Team Goleski

Monday, March 15, 2010

Welcome Spring!

The countdown to spring break has begun! We have only 12 short days left and I promise they will be busy ones. We have quite a few upcoming classroom events, starting with St. Patrick's Day. On Wednesday we will be celebrating our favorite Irish holiday with leprechaun art activities and "Lucky Charms" math. This Friday will be Gage's last day. We will be having a pizza party and cake to send him off to Virginia in style. Next Thursday we will have our Annual Play Day. Please dress your child in comfortable fitness attire. Also Friday will be our field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. I am currently planning our Spring Egg Hunt and more details will follow. With all the fun comes lots of work as well. The class has begun their new Math Investigations unit on shapes and geometry. They have been enjoying the process of using shapes in real world applications. This week we will begin our new writing genre "Responding to Literature." We have also been studying zoo animals in a cross-curricular manner. The students have been learning about different zoo animals in Science and Reader's Workshop. They now have the opportunity to use this knowledge through even more zoo related activities that carry over into their writing, guided reading, art and literacy centers as well. We look forward to all the fun to come! One more reminder...I will be sending home both March and April's Scholastic book order forms tomorrow. Orders will be due by March 23rd so that hopefully we can get the books to you before Spring Break. I appreciate your continued support in your child's reading and our classroom library!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Finishing Up February!

We have certainly been staying busy in Kindergarten with our recent celebrations of the 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and our field trip! Despite all of the festivities, the students have really soared with our new genre of report writing. The students are learning the difference between fact and opinion and sharing their own expert advice through their reports. We are finishing up our Math Investigations in measurement and counting. Next week we will begin our new unit of shapes and geometry. Our class continues to be the driving force of the retelling coaching cycle. The students have been immersed with a variety of fairy tales in order to provide more depth in their story retelling abilities. In Science, we are continuing to study space. The students are exploring day/night, the sun, the stars, and shadows. Just a few upcoming reminders...Don't forget that this Friday (February 26th) is Spring picture day. Also, our field trip to the downtown library is next Tuesday (March 2nd). Make sure you check out our pictures below!