I'll put my reminders here, in case you don't make it to the end of the post:
1. Warm weather is here! Please help your kindergartener remember to bring a REUSABLE water bottle each day. Names on the water bottles make life easier for everyone! Thanks for only putting water in water bottles. We don't need juice, flavored water, or electrolyte drinks at school.
2. Along with increased need for water, kindergarteners shed their red sweaters at an impressive rate in this heat; writing your child's name or initials on possessions that come to school, especially red sweaters, makes life easier for everyone!
3. Your child brought home an intent to return form, which will secure their spot at Cascade next year. Please return with your kindergartener, or drop off at the office. You must fill out a SEPARATE form for each child. Here is a link to a .pdf if it gets lost. Due date is Monday, April 18.
4. The auction is coming up soon! Our auction basket is looking pretty good; thank you to everyone who has made a contribution. We have the following items so far: Monopoly, a big puzzle, Scrabble Flash, Yahtzee to Go, Yam Slam, Qwixx, UNO Attack, Beat the Parents, Sorry!, Say Anything, Apples to Apples. We could use some fun/fancy snacks to round out the basket.
Upcoming week and important dates:
(remember, you can always check our Ongoing Calendar by clicking here or by clicking on the tabs above).
Tuesday:
Teacher Tea with Mr. Weaver in the Library. Drop your children off in the morning, and then stay and ask questions, voice concerns, and give kudos. 8:00 to 8:30.
Riggs:
We will continue or study of new spelling words, which are carefully selected to introduce new concepts in English spelling patterns.
Riggs spelling homework as a new added component! Each evening kindergarteners have new words, they will now write a sentence using one of the new words, and incorporating as many of our old words as possible.
Taped into your kindergartener's red homework folder is a list of all words we have learned so far, and through the rest of List 1. On the back, you will find an example of what Riggs homework should look like. Here is a link to a .pdf if it is easier to access it that way.
Saxon 1 Math:
Adding 10 to a number; counting by 10s from a single-digit number (7, 17, 27, 37, etc.); drawing a picture to solve a problem; comparing and ordering numbers to 100; counting by 100s.
Core Knowledge:
Continued study of conservation of resources; reduce, reuse, THEN recycle; trash audit of our school; pollution.
Life skills:
Finding ways to reduce consumption in our own lives (use both sides of paper, use scraps when possible, share with a friend, etc.).
Week in review
Riggs:
We got our first two-syllable spelling word! To show syllable breaks, Riggs scholars place a bold dot, floating between the bottom baseline and the dotted midline. Understanding of syllables helps emergent readers "clump" when they are decoding words, as well as prepares them for many new Riggs spelling rules.
Saxon 1 Math:
We spent quite a bit of time this week working to understand double-digit addition WITH regrouping (carrying). We will keep on this big concept, and Saxon spirals around to it numerous times. This class has a good understanding of place value, which will help them immensely.
Core Knowledge:
Began to explore the concepts of:
- What is a resource? (something we use)
- How can we conserve resources? Why should we conserve resources?
- What are ways we can reduce, reuse, and THEN recycle? Why is recycling the last one?
Here is a thought-provoking article about why reduce and reuse are so much more important than recycling, and a link to a TEDx talk by the same presenter along the same lines.
Kindergarteners brought in items that were in their recycling or garbage cans at home, and came up with some great ideas on how they could be reduced and reused before being recycled (and not all of them involved crafting!):
 |
| Tin cans can be used as containers for pencils and pens. |
 |
| Body wash containers can be refilled from a larger container and used again! |
 |
| You can use plastic tubs for keeping small items like money safe. |
 |
| You can use larger jugs of juice to refill individual juice containers. You can use them for water bottles. |
 |
| Fruit and jello cups can be used as paint cups or to hold small items. |
 |
| Egg cartons can be used for organizing things like Lego, earrings, or other small things. |
