Busy Bees

Dear Parents,

We are well on our way to Spring and everyone is looking forward to warmer weather (and less rain)! Our class has continued to stay busy with learning, experiments and fun festivities over the past few months too!

In math, the class began learning about money with the introduction of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter (starting them off small!). The chapter began with us discussing the Presidents on each coin, which tied in nicely to our social studies lesson, as we were learning about Mount Rushmore! From there, we began to discuss the value of each coin and then quickly moved on to adding and subtracting our money. One big introduction was the children receiving money throughout the day for being a good friend, following directions or displaying great behavior. Once they had collected enough in their cups, I opened our very own store for them to shop in! They were all extremely excited about this and much to my surprise, some students decided to save their money for the next week to see if any big ticket items would be added. The store has allowed each of them to understand the concept of money, as well as simple addition and subtraction. So next time you head to the grocery store, challenge your child by letting them add amounts from the shelves 🙂

The Superkids this lesson created their very own club! They decided to use an old school bus and the kids learned how they worked together to clean up the bus, decorate it and all the fun activities they could do. With the introduction of the Superkids Bus (and their club) we also learned about the Supernoodle. I’m sure you heard plenty about this- the Supernoodle is the boss of the club! Each child will get a chance to be the Supernoodle and help me around the classroom as an assistant! We will be finishing up the chapter on N and M this week too. Everyone has done a wonderful job on their word list tests, reading books to Mrs. Barlow and I, and working on that handwriting!

Social Studies had us learning about all the Presidents on Mount Rushmore: good ole Teddy, Abe, George, and Thomas! I am blown away by how much our class loves social studies. They are such little sponges and soaked up every bit of information about the Presidents. Our next unit will focus on navigating the world via the seven continents. I have some fun adventures planned too, so be on the lookout in your child’s folder. In science, we finished our unit on measurement. The kids had a really great time in the lab for this unit. They were all such amazing young scientists when using the pan balance and gram bears. This week we did a special experiment with rainbows by using Skittles! I was also able to show each child how a rainbow forms inside a prism.

A few weeks ago, we also had Donuts with Dads! What a special morning to see everyone with their Dad’s – reading stories, sneaking bites of frosted donuts and sharing the special Dad packets they created for their #1 Heros. Everyone had such a great time! In the next month, I’ll be sending home more information on another special day: Muffins with Moms! We’re just as excited about this too 🙂

Also, school Spring pictures will be taken on Wednesday, March 27! If you haven’t turned in your form yet, please do so by Monday, March 25th!

With love,
Ms. Porto and Mrs. Barlow