Spring Break Fun and Games

During our Spring Break, it is important that the kids keep their skills sharp and continue to read and review the concepts we are learning in class.  In addition to the Spring Break packet sent home, there are some wonderful websites and apps available to help keep them entertained while learning.  Especially for those of you who will be traveling during the break, there are many apps for your devices that are downloadable for them to play and learn! I suggest trying out any of the free app downloads, and if your child likes it, you can upgrade to a full version if available.


Here are a few iPad apps and websites that can help students build their skills:

Letter Muncher: ($1.99) Focuses on mastering beginning consonant sounds. Has an option to have reports emailed to you to track progress, and turning off the digraphs option (ch, sh, th, wh sounds), for those children who are still working on mastering all the letter sounds. (You can add it once the kids know all the letter sounds).

Sight Words: ($1.99) Flash card work and games with common high frequency words for recognition and mastery of the sight vocabulary.

ABC Circus: Has a letter writing game that not only provides guidance for the proper letter formation, but also has the letter name and sound. If you have a stylus, this is a particularly useful tool to better imitate writing with a pencil.  The free version only offers A-G (upper and lower case), but the full version has all 26. 

For a list of many other free apps that are geared for kindergarten learners, check out this page.

Here are several fun educational websites: 

ABCMouse.com
Several of you shared that you subscribe to this website already. This is a membership site, but it does have a 30 day free trial period. After that, I believe it's $7.95 per month.

Starfall.com
This is a favorite that the kids use in class during free computer time. There are a variety of games and activities for free. 

ICTGames.com
This has both literacy and numeracy games from which to choose.  Math concepts go from basic number sense and counting (whack-a-mole or counting cars game) to addition and subtraction games (save the whale or mummy number lines).

PBSKids.org
This has various tools and features, but has a games link with a variety of learning activities. We have used several in class with which the kids are familiar.

If you have any additional sites or apps that your child loves to use, please feel free to share them by adding them in the comments section! Have a fun, safe, and restful break! 

Aloha parents!
I am hoping to collect some pictures from various classroom events to use for an end of year class slideshow. I have been taking pictures of various activities and events, but I am looking for any pictures of our school activities parents may have, e.g.  literacy day activity, gingerbread house, jingle bell run, or field trip. For example, I was so busy at the holiday party, I didn't get to take pictures of the kids with their finished house, so if you have one of your child, I'd love to include it! 

If you have any and can share them with me digitally, I would appreciate it! You can either email them to me if you have a few, or if you have several, I can give you a flash drive to put them on. I will be working on compiling the pictures over Spring Break.

On the topic of photos, if you have not returned the Spring school pictures/payment  from Lifetouch, you can send them in with your child. If you do not want to purchase them, please return the envelope.

Mahalo for your continued support!

Mrs. Williams

Class Field Trip to the Zoo

Our Field Trip is Friday!

We are very excited for our kindergarten field trip to the zoo! We will be boarding the bus at 8:15, so please be sure your child arrives to school on time.  There are 3 parent chaperones attending with me on the bus to monitor and guide the students through the zoo. We will be eating our lunch at the zoo, and will return to school around 1:30 pm.  

Please make sure your child has everything completed on this list:

* Eat a hearty breakfast before coming to school

            * Empty your backpack

            * Pack a full sack lunch

* Pack a water bottle

* Pack a pillowcase

* Pack a cap or visor if desired

* Wear your Solomon shirt, if you have one

* Apply sunscreen before coming to school

Please remember all students will be responsible for carrying their own backpacks and lunches. Rolling backpacks will need to be worn and are often heavier, so use a different backpack if possible.

PLEASE ARRIVE BEFORE 8:00 a.m. on FRIDAY!!!!!!

100th Day Project

                                   Happy New Year! 
Our 100th day of school is this Friday, time has flown by so quickly! We will be doing several special activities this Friday to celebrate this milestone in their educational journey.

On Monday, your child took home a packet detailing the 100th day STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) project. The task is to acquire an item in a quantity of 100, and create a display with the items.  This can be presented in any way, from creating artwork on a poster board, to constructing a model or diorama. The goal is to have the children explore their creativity and engineer a unique masterpiece! 

Two thinking maps were also attached in the packet.  The circle map is used to brainstorm ideas of what to use. The children are familiar with this type of map, as we use it in class for various activities. The flow map is another thinking map to illustrate the process.  Encourage your child to draw pictures and write basic words and sentences on these maps to have them take ownership of their work. You can write below it to clarify or explain your child's thoughts. The children are very excited for this project, and most have already said they have worked with their families to come up with an idea! 

The projects will be displayed in our classroom, and the children will have the opportunity to see other kindergarten students' work as well. You can bring in your project when you complete it, but all projects must be brought in by JANUARY 25th. 

As always, should you have any questions or concerns at all, please feel free to let me know.  Thank you for your continued support in your child's education! I can't wait to see the projects! 

Jingle Bell Fun Run - Thursday at 1:30

Tomorrow is the Jingle Bell Fun Run! Kindergarten will be participating at 1:30.  They will be running 3 laps out on the field.  Please ensure they have comfortable clothing and good shoes.  They can wear Christmas colors and jingle bells. They will also have a headband elf hat they will make in class that they can wear to be festive.  
If you would like to come cheer them on, you are welcome to do so.  We will be finishing up just before the end of school, so they will be packed up and ready and head home afterward. I am looking forward to running with them!

Gingerbread House Activity - Dec.14

Hello Parents!
I hope you had a restful and fun Thanksgiving holiday!

On Monday, a green sheet of paper went home detailing our holiday activity to make gingerbread houses on December 14.  This is an activity that parents can attend as well! To cover the expense of the supplies, we are collecting $3.00 per child. Please send your child's money to school in an envelope with your child's name by this Friday, November 30. Please also fill out the bottom portion of the green form to let me know if you will be able to attend.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know and I am happy to speak with you about them.

Thank you to those who have already completed the form and submitted the money! 

Help with Prepping

Hello!
It's the time of year for some fun art projects, and having parents who can help prep materials are the greatest gift of all! I had some wonderful parents help last month with preparing our Halloween projects, and the kids really enjoyed their Frankenstein monsters and hanging spiders!
If anyone is willing to do some prep work at home cutting out some shapes for our upcoming project, please let me know! I plan to do our next one on this coming Tuesday or Wednesday with the kids, so if you have time over the long weekend, I can give you the paper and templates Friday morning.
I will also have another project coming up in December if you'd like to help prep materials in a couple weeks. 
Thanks so much for your continued support!

Book It! Program

We recently started the Book It! reading program. For our class, we will be using their monthly Read to Me trackers to count books read. For every 15 books read (or 15 lines in the tracker completed), students will earn a coupon for a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza.  Many students have already received one, these were sent home over the past few days. These are good for one month after the issue date. We also have a class tracker posted in our room, and when students fill up 30 lines in a month (reading an average of one story or session nightly), they will receive a star next to their name.  A big congrats to Jackson and Kaliyah, who have already reached their monthly goal!

This program has been around for 28 years, some of you may have even participated in it during your school years.  I remember begging my mom to take me to the library to stock up on books so I could earn as many free pizzas as possible! :) I know that most of you are reading nightly, but now the students have an extra incentive to log the books or pages.  

This week, many of you also may have seen your child's achievement certificates for first quarter reading. Students who participated all quarter (August - September) received these certificates, as well as various special prizes.  We had 5 students surpass their quarterly goal of 1,000 pages, congrats to the following students! 

Jackson	2615 pages
Kaliyah	1875 pages
A'Niyah	1739 pages
Kira	1211 pages
Jamie	1078 pages

Mahalo for your continued support in your child's education!