Welcome Back/Weather

Well...it was only appropriate that we were learning about weather this week since we got a snow day and delayed start! The kids are taking the lead on what they want to research and learn about weather from our KWL chart... they had some great questions and are mostly interested in EXTREME weather. (Who could blame them?)

We had a really great first week back and I loved hearing about their winter breaks! I was so impressed with the number of kids who completed their whole packet and was happy to see that there wasn't much regression from our long break! One kiddo even learned about weather at home during the snow day! (SO proud!)

Ask Your Child About:

-Phonics: Long vowels vs. short vowels- How do we mark above a long vowel? A short vowel? Is the o in hot short or long? (short) What about in hope? (long- bossy E)

-Reading: What is your favorite pointer to use during small group?

-Science: What tools help us measure weather? What does a windsock tell us? What gives the Earth heat? (The sun)

-Math: We took our addition and subtraction assessment and they did so well! We started an introduction to 3d shapes- What is the difference between 2d and 3d shapes? (2d shapes are flat, 3d shapes are "fat")

-Writing: What is the best thing to do in winter? What do you have to check for once you're done writing? (punctuation, capitalization, sight words)

Reminders:

-Learning Commons on Monday! Send in your books!

-Please see my email asking for your help if you haven't yet! Don't forget to write why you love Mountain View and send it in to school or email me AND/or review us on Facebook & Great Schools! :) (Optional of course, but greatly appreciated)

-Friday is a Professional Development day (No School) and Monday is Martin Luther King Day (No School)

-Sight Words: I'm noticing fewer sight word punch cards in homework folders- I sent home Q3 punch cards on Friday. Please make sure you are practicing new sight words and reviewing old ones! They are the key to reading fluency and success! :)

-Last Names: Please make sure you are practicing how to write your last name at home! They get new name tags this week!

**FYI: We read a "SkippyJon Jones" book ("Snow What?") this week and the kids absolutely LOVED this book and have been begging to read more books about the "Chihuahua." There are many books, so if you're looking for a super fun read aloud for home, check these out! You have to read them with a LOT of expression and brush up your Spanglish though! :)

Thank you for your endless support at home (and school). I can't tell you how grateful I am to be at Mountain View and to have this particular group of munchkins. I hope you had a wonderful warmer weekend!

With SO much love,

Ms. Ham