Is it SPRING yet?

Sorry this is behind. It's been non-stop around here and with me being out for 5 days things have gotten a little crazy. I learned a ton in my CEL training in Kelly Wyoming. That was the last of 8 days this year. My LASIK went well. I can see. Weird. Kindergarten screening went GREAT too. It was on Tuesday. Looks like we might have 17 kids coming. Very exciting. They will be visiting our classroom in the next two weeks in groups of 3's. We are working to LEAD by example. 

 2 weeks ago we attended MINI-mall which is a 1st and 2nd grade MATH tradition. The kids make or bring things to sell to other kids and parents. They set up the gym to look like a mini-mall and make OPEN/CLOSE signs and everything. We got invited this year and made out like bandits.

 It was a great afternoon for us to practice counting our money. We brought 2 dimes, a nickel and 5 pennies.

This week in READING:
STORY of the week: MESSENGER, MESSENGER
Comprehension skill: Compare and Contrast
Letter of the week: /Uu/
Snap words: was, what, said
Kids are working on their UPPER and lowercase letters. We have been practicing writing complete sentences. When we are done we COP our sentences: C-stands for capital, O-stands for organization, and P stands for period. Have your child try it at home.
We are reading with a focus these days. You may have noticed last week that a laminated book mark made it home. Hopefully it made it back to school too. Those bookmarks have your child's reading goal on them. Here are some things Kindergartners are working on:
-Reading Smooth (like talking)
-Reading with expression
-When I read, I have to think and not daydream.
-When I read, I ask questions and wonder
-When I read, I ask myself if it made sense?

MATH this week:
Money cubes (intro to the quarter)
Class number story book (deepen understanding of mathematical symbols and language)
Marshmallow and toothpick shapes (providing experiences with building 2-D and 3-D shapes)

Writing this week:
We are wrapping up poetry MONTH with one last poem about someone very special....
Next up on the writing docket is letter writing (mini unit) and personal narratives.

Science and Social studies:
Holidays coming up...Mother's day...LOOK for your invite to a ZUMBA dance party at the Alta school with your favorite Alta kid.
Cinco de Mayo is next Thursday and we will spend it at Lucy's house for a Mexican fiesta...and a birthday celebration.
We have started studying LIFE cycles of animals. Yesterday we watched the life cycles of a frog, crayfish, and a butterfly. We then thought of our own animal and gave it a try on the Promethean board. Next we tried it on paper. Look for our LIFE cycles in the hallway.
AND...our ant farm is on the way via MAIL and so are our worms...fun SPRING investigations.

OTHER News:
Friday May 6th at 1:15-2:15 is our MOTHER's DAY ZUMBA dance party in the gym

Thursday May 12th we wrap up our Wild in WYOMING 3-D project with Joe and Dondi by taking pictures of animal masks on our face.

May 26th- GALLERY NIGHT for WILD in WYOMING for the Alta kids at the Community Center in DRIGGS...our ART will be hanging...and we have a MOVING surprise for you....

JUNE 6th-End of the year field trip to STARLIGHT skating rink in Idaho Falls.

JUNE 7th-LAST student day of school.
See you soon.