Last week’s Celebrate the Arts fully immersed us
in the visual and performing arts.
We had a turn telling a story in a drum circle, tapped along to the
beats of a rock band, creative dance movement, a visit with a photographer,
sewing our quilts, and a song dedicated to Mark Twain. This week we continue our
performance momentum with rehearsals for our kindergarten show.
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| Duran and Lili show off their quilts. |
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| Ava's all wrapped up in her quilt. |
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| The Wit and the Wisdom |
Math: Math lessons continue with addition and
subtraction, spatial patterns, and coins. We are reviewing reading and writing
tally marks up to 30. This requires the children to “count on” from 5, 10, 15,
20, or 25 be read/create numbers such as 7, which would be 5 and 2 more.
“Counting on” in an important skill with both addition and money.
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| Kai F. trades in 5 pennies for a nickel at weekly banking. |
Word Work: We are building words using the
short sound of “u,” such as in the word tub. We are also practicing spelling
the words from our Word Wall. The class is enjoying learning more compound
words and looking for little words inside big words.
Reading: We will continue to read our “just
right” books independently, with partners and with the teachers. In addition, we
are starting book clubs. Three students are grouped together. They will be
reading from baskets of books with the same characters. They will be encouraged
to discuss together about what the characters are doing, where is the setting,
and how are the characters feeling.
Writing:
Our new writing unit will begin next week with a return to writing about
events in our lives. We will look at the writing in our “just right” books to
find out how the authors told their stories and what details they have included
to make their books interesting to read.
Social Studies: From talking about our own
houses and others the children are familiar with, our study of houses will turn
to houses found in other parts of the world. We will talk about how these
houses are alike and how they are different from ours and why they are not like
our houses.
Science: We will begin the second part of
our physical science unit and begin our investigation of liquids. The first two
liquids that we will study will be water and glue. The garden is in full bloom
and that has brought us to the bugs that live there too. The study of insects will begin by
revisiting their symmetrical bodies and interesting shapes.
Responsive Classroom: The children are learning
to greet each other by name and ask about their weekends or if they have any
news to share. Sometimes we shake hands or high five greetings. The class
enjoys playing “Toe to Toe” with partners. This team building activity helps
encourage cooperation and following directions in a fun way. We are continuing
to talk about the difference between a peacemaker and a peace breaker.
Events to Calendar:
Friday, April 26th – Pirate and Princess Almost
Sleepover 5:30 – 9:00pm
Friday, May 3rd - Kindergarten Show 8:30 am
Monday, May 27th – No School, Memorial Day
Friday, May 31st – Last day of school, noon
dismissal
