Kindergarten Newsletter
May 2, 2022
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 mandated by the county and others by the state. These assessments will give us information about your child’s reading (PALS) and math skills (VKRP).
Also, starting May 5th, 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?
- This week students are wrapping up their research unit! They have dived deep into learning more about what community helpers do and the tools that they use. Thank you to all of our community helpers that were able to stop by and make their research all the more exciting!
- Students will share the final research project and the information they have learned.
- Readers will explain their ideas about a text.
- Readers will actively engage in conversation with others about the text.
Home/School Connection
- Sight Word Practice: Continue to practice reading and writing these words at home!
-
a
the
I
see
can
am
look
at
me
said
like
we
is
here
you
on
no
go
so
he
she
and
it
on
come
are
my
was
have
to
in
this
play
an
for
yes
do
- Ask students what they have learned about the community helper they have researched.
- After reading a book with your student ask them some of the following questions to strengthen their conversation skills about the text:
- What is happening in this part of the story?
- How is _____ feeling? How do you know?
- Do you agree or disagree with how the character acted? Why?
- How did the character change from the beginning of the book to the end?
- What can we learn from this book?
- What was your favorite part? Why?
- Does this make you think of anything? (Connections)
Math
What are we learning?
Students will be beginning our next math unit, fractions. In this unit we will…
- Practice writing whole numbers and fractions in different ways
- Visually
- Symbolically
- Verbally
- Contextually
- Physically
- Comparing fractions to a whole
- Understand that the more pieces are partitioned, the smaller the size of the pieces are
Home/School Connection
- What can you say about fractions?
- What is an example of a fraction?
- Can you cut your cake in half (or two pieces)?
- Can you cut your cake in thirds (or three pieces)?
- How can we share a cookie fairly between two students?
- There are 6 cookies and 2 children. How many cookies will each child get if they share the cookies fairly?
- Have students place half their toys on one side of the room and half on the other (split their toys in half)
Science/Social Studies
What are we learning?
- Students will understand that maps and globes model different perspectives .
- Students will investigate and understand basic needs and life processes of plants and animals.
Home/School Connection
- Create a treasure map with your child then go on a treasure hunt.
- What is a life cycle? How many different life cycles can you name?
- Plant a seed and watch it grow. What will your seed need in order to grow? Keep a journal and record what happens.
Class Compliments
- Ms. Powers and Mrs. T are so impressed with the amazing research our kindergarteners have done! They have worked so hard to find their information, represent their information, and create a poster about their topic! Excellent work!
- Ms. Johnson and Mrs. B are enjoying learning alongside our students with their research projects. Shout out to Emmanuel’s grandad and Levi’s mom for coming in to talk about their professions. We learned so much!
- Mrs. Bender and Mrs. Santoro are blown away with the focus and determination that the students have shown in their research projects. We have seen an increase in their desire to share what they have learned. We can’t wait to share our posters with the families!
- Miss Matthews and Mrs. Dillon are amazed at the job their kinders are doing on their research projects! They have worked so hard to learn about different community helpers . They have focused on using online resources, but have also used books and asked such thoughtful questions to the guests that have come to share. Way to go!
Positivity Project
What are we learning?
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of May 2-6 is Leadership
- Positivity Project (P2) for the week of May 9-13 is Outro Week: Other People Mindset
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.
- Make a Rainbow Words picture with your child. Our words have the ability to change someone’s mood : good or bad. Write an example of how our words can put someone in a bad mood in a cloud and write examples of what we can say to help in each color of the rainbow. Decorate and color to show our words can help brighten someone’s cloudy day.
Important Upcoming Dates
- May 2-6 is teacher appreciation week! 😊
- Wednesday, May 4: Bender and Johnson field trip to Walker Nature Center
- Thursday, May 5: Start of the kindergarten ABC countdown
- Tuesday, May 10: PTO Meeting and Board ELections via Zoom 7:00pm-9:00pm
- Friday, May 13: All kindergarten field trip to Frying Pan Park
- Friday May 20: Outdoor Movie at Terraset 6:00-9:00pm