Help with sight words

Many of you asked about sight/spelling words during our conference. My system is as follows:

1. Show words with magnets. 
2. Take away a letter(s) and ask what's missing. 
3. Have kids build the words on their own.
4. Kids push up the letters.
5. Kids table trace the letters. 
6. Have kids cover the word and write it on a whiteboard (they can peek at the covered up word if they need to). 
7. Spell a previously learned word.
8. Spell the new word again. 

End of Year Notes

We've made it to the last week of school! Things usually get pretty hectic this time of year so I thought I would send out a few notes and reminders:

• Tomorrow (5/21) we will follow a regular morning schedule, but the afternoon is reserved for "electronics day." Our class will be in the classroom in the afternoon instead of going to specials. The kids are welcome to bring in any electronic device/ hand-held video games.  However, violent games are discouraged. 
• Wednesday is "Fun Day." Our class is going to Tumblebees Gym in the morning, and the family picnic is in the afternoon. *The picnic is an unstructured event that you are welcome to attend. If you decide to come, I recommend you bring your own chairs/picnic blanket. There will be no academics/class this day. 
• Thursday is the last day at school. We will watch a movie and clean the classroom this day. 
• Friday is the awards ceremony at St. Mary's fellowship hall from 8:30-9:30. 

Strawberry Farm Field Trip

Our trip to the strawberry farm is this Wednesday (5/8). It looks like the weather will cooperate with us, so we are looking forward to a nice day! You are more than welcome to join us at the farm 6121 Riverdale Dr. in High Point. We will arrive at the farm around 9:00 and plan to leave around 11:15. We are planning on having a picnic at the farm, so please send a bagged lunch. If you ordered lunch your child can either have it when we return to school or take it home with them after school. Also, please have your child wear their field trip shirt on Wednesday.

May in the Know

We are now in the homestretch of the school year which is always an exciting and sad time. It's exciting to review data and look at the growth the kids have made academically, socially and academically. It's sad because it's time to say good bye to many of our friends who will be moving out of primary and into upper elementary next year.

We started our end of year assessments today, which will probably run through the rest of this week.  I will be compiling notebooks for the kids with their data as well as recommendations for summer work. We will review these notebooks during our parent-teacher conferences May 13-17. Please check your email for a Sign-Up Genius invitation and select a time to meet.

I want to send out a huge thank you to Tammy Banas, Donna Cumby and Bridget Johnson for planning our Easter egg hunt and party! I know we were the envy of the school, especially with those amazing Easter Bunny baskets!  I was also super proud of our group's performance in Beauty and the Beast. I received multiple compliments on our class' behavior and enthusiasm!

There are a lot of school-wide events planned this month. Family Fun Day is a chance to bring your family on campus to have a picnic lunch. This is a very casual event, and there is no real structured schedule for the afternoon. The awards ceremony is the last day of school and is held at St. Mary's (where the play was). This is a great closure to the school year.  During this time we will show video snapshots taken throughout the year, and all of the kids will receive a certificate for their achievements.

Important Dates:

• 5/6- Our last field trip to the library (this a Monday not the usual Thursday). We will not check out books. 
• 5/8 (possible rain date of 5/9)- Field trip to Ingrams Strawberry Farm. We plan on arriving at the farm at 9:00 and staying through lunch. All kids will need to bring a bagged lunch this day. Parents are welcome to meet us at the farm. 
• 5/9- 11:00 release
• 5/10- Teacher workday
• 5/13-5/17- Parent-teacher conferences 
• 5/22 Trip to Tumble Bees for kids (8:00-11:00) Family Picnic (11:30-2:30) 
• 5/24 Last day of school / awards ceremony at St. Mary's 

April in the Know

Our themes for April are eggs and oviparous animals. We will also study the works and life of Beatrix Potter. We are finishing our unit on telling time to the hour and half-hour as well as recognizing and creating geometric shapes. We will soon focus on non-standard measurement during guided math.

It's hard to believe there are only seven weeks left in the school year- it's especially hard to believe when there is snow falling outside the window! However, I will start end of year testing the week we return from Easter vacation, and we will have our EOY parent teacher conferences mid-May.

Important Dates

• 4/4- monthly library trip (books are due) 
• 4/18 @ 1:00- Class Easter Egg Hunt! -If you are willing to volunteer to help please email me ASAP. 
• 4/18 @ 6:00- school play at St. Mary's Episcopal Church 
• 4/19- 4/28- Easter vacation 
• 5/8- field trip to Ingrams Strawberry Farm

Author Study!

Thank you to those who were able to come out to the school Friday and support our author study! I think the kids did an outstanding job, but I admit I am a bit biased!

We are excited about our new friend, Will Johnson, who joined our class this week! He will finish the year with us, and we are thrilled to have him as part of our TPS primary family.

Reminder of upcoming events:

• April 4th- library trip/books are due. This will be the last month we will check out books. 
• April 18th- School play/auction. 
• April 19- April 28- School closed for Easter vacation. 

Leprechaun Traps!

This Friday Mrs. Hice (substitute teacher) will be making leprechaun traps with the class.  If you have any small boxes and/or green/gold glitter you would like to donate to the class it would be greatly appreciated!