Weekly News: Q4W8 May 5-9

Hello, Kindergarten Griffins!

We have 18 days left of the school year!  Please remember to read through the blog and keep up with homework. It is very important that students are here every day on time (unless sick or excused absence) and are not leaving early- we are taking grades up until dismissal most days and up until the last day of school. 

Looking Ahead: 

Kindergarten Promotion

Each student will wear a graduation cap and a tassel along with their Great Hearts uniform. Your child’s cap and tassel can be ordered via the following link: Promotion Caps/Tassels. These are one size fits all and sold as a set for $12.  The set will be delivered to school.  Please complete your order by Wednesday, May 15th so we will be ready for Promotion!

Promotion Details: All will be the morning of Wednesday, May 28th.

KA and KB Sections: 8:30 AM

KC and KD Sections: 10:15 AM

A formal invitation is being sent home in red folders today!

Each ceremony will conclude with light refreshments for the families and scholars to enjoy before the students return to class.  

All scholars will need to arrive at school on time as usual, and we will have our regular mid-morning/afternoon schedule following the ceremonies.  Great Hearts scholars complete academic lessons through the last day of school, so we will have lessons and activities planned for the remainder of our ceremony day.  

Here is Configio link for the Kinder teacher to send to parents when the time comes to communicate with parents about purchasing the Cap & Tassel.

https://greatheartsnorthernoaks.configio.com/pd/7054?code=mK2vGlmXCB

Classics to Keep

As you purchase these books and prepare to send them in, please help us preserve our class Sense of Wonder as we explore these stories and have the scholars experience them for the first time in class.  We will be sending them home as we finish each book, and we love when the students enjoy them again and again at home.  Stated simply, please do not read the books with your child before we read them in class.  

Below is a list of all 5 books we will read in the upcoming weeks, along with the ISBN.  Please try to purchase the same ISBN as we will be using in class so that all students will have the same page numbers to follow along as we read together.  All books are readily available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, for about $5 each.  

Little Bear                                   978-0064440042
Little Bear’s Visit                        978-0064440233
Mouse Soup                                978-0064440417
Mouse Tales                               978-0064440134
The Grasshopper on the Road    978-0064440943

It is important that each student have their own copy at school to complete with the readings for Literature class each day.  Please only send in one book at a time and label the book with your child's name (inside cover or on the front- we already have a few lost by the cubbies).  Thank you!

Book order and Dates:

Mouse Tales- 4/28

Grasshopper on the Road- 5/12, 5/19

This Week: 

Reading Bags/Check-Ins:

Reading logs still need to be signed and completed each night for homework.  Please make sure that your child brings their reading bags back to school each day in their backpack.  It will vary week by week when your child reads with their teacher and how often, especially as we are doing some end of the year one-on-one skills practice. Your child will receive a new list or book, as the teacher assess for fluency and comprehension when reading with each scholar. We will only have a couple of more weeks left of reading bags.

We have collected library books, so please make sure they are turned in ASAP. Please reach out to the front desk, if you do not know what book you are missing. You can send in $20 to the front desk (in an envelope) or replace the book.

This Week Academics:

Math Skills

• Ch. 12- Numbers to 100
• Skip Counting 
• Counting On
• Putting Numbers in Order
• Writing Numbers Bigger than 20

Please practice these skills at home as well, especially recognizing and counting numbers to 100 (counting by 1s and by 10s).

Language Arts Skills

• Spalding Phonograms: no new phonograms
• Spelling Words: big, bag, beg, bog, bug, mother, three
• Identify letter names
• Isolating sounds in words
• Identify phonogram sounds
• Identifying rhyming words
• Letter formation/pencil grip, writing phonograms on paper
• Distinguishing upper- and lower-case letters; naming letters
• Identifying rules and markings on spelling words.

Grammar

• Kindergarten Memory Books

Literature

Mouse Tales

• Problem/Solution
• Point of View
• Annotations

This week book: Mouse Tales, Monday, April 28th

Core Saying

The early bird gets the worm.

Poetry

Roses Are Red

History/Science

• Science:
• Plants
• Life Cycle of Plants
• Parts of the Plant
• Flowers
• Seeds
• Sunflower

• History:

Homework Reminders

• Be sure to read daily for 20 minutes; 100 minutes this week. Reading Logs will be collected next Monday. Please record on the Reading Log page. If you miss a night, please record 0 minutes and initial rather than leaving it blank.
• Spalding handwriting practice. Spalding homework will continue to be in the Written Phonogram and Spelling Word Review format-please read the GH logo homework sheet for instructions.  On Monday- Wednesday scholars write the list of phonograms and words once; on Thursday in preparation for our spelling test the list is written twice.
• Memorize poem by Friday!

Upcoming Assessment

• WPR Assessment – Thursday, May 8
• Spelling Assessment – Friday, May 9

Upcoming Events

• May 9 ~ Early Release; Spring Concert
• May 16 ~ Early Release
• May 23 ~ Early Release
• May 26 ~ No School- Memorial Day Holiday
• May 27 ~ Kindergarten Promotion Rehearsals; Early Release
• May 28 ~ Kindergarten Promotion; Early Release
• May 29 ~ Early Release; Last Day of School

Have a wonderful week!

Together for our children - The GHNO Kindergarten Teachers