KINDERGARTEN newsletter
A bi-weekly newsletter from Kindergarten at Lamplighter.
April 24 - May 14, 2018
Animals!
Literacy
As we wrap up the year in Kindergarten, we are reading books and looking at pictures of animals that we learned about during our animal unit. Each child picked an animal at the zoo to design their very own zoo exhibit. We know to keep their animal's natural habitat in mind while we design. Your children are designing their habitat with pictures and information from books. With their information they will draw and then construct their zoo exhibit.
We continue to read and share our reading with our reading partners and friends. We love non-fiction books because we can learn new fancy words and share our new knowledge with others.
Word Family: _ug, _un
Math
In math, students have been exploring fractions through games and books. Our students understand what a fraction is a how objects all begin as a whole. We used food to explore halves, thirds and fourths and did several picture sorts to build their understanding of fractions. During lunch several students have tried to divide their food into half, thirds or fourths! We are so excited that our students are seeing fractions everywhere. At home have your child draw a shape and divide the shape into halves, thirds or fourths.
We have also been working on becoming more comfortable with counting money. When counting money our students work primarily with pennies, nickels and dimes. Not only do we have our students count money but we also ask them to find another way to show an amount. Our goal is for our students to see that there are many different ways to show am amount. At home, work on counting change that you have around the house. You can also give your child a pile of money and ask them to use those coins to show you a certain amount, up to $1.00.
Please continue working on the following:
- Count by 2s up to 30
- Count by 5s and 10s up to 100
- Counting to 110
- Creating patterns
- Counting back from 20
Science
Kindergarten is having a blast learning about animals in different animal orders (amphibians, reptiles, insects, birds, mammals, and fish). The children are learning about what habitats/environments animals in each order live in, what characteristics the animals have, and identifying examples/non-examples of animals that belong in each order. The Dallas Arboretum recently visited and the children participated in creating a terrarium, or mini-habitat, for a worm and plant.
During the last two rotations of the school year, the children will select an animal to build a zoo exhibit for that keeps them in their natural environment.
Questions you can ask your children at home:
- What characteristics does a(n) ____________ have? (amphibian, reptile, insect, bird, mammal, fish)
- What are examples of a(n) ______________? (amphibian, reptile, insect, bird, mammal, fish)
- Where does a _____________ live? What might you find there?
Recommended learning activities at home:
- Read books about animals (fiction and non-fiction)
- Visit the Dallas Zoo
Technology
Five Reasons Why Coding is Important for Kids
- Learning programming empowers kids.
- It's as easy as learning a language.
- Diverse early-learning benefits kids.
- Helps to become fluent with technology.
- We need more programmers!
3D Printing
Students have been exploring 3D shapes and how you can combine two or three different shapes to create something new. We started by using 3D recyclables to build their own house and next we are going to make animals out of clay. The students will manipulate the different shapes of clay to form the shape of their animal. All of this, leads into the goal of 3D printing in 1st grade. However, the students will get the chance to see basic 3D shapes being printed in our very own shared space.
Art with Mrs. O'Krent
In art, students recently explored sea animals. They viewed dried seahorses and created detailed drawing after noticing all their intricacies. Crabs, fish, sharks and octopuses were also made with oil pastels, then covered with blue watercolor paints to place their creatures in a sea environment. Next, students will create collages and paintings using cool colors - blue, green and purple hues - while continuing their sea life studies.
Kindergarten students recently explored art made by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. They've closely observed his famous Tree of Life painting and began their own versions of this mythical tree. Making lots of spiraled tree branch limbs and coloring them with paint markers has been a highlight for our young artists! Students will complete the trees by painting the background with watercolors.
Media Center with Mrs. Vermillion
The Media Center Book Fair will take place Tuesday, May 8 through Thursday, May 10 from 7:30 to 4:30 and Friday, May 11 from 7:30 to 12:30. Please make plans to attend. Your child’s summer reading list will be available as well as books to purchase for summer reading.
*All library books are due Friday, May 6, 2028. Thank you for your help with this.
Drama with Mr. Peck
Kindergarten and Transitional First are hard at work on this year’s Living Zoo. It’s a project where students can study a particular zoo animal and find “ing” words (action words) to help perform the animal. A way you can help your child is to encourage them to check out books on that animal from our Media Center (or your local library). You can also help them by finding appropriate videos on-line (or by other means) so they can see the animal in action. And remember, we’re looking for active “ing” works, so words like sleeping, blinking, and breathing don’t count because they are pretty passive.
Woodworking with Mr. McCool
Students have been learning the proper way to use many different tools. So far they have used tape measures, screwdrivers, sanding blocks, hand drills, hammers, wrenches and pliers. They have been learning coding for Bee-Bots in their regular classroom throughout the year. In woodworking students are creating mazes with wooden blocks they sanded and then coding the Bee-Bot to navigate the maze. They will soon begin their last project that will have their own personal touch and will include the Epilog laser cutter.
Zoo Field Trip
Remember to have your child wear comfortable, weather appropriate clothing and shoes as we will be doing quite a bit of walking outside. We ask that the children wear a Lamplighter t-shirt or a red shirt. Lunches need to be packed in completely disposable containers.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 08:30 AM
Dallas Zoo
Muffins with Moms
Friday, May 4, 2018, 07:30 AM
Playground near Cook Gym
Media Center Open House
Tuesday, May 8, 2018, 07:30 AM
Media Center
Square Dancing Performance
If your child wears boots, please make sure they pack a pair of tennis shoes to change in to for recess.
Thursday, May 10, 2018, 10:30 AM
Klyde Warren Auditorium
Night Light classes END
Friday, May 11, 2018, 03:45 PM
All Classes
Ice Cream Social
Room 33 & Room 34 (Hicks/Sizemore): Tuesday, May 15 at 2:15-2:45pm
Room 31 & Room 32 (Curtis/Reyna): Wednesday, May 16 at 2:15-2:45pm
If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 02:15 PM
Your Child's Classroom
Registration for Camp Lamplighter Closes at 12:00 noon
Friday, May 18, 2018, 12:00 PM
Online Registration
Week 2: June 11-15
Week 3: June 18-22
Week 4: June 25-29