Here is some information from our Elementary Office:
We will be having a drill on March 12 to practice shelter procedures. Teachers will discuss this as “shelter practice” with students in age-appropriate ways, but you may also want to also talk to your child about the subject. Last year, we shared this article with helpful suggestions for talking to children about safety procedures and practices. One of the things addressed is the impact of the terminology we use. Staff members will be going over this in advance, as we work together to ensure that students feel safe, protected, and aware of what to do in different situations.
- The drill will be held at 12:00 pm, so if you are on campus, we ask that
you follow instructions when asked to go to a safe place.
- Everyone who is outside will be moved to the ES Hall.
Learning This Week
Reading Workshop
We are looking forward to another week of exploring storybooks and learning how to think deeply about them! Students will learn how readers use pictures and words to understand the problem in a story and the solution to that problem. They will also learn about how readers use their voices to sound like the characters in the stories. With repeated readings of the same book, reading with expression gets easier and easier! We will use familiar storybooks and class favorites to learn about these new concepts. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
Writing Workshop
Writers continue to revise their “All about” books by thinking of the different things authors do in other nonfiction texts. Last week, we reminded writers of the importance on adding different “tiny-topics” to each page to make sure they teach as much as they can about their main topic. These “tiny-topics” are called headings and can be listed in a table of contents. We will use read aloud mentor texts to show writers the purpose of a table of content and how, if they want to, they could create one for their own books.
Another great nonfiction feature writers will be encouraged to try is fact boxes, or “fun facts”. These offer another place to add even more information about a topic. Writers may choose to say more about a picture by adding a “fun fact” and saying what that picture is!
Math
This week mathematicians will have additional practice with formal subtraction concepts, including writing and solving number sentences with totals of 9 or 10. The lessons will move quickly through concrete and pictorial representations of subtraction with students representing take from equations (C - B = A) with no unknown (meaning we will provide the answer) for totals to 10. The students will solve subtraction story problems by breaking off, crossing out, and hiding a part and showing their strategies with drawings and number sentences. They will also be focusing on decompositions of 9 and 10 using 5-groups, which are recorded as number sentences.
Math Problem Sets
So far, students have been taking home daily problem sets to show parents the concept they learned that day. Parents may use it as a tool to support conversations at home asking their children:
“What did you learn today?”
“How did you solve this?”
“How did you know what numbers to write here?”
“Is there another way to solve this problem?”
Sometimes these problem sets may not be finished due to time constraints or need for further practice, and that is perfectly OK. The KG team would like to gently remind you that these sheets are not meant to be finished as a way of homework, as we do not assign Math homework in Kindergarten.
Teachers use these problems sets as a quick way to assess all students’ understanding and plan for further practice. If you have specific questions about how we use problem sets, please email us!
Circles
Kindergarteners are enjoying the conversations around creativity! KGB and KGS will have one last Circle on that core value this week. KGC will have a Circle on self-esteem and personal bests to introduce the value of perseverance which is this month’s core value.
In the following weeks, all KG students will be exploring the different ways they can be persistent to get better at something. The book for this core value is Emmanuel’s Dream: The true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls.
Science
What a fun day! Click here to see even more photos.
Our study of animals and their needs continues! After an exciting week of visiting CAC tortoises, we are going to spend this short week visiting the chicks for what may be the last time. They are outgrowing their cage! Our young scientists are making keen observations about their growth and changes. Some are growing combs! Their feet are getting so big! They sometimes take naps!
Once again, thank you for taking the time to read our weekly newsletters!
Ms. Ana, Mr. Balazs & Ms. Paola
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