Thank you!

                                  Thank you!

I want to send a big thank you to all of the families who showed their appreciation to me and all of their children's teachers throughout the week!  While we most certainly don't go into this career for the treats and gifts, the thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated and we are so grateful. A picture of the class gift is below and I enjoyed the many individual gifts as well. 

I also made sure the students thought of the specials teachers as well (art, music, P.E., media, library).  They are amazing teachers, and although they may not have their own classroom of set students, they impact many children's lives every day!  We made a special book for every specialist we see to let them know how thankful we are for them! Many said it brought tears to their eyes to see that they were thought of and read their kind words.  If you included the specialists in your giving this week, they also thank you and expressed how much it means to them! I let them know that I would pass on their thanks!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we continued to work on repeating a short sentence and independently writing that sentence.  The goal is to see if they begin the sentence with an uppercase letter, use word spaces, write their spelling words correctly, tap out unknown words and end their sentence with punctuation.  Once finished, we practice reading the sentence fluently and not like a robot.  See the parent handout in the Friday Folder to practice this at home.  

Shared Reading and Spelling:  next week will be the last week of introducing new spelling words. We will take a normal spelling test next Friday.  We will take an end of Kindergarten spelling test on Tuesday, May 20th that will include ALL 45 words we have learned this year. Although long, this test should not be difficult, as they should already know how to read and write these words. These will be sent home with their report cards on the last day of school.

                                    Next week's new spelling words:

                                                        was

                                                        you

Writing Workshop: this week we worked on the special books I mentioned above for our specialists teachers.  We wrote about why we love that teacher and their class.  We made one for Coach C in P.E., Mr. Fears in Music, Mrs. Starbuck in art, Mrs. Williams in Media and Mrs. Fitch, Mrs. Canepa and Mrs. Groner in the library.  We also made special books for our principals, Mr. Foulk and Mrs. Isenogle for Principal's Day and colored some special pictures for Nurse Emily and Mrs. Kate on Nurse's Day.  

I am a big believer of teaching kindness, considering others and showing appreciation to everyone who helps us learn from a young age!  Thinking of others and doing something to make them smile and show we care, not just because we "get" something out of it, is so important.   

Math: we are also wrapping up our final math units and you will see ways to extend their learning at home in their Friday Folder. 

Science: over the past couple of weeks we have watched caterpillars make their chrysalis and turn into butterflies.  Today we released our butterflies.  Check out the class Facebook page to see a video of this!  

Alphabet Countdown:  this week we did random acts of Kindness on K Day, enjoyed Lunch Outside on a beautiful L Day, watched the DogMan movie on M for Movie Day, loved calling each other new (and some silly) names on N for Name Day and had the most perfect weather on O for Outside Day!  Check out our class Facebook page for MANY more photos from the week. 

1st Grade:  we visited Mrs. Novak and Mrs. Frerick's 1st grade classroom on Thursday.  We were able to ask the current first graders and teachers questions we had about 1st grade.  It was so sweet and so fun!  Ask your child all about it and some questions they asked/information they learned.  I can't believe they are almost first graders! 

Library: Tuesday was our last library checkout of the school year.  ALL books are due back to school on Tuesday.  Missing book notices and fines will be sent home for any books not returned to school.  

More fun at school

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