Sing and Share

I look forward to seeing everyone at Sing and Share. We have been working hard to get all the materials together to show you how much growth we made over the school year. Just a friendly reminder that it is on Friday, May 20, from 10:15-11:00. We will begin in our classroom, room 202. I will open the doors at 10:15; it is best to show up on time. Children become very nervous when their family member does not show up. All kindergarten classes will be having Sing and Share on the same day, so parking might be at a premium. We will be in the classroom for 15 minutes and 30 minutes in the music room. In our classroom, students will be showing you their Leadership Notebook and how much they have grown academically. Then, together at 10:30, we will walk to the music room, there will be an informance.

iReady testing will begin.

We will begin iReady Testing this week and it will take about two weeks for us to finish. If your child is absent, please do not take the test at home. If your student’s score is at or below the benchmark score, I will contact the family, and we will come up with a solution to best help your child grow as a reader. Please make sure that your child gets breakfast and enough sleep for the next two weeks as we finish this test.

Field Trip on Thursday

On Thursday, we are going on our final field trip to the West Bloomfield Nature Center. Please dress for the weather; I am not sure how much we will be outside.

Sadness about moving on to another grade.

This time of year when incoming kindergarten students begin to observe our classroom and school. It is also when our current class realizes that I will not be their teacher next year; this causes sadness and a change of behavior in some children. So, I am just letting you know if your child’s mood or behavior changes, it could be the unsettling feeling they will be with different students and teachers next year.

Placement for next year

It is also a time of year when the teachers do placement for next year. When I place your student into first grade, I do it in groups. I do not know what group will be set with what teacher. I cannot suggest who you would like your child to be grouped with; placement is an extensive process with many moving parts. You will find out who your child’s teacher will be in August.

Reading
We have been working on understanding the nonfiction books we are reading. Specifically, we spent a lot of time retelling books and asking questions when reading nonfiction books. I have noticed that most of the class needs to continue to work on decoding skills. When your child does not know a word, please help them by using this chart.

Writing
We began a new unit on persuasion and opinion writing. We are looking for problems around the school and trying to write ways to fix them. Here is the first page of a problem that a student is working to solve.

Math
Many students are having a hard time with subtraction and decomposing numbers. Please help your child at home by showing them how subtraction works on their fingers.

Homework

I am not sending home the writing homework anymore and I think we have two more sets of snap words to go. As you know, I send home the snap words we work on each Monday.