IN THIS POST:   100th Day of School, Kindness Week, We Have Heart, Reading Focus at Home, Fine Artists, Scholastic Book Order, Star of the Week, Save the Dates, The Week Ahead

100th Day of School

This week is our 100th Day of School! The kids have been so excited as we have been adding to our number of days in school since August! Just a friendly reminder to return:

• 100th Day Apron with 100 items on it.
• 100 Year Old Writing (practiced to read independently)

Looking forward to a great day full of fun!!

Kindness Week

This past week was Kindness Week across California! We took part school wide! Each day there was a new theme (wear Purple, Red, Blue, ties, etc)  and activity to do in class! We finished the week with our 3rd grade buddies doing our All About Me book! 

One of the main outcomes of our week was our discussion regarding INVITATIONS and being INCLUSIVE! We have been continuing to work showing and using the language of invitations. We will continue to point these opportunities and efforts out! It’s seriously been awesome to hear the kids cheering others on or rephrasing a statement to invite others to join in friendship! 

We Have Heart

We are just at the beginning of our “We Have Heart” projects this year! In December, we gave rice, beans and legumes as Meals to Mexico to feed families. 

This month we will be collecting 100 Coins to help others! This aligns with our 100th Day of School this month and counting! We hope it not only gives counting practice, but also a discussion and practice of helping others. All the coins (pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters) will be donated to help feed others. This is of course optional, but we are hoping you take part and share in the discussion with your family about how this is part of having heart for others! (These will go home on Monday and will be collected over the whole month of February. Return at any time during the month!)

Reading Focus At Home

The students reading has continued to improve since August and is one of the many exciting pieces that I get to witness during the TK year! As the students have greatly improved in their ability to independently read an area I encourage families to zoom in on at their home reading time. Take time as you read each book to discuss what the book is about (even in the simplest of books):

• “Can you tell me what happened in this book from the beginning to the end of the story.” – this can be a challenge for some children but is just making sure they understand the literal understanding and sequence of a book. 
• “What is this book all about?” – This is huge, as a reader if students are able to tell the concept in their books. This is the conceptual level of a text and can be discussed in the books you read to them or the books they are reading. Many books are about friendship, jealousy, selfishness, anger, forgiveness, determination/perseverance, etc. This type of discussion around texts is not only powerful, but fun! Try it on as you read and enjoy the conversation! 

Fine Artists

This past week the students had their Fine Artist Lesson! They designed robots using playing cards! The creativity was flowing that day! A special thanks to Paola, Nicole and Farid for teaching our kids! 

Scholastic Book Order

Book Orders went home! Enjoy the many options of books to order from or search online in any grade level/reading level area. 

Star of the Week! 

The first Star of the Week posters were presented this week! Our presenters did awesome and had practiced their posters well! They were comfortable in front of their audience! Applaud their effort and independence! 

Pictures will be posted soon! 

Save these Dates

• Return 100 Day Apron and 100 Year Old Writing – Mon. Feb. 3rd
• 100th Day, Wednesday, February 5th
• Family Dance – Friday, February 7th
• Send Valentines in by Wednesday, February 12th (ONLY FILL OUT …”FROM:” not the “TO:”…There are 27 students). 
• Valentines Day Celebration in Room 206 – Thursday, February 13th
• No School – President’s Holiday – Feb. 14 – 17

The Week Ahead…

Monday – 2/3/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• Return your apron and 100 year old writing

Tuesday – 2/4/20

• EBS Morning Run Club begins @ 8:15am – 8:30am

Wednesday – 2/5/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• 100th Day of School! – Dress like you’re 100 years old!

Thursday – 2/6/20

• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am

Friday – 2/7/20

• All School Half Day Dismissal
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• EBS Family Dance

IN THIS POST:  Thank You, No Place for Hate Week, TK Wall Art, 100th Day, Valentines Day, Lunar New Year!, STEAM – Robots, Fine Artist Lesson Next Week, Star of Week, Sight Words, Save the Dates, Upcoming Events, The Week Ahead

Thank You!

I wanted to say a special thanks for all the congratulatory kind words and comments this past week! The Teacher of the Year award was a great surprise to me as few of you happen to be in the room that day when it was first announced! I am honored as I work in a staff of many deserving teachers! Thank you again!  (This picture is exactly how I felt!)

No Place for Hate Week

In the beginning of the year we participated in our a No Place for Hate week to support a  belief system in our school and community! We are now participating in Week 2 to send the message and share our belief system! A flyer went home with the ways you can participate at home and we will be doing some small activities in class! Thank you for taking part in this week! 

TK Wall Art

This month Caitlyn Tschernkowitsch came in to create our wall art with the class. She prepared a lesson around the story of Elmer! This is a book that celebrates differences and the appreciation for them! A perfect tie in to our No Place for Hate week and everything Martin Luther King stood for! 

100th Day

Our 100th Day is approaching quickly! You likely saw the packet that went home in folders this week! Thank you in advance for participating in the fun! Its in an exciting day in TK’s and K classes around San Diego! Our TK’s will be doing our own unique projects (see below), but we all enjoy the dressing up as a 100 Year Old on the actual day! 

• Start to gather an outfit or accessories to make your 100 year old outfit (search Google for ideas if you are struggling). – Wear on Wed. 2/5/20
• Help your child complete the sentence … “When I’m 100 years old….” and practice this at home. – Return this paper by Mon. 2/3/20 
• Glue 100 of 1 type of item on your student’s apron (apron was included in the packet) for our Fashion Show. – Return by Mon. 2/3/20

Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is almost here! More details will be coming soon regarding our class celebration! For now, make sure if you are putting your Valentine’s together that you:

• Create 27 student valentine’s 
• DO NOT write student names on the valentines…only list the “From: ____” on each valentine. This is a huge support to your child when passing out valentines. Thank you in advance!
• No food or candy is allowed in valentine’s at EBS. There are many other non-food ideas on Pinterest if you’d like to attach something to your valentines. 

Lunar New Year

This weekend was the start of the 15 day celebration of Chinese New Year! Our 3rd Grade buddies came in and watched a little video that taught us about the holiday and its traditions and orgins and then helped us to each make our own lucky, red lantern!

STEAM – Robots

We are in our STEAM unit that centers around Robots! The kids are ecstatic and love this part of our day! We have discussed what a robot is, how we think it works, different types/purposes of robots and how to take care of our robots! This week we introduced a robot we are using in this unit! These robots are called Ozobots! The kids were screaming the first day they saw one work and this past week they got to try them out in collaborative groups of 4. They are learning how to make tracks that control these bots! They are loving this work! 

Fine Artists Lesson Next Week

Nicole Meyer came in this Monday to share a book and some posters regarding our featured artist next week in Fine Artists. Ironically the art they will be making is ….Robot Art! They can’t wait! 

Save these Dates

• Return 100 Day Apron and 100 Year Old Writing – Mon. Feb. 3rd
• 100th Day, Wednesday, February 5th
• Family Dance – Friday, February 7th
• Valentines Day Celebration in Room 206 – Thursday, February 13th
• No School – President’s Holiday – Feb. 14 – 17

The Week Ahead…

Monday – 1/27/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• Fine Artists Lesson – 11:40
• No Place for Hate – WEAR PURPLE! (We are kind)

Tuesday – 1/28/20

• EBS Morning Run Club begins @ 8:15am – 8:30am
• No Place for Hate – WEAR RED! (We have heart)

Wednesday – 1/29/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• No Place for Hate – WEAR Sports or Hobby to symbolizing working together!

Thursday – 1/30/20

• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• No Place for Hate – WEAR BLUE! (working together)

Friday – 1/31/20

• All School Half Day Dismissal
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• No Place for Hate – WEAR a tie!

IN THIS POST:   Martin Luther King, Character Ed. – Compassion, Writing, STEAM Unit, Winter Dance, Star of Week, 100th Day Activities, Save the Dates, Upcoming Events, The Week Ahead

Martin Luther King

MLK was an important and impactful man in our country. We value his desire for peace and his outlook for loving all others and treating everyone with kindness. This past week we took a little bit of time to take a look at who he was, his life and what we valued most. We wrote about how we could change the world similar to MLK with even a small act of kindness. In addition, during our buddy time, each 3rd grader stepped their TK through a directed drawing of MLK…adorable! These will be in the hall soon! 

Character Ed. – Compassion

This week Nicole Meyer came in to teach the students about one of my favorite concept/traits ever….compassion! Compassion is a valuable tool in accepting differences or setting aside hang-ups and being able to love and accept others especially in a time a need. Nicole brought in a book about hugging and discussed how this is a way you can show compassion to others. She also brought in a stuffed pig to help explain that not everyone wants a hug and the value in asking first. She proceeded to her stuffed pig friend give every child a hug or the alternative option of a high five to show compassion. The students enjoyed and understood the story and the hug/high five!

Writing

In case you haven’t heard we have started a new writing unit in which we explain “how to…”  do one of our expert knowledges. We began our unit with everyone starting to write “How to get ready for school.” This is something we were all familiar with and fun for the students. So far they have been very motivated to write these books and you may even get some books similar to these made at home! Enjoy these little authors and their writing talents!

STEAM Unit 

In addition we began a new STEAM unit on robotics which you may have also heard about. We have discussed what robots are and how they might help us. We spent time designing a robot we’d like to create and dreaming about what we would intend for it to be able to do (many students brilliantly thought up a “clean-my-room” robot). We then went on to introduce a robot we would be using in class…the kids are dying to get their hands on these (if you haven’t already heard).  Students will be collaborating in groups of 3 or 4 to use one robot and experiment with it together! 

Winter Dance

This year, in lieu of our typical Father/Daughter dance, our school is having a “Family Dance” in which attendance is open to any and all. This is a fun night and loved by all will be unique this year with the inaugural invitation for a whole family dance! If you missed bowling night consider this event! 

Star of the Week

Our first two posters are going home this week! Each student will get a turn. Your student will receive a poster and directions and a sample rubric to this oral presentation. Keep in mind that the students are NOT graded on the poster in any way (other than be turned in on time). The main focus will be:

• Independently presenting
• Using a loud enough voice and eye contact with their audience.
• Listening: Being able to listen to other presentations and being able to respond to the presentations.

The poster portion is a piece for the student to have fun with, but doesn’t not need to look professional or perfected. Enjoy the experience of making it together but focus efforts on the practicing piece.

100th Day Activities

Our 100th day is approaching soon! Each day we count the number of days we are in school while imbedding some math skills into our counting process and we are about to the big 100 on February 5th! We will have some special activities that day! One of the activities involves a home counting project which will go home at the end of this coming week. A sneak peak picture is below! Have fun letting your child create this project and practice counting to 100! Enjoy!

Save these Dates

• No School – Martin Luther King Day – Monday, January 20th
• 100th Day – Wednesday, February 5th
• Winter Dance – Friday, February 7th
• Class Valentine’s Celebration – Thursday February, 13th
• President’s holiday weekend – Friday, Feb. 14th – Mon. Feb. 17th

The Week Ahead…

Monday – 1/20/20

• NO SCHOOL – Martin Luther King Holiday

Tuesday – 1/21/20

• EBS Morning Run Club begins @ 8:15am – 8:30am

Wednesday – 1/22/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• Family BBQ – 12:30 (Please check in at the office before 12:30)

Thursday – 1/23/20

• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am

Friday – 1/24/20

• All School Half Day Dismissal
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am

IN THIS POST:   Family BBQ – This Week (Jan. 15th), Run Club Accomplishments, EBS Bowling Bash, Valentines Day, Star of Week, Sight Words, Save the Dates, Upcoming Events, The Week Ahead

Family BBQ – This Week (Jan. 15th)

Our Family BBQ is this week! If you are planning to join , make sure that you: 

• returned the blue slip by January 10th. 
• Come on the 15th to the gate ready for lunch with your child. 
• Check in at the office first to get a volunteer sticker. 
• When I release the kids you can come in the gate to join your child for lunch at the lunch court. 

Run Club Accomplishments

This guy amazes me! He’s been running and running at Before School Run Club! He’s now run 300 laps! Give him a round of applause for his endurance and effort!

EBS Bowling Bash

Did you get to go? I sadly was out of town, but my sweet family enjoyed the EBS community spirit and fun! If you missed it, don’t forget to sign up next year! Here’s a few pics from the fun night of community! 

Valentines Day

This fun day is coming up! For those early, go-getters, just a reminder to:

• No candy or food can be included in valentines
• Please do not write the “To:___” section as this makes the passing out portion accessible for the students. Only sign the “From: ____” portion from your child. This is a great way to have your child practice proper formation, casing and sizing when writing their name. 
• We will be celebrating on Thursday, Feb. 13th due to the President holiday on 2/14. 

Star of the Week

This will be coming home soon for TWO students each week. Each student will get a turn. 

Your student will receive a poster and directions and a sample rubric to this oral presentation. Keep in mind that the students are NOT graded on the poster in any way (other than be turned in on time). The main focus will be:

• Independently presenting 
• Using a loud enough voice and eye contact with their audience. 
• Listening: Being able to listen to other presentations and being able to respond to the presentations. 

The poster portion is a piece for the student to have fun with, but doesn’t not need to look professional or perfected. Enjoy the experience of making it together but focus efforts on the practicing piece. 

Sight Words

Dark Green Sight Words came out this week! Keep on practicing and playing games to build your sight word base. The students are doing great! 

Save these Dates

• Western BBQ, Wednesday, January 15th 
• No School – Martin Luther King Day – Monday, January 20th

The Week Ahead…

Monday – 1/13/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am

Tuesday – 1/14/20

• EBS Morning Run Club begins @ 8:15am – 8:30am

Wednesday – 1/15/20

• Computer Lab – (Can you log in without looking at your code)
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am
• Family BBQ – 12:30 (Please check in at the office before 12:30)

Thursday – 1/16/20

• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am

Friday – 1/17/20

• All School Half Day Dismissal
• EBS Morning Run Club @ 8:15 am