WELCOME!

Hello Kindergarten Families!

I am super excited to have each of you in my class this year!

Wednesday, August 31^st is a special day-OPEN HOUSE FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN!

Kindergarten Open House: Parents of kindergarten students, we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, August 31st at the following times:

            AM Kindergarten at 1:30 (Chiaverotti and McMahon)

                                    PM Kindergarten at 2:30 (McMahon)

I am excited to meet all of you. For the first half of our time together, I will meet the children, they will meet their new classmates, and they will check out their new room.  The kids will remain in the classroom with our K assistants and P.E. Staff while the parents, Mrs. McMahon, and I will move to the meeting room for a short overview of our school year in kindergarten.

Please check out my class blog as I will be updating it as often as possible.

Speaking of Open House/Meet and Greet you are welcome to bring school supplies tomorrow. Please don’t write names on any of the supplies. If you don’t have your child’s supplies for tomorrow, the first day of school is a great time to send them in as well. J

Your child will need his or her backpack for the first day of school, but not for tomorrow.

I am very excited to meet you and my kindergarten friends.

MEET AND GREET AND OPEN HOUSE!

Welcome Rainbow Valley Families!

I am so excited that we will be learning together this year!
We will meet one another on Wednesday, August 31st @ 1:30PM. This time is for AM Kindergarten only. Mrs. McMahon's PM session is later in the day.  Yes, both AM classes are at 1:30.  
Please arrive on time. 
We will chat with our new kindergarten friends for a bit, and then MOMS AND DADS you will be joining the K team for a short meeting in the MPR room which is located right outside of the k classrooms.  Our wonderful k assistants and P.E. staff will be hanging out with our K friends while we meet. 

If your child has his or her supplies feel free to bring them on the 31st. Please don't write their names on the supplies. 
They do not need their backpacks at meet and greet. They do need them on the first day of school. 

If you don't have their supplies on the 31st, no worries, the first day is great too! 

I am super excited for this day.  :) 
Feel free to E-mail me with any questions.
sara.chiaverotti@vbschools.com

Reminders~

Water Day is coming!
Tuesday, from 10:30-11:30ish. 
If you are sending in supplies please do so by Friday. :) 
All parents are welcome to join us for the lab. Please find care for younger siblings. 
If you are running a lab please arrive @ 10:15AM and bring your plan. I sent it to you 
via E-mail.

Tuesday night @ 5:30-6:30PM is Author's Night. The children will share their book with you.

Please dress your child in his or her blue shirt given to us by the Throckmorton's on Friday, the last day of school.

Please let us know if your child will not be here on the last day. It is a half day. Dismissal is at 10:40AM for AM class. 

If your child stays for EDK, he or she must have a lunch or you need to turn in your form for a bagged lunch provided by food services. I sent this home.  Dismissal is 12:40. 
If your child IS NOT staying for EDK please let me know. Thank you.

Linus the Minus

Last week and this week Linus The Minus visited our class.
He likes taking away giving us less. What we have left is called the difference.
We like to listen to this song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPa9V2wtZs


The children are using dice to roll and subtract.  They are also sharing number stories.
For example, I have 10 fish and 5 swam away. I have 5 left. 
Please ask your child to share their number stories and to write number sentences at home.


This week we will spend time reading poetry and creating poetry of our own. We started on Friday painting with words.


Stay tuned to see the children's words!


We also reviewed addition.  The children enjoyed using a new FREE app called NUMBER FRAMES.  This is a great tool to use at home!  I encourage every family to get this app. Ask your child to teach you how to do a number bond. :)


In science the children have been learning about life cycles.  We began by creating a hypothesis about seeds. The children planted grass seed. One cup was given everything a seed needs. Ask your child what a seed needs in order to grow.
One was given no light, one with no water, and one we built buildings on top of.
Over a period of two weeks they made and recorded their observations. At the conclusion of the experiment they revaluated their hypothesis and recorded their findings.
During this time we also learned about the life cycle of the butterfly. We visited our class tree to see if any butterflies had laid eggs. We didn't see any. We decided at that time it may have been to cold.


The children also observed their bean seeds change.  After their seeds sprouted, they transplanted them into soil. Giving them a nice home with space.


While we are not assigning homework for June, we ask that you continue to have your child read to you daily.  Please get on RAZKIDS as often as possible. Please make sure that your child is taking the quizzes carefully and not guessing at answers.
Please have your child decompose numbers 11-19 and tell addition and subtraction number stories.  As always, daily writing is important.  You do not need to send their writing to school. 

Living Things

We started our unit on living and non-living things and changes over time a few weeks ago. You saw the children exploring and describing their findings in our class garden in Seesaw.
Today, we began our experiment on seed growth.
We started our lesson by reading a non-fiction book on plants and seeds. We discussed how seeds travel, grow, and how plans protect themselves.
We also reviewed what seeds need in order to grow.
From here we created a hypothesis for each of our seed cups.
One cup had no water, one no light, one we built buildings on top of, and one we gave space, water, air, light.
The children shared their predictions through creating a class journal. Here we will record our observations over the next few weeks.
The children are also growing their own bean seeds in a green house. They will record the growth, write descriptively, and use standard units or measurement to measure the plant growth. The children will see LIVE changes over time.
If anyone would like to donate 20 clear plastic drinking cups I would really appreciate it!  Just add a comment here if you are willing to help us or send me an E-mail. I need them in about 5 days. 

Happy Mother's Day!

We love our Moms so very much!  For weeks the children have been creating and practicing! Here is our love to you!

Friday Learning!

We started off our day on IMAGINE LEARNING! This is a create program where the children work on reading skills. 
Today I met with two more small groups to work with the children on creating their non-fiction books.
I am always so amazed at how many of my friends can follow multi-step instructions with ease.
Today we revisited another  non-fiction text feature,BOLD PRINT and we discussed how it helps readers to understand what is happening in the book.

The children are sharing bold words that they found!

We read a fabulous story today call Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge and discussed memories that we have and what it would be like if we couldn't remember special times in our lives. 

A letter about our unit went home today.  Your child's item or picture of their item is due on the 20th. 

In math we compared objects. We read ACTUAL SIZE by Steven Jenkins

Ask your child about this book,

Field Day Volunteers Needed

Kingston's Annual Field Day will be on Friday, May 13th and the rain date will be on Monday, May 16th.  If you would like to volunteer please contact Joy Battafarano at (757) 228-5858.  

Field Day schedule is as follows:

Grades 3-5    9:00 - 11:00 AM

Grades 1-2    12:30 - 2:30 PM

Kindergarten AM    9:30 - 11:00 AM

Kindergarten PM     1:00 - 2:30 PM