April 29th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed., May 8th—NWEA Testing—Math

-Monday, May 13th—Dibels Testing

-Wed., May 15th—NWEA Testing—Reading

-Thursday, May 16th—Fieldtrip—Midland Center for the Arts & Plymouth Park

-Monday, May 20th—Delayed Start

-Mon., May 27th—No School—Memorial Day

-Wed., May 29th—K-2 Track & Field Day—pm

CLASSROOM VISITOR: 

We are excited to open up our classroom to Miss Gulish; she is entering into the Teacher Education Program at Indiana Wesleyan University and will be spending the next two weeks observing and interacting with us, as part of her training.  She will be a nice addition to our classroom for sure!

FIELDTRIP: 

If you haven’t already, please be sure to return your permission slip, and money, ASAP for our Fieldtrip to the Midland Center for the Arts which is scheduled for Thursday, May 16th. 

CAPS, CAPS, CAPS: 

We are currently collecting caps—bottle caps, milk caps, shampoo caps, etc. for both our Math & Science lessons.  We are trying to fill a large jar for math and are keeping count of how many caps we’ve collected.  In addition, once the jar is filled, we will be reusing the caps for a fun art project which is part of our Earth Day festivities.  So please save a few caps, wash them up, and send them in to be repurposed:)

READING:

This week our class will be reading stories about the sky during daytime and nighttime. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—distance & recognize—Take your child outside during the day and at night. Help them identify the sun, moon, clouds, stars, sunrise, and sunset.

· Sightwords—his & help—Write sentences with these words and practice reading them together.

· Category Words—opposites—Use gestures to act out words that are opposites such as up/down, open/close, in/out, etc.

· Phonics—Letter Review—u, g, x, w, v, j, qu, y & z.

· Comprehension—problem & solution—Discuss different problems that come up during the week and brainstorm possible solutions together.

· Take Home Reading Folders—As we approach our final month of school, we will be assessing many skills with the students.  Keep reading together,  practicing sightwords, and other fluency skills in their take home reading folders.  The goal is that they will be reading at or above a Level D by the end of Kindergarten.

WRITING: 

This week we will wrap up our Opinion Letter Unit by writing letters to The Earth telling how we will take good care of it.  Then we will begin learning about Informational Texts, as we read some mentor texts about the moon and begin collecting information that we can use to write our own informational pieces next week.

MATH:  

This week we will learn about ‘estimating’ and we will practice making ‘smart guesses.’ We will continue to practice addition within 10 and subtraction within 5.  We will be illustrating our own number stories and writing an equation to match, as we create a Class Number Story Book together.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES: 

In continued celebration of Earth Day, we will be planting sunflowers along our playground fence, demonstrating how we can make a positive impact on our environment. We will also be learning about how animals change and impact their environments.

Happy Easter

Some bunnies wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter!!

Special thanks to Emmerson's family for sending in the masks for us to decorate!

The kids were super excited and they were adorable little bunnies!

April 22nd - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Friday, April 26th—No School for Kindergarten

-Wed., May 8th—NWEA Testing—Math

-Monday, May 13th—Dibels Testing

-Wed., May 15th—NWEA Testing—Reading

-Thursday, May 16th—Fieldtrip—Midland Center for the Arts & Plymouth Park

-Monday, May 20th—Delayed Start

-Mon., May 27th—No School—Memorial Day

-Wed., May 29th—K-2 Track & Field Day—pm

STUDENT OF THE MONTH:

Our April Student of the Month is Johnny Roberts. Johnny is a kind and thoughtful young man. He has 2 pets—a dog and a fish; his favorite food is pizza and he enjoys playing football.  His favorite color is green which corresponds nicely to his favorite book—The Hulk.  This year Johnny wants to learn how to read, which he is mastering nicely; when he grows up, Johnny would like to become a police officer. Congratulations to Johnny on being our Student of the Month.

  

FIELDTRIP: 

Last week I sent a yellow slip home with all the information regarding our Fieldtrip to the Midland Center for the Arts on Thursday, May 16th.  Please be sure to return the permission slip ASAP, so we know how many parent chaperones to plan for.

READING:

This week our class will be reading stories about our country’s national symbols, monuments, & national parks. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—country & travel—If you have any photos of family vacations where you have visited national parks, monuments, or landmarks (Washington D.C., Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, The Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, etc.) please send them in or email me a couple of photos to share with the class.

· Sightwords—what & his—Write sentences with these words and practice reading them together.

· Category Words—ordinal numbers—Line up stuffed animals, cars, or other toys and have your child practice identifying which one is first, second, fifth, last, etc.

· Phonics—Letters Yy & Zz—Practice reading and writing words that begin and end with y & z.

· Take Home Reading Folders—This week we will be shopping for new books—many students will be moving up to the next level of books.  You should notice that these books are a little more challenging—please sit with your child and encourage them to use their strategies for figuring out tricky words.

WRITING:  

This week we will continue our Opinion Letter Unit. We will be writing letters about our favorite kind of pet.

MATH: 

This week we will work with pan balances as we experiment with leveling/balancing/equaling out both sides. We will practice skip counting by 2’s and take some surveys of our class and then graph out the results so we can analyze the data.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES: 

In celebration of Earth Day, we will continue to learn about the Earth and how we can be responsible stewards of our planet. We will also be learning about some important American monuments & symbols that represent our country’s heritage, principles, & values.

April 15th - Newsletter Updates

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Friday, April 19th—Half Day—Good Friday

-Friday, April 26th—No School for Kindergarten

-Wed., May 8th—NWEA Testing—Math

-Monday, May 13th—Dibels Testing

-Wed., May 15th—NWEA Testing—Reading

-Thursday, May 16th—Fieldtrip—Midland Center for the Arts & Plymouth Park

-Monday, May 20th—Delayed Start

-Mon., May 27th—No School—Memorial Day

-Wed., May 29th—K-2 Track & Field Day—pm

-Friday, May 31st—Half Day

-Mon., June 3rd—Half Day—Last Day of School

DRESSING FOR RECESS: 

It’s that crazy time of year when the temperatures fluctuate significantly from am to pm.  Please continue to send mittens, hats, & warm coats for those cold mornings, as well as a lighter jacket/sweatshirt for later in the day. I will check the temperature before each recess and let them know what they should wear accordingly. Please continue to send boots as well; the playground will be muddy for a while yet and this will help protect your child’s shoes, as well as our classroom carpet that we spend a lot of our day sitting on:) I’ve encouraged the children to KEEP their boots and snowpants at school, in case, we need them.

READING:

This week our class will be reading stories about the transportation used to take people from place to place. Children will learn about how families in the past traveled and how these vehicles compare with what is used today. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we will be practicing:

· Vocabulary—transportation & vehicles—discuss the different kinds of transportation you take from place to place. Then invite your child to draw pictures of each type of transportation.

· Sightwords—here & me—Write sentences with these words and practice reading them together.

· Category Words—vehicles—Play ‘guess the vehicle’ - give clues about different kinds of vehicles and encourage your child to name them.

· Phonics—Letters Jj & Qq—Practice reading and writing words that begin with j & qu.

· Comprehension—character, setting, & plot—Have your child choose a favorite story and then read it together. Ask your child questions about main characters, setting, & plot (story sequence, problem, etc.)

WRITING: 

This week we will begin a new unit—Opinion Letters. We will learn how to give our opinion on a topic and practice writing a letter together on what we like about Kindergarten.

MATH: 

This week we will continue to work on addition and subtractions; we will use number lines & dominoes to help us visualize the process.

 SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES: 

We are learning about the Earth and how we can be responsible and take good care of our planet. We will be learning about the 3 R’s—Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle as we approach Earth Day (April 22nd).

Sophomore Carnival