Hi JK parents!  

It has been a lovely start to the school year!  We are already learning so much about each other.  

We begin each day with our morning meeting and incorporate an active welcome, like bouncing a ball to each friend, or rolling a ball, or playing rhythm sticks while we count syllables in our names.  We will incorporate many "crossing the midline" activities, using the right and left brain, encouraging literacy.  Writing on the white boards is a great literacy activity that crosses the midline, along with playing catch.  We read the morning message together as we look for letters and letter sounds.  We sing and practice our Zoo Phonics song and letters daily.  We will begin our sign in journals using Handwriting Without Tears after we have mastered the routines of our classroom.  We will be evaluating each student so we are able to place them in fluid reading groups as well, where we will read together and play letter/letter sound games.  

Thanks so much for completing the All About Me posters!  They are looking fabulous and the children are so happy to share all of their favorite things with their classmates.  Send them in when finished so we may learn something new about each of our JK friends.  

We practice counting, patterns and sorting at calendar time, and use our imaginary pens to write the numbers in the air while the calendar helper writes the number on the actual calendar.  We pass our frog around the circle for a visual of whose turn it is to talk.  Each child has been sharing all kinds of things, from their favorite letter to things they would like to learn in JK.  

THE most comfy chair in the library.  Smart girls!

 Leon was one of the first to present his "All About Me" poster.  The children loved the picture of him swimming!

 Ian added lots of colorful pictures and was excited to talk about his family!

We loved hearing about all of Sebastian's favorites!  

 Watercolors were a big hit!  Mixing colors and even painting their names was so much fun.  

 Tapping out syllables for each child's name is a fun and beneficial activity.  We practice slow, fast, loud, soft, high, low, and many other things as the music leads us through different imaginary places.

 Follow the leader was an amazing activity in Art this week!

 Calling on friends and taking turns speaking is all a part of our morning meeting,

Library was so much fun.  Ms. Hilda sang, danced, read stories and helped us all choose books to take home.  

Cosmic Yoga and Go Noodle are great for rainy days!

Have a lovely weekend!

Ms. Massey

 Concentrating on drawing her self portrait.  

 All smiles!  Self portraits are a great way to track progress throughout the school year!

 Are my lips pink or red?  

Hi JK parents!

We will have a (very casual) JK Breakfast on Tuesday, June 4th from 8:30-9:30 am in the JK classroom.  We have been working on a slide show for you to see photos from the year.  The children will have portfolios to share with you too.  We might even sing a few songs!  Please let me know if you will be attending.

The Spring Sing was a big success and I was so excited to see them all perform so well!  They love music class and sang so joyfully.

This week we are talking about everything we have been learning all year to be "Kindergarten Ready".

Literacy:
Each child chose two cards with summer time words on them to use in a paragraph while writing a journal page.  I loved hearing about the fish who found sunglasses!  Their minds are so creative, and it's so fun to provide them with a beginning and see where they go with it!

We played letter bingo with Zoo Phonics and practiced writing in our word books.

We are working on the scaling of our letters and making sure our upper case letters are bigger than our lower case letters.  We are working on spacing and always beginning at the top.  Please practice the correct letter and number formation this summer so when starting Kindergarten the good habit will carry over.

Math & Science:
We played a game to increase number awareness while working on our fine motor skills.  Each child drew a cone with a number and then used patterns to count scoops of ice cream to line up on top using pom pons.

We played a few different math games this week.  We made pattern ice cream cones while counting teen numbers.

We are making observations of our bean plants we planted in the Roycemore garden.  The children are excited to see our sprouts grow into big plants.

Fine Motor:
We are working on finishing our portfolios to give to parents at our JK breakfast the last week of school   The breakfast will be from 8:30-9:30 am.  We will have some breakfast items and juice and coffee, along with a slide show presentation.  The children will sing a few songs for you too!

We made rainbow pictures and talked about the science behind the colors in rainbows.  We used pastels on black paper.

Next Wednesday will be our last day of school, where you will drop off and we will load busses to Sunset Park at 10 am. You are welcome to meet us there and take your children home with you after we have lunch.  We will have regular dismissal if they would like to ride the bus back to school.

Have a great week!

Ms. Massey

Hi JK parents!

We are learning about manners and have been practicing good manners all week!  We are learning how to properly set a table, and that the first thing you do when you sit down to eat is put your napkin in your lap.  We split up into teams and had a table setting contest.  So impressive.  We learned about how to not touch things when visiting someone's house, unless it's toys or something you have been given to play with.  We learned to let our friends go first when we come to a doorway at the same time.  We also learned to cover our mouths when we yawn.  I am quite sure these amazing children could teach many adults some lovely manners!  :)  I know they teach me something everyday.

Literacy:
Reading groups are concentrating on different blends and letter sounds that are different than the first sounds we learned.  We made class charts of the letters at beginning of words that sound like the first sound we learned and then made an exceptions list.  Learning the different strategies and using them as we decode will continue to be our focus to the end of the year.  We are doing many activities to better prepare them for beginning their Kindergarten year in the fall!

J is for Jump Rope!

Math & Science:

We are excited to observe the Pre-K butterflies, who have just left their Chrysalis and are ready to fly!  We are noticing many things in nature that are further signs of spring.

We joined Ms. Bixby and planted our classroom bean plants in the Roycemore garden.  She educated the children on composting (which we are now doing as part of our daily recycling at lunch time) and about the hay bales and how they have become an efficient way to grow plants in a limited space-offering protection from ground level planting.  We helped weed and learned to pull from the roots to properly get the entire plant.

We measured liquids and dry ingredients, and compared less and more as we baked bread.  We talked about the proper way to determine if the ingredients are at the correct line and which numbers to look for.  We also talked about halves and whole.

Kindness Day!
We have been talking about different ways to show kindness and the children have come up with some great ideas.  They have been making cards for their friends, sharing their markers and toys, offering to let friends go first, asking a friend to join them if they are sitting on the bench outside, helping a friend clean up their supplies, gently reminding a friend who might be doing something they shouldn't, and in general being more patient when sitting close to friends, if they accidentally touch or lean against us.

Fine Motor:
We are coloring place settings and learning all of the different utensils.  We are using patterns and measuring distances so we know where to place the utensils.  We are also talking about left and right when placing the spoon, knife, salad fork and dinner fork.

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Massey