Week of September 16th

Happy Friday Pandas!

General Updates:

1. Please check out the specials teachers update here!

2. An update from Mrs. Martinez

   1. Thank you to our PTO for providing an author visit at Willow Grove!  Rekha Rajan is visiting Willow Grove on October 18th.  If you are interested in having a book signed by the author please use the following Amazon links to purchase the book/s and then send the book/s to school with your child by October 14th.  Please write your child’s name and classroom teacher on a post-it note and attach it to the inside cover of the book/s. 

      
      

      This is Music Drums: https://a.co/d/15azmy8

      This is Music Horns: https://a.co/d/6OpZNcR

      This is Music Strings: https://a.co/d/9zrN8KU

      This is Music Voice: https://a.co/d/0N8FdDf

      Can you Dance Like a Peacock?: https://a.co/d/f0bszk0

      Amazing Landmarks: https://a.co/d/ilaxtbO

      
      

      Please also fill out this google form so that we can make sure the books are signed by the author: https://forms.gle/Npvh597ZSN1a8yoT6

      
      

      If you have any questions please email Mrs. Martinez at:mmartinez@kcsd96.org

3. We celebrated a panda birthday this week. Happy Birthday Lily!

   
   

3. I would love to extend open arms and welcome families into our classroom! This year we will be welcoming families in to be a "mystery guest"! This is a fifteen minute time slot that you are able to sign up for to either be a mystery reader or to teach us about your beautiful cultures! Please note, there are only two adults over the age of 18 allowed into the building for this volunteer opportunity at a time. 

Some ideas of things you could share related to your culture (but are not limited to) are: photos (holidays, travels, clothing, etc), videos, music, games, stories, puppet show, art project, etc. You are also welcome to bring in any stories and read them to the class for enjoyment! If you are bringing in books, please bring 2-3 books to share during this time.

Cultural connections are totally up to you and what you are comfortable with. We can't wait to welcome you into our classroom this year! If your work schedules are tight and the time slots available do not work for you, please reach out and we are able to plan this over Zoom or you are able to send a video in that we can share with the class!

Please only sign up for one slot per family. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out :)

Click Here For Mystery Guest Sign Up

4. Willow Grove is in the process of creating a MakerSpace library. MakerSpace is a place during play where students can explore, design, and create. Students have the freedom to build and construct during our play. We are so excited to bring MakerSpace to our classroom, but we need your help! In order to have a successful MakerSpace for students to use, we are in need of donations year round. If you are able, we would so appreciate any donation you are willing provide. Below is a list of different items we would love to add to Willow Grove's MakerSpace library.

This week in literacy...

• Phonics: This week the students continued learning new sounds! The pandas also continued learning about blending sounds into words. Phoneme blending is the combining of sounds and it is a very important step for reading and writing! An example of blending is if I say the sounds /b/ /e/ /t/, the students will say the real word 'bet.'

Sound Collection: /m/, /s/, /l/, /n/, /f/, /r/, /v/, /z/, /p/, /g/, /d/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /w/, /h/, /kw/, /j/, /y/

• Reading: We continued our first cycle of literacy learning about community helpers with the text, Career Day. This is a literature text that has characters, setting, and events. Career Day also taught the pandas some true information about different helpers in our community.

• Writing: This week in writing the pandas learned the different between a letter, a word, and a sentence. The pandas were taught that a letter is a one symbol in the alphabet, a word is made up of letters, and a sentence is made up of words! The pandas also learned about opinion writing this week. An opinion is something we think, feel or believe. It can be the same or different than a friend and it cannot be right or wrong as long as we support our opinions with a reason. This week the pandas shared their opinion about their favorite place in their neighborhood or community.

This week in math...

• We continued using the 5 frame to help us count along with learning more about the 10 frame. A 10 frame is a tool we use to counter larger numbers. It looks like a 5 frame, but has 10 spaces instead of 5! The pandas also practiced some strategies to count with 1:1 correspondence. Some strategies to keep track of the objects when counting include: moving items into a basket, moving the object counted far away, lining up each object counted, organizing the objects into groups on 10 frame, or crossing off each object with 1 line when using paper.

Reminders

• Please label your child's snack daily and pack this separate from the lunchbox.

• Water bottles stay in the classroom, if you want your child to have a drink for lunch, please send a separate drink.

• If you would like your child to buy a drink at lunch, please make sure there is money in the account for the lunch card.

• Extra clothes and PE shoes should be labeled and stored in your child's cubby.

• Please see Mrs. Smith's Principal's Message for further information about Willow Grove: principal's message

Upcoming Dates

Friday, September 27th- Willow Walk