It's a New Year!

I love the holidays, but getting through them and into the new year is a welcome change. In kindergarten we'll be starting many new things as we roll into the new year.

One of our new things is a wonderful person. Mrs. DeGraaf will be the long term sub for Mrs. Arnold as she student teaches in first grade. Mrs. DeGraaf is kind and fun, she's an expert at art and has lots of experience teaching children. I am looking forward to having her in the classroom and know you will love her.

In Bible we'll cover the story of the Magi as they travel to give gifts to the baby Jesus. The Bible does not say that there were just three wise men or that they were present at the birth of Christ. We'll discuss the meaning of gifts, who these wise men were and why they came. Students will learn how God protected Jesus and His family once the wise men left. We'll begin learning our January Bible verse and the ASL signs to go with it.

This week in reading the focus is on the letter Ff. Students will learn how to write it correctly, it's sound and use it in reading and writing words. We will hand out new writing journals! Students will write in their journals weekly and eventually take them home to continue writing in the summer. At story time we'll review story concepts and focus on understanding the main topic. Students will recall story sequence as we discuss a text. New red words are: off, from.

In math we'll begin a module on comparing numbers to 10. Students will use past knowledge to decide if groups are greater, less or equal. As we study the calendar, we'll learn how to write the date using numbers. Students will begin adding the date to their daily practice work.

It will be exciting to begin a new science unit on forces and motion. Students will share what they know about engineering, force and motion. We will begin by making an inventory of our building materials.

Our weekly art lesson will include a tie to one of our stories and be all about a snowman. We'll learn what the word 'perspective' means. Students will design a snowman from an unique perspective. Watch for new art work displayed in our hallway gallery. 

With the Christmas program behind us, we move into learning more about musical notes. Students will learn to identify notes and understand their sound. I'll be bring out instruments soon and the class will learn to accompany those who are singing.

At tech time this week, we'll read books through the online library, Epic.

I've missed each student and being in the classroom. It will be great fun to see everyone again and begin learning together once more in this new year.

Mrs. Luoma