April Showers Brings May Flowers

  A look at our learning...

Fundations:  the class is getting really good at changing part of a word to make a new word.  For example, if they tap out and spell the word "pick" on their magnet boards, they can quickly show me how to change "pick to kick or chick or lick," etc.  This flexible thinking also helps them when reading and writing. 

We continue to work on the ck digraph at the end of words.  We are working hard on remembering that if we hear this sound at the end of words, it is usually ck together, rather than c or k alone.  

Shared Reading & Spelling:  this week we read the Big Book Here are three.  This book featured our new spelling word "are" and many other spelling words.  We continue to work on building a bank of reading strategies to try when we come to an unknown word, rather than appealing to an adult for help. 

We will have two more weeks of new spelling words.  The week of May 19th we will not have new spelling words, but rather take a spelling test over all 45 words we will have learned this year.  Although long, this test should not be difficult, as they should already know how to read and write these words.

Next week's new spelling words

do

did

Writing Workshop:  we have finished our final unit of study in kindergarten, informational writing.  All students have written two informational books about penguins.  I can't wait for you to see them!  During the final weeks of school I will send home four pieces of writing for you to see their growth. One from the first week of Kindergarten, one from November, one from February and this final piece about penguins.  The growth you will see is phenomenal!  We all know they grow in kindergarten, but until you put pieces like this side by side you don't truly realize how much!  It's amazing and one of the many reasons I love teaching Kindergarten!

During these final weeks of school we will spend writing time working on Kindergarten memory books and special writing activities for our specials teachers to show them love next week during Teacher Appreciation Week, our principal's for Principal's Day and our nurses for National Nurses Week.  

Math: we continue to focus on 3D shapes, addition and subtraction with 10 (not only knowing the answer, but showing our work and explaining our thinking) and counting in various ways. 

May Day: on Thursday we celebrated May Day.  This was one of my favorite childhood traditions and one I have continued every year I've taught. In the small town I grew up in we actually left school and walked around town delivering to the elderly.  I loved taking one to my great grandma.  

For many, it's sadly a long-lost tradition.  Many young folks (yes even young teachers...aging myself lol) have never heard of this day.  While there are many meanings behind May Day, the one we celebrate is the arrival and joy that Spring brings.  We made May Day flower baskets and secretly delivered to classrooms or staff members of their choosing.  Ask them to tell you about it! 

It's also a lesson in kindness.  We talked about how fun it was and how good it felt to surprise people and how we did something to simply bring joy to others and not because we were getting something or expecting something in return.  A big lesson for many children (and adults!)

I hope they treasure this special day as I did as a child.  

Alphabet Countdown: this week we learned in the dark on F for Flashlight Day, played fun board games and card games on G for Game Day, wore hats on H for Hat Day, enjoyed ice pops on I for Ice Pop Day and represented our favorite teams on J for Jersey Day.  A few pictures are below, but even more on our class Facebook page.  

Next week students will need to bring a beach towel on Tuesday to eat lunch outside (L for Lunch Outside).  I strongly encourage students to bring a lunch from home this day, as it will just make things easier.  They can also bring a hat or sunglasses to wear when we eat outside.  Friday is O for Outside Day.  Students should also bring a beach towel and hat or sunglasses on this day, as we will do most of our learning outside if weather allows.  I encourage you to put on sunscreen before school as well (please do not send with them) and make sure they have a water bottle on this day.  

Sneaky Reading: I would love to see pictures posted of kiddos reading outside on our class Facebook page.  That is this month's Sneaky Reading Challenge that was sent home with the May reading log this week!  It's going to be a beautiful weekend to be outside and I'd love to see 100% participation for our final challenge. 

We love when everyone wears their BEU spirit wear on Monday's!

More fun from our week

The countdown is on!

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: using the knowledge we have gained this year, we are really focusing on building and reading sentences independently.  We have learned that we don't need a grown-up to tell us how to spell or read something and that's pretty cool!  It is still their natural urge to ask an adult "how do you spell..." or "what does this say?" but I challenge YOU, the grown-up, to refrain from this.  When they ask you this, remind them that they know all of their letters and sounds and are readers and writers now!  Encourage them to tap it out and try!  There will always be new words that they don't know, but many they do!  Phonetic spelling is age appropriate unless it's a word wall word they have previously learned. 

Please refer to the parent packet in the Friday Folder to practice this.  I encourage you to use these activities over the next week. You will be impressed by what your child can do!  They have learned so much this school year and I'm so proud of them!

Reading & Spelling: The kiddos are really becoming great readers and reading longer books with more words on each page!  We are working on being problem solvers when we come to an unknown word and NOT skipping the word or mumbling over it.  We are building a bank of strategies to use when we come to an unknown word. We can look at the picture, tap it out and think about what makes sense to help us solve it, but we DO NOT skip it.  When your child is reading at home and comes to a word they don't know, prompt them to use the strategies above.  If they try all of those strategies and still can't figure it out, then you can tell them the word. We don't want them to struggle, but we do want them to try first. 

Next week's spelling words:

are

has

Writing Workshop: we are very close to finishing our informational books on penguins.  All students have written at least one book and some have written two!  They have done such a nice job writing these non-fiction books and I am so proud of them!  Every child independently wrote their own, 5 page book that included a cover, opening, 3 facts and an ending.  When I think back to the beginning of the year and how their "stories" were simply a drawing with no words and now they are writing 5 page stories, I'm in awe!  No matter how many years I teach, I'm always so impressed and proud with how far they come in one year!  That growth is one of the many reasons I love my job! 

Ask your child to tell you what facts they wrote about in their penguin book! 

Math:  this week we focused on addition in various ways.  We learned a dice game called "dice addition" that you can also play at home.  You take turns rolling 2 dice and whoever has the higher sum, earns a point.  Whoever gets to 10 points first, wins!  For example:  if I roll a 6 and a 2, I'd say to my partner "6+2=8" and if my partner rolls a 3 and a 1 they would say "3+1=4" and I would get the point because my sum is higher.  

We also made bead bracelets earlier the week that we can use to help us solve addition and subtraction problems within 10.  They loved this activity and being able to bring them home.

Packmate of the Month: yay Jack! He was chosen, by his peers, as our April Packmate of the Month for perseverance!  We are so proud of you!  

Planetarium: the students loved going to Rock Bridge High School Planetarium today.  We learned about space and constellations, specifically the story of Orion.  Ask your child to tell you all about it! 

All School Assembly:  today the entire school met in the gym for a special assembly.  We were greeted by the BEU cheerleaders that cheer for our Home-School Communicator Basketball team, Flash the Timberwolf was there, the top 5 Shakespeare's Pizza Fundraiser sellers were able to pie a teacher of their choosing in the face AND we had special video presentation for the 3rd-5th graders to cheer them on as they take the MAP test over the next 2 weeks.  I will share this video and all pictures on the class Facebook page.  A few are below.  

I know it's late in the year, but if you haven't joined our class Facebook page, you are really missing out!  It's not too late to join, and you should, as more and more things will be shared over this next month.  Many things are happening during this time and it's where I help keep you in the loop and remind you of these things so you don't have to try and remember it all yourself. It's worth joining simply for the reminders and pictures of your children!  Go to Facebook and search "Concannon's Kindergarten 2024-2025" and request to join. 

Alphabet Countdown to Summer: hard to believe, but we are on the final countdown to summer.  This week we created art on A day, chewed bubble gum and blew bubbles outside on B day, ate yummy cookies and drew beautiful masterpieces on the sidewalk with chalk on C day, enjoyed donuts and were paleontologists and dug up dinos on D day (one of my favorite days) and did a cool science experiment with Peeps and clear soda on E day.  Check out the fun below, but there are even more photos and videos on our class Facebook page!  I will post daily on our class Facebook page sharing what we did that day.  

Next week you will need to send a few things from home.  Monday is F for Flashlight Day.  You will need to send a flashlight, lantern or headlamp with your child that day, as we will be learning in the dark!  Please make sure it is marked with your name.  Tuesday is G for Game Day and your child can bring ONE board game or card game (no video games or technology), Wednesday is H for Hat day and Friday is J for Jersey day and students may wear their favorite team jersey.  

More fun from our week...