed that many students were struggling with was subitizing–that is, instantly knowing “how many” of something there are without counting. We would like students to be able to subitize up to 5 before entering kindergarten. Some easy ways to do this at home are holding up a certain number of fingers and asking your child, “How many?” Also, at mealtime, you can place a small number of a food item on your child’s plate and ask, “How many?” If you have a dice at home that has dots on it, rather than numbers, have your child roll the dice and tell you how many dots there out without counting them. Being able to subitize is a great foundation for building number sense.
Valentine’s Day Celebration
We will be having a Valentine’s Day Celebration in our class on Tuesday, February 14. The morning celebration will run from 10:30-11:10, and the afternoon celebration will be from 2:25-3:05. If you would like your child to give out Valentines in class, please leave the “To” portion of the Valentines blank and just have your child sign their name on their Valentines. We request that each child bring a box or bag that they have designed in order to collect their Valentine cards.
Attendance
Please continue to make every effort to get your child to school EVERY DAY ON TIME, unless they are sick. We have a school-wide goal of reaching a 96% attendance rate. If our school meets this goal for the second trimester (November 10, 2016-February 24, 2017), there will be a Magic Show in early March for families to attend for free!
Important Dates
February 6: All-School Movement
February 7-9: Parent-Teacher Conferences
February 9: Pajama Day-Bring $1 and wear your P.J.’s to school
February 14: Valentine’s Day Celebrations
February 20: President’s Day–NO SCHOOL
February 23: PBIS Award
February 27-March 3: Read Across America Week–Dr. Seuss Reading Celebration