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.
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