Announcements
Camp Elim Update: How exciting that our kindie voyage will be here before we know it! We will send out paperwork after Spring Break. In the mean time, if you would like to take a look at the gear list, be sure that your child has all the necessary items (and they fit!) SPRING VOYAGE GEAR LIST: GRADE K Our voyage is on May 17-18th to Camp Elim. Also please note that our “Day of Rest” is Friday May 19th, and there will be no school for kindergarten on this day.
Save the Date:
We will have an optional Camp Elim Informational Meeting on April 26th from 4-5pm in a kindie classroom. There will be a lot of great information presented at this meeting and a time to answer questions. New to Renaissance families are encouraged to come and returning families are welcome to come to share your previous experience and perspective. We ask that children do not attend this meeting.
Elim Chaperones, you will need to complete the following forms for yourselves as well, separately from your child's forms (which will go home after Spring Break). Additionally, there will be a Mandatory Chaperone Meeting on May 15th at 3:00pm. Please mark your calendars.
School Newsletter: Check out all the updates and announcements in this week's school newsletter. School Newsletter Link.Thanks for staying updated!
Calendar
March 13-24th: Spring Break
March 27: Students return to school from Spring Break
April 21st: No School- Teacher Compensation Day
April 24th: No School- Teacher Professional Development Day
April 26th: Optional Camp Elim Informational Meeting 4-5pm
May 15th: Mandatory Elim Chaperone Meeting 3-4pm
May 17-18th: Overnight Kindergarten Voyage to Camp Elim
May 19th: Day of Rest of Kindergarten- No School
June 8th: Last Day of Kindergarten!
Crew Highlights
Learning Update:
In reading, our crew has been learning about Opinion Writing. Students noticed that this genre has an opinion about a topic and gives reasons to support the opinion. This is a great preview of our next writing unit after Spring Break.
*Make connections to opinion writing that you find at home.
In writing, it was a week to celebrate our writers! On Monday, I sent home their "published story" to share, tell, and return. Students went through the whole writing process to revise, edit, add a title page, a dedication page, and a "Meet the Author" page. I am not looking for perfection with these, but building awareness into the full writing process and how to make a piece of writing ready for an audience. Then on Tuesday, we did our monthly sample of BEST KINDERGARTEN WRITING. I passed out copies of their January BEST and oh my! It was exciting to hear the buzz in the room of our crew celebrating their growth. Students compared their writing when reflecting "what do you notice is different? What are you proud of?" Our next step will be to set some goals of what they want to do next as writers.
*If your child needs something to do over spring break, they can continue to write personal narrative stories that include the words: first, then, & last.
In phonics, our letter of the week was Ll and our new sight words were said and two. We have been working hard on building skills around blending words a.k.a. sounding words out. I recommend only doing this on 3-4 letter words.
In math, we have been working on Subtraction Within 5. Students have been doing a great job when talking through subtractions stories, but then get a little confused when writing an equation to match. The tendency is to start with the answer.
*Please continue to make math connections at home and use the language of "subtraction, subtracted, equation, minus, equals, & left." For example, "if I have 4 cookies, and I eat three, how many are left? If I wrote that as an equation, I would say 4 minus 3 equals 1."
In expedition, we are finished our Move It expedition about force and simple machines. Students selected one simple machine to either write a brochure about or create an informational video about. These will be shared on SeeSaw or in Take Home Folders. It has been a fun unit of learning, and we look forward to the next expedition after Spring Break.
Notice our updated wall with art from a few weeks ago:
"A Color of My Own.
Together we are CREW!"
Thank you to everyone who came and supported the Renaissance Auction!
What a fun night! I can't wait to hear how much we raised for our school. :)
Our writers celebrating their growth from January to March.
*Please see your child's work on Seesaw.
A highlight of this week was our All School Drum Circle on Wednesday. Four teachers led the drum circle, including me!
Wow! Drumming creates an incredible sense of belonging. It was powerful to drum with our whole school! We Are Crew!
Our crew sat with our 4th grade buddies, and they did a fantastic job.
Ms. Cari and Ms. Sam were our drivers for our hike.
We started at the Meadows Trailhead to the East Plum Creek Trail.
We found our start and end on the map.
Before starting, we reviewed our hiking agreements.
Let's do this! :D
It was a lovely day, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!
Our crew was split into 4 hiking groups so that small groups could hike next to their adult chaperones. We walked all together.
Watch out!
A cute, fuzzy catapillar crossed our path. :)
Kids noticed beaver dams and nests right away.
They were eager to point out signs of wildlife.
At every half mile, we stopped for a water break.
We hiked towards Castle Rock, and then past it on our way to Festival Park.
Groups rotated so that every group had a chance to hike at the front.
We saw a lot of evidence of beavers! We crossed over Plum Creek a few times.
We spotted a huge nest, and then we noticed that there was a bird on top. Then we noticed another bird in the other tree. They were red tailed hawks! The male flew over to sit with the female on the nest for a minute before taking off. It was a highlight to watch!
Snack time! Thank you for packing so many snacks!
While passing these ponds, we hiked with "deer ears, fox feet, and eagle eyes."
Look at how the beavers had chewed this tree down!
Such a great day to be in an outdoor classroom!
We Are Crew!
The final push to the end.
Silly photo!
I gave high fives to EVERYONE for completing this 3 mile hike!
To celebrate, we ate lunch!
Debrief circles are so valuable to reflect and to hear from others what they are taking away from this experience.
***A huge thank you to our 8 wonderful chaperones!***
We did it! What a huge accomplishment to hike 3 miles!
Here are some conversation starters so that your child can share with you more about it, such as...
a time you showed independence,
a time you showed stewardship,
a time you followed hiking agreements, &
a time you showed perseverance.
What was something that surprised you?
What part of nature did you most enjoy?
What are you most proud of?
What was challenging? How did you overcome that challenge?
How did you support your crew? How did others support you?
What would you do differently next time?
What will you remember most about this hike?
And after a 3 mile hike, they all wanted to RUN AROUND after lunch.
Energy to spare! Ha!
For more pictures of the hike and our week, check out this photo link.
With 4th grade buddies, we did a "I am Lucky!" St. Patrick's Day watercolor craft. How fun to have this time to connect with each other.
Happy birthday Ozzy!
Happy birthday Clara!
Happy Spring Break to Everyone!
Your adoring teacher, ~Ms. Lauren
