Birthdays, Planetariums and more!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: using the knowledge we’ve gained this year, we are focusing on building and reading sentences independently. Students are learning that they don’t always need an adult to help them spell or read, and that’s pretty exciting!

It’s still natural for them to ask, “How do you spell…?” or “What does this say?” When this happens, I encourage you, the grown-up, to gently refrain from giving the answer right away. Instead, remind them that they know their letters and sounds—they are readers and writers now! Encourage them to “tap it out” and give it a try.

There will always be new words they don’t know yet, but there are many they do know. Phonetic spelling is developmentally appropriate, unless it’s a word wall word they have already learned.

Please refer to the parent packet in the Friday Folder for practice ideas. I encourage you to use these activities over the next few weeks—you may be surprised by what your child can do! They have learned so much this school year, and I am so proud of them!

Reading & Spelling: the kiddos are becoming strong readers and are now reading longer books with more words on each page—so exciting!

We are focusing on being problem-solvers when we come to an unknown word. Instead of skipping the word or mumbling through it, we are building a bank of strategies to help us figure it out. Students can look at the picture, tap out the sounds, and think about what would make sense—but we do not skip the word.

When your child is reading at home and comes across a tricky word, please encourage them to use these strategies. If they’ve tried them all and still can’t figure it out, then it’s okay to tell them the word. We don’t want them to feel frustrated, but we do want them to try first.

Next week's spelling words:

do

did

Writing Workshop: we began our third and final writing unit for Kindergarten; informational writing.  We are learning that informational means non-fiction.  We are learning the components of a non-fiction text.  A few key components we are learning about: table of contents, headings, diagrams, labels, bold words and captions.  This week we read a variety of non-fiction books to learn about penguins and began writing our own informational books about penguins! 

Math: we are continuing our study of 3D shapes! Students are working on comparing and contrasting 2D and 3D shapes and discussing their characteristics, including the number of faces, edges, and vertices.

This week, we had a lot of fun bringing our learning to life! We played a 3D shape Bingo game to practice identifying shapes, and we also did a hands-on 3D shape sort using real foods. Students loved exploring and sorting the different items by shape—it was such a fun (and delicious!) way to learn.

Thank you so much for your food donations to make this activity possible. The kids loved it, and we truly appreciate your support! 

Please refer to the math parent packet in your child's Friday Folder for ways to extend their learning at home.  

Counselor:  on Friday, Mrs. Bernier and the class had a fun discussion about careers and future job choices! Students explored different types of jobs and talked about what they might like to be when they grow up. 

Classroom Update: our student teacher, Miss Brinkman, has fully taken over teaching this week and will continue leading the classroom next week, and she is doing a wonderful job!

I am still at school each day, observing and supporting, but I am also spending more time working outside of the classroom so she can take full ownership of the lessons and classroom routines. During this time, I’m pulling students for one-on-one support, much like a classroom aide, which helps ensure Miss Brinkman is fully seen and experienced as the teacher.

The students have been doing a great job adjusting to this transition, and we are so proud of them! If your child mentions Miss Brinkman at home, I encourage you to ask them about what they are learning with her—she has been working very hard to plan engaging and meaningful lessons.

Thank you for supporting her during this exciting time!

RBHS planetarium: on Thursday, we visited the Rock Bridge High School planetarium! Students learned all about space, astronauts (including the recent space launch), and constellations.

Field trips are always such a fun and exciting experience in kindergarten! When we returned to school, we enjoyed a picnic lunch since our regular lunch time was during the field trip, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for it.

Be sure to ask your child to tell you all about our planetarium visit—we learned so much!

Thank You: a big thank you to my amazing class and families for making my birthday on Tuesday so special!

We loved the donuts (thank you to our head room parent, Kayla!), and I am so grateful for all the sweet cards, flowers and thoughtful gifts. You all truly made my day!

I always say there’s no better place to spend a birthday than in an elementary school—it’s the best way to feel extra loved! Thank you again!

Countdown to summer: hard to believe it, but we are almost 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 Ralph Kindergarten tradition!  Such a fun time and memory for the students! 

More fun at school

A busy week!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we have begun our final Fundations unit in kindergarten. Please look through the parent packet sent home today for ways to help your child end the school year successfully and for ideas on how to support learning at home.

Our focus has been on building sentences. I say a short sentence, such as “The cat is on the bed,” and students repeat it, count the words, and help write it. If a word is not on the word wall, they tap it out to determine how to spell it. We also make sure to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end with appropriate punctuation. Once the sentence is complete, we practice reading it fluently. This work supports students in becoming more independent writers during writing time as well.

Next week's new spelling words:

are

has

Science: Mrs. Canepa, one of our media specialists, visited our classroom Tuesday through Friday this week to co-teach a science unit on weather. She was with us each day for the entire morning. While our schedule may not have been typical and included a stronger focus on science, it also incorporated meaningful reading, writing and math components.

We learned about the sun’s warming effects on the Earth and how it influences our weather. Over the past month, we observed daily weather and collected data, which we then used to identify patterns and make predictions about upcoming weather.

Students also worked collaboratively to design a structure that would protect our pretend characters, Milo and friends, from the sun. They were excellent engineers this week!

Here are a few photos from our week and the final project we completed today. You can find even more on our class Facebook page!

Math: we are currently learning about 3D shapes. Students are exploring and identifying shapes such as cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders, pyramids, rectangular prisms, and triangular prisms. By the end of kindergarten, students are expected to independently identify all of these 3D shapes, along with the 2D shapes they have already been working on and should have mastered on the last report card.

We are building this understanding through hands-on activities, discussions, and real-world connections to help students recognize these shapes in their everyday environment.  Please check your child's Friday Folder for the Math Parent Packet and how to help extend their learning at home. 

Friday Craft: students had the opportunity to choose whether they wanted to create a lion or a lamb. This activity connected to our March Calendar Time/Number Corner, where we learned the phrase “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb,” discussed its meaning, and tracked whether each day of March was more “lion-like” or “lamb-like” in its weather.

Since we transitioned from March to April in the middle of the week, this craft was a fun and meaningful way to wrap up our learning. We also read a matching book to further reinforce the concept and bring the saying to life for students.

April Fools' Day: teachers and staff at Beulah Ralph Elementary definitely know how to make April Fools’ Day fun! 😂

In our classroom, I told the kids I wanted to give them a little extra treat and handed out “brownies”… keeping the most serious, straight face I could. 

Meanwhile, they were all staring down at their “brown e’s” with the most confused, puzzled looks ever! 😂 It took a minute, but once it clicked, the reactions were priceless. I seriously wish we had recorded it!

Don’t worry—I had real brownies hidden and ready to go. I’m not that mean! 😂

Several classrooms planned their own little pranks, but the best one of all was a school-wide surprise led by our office staff. Over the intercom, they announced it was time to practice a flash flooding drill—something we’ve obviously never done before. It worked out perfectly with the rain today!  The confusion was immediate and hilarious! I didn’t catch the very beginning on camera, but trust me, it was so good. I ran from my spot across the room and jumped on my table and they just followed suit, no questions asked lol!  Some classes even had their kids doing swimming arm motions… I really wish I would’ve thought of that! 😂 

After a minute or two, the office came back on and said the drill was over—and oh yeah… Happy April Fools!

Check out a few of the funny photos below!  Even more, and a video, are on the class Facebook page. 

Planetarium Field Trips: Kindergarten will be visiting the planetarium at Rock Bridge High School on April 9th and 10th. They will learn about all things space! This trip is for students and teachers only. We will leave around 9 a.m. and return for lunch. Please make sure your child arrives at school on time on their scheduled day. 

April 9: Concannon & Creasy

April 10: Croom, Imler, Williams

Another BEAUTIFUL classroom door, courtesy of Tatum's mom and grandma! 

The flowers are handprints from students who were at school this week.

More fun at school this week