Ice Day Update

WAKE Up and Read Book Drive

   Don’t forget to send in your gently used books for JYJ’s WAKE Up and Read Book Drive.  Our school goal is to collect 2,000 books, but within a few days so far, we have collected over 350 books!   So scrounge around your bookshelves and send in those books that you no longer need and benefit another child within Wake County who does not have access to books.

 Kindergarten Spring Scavenger Hunt:   

   The date has not been set, but our class will be having a Spring Scavenger Hunt and we need your help!  I will attach a sign-up sheet to the blog.  We need filled plastic eggs, and this is the time to buy them. You can get any size. Just make sure there is enough blank space on them to write a letter or draw a shape. If you can help, please go to the sign up sheet and put your name beside the item.  We have a scavenger hunt for specific eggs – children will hunt for the eggs that have the following written on the outside of the egg with a sharpie:

S, P, R, I, N, G, a circle, a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a smiley face, and their initials. 

So each child will end up with 12 eggs!  So you can see we need LOTS of eggs!!!  The sign up sheet should explain how you can specifically prepare eggs.  Please DO NOT put chocolate or unwrapped jelly beans into the eggs.  Stickers, tattoos, life savers, individually wrapped bags of candy, trinkets, etc. are great to use!  If you sign up to help, please send in all eggs by APRIL 11.  THANK YOU!!!

 Curriculum Updates

Literacy: We are working on rhyming and word families. These two ideas don’t always go hand-in-hand, though. For instance, “glue” and “shoe” rhyme because they sound the same at the end, but they are not spelled with the same vowel combination to make the “oo” sound. Likewise, “cough” and “dough” are in the same word family, but they do not rhyme. For the most part, we will focus on word families that do rhyme. This skill allows children to decode and spell new words based on what they already know about other words. For example, if a child already knows the word “cat”, they can quickly see that if they just change the first letter, they can read and spell the words “hat”, “mat”, “bat”, and so on.

   In Letterland we are working on combinations of letters. We have already learned the “ck” and the “ng” combinations that come at the end of words. We have also worked on the diagraphs “ch”, “sh”, and “th” (which actually makes TWO sounds). We will soon also know about “ll” and “ff”, which come at the end of words.

Math:  We continue addition with number partners that make 10.  (1 + 9, 2 + 8, etc.) We are learning that addition word problems use specific language such as total, plus, more, altogether, and in all.  The children are practicing making and solving their own simple one-step word problems. We are also learning that you can add more than just two numbers to make a larger sum.

Science:  We are continuing our study of weather.  We have discussed the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation), and then we conducted experiments with water to observe the effects of evaporation. Next week, we will talk about different types of clouds and what they look like. We will also talk about how clouds can affect the temperature.

Dates to remember:

March 27 – Science Go Round

March 27 – End of Quarter

March 28 – Read – a – Thon for Wake Up and Read Book Drive (School-wide Pajama Day!)

March Curriculum Updates

Curriculum Updates

   We are working with children on a number of skills during the month of March. We are practicing how to identify characters and the setting in stories and being able to retell at least 3 things that happened in a story we have read. We are introducing the sh, ch, and th diagraphs in Letterland, including songs, activities, and stories to help us remember the sounds they make.

   We also ask that you work with your child at home on recognizing vowel sounds. They are quite tricky and take a LOT of practice to get right. In Letterland the short vowel sounds are made by Annie Apple, Eddy Elephant, Impy Ink, Oscar Orange, and Uppy Umbrella. The long vowel sounds are made by Mr. A (the Apron Man), Mr. E (the Easy Magic Man), Mr. I (the Ice Cream Man), Mr. O (the Old Man), and Mr. U (the Uniform Man).

   In math we are learning how to solve addition word problems. We are learning vocabulary associated with addition problems with words like “and”, “too”, “altogether”, and “in all”. We are starting with small numbers and not worrying too much about using the plus sign (+) and the equal sign (=), but those will come in time. Soon, we will solve problems using larger numbers with sums up to 20. We will also learn how to add using more than 2 addends. 

   We are also starting a new science unit on Weather to address the IB transdisciplinary theme of "How does the world work?" We will talk about the "ingredients" of weather (temperature, air, and water), seasonal weather changes, and weather processes. We will see how weather affects how people live around the world and why the weather can be so different from one place to the next. We will learn lots of vocabulary and try to become keen observers of our daily weather here in Raleigh. 

Lots of Events at JYJ

JYJ Book Drive

   JYJ is participating in the WAKE Up and Read Book Drive sponsored by WCPSS and Barnes & Noble. This program puts quality books in the hands of children who may not have reading materials at home otherwise.

   We’ve set a goal for our school to collect 2,000 children’s books March 2 – 28. On March 28 the entire school will have a Pajama Day and set aside a time to “WAKE Up and Read” our favorite books from 8:30 – 9:00. If our school collects 2,000 books by March 28, our principal, Mrs. Hutchinson, has promised to wear a rooster costume on that day!

   We are also having a friendly competition here to see which grade level can bring in the MOST books. The children at that grade level will receive a special treat. So look around, clean out your at-home library, and send in those books!

A Visit from the Dental Hygienist

   Last week, a Wake County Dental Hygienist visited our school. She taught us all about the best ways to take care of our teeth. Each student was given a free toothbrush donated by the Great Raleigh Dental Hygiene Association and the Wake Raleigh Dental Society.

   This association recommends that parents supervise their children while brushing (at least twice a day) until the age of 10. The association also recommends fluoride toothpaste, regular dental checkups twice a year, and eating the right foods to keep a healthy smile.

JYJ 5K

   This Sunday (March 9), Joyner will host its annual 5K Run. There is still time to sign up. It is a great fundraiser for the school and an opportunity for families to spend time together in a really healthy way. The run begins at 2:00. We hope to see lots of you there!

Golf Tournament

  We wanted to make you aware of an upcoming event sponsored by one of the members of our Joyner family to benefit Duke Children’s Hospital.

What: Golf Tournament, Dinner and Silent Auction

When: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 1:00 Shotgun Start; Dinner and Auction at 5:30

Where: Crooked Creek Golf Club 4621 Shady Greens Dr, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526

Why: Duke Children’s Hospital – The Oligo Project Treatment Research for Pediatric Brain Diseases

Format: Captain’s Choice, 4 Player Teams  All skill levels are welcome. There will be many contests including $5000 hole-in-one.

Cost: $75 per player Includes all golf fees plus range balls; beverages (including alcohol); dinner; auction and awards.

Register as a foursome or individually to be matched with a team.

Dinner/Auction Only Tickets are $10, children ages 5-12 are $5, and under 5 are free.

To donate, to register by April 8 or for information about sponsorships, visit Henry’s Team Green page at www.henrysteamgreen.org. Got questions? Email henrysteamgreen@gmail.com. 

I am so proud!

Shape Cities

   In some ways this felt like the project that would never end. We started collecting materials back in January. Then, we were out for snow TWICE, and it just took us forever to get back into the routine and get this done.

  That being said… the children did a phenomenal job with their shape cities. The children made some buildings out of construction paper (with a little help from Mr. Del), and they made others using the boxes and containers you sent in from home. The results are amazing!

   Each table group got a sheet of poster board and materials. They drew 2-D shapes on the buildings like triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles to be doors, windows, and signs. They drew and cut, and I taped and stapled. Then, each group got to name their own city. One is named Raleigh. Another is Downtown Raleigh. One is Virginia. One is Florida-Georgia, and the last one is New York City.

   They did such a great job that I asked Mrs. Hale, the school media specialist, if we could display our cities in the library. She was delighted to show them off. When you have a moment, please stop by the Joyner library and see your child’s hard work. I will also try to post some pictures of the children’s cities to this blog.

Special Event

Dr. Seuss Week

      March 2 is the birthday of Dr. Seuss, the famous author and illustrator. We are going to celebrate next week by reading some of his most popular books and completing some fun activities.

    Here are some things the kids can do to help celebrate. Thanks!

Monday	Green Eggs  and Ham	Wear something green.
Tuesday	Fox in Socks	Wear crazy or mismatched socks.
Wednesday	The Sneetches	Wear something that tells us about how special you are. It can be a favorite color, a   favorite team jersey, something about where you are from, or anything that tells us more about you!
Thursday	Horton Hatches an Egg	Bring in a baby photo. We will guess who is who.
Friday	The Cat in the Hat	We will make a special hat at school.

Change of Time

    This is what happens when I try to blog from home without my school calendar. We will NOT have our Valentine’s party in the afternoon. February 14 is an Early Release day. Instead, we will have our snack and pass out our cards at 9:00 that morning. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to send in refreshments for the day!

Reading at Home

“Go Books”/Baggie Books/Take Home Readers

   Some of you have been wondering when your child will bring home small practice books from school. Many of the other K classes have already started this routine. I have been waiting primarily because I wanted to work a little bit more with the children on some decoding and comprehension strategies at school before I started that process. Please, don’t be anxious.

   I should be starting the week of February 17. I do not know how other teachers do it, but I have a routine that works for me, and I think benefits your child in the long run. Your child will bring home more than one book at a time. I deliberately send home books of varying types (fiction and nonfiction), commercially printed and child-made books, and books at more than one level of difficulty (within reason). There will be handouts for parents in your child’s take home bag explaining the rationale behind this. There will also be guides for helping your child decode unfamiliar words; coaching your child through the retelling process so that he/she can demonstrate how much he/she has comprehended; and working with your child on reading fluency and reading with expression.

   One thing I always caution parents about is to not worry too much about getting every word right. Reading is more about unlocking meaning, whether in story form or from informational text. Learning to read requires young children to be BIG risk-takers. Reading aloud to an adult is a type of performance. When children are worries about saying every word right for the benefit of an adult who is listening, they often lose track of what the words are actually saying. I will include a list of strategies to help your child decode and understand unfamiliar text. The best thing parents can do is to listen and be supportive of their accomplishments. If your child continues to struggle with a particular word, feel free to tell your child the word and model how the sentence should be read.