May 6th

Hi Fish Families!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! The children have a little surprise for you in their backpacks.

Here is what we have been working on this week:

Readers' Workshop: We are working on our last unit of study, "Becoming Avid Readers". The children learned the characteristics of an avid reader (read lots, read everywhere, keep stacks of books to read, and pay attention to books) and know what a "blah" reader looks like. They are learning that readers react to books and feel the emotions of the characters. They are beginning to think about their books. 

Writers' Workshop: We began our last unit, persuasive writing. The children are thinking of ways to make SMS, our houses or the world a better place. They learned that you need lots of reasons to fix a problem. They are brainstorming these reasons to write posters, letters or books. This is a tough concept for many kindergarten children, so we have been talking and writing about rules and why we have them. Rules make our school a better (and safer) place. 

Math Workshop: We finished up Unit 7 and have begun Unit 8. I am in the process of completing our end-of-unit assessment and will be sending those letters home next week. This week we did some estimating (making a smart guess that isn't much too high or low.) The children are doing a nice job of getting pretty close with their estimations. We are working on combinations equal to 10, telling number stories, and reviewing 2D and 3D shapes.

Science:  We are hatching chicks in kindergarten! The eggs were set in the incubators this week and in about 21 days, we hope to have some chickens in our classroom. If anyone is interested, the chicks are available for adoption. Please let me know. The chicks do go to a farm if no one wants them, so no pressure! 

Wish List:

• boxes of tissues
• liquid hand soap
• zipper sandwich bags
• hand sanitizer

Up-coming Events:

• SEE Science Center field trip- 5/13
• Wellness Walk- 5/11 at 1:30 Feel Free to meet us in the bus loop and join us for the walk. We also plan to join our 2S buddies!
• Grand Luncheon- Monday, 6/6
• Makers' Fest- 5/19
• May Celebration- 5/24
• Field Day- 6/9 (The Color Games)
• Last Day of Kindergarten- 6/14 *School will end by 11:00 for the students on that day. Please let me know if this poses a problem for your family!

Have a great weekend.

Kristen