Mrs. Bell's Class Pre-K Happenings
April 4-8, 2016
It is hard to believe that it is already April! We are in the 4th nine weeks of the school year. And I know it will be over in a flash.
I am happy to say that my household belongings are finally in Austin and I am getting settled in our new residence. It's amazing how comforting it is to see things I haven't had access to the past 8 months. I am now able to put my hands on teaching materials I have wanted to share all year. And my wonderful husband no longer has to go into the garage and search through my many teaching boxes to find a book or other learning materials I need.
We are currently exploring plants and insects and will be for the next couple of weeks. We have two garden snails we are watching each day. Today we will see if they are interested in coming out of their shells to eat some tasty lettuce leaves. Your children know a great deal about snails now and I hope they are sharing that information with you.
We have planted three different types of flower seeds as well as some bean seeds. We will watch as these seeds "wake up" and begin to grow.
Our tree seeds have not sprouted yet but we are hopeful. One of our seed cups was examined by a squirrel and the acorn is missing! We will check all of our tree seeds today by looking at the bottom of each cup to see if we can notice any roots starting.
I have finished administering the mandatory assessment the State of Texas requires of all Pre K students. Your children did quite well and the majority are well on the way to a successful year in kindergarten. We continue to work on letter/sound identification and listening for that first sound in a word and identifying the letter it begins with. I encourage you to continue to read to your child each day and take time to ask questions about what you have read. Have your child find a particular letter on a page. Find a word on the page, think of other words that start with the same letter sound.
A great game to play is the Grocery Store Game:
"I am going to the grocery store and I am looking for something that starts with the letter 'b'. Your child then thinks of something at the store you can eat that begins with the letter 'b' - bread, bacon, broccoli, beans, bananas, are just a few of the items that begin with 'b'. You can give them clues about what the object is or you can have them ask you questions to narrow down the possibilities.
I wish you all a wonderful week. Thank you for sharing your children with me each day.
Warm Regards,
Cathy Bell