Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Sadly we only have 1 more visit to the library. Tuesday May 10th. Please make sure you have all library books returned by the 10th and, if any, library fees paid to the office by Friday May 13th. I will be sending home over due notices as I get them from Mrs. Anderson our Librarian.

Your child has worked SO hard this year and deserves to maintain or even increase his/her skills over the summer!  Here are some ideas for keeping your child learning over the summer:

#1: READ!  

No other skill is more important to maintain over the summer months.  Children who read regularly are shown to have higher intelligence and general knowledge, less stress, better fluency, improved analytical thinking, broader vocabulary, better memory and increased writing skills. Please use every opportunity (long car rides, waits at the dentist/doctor, before bedtime, etc.) to have your child read to you.

• Your child’s RAZ Kids account will still be available to you over the summer. https://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login 

• Visit the public library.  Your public library has excellent resources for choosing appropriate books for your child.  Weber County library has a reading program for this summer called “DOODLEBUGS,” which begins June 6th and ends August 13th.  Check it out!! Barnes and Noble offers a “Summer Reading Triathlon” – pick up a triathlon journal from one of the Barnes and Noble stores! Or check out some great online resources, such as: 
• http://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/?grade=kindergarten
• http://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-6-7
• http://www.public.asu.edu/~diann/Bibliographies/leveledbooks.htm.
• The last link is very helpful because the list shows books based upon A-Z levels.  Your child has been told what letter he/she has been leveled at.  If he/she doesn’t remember, it is a good idea to find a recognizable title that you know is within your child’s reading range and begin from there.

• Participate in the SCHOLASTIC SUMMER READING CHALLENGE!!!  
  Below you will find the link, sign up sheet, usernames and passwords, andsuggested reading list for parents/students to get started on the Summer Challenge for Scholastic!  Once you have logged in you can change the password as some of them are pretty long. The challenge is for all the schools nationwide to compete for logging the most minutes read during the summer, which actually starts on Monday, May 9th.  If our school logs the most minutes, we will get to be featured in the 2017 Scholastic World Record Book, which would be VERY cool.   Click below to get started!
• CLICK HERE for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge Sign-Up Instructions
• CLICK HERE for the Scholastic Booklist
• CLICK HERE for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge Usernames and Passwords

#2: Write!

Writing is “backwards reading” and not only improves your child’s writing skills, but also improves his/her reading skills as well.  Encourage your child to use best penmanship and to sound out words phonetically, and assist your child in creating complete sentences that include proper use of upper and lower-case letters, and to include proper punctuation.

#3: Math!

We learned SO many different math skills this year and it is important that your child remember these skills so that he/she can build on them in 1st grade!  Review basic addition and subtraction up to 10, counting to 100, 2 and 3-dimensional shapes, skip-counting, etc. with your child! 

• Your child’s IXL account will be available to him/her during the summer: ixl.com. Have your child review the kindergarten grade material, and, if you feel that your child has a good mastery, venture into some of the 1st grade material to keep things fresh and challenging.
• Your child’s X-Tra Math account will be available over the summer: https://xtramath.org/
• Find great online games and resources for sharpening math skills, including:
• Turtle Diary: http://www.turtlediary.com/games/kindergarten.html
• Umigo: http://www.umigo.com/
• Math Magician: http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html
• Education.com: http://www.education.com/games/kindergarten/math/

Homework packets and reading calendars for April will be due (Monday) May 2nd.  These assignments are a large portion of your child’s grade, so please return them on time.  

There will be no homework packets due for the month of May.  Instead, I would like for parents to keep reading every night and focus on baggy books only for the entire month.  Reading calendars will be due on (Friday) May 20th.  So, keep reading and reviewing any concepts that your child still struggles with.  

Don’t forget that Friday is early out day; school gets out at 10:00 (AM Class) and 1:00 (PM Class).  Friday is also our dollar dress down day.  

This week we have been reviewing adding and subtracting for our end of level testing (May 5th or May 6th). You could help your child this weekend by reviewing simple adding and subtracting problems and writing numbers 0-20. If you have not made an appointment for testing, please do so as soon as possible. Please remember to make sure your child gets plenty of rest and a nice breakfast the day of their test. Several students have been complaining during class that they came to school hungry. I only assigned three homework packets this month so that parents will have more time to review these important concepts before the end of level testing.

I’ve had a few questions about our end of year program on May 13th. Several parents have wondered if this will be the children’s last day of school. No, this is just a fun program to show parents some of the things we have been learning in kindergarten. The official last day of school will be May 27th. Also, parents, grandparents and friends are all welcome to come to our program. Please remember that both morning and afternoon classes will come to the Q2 gym at 8:30am (there will be no afternoon class that day). 

     Our last Scholastic Book order for the school year will be due (Monday) April 18th.  Be sure to order books for your kids to read over the summer!!  

   Also, thank you to all the parents and grandparents who helped out with our field trip last week!!!  The kids had so much fun.  

*  This is just a reminder that our combined AM/PM class field trip is this Friday, April 8th.  Please have your child at school on time at 8:30am wearing a blue uniform shirt.  We will be back around 12:00.  

*  Homework  and reading calendars are also due this week.  

*  I sent home a parent survey today with your student.  Please take a few minutes and fill this form out and return it as soon as possible.

These kids have spent countless hours practicing and getting ready. Enjoy a family night out and support Quest Academy’s Drama Club!

https://squareup.com/store/poqa?t=merchant-fb

POQA will deliver the tickets to each student after they purchase them. 

Scholastic book orders will be due Wednesday, March 23rd. 

Here are the latest totals for our school’s Tower of Books challenge.  The school challenge will continue until the end of April. The winners will get awesome prizes so keep checking those lists off!!!!!  If you need more lists, please let me or Mrs. Anderson, our librarian, know and we’ll be sure to get copies for you.

Below are four book lists. Read all the books on one list and sign at the bottum. Bring the list back and the librarian will give your student a paper book to create at home. When you bring this paper book back to school, our class gets a point and your student gets a prize. Then you can start again on the next book list.

 If you have any questions please feel free to ask me or the librarian.