Dear Parents,
Happy sunny Friday, everyone!
Though it may not be around long, it's sure nice to feel warmth when I head outside! I know the kids are certainly enjoying it as well.
I'd like to thank all of you for the kind words, beautiful flowers, cookies, doughnuts, and coffee cards I received this past week for Teacher Appreciation. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your thoughtfulness, but more so, for the opportunity to work with your children. They are truly amazing little people and bring much joy to our classroom each and every day. I so enjoy doing what I do and I appreciate all the support you've given me and the children this year. My sincere thanks to you all.
Now, on to what occurred in our room this week:
At the Reading stations, our letter focus was Z. At the ABC/123 station, the students used their reading skills to match up a picture and the corresponding word. They then wrote sentences that contained a who, what, and where, and for some, even the why! At the Craft station, the students made a book called Zip Zap. They also followed written directions to construct a zebra. At the Handwriting station, played a reading game called Zingo.
In writing, the children have been working very hard to include a who, what, and a where in their writing. They're starting to see that the more information they tell, the more interesting their writing becomes. Since the students have been doing so well on those "3 W's", they've been introduced to another "W": Why. The students have been given a writing prompt, such as "I do like the rain" or "I do not like the rain" and have to write two reasons why they do or do not like, in this case, rain. On another day, they were asked to tell why they did or did not like M & M's. I've been absolutely thrilled as to what these kids can do as writers when nudged to stretch themselves as a writer. Now, you may be wondering why you haven't seen any of this writing coming home. The reason is I need to hold on to them for final assessing in June. When I've completed all the writing assessments, all your child's writing will be sent home for you to enjoy!
In math, the children have been revisiting pattern blocks to solve pattern block puzzles and to create pattern block pictures on the computer. Over the next few weeks, the children will be investigating 2 and 3D shapes and looking for examples of such shapes in our room and around the school.
In our Wood and Paper science unit, the children have been learning about the different properties of wood and even making some of their own wood to take home. They've made plywood by gluing together 3 pieces of pine and yesterday, they used sawdust, wood shavings, and a cornstarch-based matrix to create their own piece of particleboard. Be sure to ask your child to show you these two samples and ask them to tell you how they were made.
Finally, my civic duty as a prospective juror has tapped me on the shoulder for a second time. Consequently, I start jury duty this coming Monday, May 19th. It is my hope that I will only have to be out Monday and Tuesday, but one never knows. The guest teacher who will be in for me is Joyce Schifferel. Joyce has worked for me numerous times over the past 3 years and knows my rountines/expectations
extremely well. If for any reason you need to speak with her, the best time to contact her is by 8:30 in the morning and by 4:15 in the afternoon. I will be checking my email daily so if you need to contact me as well, know that I will get back with you, however, it might not be until the evening.
Well, that about does it for another week in our classroom.
Enjoy the next two sunny days. . . lliving around here, one never knows when days like these will return!!!!
Enjoy your time with your family and remember....keep making those memories together.
Keree :) |