Ms. Lauren's Kindie Crew 22-23: Crew News September 22nd, 2022

Announcements

Hike Preparation: On the day of the hike (next Friday), we ask that students wear pants and a tshirt, and that they come to school with sunscreen already on. Students should wear sturdy shoes. Things to pack in his/her daypack (this can be their regular backpack or a special hiking backpack- no camelbacks please):
-sturdy waterbottle
-3 healthy snacks
-sunglasses and/or hat
-rain jacket
-warm layer
*sack lunch (We will be eating lunch while we are on our hike, so students will not have access to school lunches from the cafeteria on this day. Please pack a lunch from home.)

I have the following names of volunteers. Please let me know if you want to come or can no longer come: Emily O., Mike F., Sophie F., Jen M., Ashley B., Kristen D., Johnny M., Leslie B., Doug B., Hannah G., Lindsey L., Annie F., Fiona D., and Amy L. Please plan to arrive at 8:30 with your child. We will return from our hike around 1pm.

Art Items Due Monday:

Announcement from Ms. Staci: Our next unit in art students will be creating an artwork using items that represent themselves inspired by artist Jim Dine. This might include small toys, cookie cutters, plastic letters, legos...etc. Small items no bigger than 2 inches. Please place 5 small objects in a ziplock bag with your child's name on the bag. Please send this in by Monday 9/26.

These items will be used in the artwork. Sometimes students have a hard time using their items, but not to worry as I have several items here that are very similar if this issue should arise.

October 3rd: Offical School Count Day. Please make sure your child is here, on time, and present all day. This is the way that our district determines our school budget, and we need to have everyone here on this day!

Crew Directory: If you would like to add your personal information so that families can connect with you, feel free to add your contact info to the following Crew Directory. This is completely optional and only intended to connect for playdates/ birthday parties.

School Newsletter: Here is a link to our school newsletter. Check it out! Thanks for reading and staying informed!

Renaissance Adventure Day:

RAD is almost here! We're hoping to raise $45,000 for voyage transportation, a new outdoor climbing wall, and to fund our library and tech renewal! Two things we need from parents to help make our day successful:

1> Go to mybooster.com and get your kiddos registered! Create fun, shareable videos and help us raise funds from all 50 states!

2> Sign up to volunteer on RAD with all our fun challenges, especially the Adventure Skills! Be a part of all of the excitement by signing up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0844a8af22a3ff2-rad

Reminder: there are just a few days left to register your student before 09/28/2022. Any parent/guardian who registers their student early will be entered to win a ticket to our Renaissance Auction this spring! THREE winners will be chosen! The winners will be announced on 09/29/2022.

Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities:

-Friday afternoon volunteer- to help plug in the iPads to charge over the weekend and rinse the paint brushes.

Please sign up here if you are interested.

-If you are interested in being a lunchroom volunteer please sign up for our time 11:10-11:30 on this lunchroom sign up.

-Here is a classroom volunteer sign-up for days and times to come in. If you can not volunteer for the full time listed- that is no problem! Any amount of one-to-one formation volunteering is much appreciated, even if it is only 20-30 minutes.

(Repeated) Scholastic Book Clubs:

Class Order Due Date: 09/26
Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/YCRBR
Shop Digital Flyers for Our Grade with Your Child: https://clubs.scholastic.com/kindergarten

Please share the Class Page link to extended family and friends.

***All orders also earn FREE Books for our class. I love that our crew library grows from every order that is placed! Thank you for your support!

Class Code: YCRBR

Calendar

9/23 Teacher Professional Development Day. No School.

9/30 Crew Hike to Bingham Lake

*No Community Reading on 9/30

10/3: Official Count Day- make sure your child is present

10/7 Renaissance Adventure Day (aka RAD). More information here!

10/10-10/21 Fall Break. No School

10/28 Halloween Parade. More information coming soon!

10/31 Teacher Professional Development Day. No School.

Crew Highlights

Thank you to everyone who came to our Crew Picnic last Friday!

Lots of laughs, connection, and even a double rainbow. :)

Our 4th grade buddies went on their 3 day/2 night voyage this week. In writing, our crew wrote some sweet notes of encouragment!

(This was a picture a camper waving to a deer)

In reading, we have continued to look at nonfiction text to identify the text feautures and find the central idea & important details.

In phonics, we have been focusing on the letter a and the high frequency word like.

*Be a word or letter detective at home for a and like.

In math, we are conitnuing to work on the foundational building blocks of making 3, 4, and 5. Counting, addition, and subtraction all rely on a strong base of understanding how numbers work at the most basic level. We have introduced fun Fridays, where students can play math games (such as the one above), if they have finished all of their daily work and iReady lessons from the week.

Ms. Monica introduced two breathing strategies to our crew. They can be used anytime, but they are especially helpful if bodies are feeling disregulated.

1) Cupcake breath: Pretend you are holding a cupcake. Breathe in while smelling your cupcake. Breathe out like you are blowing out a candle.

2) Butterfly breath: Wings up as you breath in and wings down as you breath out.

*Ask your child to model each and use this as a calm down strategy in your home.

How exciting that our drums were made so quickly! A huge thank you to all our parent volunteers!!!

Before our first drum circle, we talked about drum agreements.

Ta Da! Our first drum circle!

We did a variety of activities including a drum roll and all stopping at the same time, a "repeat after me" routine, "How Ya Feeling" where we went around the circle and drummed our feelings, a "Jam Session" where students could experiment with different beats, and a drum circle that I led, modelling how a drum circle could be divided to have different sections playing different beats.

It was a wonderful success and a highlight of the day!

Which pants are best to wear on a hike and why?

Jeans, synthetic, or cotton.

I had everyone feel the different kinds of pants and make a prediction. Then we did an experiment and dunked the pants in the water. Then I passed the pants around again. The jeans and cotton were significantly heavier than the synthetic pants.

Conclusion: In case of rain, it would be more comfortable to wear pants that do not hold as much water and will dry more quickly.

As a note, I told the crew that not all kindergarteners have synthetic pants, and that is okay. This is something that we can learn now to prepare for all of the hikes and voyages ahead in Renaissance. :)

We have been learning about having a growth mindset and the power of the word "yet." Our crew has really taken this to heart, and we have been sharing yet statements. Ex: I cannot ride my bike YET. I cannot swim YET. I cannot read YET.

*Ask your child to share with you about what it means to have growth mindset or to make a "yet" statement.