May Citizen of the Month

Yay Kavin!

He was chosen, by his peers, as May Citizen of the Month!

The kiddos did a great job choosing classmates for this award this year!  We had a nice talk about how it is ok if they weren't chosen this year, as not everyone can win at everything, and it doesn't mean they are any less amazing.  We also talked about how they will have many chances to win this award in 1st-5th grade and to keep working hard on being kind, safe, respectful, responsible, problem solvers and their peers will notice!

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: next week will be our final week of Fundations.  We are ending the year by focusing on writing proper sentences.  This includes: beginning our sentence with a capital letter, using 2 finger word spaces, spelling all word wall words/trick words correctly, tapping out unknown words and ending with punctuation.  

Please use the parent handout in your child's Take Home Folder to help reinforce these skills at home.

Next week's spelling words:

do

one

Final Spelling Test:  next week will be our final week of new spelling words.  We will test on Thursday since Friday is field day and I will be absent for a wedding.

On Tuesday, June 1st, we will take an end of year spelling assessment over ALL 47 spelling words.  While this is a lot of words, it should not be difficult as these are words they are already expected to know. 

Writing: we are continuing to work on our end of year memory books.  I can't wait for you to see them!

Math: this week our main focus was collecting data, tallying and graphing our information. 

Science: we are finishing up our final unit of the year: Pushes and Pulls/Force and Motion.  This year we have learned about the following science topics: Living and Nonliving, Weather, Health/Dental and Force and Motion. 

Makerspace: we had our final Makerspace STEAM activity this year with Mrs. Fitch.  We heard the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and had to design our own bridge for the goats to cross.  They had to draw out a plan, build the bridge using specific supplies, make sure the troll could fit under the bridge and make sure their bridge could hold the weight of the goats crossing over.  These activities involve planning, working together, problem solving and cooperation.  Ask your child to tell you more about it!

iPads: ipads, keyboards and chargers will be staying at school over the summer.  In Media Class they have begun the process of cleaning them up (clearing certain things on the camera roll, etc.) and we will continue to do this in the classroom as well.  If there is anything you'd like to save (from the camera roll, Seesaw, etc.) please work on that this weekend and next week by air dropping or emailing it to your own personal device at home.  They will still come home nightly next week, but beginning June 1st, I will not send them back home with your child.  They will be "wiped clean" for the next school year and your child will receive the same iPad back next year. 

ABC Countdown: another fun week of counting down to summer!  I love that so many kiddos participate!  I have to say, Q for Quiet Day was probably the best day ever! lol!

Enjoy a few photos below and check out the rest on our class Facebook page!

The Final Countdown

 A look at our learning...

Fundations: we continue to work on dictation sentences (I say a sentence, they repeat and count the words on their hands as they say it and then write it) and thinking about what good writers do (word spaces, begin with an uppercase letter, end with punctuation, etc.)  We are also working on hearing/writing a sentence and then changing part of it.  For example, they may have written "My dog is in the sun" and then I tell them to figure out what needs to be changed for it to now say "My cat is in the sun."  They are getting really good at this!  Not only does this work on Fundations skills, but listening skills as well!

We will have new spelling words next week and the week of May 24th.  During the last week of school, we will have a spelling test over ALL words we have learned this year.  It will be 47 words, by the time we are finished.  Although long, this test should not be difficult as these are words they should already know and be reading and writing correctly at all times. 

Next week's spelling words

from

not

Writing Workshop: we have finished our unit on opinion writing.  We will be spending the rest of the school year working on special Kindergarten memory books that they will bring home at the end of the year. 

Math: we continue to work on addition and subtraction story problems and writing the number sentence.  This week we also explored calculators again and learned how we can use a calculator to practice counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's! 

Reading: we have finished up our reading groups for the year (for the most part) as this time will be use to do end of year assessments to get ready for their report cards.  I'm in awe of the growth your children have made in reading (and everything else) despite the crazy school year!  I'm proud of them and you should be too! 

Scholastic Book Orders are coming home today for the last time; why not reward your readers with some brand new books?  I'm happy to help with recommendations based on their reading levels.  Just email me if you'd like help with this.  

 

Library books: all library books are due by Friday, May 21st.  We had our last check out day this past week.  Mrs. Fitch shared some super fun reading programs that Daniel Boone Regional Library and Barnes and Noble are doing this summer.  I encourage you to participate with your child.  Super easy, free and they earn prizes!

Countdown to Summer: more fun this week with our countdown to summer!  I've posted a few pictures below, but many more on our class Facebook page.  

We also made a "Countdown to First Grade" craft today.  Each SCHOOL day (weekends don't count) they can pull off one rainbow loop.  They were super excited to really start thinking about being first graders!  They turned out so cute!

Thank you!

 THANK YOU for an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week!

Your kindness and generosity means the world to me!  I love all of the yummy treats (I don't think I'll need to buy snacks for the next year lol), fun water/coffee/wine cups, drinks, beautiful plants, jewelry, candles, my favorite school supplies, numerous gift cards to my favorite places and the yard sign! Most all, I love the kind words and cards from many of you.  It truly means the world!  So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: check your child's Take Home Folder for their unit 5 assessment.  You will also find a parent letter for our final unit of Fundations, flash cards to cut out and practice and other activities to do at home with your child to further their learning.

Next week's spelling words:

of

have

Writing Workshop: we used our knowledge of opinion writing to make books for our specialists for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Each day we made a book for the special we had that day (Art, Music, P.E., Media and Library) and wrote about why we love that class/teacher.  I took each child's writing and made it into a book for that specialist.  Many told us that we brought them to tears when they read it.  We also made books for Mr. Woods and Mrs. Rogers about what we think they do all day.  Some were serious and some were silly!  Ask your child what they wrote!

Math: they are getting good at solving addition and subtraction story problems, showing their work with pictures and writing a number sentence.  You can practice this at home, it's easy!  Just verbally tell them a story, ask them to show you the work with pictures and write the number sentence.  For example:  I have 7 apples, your sister ate 2 of them, how many apples do I have left?  

Check your child's Take Home Folder for our unit 7 parent letter. 

ABC Countdown: lots of fun this week!  Below are a few pictures from each day, but I will post many more photos on our class Facebook page.