We are first graders now!

At the end of this week your child will be an official first grader! We're so proud of all the ways they've grown up this year. This class is ready to move forward.

In Bible this week, we'll wind up learning about the Lord's Prayer. Watch for all the prayers coming home in your child's summer folder. I hope it is a blessing to see how much they care about you.

We'll be able to do some good in depth reviews in reading and writing this week. Students will be reading a new set of decodable books with us. We'll be correcting sentences and rewriting them with good handwriting. Students will practice reading and writing words using the Foss Rule of doubling the last consonant. At story time we'll read texts about the end of the year and discuss our feelings about finishing and moving forward.

Students will continue with extra challenges in math, finding missing groups in addition and subtraction equations. We'll also add using multiple addends. It's been great to see how our class is enjoying doing more difficult problems.

Our graduation ceremony is Tuesday, so Monday and Tuesday we'll practice as much as possible!

Students will explore typing games on the iPads with friends.

Thursday is our fun Field Day where we play games outside in the morning.

Friday is the last day of school and closing chapel. Students will worship together, watch a great slideshow of the year and take home their summer folders. Summer folders contain final report cards, memories and suggestions for keeping sharp for first grade.

This will be a big, busy, happy week...hang on summer is almost here!

Mrs. Luoma 

What is a yearbook?

That is the question many of our students will ask this week. They'll find out that their BLS yearbook has lots of great pictures that will become wonderful memories for them as time goes on. We'll be teaching our class how to sign a yearbook and get signature of important people. They'll love seeing the pictures of their classmates and themselves!

In Bible this week our Bethlehem Buddies will kick off our week with their final story. Students will learn we can look forward to a new heaven and Earth where Jesus is our King. Later in the week we'll finish up our careful study of what the Lord's Prayer means to our lives.

In reading and writing this week we'll learn about words that are homophones. We'll write a funny piece using homophones. We'll learn the Foss Rule of when to double the final consonant in a word as we spell. Students will continue to check the ending of a word in order to write it's plural form correctly. Later in the week, use a word bank to help us write a spring sequence. At story time, we'll discuss and list homophones from a couple texts and explain story elements.

We're reviewing and challenging our class in math in the areas of finding missing groups when adding or subtracting, counting and place value. We aim to keep it fun and stretch our skills as we prepare for first grade math.

In science we'll wrap up our unit on Living Things with an addition to our garden timeline and discussion of how people can change their environments for good or for bad. Students will think of ways they can protect the environment.

We'll be polishing up our special song for graduation next week and using movement to express our feelings.

Our last art project with cover graphic arts. Students will work in small groups to promote a new product through advertising. Then each group will present their product to the class.

Students are working hard to encourage good behavior so their team can earn the privilege of popping a balloon at the end of the day. So far teams have earned early recess time, lunch with the teachers, treats and a trip to the prize box. We can't wait to see what will happen this week! There's also the possibility of a Bear Party sometime this week, too!

We're looking forward to a happy week, with summer just ahead.

Mrs. Luoma

There's Still Time

 It seems like summer is just around the corner and school will be over soon, but there's still time...time to learn new things, time to play, time to enjoy being together. We will be using all our last days for that purpose.

There's also still time to try out new seating groups and special incentives for our last days. Tomorrow, students will be grouped into three large color groups of eight. Each group will have a chance at earning the privilege contained in a balloon at the end of the day if they finish the day with ten points. We hope the whole class ends on ten!

In Bible this week, we'll send our weekly story home, but in class we'll take a few days to focus on the meaning of each phrase in the Lord's Prayer. Our class knows the prayer by heart now, because we say it at every chapel. What we often don't know is what it really means and how to relate it to our daily lives. We'll work on gaining a clearer understanding and keep this prayer close to our hearts.

In reading and writing this week, we'll learn how to make a word into it's plural form and spell it correctly. We will apply this learning in our dictation words and sentences. Students will study and act out various shades of verbs, understanding subtle differences in meaning. We will review some of our more difficult red words, taking a pre-test on Monday and then retesting on Friday after lots of practice.  Students who know all the words on Monday get to be game leaders and have more free choices. We will all finish up writing our informational piece about Bess Beetle facts. 

Math is extra fun right now as we take on the challenging concepts of using coins to make equations. Using dimes and pennies helps us with place value. We'll be diving into addition and subtraction where students find a missing group. Students are finding they need to carefully reread their equations and ask themselves if it makes sense, and if not, fix it! This is very similar to the practice of carefully rereading their sentences in writing and editing them if they do not make sense. 

We'll cover a social studies standard about understanding a timeline by making a timeline of a school day. Students will relate the passage of time to growth in living things and the changes in seasons.

Our class is actively working on several end of the year projects in writing, music and art to prepare for graduation. In art this week we'll be painting pictures of our school to go on the covers of our diplomas. 

This week our class will have a first grade Move Up experience. On Wednesday, after afternoon chapel, grades K-7 will move up to the next grade to find out more about their new teacher and the things they'll be learning next year. Students who will be new to BL may join  and everyone will get the chance to meet them. On Thursday, kindergarten will be hosting a brief 'move-up' experience for our morning and afternoon pre-k friends.

We're excited for the fun week ahead!

Mrs. Luoma

Finishing Strong

 Now is the time of year where many are looking forward to summer. In kindergarten, we don't want to just coast to the end, but we want to finish strong. We'll be learning, playing and growing until the very last day. 

This week we'll study how the early church was born and how we all have gifts to contribute to the body. We'll review our May Bible verse and get ready for the quiz on Friday. 

In reading and writing, we'll practice digraphs and add 'kn' and 'ck' to our knowledge base. Students will gather facts about our Bess Beetles and write and informative piece explaining their unique qualities. These last few weeks we'll try and sharpen up our ability to recognize and read Red words. Each week we'll take a pre-test over 12 words on Monday, then practice and study to improve our reading on the post-test on Friday. At story time, we'll be focusing on dialog, social skills and recalling facts or details from a text.

On Monday and Tuesday, students will take an end of the year math test. This will show us what areas we need to work on to be ready for first grade. From there, we'll practice skills and move forward into more advanced concepts. On our iPads, we will practice place value games.

At music time, Mrs. Arnold will lead us into learning some songs for our graduation ceremony. Plus we always enjoy praising God in song and movement.

This week in science we'll explore how environments change over time and how living things can change their environment. We'll observe how our Bess Beetles are decomposing the bark habitat they live in and predict what it will look like in a few weeks. Our class will take a walk around our campus to see how people have changed the environment.

The art lesson this week will combine science and art through sculpture. Students will sculpt a model of a Bess Beetle, adding important parts of their anatomy.

It looks like it will be a sunny week and make us think summer is near! 

Mrs. Luoma

We Love Our Moms!

 This week we'll have the exciting experience of honoring our kindergarten Moms with a special picnic at the end of the day on Thursday. Our class has been working hard to write, make a gift and learn a song and poem for our Moms. We all hope every Mom knows they are loved and appreciated.

As we study the Bible this week, we'll focus on the story of Lydia. This ties into Paul's missionary travels and how he shared the Good News of Jesus with many people. We'll begin working on the May Bible verse using ASL signs to help us remember key words.

In reading and writing we'll continue reading, writing and spelling using the digraphs: ch, sh, th, and wh. Students will finish their special writing project about their Moms. New red words are: what, where. At story time we'll feature dialog in narratives and recalling facts in informative texts.

We'll finish up our module on place value in numbers to 20 and take a test. Students will play games about place value on iPads for practice. Then we'll see what our class knows about the measurement of length, height and weight. If we're up to par, we'll go on to more difficult concepts next week.

In science, we will check our control plants to prove our predictions of how light, water and temperature affect plant health and growth. Students will test their predictions on the preferences of our Bess Beetles. We proved they like bark and the dark, next we'll see what surface they like to walk on. We'll observe how our beetles are changing their environment of bark into soil.

At music time, Mrs. Arnold is helping us to perfect a special song that will bless our Moms on  Thursday. We'll begin our outdoor practice so we understand where to stand and how to project our voices for the picnic.

The culmination of our week will be showing our Moms lots of love at the picnic on Thursday at 2:30. We hope all our Moms can come and feel honored.

Mrs. Luoma

Change is an Adventure

 As we grow and learn in kindergarten this year, I hope we are learning that change happens over time and it is an adventure to embrace it. This week we'll have lots of experiences to help us practice this concept.

In Bible we'll learn how Saul changed from a man who hated those who believed in Jesus to a man who shared the Good News freely. We will be discussing how God can change hearts and we all have the potential to do better with God's help. Our Bethlehem Buddies will be in to tell the story on Tuesday.

In reading and writing this week, we'll focus on the the digraph 'wh', using it in reading, writing and spelling. New red words are: who, why. We will practice counting syllables in words and take a test on our skills. Students will be writing about their moms in preparation for our Mother's Day Picnic next week on the 5.9.24. At story time, we'll review story events and sequence. Students will be learning facts about living things.

This all relates to science where we will be discussing the changes and sequence in life cycles for plants and Bess Beetles. We will predict changes that may happen in a garden as the plants grow. Students will learn more about Bess Beetles and the four stages of an insect's life cycle. We will set controls to prove the importance of light, temperature and water for our pumpkin plants. We have an exciting surprise adventure planned for Thursday where students will explore the diurnal and nocturnal animals.

In math, we'll begin a new module with a focus on writing numbers with two digits accurately. Students will decompose numbers into tens and ones to write and read numbers.

In music we are practicing a special song for our Mother's Day Picnic. You're going to love it!

Our art project this week will again combine what we have learned in science with art. Students will make a painting that shows the different colors and hues for day and night.

It's a big week with lots of fun and adventure as we experience change together.

We love your kids,

Mrs. Luoma

Sharing What We've Learned

 This week our class will have the privilege of sharing what we've learned with the school and our parents. We will teach the chapel message by acting out a play based on a Bible story and singing. This has taken a lot of practice, but practice is what enables us to communicate what we know. It's not any different in math or reading; we practice to get more skills and confidence. On Wednesday you'll see a combination of knowledge, acting, singing, cooperation, patience and listening. They will all add up to presenting a story with clarity and joy. On Friday, our class will perform a poem where we show knowledge, timing, and good humor. We hope you'll be at both performances and enjoy watching how we've grown.

Students will start the week off with a new seating arrangement. It's always exciting to try out a different place in the classroom and get to know new classmates better. We'll be sitting in square groups of four to enable good discussions with our classmates. Our new character word will be 'cooperation'. Students will earn points as they cooperate with helping their color group to succeed.

Also, students will see Drago in our classroom all set up in a cozy habitat. We will be learning about what Drago's needs are and how to help take care of him. Students will also write facts about Drago.

In reading and writing we will study the unvoiced sound of 'th' (as in the word 'thumb'). We'll read, write and spell using digraphs. Students will count syllables in words and diagram syllables in two syllable words. New red words are: come, some. At story time, we'll discuss comprehension questions, story events and facts from the text.

We will finish up our module on place value in math this week and take a test on Friday. Students are learning how to split the tens and ones in a two digit number and create an addition sentence.

There's a lot going in science this week! We will make our weekly observation of our pumpkin seeds/plants. Last week we noted that some students had germination, but some did not. We did some replanting and are hoping everyone will have a healthy pumpkin plant soon. This week our new living things get delivered. We will be meeting our big, beautiful Bess Beetles and begin to study their life cycle. These beetles will live in a tank in our classroom for the remainder of the year. They eat a special type of tree bark and are very shy.

Mrs. Arnold is helping us to perfect our song for our chapel play and teaching us a new blessing song for our Mother's Day Picnic coming up in May.

The art lesson this week is on symmetry and we will make beautiful symmetrical butterflies...that are also 3D. Our vocabulary and skills are growing by leaps and bounds! We'll be relating symmetry to math and shapes, and also to living things. Students will discovers many living things are symmetrical.

This will be a big week! We are hoping attendance and spirits to be high. 

Watch us soar,

Mrs. Luoma