A look at our learning...
Behavior at school: since we have returned from Spring Break, I have noticed a decline in focus, attention span and effort. This is not abnormal for students at this point in the year as we are on the downhill slide to summer, however, we still have SO MUCH learning to do. I'm sure there are several factors that play into this: it stays lighter later, so many students do not go to bed on time due to this, spring sports are beginning and affects bedtime as well, summer is on the brain, etc. When students are late to school (even a few minutes), picked up early, or absent for reasons other than being sick or things that are excused, this also affects their focus, effort and stamina. Continuing to have consistent bedtimes and attending school are a few ways to help with this.
We have chatted as a class about expectations and how they are almost first graders. They will always receive several reminders to focus and be engaged in learning (they are kids, after all), but after they receive multiple redirects, it begins to affect their learning and those around them. At this point, walking tickets or safe seats will be utilized. I am hopeful that receiving a consequence or two, will help students reflect on their choices and it quickly becomes a non-issue. If you notice more walking tickets in your child's Friday Folder each week, I wanted you to know why.
I am seeing a great deal of staring off into space, out of tune with what is occurring, mouth open and glazed over looks on their faces. I hope this helps you understand at home what I am seeing at school and how it is affecting their learning. While it is not everyone in the class, there have been enough that I thought it might be helpful to address as a whole.
I will be the first to say that I run a tight ship, but children thrive on high expectations and a structured environment. They can focus, they can be engaged and they can do it! They've shown me all year long and now is the time to shine! We have a lot of fun events coming up, but if they cannot focus on their learning first, they may have to miss out on some of the fun things. I'm hopeful that won't happen! We can learn AND have fun! Thank you, as always, for your support.
Fundations: we completed unit 4 and will begin our final unit next week. We continued to work on the diagraph ck and how it typically appears after a short vowel at the end of a word. In our final unit we will reinforce sentence structure, reading and writing short sentences with fluency/expression, using punctuation and learning some final spelling words.
Check the Friday Folder for the parent packet to extend their learning at home. Even though we are on the downhill slide of Kindergarten, we want to keep reinforcing skills at home to help them stay on track for first grade. The same goes for throughout the summer.
Shared Reading: they are really blossoming into little readers! I've enjoyed those of you who have messaged me or told me personally how you have noticed your child reading more independently at home now. I love this time of year when it really begins to "click" and I'm so glad you notice!
Next week's spelling words
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Writing Workshop: this week we began our informational writing unit and are learning about butterflies. Before we can become expert informational writers, we have to do the research! We have read several books this week about butterflies, as well as used resources such Pebble Go and Mystery Science to fill our brains with knowledge about butterflies. We are taking notes that will help us when we go to write our informational books in the coming weeks. Check out the class Facebook page for a video of their learning today!
Math: this week we worked more on addition within 10, how teen numbers are a group of 10 and some left over and 3D shapes.
By the end of Kindergarten, all students should be able to identify the following 3D shapes: cylinder, sphere, cube, cone, pyramid. A great way to practice these at home is by making flash cards! Do a quick google search of images, print them out and practice them each night!
Counselor: this week Mrs. Bergeson continued her lessons on careers. Students learned about different careers, talked about things they like, things they are good at and careers they might like to have in the future.
We were also introduced to one of our new counselors for the 2023-2024 school year, Ms. Otto! We are excited to welcome her to Beulah Ralph!
Countdown to summer: hard to believe it, but we are ready to begin our countdown to summer! Please check your child's Friday Folder for a detailed note about this. Some items are provided at school (food, materials, etc.) and some you will need to do at home (dress up days, picnic materials, etc.). We are so excited to continue this Beulah Kindergarten tradition! Such a fun time and memory for the students!
Packmate of the Month: yay Mae! She was chosen, by her peers, as April Packmate of the Month!
Class Goal: we met our goal of 20 compliments from specials teachers or substitute teachers and celebrated with a technology day. We took 10-20 minute breaks sporadically throughout the day on Wednesday and students were able to play on their technology from home or school!
Math Night: Family Math Night was a huge success and so much fun! It was great to see so many students attend from our class! Way to represent! We hope you had fun and learned a little as well!
