Wow...it is hard to believe that we are in the final week of school. The year sure has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was meeting your children for the first time, wiping away some tears (from both the kids and the parents), and starting the challenging task of helping your children through a full day of school. AND now everyone is ready for 1st grade!

This week we had fun going to the Children's Museum.  Thank you to Mrs. Marron, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Hector, Mr. McHale and Mrs. Hallissey for chaperoning the trip.  The kids had a blast exploring the stations of the museum as well as creating their "GeoSpaces" with 3D shapes.

Our green haired friends were sent home this week and we continue to observe and record data on our sunflowers seeds.  We have discussed the plant cycle, growth sequences and the things plants need to grow.  Next week we will explore and experiment with water.

Next week, the Kinderpress published books will be sent home.  Any extra time this week has been spent illustrating our stories.  Thank you to everyone who made Kinderpress a success.  I apologize for not naming specific names, but thank you to those who took dictation, typed and helped as the students illustrated. 

Today I sent home your child's binder FULL of writing.  Please take the time to celebrate the growth and success your child made throughout the year.  As I was compiling each one, I was absolutely THRILLED by the progress each student has made.  I hope you treasure their work as much as I have!

This next paragraph comes from Mrs. Wilke's blog as I feel she explained our math focus so well!

On May 14th "while your children were off enjoying the beautiful weather, the May Watts teachers were spending time sharing some celebrations with our staff. The kindergarten team put some extra focus on math this year. We set a goal in August that ALL our kindergarten students would meet our end of the year CBM math goal. All the K teachers worked hard during our core lessons and while using the math wall to help reach this goal. We taught them how to THINK about math and how to notice math all around them. We engaged in meaningful math talk and discovered the power of learning from our peers. We worked on solving multiple step problems and encouraged our students to take mathematical chances. On Monday we stood proudly in front of the May Watts staff to present our results. We were excited to announce that ALL of our students made progress in math!!!!! We ended the year with 97% of our students meeting our set goal. But more importantly we know they ALL learned to THINK while solving math problems. The kindergarten teachers are so proud of our students and all they have accomplished this year. In fact, we were so inspired by the amazing learning we saw going on that we worked together to submit a grant. We were awarded this grant and will now be able to purchase even more math materials for our future students. We are very excited about this!"

 

Our class has been on an amazing journey this year.  We became a school "family."  Each student has grown socially and academically in their own way!  I feel excited to know that they are well prepared for first grade!  It has been a pleasure to get to know each and every student and their families.  I look forward to watching them grow and change throughout the years here at May Watts.  Thank you to ALL of you for your continued support and parnership for your child.  Our year would not have been as successful without your help!  Have a fabulous summer, students and parents!!!

 

 

 

May 14-18

This week, our last letter was introduced!  Letter Z!  We had fun finding the remaining letters in our classmates' name strips.  We read and wrote about zebras.  We enjoyed funny books like Zin! Zin ! Zin! A Violin!, Zoomer, and The Great Fuzz Frenzy.

We began our Seeds to Plant unit.  We were scientists who explored the inside of a seed.  Don't be surprised if you child tells you that we are growing hair in our classroom!  We also planted seeds.  We will give them the things they need to grow and observe what happens!

We are discussing how to tell time on the hour, practicing our number structures of five, and doing many challenging story problems and discussing the different ways to solve the problems.

Next Wednesday is our field trip to the Children's Museum.  As before, we will be gone for our regular lunch period so please pack a cold lunch and drink to eat in the classroom upon our return.  It will be a late lunch, so if we eat snack it will be towards the end of the day.  We will NOT be able to have a morning snack to PLEASE make sure your child eats a big breakfast.

Thank you to Mrs. Loos, Mrs. Kain, and Mrs. Antti for separating and collating student works that will be received at the end of the year.  Thank you to the PTA for a wonderful teacher appreciation week.  Thank you for the lovely notes written by students and parents.  I feel lucky to be a part of your child's school experience!

Enjoy your weekend!

May 7-11

We had a really fun week with Jump Rope for Heart, themes centered around letter q and u, math games, Kinderpress story writing, and preparing for Mother's Day! 

Thank you to Mrs. Hernandez, Mrs. Husseini, Mrs. Marron, Mrs. McHale and Mrs. Simonich (Mrs. Kain...sorry the babysitter didn't work out for you:)) for helping our kindergarten authors with their rough drafts.  The kids are extremely excited to be published!

I will need 5 volunteers for the upcoming Children's Museum on Wednesday, May 23rd from 9:15am-1:00pm.  Please send an email to me if you are interested.  If I have more than five offers, I will pick from a hat and let you know asap.

Remember, no school on Monday!  Have a great weekend!

April 30-May 4

It's hard to believe there are only four weeks left of school!  We are staying busy and having fun with our learning.

This week was letter Y.  We read a few stories with the was theme.  Our favorite was Yes Day!  What would you ask for if you knew the answer would be yes?  Each student wrote a book of their own and came up with some creative ideas!

We our working on solving multi step story problems.  Understanding what information is important and what is not is very challenging!  We are having conversations about HOW solving the problems.  This creates the opportunity for students to see that no one process is right or wrong.  However, we talk about which process is more efficient.  I am excited to see those who are challenging themselves!

We continue to review the I Can Problem Solve procedures and the Stop Walk Talk anti bully process.  It is important for the students to take responsibility in trying to solve their conflicts and to know that involving an adult is only necessary if the problem persists. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the parent volunteers at home or here at school.  I hope you were able to attend the Volunteer Tea in your honor!  I can't say enough that SO MUCH of what we do here at school is a reality because of your hard work.  Thank you!  Thank you to Mrs. Simonich for rounding out the year with an interesting and fun Art Awareness lesson on painter Grant Wood.

Have a great weekend!