April 15- 26

Hopefully it will start to feel more like spring soon.  In the meantime, we want to thank you for helping your child to come to school dressed for the weather so they are comfortable at recess times.  

As the year comes to a close, there are a few supplies we could replenish in our classroom.  If you would like to donate, please send items to school with your child:

• black dry erase markers
• rolls of scotch tape 

Also, PSC is looking for some items as well.  Here is the link.

On Monday NDLC students will participate in an egg crack off!  Each student should bring one hard boiled egg to school on Monday.  The eggs need to to be plain (no stickers, color or film).  All Kindergarten students should also wear orange on this day.

Important Dates and Reminders:
4/15: Egg Crack Off- Wear Orange and bring a hard boiled egg!
4/15: Family Night 5:30 pm
4/17: 1/2 Day 11:30 Dismissal
5/10: Building for Kids Field Trip

Reading:We are continuing to work on being resourceful readers and to use all we know to tackle tricky parts in our books.   This week and next readers will learn to be especially flexible as they try one strategy, then another and so on, until their reading makes sense, sounds right and looks right.  One way we readers can make this become more automatic is to make plan prior to reading for the strategies they will use by rereading charts they have in their book bin or see around the classroom.   We will also learn about the importance and reasons for rereading.  The big reasons we want students to reread is to make sure they are understanding what is read and to make sure their reading sounds smooth and fluent (not like a robot :)).

Writing: This week we will focus on elaboration: ways to add more to our writing.   We will be using text features like diagrams, captions and definitions, comparisons and examples like we have seen authors try in the books we have read.  We will also begin to make sure we not only give information on each page, but say WHY that information is important.

Math:Mathematicians will practice their non-pattern facts this week. The non-pattern equations are 3+2, 2+3, 2+2, 5-4, 5-3, 5-2, 4-3, 4-2, and 3-2.

We will practice using a variety of strategies including:

A game called subtraction smash that looks like this:


Drawings and math mountains



Using tools such as bead racks, math manipulatives or number lines





Using cut out hands to show the equations


These are great ways to practice any equations that your child may be working on!

Science: This week we will continue our science unit about forces. Our key idea is that by playing with and thinking about forces, people can accomplish surprisingly big things. For example, this week we will solve the mystery, “How can you knock down a wall made of concrete?”  Your child will do an activity where they investigate what happened to a “wall” made of cups when they changed the strength and direction of a paper wrecking ball.