Mrs. Gloudemans' Class News: Week 12--Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful first week back. Please thank your child for being such a good listener and so nice to me when I got back for me!

This week we talked about Thanksgiving and Turkeys. We started off Monday with listening to what number the teacher said and what color the teacher said and coloring the right feather the right color. Students did great with the listening part. We are still working on number recognition, but a lot of students figured out the trick of being able to start at one and count up to find the number they needed. Good problem solving!

We had our first Reading with the Stars Monday night and it went well! There was a good turn out and students looked like they had fun reading and doing the art book with us. We will not be having a "traditional" December Reading with the Stars. We will be having a reader's theater where all children will have have a small speaking part to show off for you. We will be collecting and decorating stars still.

On Wednesday, students put turkeys in size order. This seems like an easy skill, but it does indeed take practice to realize that there is an order to things. Students did well with this as well. They are really getting quick at their cutting too! Students also worked on counting the "dice dots" on the turkey's body and then finding the right feather to glue on the X marks the spot. This took some listening, practice, fine motor skills, number recognition (again we are still working on this but are providing lots of practice), and art in one activity. Students were already better at number recognition by Wednesday than they were on Monday! One way we help them with numbers are number rhymes. This helps know what they look like as well as how to write them. Below are the rhymes.

Click on image to enlarge

As the weather decided to snow on us this week, we also added a getting dressed visual in the hall for our students. We encourage kids to do all their winter dressing on their own and only asking for help after trying. We put things on in a specific order to help up get dressed most successfully. Students are doing pretty well with this! One thing we encourage you to work on at home (yes, we know it takes more time) is to let them try to do their own zippers. It is a great self help and fine motor skill that they are right at the age of being able and expected to do.

The letter of the week was Rr. We learned the sign language for a letter, the literacy link sound symbols, the letter sound, and looking at and writing it in both capital letters and lower case letters. Click here to view the many ways we learn the letter of the week!

Each week we watch letter videos from "Have Fun Teaching" and the students are really picking up the names of letters, formations, and the sounds of letters. Check out these videos with you child! Click HERE.

The Tuesday project of letter of the week is to decorate a letter with something that starts with the letter. This week we decorated the letter R with Ribbons. On Thursday, our letter of the week project was to read a page from our alphabet book, R is for Rabbit.

Thursday, students got to wear R crowns because they were the kings, queens, princes, princesses of the letter R because they worked so hard on them all week. Encourage them to say the letter R, to make the R sound, To make the R sign language and have fun with the letter. When they are having fun, they are learning....and they love learning with you!

Book orders are coming home as we get more fliers. Please know you can use books (and we highly encourage it) for gifts at the holiday time. The more we can get excited about reading, the more they will enjoy it and thrive doing it! If you would like a book order to be a gift, please just send an email or note and we will make sure to get that order to you discreetly and not allow your child to see the package. We usually tell them that the paper bag all taped up we put in their bags is their parents homework. Also, remember, your Scholastic book orders help us to buy supplies and more books for our room as well! Check out our new white board stickers we were able to purchase with the points we earned this far in the year!

Important Notes:

Thanksgiving Week is quickly approaching. Please know that we will only have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Morning (Nov 24, 25, 26). There will be no extended day or after school care for those who typcially stay all day. If you typically stay all day, you have 3 options for that day. 1. pick up at 11 when 4k lets out 2. Attend the Thanksgiving lunch (only open to those who typically are here for lunch at school) at 11:30 3. Pick up your child at 12:30 after the Thanksgiving lunch (they will eat lunch with the class).
Dress for the weather. Please send your child dressed for the weather as we go outside as long as it is not raining or below 0*(students are more than welcome to bring layers daily or to leave in their lockers) It may also be time to change out the change of clothes to make sure they are weather appropriate. If you send a new change of clothes, we will send the warm weather clothes in their backpacks.
Folders. Please be checking your child's daily folder each night. We put notes on the notebook pages in their folders as well as any notes we may have for you. Artwork is also sent home this way. As we start letter of the week, we will also start sending home homework to help reinforce the letter concept and identification. Please work on this with you child to help the students make the connection between home and school.
Also, Please check the student's Wednesday Folders. Please try to take info out and return the folder and any forms/info/payments in those folders a day or two after receiving.
Literacy Bags come home every three weeks. Students will have a week to complete the project inside and can then return the bag with completed sheets in it on TUESDAYS.
Library Books come every week. We go to library on Monday and student have the opportunity to check out a book and keep it for a week. It can be kept in their back packs or at home, but please remember to bring it on Mondays.
Book Order due November 26. Please click on the link for scholastic at the top of this page. When you buy books for your child, it helps buy books and supplies for our classrooms. Start thinking about making book orders a part of your child's holiday presents! Make reading fun and exciting for your child.
Send in those family photos!