December 24th-January 2nd, 2013 Happy New Year!

Dear Parents, The reading buddies loved the gifts that they received from the kindergarten children. I hope you enjoyed the “Night before Christmas” book that the reading buddies gave to the children as gifts; they put a lot of time and effort into making them. We played “pass the present game” as I read “ T’was the Night Before Christmas” on Thursday, and every time I read the word “the” they had to pass the present to the child on their right. When the book was finished, they all opened the present that they were holding. I got them activity books to keep them occupied for a short time for you over the long days off! My other gifts to the children were two books and a notebook. They can bring the notebook back to school l to use during free time. We got our tickets punched by the conductor “Mrs. Potts” (who by the way really works on the train in Jim Thorpe) and she wore her train outfit and brought her real ticket punch. The children loved it!! The movie was a hit. We had cookies and hot chocolate just like in the movie. I sincerely hope you liked the Christmas ornaments that the children made for you. Someday, and it goes fast believe me, you will look back at these keepsakes and wonder where the time went when your little one was in kindergarten. I also hope you enjoyed the reindeer food, the polar express bell, the books, and the cookie plate for Santa. We were busy elves this season! Thank you so much for thinking of me at Christmas. The wonderful gifts were not necessary but deeply appreciated. Your children know what the “love of giving” means because they couldn’t wait for me to open their gifts. We will return to school on January 2nd, 2013, and it will be day # 1 on the school rotation. Phonics- We will be working on the new letter Bb, as in ball and baby. The lowercase “b” is always a challenge for kindergarten children, so we will be doing more handwriting practice. Math –We will continue working on shapes on the geoboards, and also learning about line segments. A cube will also be introduced. Reading- We will begin reading ”See How We Grow”. It’s genre is “biography”, and the comprehension skill is cause and effect. We will be testing when we return from break because the report cards will be given out on January 18th. I have included a list of the sight words that I will be testing the children on for the second report card period. Try and review them during Christmas break. Keep writing with your children over break, so that they don’t forget how to do it. They are becoming great authors. I will be testing word list # 7 when the children return from the break. MERRY CHRISTMAS and A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! Mrs. Margaret Bernosky