Weekly Update May 20-23

Hello Super Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!

WOW! It's the last week of school! Can you believe it? Kids, get ready...this week is going to be amazing!

CAMP LEARNED - A - LOT
Camp Learned - A - Lot is FINALLY here! Each pre-second grader worked so hard to earn this special privilege! We're off to a super start!

Today was the first day of camp and it was great! We settled into our tents to get ready for a fun day of reading! The kids loved being in their pajamas today.  Thank you to our guest readers today: Mr. Ott, Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Hohmann, and Mrs. Tees.  The kids LOVED this! I just love to see the kids so happy and excited about reading!

TUESDAY
Tomorrow is game day at camp! We will play Simon Says, Heads Up/7 Up, complete a class scavenger hunt, complete brain teasers, play bingo and play lots of board games. It will be a blast!

WEDNESDAY
Crafts  and autographs
We will have a special surprise in the afternoon that goes along with camping.

Thursday
We will have water games with the other first grade classes in the morning.
We will have our final party in the afternoon after PE.

This has been an incredible year in first grade for the kids and half year for me! Kids - I LOVED being your teacher and watching you learn! You are SO smart! You are going to be AWESOME in second grade! Parents and family members - THANK YOU for all your help this year! Your time, support, encouragement and supply donations helped make our class so special.

Have a great week!
Have a great time at camp!
Ms. Klein

Weekly Update May 13-17

Hello Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!

Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope all the moms had a wonderful day.  I hope you enjoyed your flowers!  The kids worked so hard on them and they had so much fun making them for you.

 Wow!  It's hard to believe this is the last full week of first grade!  I am so proud of all the kids have accomplished this year!  There's just one more week until Camp Learned A Lot!  Kids - keep working hard and following our rules so we can have Camp Learned A Lot!  It's so much fun!
Parents - there are still many opportunities to help with Camp Learned - A - Lot!  The children will mail letters to you from “camp.”  Please send in a self addressed (addressed to the parent), stamped envelope in by this Friday so those can be ready to mail on Monday.

BLASTING OFF TO 2nd GRADE!!!
We will finish off our planet study this week by learning about the outer planets.  The kids studied Mars, the last inner planet, today.  We will study Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune until Friday.  On Friday, we will review the planets and the kids will complete their planet book.
In writing we are finishing our planet-a-day space book.  These are coming out great and I can't wait to see the finished product!  We are also working on class books.  The goal is to have enough for each child to take two home at the end of the year; we are almost to our goal!  These class books are just wonderful and it is so neat to see the progress that the kids have made throughout the year.  We will also complete our final writing assessment for the year for the report card.
The kids enjoyed their space centers!  The centers for the week include:
1.  Listening - The kids listened to "Planets" and they made their own representation of the Sun, Earth and the moon.  These are really neat and show how the Earth orbits the sub.
2.  Science - The kids made their very own space shuttles!  They used oranges for the base of the shuttle and then they used a variety of different treats for their space shuttles.  These look great!
3.  Writing - The kids wrote a letter to their future second grade teacher to introduce themselves. 
4.  Math - The kids made a diagram to show the different phases of the moon.  After they finished, they used pattern blocks to create a map of our Solar System. 
5.  Reading - The kids had free choice reading day.  They love this!
In math we are working on finishing the assessments for the report card.  We will also continue to practice regrouping so the kids are familiar with it when they get to second grade.
Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

May 6-10

Hello Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!
The kids had so much fun with career week last week!  Thank you so much to the parents who were able to come in and tell the kids about your jobs.

CAMP  LEARNED  A  LOT!
Camp Learned a lot is a fun and exciting way to end first grade and blast off to second grade!  Camp Learned A Lot is a 3 day camp full of games, friends and surprises during the last week of school!  The students will be offered the chance to earn a stay at Camp Learned A Lot.  In order to earn Camp Learned A Lot, the students must:
* Be awesome pre-second graders at all times
* Follow our class rules (we are respectful, we are responsible, we are safe, we follow the Golden Rule) at all times
Kids - Camp Learned A Lot is SO MUCH FUN!!!  I know that you will all be responsible pre-second graders and earn camp!
BLASTING OFF TO 2nd GRADE!!!
For the next two weeks in science and guided reading we are doing a unit on our Solar System.  The kids are very ready for 2nd grade and this is a fun science unit to end the year and blast them off to second grade!  Today the kids learned about the Sun and stars.  Beginning tomorrow, we will study the planets in their order from the sun.  We will study all the planets until we finish next Thursday.  The planets we will study this week are the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
In writing we are working on making a space book!  Each child will make a page about each planet with different information. 
The kids enjoyed their space centers today!  The centers for the week include:
1.  Listening - The kids listened to "I Can Read About Space," and they made their cover for their space books.
2.  Science - The kids colored different constellations and made their own telescope.  The telescope can actually be used on the constellation paper like a real telescope.  Kids, be sure to show your parents how this works!
3.  Writing - The kids wrote about blasting off to second grade!  They wrote about what it will be like in second grade and what they will do in second grade.
4.  Math - The kids made a space book with different patterns and numbers related to space.
5.  Reading - The kids worked on reading assessments for the report card.
The kids did a great job working on strategies to help increase speed when adding numbers.  We will continue to work on strategies for solving both addition and subtraction problems.  We are still working on place value by writing and identifying large numbers.  The kids have gotten so good at this!  We will review a variety of concepts this week.
We were unable to go to computers this week due to MAP testing.

Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein