Looking ahead:

• Friday, March 28: Spring Picture Day and FREE Dress Down Day
• March 31-April 4: Spring Break NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, April 1: Final day for yearbook sales. Purchase online through this LINK (Elementary Yearbook ID: 15110625)

Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:

Comprehension Strategy/Skill: “Reread”/”Fact and Opinion” . We read several different texts to go along with our theme “What do you know about our country?”

New High Frequency Words (Power Words): “this” and “what” (know how to spell “what”)

New sound, spelling and handwriting: /y/ Yy and /z/ Zz

Vocabulary: country, travel, careful, connect, purpose

Math: Lesson 21: Subtract Within 10. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Science: We have been watering and watching our wheatgrass grow like crazy! This week we noticed the grass leans slightly toward the light, so we turned our plants today to see if they would turn and continue to bend towards the sun.

3rd term grades are available in Aspire. You can view the overall subject grade under “Unofficial Report Card”. For detailed scores by individual standards go to “Complete Progress Report”.  For Citizenship go to “Citizenship Log”.  (Make sure you have selected Term 3). Congratulate your child on their hard work!

(For more detailed instructions on using Aspire follow this link)

You will find your child’s latest progress monitoring scores leading up to end-of-year testing in their take home folder today (along with some tests they took this quarter). After looking through them, please let me know if you have any questions. They’ve shown amazing growth and we want to continue working hard to push through these last few weeks and show all the progress we’ve made! Thanks for all you do at home to continue helping your child! It always amazes me how scores continue to grow with consistent practice (and how they drop when our practice starts to relax).

Looking ahead:

• Friday, March 14: Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: End Term 3 (Report Cards available online in Aspire)
• Monday, March 17: Students are welcome to wear a St. Patrick’s Day themed top with uniform pants
• Friday, March 21: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 28: Spring Picture Day and FREE Dress Down Day
• March 31-April 4: Spring Break NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, April 1: Final day for yearbook sales. Purchase online through this LINK (Elementary Yearbook ID: 15110625)

Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Make, confirm, and revise predictions”/”Main Story Elements: Character, Setting, Events” . We read several different texts to go along with our theme “What can help you go from here to there?”

New High Frequency Words (Power Words): “here” and “me”

New sound, spelling and handwriting: /j/ Jj and /q/ Qq (spelled qu_ and has two sounds /k//w/)

Vocabulary: transportation, vehicle, fierce, wide, journey

Math: Lesson 20 “Add within 10” and Test. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Science: This week, students planted wheat berry seeds. Over the next week or two, we’ll be learning that plants need water and light to grow, and watching our wheat berries sprout.

You can support your child’s curiosity at home by keeping household plants! You can grow them from seeds, or buy them full-grown at the store. Invite your child to choose a plant that they find interesting. Then encourage your child to think about how best to meet the plant’s needs (such as how often to water it, and where to place it so that it gets sunlight).

Spring pictures will be taken during school on Friday, March 28. Students will be allowed to dress down for these photos while maintaining dress code standards (e.g: No bare shoulders or footwear with an open toe or open heel). Photos are optional, so please answer the questions in this FORM to state your preference for your student. Only students who have pre-ordered photos will be photographed. Orders due by March 27. Please note that there will not be a retake day for these photos. Thank you!

We are now beginning Unit 8 in Language Arts. Below are the sight words, oral vocabulary words, letters, and sounds we will be mastering during the next 3 weeks.  In addition, we continue to read decodable books and passages. You can encourage us to read the passages we bring home each week.

Looking ahead:

• Friday, March 7: Daddy/Daughter Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: End Term 3
• Friday, March 21: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 28: Spring Picture Day and FREE Dress Down Day
• March 31-April 4: Spring Break NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, April 1: Final day for yearbook sales. Purchase online through this LINK (Elementary Yearbook ID: 15110625)

Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Make, confirm, and revise predictions” and “cause and effect”. We read different stories to go along with our theme “Where do animals live?”

New High Frequency Words (Power Words): “said” and “want” (know how to spell “said”)

New sound, spelling and handwriting: /v/ Vv and /x/ Xx

Vocabulary: complain, habitat, join, stubborn, wild

Math: Completed Lesson 19 “Compose and Decompose 8 and 9” and started Lesson 20 “Add Within 10”. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Science: This week, we learned that plants and animals are alive! We observed that all living things must meet certain needs to stay healthy. You can ask your child to show you how a plant grows bigger and healthier when it gets enough water and sunlight.

Here are the Math Facts Fluency pages we’ve been working on in class. In Kindergarten, students need to be able to solve math facts within 10 and fluently within 5 (1+4, 2+3, 0+4, 5-2, 3-1, etc.). We’ve included facts within 10 in these timings, to help prepare them for first grade. (You’ll find all of them by clicking on the tabs at the bottom).

Some students have shown interest in working on these at home (yay!). Our goal is to complete 25 facts/minute. (The only exception is adding and subtracting 0; they need 30 in a minute). For some students, the hardest part isn’t the facts, but forming/writing the numbers quick enough, so practicing writing numbers might be a good place to start.

Tip:If you slip the timings into a sheet protector and use a dry erase marker, they can practice over and over without making lots of copies.

For flashcards you can print at home click here: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards

*If you’re unable to see the timings, please email me lteichert@questac.org and I will share the google sheet with you directly.

It has been our experience that daylight savings time can be a challenging transition for our young students. The time change can really affect a child’s attention span, appetite, and overall mood.

There are several things you can do now to help:

• Gradually set bedtime a little earlier each night (15 min a night works well)
• Gradually wake them up a little earlier each morning (15 min a morning also)
• Dim lights and turn off electronics 30-60 minutes before bedtime
• In the morning, give them light (turn on lights, open blinds, enjoy breakfast outside, go for a sunrise walk)
• Stick with a bedtime routine (warm bath, read a book together, lights out)
• Be patient (Understand that time change can change their overall mood; they can be grumpy, easily frustrated, and challenging)
• Take care of yourself, get plenty of sleep. If you are tired, you will be sluggish, irritable, and cranky too.

Looking Ahead:

• Friday, March 7: Daddy/Daughter Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: End Term 3
• Friday, March 21: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 28: Spring Picture Day and FREE Dress Down Day
• March 31-April 4: Spring Break NO SCHOOL

Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Make, confirm, and revise predictions”/”Problem and Solution” . We read different stories to go along with our theme “How do you take care of different kinds of pets?”

2 New High Frequency Words (Power Words): “of” and “they” (know how to spell both)

New sound, spelling and handwriting: /g/ Gg and /w/ Ww

Vocabulary: responsibility, train, compared, depend, social

Math: Lesson 19 “Compose and Decompose 8 and 9”

Science: We introduced an anchor phenomenon for our new unit about the needs of plants. We saw a collection of examples of plants that have grown onto other objects without anyone having put the plants there. We wondered how this could happen. Students generated observations and questions about the phenomenon and we created a list of possible explanations for the phenomenon.

The National Junior Honor Society is organizing a book drive! If you have any gently used or new books to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!