Mrs. Giffen came to read a favorite story of hers on Friday.  We are enjoying having a variety of faculty join us on Friday mornings! 

The beginning of the story that led to our creation of magic wands!

Father Spring

With their owl eyes, deer ears, nose smell, raccoon touch, and fox feet guiding their way to Harrison, students used these senses to help them pinpoint signs of spring.  A surprise snowfall on Thursday had our group wishing away winter, after having some intense snowball making adventures.  Students observed the changing snow consistency and used their knowledge of forces and pushes/pulls to explore the sticky and dense snow surrounding Harrison.  After a fire and story about Father Spring defeating Mother Winter, students set out to find sticks to turn into"magic wands" to help Father Spring bring on some color and spring around us!

Teamwork

Persuasive/Opinion Writing

We have launched our last unit of study in writing which focuses on Persuasive Writing of All Kinds.  This unit focuses on using words to make change.  Students will be crafting petitions, persuasive letters, signs, and books to rally people to address problems in the classroom, the school, and the world.  Already, students have been engaging in writing letters to ask for earlier bedtimes (a surprise for me too), posters reminding kids of hallway expectations, books about whole body listening, and many other topics.  INQUIRE with your child what kind of writing they've  done this week? What problems do they see around them that they are wanting to change?

Subtraction

This month we have started to look and understand the concept of subtraction in math.  Students use manipulatives, pictures, number bonds, and number sentences to show their understanding.  New workplaces and white board practice have children learning that when you take something away from a group, you subtract that much from the total, leaving a smaller amount leftover.  We will continue connecting their understanding of subtraction and how it relates to addition and continue to grow our math vocabulary as we learn new words (minus, take away, sum, difference, etc.)  

Mr. Jarred joined us last week to read a favorite of his.  He shared his love of reading and thoroughly enjoyed getting out of the computer world to come read a classic to our Kinders!  We look forward to having a variety of teachers and staff from MPS join us in the coming weeks.  

Students have been learning about digraphs and have been generating a variety of words that begin with ch, sh, and th, and finding them in their books, documenting them on the white board and sharing them with the class. All children are listening for these sounds as they segment words and hear them in the beginning, middle, and end of words. Students are also focusing on identifying them while reading and noticing when they appear in longer words. INQUIRE with your child how they "chunk" a word or look for little words inside of bigger words. 

 

Yoga Welcome

Scholastic Book Fair

We are visiting the Scholastic book fair on Friday, April 10th. Your child may browse or shop at this time. If you would like your child to buy an item, it helps to have a labeled envelope with planned purchases listed on the outside or a note saying that the choice is theirs. If your child is free to choose at the fair, please let me know. I generally encourage students to buy only books when shopping at school. If you would like them to purchase trinkets, please indicate this on the envelope as well. Families can visit on Friday afternoon after school and evening as well to purchase books. Our classroom will have a wish list available at the book fair of books that could enrich our curriculum. Please consider helping out our classroom library and donating a book.

Volunteers Needed

In order for the Kindergarten Show to be a success, we need your help! Please consider one of the following volunteer opportunities:

 Help to hang art in the big gym on Thursday, April 15th at 3:00 pm (we will need at least 15 people to help).

 Help with clean up immediately after the art show (taking down the artwork) on Thursday, April 16th.

If you can help, let me know!