Week of 5/15

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all the moms for joining us on Friday. It was great to see you all and celebrate. Please let me know if you weren't able to open the video. Happy Mother's Day today!

Thank you also to all of you who came out for the Fantasy Faire. It looked like a great time was had by all at their first Faire as AV students. Thanks to all those who helped with our class booth. Congratulations again to Rez & Safa for their cake decorating wins!

This is our last week of centers.  I'd like to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to coming in weekly to help us in the classroom.  This was an amazing year for classroom help-- whenever somebody was unable to come in, someone else stepped right up as a sub.  That small-group instruction time is so important, and without all of the helpers, it would not have been possible. Thank you, thank you!

Language Arts
We will introduce another sight word, where. The link to the first grade list of words for those who want to get a jump-start on those, can be found here.We will also introduce the y ending sound that sounds like long e. Our other sound this week is called a trigraph-- three letters together than make one sound-- and it is igh. We will be writing an informational text this week on butterflies. Children will write all they have learned about the life cycle of a butterfly, which will be on display at Open House on the 24th.

The sharing this week will be toy in a bag. Please have your child write three clues about a hidden toy so that the class can try and guess what the toy is.

Math
We are continuing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit covers number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here. I have also been and will continue to be administering the final round of assessments to evaluate your children for the 3rd trimester report cards. Those report cards will come home with your children on the last day of school.

Science
We are continuing our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. Caterpillars arrived in our class last week, and we will watch the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.

Upcoming Events
For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Open House (May 24th @ 7:00), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 8th @ 9:00). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 9th, all K classes are on a morning schedule (8:05-11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 41 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies!  

Please send in your Blue Bags tomorrow.  This Wednesday, we will send home the final blue bag!   Please use the extra time in the remaining weeks to do "virtual homework assignments."  I would like to see the children spending at least 15 minutes a day on either Lexia, ixl.com , or raz-kids for the next few weeks. I would also encourage using the extra time to read, read, read!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Return Blue Bags (Ting), Centers (Annie & Marylu), Sharing
Tuesday: Centers (Claire K. & Minna), Sharing
Wednesday: Recess 101 with Coach Sierra, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Centers (Susan & Chris), Sharing
Friday: STEAM Centers (Gus), Story time with Grandma Gail, Sharing

Upcoming Events:

Weds. 5/24: Open House 7:00-8:00
Mon. 5/29: Memorial Day Holiday
Tues. 6/6: End of Year Party: "Splash Bash"
Weds. 6/7: School-wide Olympic Day
Thurs. 6/8: Promotion Ceremony @ 9:00 a.m.
Fri. 6/9: Last Day of School, all kindergartners attend from 8:05 to 11:25