Welcome Spring! 

We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break!  The month of March flew by and it's hard to believe we are almost in April.  Here's a recap of the past few weeks! 

In early March we enjoyed sharing our study of magnets at Celebration of Science.  The children helped create a board displaying their pictures and ideas about magnets, and they were proud to share their discoveries with others.  We visited Celebration of Science during the school day and we all enjoyed seeing projects from friends, families, and classmates! Here is a picture of Artin, Anjali, and George sharing their project about things that glow in the dark.

Early March also brought Dr. Seuss' birthday! We celebrated by learning more about Dr. Theodore Geisel - aka Dr Seuss - and reading many of his fun stories. We learned that he wrote the book The Cat in the Hat to encourage young children to read more.  Kindergartners had fun creating their own fun "Cat in the Hat" hats to wear around the classroom as we celebrated in style. Erin Ryan from Scott House came over to read us her favorite Dr Seuss book, The Foot Book. She helped the children learn which feet were right and which were left as they stomped along to the story!

Our geometry unit continued throughout the month of March as we studied both 2-D and 3-D shapes.  In the classroom, the children used a variety of materials such as Geoblocks, cubes, Pattern Blocks, Pentominoes, and Tangrams to create designs and patterns and to explore symmetry.  After learning the names of 3-D shapes such as triangular prism and sphere, we went outside on a shape hunt! The children took clipboards and tally sheets as they walked around campus.  They found many examples of 3-D shapes in the buildings, on the outdoor furniture, and in nature.  The children enjoyed this so much that they eagerly took home another tally sheet for "homework" so they could look for 3-D shapes in their homes.

Life Skills - Connected and Respected

In Life Skills we have been talking about "strong listening".  We first talked about the word "strong" and how it can mean different things.  When we are talking about "strong listening", we are referring to using our best listening skills and paying good attention to who is talking.  The Kindergarten classes made a list of what strong listening looks like.  Ideas included making eye contact, sitting still, focusing on what the other person is saying, and keeping our own thoughts to ourselves (not interrupting).  The children have been practicing strong listening throughout the day and are learning to recognize when they are being strong listeners and when others are listening to them!

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts   - Reading Horizons letter sounds and slides with /v/, /w/, /y/, and short vowel /u/, reviewing punctuation, reviewing Most Common Words, focusing on small moments in stories, "seed" stories, publication and sharing of our work.

Math  - Geometry -  2 and 3 dimensional shapes, going on a campus shape hunt, building with different shapes,  KB - addition games with Zoe

Science  - finishing up our project on magnets, Celebration of Science, looking for signs of spring 

Social Studies  - Our Friend project, Guara Vani assembly, 2nd grade play

A Busy February!

It was a very busy February in Kindergarten.  Snow days, Wee Mail, Ice Skating, and the 100th day of school!  Kindergarteners were excited to process 4,009 pieces of mail during our Wee Mail week.  The children happily sold stamps, collected mail, canceled stamps, sorted mail, and delivered the mail with 5th grade buddies.  Running a post office is a lot of hard work, but it sure is fun! Go the main SSFS webpage and look in the photo gallery to look for additional pictures of Wee Mail 2016.

Our trip to the ice skating rink was a hit!  The children learned about the history of hockey and skated on the ice rink owned by the Wolfe family.  Erin even donned the goalie gear to demonstrate how the different pads can block a slapshot!  

On the 100th day of school, we had a special afternoon centers time.  We made special necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops on them, create our own 100's chart, placed the numbers on a hundred's board, and much more!.

A New Friend in KB

For the next several weeks, we are lucky to have intern Zoe Harmula with us in KB.  Zoe goes to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC where she is working on her Master's degree in Deaf Education.  Originally from California, Zoe has moved to the DC area to attend Gallaudet.  She is fluent in American Sign Language and the children are enjoying  getting to know her and learning some new signs.  Welcome Zoe!

Pattern Block Project

The children have just finished their work on the Pattern Block Project. This project is a  yearly tradition that is part of our geometry unit in math.  The children work independently on increasingly difficult puzzles.  They have to figure out how to use Pattern Blocks to fit in the outline on the paper. After completing this series of puzzles, the children then are given designs to replicate on a piece of black paper.  Everyone keeps track of their progress on a sticker sheet and there is much celebration when all of the puzzles are completed!

Life Skills 

In Life Skills we have been talking about helping each other.  We already have a good start on this with our Good Deed's chain!   The children thought about ways we can help each other at school - tying shoes for a friend, helping a friend when he/she is hurt or upset, helping a friend clean up, etc We then practiced helping each other with a fun activity.  Working in partners, one friend put a beanbag on his/her head while the other friend gave them tips and helped them keep it balanced. Whenever the beanbag fell, the other friend picked it up.  We also read the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni.  In the story, a group of fish work together to stay safe from a big fish.  The fish cooperated with one another and were successful!

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts - Reading Horizons - letter sounds and slides with /r/, /s/, and short vowel /o/, Most Common words "that, is, it, you", the difference between statements and questions, stretching small moments across pages.

Math - Geometry, 2 dimensional shapes, The Shape of Things book and shape pages, Pattern Block project.

Science -  Magnet experiments - will magnets work through paper? Through wood? Through water?

Social Studies - Roots, Introduction of Our Friend, Continuation of maps study