next week is march and its agenda.....

Parents,

We had a crazy wild reading week organized by our fabulous PTA~ A big hand for them!!!!

Please make sure to go over the business and agenda section as they are very important.

Business:

1. Box Tops, we are still collecting! Pretty please.

2.  Please feel free to come to me if you have any questions (related to school and your child)

3. We have a lot of missing items such as lunchboxes, gloves, jackets left in the classroom daily, most with no names, all these items are put into the lost and found box by the custodian office.

4. Biting! We have a lot of biters in our class, I thought duct tape can withstand anything but looks like I am wrong, some kids bit through duct tape :( I put duct tape on their pencil top ( on the metal part) to remind them not to bite or put the pencil in their mouth, please help me talk to them about not biting things.

5. Putting things in mouth, a lot of children love to put things in their mouth, like erasers, pencil tops, toys, blocks, erasers, glue, etc etc, please help me talk to them that it is not safe (as they might swallow and choke on it) and it is unsanitary.  Our awesome volunteers are always wiping down items almost daily.

6. Kindness--We talk about this daily about being kind to others, and to include others in their play time, not be physical etc. Kindness also includes saying nice things and being a friend.

7. Breakfast and Lunch, some kids are always saying they are hungry, and this is usually right when they come to school (AM class) or after lunchtime (PM class) I am wondering do they eat breakfast or lunch? Please help me talk to them about the importance of eating their breakfast and lunch.


Agenda:

1. Chinese---We will begin a short unit on the different flavors.
 Sweet, salty, sour, spicy! (ssss)
I will post up the audio clips on Monday!
This is a tricky unit to teach, we have to do a small taste test, I do not think this will cause problems for food allergies. I will put  4 different flavors on 4 different toothpicks ( maybe sugar-sweet, Salt-salty, lemon juice-sour, I will probably show different examples of spicy like chilli, hot sauce) The children will have to try and guess what flavor the food item is.

2. Math--so we are still working on LOOKING out for the different signs when we do our math worksheets. ( I have combined +1 and -1 in the same worksheet as in there are different problems with either subtraction or addition). Quite a handful of children become lost but once I circle the sign, they understand but still we have some who don't  know what to do.



*please help me review with them at home about LOOKING at the sign
*if it is 1+2=, they should draw one circle and a + sign and then 2 more circles and then = sign and then count the total amount of circles and write 3
*if it is 4-1= they should draw 4 circles and then cross out one circle and then count the remaining circle, and then write 3.

*There are some who got the answer right but they draw the wrong circles, it is considered WRONG, for example 1+5=
they draw 5 circles and then they cross out one circle
OR
they draw 5 circles and then another 1 circle and then cross out the one circle but still end up with 5 circles
 OR
they draw 6 circles and then the + sign and then they draw another circle and then they end up with 7

( we are working mostly on our whiteboards for now, they need to know the different sounds for + and - , please refer to my previous postings on the audio clips for these 2 sounds, most of the class can tell the difference but some kids still struggle with recognizing the difference)

We are still working on our dots and number line, it is till 80 now!

3. Writing, we are working on our Chinese journals, where we write the month, date and weather, some kids are recognizing the words :) yay! Some kids have beautiful handwriting for the Chinese characters!

4. Art-- We will do a cool craft...stay tunned :)

Thanks for your green stars!

Thanks you for sending your child with green star!!! YAY! thanks!

AM class---# 25,#12,#24,#14,#17.#13,#27,#5

PM class--#28,#15,#11#25

Please remember to do the GREEN reading slip and record your child reading minutes and bring it everyday, make sure that you do it on the right day. For example on the green paper, there is different days of the week, please write it on the correct day, cut the slip out and put it into your child blue folder, I am collecting it daily.

Thanks for supporting reading week!

:)

American Heart Association envelopes

Parents,

I need the American Heart Association donation envelopes by TODAY, it was due last Friday!
Also, please make sure your child brings their library book TODAY and wears the appropriate shoes for TUESDAY!

XieXie

next week schedule and its reading week! YAY!

Parents,

Thanks for supporting my blog! Well most of you! I appreciate you! :):)
Next week is reading week, I hope you have gotten out the handout a few days, please make sure to record the reading minutes with your child! :)
TO kick off the reading assembly, they are doing a fun theme reading week' next week! A little note from out PTA committee!

·        Monday, February 24^th: “Wild Wear”—Wear mismatched shirt and pants and remember to be “Wild About Reading”. No costumes or accessories please. We will kick off reading week with “The Magic of Reading” with magician Mike Hamilton at 9:15 a.m assembly.

 

·        Tuesday, February 25^th: “Family Fun With Books” — 8:00-8:45 a.m.  (last name beginning with A-M) & “Wild Fan Day”. Wear your favorite team’s jersey, t-shirt, colors or even your own sports jersey/t-shirt. Bring some of your favorite books to read with a family member before school. Breakfast will not be provided, but students are welcome to bring their own snacks to munch on.

 

·        Wednesday, February 26^th: “Family Fun With Books”—8:00-8:45 a.m. (last name beginning with N-Z) &“Wild Hair Day”—Show your wild side by creating a crazy hairdo.  NO DYED HAIR!!!!

 

·        Thursday, February 27^th: “Wild Animal Face Day”—Use face paint to create your favorite wild animal. Have wild fun during recess and explore a fire truck with your buddies.

 

·        Friday, February 28^th: “Wild Socks/Shoes”—Dig out those “wild” socks or shoes and wear them proudly for our “Wild About Reading” finale.  Classes that have read the most minutes will celebrate with a class party. 

 

Business:

 

1. Please please please please please talk to your child about NOT being physical, we have quite a few of incidents and near dangerous situation where it could have been FATAL! I am not exaggerating! We had some children been physical this week, which includes, pushing, choking, punching, etc. This is a very serious matter and was dealt with seriously! Please please also help me tell your child if another child is being mean, physical towards them that they do not 'return the favor' and it does NOT give them the right to be mean or physical towards them back.  

 

*also NO throwing of snowballs and NO running outside or inside, we have daily injuries from children NOT listening and NOT following this rule!!!!!!!

I know these sound harsh but SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY!!!!

 

 

2. Duck necklaces! I am so proud that the children have been trying their best to collect as much donations for heart research:) I know they are very excited to collect the different duckies with different amounts of donations, they are most welcome to wear their duck necklace BUT if they play with it or distract others during class time, warnings will be given ( up to 3 times!) then it will get TAKEN AWAY! Please talk to them about that!

 

3.  ATTENDANCE---Please make sure that your child comes on time to school! It is very important that they are ON TIME.

 

4. Library books---It must be brought EVERY MONDAY to return to the library!

*if Monday is a holiday, bring it the following day! I will return it for them!

*please make sure that you treat library books with TLC (Tender loving care!), water damage or other damage will result in you buying the same exact book for the library!

 

5. SHOES for PE on Tuesday, we still have quite a handful of students that do not bring or wear the right shoes for PE and that result injuries when they try to run (before we can actually screen and see who wore the right shoes), that has resulted in injuries! Please Please Please, wear the appropriate shoes! SAFETY ISSUE!!!

 

6. Center Time--The toys always need some Tender Loving Care! Most of the children play with them nicely but there is quite a handful of children that throw, step, etc on these toys as a result, there are many damaged toys. Please talk to them about it. I might have to start asking you to buy new toys if your child damages it.

 

7. Please, read everything! It is so important! (a lot of answers can be found here and in different entries of this blog!)

 

Agenda----

 

1. Chinese---WE will finish learning the vegetables vocabulary! Check blog for audio clips!

 

2. Journals---We have started our Chinese journal, where we are writing the date, day and the weather, so far it has been really good! Most of the children have great handwriting skills! This is a good practice for the children to start recognizing some Chinese words.

 

3. Math--We have started switching up the addition and subtraction questions into the same worksheet, that has resulted in lots and lots of confusion, please please please, help me emphasize that they look at the sign first, whether it is + or - first.

*also, some children make careless mistakes, their answer is correct but they draw the wrong amount of circles, it is considered wrong (part of their common core curriculum is that they need to know what numeral value is, for example 3 means 3 circles!)

 

4. Health--we will discuss the different things that makes people healthy! (food, exercise, etc)

 

5. TEST next week on vegetables unit! please please please make sure to go over or play the audio clips (from my blog) with them, this really helps them! repetition is needed for these kiddos!

 

lets see who reads the whole blog, bring a white paper with a green star (do not color the star) drawn on it, also please write their names on it, bring it on Monday:) I will ask students to take it out of their backpack! thanks for doing this!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

subtraction audio clips

Parents,

Hope this will help you with the subtraction problems, please review with them the subtraction vocabulary!

Thanks

audio for vegetables

Parents!

Guess what? Sound cloud decided to put back the original thingy back! yay! Please revise with them at home!!! Pretty please!!!
XieXie!

Happy Valentine day! and next week agenda!

Hi Parents,

Happy Valentine Day! :) Have a good 3 day weekend! (there is no school on Monday!)
Thank you parent volunteers! I appreciate your help!

Thank you our COOL moms for planning a fun Valentine day party yesterday that our kids enjoy!!!
Business:

1. Remember Monday is library day, please make sure your child brings their library book to return otherwise they cannot borrow next books.  (this Monday is a holiday but they can still bring their library books to me on Tuesday, I will collect them and help them return)

2. Tuesday is PE day, they need to wear appropriate shoes or bring shoes to change, appropriate shoes like tennis or running shoes. BOOTS/SNOW BOOTS are not allowed for PE.

3. Next week is custodian appreciation week, if you see them around, please thank them for their hard efforts in all that they do.

4. there are still kids running outside and inside the classroom, that results in injuries, please please please please please help me talk to them about it

5. Most kids can understand subtraction -1, however there are still some that struggle with that concept, please refer to my blog for the vocabulary (audio clips) and also the common mistakes on subtraction.  Please help me by reviewing with them at home, because we have a lot to cover in such a short time.
*also, we will keep reviewing subtraction, sometime next week, I am going to start switching up the signs, for example we will have 1+3= , 4-1= ,  1+6=, 1+9= , 6-1=
please please help tell the children to WATCH for the signs carefully
(The reason why I do this is because I want the students to be careful and to learn to flexible and to learn things not just in one way but in many different ways, hope this makes sense!)

*so those kids that struggle with subtraction or addition, they might be extra confused, please revise with them at home, you know your child best as to whether they struggle or succeed in this!

Agenda:

1. Chinese---We are going to be learning vegetables! yay! Please check my blog on the audio clips on Monday!
*soundcloud cannot be opened on iphone, ipad ( I don't think it is compatible there, sorry!)
*the vegetable unit will be taught for 2 weeks

2. Math- we will be doing subtraction (-1) and then sometime later next week, we will start switching up the signs to either (+1) or (-1) so make sure to revise with them at home.

3. Art: we will do a craft this week (Stay tuned!)

4. TEST--- We will be testing on SUBTRACTION (-1) Please please please, I hope I have been clear on REVISING with them at home:) Thanks to those parents that have been revising with your kids at home! I appreciate you!

* make sure for subtraction that you refer to the  blog for common mistakes, even if the answer is correct but they draw the wrong amount of circles, it is considered wrong, this is part of the common core curriculum that students need to know (by now) what each number represent, it is not enough to count 1,2,3,4 they must know what 4 represents, 4 is 4 circles.


Have a fun weekend!

confusion with subtraction

 

these are some wrong common mistakes I noticed :

 

 

 

Parents,
We started subtraction yesterday and it was not bad, there were some frustration but not to worry, it is like that with new topics.
I notice some common mistakes:
first one is the top problem in blue, if the question is 5-1, they end up drawing 5 dots and then they draw another dot and then cross out the dot, that's why the answer is still 5.
second mistake, they are not looking at the sign and they still think it is addition, so if the problem is 4-1, they write a + sign and draw another circle, so the answer is still 5.

please follow the correct example below

Some other common mistakes:
*please make sure they draw their circles clearly, and that they don't over lap, otherwise they get confused as to how many circles they draw
*please make sure they draw the correct amount of circles, example 2-1, and if they draw 3 circles first instead of 2, then their answer will be wrong
*I expect them to draw the circles in the correct way, I don't expect to memorize it, that's why I have the how to draw the circles the correct way up on my whiteboard all the time, so that way they can refer to it constantly
*please make sure they look at the sign carefully (they must know the difference between + and -
*this is important, that they do NOT draw another circle, for example 10-1=
they should draw 10 circles and cross out one, they SHOULD NOT DRAW 10 circles - one circle and then cross out one, that way their answer is wrong and they get confused (see first blue problem for sample)
THE CORRECT WAY: for example if 8-1=
they should draw 8 circles and then cross out one then count whenever circle is left ( do NOT count the cross out circle)

Thanks!

Great job our cute kindergarteners and this week schedule

A big hand for our cute kindergarteners that perform sooooo well for our Chinese New Year Program on Friday! They were all so cute and sang so loudly! I am so proud of them!
Xiexie parents for those hard efforts and for making sure your kids arrive early and were in appropriate attire!
 YAY!!!!

Business:

1.  The computer class teacher has asked me to remind you to keep practicing with your child their log in information (password and username), I think most of them can log in on their own--yay! But if we can work on speed, that would help the computer teacher to move on and do more activities.

2. Center time means that the children get to 'play' with different toys, I just ordered a lot of new toys (as our toys were old and broken) and I realize that some children tend to throw the toys etc, basically do not treat the toys with respect, which results in some NEW toys being broken (which has to be thrown away due to safety reasons!). Please help me to tell your child at home to treat toys and other things at school with respect and to be gentle with things.
 
3. Valentine day party this Thursday!
Remember AM class party will be held in Mrs Christensen's room from 12:25-1:30pm
Remember PM class party will be held in my classroom from 2:15pm-3:20pm

Please come early to set up! Thanks to our cools moms for all your hard work!

4. LIBRARY BOOKS! please make sure your child brings their library books every Monday to return. If they do not bring their books, they cannot check out new books.

5. PE SHOES! Remember to bring extra running/tennis shoes for your child every Tuesday for PE. BOOTS/SNOW BOOTS are not allowed, no proper shoes means your child cannot do PE due to safety reasons.

Agenda:

1. Chinese---We are going to finish the last 3 fruits, so keep reviewing the fruits vocabulary, a lot of them get orange and pear mixed up because the last word for these 2 fruits are the same! Please Please help me review the vocabulary at home, it is very easy to see and know which students are constantly reviewing the vocabulary with their parents at home. A big THANK YOU!

2. Math--We will try something new, we will try -1 (subtraction) please please, make sure you go over the vocabulary with them:) we will stay in the range of 10.

*for example 4-1=
all they need to draw is 4 circles and cross out one (see email for example!)

*this  might be confusing and might cause tears and frustration but we will get through this!
*the circles need to be drawn clearly, which means no overlapping circles, if possible, try to practice with your child the proper way of drawing the circles ( I have send out an email previously!)
this chart ( on how to draw the circles) is always on our classroom board so the children can refer and practice.

3. Social studies: we will study ways on becoming good citizens

4. TEST this week on FRUITS! Make sure to review all 9 fruits with them (From my audio clips on my blog)

We are going to have a fun week!

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parents,

REMEMBER!!! Our Chinese New Year Concert is tonight!!! YAY!!!!!
@ Bountiful High School
@6pm

Please REMEMBER the following as they are very important:
- come early at 5:40pm ( we are going to rehearse before!) also, you want to get good seats and parking
-make sure your child comes in appropriate attire: Red shirt and brown/blue/tan pants
-NO BLACK CLOTHES PLEASE (pretty please!)
-if your child has Chinese attire, they are most welcome to wear, for girls, you might want to have them wear legging because it is cold
-for girls, make sure their hair is tied up into 2 buns like the picture below, if you can include a red ribbon, if not it is ok (don't panic!)


-for boys: please make sure their hair is gel back, if they have really short hair like a buzz cut, don't worry about gel
-after the kindergarten am class performs, they will exit to the left doors (if you are facing the stage) and wait for you to pick them up
-then the kindergarten Pm class will perform and then after they will exit to the same left doors
- please make sure you pick them outside, Mrs Christensen will be outside, the school is too big for the kids to wonder around, we do not want kids to be lost
-the program is long from 6-8pm, you are very welcome to stay for the whole program but we understand if you want to leave after the kindergarten perform:)

The kids are so excited to show you what they have been learning and practicing! They are so cute:)
Drive safe tonight:)

this week show down

Parents,

Happy Chinese New Year! We had our awesome moms in the AM and PM class organize such a fun Chinese New Year Party for all students on Friday! Thank you!!

Please take time to read this blog frequently, a lot of answers can be found here. :) Thank you!

Business:

1. Chinese New Year full dress rehearsal this Wednesday (feb 5th), please make sure your child comes in full attire! NO BLACK CLOTHES PLEASE!!!
(SEE PREVIOUS POSTS FOR DETAILS)

Attire: please make sure your child wears red shirt and brown/blue pants/jeans
Girls: hair tied in 2 buns with red ribbons at the bottom of  buns (see previous posts for details and pictures)

Boys: make sure their hair is gel back. *if their hair is short like buzz cut, don't worry about gel!

*if your child has Chinese attire, they are most welcome to wear, for girls, they might want to wear leggings under because it gets cold

2. Chinese New Year Concert is this Friday, feb 7th at 6pm @ Bountiful High School

PLEASE BE EARLY AT 5:40pm (we are going to rehearsal before) also you want to get good seats!
MAKE SURE TO COME IN BY THE FRONT DOORS!!! WE will gather in the hallway!!!

*please NO BLACK CLOTHES
*make sure after your child performs that you PICK UP YOUR CHILD from the left side of the auditorium (if you are facing the stage) Mrs Christensen should be out there waiting for you with your kids! With such a big school and unfamiliar location to our students, we don't want your child to be lost.

Program:
Dragon dance
Am kindergarten
Pm kindergarten
1st grade
2nd grade
3rd grade
4th grade

you are very welcome to stay for the whole program but it is long and we understand if you want to leave after your child performs.

3. Box Tops! We still need more!

4.  We are still practicing for our Chinese New Year concert! Please help me remind your child to smile and do their best in singing loudly for the performance.

5. Valentine day party will be next week, feb 13th on Thursday

AM CLASS party will be held in Mrs Christensen's classroom from 12:25pm-1:25pm
For those that volunteered to help in the party, please come early @12:05pm to set up

PM CLASS party will be held in my classroom from 2:15pm-3:20pm
For those that volunteered to help in the party, please come early @ 2pm to set up

* if your child is planning on giving valentine day goodies/bags, please do not write individual name of each student on each bag, it takes too much time!

Agenda

1. Chinese: we are still learning the fruits vocabulary, we have learnt apple, pineapple and watermelon.  we will learn 3 more fruits this week and 3 more next week.
*refer to the audio posting on fruits ( I hope you are referring constantly to the audio clips and practicing frequently on the vocabularies at home)

*please try to revise with them the vocabulary at home, repetition of the Chinese language is necessary

2. Math, we started +2 (last week) and there were a lot of tears so we put a hold on that, please help me give your child a head start by starting this new concept of +2 with your child at home.
We will keep doing 1-70 and put a hold on +2 till next week.

3. Health: We are still continuing our unit on brushing teeth properly

4. Test: Math +1 this week and 1-60

We are going to have a super week!