March 20, 2009

March 20, 2009

Dear Families,

This week we practiced the final digraph “ck”. On your kindergartner’s papers you may have noticed the following: k,cllck. The kids say “k comma c final digraph ck” whenever he/she writes this on the paper. We learned about St. Patrick’s Day and had Mary McLean, a secretary in our building, read the book Mary McLean and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The boys and girls played the “Green Bean” game. In this game, the students dropped 5 beans on a quiet mat. The beans were painted green on one side and remained white on the other side. The kindergartners counted how many beans were green and recorded it with a black crayon on the chart. The column number on the chart that was filled in first was colored purple. The second place number was colored red. The third place number was colored yellow. The fourth place number was colored orange, and the fifth place number was colored blue. The children really enjoyed this game and noticed that it was really hard to get a 5 or a 0. (Probability!) Centers included coloring a “Spring Is Here!” sign, water in the sensory table, geoboards, counting on pretend seeds on pretend watermelons, giant floor puzzles, and number bingo with the numbers 11 - 40.

Check with your child on the condition of his/her glue stick and crayons. Many need replacing, and we have very few borrowing glue sticks left!

The quarter ended today. Report cards will be going home next Friday.

We have officially scheduled Grandparents/Guest Days on the calendar. The dates are Thursday, May 14th and Friday, May 15th. Kindergartners may invite their grandparents to school during the afternoon on one of those days for a short program and refreshments. If your kindergartner does not have a grandparent that can attend, then any grown up guest will be fine. More information and official invitations will be sent home later.

Kindergartners do NOT need to bring snowpants and boots unless there is measurable snow on the ground.

Have an beautiful weekend!

Mrs. Herink, Ms. Howard, Mrs. Pokorny, Mr. Degner, and Mrs. Owens