End of the Year Post - May 2021

We Did It!!!

It's hard to believe that your child's kindergarten year is about to end! 

When we started this year, we knew it would be different but didn't know exactly what to expect. I am so happy with the way it ended up! Being in school all year and doing most of the things we usually do (maybe not quite the same way) has been so nice. Going to the park last Friday was SO FUN and made things really feel like they are getting back to normal.  

I really have enjoyed getting to know this great group of students and seeing them learn and grow so much! One thing I have missed A LOT is being able to see and get to know all of you. I love having parents come in to help and being able to meet with you in person for conferences. I love talking about your children and having you get to know the class. I hope next year you are all able to be a part of more things and even though I won't have your children in class, I will love seeing you! 

Here are a few things that may be helpful to know:

-These next few days we will spend time doing some things to wrap up our year together. We will be cleaning, sharing memories, continuing to practice skills, and just enjoying our last few days as a class. 

- Please return your child's computer charging cord! You will need to pay for this if it is not returned!

-Your child's report card will come home sometime next week. I will do my best to write specific suggestions of things to work on over the summer to keep your child prepared for first grade. Even though we are "out of school", please feel free to email me if you have any questions after receiving the report card.

- Over these next few days your child will be bringing things home that they have been using this year. Please check your child's backpack and folder and empty them out each night to get them ready to bring more things home. 

I can honestly say I have had a terrific year. I hope you and your child feel the same way. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and I can't wait to see everyone back in the fall when they are first graders! 

Kiwanis Park Slideshow

Below is a link to some pictures of our trip to Kiwanis Park on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun! We got to see so many different construction vehicles on our walk and learned how to safely use a drinking fountain again! We wish everyone could have been there to experience our first taste of a 'normal' school event! 

An Afternoon at the Park 

May and June Snack/Leader Calendars

 

May Calendar

June Calendar

April 26th Newsletter

 

Upcoming Events

*4/28 Late Start

*May 6 NWEA testing

*May 11 NWEA testing

Please mark these dates down and have your child

well rested and ready for Spring Testing :)

*May 3 No School-Teacher Curriculum day

*May 12, 19, 26-Late starts

Checking Folders

I know spring can be a busy time with sports FINALLY starting, but please remember to check your child's folder every night and take out the papers that are in there. It makes it hard to put the new things in there when there are still paper from the previous days. 

Library Books

Notices went home with your child on Thursday if you have overdue library books. Please check the titles and look for them around your home. We want them to be able to take home new books but the others need to be returned first. Thanks!

Language Arts

Our focus this week in phonics was the sound of Letter Yy.  We are also learning that Yy sometimes "steals" the sound of Ee or Ii when it is at the end of the word.

Last week we learned when to use the letter C or K when we hear the /k/ sound at the beginning of a word. If the letter is followed by a A, O, or U, you use a Cc. If it is followed by an E, I, or Y, you use a Kk. These spelling secrets can really help us with our reading and our writing!

We are also learning spelling words with a double consonant at

the end:  kiss, yell. The secret for this is that when a one-

syllable word ends with a F, L, S, or Z, you double the consonant.

The sentence that helps us remember this is, Jeff will pass Buzz.

 We have been working hard to learn the H brothers--SH, CH, TH, and Wh.  We are learning their

sounds and listening for them at the beginning or the end of

a word.

 

In reading we are identifying cause and effect. We are thinking

about why something happened or what was the cause. We are

also figuring out what happened because of something else or

what the effect of an action was.

In writing, we are writing Informational (Non-fiction) Text.We have written a book about a person and an animal so far

in this unit!  We are including 3 facts about the topic of our

books. We will be writing at least one more book about an

activity to finish up this unit this week.

Math

In math we are learning the “Friends of 10”.  (4 and 6,

5 and 5, 7 and 3 etc…) This is our fun way to start memorizing

facts to 10.  We are practicing addition to 5 for fluency, which

means “knowing the facts quickly without counting”.

Your child is now making the transition from doing addition

and subtraction with pictures and objects, to doing this

without pictures and objects.

We are learning other strategies, like counting on/counting

back from the first number when adding or subtracting

without pictures/objects.

We will do daily fluency practice soon to help learn simple

addition and subtraction facts quickly.

March 22nd Newsletter

This week at School

3/22 P2 Character Strength: Identifying & appreciating the good in others

3/24 Late Start Day - arrival @ 9:45 a.m.

3/26 Read my Shirt & Hat Day

Welcome

We have two new friends who have joined our class from our St. Joseph virtual program. Genevieve Slavicek already knew some of our friends since she was in Young 5's last year. Zelda Mortenson is new to our district. They have both adjusted very well to our class routines and are great additions to our class! This means we now have 22 students in our class for when you send in snacks! 

March Reading Maddness

We have had a great time listening to all of the great stories in our reading month brackets! We just finished voting on Round 2. In Round 1, most of the winners were books that also won in our class voting. We also spent time rating the text and the pictures and thinking about the stories in our Scouting Report.  We are finishing up our opinion and letter writing unit by writing our opinions about some of these great books. 

What Are We Learning?

In Language Arts we are comparing and contrasting while learning about how children's lives were different and the same long ago. We are learning that the words 'but, while" signal things that are different and the words "too, also" signal that things are the same. In phonics we are learning about digraphs, or as we call them, the H brothers. They are sh, ch, th, wh, and ph. We learned that when we see these combinations, they make a new sound. Look for these when you are reading at home. 

In math we continue to work on using tens and ones to show numbers. We are also working on solving addition and subtraction number stories. 

Another goal we have is to know the combinations of numbers 

make 10 (like 8+2, 5+5, etc...). 

In science we are learning about living things and what they need to live. We are learning how different animals need different habitats to find shelter and food. 

Have a great rest of the week and enjoy this spring weather! 

Updated March Snack Calendar and April Snack Calendar

 

March 1st Newsletter

 This Week at Lincoln School

3/1  March is Reading Month begins!

       P2 Character Strength: Enthusiasm

         Wear your P2 shirt!

3/3  Late Start Day - arrival @ 9:45 a.m.

3/5  1/2 day of school - dismissal @ 12:34 p.m.

       End of second trimester 

       Dress in your favorite team shirt/hat today!

Coming Up...

3/8  First day of the 3rd trimester

        P2 Character Strength: Social Intelligence

            Wear your P2 shirt!

3/10  Late Start Day - arrival @ 9:45 a.m.

3/12   Dress as your favorite book character today!

Shoes Required!!!

PLEASE make sure your child has a pair of shoes at school EVERYDAY! With our playground being muddier now, we cannot wear our boots into the classroom. The shoes don't need to be gym type shoes. Any shoes they can easily get on and off are fine . I will need to begin calling home for you to bring shoes in if your child does not have them. Thank you so much!

Assessments and Report Cards

I have been assessing your child last week and this week in order to be ready for report cards. It is encouraging to see how much progress they are making! Report cards will come home next week. Remember: A score of 1 or a 2 this time of year is okay. A 2 means your child is on track to meet the end of the year goal. A 1 means that this is an area that needs extra attention and we will be sure to focus on that for the remainder of the year.  If you have any questions once you receive the report card, please email or call me.

March Reading Madness

Below is a link to the books that our school is reading and voting on for March Reading Madness. We are reading each book, rating the text and the pictures on a 5 point scale (5 is great and 1 is not so much), and drawing something to help us understand the story. Feel free to listen to these stories at home and ask your child which one is their favorite and why! 

March read- alouds

What's been going on in our Class?

In reading we working on making predictions as we read using clues that the author gives us and what we already know about the topic. In phonics we are really working on vowel sounds in the middle of words. We have focused on the short vowel sounds mostly but will be getting into the long vowel sounds also. In math we are working on adding and subtracting using drawings to show our work. We are also practicing adding and subtracting using a number line. In writing we are learning how to write a friendly letter with a heading (date), a greeting, the body of the letter, a closing, and a signature.  We are also going to be writing our opinions using this letter format. In science we are starting to learn about plants and animals! We are always so busy and learning so much! 

I hope you all have a terrific week! 

100th Day Slideshow

Here is a link to the 100th day of school slideshow! 

100th Day Slideshow 

March snack/leader calendar

 

100th Day of School Information

 2/10   Late Start Day  (arrival at 9:45am)

          Count Day

2/12   Mid-Winter Break: No School Y5-12th grade

2/15   Mid-Winter Break: No School Y5-12th grade

2/16   1/2 Day of School & 

         100th Day 

2/17   Late Start Day (arrival at 9:45am)

2/19   Popcorn Day

100th Day of School Information

This year's 100th day of school celebration will take place on Tuesday, February 16th. In the past each child has brought in a collection of 100 things, either displayed or just in a container. This year I am sending home a bag on Thursday for your child to use to count out 100 of something and bring it to school next Tuesday. We will not be displaying these but using them to group objects and count up to 100! We may keep them at school until next Friday and then send them home. 

On our 100th day we will be doing some fun centers all focused on counting to 100 and the concept of how much 100 really is! 

January 31st Newsletter

Upcoming Dates to Know!

*February 3, 10, 17, 24 -Late Start Days

*February 16– 100th Day of School Celebration

*February 12 No School- Teacher Inservice

*February 15- No School- President's Day

Snow Pants and Shoes

Please make sure your child has snow pants and shoes everyday for school. We don't like to wear our wet boots into the classroom since we sit on the floor quite a bit and we don't want the floor to be wet. Also, there are fun snow hills that the kids really want to play on and they can't if they don't have snow pants to keep their regular pants dry. Please let me know if your child needs some snow pants or any other winter gear. We have some extra things here at school they can use. 

Solid Shape Museum

Thank you for sending in some items for our "museum". We are becoming more familiar with 3D shapes. You can still send things in to add to our collection. Items will be returned in the next couple of weeks.   

Folders and Backpacks

Please remember to check/clean out your child's folder EVERYDAY!!! It is not easy for me to see if there is anything you are sending in or back when the folder still has all of the papers that were supposed to stay at home in it. It also makes it difficult for them to get the new papers in at the end of the day and keep things organized! Also, because they need to bring their computers and folders everyday and these take up a lot of room (along with shoes, snow pants, and other winter gear, please take all unnecessary things out of the backpacks so that your child can more easily pack things up at the end of the day. Thank you so much!

 

January 18th Newsletter

                                                    Upcoming Events

*January 18- No School, MLK, Jr. Day (see SeeSaw for homework)

* January 20- Late Start 

*January 28 and 29- 1/2 Days of school, Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Thank you!

Thank you so much for the napkins. I think we are set for awhile. It was so wonderful that so many of you responded so quickly! You are awesome. We are in need of one more thing, AAA batteries. The Tag readers that the students use during Daily 5 time take them and they are used everyday! Thanks!

MLK Jr. Day Homework

Even though we don't have school on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr, I have found some fun resources that can help your child learn more about who he was and why we remember him. I have assigned an activity in Seesaw that will appear on Monday morning. I would like everyone to do this activity. I have also assigned a few stories about him in Epic if you would like to log into that and listen. Those are a little longer than the links on Seesaw and more in depth.

New Friend

On Tuesday we will have a new student join our class. Her name is Lennox Campbell and she is coming from out of state. We are so excited to welcome her and get to know her!

NWEA

Last week we went to the computer lab to take the NWEA test to show your child’s growth in Math and Reading. Each test was about 30 minutes. We will do these again at the end of the year. 

                    

Sight Words

We will be starting something new to help us learn our sight words.  We have 6 lists of words, one for each color in the rainbow, going in order from red to purple.  When your child can read a whole list, he/she can color in that strip on a rainbow we have here at school.  When all the colors are colored in, on their rainbow, meaning that your child knows all of our Kindergarten sight words, they will bring home their rainbow and a pack of Skittles to celebrate.  We are going to be checking how they are progressing from now until the end of the year.  When your child gets to a word he/she does not know, they will bring that list home with the word circled.  Please practice that word and the words after it on that list.  They can then have another chance to read the list correctly and color in the corresponding strip on their rainbow.  They will then move on to the next list. 

This Cycle

In language arts we read “Katy’s First Day of School”.  We talked about what we remember about our first day of school as we made connections between the story and our lives. We also worked on using pictures and things we know to make inferences about what is going on in the story. There are so many things we can figure out about a story without the author actually telling us.    

In phonics we have been practicing the letter Bb will be working on the short Uu sound.  This sound can be difficult as a lot of children want to use the Yy sound.  Please practice this sound at home with your child and point it out when reading.

In science we will continue to learn about motion and forces.  We will learn that everything needs a force, a push or a pull, to get moving. We will do some fun experiments in class to learn more about these concepts. In math we are learning about 3D shapes and how they are different from 2D shapes. We are also practicing using the + and = signs. In Writing, we are learning how to write a story about something we have done. This is called a personal narrative. We are learning how to start our story with who was with us and where it happened (the characters and setting) and then move into what happened first, next and last. We finish up with how we felt or another sentence to finish!

Homework Websites

Please remember that you have access to Lexia,  IXL math and Raz-Kids websites at home. These can be used on the computer or ipad and are an excellent way for your child to practice their skills at home! The links to these sites can be found on the Lincoln School Media Center Symbaloo.

Valentine Cards

This year Lincoln School is focusing on how to show love to others instead of just celebrating Valentines day. Therefore, we will not be doing a party or traditional Valentine exchange. More will come on this from Mr. Hubble but just wanted  you to know you don't need to buy Valentines for our class this year. 

100^th Day

We will celebrate our 100^th day of school on Tuesday, February 16^th.  A letter will come home explaining the project you and your child are to do and bring in on the 100^th day.  We will display these for the week in the hallway and then return them home at the end of the week.  The projects can be a collection all together in a container, a collection displayed in a creative way, or items in groups of 5’s or 10’s.  Our 100^th day is coming soon so start planning now what your child would like to bring in for their project!

Solid Shape Museum We have started learning about the 3D shapes cube, sphere, cylinder, cone, and pyramid. If you have items at home that have any of these shapes, please send them in with your child so we can practice recognizing these shapes in our environment by making a solid shape museum in our classroom. (Please label the items if possible and please do not send in fragile and/or valuable items as the children will be touching these).

Parent/Teacher Conferences

It’s hard to believe that it is time to start planning for the last scheduled conference for this school year. The end of second trimester is not until March 5th, but we are doing conferences a little different this year. Our winter parent-teacher conferences are the week January 25th. These will be scheduled with parents on an ‘as needed’ basis.  The goal is to schedule conferences with parents of children needing additional academic, social, or emotional support and those with ongoing improvement plans. I will email you to schedule a conference if I would like to meet with you. If you would like to meet even if I don't request it, I always welcome a chance to connect. Please email me by the end of the day on Tuesday if you would like a meeting. I will be emailing parents by the end of the day on Monday if I feel there is a need for a conference. Report cards won't come home until the spring, so this is a way to touch base in between report cards to inform you of any concerns and update you on progress. If you have questions about your child’s progress at any time, please let me know.

Have a terrific extra day off tomorrow! 

 

January 4th Newsletter

 Happy New Year and 

Welcome Back to School!

Upcoming Events:
January 6- Late Start
January 13- Late Start
January 18- No School, MLK day
January 20- Late Start
January 28 & 29- Half days of School, parent/teacher conferences

I am so excited to see everyone tomorrow! I hope you have all enjoyed the extra time with your family and have had very happy holidays! I can't wait to hear what you all have been doing! 

I want to start out this year saying thank you. First, thank you ALL for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts! I am so blessed by your generosity! Second, thank you to everyone who helped make our holiday party a success last year! Thank you to Katie Mandarino for providing fun games for us to play AND for helping out at the party (because she is a substitute teacher at our school, she can help in our class). Thank you to Katrina Schaefer for a great craft of Fruit Loop candy canes! Thank you to Catherine Kirshenbaum for juice boxes, Carly Edinger for a healthy snack, Julie Anna Hosbein for a sweet treat, and Chloe Long for plates and napkins. I hope you have taken some time to watch the slide show of photos from our party! 

This week we will be reviewing expectations and procedures. I also plan on using our computers more during class so please make sure they are charged and sent to school each day! We will be learning to write a story about something that has happened in our lives. We will also continue to focus on learning our sight words. If you haven't been practicing over break, please get them out and start going over them every night.  Thank you for all you do at home to help your child be successful this year!  

The Slideshow of our Holiday Happenings:

December 2020 

December 13th Newsletter

                               Upcoming Events

Dress Up Days

Monday the 14th : Positivity Project shirts 

Tuesday the 15th : wear Green Day 

Wednesday the 16th: wear Red Day

Thursday the 17th: wear an Ugly Sweater Day

Friday the 18th: dress as an  Elf Day 

December 16th- Late Start

December 17th- Holiday Party (please see Holiday Happenings below)

December 21st- January 1st- Winter Break

January 4th- Return from Break

A New Friend

Please help me welcome Ranveer Singh and his family to Lincoln School. He has a brother in 1st grade. They have moved here from New York. He started in our class on Thursday. We are all very excited to have him in our class!

Good-Bye

It is with mixed feelings that I tell you that this Friday will be Cooper Kirshman's last day in our class. His family is moving out of state. Although I am so sad to see him leave, I am excited for this new adventure in their lives! We will miss him so much but he will always be in our hearts!

Thank you
Thank you so much for your help in decorating our halls with
your beautiful Christmas trees! I will be posting a slide show of
pictures so you can see how creative everyone is! At Lincoln
this year we had a door decorating contest. Our theme was
"Who-ville" since my favorite Christmas movie is "The Grinch".
I made each student into a 'Who'. (I used a filter to make their
faces to look more like Whos). Pictures will be coming of this also!

Holiday Happenings
We have been busy making gifts to bring home for the holidays.
These will be coming home on Wednesday. I will encourage the children
to wait to let you open them until Christmas but I know it is hard for
little ones to wait! This year we have spent some time learning about
other holidays that are celebrated during this time of year,
like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. On Wednesday Henry will be helping us
learn a little more about Hanukkah. On Thursday we will
celebrate with a holiday party. We will need snacks and a craft and
game or two. If you would like to help, please sign up here. Thank you!

Cold Weather Clothing
The weather has started turning colder and snowier. Please
make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the conditions.
(If there is no snow on the ground you do not have to pack the
snow pants.)  Practice zipping coats, putting on snow pants,
hats, and mittens, and tying shoes at home. The children are
required to wear boots  in order to play in the snow at recess.
Please remember, we expect the children to be able to dress
themselves in their outerwear. Of course, we will still untie knots
and unstick stuck zippers! When your child wears boots to
school, he/she needs to put a pair of inside shoes (that they can
get on and off themselves) in his/her backpack; or keep a pair
in the locker. Children will leave boots in the hall and change
to their other shoes at the beginning of the day.
Thank you for your help and support. 

Our Computers
When using your student’s laptop at home, please do not log them out of their computers.  Since these are their personal laptops, there is no need to log them out.  Keeping them logged in also helps us out when we use the laptops at school. I have also noticed that there have been a few laptops not charged when we go to use them. Even if you don't use them at home in the evening, please plug them in to make sure they are ready for use in class. We only have two extra chargers in our room. Thank you.

Playground Behavior
Please remind your child that they are outside to have fun and play. 
Recess is a privilege! 
 1. If someone is doing something they don't like, they need to TELL the person to stop-- and then walk away. It is a big playground. Kids don't have to play by children that are being mean.  I have noticed that kids still are going back to play with kids who are hitting them...
2.. Kids do not need to tell a teacher every time someone does something they don't like. They need to try to solve the problem first by using their words and telling the peer what they don’t like about what is going on .
(Using an-- I statement--”I don’t like it when…”)
3. There is no throwing of ANYTHING. No dirt, wood chips, and sticks or snow.  Sticks/wood chips/snow stays on the ground. 
4.  If they hurt someone by accident, say “I'm sorry”. That way the other person knows it was an accident. (Practice solving problems)

What we learned last week

In phonics we focused on the letter Oo. We have now added 3 vowels to our words to practice. Please practice the sounds of the letters Aa, Ii, and Oo in the middle of words.

In reading our language arts strategy focused on analyzing
‘Story Elements’. We talked about the characters, setting,
problem and the solution in a story. You can talk about these
things when you read stories at home too!

In math we continue to practice recognizing numbers and shapes. We explored how to make shapes using other shapes! We are also working on the concepts of greater than and less than with numbers.

In Social Studies we are learning about “Where We Are”. We made a map of our classroom and made a key to show what each thing represents. We are also learning how we can be in our classroom, in our school, in
our community, in our state and in our country all at the same time!! 

In writing, we are continuing to work on how to write a Pattern Book. These books will be coming home at the end of this week. Please have your student read their work to you. We want to celebrate that we are authors of our own books!

In science we are learning about pushes and pulls and specifically how machines use those forces to get work done faster than we can by hand!

Have a terrific winter break and a very happy New Year! I will see you all next year!