May 11th 2019
Dear KA Families
Happy Spring! We hope everyone is doing well. In this smore you will find information regarding curriculum, updates, and reminders. KA has been a true pleasure this year and in our final 2 month together we will continue to work hard and also find times to celebrate all the learning we have done together! Look out for emails with information on our final field trip, on our curriculum share, and on other key dates.
Warmly,
Ms. Perez & Ms. Nasir
Updates
Please send in: Potting Soil
We are beginning our final IB unit Growth! We will study how living things grow and change. First we will germinate kidney beans in the windows of our classroom. After they germinate they will need soil so students can plant their seeds. We would also like to plant other seeds in our Kindergarten Gardens.
We are in need of some soil for these plants so we can study growth! Any amount of potting soil we would be grateful for!
Park Days
Park Days are Wednesdays. Please remember to send your student with appropriate footwear.
Math
In these past two weeks we have been exploring word problems. We reviewed the three steps that need to taken when solving word problems such as visualizing the problem while reading it, drawing and writing a representation so that it matches our problem, and solving the problem with a strategy of our choice. This week we challenged ourselves to solve two-step problems and were asked to represent and solve two different number sentences. At home we encourage you to continue to practice fluency facts within 5 as they help Kindergarteners solve these kinds of problems in a faster manner. In the following weeks we plan to begin math stations in order to review the school year’s mathematical content. Stay tuned to here more about these centers!
ELA
In the past two weeks we have been learning how people in our community can appreciate and enjoy trees. We read a loud the story Gus is a Tree and saw how Gus enjoyed trees. Then we read A Tree for Emmy. In this book we compared and contrasted character experiences. In this book specifically it was the difference between Emmy and her Family's experiences. Now we take a look at the last story in Unit 1. This book is called Oliver's Tree. In our Enjoying Tree journals we have been practicing writing more than one sentence, beginning our sentences with capital letters and use punctuation without prompting!
Phonics
Throughout the past few weeks, we have been practicing interclass phonics with both kindergarten classes, like the older students. We continue working on rhyming words and word families ending with ack, ick, uck, ock. The teacher adds a blend or digraph to the word family and the students tap the sounds, read the word then writes the word. We have also introduced the students to syllables, and clap our hands for each section of a word and count how many syllables the words have. Syllables are important to help students recognize parts in words which make spelling and reading an easier task. In the following weeks, we will continue to learn more strategies that make reading and writing easier.
IB
In IB we have been learning about Growth! We explored what it means to be a living thing, vs. a non-living thing. We know all living things need food, water, air, and can grow or move by themselves! We are beginning to study what growth looks like to different animals, and plants. We will start by growing out kidney beans! Next week we will be keeping a close eye on them to see if there are any changes.