Little Blue Bulletin 11/17-21

Happy Thanksgiving

We have been very busy this week. On Monday we went to a field trip to see "Aesop's Fables". On Tuesday we were busy practicing reading and writing. On Wednesday we visited the library and tech lab. On Thursday, we wrapped up our tree unit and went to see the Macaroni play. Finally, we ended the week by making sum turkeys. Wow. What a week!

Please visit our podcasts this weekend. The kids are very excited to share them with you. Use the links on our website.
You can also learn how to make puppets by visiting http://www.jimwestpuppets.com/

Homework:
There will be no homework this coming week. Instead, please take the time to check out the Little Blue website. We added many educational links related to reading, spelling, and math. Each classroom also posted a Thanksgiving podcast. Please make a comment for our class to read. The students enjoy hearing what everyone has to say.


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

Sharing:
11/24: No sharing - short week
12/01: Special ways your family celebrates the season

Thanks,
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 11/12-11/14

It was great to see so many K/1 families at the movie this week. We hope you enjoyed our community event. Also, if you haven't returned the bottom portion of the orange traffic flyer, please do so on Monday. We need 100% participation.

Upcoming Events:
Field trip on Monday. We will be going to the Flint Center to see "Aesop's Fables II". The buses will return before lunchtime.

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!

The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing Change!
11/17: Share a special family ritual
11/24: No sharing - short week
12/01: Special ways your family celebrates the season

A family ritual is something that your family does on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis.
For example:
• My family eats dinner together every night.
• My family has game night on Wednesday nights.
• My family goes to Tahoe each December to ski.
Please remember to share one ritual, and add some details about what your family does.
Do not share 3 different events.

BOOK BAGS!!!
First grade parents only!
We know that there has been some mix-ups lately with the book bags. We now have all the books and direction cards in the correct bags. If your child receives a repeat bag, please have your child do a text to self connection instead. To help us, please make sure your child returns the book and activity in the same bag as it was sent in. Thank you.

There will be no homework folders on Fridays due to the book bags.


Review of the week:
Language Arts:
This week we wrote autumn poetry, visited the computer lab, and practiced prompt writing. For a short week, we packed in quite a bit!

Math:
This week we continued to learn about time and calendar. Please take time each day to talk about the calendar and clock. Here is some vocabulary to help lead your discussions.

• days of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• yesterday, today, tomorrow
• Months of the year: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec
  
• minute
• hour
• elapsed time (time it takes to do something)
  
• order of events

Science:
In science, we continue our studies of trees. Please go for a walk and use the following words to describe trees.

• bark
• branch
• twig
• leaves
• trunk
  
• deciduous
• conifer
• serrated edges
• needles

Finally, we want to remind everyone that the weather has been unpredictable. Here are a few tips to keep your child (and yourself!) healthy:

• Dress in layers: always have a short sleeve shirt underneath.
  
• Some sweatshirts are hard to take off, leave them at home!
• Wash hands before eating, or after touching your face/nose.
  

Thanks,
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 11/03-11/07

It has been a very exciting week in our nation and here at Portal. Our classes voted along with the nation.The students learned the importance of voting, and what a privilege it can be to be part of a republic

We also enjoyed seeing all of your 3-D turkey projects. Keep your eyes out for the podcasts that will be posted soon.

We went to an awesome assembly on Monday. We learned about musical instruments from Latin America. The students were able to play, sing, and dance to the Latin beat. On Thursday we took a trip to New York! The Adelie Village shared some Broadway hits in their performance of "Penguins on Broadway".

Upcoming Events:
November 10, 11: No school in observance of Veteran's Day
November 13: Meet your teachers at the Movies: K/1 community event
November 26, 27, 28: No school in observance of Thanksgiving

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!

The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
11/10: No sharing
11/17: SHARING CHANGE! Share a family ritual
11/20: No sharing
A family ritual is something that your family does on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis. For example: My family eats dinner together every night. or My family has game night on Wednesday nights. or My family goes to Tahoe each December to ski. Please remember to share one ritual, and add some details about what your family does. Do not share 3 different events. We will send home more information in the homework folder next week.

BOOK BAGS!!!
First grade parents only! We know that there has been some mix-ups lately with the book bags. We now have all the books and direction cards in the correct bags. If your child receives a repeat bag, please have your child do a text to self connection instead. To help us, please make sure your child returns the book and activity in the same bag as it was sent in. Thank you.

Extra assignment:
Please visit your teacher's blog. With your parent's help, add your comment. We look forward to hearing from you. Review of the week:

Language Arts:
We continued our new handwriting program--Hand Writing Without Tears. We are practicing making our letters all the same size. Please practice neat writing with homework too! We are continuing to review the following concepts in reading skills. It is helping us prepare for reading and spelling!

• short/long vowel sounds
• beginning letter sounds and blends
  
• sight words
• rhyming words
• recalling facts while reading

We have also started an author study about Leo Lionni. We started by reading Frederick. Frederick is a mouse that would prefer to write poetry. We helped him gather warm thoughts for the winter. We also talking about text to self connections. This is when a part of the story reminds us of something that happened in our own life. Try it with a book you read at home.

Math:
We are started our new strand in math, learning about time and calendar. We feel this is the most valuable and difficult unit that students learn this year. Please take time each day to look at the calendar and talk about time. Here is some vocabulary to help lead your discussions.

• days of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• yesterday, today, tomorrow
• minute
• hour
• order of events
  

Science:
In science we are studying about trees. We are using our observation skills to compare and sort leaves. It's not too late to contribute $2.00 toward our K/1 tree.

Spiritwear:
Show your school spirit each Friday. Remember to buy your Portal t-shirts and sweatshirts. They are on sale through November 14th.

Thanks,
Your Little Blue Teachers

Happy Halloween!

Dear Parents

The Halloween Parade was a huge success! In class, we also celebrated the holiday by doing a rotation. We made a black cat, a harvest quilt, and a Halloween costume podcast. Here is a link for you to listen to the podcast episodes. If you hit the RSS feed button, you'll get instant updates of our newest projects.

Go to mrsmontgomery.podbean.com
View in Pop-Up Window.

Wish all of you a safe and fun Halloween!

Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 10/20-10/24

Welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful and restful October Break. Thank you to all parents who helped on the field trip. We appreciate your time and effort.


Upcoming Events:
Costumes Parade is coming! Parents, if your child choose to participate, please mark your calendars--Friday, October 31st at 3pm. Remember, costumes cannot be worn during school hours. They must change after school. Also, remind your child's driver if he/she is going to be picked up by you.

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!

The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
10/27: Memorize a Halloween poem or song of your choice
11/03: Share and describe your 3-D Turkey

How to prepare for sharing:
1. Tell us your poem or song title
2. Speak/ sing loud and clear
3. Make eye contact with classmates and teacher when talking

BOOK BAGS!!!
The book bags are coming home today! Please read the book with your child each night. It's important to reread books again and again. After reading the story several times, do the activity listed on the instruction sheet. The kinders have the directions on the yellow sheet and first graders have directions on the white sheet. On Wednesday night have your child put the journal, the book, and the instructions back into the bag so that it is ready to come back to school on Thursday morning. It is very important to the success of our program that book bags are returned each Thursday morning.


There will be no homework folders on Fridays due to the book bags.

Extra assignment:
Please visit your teacher's blog. With your parent's help, add your comment. We look forward to hearing from you.


Review of the week:
Language Arts:
We continued our new handwriting program--Hand Writing Without Tears. We are still working on holding our pencil correctly and starting letters/numbers at the top.
We are reviewing the following concepts in reading skills. It is helping us prepare for reading and spelling!

• short/long vowel sounds
• beginning letter sounds and blends
  
• sight words
• rhyming words
• recalling facts while reading

After our wonderful field trip on Monday, we studied more about pumpkins. The students wrote about experiences at the Useigi Farms and created a pumpkin book. We also created poetry about Autumn. Our students learned about adjectives and nouns to make sensory phrases about our new season.



Math:
We are finishing up our current strand on numbers. This is such an important concept that we will continue to visit our number strategies throughout the school year. Please remember to practice vocabulary with your students at home to reinforce what is taught at school.

• equal
• less than
• more than
• place value: tens, ones
• addend, sum
• number line
  

Science:
Red Ribbon Week is a special week for all students across our nation. We take the time to talk about making healthy choices in our lives. Students shared on the topic, and we did several activities in class. We learned about the five food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and proteins (meat, legumes, and nuts). It's important to eat less "extras" like sweets, fried foods, and sweets. Please help promote healthy living by sending good snacks to school. Ask your student what is a good snack to help give our body and mind energy.



Thanks,
The Little Blue Teachers

Litte Bulletin 9/22-10/3

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Upcoming Events:
NEXT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY the Little Blue Teachers will be at our APPLE training, so this newsletter will be covering this week and next week (BUT, we will have subs and your children will be very busy). We will resume newsletter when we come back from October break.

Project Cornerstone will kick-off next week. Please refer to the Press for details and the letter that goes home with the project. The theme this month is how to build positive friendships. We will talk about putting warm fuzzies in our buckets. Ask your child what a warm fuzzy is...

OCTOBER 5 through OCTOBER 19th is our break. We hope you all have a wonderful two weeks off. Make sure you keep reading over vacation.

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!

The Little Blue Village Calendar

Sharing:
9/29: Some signs of fall!
10/4- 10/19:Vacation
10/20: Three Ways to Stay Healthy

How to prepare for sharing:
1. Tell us your topic
2. Prepare for one ending sentence
3. Make eye contact with classmates and teacher when talking

BOOK BAGS!!!
The book bags are coming home today! Please read the book with your child each night. It's important to reread books again and again. After reading the story several times, do the activity listed on the instruction sheet. The kinders have the directions on the yellow sheet and first graders have directions on the white sheet. On Wednesday night have your child put the journal, the book, and the instructions back into the bag so that it is ready to come back to school on Thursday morning. It is very important to the success of our program that book bags are returned each Thursday morning.

NOTE: There will be no book bags going home over the vacation. It would be a great time to visit your local library.

There will be no homework folders on Fridays due to the book bags.

Extra assignment:
Please visit your teacher's blog. With your parent's help, add your comment. We look forward to hearing from you.


Review of the week:
Language Arts:
We continued our new handwriting program--Hand Writing Without Tears. We are still working on holding our pencil correctly and starting letters/numbers at the top.
We are reviewing the following concepts in reading skills. It is helping us prepare for reading and spelling!

• short/long vowel sounds
• beginning letter sounds
• sight words
• rhyming words
• recalling facts while reading
  

The students are using their summary skills to describe what they learned. We read a Scholastic News on friendships and used the same skills to tell what we learned at our assembly called "Street Smarts." Please refer to the following colors to help you understand our color coding.

• green - Go! Topic Sentence
• yellow - Slow down. Add a detail
• green - Finish the paragraph

Fall has begun. This week and next we will be learning more about our changing seasons. Using our senses, we will write some poetry about fall.


Math:
We are continuing to work with numbers. We are practicing ways to count on, adding doubles (5 +5=10), and using various strategies to help us add and subtract.
We are practicing our new vocabulary:

• equal
• less than
• more than
• place value: tens, ones
• addend, sum
• number line
  

Science:
This week we built the life cycle of the apple. We started with a seed, and ended with the apple. The students were very curious about how the blossom turns into an apple. Hopefully we can help answer this question further as we start our pumpkin studies. Next week we will be learning about how a pumpkin grows. This will help us prepare for our upcoming field trip.


Special Events:
We had an assembly on staying safe when we our outside. Remember to always wear a bike helmet and cross in safe places. Ask your students what jaywalking means.




Thanks,
The Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 9/08-9/12

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Upcoming Dates:
Saturday: Family Fun Night! 4-7pm
This week: Parent Teacher Conferences. Early Dismissal at 12:30.
Friday: Teacher Learning Day! No school for kids
The Little Blue Village Calendar

PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS!


Sharing:
9/15 -- Three ways to show good manners
9/22-- Share a classroom rule and why it is important

How to prepare for sharing:
1. Tell us your topic
2. Prepare for one ending sentence
3. Make eye contact when you talk

BOOK BAGS!!!
The book bags are coming home again today! Please read the book with your child each night. It's important to reread books again and again. After reading the story several times, do the activity listed on the instruction sheet. The kinders have the directions on the yellow sheet and first graders have directions on the white sheet. On Wednesday night have your child put the journal, the book, and the instructions back into the bag so that it is ready to come back to school on Thursday morning. It is very important to the success of our program that book bags are returned each Thursday morning.

There will be no homework folders on Fridays due to the book bags.

Extra assignment:
Please visit your teacher's blog. With your parent's help, add your comment. We look forward to hearing from you.


Review of the week:
Language Arts:
We continued our new handwriting program--Hand Writing Without Tears. We are still working on holding our pencil correctly and starting letters/numbers at the top. We've reviewed the following concepts:

• short/long vowel sounds
• beginning letter sounds
• sight words
• rhyming words

We used our reading and writing skills to learn more about apples. Students used describing words to create poetry. We learned how to use our senses (sound, sight, feel) to help us. We also did our first Step Up to Writing lesson using our colored dots. The students summarized a Scholastic News reader, finding three key points to remember.

• green - Go! Topic Sentence
• yellow - Slow down. Add a detail
• green - Finish the paragraph
  

Last, we created an apple glyph. A glyph is a symbol that means something special. For instance, the students chose the apple color according to boys and girls. Come in to see our great work.

Math:
This week we started our Number Sense strand. We are practicing ways to count on, adding doubles (5 +5=10) and using various strategies to help us add and subtract.
We are practicing our new vocabulary:

• equal
• less than
• more than
• place value: tens, ones
• addend, sum
  

PSCO News:
Reminder - Spirit T-shirts available for Kinders!
Murdock-Portal Spirit T-shirts are available for $10, sizes Small or Medium. Your Kinder can get their very own Penguin T-shirt, to wear on School Spirit Days! Don’t be left out - Forms are in the office. (Not sure what size? Check the sample T-shirts in the Office.)

Coming Soon on Wed 24th – Jungle Play-date!
Save the Date and meet up with other K/1 village parents, for a School play-date at the ‘Jungle’ on Wed 24th Sept, from 5pm onwards. This is a great opportunity for new Parents to get to know other K/1 parents over a coffee, while your children get to play for free at the Jungle, at El Paseo de Saratoga opposite Westgate Mall. Look out for flyers next week in your Thursday folder, to get free entry.

Special Events:
We started our week with an awesome "Wildlife Assembly". We had several animals visit our school to help teach conservation and appropriate ways to handle wild animals. The students were very excited to see the snowy owl, and lynx.

Chicken Dance! Thanks you for joining us for our first performance of the year. It was so nice to see so many parents watch our students cluck and rock today.

Here is a link so you can cluck along at home too!
http://www.funpages.com/chickendance/

Thanks,
The Little Blue Teachers