Dear Parents,
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone
for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. From the flowers on Monday
to the lovely notes on Friday and everything in between, I was so
touched! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for entrusting
me with your wonderful children. Thank you also to all the moms,
grandmas, and dad for coming on Friday. The children were so excited to
have you there for our Mother's Day event, and it was wonderful that
each child had someone to honor.
We have another review week covering several consonants this week (Dd, Jj, Nn, Ww).
All letters have now been introduced, so please work on practicing
both writing and reading consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Your
children should be able to read all of those types of words using their
letter sounds and blending skills-- cut, bus, rat, sip, hot, etc.
This is a really important skill to work on now and through the
summer, as that is something your children will be expected to do
proficiently in first grade. Books such as the leveled Scholastic
Readers, Bob Books, I Can Read Books, and Ready to Read Books are great
for reinforcing blending skills and practicing fluency. Please keep
your children reading 20-30 minutes daily now and through the summer.
Also, continue working on the sight words. They need to know all 40,
and in first grade, the list increases to 100 words. That list can be
found on the first grade home page:
http://www3.unionsd.org/23042054153032310/site/default.asp I can't
emphasize enough that the best way to help your child become a
successful reader is to offer plenty of opportunity for practice.
We
will also be finishing our math topic on days of the week this week,
and starting our final math topic on graphing next week. Things are
wrapping up quickly! Our final science unit on animals/living things
continues for the next few weeks. Our caterpillars in the classroom have
all gone into chrysalids, so we are eagerly awaiting the butterfly
stage!
In art, we are busily preparing for Open House this Wednesday the
16th. There is a Home & School Club meeting from 6:30 to 7:00, and then classrooms are open from 7:00 to 8:00. Please plan on coming into the room and checking out all the
work that will be on display! The children have worked hard and are so
excited to show off all their wonderful projects. Open House is also a
great opportunity to check out the 1st grade classrooms to see what you
can look forward to there.
We have author Mac Barnett coming into our classroom on Monday. He will do a half-hour session with both kindergarten classes. We are excited to meet a real author!
Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow. A homework
packet will go home this Wednesday, and then that is also our final week
of homework! Please use the extra time for additional reading
practice, and of course, outdoor time is always important.
The
sharing this week is Book Share. Please send your child prepared to tell us the title of the book, a bit about its plot, and with a favorite page bookmarked.
Fantasy Faire is this Friday!! I
hope you are all planning to come. This is a really fun event for the
whole family. It is a carnival with classroom booths, bounce houses, a
cake walk-- definitely a night to remember for the kids. I also want to
mention that the cake contest is totally fun & exciting to
participate in! Even if you don't participate, you must go into the
cafeteria on Friday morning and check out all the amazing cake entries!
Our
final days that we'd like you all to join us for are coming up. Dads--
we'd like you to come in on the morning of June 4th for some doughnuts
& fun. This event should only be about an hour or so for those
heading back to work. Everyone-- our Promotion Ceremony is Thursday,
June 7th. This is a
fun ceremony where we look back on our year together-- you won't want to
miss it!
Hard to believe that we have just 19 class days left together!!
Upcoming Events:
5/14: Author Mac Barnett visits the classroom
5/16: Open House 7:00 pm
5/18: Fantasy Fair 5:00-8:30 pm
5/23: YSI's "Life in the Pond" Presentation
5/28: No School: Memorial Day
5/30: May's Wacky Wednesday
5/31: Try out lunch in the cafeteria-- no snacks needed
6/4: Doughnuts with Dad
6/5: End-of-Year Class Party/Water Play Day
6/7: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
6/8: Last day of School: All K classes attend 8:05-11:35
