Ms. Nicky and Ms. Julie’s News
Happy Spring! The students have been enjoying our STEM Unit of Study on Life Cycles. We started out by talking about plants-what a plant is, how a plant grows, and the life cycle of a plant. Now we are talking about insects. We started out by talking about what an insect is, and then moved on to talking about insects’ life cycles, particularly butterflies and ladybugs. From there, we will move on to human life cycles. We have been working on a fun project with the baby pictures you sent in. The students got to work on an app that allows them to take pictures and record their voices, so they took a picture of their baby picture, then took a picture of themselves now, and then drew a picture on the app of what they thought they would look like when they grew up. Once they finished with that, they got to record themselves talking about each of their pictures. They loved hearing their voices on the recordings! They will get to share their creation with the class in the weeks to come.
STEM Profile of the Month: Open-Minded
“I know that people are different and may do different things. I know that not everyone will think like me. I listen, value, and try to understand others.”
Some books to encourage being open-minded:
Friends, by Rob Lewis
Different, Just Like Me, by Lori Mitchell
PALS Assessment
In April, all students going on to Kindergarten will be assessed on PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening). This is a tool that will be used in Kindergarten to determine your child’s literacy needs. Implementing the screening at the end of preschool helps us to review our practices to make sure we are targeting the correct literacy skills that students will need to be successful in kindergarten. It also assists us in tracking regression over the summer since the test will be administered again right at the beginning of kindergarten. Once the assessments have been completed, we will send the results home for you to see.
Crazy Colorado Weather!
Our crazy Colorado weather continues to be unpredictable. Please make sure that your child is dressed warm enough each day. The wind has been picking up quickly, making it cold on our playground. Feel free to send layers of clothing and we will check the weather before going out to make sure your child is dressed appropriately. Also, as it does continue to warm up, please make sure your child is wearing safe shoes for the playground–Please do not send them in flip-flops!
Working With Your Child At Home
Thank you for continuing to help your child complete their homework each week. We have been working a lot on beginning sounds in class so, hopefully, you are seeing progress as you work through the homework at home. If your child still seems to be struggling a lot, please let me know.
Many students are still struggling with number sense–that is, the ability to understand the quantity of a set and the name associated with that quantity. You can help your child with this skill at home by having them count things, any things, and then tell you how many they have in all. You might find that if you ask your child to count a certain number of items, they will be able to count them correctly for you, but then when you ask them, “So how many did you have in all?”, they might not be able to give you the total. Repeated practice should help with this. Also, try asking them to give you a certain number of something. For example, “Will you give me 5 goldfish?” This is still really challenging for many students, but comes easier with repeated opportunities.
Child Development Class: Mathematics Knowledge and Skills
-April 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
-This session is free and will be facilitated by preschool teachers, including: Megan Burgess, Tori Menard, Kiersten Pierpoint, and Alyssa Rehder.
-Attending parents will learn how math skills develop in preschool-aged children and create activities that can be used at home to encourage development of these skills.
-We will have some childcare – high school-aged helpers– sponsored by the Spark! PTO
-Light refreshments will be served
-Families attending will enter a drawing for free Spark! spirit-wear (kid-sized), books for the home, etc.
Important Dates
April 3: Return from Spring Break
April 10: All-School Movement
April 20: PTO-Sponsored P.J. Day–Bring $1 and wear your pajamas to school!
April 21: Carnival at Spark! (More information to come)
April 27: PBIS Reward
April 27: Child Development Class–Mathematics Knowledge and Skills (6-7:00 pm)
Wish List
Rolls of paper towels