May News

              Four Year Old Kindergarten

                                                                 

Wow!  This year is flying by so quickly, it is already May and I am so amazed at how much the children have grown and how much they’ve learned! 

It has been an exciting year in 4K!

The Inquiry Unit and The Zoo!

Thank you parents for all your help with the inquiry unit animal projects! Some of our students are bringing their projects in and they are very excited about their work and sharing what they have learned with the class!  Please feel free to bring projects in as they are completed.  Students will be presenting them to the class as they come in!

Our Inquiry Fair is taking place the evening of Monday, May 12th!   Please be sure to set this evening aside and come with family and friends to see the wonderful inquiry projects that our students have done.

 Thank you to all the parents who went with us to the zoo!  We had a great time, the zoo class was very interesting and the rain held off!  Hurray! Please be sure to look at the pictures!

 The Letter People

We are almost done introducing the Letter People!  It has been fun listening to the children sing the song of a favorite Letter Friend or referring to a Letter Friend when hearing the beginning sound of a word and knowing it’s the same sound as a specific Letter FriendJ.  This month we will be introducing these Letter People.  We’ll give you some hints about them, but please keep this TOP SECRET!  (We’re just sharing this with you now so you can ask your child about the Letter Person and if they don’t give you an answer, you can help them think of the answer because you know a little about the letter!)

Mr. I’s clothes are covered in miniature rulers because he is covered with “impossible inches”!  They are impossible because they want to measure by themselves and not work together.  He is an illustrator and inventor who wears glasses because it is important to see clearly.  He loves to measure everything, especially insects and his pet iguana.  His regular “i” sound is just like the “i” sound in impossible inches. His Same Name Sound, or long “i” sound is the same as his name: Mr. I.  He is a LetterLight like Ms. A and Ms. E and Mr. O.  A Letterlight friend helps light the way to making words.  There are 3 lowercase “i’s” on his left hand.

Mr. D loves to do his dazzling dance which he demonstrates at his School of Dazzling Dance!  He has a dapper dance costume and a dandy hat with capital D’s all around it!  He will never dillydally.  He also loves dinosaurs and did a dinosaur dig…so we will be learning about dinosaurs and have our own dinosaur dig!  If you have anything you would like to share the third week in May about dinosaurs let us know!

And then finally there is…Mr. X He is different from everyone else.  You might say he is all mixed up!  He walks on his hands and not his feet.  He talks differently, too!  His sound is never heard at the start of a word  – even if his letter is the first letter in the word!  However, his letter is found at the end of many words like fox, box, six,…  Mr. X is exceptionally different from us and we are different from him.  Being different is an excellent way to learn more about people and many other things!  When you listen to his sound, you can hear that Ms. K and Ms. S were kind enough to share their sounds with Mr. X.  His letter sound makes 2 sounds at once! He has hidden 4 lowercase x’s on one of his shoes.

In writing we will continue to work on our journal writing…journals will come home at the end of the school year so  you can continue to work on soooounding out those letters and words and continue practicing at home! As a matter of fact I called Mr. Hill to tell him what a grreat job my 4K friends were doing in writing and he said he would like to do something special to congratulate us on our excellent work…our friends suggested maybe an ice cream party!

In math we continue to work on numbers 1-30, sorting, patterns, and counting to 100and beyond!  We will also continue to do some work in the areas of measuring, quantity and addition.

PALS Assessments      Monday,  May 5-28: I will be assessing our students on their knowledge of letters/sounds, rhyming and numbers.  Please be sure that your child is healthy and at school during this important time…thank you!  And please, keep reviewing those letters and sounds…every moment you work on these is helpful!

Library…I just found out we will not be able to check out books next week because the library will be closed for the book fair, so this might be a great time to make sure that all library books are returned. We will check out books after the book fair and then the last day to check out books will be Monday, June 2^nd! Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who helpe out and have read to us this year!

Reading Folders and Homework

Some of our friends are reading on their own…hurray!  If I sent home a “reading folder” will you please find the time to practice reading with them and then return the folder for a new book please?  I also send home extra “homework” to do if you so choose…again this is your choice. I appreciate the extra attention you give to your child and the discipline they gain when you do this work but again…for some it is important review and needed, but for others just something to help keep those skills going and more review.  At the end of the year I will be sending home another “packet” that I am asking you do with your child over the summer so they do not loose the skills they have learned.

High Interest Day!  Mitchell’s high interest day will be June 9^th.  I am not sure, I am hoping that we can take part in this fun day. If you are able to help out the PTA with this great event…please, please be sure to let them know when they ask for help…our PTA does so much for Mitchell and  they need your support! If you aren’t a member now, please remember to sign up to be a member of Mitchell’s PTA when school begins next year J! 

Thank you to the parents who have helped with something this month!  Celebration treats, baggies, having snacks ready to go, games, chaperoning, etc.  Your help continues to make school special for us! Thank you also for all you have done to prepare your child for school. Each child has made incredible progress because of the work we have done together!  Thank you for Being There for me!

 

4K Celebration!…On the last day of school, June 12^th there will be a special celebration/graduation for 4K during the last hour of your child’s school day.  So AM classes: 10:00 to 11:00 and PM classes 2:30 to 3:30! We will take a look back at the year and celebrate our accomplishments…so please plan on coming!

 

A Final Farewell!  

Parents this will be my last official newsletter as your child's teachers and as a teacher in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District!   It has been an incredible year, and a wonderful calling to be a teacher. I have so appreciated all my students and their families.   In many ways I can’t bear the thought of letting all of you go, but I know that there are wonderful days ahead and in store for our 4K-ers and I look forward to hearing about them in the future and watching each one fulfill their purpose in life!  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of their education…it is something I will cherish always!  Thank you!

 

Wishing you each the best, and a most wonderful summer!

Sincerely, Mrs. Berka