Where does the time go?!! I can't believe that it is mid-May with only a little more than a month of school left to go! We have been learning a lot about nature, including plants, insects, life cycles, and woodland animals. In another week or so we will start learning about Boston and some of the places we will see on our next field trip. Information about the Boston Swan Boats trip went home last week. If you are interested in chaperoning this trip, please let me know and be sure to send in the $3 to cover the cost. Please also send in the $3 to cover the cost of your child’s trip as soon as you are able.
We have been learning more about butterflies and other insects this week. All of our caterpillars have turned into chrysalises and will hopefully turn into butterflies really soon! We spent time this week drawing and labeling the life cycle of a butterfly and will do the same for frogs next week! It’s exciting to see some real life cycles right in our own classroom! We made butterflies to add to our giant flowers and we also made dragonflies to decorate a dragonfly poem.
The students planted pumpkin seeds this week. We are anxious to watch them sprout and grow. After a couple of weeks, students will be able to take these plants home and can transplant them into the ground or a larger pot. Hopefully some pumpkins will grow by fall!
The students have been enjoying our new topic in math. We measured lots of classroom objects to compare lengths; we compared our own heights by getting in order from shortest to tallest; we learned about capacity by pouring water and dry macaroni into different containers; and we used a balance scale to compare weights. We also spent most of a day just exploring with the different math tools and materials. Students have also been working on the ST Math program and have been making good progress. A few students are even getting close to completing the program! I would recommend that students log on to ST Math at home and try to use it every once in awhile to see if we can complete the whole program by the end of Kindergarten!
Please continue to work with your child on their subtraction fluency facts to five (5-3=2, 4-1=3, etc.). I will be testing the students on these to see how fluent they are. The goal is for students to tell me the answers within three seconds. I would also encourage you to work with your child on counting to 100 by 1s and 10s and practice recognizing and writing numbers to 20. Those teen numbers are tricky! Don’t forget about the sight words too! I’ve been busy assessing students on all sorts of things this week and will continue into the next week or two. I’m impressed with how far they have come this year!
Mr. Musselman presented a Magnet Show earlier this week. The students enjoyed learning about magnets, their poles, and the push and pull forces. It certainly was a busy week!
Thank you also for all the special things so many of you did for Teacher Appreciation Week. The luncheon was amazingly delicious and the other pictures, gifts, and kind words were all very much appreciated. It is truly a pleasure working with each of your children and seeing how much they have grown this year!
I would like to extend a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers in Room 115! We hope the gifts your child gives you will be special and meaningful. You have permission to open your gifts today. Your gift will most likely need water before Sunday!
Have a great weekend!
Melanie Duncan
PS...Students are welcome to bring sunscreen in their backpacks to put on before recess but it may also be easier to apply it in the morning before school to save time.
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