Kindergarten Newsletter
April 27, 2021
Dear Families,
As we approach the end of the school year there are many assessments that we will be doing with the students. Please realize that some are state mandated (VKRP), some county mandated (iReady) and others school mandated. These assessments will give us information about your child’s reading and math skills. Your child’s teacher will let you know when testing will be occurring in their classroom as it will look a little different for our in-person and virtual students.
Also, starting May 6th, Kindergarten will be doing the ABC Countdown to Summer! the last 26 days of school. Your child’s teacher will be sharing the calendar with you soon. This is a fun way to count down the days until summer break with an activity associated with a different letter in the alphabet each day. We hope you have fun along with your child participating in this end-of-the year activity!
As always, please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.
The Kindergarten Team
Language Arts
What are we learning?
- Readers notice that poems can look, sound, and feel different from other texts.
- Readers notice that poems can be about anything.
- Readers think and share about how a poem makes them feel.
- Writers will begin to explore how to write a poem.
Home/School Connection
- Explore some fun, short poems!
- Ask students what they liked most about the poem?
- Ask students how poems feel and sound different than other texts (books they have read).
- How does the poem make the student feel? (i.e. Happy, silly, sad, energized, etc.)
Math
What are we learning?
- I am learning to share things equally.
- I am learning about the parts and whole of numbers.
- I am learning to use combinations for numbers up to 5 to help me solve problems.
Home/School Connection
- Draw a pizza. How would you share it fairly with 2 people? How about 4 people?
- Pick a number. Show it in as many ways as you can!
Science/Social Studies
What are we learning?
- In honor of Earth Day, April 22, students have been learning about the 3 R’s.
- Students have been learning about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle to help take care of our Earth.
Home/School Connection
- Talk with your student about how your family practices the 3 R’s.
- Brainstorm other ways your family can practice conservation.
Class Compliments
- Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro would like to shout-out Alyssa and Colton for showing enthusiasm for learning! Both students are among the first to participate in Morning Meeting and share their thinking with the class. Alyssa and Colton also enjoy learning from their classmates!
- Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. T have enjoyed seeing students practice their greetings during morning meetings. We have greeted each other with no teeth, in a whisper voice, in a silly voice, and in Spanish. It is a great start to our morning to hear and see such friendly kindergarteners!
- Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon want to give a shout-out to Finn, Collin, Hannah and Alyssa who have created some wonderful books! Besides writing some amazing “5 Star Sentences”, they used what we have learned about stories and characters when writing their own. Way to go! We are so proud of you!
- Mrs. Nieto’s class showed great listening skills during our Guidance lesson with Mrs. Palatucci about empathy. Students were engaged and participated throughout the lesson.
POG/Positivity Project
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of April 26-30 is Purpose
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of May 3-7 is Leadership
- Portrait of a Graduate (POG): All of Terraset Elementary is working on being Collaborators. Kindergarten is focusing on sharing our ideas.
Home/School Connection
- Encourage leadership skills by noticing and naming when children are persevering. “I noticed you persevere when you …. It was hard and you did not give up!”
- Help grow children’s self-confidence by naming times when you are or were proud of them.
Important Upcoming Dates
- May 6: Start of end of year kindergarten ABC countdown
- May 11: Virtual Terraset PTO meeting