A few important updates:
1) Spring Scavenger Hunt sign-up
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar_jC1wzwJj8dHZUV2hWYjdLVU1PREo0dGthb1I1elE&usp=sharing

2) Science-Go-Round
Science-Go-Round is this THURSDAY, March 27. Students must bring a BAG LUNCH on this day.  We will be eating in our classrooms so please plan accordingly.  Sorry for the late notice.  Please email with any questions.

3) Friday's Read-A-Thon!
*Wear your pajamas
*Bring $1.00 for milk and cookies (for us to enjoy while we are reading during the day)
*Bring a few favorite books to share

4) Go Bags
A while ago, some of you requested that Go Bags be sent home on Fridays (instead of Mondays) so that students can have extra time with their books at home, over the weekend.  I started sending Go Bags home on Fridays, but neglected to share this with you.  Go bags will go home Fridays (instead of Mondays) and can stay at home through the weekend and the following week.  Students will have the opportunity to read their books Friday evening through the following Thursday evening.  Thank you for your flexibility with this!  I hope this is working out well for all of you.

WAKE Up and Read Book Drive

Don’t forget to send in your gently used books for JYJ’s WAKE Up and Read Book Drive.  Our school goal is to collect 2,000 books, but within a few days so far, we have collected over 500 books!   So scrounge around your bookshelves and send in those books that you no longer need and benefit another child within Wake County who does not have access to books.

 Kindergarten Spring Scavenger Hunt: The date has not been set, but our class will be having a Spring Scavenger Hunt and we need your help!  I have attached a sign up sheet to the blog.  We need filled plastic Easter eggs.  If you can help, please go to the sign up sheet and put your name beside the item.  We have a scavenger hunt for specific eggs – children will hunt for the eggs that have the following written on the outside of the egg with a sharpie:

S, P, R, I, N, G, a circle, a square, a triangle,  a rectangle, a smiley face and their initials. 

So each child will end up with 12 eggs!  So you can see we need LOTS of eggs!!!  The sign up sheet should explain how you can specifically prepare eggs.  Please DO NOT put chocolate or unwrapped jelly beans into the eggs.  Stickers, tattoos, life savers, individually wrapped bags of candy, trinkets, etc. are great to use!  If you sign up to help, please send in all eggs by APRIL 11 !!!  THANK YOU!!

 What’s Going on in Kindergarten?

Reading: We continue to build our understanding of story elements.   Practice having your child read their text two times  - the first time to word work and the second time to remember the story.   Practice retelling the characters, setting and sequence of events.  We are beginning to focus on making a connection to the text.  Here are the different types of connections that we are making:

1.          Text to Self – “This story reminds me of something in my own life.”

2.       Text to Text – “This story reminds me of another book that I know.”

3.       Text to World – “This story reminds me of something that has happened in the world around me.”

Making a connection requires children to make inferences and requires much time to teach this skill and  plenty of practice.  Help your child to formulate connections as they read their books each night! 

Math:  We continue addition with numbers to make 10.  We are learning that addition word problems use specific language such as plus, more, altogether, and in all.  The children are practicing making their own simple one-step word problems.

Science:  We are continuing our study of weather.  We have conducted experiments with thermometers to learn how to read a thermometer and to build an understanding about how different temperatures impact our daily decisions. 

Things to remember:

March 27 – Science Go Round

March 27 – End of Quarter

March 28 – Read – a – Thon for Wake Up and Read Book Drive

March 10-14 

JYJ Book Drive

   JYJ is participating in the WAKE Up and Read Book Drive sponsored by WCPSS and Barnes & Noble. This program puts quality books in the hands of children who may not have reading materials at home otherwise.

   We’ve set a goal for our school to collect 2,000 children’s books March 2 – 28. On March 28 the entire school will have a Pajama Day and set aside a time to “WAKE Up and Read” our favorite books from 8:30 – 9:00. If our school collects 2,000 books by March 28, our principal, Mrs. Hutchinson, has promised to wear a rooster costume on that day!

   We are also having a friendly competition here to see which grade level can bring in the MOST books. The children at that grade level will receive a special treat. So look around, clean out your at-home library, and send in those books!

*So far, our classroom has brought in over 100 books!!

In Our Classroom:

   We are working with children on a number of skills during the month of March. We are practicing how to identify characters and the setting in stories and being able to retell at least 3 things that happened in a story we have read. They are coming home with bookmarks in their go bags that they can "touch" to help them remember what to retell.  We are introducing the sh, ch, and th diagraphs in Letterland, including songs, activities, and stories to help us remember the sounds they make.

   We also ask that you work with your child at home on recognizing vowel sounds. They are quite tricky and take a LOT of practice to get right. In Letterland the short vowel sounds are made by Annie Apple, Eddy Elephant, Impy Ink, Oscar Orange, and Uppy Umbrella. The long vowel sounds are made by Mr. A (the Apron Man), Mr. E (the Easy Magic Man), Mr. I (the Ice Cream Man), Mr. O (the Old Man), and Mr. U (the Uniform Man).

   In math we are learning how to solve addition word problems. We are learning vocabulary associated with addition problems with words like “and”, “too”, “altogether”, "more" and “in all”. We are starting with small numbers and not worrying too much about using the plus sign (+) and the equal sign (=), but those will come in time. Soon, we will solve problems using larger numbers with sums up to 20. We will also learn how to add using more than 2 addends.  

SUPPLIES WE CURRENTLY NEED (please and thank you!):

-Lucky Charms Cereal - we need 4 boxes total

-Lysol Wipes (we are low and will continuously need these)

-Coins (chocolate-foiled "gold" coins) - we need 10 bags 

*I will remove/update items as they come in*