During the upcoming week we will be reviewing many of the topics that we have been covering in class the last few weeks. Students will spend time going over their high frequency words, playing our math games, reading our letter of the week poems, and of course blending the sounds together from our jolly phonics program. We will continue to practice our reading strategies of 'get your mouth ready' and 'use picture clues' as well as work on reading independently for an extended period of time.

A new topic we will focus on is our 5 senses. The class will be introduced to the 5 senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell) through read alouds, short video clips, and hands on experiences. There also will be opportunities to visit our wonder center which will be filled with 5 senses materials. Our study of the 5 senses will carry into the following week and will lead into our next unit of study in science, nutrition.

I enjoyed meeting with many of you last week to talk about your child’s progress and I still have a few more of you to meet with this week as well. I always have a lot to share and usually run out of time for some of the more personal things that I wish I could talk about. As a parent I know that although you appreciate hearing about academics during conferences you sometimes want to be sure I am getting to know your child on a personal level too. I truly try to learn as much as I can about your child’s interests, likes, dislikes, etc during the year we spend together. Some students open up more than others though so please feel free to let me know anything about your child that you think would help me! Sending me an email with any quick comments or questions is always ok!

The book fair will be in the LMC until Wednesday night. There are a lot of great books available so you may want to set aside some time to visit! There will be a classroom wish list at the book fair. These books would be used in our classroom to support our curriculum or for the children to read at free reading time. KW students LOVE to read!

This week is supposed to be COLD and I always like to remind everyone again how difficult it is to get coats, hats, scarves, boots, snow pants, etc on 26 kids, 3 times a day, in a timely manner. It is very helpful if your child can COMPLETELY dress themselves in their winter gear (including putting back on and tying their shoes). There are still several children who cannot zip their own coats (some coats are cute but very hard to zip), pull sleeves back (especially from those coats that have that zip in extra layer), or reattach hoods/fur that come off their coats. I truly appreciate any time you spend helping your child learn to complete these tasks on their own. We do go outside most days so be sure your child is dressing appropriately for the weather and LABEL your child’s items….the lost and found box is already filling up!

Enjoy having Monday off. My own boys have school so I am home alone and going to spend some time doing some of my favorite things…shopping and reading!!! J