This past week we were busy with our QU wedding, working on our bare books, we played lots of math games and did some writing! It was a fun filled week! Stuffed animal day was a huge hit. During reader's workshop time each student cozied up with their animal and read a favorite book to their furry friend. Next, they decided how many stars to give the book they read. We talked about what this meant. If they colored in four stars it meant they thought the book was really great, three stars meant very good, two stars was pretty good, and one star was not my favorite. They wrote the title of the book down as well, and the name of the stuffed animal they read to. We shared these with the class so that we could get some ideas of good books we may want to add to our own summer reading lists. :) We found that the Piggie and Elephant books were definite four star books for sure! Next, we did some center rotations with our pets. Each student got to bead a collar for their pet. We found that many students created a pattern when they beaded...way to go! We created adoption certificates for our pets, and we worked on signing our names writing both our first and last names. Writing our last name was a bit of a challenge for some of us, so we are going to practice this in the coming days. Because this is a skill they don't often practice this is something you can easily have your child practice writing and working on over the summer. We created a vet center, and each child got to give their pet a check up. This was a huge hit as well.
In math this week we played lots of addition math games. We are really working hard on our fact fluency through the use of games. We are also working a lot with dice. We want to be able to quickly see a die and know how many dots are on it without having to count each one. If we are using two dice we want to be able to know how many dots are on one and then add on to it with the other die instead of having to individually count all the dots on both dice. We have also been working on telling both addition and subtraction number stories and being able to draw these as we tell them. One final skill that we have been working on in math is I have been giving the students a number, such as 8. I ask them all the ways they can show me how to represent or make eight. They may draw a picture of eight things, represent it with eight tally marks, write 4+4=8, 6+2=8, 2+6=8, 10-2=8, etc... They have really enjoyed trying to come up with all the different ways they can represent a number.
This week we will have our bare book sharing at 1:00 in our classroom. The students have worked very hard on these and we can't wait for you to see them. Parking is going to be a little crazier than normal that day, as the 2nd graders are having their special art gallery that day and will be finishing up a little before we get started. Please be patient and know that we will have a lot of parents in the building that day who are all excited to see their child's special work. We have some 2nd grade parents in our class...myself included...so know that we will make sure these parents have the opportunity to see both of their children's special creations, so no worries!
Our class will attend the book fair this week on May 22, from 9:30-10:30. The book fair will be in the elementary gym. This book fair is a special BOGO book fair. If you would like to come and help your child buy a book we would love to have you. If you would like to send in money we will gladly help your child. Please make sure you send the money in a baggie or an envelope that is labeled with your child's name on it and write book fair money so that we will know what the money is for. No school on Friday of this week, as we are doing kindergarten screening, and no school on the following Monday, May 28th (Memorial Day). May 29th will be Water Day! Just a heads up, I will have to leave water day for a bit, as my 4th grade son has his economics fair at 10:45 that day, so I will need to go to that for awhile, but Ms. Diane and Mrs. Hazlett will be with the class, so no worries! Last week of kindergarten....can you believe it???? I can't!!!! Cue the tears and bring on the kleenex!!!
Upcoming Events
May 22 - Scholastic Book Fair BOGO 9:30-10:00 Elem Gym
May 24 - Bare Book sharing, 1:00 in the classroom (parent event)
May 25 - No school
May 28 - No school Memorial Day
May 29 - Kindergarten Water Day! 8:30 am- 12:00 pm
State of the School Address/Volunteer Appreciation 9:30 am and 7:00 pm HS Black Box
May 30 - Last Day of School
