April 1, 2011

Dear Families,

Our field trip to the Health Exploration Station was a complete

success! Kindergartners had so much fun learning about the body’s
five senses in a hands-on lecture, and then exploring the human body
themed play place. Children loved sliding down the ear canal and
finding their way out of the small intestine maze. Thanks to all parent
volunteers- we couldn’t have done it without you!

As you know, I am continuing my “lead teaching” in your child’s

classroom. With Mrs. C’s constant support and presence, I am
planning and teaching all lessons to the kindergartners. I am really
enjoying this experience and feeling more comfortable every day.
Time has really flown by- I will be in the classroom for only two weeks
after break.

Thank you to Adam’s dad, Roy Townsend, for coming in to the

afternoon class and presenting about construction and bridges. The
kids love having their parents come in! If you have anything you
would like to share, please contact me (lucacsal@umich.edu) or Mrs.
Christiansen. We are especially open to having guests come in to talk
about life experiences in other counties or cultural backgrounds for our
Social Studies unit on multi-culturalism.

The kindergartners have been working so hard these past two

weeks that they earned an ice cream party on Friday! Mrs. C was
unable to get a hold of Dipping Dots (“space ice cream”), so children
enjoyed ice cream sandwiches instead. Thanks for that tasty treat!

There are no donations needed at this time. Thank you to all that
donated!

Our focus throughout the week has been in the following

areas:

Reading: A list of strategies to use when encountering an unknown

word went home with Take-Home Books this week. It is so important
that children are figuring out unknown words. Please help them to
internalize these essential strategies.

Please make sure your child is returning their “Take- Home Books” to
school every day. This way, they can exchange it for a new one.

Handwriting: Students’ work is not complete until “Ms. Picky” has

checked for upper and lowercase letters, “two finger” spacing between
words, proper punctuation, and writing that is readable.
Kindergartners are making great progress!

Phonics: This week, kindergartners have focused on long vowel sounds

in the “-ake” Word Family (words such as bake, cake and lake).
Children enjoyed learning how the “silent vowel, e” listens to the “a,
saying it’s name.” We will continue to study Word Families with the
“silent e” after break.

Simple plural nouns, Word Wall Words, beginning and ending sounds,
short vowel sounds, number words, and color words.

Math: Please practice counting with your child. Kindergartners need to

be able to count from 1-100, count by 10's to 100, count by 5's to 100,
count by 2's to 20.

Writing numbers 1-50, telling time to the hour, graphing addition facts,
number stories, 3D objects (sphere, cylinder, pyramid, cone,
rectangular prism, and cube), coins (dimes and coin exchanges),
writing number stories using an addition or subtraction sign and an
equal sign, making tally marks, dividing groups in half, and comparison
number stories (how many more/how many less).

Writing: We are returning back to “small moment” personal narrative

stories. Students were inspired to write about their experience at the
Health Exploration Station!

Social Studies: Students are continuing to learn about how people

around the world are alike and different. We are learning about
different languages, games, foods, etc. Let me know if you have
anything you would like to share with the class!

Dates to remember:
April 4th- April 8th is Spring Break
April 21st- My last day in the classroom
April 22nd- No School
April 26th- Seussical Musical Perfomance. All students attend this
morning field trip.
April 28th- Multicultural Night 6-8 PM
May 13th- Haisley Walk-a-thon

Mrs. Christiansen will be conducting kindergarten interviews in

order to meet next year’s kindergartners. These interviews will take
place in the morning on April 19th, all day April 20th, May 4th,, and May
6th.
Have a safe and enjoyable break!

Sincerely,
Alison Lucas