Ms. Nicky and Ms. Julie’s News
Wow! It’s hard to believe the school year is coming to an end! We have started our last STEM unit of study, which is Simple Machines. We are talking about how simple machines help us do work, and looking for simple machines in our environment. In case you need a refresher (I know I did when I first taught it a couple of years ago!), there are 6 simple machines: pulleys, levers, screws, wedges, inclined planes, and wheels and axles. If you see simple machines when you’re out and about, make sure and point them out to your child. They seem to really be enjoying learning all of the new vocabulary. We’ll end the unit in a few weeks with a Design Challenge, where students will be asked to work together to create a prototype of a simple machine to solve a problem.
STEM Profile of the Month: Reflective
“I think and share what I have learned, what I am good at, and what I can I improve the next time. I take the time to think about my actions and their effects. I give and take feedback from others.”
Some books that encourage being reflective:
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett
What Do You Do With An Idea? By Kobi Yamada
Bring a Book to Share!
If your child has a favorite book, we would love for them to bring it in to share with the class. I will try to read them all by the end of the year. If you choose to send one in, please make sure it is labeled with your child’s name so that we can make sure to get it back to the right person.
Library
Unfortunately, I think we are done visiting the library this year. Ms. Vicki is back from maternity leave, but she is trying to tie together a lot of loose ends. Please make sure your child has turned in their library book. If you have lost a library book, please contact Ms. Vicki to work out a plan to replace it.
Working With Your Child At Home
We really appreciate your efforts this year with helping your child to complete and return their homework! With the exception of the May reading log, we will not be sending any homework home during the month of May. We hope you will take that extra time and enjoy playing a game outside with your child. Physical activity is great for brain development! We are working on creating a packet to send home that will give you some ideas for activities you can do with your child this summer to keep their skills sharp.
Assessments
We have been working hard to finish our final round of GOLD assessments. It’s exciting to see how much growth has occurred over the course of the school year! I will be sending the Individual Learning Plans home within the next couple of weeks that will share your child’s progress with you. If you have any questions after looking it over, please let me know.
All students going on to Kindergarten have also been 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. I will be sending a form home shortly that will show your child’s score on the assessment, as well as indicate areas of strength, areas that could use some improvement, and ideas for helping your child at home.
End of Year Celebration
We will have an end of the year celebration on our last day of school, which will be Wednesday, May 24. The morning class celebration will start at 10:20 and the afternoon class celebration will start at 2:15. We will not be doing a graduation ceremony, but will have a special treat to recognize all of the hard work students have done this year. We hope you can join us!
Important Dates
May 7: Ms. Julie’s Birthday!
May 8: All-School Movement
May 11: Love and Logic Parenting classes (6-8 P.M.)
May 18: Pajama Day and PBIS Party
May 24: Last Day of School