Little Blue Bulletin 6/8-12

Thank you for helping us celebrate Mrs. Montgomery. She enjoyed her special gifts. She really felt honored.

Don't Forget!
Tuesday: Field Day
Wear good running shoes, a hat, and bring a water bottle. We will be outside all morning playing fun games.
Wednesday: Oakland Zoo
Wear long pants, good walking shoes, and a sweatshirt. Bring a sack lunch to school too. We will be gone all day.
Thursday: Reading Camp-In
Bring 2-3 books, a pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal. We will be spending the whole afternoon reading together.
Friday: Last day of school
Please remember to pick up your child at 11:20.

We continued to work on these things this week:

• We have visited all the continents to prepare for our Oakland Zoo field trip. The students have been very excited to learn about the many habitats on the planet Earth.
  
• We completed our unit on adding and subtracting this week. Don't forget to practice your facts over the summer.
  
• We have dedicated this week's social studies lessons to our country. We were preparing to celebrate Flag Day this Sunday. Ask your child what he/she knows about our country's flag.
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
No more sharing for this school year.


The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 5/26-5/29

Thank you to all the parents who helped out with the International Festival. The students had a wonderful time learning about all the countries.

Don't Forget!
Volunteer Brunch on Tuesday, June 2nd at 9:50 am.
Please join us for a special brunch to honor all of our classroom volunteers. We would love to see you, so we can thank you in person. Please come.

The Jungle Playdate- Sunday, May 31st.
Cicero Pizza Night is on Wednesday, June 3rd.
This is a great way for parents to meet and swap contact information for summer playdates.

We continued to work on these things this week:

• This week we began our Wild Animal Continent Study. We are learning our continents by studying about different animals that live in the unique habitats around our world. This week we studied about the deserts of North America.
• In math, we are revisiting adding and subtracting. Kinders are practicing adding up to 10, and first graders are practicing double digit addition. Please practice your fact families at home.
• On Wednesday, we had an International Festival at our school. The students traveled from center to center to learn about our world's countries. We are so thankful to all of our parent volunteers who helped put on this great event.

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:

6/01 Something you will remember from this year
6/08 My dad is special because...


The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 5/11-5/15

SIGN UP to help us in the International Festival later this month. Note the date is now May 27th. We need your help to make this a successful event. The children had SO MUCH fun when we had it a few years ago.

Don't Forget!

• Open House: May 19th at 6:30 PM- Come check out our rooms!
  
• Learning Day: May 22nd-no school
• Memorial Day: May 25th-no school
  

We continued to work on these things this week:

• We continued our unit about pets this week. We talked about how to wash a dog step-by-step, then we created our own dog shampoo.
• In conjunction with language arts, we read a number of Henry and Mudge books. We made a list of story connectors and compared them with transition words.
  
• Fiction vs. Non-fiction: We learned the difference between fiction books and non-fiction books. Each student created his/her own stories about pets.
• We learned how to build a "super sentence" by adding more describing words and details.
  

• In Math Investigations Centers this week, each student had a chance to participate the following activities:
  

1. Use Kidspiration to classify plane shapes and solid shapes.
2. Use tiles to build rectangles and label with fractions.
3. Make a Eating fractions book.
   
4. Create plane shapes on geoboards.
   
5. Use pattern blocks to create a symmetrical design.
   

• In Science we had snail races and a lot of fun observing water snails and worms
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
5/18: Three ways to care for a pet
5/25: Your favorite month and why


The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 4/27-5/01

PETS ARE FUN!

Please send in an empty PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE (16 oz.) for a project we will be doing!

Don't Forget!

• Open House: May 19th at 6:30 PM
• Read All Notices coming home about the Swine Flu
  

We continued to work on these things this week:

• Pets!Pets!Pets! We continued our unit about pets this week. We brainstormed different pets and came up with words to describe them. The kids came up with some cute poems about their favorite pet. We also water colored pets, and used paper collage to decorate a dog.
  
• We also continued our math unit on geometry. Here is some vocabulary to use with your child.

plane shapes:
circle, square, rectangle, rhombus, triangle, corners, sides
solid shapes:
sphere, cube, rectangular prism, pyramid, edges, faces
position words:
above, below, in front, in back, right, left

• In Social Studies we learned about ancestors and traditions, culture, and immigrants. If you have an old photograph, pull it out and talk to your child the story behind the pictures!
  
• SIGN UP to help our in the International Festival later this month. We need your help to make this a successful event. The children had SO MUCH fun when we had it a few years ago.
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
5/04: Tell us about a book you like. (Bring in the book!)
5/11: My mom is special because...


The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 4/20-24

News! News! News!
Many of you probably have noticed Mrs. Montgomery's growing belly. Yes, she is expecting her third child! She is due in September. So wish her luck!

Don't Forget!

• Send back the empty report card envelopes as soon as possible. We need to have them back for June report cards.
• Open House: May 19th: 6:30 PM
  

AN EVENING FOR PORTAL PARENTS --

LEARN ABOUT STEP UP TO WRITING

For parents of students in grades K-3
Hear what your child is learning in school about paragraph writing and find
out what you can do at home to help with this important skill.

Presenters: Kim Silva-Beltran and Rhea Feldman
Date: Thursday, April 30 or May 7 (The same session will be offered twice.)
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
To Sign-Up: Return the flier that is going home in this week's Thursday
folder. Please sign up by Monday, April 27.

(If the demand exceeds capacity, we will hold a lottery to determine who can
come out of those who have replied by April 27.)

What have we done this week:

• Pets!Pets!Pets! We started our unit studying about pets this week. The students are VERY excited to learn about our favorite creatures. We promise we did not tell your child that he/she could have a pet at home. :)
  
• Shapes!Shapes!Shapes! We also started our math unit on geometry. Here is some vocabulary to use with your child.

plane shapes:
circle, square, rectangle, rhombus, triangle, corners, sides
solid shapes:
sphere, cube, rectangular prism, pyramid, edges, faces
position words:
above, below, in front, in back, right, left

• Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! We have spent the week discussing ways to save energy. On Wednesday, we did some nature art and read a Scholastic News about our planet. On Friday we reused cans to plant seeds. Thank you to those students who brought in cans.
• In Social Studies we learned the difference between goods and services.
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
4/27: Your favorite wild animal and why
5/04: Tell us about a book you like. (Bring in the book!)


Have a great two week break!
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 3/30-4/03

Have a wonderful spring break! We will see you all on April 20th.

Don't Forget!

• We are collecting cans for an Earth Day project. We need each child to bring in one or two small, empty, washed cans on April 20th and 21st. Please refer to the note that was sent home in the Thursday folder this week.
• Report Cards are coming home today. Please read the report card and review the goals with your child. Return the empty signed envelope to school. Thanks.

Note from the principal:

• April 22nd — Earth Day -- we will have a waste-free lunch — and a lunch on the lawn! Let’s make this a family event...many classrooms are going paper free that day! Remember: Take-out styrofoam is not earth friendly -- : )

• Survey Challenge! If 80% of families complete our survey by April 10th (date extended – one per student) the school will win a “popsicle party”! Yoo-hoo!! We’re almost there – but we need to hear from YOU. Your input and comments are critical: the survey results are used by the School Site Council to create the school goals. The survey will close on Friday, April 10, 2009. To complete the survey, and win a Popsicle party for our Penguins, follow these steps:
  
  1) Go to the school’s website, www.portalpenguins.org
  2) Click on the link to the survey.
  3) Complete one survey for each child attending Murdock-Portal.
  
  Thank you!
  
  Thank you for your participation in making our school a wonderful place! Again, your feedback for the survey is so important and we value your input.

What have we done this week:
The kids will tell you it has been a very busy week. They are tired and ready for a vacation.

• Fine arts centers: We journeyed around the village to make some fine arts projects. Mrs. Smithwick made a spring quilt. Mrs. Montgomery reviewed capacity with the "Quart Kid." In Mrs Tamondong's class, we made globes to show how we can make the Earth a better place.
• In math, we finished up our study of money and measurement. Please practice counting coins at home. Try having your children pay for items at the store, count change, or even make a budget.
  
• We are also practicing perfect handwriting. Please make sure your child shows good handwriting on all assignments. We are practicing showing effort.
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
4/20: Three ways to protect Mother Earth
4/27: Your favorite wild animal and why


Have a great two week break!
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 3/9-3/13

What a beautiful week! We are glad that kids can get out and play in this great weather. However, continue good habits of hand washing is going to keep your child healthy. Many of our students had been sick this week.

Don't Forget!

• There will be no school on Monday, March 16. It's Teacher Learning Day.
  
• Conferences are March 19-27. We will be having 12:30 dismissal during conferences. You need to coordinate with after school drivers.

What have we done this week:

• Penguin unit: We built and painted life-sized penguins this week. We had hands-on activities to compare our heights and weights with each penguin. They had a lot of fun! We also practiced creating penguin word problems. We will be creating a slideshow on the computer with those word problems.
  
• We are getting ready for St. Patrick's Day by making a rainbow mobile as well as reading Scholastic News in class. Don't forget to wear green on Tuesday!
  

Parent Survey in Online now!
It’s Survey Time!! We would like to invite you to take part in our annual School Survey. Your feedback on the survey is critical to the school as the survey results are used by the School Site Council to create the school goals. The survey will be “live” on Monday, March 16, 2009 and will close on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

To complete the survey follow these steps (during the dates listed above):

1) Go to the school website, www.portalpenguins.org ,
2) Click on the link to the survey.
3) Complete one survey for each child attending Murdock-Portal.
4) After you have completed the survey, print the last page of the survey.
5) Bring your receipt to your parent-teacher conference.

Thank you for your participation in making our school a wonderful place! Again, your feedback for the survey is so important and we value your input.



PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:

3/17: Career Mask presentation
3/23: Share some signs of spring


Have a great week!
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 3/02-3/06

What a wild week! March has come in like a lion. With the rain and cold, please remember to send your child to school with a warm jacket. We try our best to remind them to wear jackets at recess time.

What have we done this week:

• Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! We celebrated his birthday with rhyming projects, and fun reading. We also saw a play to help promote good reading habits.
  
• Penguin unit: We finished the research part of our penguin unit. We studied about the emperor and galapagos penguins this week. We have also been creating math games, talking about weight comparisons, and doing some penguin word problems.
  
• We made our March poems and art this week too. Each student wrote a limerick about a penguin. It was a great way to remember our rhyming words.
  

Fresh Choice Night!
We hope you were able to make it to Fresh Choice Night this week. Congratulations to Katherine and Justin as well as Riya and Neha for winning the K/1 raffle.

Don't Forget!

• Career projects are coming up! They are due on Thursday, March 12th.
• Please return your conference slips as soon as possible. We appreciate you making the effort to meet with us.
• There will be no school on Monday, March 16. It's Teacher Learning Day.
  
• Conferences are March 19-27. We will be having 12:30 dismissal during conferences.
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:

3/9: Picture and information on your favorite penguin
3/17: Career Mask presentation


Have a great week!
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 2/23-2/27

Don't Forget! Bring a cold lunch to school on Monday!
We are going on a field trip on Monday, March 2nd to watch a play. Since we are going to eat lunch at 11:00, there will be NO HOT LUNCHES on Monday. Please send cold lunch with your child in the morning.

We also put a pink reminder in the bookbag. Please read!


What have we done this week:

• Penguin unit: We studied Gentoo penguins and Chinstrap penguins this week. Every child practiced how to write a expository paragraph using the information they learned. We also built a new game that focuses on addition. Ask your child how are Gentoo penguins and Chinstrap penguins different.
  
• We celebrated President Washington's birthday this week by reading the Scholastic News. We discussed how life was different in the past.
  
• On Wednesday, we had a great opportunity to hear some helpful tips from a dentist! All three K/1 villages discussed how to take care of our teeth. At the end of the day, they all got a goodie bag!
• There is a saying: When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. We talked about different kinds of weather, and we made cute lion and lamb masks. We will be tracking our weather daily to see if the saying was true. On Sunday, pay attention to the weather. Ask your child whether it's a Lion day or a Lamb day.
  

Pennies for Patients Update:
Thanks for your generosity! We raised over 2,600 dollars! The whole school had a blast participating Tape-A-Teacher activity. Can you believe it? He really stuck to the wall!! It is almost a mile of tape on Mr. Davis. Thanks again for supporting such a great cause. What a great way to show Portal spirit!


PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar


Sharing:
3/2: Memorize a rhyming poem (such as a Dr. Seuss poem)
3/9: Picture and information on your favorite penguin
3/17: Career Mask presentation


On Monday we are going to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. Bring a book by Dr. Seuss to school and share it with your classmates!

Have a great week!
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 2/9-2/13

Thank you
It was wonderful seeing so many parents at the performance last night. It was our best show yet. This is an unique opportunity for children to work together, learning songs, dances, and memorizing lines to perform in front of an audience.

We would like to especially thank our parents who helped on the costumes, backdrop, and other behind the scenes events. It makes it so easy for us to just concentrate on the students, knowing it will be taken care of. We hope it helped you build new relationships with other families at Portal.

What have we done this week:

• Penguin unit: We build a new game matching numbers, using base ten blocks. We also learned about the beloved Little Blue penguin. Ask your child where the Little Blue penguin lives. We are collecting our research to send home at the end of the penguin unit.
  
• In language arts , we continued to use our Step Up to Writing program to write about our friends in class. The students are learning about green - topic sentence, yellow - details, and red - examples. We are also adding transition words to our writing. We are gathering the writing samples each week to send home in a nice book at the end of the year. It will be a great way to measure your child's growth.
• We celebrated President Lincoln's birthday this week. We also got read to celebrate President George Washington's birthday too.
  
• For Valentine's day we read and wrote poems about friendship, learned about special valentine animals, and played some word games.
• Don't forget: We also put on two performances of our play at school.
  

Reminder:
No school February 16-20th. See you on February 23rd.


PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
2/23: 3 ways to be a good friend
3/2: Memorize a rhyming poem (such as a Dr. Seuss poem)

Little Blue Bulletin 2/2-2/6

Don't Forget:
Our show is coming up. Please remember:
February 10 and 11: Dress Rehearsal
Children need to wear black pants, short sleeved t-shirts, and dark shoes (no boots) to school. The teachers will provide costumes at school.
February 12: Night Performance
Children need to report at the Little Blue village at 6:00 PM. Please have your child wear:

• black pants
• short sleeved t-shirts
• dark shoes

The show will begin at 6:30 PM sharp! Don't be late.

Valentine Exchange
On Friday, February 13th, we will have a friendly valentine exchange. If your child would like to participate, please bring a valentine for each child in class. Please remember no food items attached to the cards. Refer to the flier that came home a few weeks ago for further information or email your teacher.

What have we done this week:

• Penguin unit: We studied about King penguins this week. After highlighting important information on the poem, students wrote a paragraph about King penguins. They also compared Rockhopper penguins and King penguins.
  
• In language arts , we continued to use our Step Up to Writing program to write about our friends in class. The students are learning about green - topic sentence, yellow - details, and red - examples. We are also adding transition words to our writing. We are gathering the writing samples each week to send home in a nice book at the end of the year. It will be a great way to measure your child's growth.
• In science, we continue to study the properties of wood. Question of the week: What happens when you mix sawdust and wood shavings?

Play Update:
This week we worked super hard on being quiet between songs. We also practiced coming down from the risers with quiet feet. Many parent volunteers came in this week and put up the backdrop. It looks fabulous! We can't wait to perform in front of a live audience!


PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
2/09: Tell us about a US President
2/23: 3 ways to be a good friend

Have a great weekend,
The Little Blue Teachers

January 26-30

Don't Forget:
Our show is coming up. Please remember:
February 10 and 11:
Children need to wear black pants, short sleeved t-shirts, and dark shoes (no boots) to school. The teachers will provide costumes at school. We will be having dress rehearsal on these days.
February 12:
Children need to report at the Little Blue village at 6:00 PM. Please have your child wear:

• black pants
• short sleeved t-shirts
• dark shoes

The show will begin at 6:30 PM sharp! Don't be late.

What have we done this week:

• Penguin unit: Students studied ocean temperature and wrote statements in their journal. We studied about Rockhopper penguins this week. We also made a board game to practice our addition.
  
• In language arts , we continued to use our Step Up to Writing program to write about our friends in class. The students are learning about green - topic sentence, yellow - details, and red - examples. We are also adding transition words to our writing. We are gathering the writing samples each week to send home in a nice book at the end of the year. It will be a great way to measure your child's growth.
• In science, we continue to study the properties of wood. Question of the week: What is the difference between sawdust and wood shavings?
  

Play Update:
This week we continued practicing our songs and dance moves. The speakers are doing a really good job memorizing their lines! Please remind your child to practice speaking parts and songs at home this weekend.


PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
2/02: Ways to take care of your teeth
2/09: Tell us about a US President

Have a great weekend,
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 1/20-1/23

Don't Forget:

• PSCO community building event--K/1 Cicero Pizza Night will be 1/26-1/28. Bring your coupon to help our school. It came home in yesterday's Thursday Folder.
  
• Happy Chinese New Year! Say Gong Xi Fa Cai to your teacher on Monday. It's what Chinese people say on New Year's Day. Use this link to learn the characters too!

What have we done this week:

• Inauguration Day: On this historic day, we studied President Obama's life and watched the inauguration on TV.
  
• Penguin unit: Students studied ocean temperature and wrote statements in their journal. They also made their first penguin board game--Journey to Antarctica and show teamwork while playing with their super friends.
  
• In language arts , we continued to use our Step Up to Writing program to write about our friends in class. The students are learning about green - topic sentence, yellow - details, and red - examples. We are also adding transition words to our writing. We are gathering the writing samples each week to send home in a nice book at the end of the year. It will be a great way to measure your child's growth.
• In science, we continue to study the properties of wood. Question of the week: What happens to wood after sanding it?
  

Play Update:
This week we continued practicing our songs and dance moves. The speakers are doing a really good job memorizing their lines! Please remind your child to practice speaking parts and songs at home this weekend.

We are still collecting items list below.

• small camera bags with straps (2)
  
• khaki vests (2)

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
1/26: What your mom or dad's career is...
2/2: Ways to take care of your teeth

Have a great weekend,
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 1/12-16

Don't Forget:
• No School on Monday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Wear red, white and blue on Tuesday to celebrate our new president.
• Bring a small flag to school. You can draw one if you don't have it at home.

What have we done this week:

• In math we finished our number sense unit on adding and subtracting. We will now begin our measurement unit that is part of our thematic Penguin unit.
  
• In language arts, we continued to use our Step Up to Writing program to write about our friends in class. The students are learning about green - topic sentence, yellow - details, and red - examples. We are also adding transition words to our writing. We are gathering the writing samples each week to send home in a nice book at the end of the year. It will be a great way to measure your child's growth.
• We studies Dr. Martin Luther King's life by reading Scholastic News. Students also discussed how we should love each other to make the world a better place.
  
• We also started our thematic Penguin unit. We will be using penguins to practice reading, writing, math, geography, and science.
  
• In science, we continue to study the properties of wood. Question of the week: Will wood sink or float in water?
  

Play Update:
This week we continued practicing our songs. We had practice on the big stage twice. Please remind your child to practice speaking parts and songs at home this weekend.

We are still collecting items list below.

• small camera bags with straps (2)
  
• khaki vests (2)
• paper towel tubes (lots)
  
• wrapping paper and wrapping paper tubes (lots)
  
• round party trays (like sushi platter, veggie tray, large party platter)
• egg cartons
  

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
1/20: Ways to promote peace
1/26: What your mom or dad's career is...

Have a great weekend,
The Little Blue Teachers