Newsletter Information

Mrs. Hendershot’s Class

Friday, May 23^rd, 2014

Dates:

     May 26^th – No School

     May 28^th – IMC Books Due

     June 2^nd – Kindergarten Class Picnic

     June 3^rd – Last Day! 11:15 Out!!

Daily 5:

These past couple of weeks have been very busy here in Kindergarten.  We have been working very hard on using word tools and determining the author’s purpose while reading.  Using word tools can be a bit tricky in Kindergarten but it is a great way to just introduce it so as they continue to grow as readers they will know there are a variety of things out there to help them with unknown words.  We talked about dictionaries, thesauruses, and the different features in the book that may help us determine meanings of unknown words.  When discussing author’s purpose we are reading to try and determine was the author writing to entertain, inform, or persuade.  This was a lot of fun and all makes us dig deeper in comprehension!

Math:

We started off the first week working on telling time to the hour and even throwing in a couple to the half hour.  They really seemed to understand this concept quickly!  So continue to work on time over the summer!  Then this past week we began our money unit.  We are using the coins they brought in to get a really good look at the difference in the coins.  Then we started doing some counting of the money.  This can be tricky when they are asked to switch from counting by 10’s or 5’s to then going to 1’s.  Please continue to work on these skills with your child over the summer!

Science:

In science we are just finishing up our wood and paper unit.  We have had a GREAT time doing many hands on experiments to make different types of wood and even make some paper.  We have been making paper and making creations out of paper.  Hope you have enjoyed these items as they have come home.

Helpful Hints:

·      Have your child read a book each day to you over the summer.

·      Join the library reading program.

·      Continue adding and subtracting!

·      Practice writing numbers and sentences.

·      Have a super SUMMER!!!

Newsletter Information

Mrs. Hendershot’s Class

Friday, May 9^th, 2014

Dates:

    May 21^st – Early Out!

    May 26^th – No School

    June 2^nd – Kindergarten Class Picnic

    June 3^rd – Last Day! 11:15 Out!!

Daily 5:

We have been busy reading our last level on these guided reading books.  Then we spent some time retesting to see where we could end our Kindergarten year.  We also have been reviewing some of our reading strategies to help us continue to grow as readers.  One area we have worked on is to back up and reread when something does not make sense.  This can be tricky but with more and more practice we are getting better at realizing as we read when something sounded funny.  We also spent a little time discussing how we should work to be voracious readers.  This means that we want to read anything and everything.  We like all different types of texts and want to read them to gain knowledge.

Math:

In math we just finished up our numbers to 100 unit.  It can be tricky at times because we spent a lot of our time discussing what numbers make up other numbers.  We really focused on how many tens and how many ones are in numbers.  You should ask your child to tell you.  They are pretty good at this now.  We have currently moved on to discussing time.  We are working on the days, months, and ordering events.  Then we will move to telling time!  We are excited!

Science:

WOW!!!  Our Wood and Paper unit has kept us busy!  We have done experiments on trying to sink different types of wood, sanding wood, and even making our own sawdust wood.  We have had a lot of fun with all these hands on experiments plus a lot of learning is taking place.  Ask your child to explain to you what we have been up to in Science!

Helpful Hints:

·      Continue to work on recognizing and counting penny, nickel, and dimes.

·      Practice telling time to the hour and half hour.

·      Continue adding and subtracting!

Sawdust Wood

We made our own sawdust wood here at school.  We started off by sanding some of our own sawdust and then we used some of that to help create our own sawdust wood.  We got this idea because we have been talking about wood that could just be cut from a tree and wood that has to be made by people.  One of the types of wood that we started really looking at was particle board.  So we had to figure out how it was made.  After a lot of investigating we figured out it was made from sawdust and glue.  So we got some sawdust and made our own glue.  Then we got busy forming our own piece of wood.  WOW!  What fun we had!

Spring time birds!

We have been busy discussing a lot of different signs of spring and one we talked about were the return of the birds.  We know a lot of information about birds.  So we decided to make our own bird to hang in the hallway!  Hope you can stop by to enjoy them before the end of the school year!

Sanding!!

We have been very busy with our science unit.  It has been all about wood.  We have discussed 5 different types of wood that we have samples of in our room.  We began our first experience that was with us working with a partner to sand some of the wood.  Then we collected the sawdust to examine.  WOW!  Did we have fun!  Some of us were really good at sanding too!

Animal Visit!

We were lucky enough to have one of our own friends who could bring in a baby goat and some baby chicks for us to view.  We had a great time learning about these animals and of course petting them!  Many of us will probably be going home and asking if we could have one of our own!  Ask your child about our special visitors today!!!