Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 10th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed., April 12th—Head Start & GSRP Visits

-Friday, April 14th—No School—Good Friday

-Monday, April 17th—Delayed Start

-Friday, April 21st—K Round-Up—No School for K

-Friday, April 28th—K Round-Up—No School for K

NEW STUDENT: 

We’d like to officially welcome Savannah to our classroom.  The students were so excited to welcome her last week; they all went out of their way to be sweet, kind, and helpful.  It makes me so proud when I see such kindness and that gives me hope for this new generation.  That makes us even with 11 boys and 11 girls and we are thrilled to have her!

REPORT CARDS: 

You should have received your child’s 3rd Quarter Report Card on Friday. It’s amazing how much these kiddos have learned and I’m impressed with their reading and writing every day!  As you look over their report card, anything marked with a √ means they currently meet that standard, anything marked with a √+ or + means they are performing above in that area, and anything marked with a √- or - means they are currently performing below that standard. Also, be sure to look ahead to what the end of the year expectations are as we prepare for first grade! I have a hard-working group of kids this year and I can tell many are working on these foundational skills at home, so keep up the great work!

READING:

This week our class will be reading stories about our country’s national symbols, monuments, and national parks. Here are some activities 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, etc.) please feel free to send them in or email me a couple of photos to share with the class.

· Sightwords—that, 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—Lettes Yy & Zz— Practice reading and writing words that begin and end with y and z.

· Comprehension—sequence—Read the attached story and have your child tell what happened first, next, and last.

· Take-Home Reading Folders/Reading Levels—I’ve indicated your child’s current independent reading level on their report card.  The goal right now is that they are at a Level B.  Most are at or above that level—Yay! However, when students shop and bring home books, it is typically 1 level higher—their instructional level, which means they can read most of the words, but need some support.  The goal is that they will be reading at or above a Level C by the end of Kindergarten:)

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES:  

We will continue our Science Unit on Motion. We will be learning about forces and the different ways that things can move. Please help your child select a toy from home that moves (spins, pulls, pushes, etc) to bring to school on Thursday, April 13th. We will use it for our Science lesson and then send it back home that same day.

MATH: 

This week we will be learning about estimating and practice making smart guesses.  We will also practice adding combinations of 10 and do some special math activities related to Easter.  Please start saving milk jug caps, bottle caps, etc for a math activity next week.

WRITING:  

This week we will write an opinion letter to incoming Kindergartners about something we like about Kindergarten. We will also complete a journal related to motion.

 Have a Happy Easter!