I've been hearing the words "I'm telling!" more than usual this week, so this week's topic was the difference between tattling and asking for support! Everyone, kids included, have the ability to use kind, powerful words to give reminders and solve problems! It is often the case that kids can resolve an issue without even telling me! For instance, when someone's playing with a block during resting time, this is a perfect opportunity for someone to use their kind, powerful words to give a reminder! There is no need to call across the room to inform me! However, when safety is involved, It is definitely important to ask a grown-up for support! When asking for support one is looking for help improving or resolving a situation, whereas the purpose of "tattling" is often to get someone in trouble. We are going to practice solving little issues ourselves and shifting our language from "I'm telling!" to "I'm going to ask for support"!

Oh geometry is so much fun! This week we've been exploring many aspects of geometry using pattern blocks. We started out playing Block in a Sock, just to make sure we all knew the names of the pattern blocks! Partners took turns hiding their eyes and guessing which blocks were hidden in socks...this was way too easy I was told, and yes, this group is really advanced with geometry. After a few minutes of this, we moved on to Filling the Hexagon...filling six hexagons using different configurations of pattern blocks...I was impressed with the kids observations that 2 trapezoids make a hexagon, or 6 triangles make a hexagon...or one triangle, one rhombus and one trapezoid fit together to make a hexagon! We've used these discoveries throughout the week when we worked on pattern block puzzles, filling various outlines with pattern blocks, and even trying to fill the same outline with 2, 3 or 4 different configurations!

We learned 2 new geometry words this week...congruent and symmetrical! We used pattern blocks to design congruent "twins" and to create designs with symmetry!

Writing Workshop: We continue our creative writing once a week, and are devoting our second writing workshop session to working on our endangered animal research projects!

Handwriting: We've finished all the letters and are working on using our neatest letters to practice writing words and sentences!

Phonics Centers:

red group: baby (short) u

yellow group: review of all short vowels

blue and green groups: o-team: ou/ow (see picture below) Sometimes there are exceptions to the "when 2 vowels go walking" rule. O often combines with another vowel (or sometimes letter) to make a new sound! Fortunately, these sounds are on a baseball team together, "the o-team" which makes it much easier for us to remember the sounds and letter combinations!

Western Pond Turtles are the endangered animal of the week! We've learned all about the habitat they live in, the food they eat, their predators and their life cycle! Ask your child to tell you what he or she knows about them! At their lowest point they were less than 150 of these guys left! Thankfully, they were listed as endangered and there's a great recovery program through Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Check out the video below to learn a bit more about this program!

We are enthusiastically working on our endangered animal books! The kids are so proud of the research they've done and what they've learned about the animal they're studying! This week we've worked on writing about the food, predators and habitat of our animals!

Thank you Annie, Tess and Daisy's Mom, for having us out to the farm again! We had such a sweet time picking berries for the food bank! We picked 12 flats that are being delivered by Calder's Dad, Gilbert! We loved eating our way down the rows and are thankful for the berries we took for later! What a fun day!

June 3: All day field trip to Cougar Mt. Zoo Meet at OCS @ 8:15!!!

June 10: 1/2 day

Week of June 13: Crazy Week (more info coming soon!)

Mon: Pajama day

Tues: Book character day (dress as a book character, but keep it secret and we'll try to guess who you are!)

Wed: Crazy Hair/ Hat day

Thurs: Field Day~Field trip to Heritage Park

Fri: Rainbow day

June 17: Portfolio Share at 9; 1/2 day

June 18: End of Year Ceremony

Upcoming Workshops

June 10: Atticus, Calder