Holidays/Gingerbread

 What a busy week!

We started with making our names in colorful tree lights.  Students had to tell how many letters were in their name, count out their lights, write the letters in their name, and then string them together.  Students also made parent gifts :)  Students practiced giving a gingerbread kid a trail to follow by going to the numbers in order.  

Students also practices the Gingerbread show that went WONDERFULLY last night.  If anyone has pictures they would like on the school facebook page or would like to share with the rest of the parents, I can collect them in my email and make a google album to share with all parents.  If you would like to share, send them to my email sgloudemans@stedwardk5.org.

Chippy continued to get into mischief in out room through out the week!    

• Monday, he was hanging out on our tree
• Tuesday, he got all wrapped up in the tape while making an art project on our board
• Wednesday he made a snow angel in the dots from our hole punch
• Thursday, he took a nap in our kleenex box!

The letter of the week was Uu. 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 U with their drink Umbrellas.  On Thursday, our letter of the week project was to read a page from our alphabet book, U is for Umbrella.   

Special note about Dress up Days:

Because next week is so festive, we will be having dress up days.  

• Monday, kids can wear holiday colors, ugly sweaters, etc.  All clothing must fit into our dress code (1 inch straps, Mid-thigh (close to the knee), closed toed shoes, no midriff showing, etc)

• Tuesday, kids can wear pajamas, slippers, and bring stuffed animals.  Please wear the appropriate clothing/shoes to school for traveling and walking in the snow.  A snow storm is predicted to start on Tuesday so we want kids warm during travel.  All clothing must fit into our dress code (1 inch straps, Mid-thigh (close to the knee), closed toed shoes, no midriff showing, etc) 

Important Notes:

• Mondays have been crazy getting back to school, finding Chippy the elf, getting ready for programs, St. Nick, etc so we have been having some trouble making it to library on Mondays.  We still make an effort to get to the library once a week-usually by Tuesday things have calmed down enough to make it there.  Sorry for any confusion this has caused.  Please continue to return books on Monday and we will continue to PLAN on having library on Mondays (*and we shall see what happens*)

• Please help your child by allowing them to dress themselves in their winter outerwear.  We are always here to help your child dress, but the more they can do on their own, the faster we get outside and the more likely we will to have outdoor time.  (We have not been getting out because the kids simply can't get dressed fast enough in the time we have yet).  Here is the order we teach them to help them be most successful. Also things that can help: zippers up on snowpants before putting them on, velcro outside of our feet when putting boots on, mittens last so you can zip your own coat.
• December is always a busy month, so here is the    

Schedule of Events for December:

• December 23 is a half day. Because this is before the holiday and staff will be going home, extended day students have 2 options:
• 1. Leave at 11 with the rest of 4k
• 2. Go to extended day and leave at 12:30 with the rest of the school.   
• You may get a notification from HASD telling you there is all day 4k.  This just means the public program will be running both their AM and PM sessions.  PM 4k will be in session but NOT our extended day program.  
• December 24-January 4 Winter Break (Classes Resume Monday Jan 5)

•  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. 
• 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 January 29 .  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. Make reading fun and exciting for your child.

Next Week:
Theme: Christmas/Holidays
Letter of the Week: None
Snack: School Supplied/Left Overs