Hello April!

 It will be good to be back at school after a long break. We have a full week of fun and learning ahead with several special events to prepare for in the coming months. I'm hoping we'll settle in quickly and get rolling!

At Bible time we'll begin learning our verse for April. We'll discuss what happened at Easter and write about the facts we learn. We'll be fitting in daily practice of our chapel play wherever we can to prepare for our message on April 24th. Everyone is excited to play their part and share what we're learning about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

In reading and writing we'll study the digrah 'sh'. Students will read, spell and write words with the 'sh' sound and review the digraph 'ch'. New red words are the colors: blue and white. We'll practice counting and identifying syllables in words. Students will begin studying texts to pull out facts as they prepare for an informational writing piece. We are working on good sentence structure, staying on topic and adding details as we write.

Our new module in math is about 2D shapes. We will use the words vertices and sides to describe shapes. Students will begin making new shapes from smaller shapes. It's always fun to discover who is a spacial thinker.

I'm excited to begin our new science unit on 'Living Things'! We'll start off by trying to define what characteristics make something alive. This sounds easier than it is and we will continually adjust our definition as we learn more. Students will learn about the changes in a garden as seeds grow to plants as we make a timeline of growth through story and pictures. Students will be encouraged to ask questions about how the weather and other living things can affect plant growth. Next, we'll learn about the anatomy of a seed and plant our own pumpkin seeds.

In art we'll combine 2D shapes to make a shape collage of a person, place or thing. This will help us practice the meaning of words that are nouns.

On Thursday, we'll get to hear from Columbia Dive and Rescue. They'll be teaching us about water safety and their role in our community.

Friday will be Mrs. DeGraaf's last day with us in kindergarten as Mrs. Arnold's long term substitute. It's been great having her in the classroom. She's a joy to work with and so good with each student. She will be missed! The class will be sad to see her go and also excited to have Mrs. Arnold back next week.

It's Springtime... a time of growth and change. It's a joy to see it happen in each student as we get closer to the end of the year.

Time to bloom,

Mrs. Luoma