May 10, 2013
Happy BEAUTIFUL Friday!

We had a great short week. We started our new math unit on growing and shrinking patterns. This is a HARD concept for kindergarteners.  We are sending home the May family home project related to this math standard. Please observe your child create and grow (or shrink) a few patterns before choosing the one to display on the given paper.  This would be a good activity to repeat weekly throughout the summer. Try starting a growing (or shrinking) pattern and see if they can grow/shrink it a couple of times.

We had our last media center visit for the year. Please return media books as you finish with them.

Monday, June 3: 12:20 is the end of the year play.

Our week at a glance:
Reading: We began our non-fiction unit on farm.  We focused on non-fiction text features (captions, headings, table of contents, glossary..) and how they help us understand what we read. I am about half way done with Fountas and Pinnell reading assessments and will begin to send individual emails with the information next week.

Math: We began our unit on growing and shrinking patterns (helps with algebraic thinking).  This is HARD for all students!!!! We have 2 more weeks to practice and work on this standard. We are still finishing Unit 6 assessments. They are one-on-one so it is very time consuming.  We hope to finish them next week.

Writing: We completed our Mother’s day book. Next week we will write in response to reading and focus on writing the beginning, middle and end of the story we listen to.

Social Studies: We are learning about MN and US symbols. They LOVE this unit! 

Next week:  
Monday: Gym
Tuesday: Art
Wednesday: Gym
Thursday: Art
Friday: Gym, celebrate Mayme’s birthday
Friday Folders- 
Math homework: writing numbers that come before are tricky. Watch and learn your child’s strategy. How secure are they with number sense? Make sure numbers are written from top to bottom!

Last book order of the year is in the Friday Folder. Please return on Friday. Checks are made payable to Scholastic. You can also order on-line. Thanks!

Enclosed in the folder is a family survey. I appreciate your honest feedback. This is how I grow as a teacher. 

We sent home leftover math workbooks, science notebooks, writing folders. These stay home. We are finished with them for the year.

Have a great weekend