January Newsletter – Ms Soranson’s Class

1. January Newsletter – Ms Soranson’s Class Hello Parents The children had a fantastic time this week at the Kindergarten Red Market. I have included some pictures in the months photo gallery. Thank you to all the parents who came on to our CNY celebration to help with the activities and also to those parents that made food. Thank you also to those parents came this past week to Reading Workshop. Reading is such vital skill and it is important that our children have success in reading from these very first steps. Thank you for supporting our class learning Program. Language Arts Speaking & Listening - this quarter we will again work on the skills needed to retell a story. This is not only an important speaking skill but important for reading comprehension. Lessons will be integrated with quality literature during Shared Reading time. We will be able to view students growth in this area at Portfolio Conferences in March, as we compare a task from the beginning of the year and a task from February. Reading – Small readers will continue to come home 4/5 days per Week. Please continue to read these each night with students. Each day students will have a small group instruction time where the focus is strategies to decode text. In Shared Reading we will continue to work on our comprehension toolbox strengthening students ability to think about what they are reading. Take a look at our favorite books of the past few weeks on the next page.

2. Writing In February we begin our Non-Fiction writing Unit where students will begin to focus on writing procedures and reports. That term reports sounds very grown up doesn’t it. The students will be incorporating pictures into their How – To books, thinking about the Table of Contents and other features of Non-Fiction books, making labeled diagrams and more. We will continue to learn more words in a Snap, sound out words and work on the conventions of writing. This will be an exciting unit for students with their final piece of writing going on the shelf in the Library for a few days. Math Students will begin to work with the 100s grid as we prepare for 100 days of school. They will count by 5s & 10s to 100. They will work with pennies & nickels and also apply their knowledge of 2D shapes to 3D shapes. Time also features in the coming month, with students learning to tell time on the hour. A few of our favorite books about China and Chinese New Year Shirin Yim Bridges– Ruby’s Wish Grace Lin– Bringing in the New Year Julia Donaldson – The Magic Paintbrush

3. Science The Goldfish & Guppies have been exciting for the students these past weeks. We will continue to investigate small animals with either snails or worms being our next science investigation. These topics provide perfect hands on experiences for the students to write about in Writer’s Workshop • REMINDERS FOR FEBRUARY • Friday February 6th – 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION • Friday February 23 – PD Day no school for students May the Year of the Ox bring your families much peace, prosperity and happiness. I look forward to the months ahead watching your children grow in strength and wisdom Please email me anytime at soransons@tas.edu.tw