Announcements
Camp Elim Paperwork: Ms. Sam, our adventure education coordinator, has asked that all families submit their Camp Elim paperwork by April 14st. We will be sending home voyage paperwork packets in Take Home Folders today. How exciting that our kindie voyage will be here before we know it! Paperwork needs to be submitted by the due date in order for your child to participate on our May 17-18th voyage to Camp Elim.
*Here is a link to the Voyage Form Cover Sheet that has links to the online forms.
*Here is the SPRING VOYAGE GEAR LIST: GRADE K for your reference.
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.
Chaperones, you will need the Chaperone Voyage Form packets for yourselves as well, separately from your child's forms. We ask that alternate chaperones complete all paperwork, in case you are needed last minute. Additionally, there will be a mandatory chaperone meeting on May 15th at 3:00pm in the gym. Please mark your calendars.
Thank you in advance for completing all paperwork by April 14th!
Take Home Folders: Please take note of all the items coming home in Take Home Folders today:
-Camp Elim paperwork packets for students and chaperones
-Simple Machines Pre and Post test which shows learning from our expedition
-Phonics Assessment & Flashcards- please continue to practice writing/reading sight words
-Math Quiz and Family Letter
-Scribble Writing (from National Scribble Day on Monday)
-Advertising for upcoming the upcoming district book challenge, Scholastic books, and more
-birthday invites
-and more!
Spring Climbing: Mr. Doug announced Spring Climbing dates. Our crew will be climbing on April 25, 27, & 28th from 1:45-2:35. If you have been trained, please sign up to belay. Thanks! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F094DADAC229-spring
School Newsletter: Check out all the updates and announcements in this week's school newsletter. School Newsletter Link.Thanks for staying updated!
Calendar
April 7th: Community Reading 8:30-9am
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 wrapped up our learning about Holiday and Celebrations. We reviewed finding the cental idea of a text, determining the opposite meaning of a word, answering questions about sequencing, and text comprehension.
*Ask a comprehension question after nightly reading. (Ex. What happened after ____? What was this mostly about? What is the opposite of this word?)
In writing, the most exciting thing was to write about Spring Break to 4th grade buddies. Then we launched into our Opinion Writing Unit. We read the delightful book Fact Vs. Opinion Vs. Robots to better understand what is an opinion and what is not. Then we brainstormed a list of things that we have opinions about such as what we like (food, color, animal, book, movie, game, and so on). We began working on stating our opinion at the beginning and then giving reasons why.
*Notice things at home- what is your opinion and why? See if you can challenge your child to tell you three specific reasons why (avoiding "beause it's cool or fun.")
In phonics, our letter of the week was Jj, and we reviewd newer sight words. We reviewed clapping syllables for words. This is helpful as a reader, but also as a writer when we are trying to sound our all the parts of a word.
*Use the Phonics Assessment from Take Home Folders to know which sight words to practice. I sent home flashcards for new words (look and me are for next week).
In math, we have been working on Math Facts Within 5. In the past, each unit had the focus of addition or subtraction. This was the first time that they were answering equations that had plus and minus on the same page. This can be a tricky skill to look carefully at the sign (- or +) and remember to add or take away.
*Please practice addition/subtraction facts 0-5. If you are a flashcard family, here is a link to printable flashcards. We want these to be nice and solid as we begin working on facts 0-10 next week.
In expedition, we have begun studying weather. This is a clue about our new expedition! I began with asking what students think they already know about weather... they knew a lot! And then what they might want to learn more about- which resulted in some great questions! Then each day this week, students were recording in their Weather Journal about the type of weather. Also, I have a crew Weather Graph to record the the daily temperature (at 12:20 during expedition). After asking the question "can you predict the weather?", we watched an informational video about meteorologists and learned about forecasts and radar. We focused on wind and with our 4th grade buddies, we made paper air planes to fly. This video introduced important considerations to flying a plane, such as thrust, lift, drag, and weight. It was a big hit to take our paper airplanes to the dirt hill and send them flying. Then today, we learned about the word "cycle" and began thinking about how that connects to our expedition. I revealed that the title of this new expedition is Cycles of Life. We will begin with weather and then move into plants & animals (shh! This part is still a surprise). Wow- what a busy week of learning! *Make connections to weather at home- how does it affect you? (How you dress, what you do, where you go, etc.)
From one of our favorite books I'm Not Just a Scribble, Monday was National Scribble Day and all about inspiring children to kindness through art.
These turned out SO FUN! Check them out in Take Home Folders!
I begin each unit asking children what they already know about the topic. WOW- this crew has a LOT of background knowledge about weather!
Here were their question of what they wonder.
After learning about wind, air molecules, lift, thrust, drag, and weight, our crew made paper air planes with 4th grade buddies.
Paper Air Plane Day is always a hit!
WOWZA- with such a windy day, this paper air plane launch was quite memorable!
Students have a Weather Journal and we are noticing the weather each day.
Today, we also added some key vocabulary, such as weather, meteorologist, radar, and pattern.
Here is our Crew Weather Graphs where we are recording the type of weather and the temperature each day.
What is a cycle? We will be learning more deeply about this as we study various topics. Our first topic is the weather.
It has been a fun week in art. Click here for more photos that Ms. Martha took during art and expedition. Happy Birthday Willow!
Happy Spring!
Hope you have a great weekend!
~Ms. Lauren
