Animals at the Zoo

Last Monday we had our first field trip to the Morton Arboretum. Thank you to all the parents who helped chaperone this trip. We could not have asked for better weather. The students loved exploring the different parts of the children's garden, but I think a favorite by far, was the tadpole pond. The students got to take their socks and shoes off and wade/ walk on rocks within the shallow pool. They were also able to cup water into their hands with small tadpoles floating about. It was a great experience for everyone.

Last nights musical was an absolute hit. The students did an amazing job learning their songs, movements, and lines. It is always wonderful to see their handwork come together in the end. Miss Wyse did a wonderful job. Thank you for all of your support in helping them learn their songs and lines as well. 

Phonics

This week our word family was - um. This year we have covered many different word families. Here is the complete list at, an, am, ap, ad, et, en, ed,it, in, ig, ip, ot, op, og, um, un, and ug.

Popcorn Words

We have officially learned all of our popcorn words for Kindergarten! We will continue to practice some of the harder words before the end of the year. Please continue to review/practice these words this summer. You can make it fun by making the words in the sandbox or out of rocks and sticks. If you are feeling brave get some mud mixed up and have your child run their finger through the mud to make the letters of their popcorn words. When first grade begins their will be a new set of words to learn.

Words we know: a, I, it, in, see, big, my, like, up, run, on, we, me, am,  did, not, can, is, but, to, too, ran, into, for, little, and, yes, no, the, you, down, he, she, be, our, here, out, get, help, now, look, good, jump, will, have, must, one, two, three, four, five, said, this, that, new, soon, went, come, who, what, where, say, away, play, eat, please, want, with, came, make, ate, ride,was, saw, are, well, pretty, funny, under, find, blue, yellow, red, pink, black, orange, white, & brown.

I will be sending home a summer packet that will also help to reinforce the sight words from Kindergarten. Use this to help prepare for first grade as well as to prevent the "summer slide."

Reading

Last week during reading we read the book Giraffe's Can't Dance. Using this story we talked about things that are difficult for us and how we can practice or become better at these things. We listened to our friends to hear their challenges and encouraged them to do their best. 

This week we read the last book of our Unit 6 in English Language Arts called What do you do With a Tail Like This? This book described different animal body parts and how they are unique to that specific animal. After digging deeper into the book by looking at the various animals and the vocabulary words capture, warn and scoop we got into groups to begin working on an animal research project. Within our groups we had to all decide on one animal to research. For some of the groups this was very easy while others had to come up with some unique animals to all agree. Our projects are on pandas, armadillos, cheetahs, giraffes, and skunks. We only made the title on our poster and a picture of our animals this week. Next week we will begin researching information on these animals such as habitat and diet.

Math

In math this week we worked on positional words in math such as left, right, below, over, under, and between. We also looked at shapes and categorized them on being able to slide, roll, and stack.  In our centers we put a lot of review into addition and subtraction. Addition is easier for most of us so we continue to practice our fluency in subtraction. In the summer packet coming home at the end of the year you will also find pages to help reinforce the math concepts we have covered this year. 

Important Reminders:

June 1st- Jim Gill Concert during school

June 4th- Field Trip to the Zoo
June 5th- School Picnic
June 9th- Last day of School 12:00 dismissal time

Email me with any questions!